update...

so that typhoon 8 we had?  escalated to typhoon 9 - the first time in 5 years that the T9 has been called by the HK observatory.  cool.  we had a direct hit by typhoon nuri.  now as exciting as this could have been, it was a bit of a letdown, we felt.  i think our last typhoon 8 felt much windier and rainier overall.  still, pretty cool to have a day off work and school.  a bunch of teachers came over to our flat for lunch, olympics, nerts, and hang out time.  

speaking of olympics [digression begins here]... i'm very sad they're over.  nothing left on TV to watch and discuss!  i also have a really mixed perspective on this year's.  on one hand, there were some AWESOME events, athletes, etc to follow.  and really, china did pull them off without a tactical or organizational hitch (except having swimming and gymnastics during the work day... boo NBC).  at the same time, i read a lot of the news articles surrounding some of the human rights issues with the olympics, protesters, volunteers, etc.  and that then makes me sad.  maybe it's the western, individual culture side of me that says "each person should have their basic rights" whereas china views the overall group/state/government as more important.  i don't know.  but some of it was pure showmanship.  "sure, we'll have protest zones.  look, nobody is using them!... did we mention that we hadn't approved any of the protest applications?"  

so am i against the olympics?  no way.  i think china did a heck of a job, but at what cost?  (a yahoo article).

back to actual life in hong kong: probably the best thing about the typhoon was saturday's weather: cool, low humidity, and absolutely stunning views because of the air clarity.  in other words, a great day for each disc, dinner in the plaza, and a night out in soho with the new teachers (and some old ones).

i love weekends!!