The little piece of heaven...

that is the world of kids' books is where I now get to live for at least part of my new job. :)

I'm in the process of choosing the reading lists for my classes this Fall and am gloriously poring through whatever books I can get a hand on and racking my memory for good reads from the past twenty-some years. Suggestions, anyone?

Of course, in my time of need, I'm discovering that Hong Kong bookstores are pretty much a barren desert when it comes to kids' books, carrying only one or two copies of anything -- if I'm even lucky enough to find what I'm looking for. Next time anyone visits, I'm placing a massive book order -- be forewarned. I think it may finally be time to start re-building my home library...

E-M-P-A-T-H-Y

A question to teachers, parents, and other educators out there -- how do you teach/help students to have empathy?

All year long I've been frustrated by kids not respecting each other -- standard classroom stuff like talking while others are talking, goofing off and not paying attention during other kids' presentations, etc, etc. I chalked it up to kids just being kids and having short attention spans, but lately, I've been rethinking it. I mean, we've had those discussions about "How do you feel when your friends are talking when you're giving a presentation?" but the effect is not at all long-lasting.

A few weeks ago, I tried an activity with my after-school club and some of the kids' reactions to it completely shocked me. My friend, a 5th grade teacher at an international school here, recommended that I make birthday cards with my students for a boy in Canada who has leukemia and is trying to break a world record for the number of birthday cards received. There have been numerous news reports about him and apparently cards have been coming in from all over the world. It sounded like a great activity where the kids could read a real news article in English, watch a video clip from the news, learn about someone close to their age, do some arts and crafts, and help the little boy achieve his goal.

I was really surprised then at the responses from some of my students, especially the boys. While watching the video clip, some made horrendous and really disparaging comments (in Cantonese, of course). When I tried to press them to tell me what they were saying so that I could address the comments, no one spoke up, essentially tying my hands. I'm glad this deaf-mute pretending game is almost over.

At first, I wondered if there was a language gap that was making it hard for them to understand/relate to the boy, but when I talked to students one-on-one, they all seemed to be clear on the situation; some just didn't seem to care all that much. A few students, in fact, tried to hand me zero-effort pencil scrawls of 'Happy Birthday' on folded pieces of construction paper and pass them off as cards. Have they no hearts at all? How could they even consider giving someone a card like that? Of course, there were some students who were genuinely interested in the activity and spent a lot of time making cards specific to the boy's interests.

The few 'this isn't about me' kids really worry me, though. It's the same thing with the kids who refuse to adhere to the rules of good sportsmanship and chant "lose, lose, lose" to the other teams, or who point and laugh at people across a stadium during a performance.

Really, what can we do?

Kiva.org

Greetings, friends. One of the things about settling into a routine is that the days and weeks go by before you know it and it feels like time has been flying by in the past few months. A few things to update on, but first, I wanted to help spread the word about this great idea I read about a couple months back when it was covered in the NYT.

Kiva takes the idea of micro-financing to a new level by using the Internet to connect entrepreneurs in need to potential lenders all over the world. The entrepreneurs are identified by local micro-finance partners, so Kiva just provides information -- profiles on the entrepreneurs and a space for entrepreneurs to give updates on their businesses' progress. 100% of your loan goes to the individual and it only takes a few clicks of the mouse.

I love this idea because it's a great way to help individuals and their families, and while you only get a small snippet of someone's story, it's still nice to know where your money is going. Plus, once your loan is repaid, you can go ahead and lend it to support someone else. Check it out!

Also, if you have 10 weeks or more and are interested to see what it's all about in the field, they have a fellowship program where you go to work with one of their local micro-finance partners to meet with and chronicle the progress of their entrepreneurs. How cool is that!

Happy CNY

Wishing you all good fortune, good health, your dreams come true and all the rest of it this lunar new year. I hear it's the year of the Golden Pig, but have yet to figure out what exactly has made the pig golden this time around. If someone knows offhand, do fill me in. What I do know is that Hong Kong is relatively peaceful this time of year. Who would've guessed... I suppose everyone's off travelling or visiting relatives somewhere but there don't seem to be many people out and about.

The major exception though is at the New Year's Flower Market, which I experienced for the first time this year. Imagine throngs of people, fresh flowers galore and balloons in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from Chupa Chups to giraffes to trophy cups and mushrooms a la Super Mario Bros. It's a sight. The beautiful thing is that no one's really in a rush to go anywhere or push ahead, so you just sort of flow along with the crowd. It's oddly kind of fun. Of course, it's not so fun to hear the announcements about lost children, but I think I'm finally starting to understand this very Hong Kong idea of going to a crowded place just for the heck of it.

So, Chinese New Year, regular New Year, or for whatever reason, the past month and a half has actually been pretty fruitful for me as far as resolutions/new starts/trying new things go... It's no marathon, but I did my first 10km run with a friend and finished with a respectable time; I started Chinese (Mandarin) lessons again with a focus on seriously learning to read and write; I started going to a new (to me) yoga studio; got my first perm (no, it's not crazy curly -- in fact, just barely wavy); started tutoring a new student; and finished up one volunteering stint with youth probationers (more to come on this in another post) and signed up for another one starting in March. It's been busy, but good. I'm hoping to keep riding this wave of enthusiasm for as long as it lasts. Wish me luck! If all continues well, I have a feeling the rest of this school year will fly by and then I'll be back North America-side for a couple brief visits to see two of my dearest friends tie the knot with their respective other halves. I can't wait!

Finger lickin' good

I remember the slogan clearly from my childhood, with many a family fishing trip where KFC played a central role in the eating pre-catch. It took on new meaning, though, when I was at my local KFC one day. [Side note: The popularity of fried chicken here took me entirely by surprise and there are a fair number of KFCs in the city -- not to mention that my third graders cite KFC as *the* place to have a birthday party, other than McDonald's.] Anyways, so I was sitting at KFC when I noticed a girl and her mother donning big plastic disposable gloves to eat their chicken. At first, I wondered at the OCD-ness of a family that would bring disposable gloves with them to KFC, but then I looked around and saw that a few other customers had them as well! Now, really... can't you just wash your hands? They already give us wet wipes!

I was even more dismayed the next time the plastic gloves made an appearance -- at a Chinese seafood restaurant where we were eating hairy crab (so named for their hairy claws, but also known as Chinese mitten crab or literally from Chinese, "big binding crab"). So, where lobster sometimes comes with bibs, crab in Hong Kong sometimes comes with a side order of plastic gloves. How appetizing.

The Vultures

They crowd the exits of the subway station -- so much so that the MTR people have set up barricades to prevent them from entering within however-many-feet of the doorway. In their black suits, they lean over the railing, watching, waiting for their prey.

Once you've gotten past the exit barrage, it's not over yet. Enterprising ones choose not to stand with the crowd but to try and claim their own spot... every inch of the way from the station to the building and through the mall to the resident elevators. They're persistent with their leaflets and calls for your attention. But above all, they're always watching you, sizing you up -- your age, your income, your worth as a potential customer. It's worse than walking past a construction site.

So what do these vultures want from you? To buy an apartment, of course. As if upon their suggestion, you might suddenly feel moved to own a place. Yes, that's right. These vultures are property agents.

The sight of them makes me shudder and I consider their presence and invasion of public space a personal affront. Hong Kong is crowded enough as it is. The last thing I need is to navigate crowds of loitering, soliciting suits on my very doorstep. Besides, let's be realistic -- NO ONE is randomly walking up to impulse buy apartments. If they're interested, they'll find you. Go wait in your office!

PSP for all

When I ride the MTR in Hong Kong, I frequently see people glued to their PSPs. Most of the time, these are youngish guys, avidly playing the latest game. So, when an older woman sitting next to me the other day pulled one out of her LV bag, I couldn't help but look over her shoulder. Ah... To a video game, addicted she is not. To one of the many Hong Kong soap opera/drama/TV series, addicted she most definitely is.

I wonder if she bought it for this express purpose or whether she and her son/husband negotiate over who gets it each morning...

"You made me ink!"

One of my favourite lines from Finding Nemo took on new meaning last Saturday as I held up a squid for a Kodak moment and it inked all over the boat. The occasion marked another first of our Hong Kong experiences -- squid fishing.

Leaving from Sai Kung pier, we chatted and snacked as we waited for darkness to fall. Then, with bright lights set up on the sides of the boat to attract the squid, we set to work. And work it was! This is no put-the-bait-on-set-the rod-and-wait kind of fishing. This is bait-free, just-keep-jerking-on-the-line-in-hopes-of-snagging-something fishing... so we did. All 25 of us. When the boat owner lady did it, she caught four right away. We, on the other hand, exercised much patience and arm strength for our loot. Over the course of the night, though, our success rate wasn't bad. I was ecstatic at my catch of two. Plus, in the spirit of friendship everyone partook regardless of their luck when Mrs. Boat Owner cooked the little suckers up for us. Mmm, mmm, good.

Apparently, there's a place where you can dig for clams in Hong Kong too. Maybe next time...