cabin fever

This weeks P52 theme is on cabin fever.  This was a bit tricky for me and I couldn't think of what to capture for a while.  To me, cabin fever is something you normally experience when you are stuck at home and itching to get outside.  I don't have this problem.  I really enjoy staying home and wouldn't mind being stuck indoors for multiple days if it were possible.

However, I have currently begun to experience cabin fever when I think about our life in Hong Kong.  Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy living in Hong Kong and will be happy to stay here for as long as we have jobs, but there is something inside me that is just itching for something new and different.  I don't know if this is the wanderlust in me or whether it is age and the desire to settle down, but it is something I'm feeling right now.

Hong Kong has begun to feel a bit claustrophobic in that it is a huge city with people everywhere.  I like people, honest.  It is just that I also enjoy walking along the sidewalk without being jostled.  I like eating at my own table at the food court without feeling pressured to hurry so that the person standing over me can have my table next.  I like getting into an elevator and not having to suck in my gut so that more people than listed on the elevator can fit inside.  I like being able to have personal space without feeling selfish about it.

These photos were taken on a Friday night in Mongkok, which is the most densely populated place in the world.  There are roughly 130,000 people in one square kilometer.  That's a lot.  Trust me.

Bombarded

Crowds.  Everywhere.

 

Inside the Mongkok MTR Station

 

Gonna make it no matter what.

Getting cozy

(Linking with Challenge: Walk in the Street)

true love

The P52 theme this week is true love.  The first thing that came to mind for this is my true love, my husband, Matt.  I am a blessed girl who found love unexpectedly.  When Matt and I first met, I had no romantic notion in my head as I was going through a terrible divorce.  I wasn't interested in romance, love, or any sort of romantic relationship.  Luckily Matt was able to read the signs and was willing to be my friend (at first).  With time, our friendship grew and before we new it, we were in love, and the rest is history!

Fun on the elephant for our wedding photos by Chris.

(Click here, here, and here if you want to see more wedding pics.)

As I continued to ponder about the words "true love," what came to mind was an image of being able to grow old together.  Of being able to spend everyday with your best friend and after 50 years, still finding things to talk about, laugh over, and share with one another.  Love takes hard work and commitment, but the end results are definitely worthwhile.  I look forward to the lifetime of adventures that Matt and I will be able to share together!

This week, I decided to try to find cute little old couples that fit with my thoughts on "true love."  It was a challenge to stop these couples and ask them if I could take their pictures without being able to speak the same language.  The first two I took from a distance.  The last two I worked up the courage to ask.  This is definitely a work in progress as I turned the brightest shade of red after asking permission.  Once they nodded okay, I just snapped the pictures as quickly as possible, thanked them numerous times, and walked away fast.  Hopefully I will get over my embarrassment over time so that I can do this better. 

The first couple was waiting at the bus stop...the old man caught me I think! :) 

The second couple was walking through the MTR Station...looking adorable while holding hands.

The third couple I caught going into an MTR station.

The last couple I saw just walking down a street.

my valentine

Happy Valentine's Day to my Valentine, Matt!

I love you dear! xoxo

This is a little bit old, but I haven't taken any self-portraits of us recently.  

Terrible, I know.

So for Valentine's Day this year, we thought we'd just keep it low key.  After all, shouldn't we be showing each other how much we love one another on a daily basis? What makes today so special? We said no gifts and made plans to simply come home and cook dinner together while just enjoying each others company.  

We did stay home, but the rest didn't work out so well.  I thought I'd surprise Matt with some small gifts and he bought something for me too...just in case.  He knows me so well and had a book for me and some delicious appetizers ready in the fridge.  We dined on prosciutto, bread sticks, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella,  and 2 other types of cheese, as well as a lovely chianti.  It was awesome and perfect!

I love my husband and am so thankful to have such an amazing and thoughtful man to call my own! :)

 Lots of flowers being sold at the flower market below.
It is crazy just how expensive everything was for Valentine's Day.

D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.

 I'm such a sucker and totally got this for Matt.
The mug changes when there is hot water in it.  I know...I'm a nerd.

(Linking up with Tuesdays Around the World)

(Linking up with Sweet Shot Tuesday)

shadows

This weeks P52 theme was on shadows.  I had some ideas as to how I wanted to capture this, but the sun did not come out for most of the week.  Yes, yes, I could have been creative and used a light or even a flashlight (which sadly I do not own), but I wanted the SUN.  That isn't too much to ask for is it? 

I struggled with trying to connect to the theme this week.  Since beginning P52, the themes all tied nicely to thoughtful blog posts, so I really wanted to make a statement with the shadows.  I wanted something meaningful to connect with and share with others (you my lovely readers that should totally FOLLOW this blog:).  Some initial ideas I had included trying to capture something that dealt with a lingering shadow of darkness or something depicting being caught living in someones shadow.  I even thought of making a connection to a previous post and writing about the distortions of shadows and how that relates to ones reality and ones interpretations of reality.  

After trying to take photos that related to these ideas, I realized I was WAY over thinking things.  The theme was on shadows, so all I needed to do was to simply take pictures of shadows.  So after a few days of struggling to make some sort of meaning out of the shadows, I finally smartened up and stopped over thinking things.  :) I ended up searching for any shadow I could find and took pictures of them all.  

Here are some shadows in no particular order.  Enjoy! :)

Shadows of my students...so funny!

I love this photo!

Shadows lined up ready to go wherever the taxis take them.

The shadow the ferry made as we were about to dock.

Looking down from our apartment at everyone hurrying about.

I know it is blurry, but I still like it.

Shadow of the windows on the curtain in our room.

This was the most obvious shadow picture to me....

(All of the photos are SOOC.)

This ended up being a great exercise in being more observant.  I find it so easy to get caught up in life and in daily tasks that I simply lose track of all the beauty around me.  Trying to find shadows made me look at what I normally might have walked past and ignored.  I worked on trying to figure out where I could find the beauty in the mundane and the ordinary.  

distortions

This weeks P52 theme was on taking a self-portrait.  I didn't want to do a generic self-portrait shot, even though I'm pretty darn good at them now from all the practice! You can see some here(France) and here(Thailand) and here(India). :)

Instead, I thought I'd play around with my self-portrait and use reflections around town to capture myself.  As I started snapping photos, which I'd like to say is super embarrassing to do in public with people walking around staring at me as though I was crazy, I began to think about the whole idea of self-image.  Particularly, how I look and how I want others to view me.  I think the pictures show a bit about the distortions we put on ourselves and the flawed views we may have.  

The first picture is crazy skinny...is it too skinny?
The second picture is perfect in my mind...is it achieveable?

The third picture is how I feel sometimes...is this ok?
The fourth picture is me with all my imperfections...is this realistic?

The fifth picture is how distorted things can become.

The sixth picture is me as I am and happy with it all.  

I know that my self-image is one that is not always on target.  I know that I can be critical about myself and how I look, maybe even too critical sometimes.  There are good days and there are the bad days.  There are days when I wake up feeling beautiful and there are days when I am down on myself.  Some things I can change and some things I cannot.  Over all though, I'd say that I'm (mostly) content with being me and working hard on being completely content with being me.  It is a process and one that I'm sure I'll grapple with throughout life.

ME!

 ...feeling silly about taking my picture in public...

2012 begins

I don't normally make resolutions.  If I do make them, then I definitely don't usually share them with anyone.  The obvious reason being that I don't really want people to know if I fail to maintain or follow through with them.

Recently though, I've read a few posts in the blog world about coming up with a word that will be yours for the year.  I rather like this idea as it doesn't limit you in what you can or can't achieve.  Coming up with this word doesn't fill me with the pressure I feel when making a resolution.  Rather, I feel anticipation with how far this word can take me (and vice versa) as the year progresses.

My word is TRY.  That's it.  Nothing flashy.  It isn't the most creative word or remarkable word in the world, but I rather like it.  It is simple and it is something I can attempt to do.  During 2012, I want to TRY.  I'd like to TRY a bit harder and push myself a bit more to become a more developed me.

I want to TRY to...

be a better wife, friend, daughter, sister

get healthy
cook

become a better photographer

read more

challenge myself at work

see more of Hong Kong (and the world)

experience new things

Sending off Khomloys with all of our hopes, dreams, and goals for the year

in Chiang Mai for New Years

In order to get on the right track, I've decided to TRY to participate in the P52 challenge.  This is the Project 52 Photo Challenge by Darcy from my3boybarians.  I came across it on Pinterest and am hoping to TRY to make it through the year.  

I want to start this year off with a BANG!

Happy New Year everyone!

recap

I'm happy to announce that we have made it through our second year in Hong Kong! School has officially ended and we are now ready to begin our eight weeks of summer holidays.  I know...it is pretty ridiculous that we get eight weeks off, but let me say that this is not normal and we will pay for it next summer. :)

Overall, I would have to say that this second year in HK has been a great one.

On a personal level, this has been a truly fantastic year.  The best thing of course is that we got ENGAGED this year.  Matt and I were able to take some awesome holidays outside of HK mentioned here and here.  All of our folks were able to visit us in HK this year...yes, that was a positive thing! :) We moved (more on that on a later date) to Mongkok, which has opened up our lives in a big way.  We also spent a lot of time having fun with friends and cultivating all of the wonderful relationships that we've made in HK.  Seriously, I have some amazing friends here and feel so lucky to have these people in my life!

On the work front, if I'm honest, this year has not been an easy one.  This year caused me a lot of stress and anxiety...to the point where I was getting really ill and even considered moving schools.  Instead of being social and enjoying the school environment, I chose to just put my head down and stay in my classroom.  My focus this year was on my students and doing my best to teach them well.  I tried not to get sucked into all the negativity, which trust me, wasn't always easy.  That said, I've gotten through it and hopefully I'm wiser (and definitely have thicker skin) because of it.  It wasn't all bad though! I thankfully had (and will continue to have) a wonderful partner teacher.  We worked really well together this year and got a lot accomplished in our second grade program.  I also have some fantastic friends at my school and they made things all the more bearable! :D

All of this to say...I've made it! Now I'm off to enjoy the summer!

anticipation

I have a lot to look forward to these days and I'd like to share them with you.  It is rather exciting when I think about it all! You should be happy too as this means more things for me to blog about! HA!

I only have NINE more school days left with my kiddies.  There are a total of TEN days left of work obligations for this academic school year.  In FIFTEEN more days, we will be back home in Chiang Mai.  Our wedding is TWENTY-SIX days away!! We are heading to Europe in THIRTY days for our honeymoon.  We will visit FIVE countries over FIVE weeks, for a total of THIRTY-FIVE days.  I have EIGHT weeks off this summer before having to start work again in August.

LIFE IS GOOD! :D

That's right...we have our helmets on and are ready to go!

insecurities

I am not a writer.  I am not particularly witty, clever, or profound.  This isn’t anything new, but it has made me feel a bit inadequate when blogging lately.  It has caused me to feel uncertain as to what to write about and who would be interested in what I have to say.

In order to change my views, I’ve thought about why I’m writing this blog.  Thankfully I’ve realized that this space is not around to impress others or offer anything new to the world.  This blog is simply a place for me to share what’s going on in my life, in our lives, with our family and friends.  If a stranger becomes interested, then awesome! That said, the strangers that may come across this blog aren’t the ones whom I’m thinking of when I’m writing.  It is you, our family and friends that I think of when I share.  Since we are far away from most of you, this is my chance to have a conversation with you and let you know how things are going.

Since coming to this realization, I’ve felt a lot less pressured when thinking of what to write and share.  I hopefully will no longer be inhibited by the fear of what others think because you are my family and friends.  I know you will be supportive and encouraging and find what I have to say interesting (or at least pretend)!

Thanks for letting me get this off my chest as it has been on my mind for a while (at least 3 months now).  I think I’m ready to move on and start sharing again, so look forward to getting caught up on what’s been going on in the past three months! 

holiday break

We have two weeks off and are heading home for the holidays! I can't wait to be back in Chiang Mai! Wohoo!! There is so much I’m looking forward to.  I’m looking forward to seeing all of my family and friends, getting cheap massages, eating delicious Thai foods, enjoying fresh fruit, being able to communicate with people, driving a car, getting a manicure and pedicure, getting my hair done right, playing games, going to the movies, and relaxing.  It will be so wonderful!

A picture from last Christmas....

I wonder what this Christmas season will bring...

thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

It has been a good day over here. Today at school, my lovely grade two students made some fun turkey hats.  They were a lot of work and took a long time, but the end product was worth it, as the kids loved them.

This is a picture of my entire Grade two class...all 15 of them!

Then this evening, we went out with a couple of friends in search of a good Thanksgiving meal.  Success! It turned out great and it was so much fun to share this meal with friends.  I had some pumpkin soup, turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, beans, yams, cranberry sauce, and an apple pie to end my meal.  It hit the spot and I think I'll be fine until Christmas time!

A wonderful group of friends!

There is so much to be thankful for this year.  As always, there are the few things that never change.  Like always, I’m thankful for my family, both near and far, both new and old.  I’m thankful for my friends who are scattered all over the world including my new friends right here in Hong Kong.  I’m thankful for this experience in Hong Kong and for the adventures that have come and are still coming my way.  I’m thankful for my job in which I work in a supportive and fun environment with great colleagues.  I’m thankful for second chances and for opportunities to live life to the fullest.  Most of all, this year, I’m thankful for Matt.

Happy in Hong Kong!

ten weeks and counting

Time is seriously just flying by these days. We are about to begin our tenth week here in Hong Kong this week! It’s unreal thinking about the things that were so odd and foreign in the beginning and how they now seem so normal. It’s exciting to think that I’m slowly adapting to life here and it’s even better that I’m enjoying it all!

As the weeks pass by, I do seem to be getting worse at blogging. I’ve got a list of things to blog about and simply have not found the time to do it. It’s not that I don’t have time…it’s actually that I don’t think about blogging when I do have time. If I want to keep ya’ll reading (hopefully you are reading this) then I know I need to be more consistent with my blogging efforts. So here it is. I’m going to commit to blogging 2 times a week. Hopefully you’ll keep commenting and I’ll keep finding the motivation to keep on blogging! Thanks for keeping up with me and my adventure here in Hong Kong!

Here's a picture of us at the Mid-Autumn Festival in Causeway Bay. I will blog about it more next time...so stay tuned!

one month already

It is crazy to think that a month ago, I was in Canada, and packing my bags for this new chapter of my life. So much has happened since that day including the big move to Hong Kong, finding an apartment in a week, furnishing an apartment, starting a new job, and finding the time and energy to make friends and start building relationships. I started out scared and anxious, but I'm now feeling a lot more comfortable here and I'm looking forward to all the adventures yet to come my way. Life is good!

There is so much to share, so I will work on blogging more frequently. Life has been hectic with so many new and different experiences that by the end of the evening, I can barely keep my eyes open, let alone find the energy to blog about it all! However, I think that I’m beginning to get the hang of things and thus will be able to write more about all that has been happening.

Until then, thanks for reading and checking up on me!

venturing out

For quite some time now, I’ve had a desire to live somewhere I’ve never lived before.  I’ve wanted to venture out on my own and begin a life from scratch.  I’ve wanted to get out of my comfort zone and experience something different from all that I’m used to. 

Well here I am living out this dream with my boyfriend Mathew.  We applied for jobs all over the world and finally accepted a position in HONG KONG.  This is going to be the new, different, and exotic experience I’ve been yearning for.

Now that I’m here, I have no idea what I was thinking before.  Why in the world did I want to live in a country that I’ve never been before, a country that I don’t know the language of, and a country that is so completely different from anything I’ve ever known?!? Why did someone not enlighten me and tell me the truth about how difficult this all would be??

Since arriving in Hong Kong (six days now), I’ve cried almost everyday.  Let me be the one to tell you that Hong Kong is a very, very overwhelming and intimidating place to begin a life. Here are five reasons why.  FIRST, there are almost 8 million people here. The largest community I’ve lived in was about 300,000 people.  SECOND, everything is spread out all over the place and there is lots of travel time to get to anywhere it seems.  I am directionally challenged unfortunately.  THIRD, everyone here speaks Chinese.  Yes, I should have been prepared for this, but the reality is that I now get to look forward to no one understanding me very well for the next two years.  FOURTH, the cost of living is much higher than what I’m used to.  In order to start life here, we are going have to fork out a TON of money (3 months rent, commission for the apartment, furnishings for the apartment, bedding, dishes, etc, etc) and that’s a very hard thing to do when we are used to the prices in Thailand.  Last but not least, the FIFTH current reason for why moving here has been hard, is due to the fact that Chinese food is just not that good.  I’m spoiled from eating my mom’s cooking and her Chinese food is nothing like the food here.

Don’t worry.  I’m not throwing in the towel just yet, but let me be honest in saying that the thought has crossed my mind a number of times since arriving here.  I know that any transition is hard and that things will get better with time, but it is a bit hard to see that light at the end of this tunnel.  Hopefully I’ll see it soon because my eyes can’t handle anymore tears!

So where is the hardest place you have had to move to?

starting somewhere

I read a lot of blogs pretty regularly and have decided to add my own to the blogging community.  I’m not sure how often I’m going to blog or what this blog will be about.  What I do know is that I want to use this space to share my life with anyone willing to stop by for a read.  I want to share about the adventure I call my life, the randomness that occurs in my head, and the images I see throughout my day. So here I am, ready to journal this life to anyone who stops in for a visit.