grant left for indonesia monday morning!! pray for him - he's in a remote island with 17 middle schoolers: 14 boys, and 3 girls... yikes. they get back friday night at 10:45.
i went with grant to the airport on monday morning, since i didn't have to work. we got up, rushed out the door to the bus, stopped at the ATM for money - for his trip and my shopping date with katie (a youth intern at another church). we were the second to last of the group to arrive at the airport (the 3rd teacher was the last). i hung out at the airport for about an hour, then hopped on the hourlong busride home (with some burger king)... called steven wilco and talked for awhile... then called john unrath on the last leg of the trip. i got back to my flat and sat outside to finish my conversation with john. then, i needed to be leaving to go see katie, but i wanted to drop some stuff off and desperately needed the restroom (diet coke on a busride does that to you).
take the lift up to our flat... dig through my bag. twice. no keys. ahhhh!!!! grant locked the door, and i pushed the elevator button when we left.
so i had to communicate this error to the security guard who spoke very little english, and i eventually got pointed to the locksmith near our building. they sent someone with me up to my flat - and it was supposed to be $150. sure, fine, whatever -the only set of keys available are in indonesia! then he sees the grate on the front of our door and says, nope 200 for that lock. ok, sure, no big deal.
he picks, fiddles, etc with the lock, and finally gets the grate open. the lock we use on our front door is the deadbolt. he looks at the deadbolt and tells me that it's a computerized key, and i'll have to get a new lock. ok, sure, i really need to get in, whatever works!!! he proceeds to get a screwdriver, hammer, and wrench out of his bag and completely demolish the lock and pull it off the door. i was so glad to see my keys on the kitchen table (i was semi-afraid i'd dropped them somewhere). then i find out it's $800 for the whole situation! $400 to open the door, and $400 for the new lock... well, i had to say yes. luckily, i had $770 in my wallet (remember the atm trip?). he didn't take credit card, but he said that 770 was fine.
what a great beginning to a day...
at least i got to go shopping!! katie and i went to the markets in mong kok and stanley - i finally got new jeans: 15USD for a pair of American Eagle jeans, and 9 USD for an Abercrombie sweater. oh, and some xmas presents. plus some fun hangout time with katie (a new friend:D)
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
a couple additions
yay grant made a post!
a couple things in recent times -
we spent last weekend in manila at another frisbee tournament. it's fantastic to find relatively cheap flights to places that are really warm and sunny (ie sunburns!!). our hong kong team only took 8 people (which is pretty brutal), but we picked up 5 when we got there, and we had a great time. Overall, we got 9th... but we won 5 out of 6 games :-) it was just a blast to hang out with frisbee kids, play some good muddy ultimate, and get some sun. (grant fell asleep at saturday dinner).
contrary to popular belief, we actually do a lot of things other than frisbee :-)
we're involved in a small group on tuesday nights with (mostly) other ICS teachers - and that's been fantastic. we've been working through 1 John this year using a study guide, rotating who leads the discussion. it's just nice to get togehter with other people our age, in similar positions of life, and talk about spirituality and faith. good stuff.
youth stuff has been alright - trying to spend time wth kids outside of church (sometimes easy, sometimes not). painting was (mostly) successful last night, so my office/youth room is now orange (with one white wall with handprints). it livens it up a bit.
and it's the weekend! so we're off for groceries....
a couple things in recent times -
we spent last weekend in manila at another frisbee tournament. it's fantastic to find relatively cheap flights to places that are really warm and sunny (ie sunburns!!). our hong kong team only took 8 people (which is pretty brutal), but we picked up 5 when we got there, and we had a great time. Overall, we got 9th... but we won 5 out of 6 games :-) it was just a blast to hang out with frisbee kids, play some good muddy ultimate, and get some sun. (grant fell asleep at saturday dinner).
contrary to popular belief, we actually do a lot of things other than frisbee :-)
we're involved in a small group on tuesday nights with (mostly) other ICS teachers - and that's been fantastic. we've been working through 1 John this year using a study guide, rotating who leads the discussion. it's just nice to get togehter with other people our age, in similar positions of life, and talk about spirituality and faith. good stuff.
youth stuff has been alright - trying to spend time wth kids outside of church (sometimes easy, sometimes not). painting was (mostly) successful last night, so my office/youth room is now orange (with one white wall with handprints). it livens it up a bit.
and it's the weekend! so we're off for groceries....
Friday, November 23, 2007
painting turkeys
hey family and friends!
it's about time that i post to this site again. it's only been a couple of months or so. :)
updates...
krisitn and i have now been in hong kong for about 4 months.
marriage is great! - full of fun, things to learn, a few down times here and there, lots of conversation, and much teamwork.
school is also well. in case you forgot, i'm teaching 8th grade algebra and bible. the kids are mostly hard-working, and we've been able to have some fun in class. i coached the U14 soccer team, and when it was done, i moved right into the U14 basketball season. unfortunately, the soccer team was much more successful than the basketball team thus far.
coming up in just a couple days, i'm leaving the country. i'm taking a group of 17 kids to indonesia for a week to do service projects and missionary work! there are two other teachers coming along, and we're pretty pumped. if you take a moment, i'd much appreciate some prayers for our safety, growth, and group cohesion.
before i leave for indonesia, kristin and i have been busy preparing for youth group tonight (friday, 24 nov). the kids are coming to the church to paint the youth room and bring some life to its walls! we moved furniture, cleaned, and whitewashed one of the walls where the kids are going to do handprints.
finally, kristin and i decided to celebrate a little thanksgiving in hong kong. fortunately, i received the day off and the rest of hong kong did not. it made for a great day trip to an island called cheung chau. we took an hour-long ferry and occupied our time playing cribbage. thankfully, we weren't hassled for "gambling." once we docked, we hiked around, explored a "cave," checked out some temples, and had some delightful seafood on the harbor-side. i'll post a few pictures.
well, i did it.
i made a post.
hope you're happy.
now go play outside.
love you,
grant
ps, kristin and i are now addicted to boggle, another wonderful word game. rest assured though - we still find much joy in scrabble. :)
it's about time that i post to this site again. it's only been a couple of months or so. :)
updates...
krisitn and i have now been in hong kong for about 4 months.
marriage is great! - full of fun, things to learn, a few down times here and there, lots of conversation, and much teamwork.
school is also well. in case you forgot, i'm teaching 8th grade algebra and bible. the kids are mostly hard-working, and we've been able to have some fun in class. i coached the U14 soccer team, and when it was done, i moved right into the U14 basketball season. unfortunately, the soccer team was much more successful than the basketball team thus far.
coming up in just a couple days, i'm leaving the country. i'm taking a group of 17 kids to indonesia for a week to do service projects and missionary work! there are two other teachers coming along, and we're pretty pumped. if you take a moment, i'd much appreciate some prayers for our safety, growth, and group cohesion.
before i leave for indonesia, kristin and i have been busy preparing for youth group tonight (friday, 24 nov). the kids are coming to the church to paint the youth room and bring some life to its walls! we moved furniture, cleaned, and whitewashed one of the walls where the kids are going to do handprints.
finally, kristin and i decided to celebrate a little thanksgiving in hong kong. fortunately, i received the day off and the rest of hong kong did not. it made for a great day trip to an island called cheung chau. we took an hour-long ferry and occupied our time playing cribbage. thankfully, we weren't hassled for "gambling." once we docked, we hiked around, explored a "cave," checked out some temples, and had some delightful seafood on the harbor-side. i'll post a few pictures.
well, i did it.
i made a post.
hope you're happy.
now go play outside.
love you,
grant
ps, kristin and i are now addicted to boggle, another wonderful word game. rest assured though - we still find much joy in scrabble. :)
Saturday, November 10, 2007
frisbee tournament pictures from janice
as i promised, a few pictures from the tournament. these are from janice's camera - i took a few, and she took the rest. not as many action shots, but they're hard to catch
aww.... it's a frisbee couple!
grant, paulie, toby, and guy. paulie and guy were fantastic captains for the star fairies, and guy does a great job with white team during the league!
the star fairies!
Junk huddle
Kenny and Grant have secret handshakes
kristin on defense
our junk captain calling a play against singapore
this is when paulie (the star fairies captain) and tim (the junk captain) got in a fight about rules and started yelling at each other in the middle of the HK showdown between our two teams.... it was awkward....
aww.... it's a frisbee couple!
grant, paulie, toby, and guy. paulie and guy were fantastic captains for the star fairies, and guy does a great job with white team during the league!
the star fairies!
Junk huddle
Kenny and Grant have secret handshakes
kristin on defense
our junk captain calling a play against singapore
this is when paulie (the star fairies captain) and tim (the junk captain) got in a fight about rules and started yelling at each other in the middle of the HK showdown between our two teams.... it was awkward....
Friday, November 2, 2007
i've become a warm blooded creature...
fall is upon us, even here in hong kong.
last week, the highs were about 28-29C (do your math folks - multiply by 5/9, then add 32. it will be good for your brain!) so it was quite warm, but about average, and at least it wasn't going into the 32-33 range!
all of a sudden this week it took a 10 degree plunge, and the high for the past two days has been 19C. The low last night was even 14!
now, if you're following along with me and doing your math, you'll realize that this is quite moderate - by no means cold.
people in hong kong have broken out their thick jackets, warm scarves, and sweaters (or jumpers, if you're British). and me? i've got long sleeves and a denim jacket today. what am i going to do when winter hits? ;-)
love you all!
last week, the highs were about 28-29C (do your math folks - multiply by 5/9, then add 32. it will be good for your brain!) so it was quite warm, but about average, and at least it wasn't going into the 32-33 range!
all of a sudden this week it took a 10 degree plunge, and the high for the past two days has been 19C. The low last night was even 14!
now, if you're following along with me and doing your math, you'll realize that this is quite moderate - by no means cold.
people in hong kong have broken out their thick jackets, warm scarves, and sweaters (or jumpers, if you're British). and me? i've got long sleeves and a denim jacket today. what am i going to do when winter hits? ;-)
love you all!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)