Crikey, where did 2007 spring from?! It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the weeks roll by and before I know it it’s time for typing out my monthly group e-mails to everyone at home again. Looking back, it seems only a few weeks ago that we were living out of our suitcases in a YWCA hostel, getting to know each other and getting lost in Hong Kong. On the other hand, I think we all sighed heavily with relief when the end of term finally arrived. Sixteen solid weeks, with no half-term, is enough to drain anyone’s energy and it was certainly becoming visible on the faces of the stressed-out teachers and exhausted kids around school. | "With the help of a translation book called “What’s Up Doc?”, I seemed to get the general message across and wangled a fistful of antibiotics" | |
The last day before the holidays was my school’s “English Fun Day”, for which my little drama group was asked to perform a puppet show. It was the big finale to our term’s work on “The Leopard’s Drum” (a made-up and slightly bizarre story, adapted to fit the random array of animal puppets I found lying around in the office cupboard!). Needless to say I developed ulcers in the week running up to the event, as my poor six year-olds struggled to remember their lines, and those that could remember them couldn’t resist throwing their puppets up in the air at every opportunity. However, come the big day the show was thankfully a grand success - even if Kenny did start muttering “Boom boom boom!” down the microphone half way through the performance - and I left school with a satisfied glow (which may or may not have been influenced by the fact that my friends and I were off to Thailand a few days later!). Indeed Christmas was certainly a different experience this year. Since we were missing the snug-as-a-bug winteriness of the UK, a few of us decided to take the feeling to the extreme and spend Christmas on a beach. So for the first time since arriving, we left Hong Kong and jet-setted off for sun, sea, sand and sangria. Idyllic. Well, I wouldn’t get too jealous… by Christmas Day I was already struck down by a mystery illness and spent the following week looking down the toilet of our little Thai cottage as much as across the sandy shores of Hua Hin. Not quite the look I’d been going for. After four days I could take no more, and so “Bird” - a local Thai boxer - came to my rescue and zoomed me off to the local hospital in his 4 x 4. This in itself was quite the experience, especially as nobody spoke any English (despite the ManU-Wigan game that was surreally blaring away in the background), but with a whole lot of wild gesturing, and the help of a translation book someone dug out called “What’s Up Doc?”, I seemed to get the general message across and wangled my way into being given a fist full of antibiotics (which my dad later informed me would not have been “readily available” in the UK!). All-in-all it was lovely to have a break (and breathe in clean air), but perhaps not quite the stuff dream holidays are made of. So although it was great to escape the chaos and get some tan-lines, I couldn’t help but let out a small sigh of relief when we touched down in Hong Kong for New Year’s. What was a pleasant surprise, was the feeling I got upon arriving back in HK; that of returning home. I guess I hadn’t realised that was what it had become. And so 2007 has begun. The dawn of the new year marks (roughly) the half-way mark for my Hong Kong adventure… and it’s left me with feelings I hadn’t quite expected.Ěý I had assumed that the new year would bring thoughts of “This is it, the downward slope; enjoy it!” and while I do feel that way, it is also accompanied by a looming sense of “Arrrrghhh!!! The end is nigh! What the heck am I going to do next?!”. I am all too aware of the big decisions I have to make within the next couple of months - decisions I had left behind at the end of uni before I ran away to the other side of world to escape them. All of which leads to the all-important and rather daunting question… …to stay or not to stay in Hong Kong? Neela | 
