Last Day of School

Today was the kids' last day of school.  They have had a great school year.  They both had really great teachers and have made some very nice friends.

Charlotte and Tommy ready for their last day.

Charlotte finished Reception, which they call also call Kindergarten (or Kindy) here, but is more akin to pre-K in the US both age-wise and curriculum-wise.  She will move over to the big school next year and start year 1.  It is the same campus, but she will be in a different building.  She will move to a different playground and will get to have PE twice a week, including swimming first term, and attend weekly lower school assemblies.  

Tommy finished Year 2 which is like 1st grade.  He will move to Year 3 next year which is part of the upper school.  He will get to do bigger kids things like vote for student council and attend overnight camp.  They are both staying with the same class of kids next year and are excited about their new teachers.  

Charlotte's class had a little get together at the end of the day to present gifts to her teachers.  Her head teacher is retiring and moving back to Australia and several of her classmates are going to different schools next year, so it was nice to have one more event to take pictures and say goodbye.  

Charlotte's Reception Blue class

Charlotte with her teacher, Mrs. Menear

Charlotte and Mrs. Fraser

Charlotte with Ms. Baxter and her friend Shriya

 Tommy was completely unemotional about the day.  He is definitely looking forward to summer.  I did get him to take a quick picture with his teacher before we headed home.

Tommy and Ms. Saunter

Junk Boat!

Last Sunday we took a trip on a junk boat.  Renting a junk boat is a popular thing to do in Hong Kong.   We have some very good friends who are moving back to the US after a 3 year stay in Hong Kong.  A group of about 50 of us rented the boat for the day as a going away party for them.  It was also Father's Day so it was a great day for a celebration.  There is a wide range in the type of junk boats.  Ours was a very large party boat.  It was perfect for our group which was about half children.  It had 4 different levels with a disco, 2 karaoke areas, a Jacuzzi, a full kitchen (it included a full meal), a large area with tables and seating, and a sun deck for lounging and sunbathing.  It was an amazing boat for our first junk boat trip, but it will be hard to top (or even come close to equaling) on subsequent trips.

Our boat for the day

Karaoke

Tom, Tommy and Charlotte waiting to get in the water

Relaxing in the Jacuzzi

We boarded the boat at 10 AM and it sailed for about an hour until it reached an area with calmer waters for us to dock and swim.  The boat had a double slide off the back and a diving platform at least 10 feet above the water.  It also had an inflatable "trampoline" the kids had a great time playing on.  The trampoline might have been effective with a smaller group, but ours was always full of kids and if you went out onto the trampoline surface you would instantly just sink to the middle.  You couldn't stand up, much less jump.  Tommy had a great time playing on it anyway.  Charlotte was the youngest on the boat and there was only one other kid younger than Tommy so he really had fun trying to keep up with the bigger kids.  We had a lot of fun going down the slide and jumping off the platform (well except Charlotte.  I couldn't blame her for not trying, I found it a bit intimidating myself).  It was the kids first experience really swimming in salt water.  They kept commenting on the salty water.  

Jenneke and Charlotte in the water.

Tommy in midair after going down the slide

Tommy and Charlotte on the trampoline.  

After over an hour of swimming, the kids were ready for a break.  We dried off and relaxed on the boat.  Tommy has had problems with seasickness in the past and was complaining his stomach hurt.  He spent a lot of time cuddling with Tom or I and I was getting quite nervous considering we were scheduled to be on the boat for 6 more hours.  Luckily after a rest and a meal, Tommy was feeling much better.  We got back in the water for more fun.  The boat had some kayaks and we took a few trips around the boat.  

Tom and Tommy

Tom and Charlotte

Jenneke and Charlotte

We also went out on the speedboat to go tubing.  Tommy took the first turn.  He was on the inflatable raft with 2 other boys.  He held on for the first 2 turns (the rule was if you fell off you were finished, if you stayed on you could keep going).  It had started to rain while we were out and was starting to get heavier, so we headed back to the boat for safety.  After a 20 minute wait, the rain had stopped and we went back out.  I had a turn and managed to hang on.  Then Charlotte joined me.  We held onto the handles together and I laid slightly on top of her to keep her from flying off.  We stayed on for our turn and Charlotte had fun, but she didn't want to take another turn.  Tommy got one more turn with Tom and fell off this time.  He hit the water hard and was happy to be finished.

Tommy on the raft with our boat in the background

Tommy in the middle ready to hang on

Overall, it was an amazing day.  We all had a great time.  The weather was perfect.  The previous 10 days had been extremely hot and sunny.  Luckily, Sunday was overcast with a few occasional showers.  Other than the brief break when we were tubing, the rain didn't affect us at all, if anything it helped cool things down.  After we got home that evening, it rained all night long as well as having heavy downpours off and on for the rest of the week as a tropical storm had moved into the area.  We got very lucky we had a good day.

We had a great time and our group is already planning a trip for next year.

Junk boat by Tommy

Tommy decided to do a guest post on going on our junk boat trip last weekend.  Here is his entry.

I liked going on the junk boat.  My favourite part was when we went on the tube.  I also liked swimming out to the trampoline and jumping on it.

Love
Tommy

Dragon Boat Festival

Last Saturday was a public holiday the Tuen Ng Festival, or Dragon Boat Festival.  Being a Saturday, the kids did not a day off school (they do not move holidays unless they fall on Sunday because Saturday is a working day for many people in Hong Kong).  One of the traditional things to do on this holiday is to race dragon boats, or watch the dragon boat races.  We decided to skip the crowds and hours in the sun to get a decent view.  Instead, the kids participated in their own dragon boat race at the country club.  I had signed the kids up previously and they had them divided into age groups.  The kids raced the length of the pool on rafts shaped like dragons using a paddle to propel them.  They both did a great job, finishing 2nd in their respective heats and just missing the finals.
Tommy had 4 kids in his heat and he and another girl were way in front (she was ahead of Tommy).  He was really trying to catch her at the end and lost his balance.  He leaned forward onto the dragon's head and started trying to swim instead of paddling (which was against the rules).  He still couldn't catch her in time, but put in quite an effort.  :)  Tommy's race video

Charlotte on her dragon boat.  Tommy was in the pool to help her in case she needed it.

They also had drums for the kids (and parents) to beat on during the races for encouragement.

Charlotte beating the drum

Tommy and Tom beating the drums

The kids didn't win a praise, but I was proud of them for trying something new and doing their best.  It had been a very hot and sunny morning, so we decided to stop at the store for drumsticks.  It made the walk home a lot more fun.

Charlotte and Tommy with their drumsticks

Overall, it was a great day and we were glad we had participated.  We were ready to go home and spend the rest of the day playing in the air conditioning.

Hot Weather

It has been a long time since I have posted a new entry.  It has been very hot and humid in Hong Kong so instead of exploring, we have been spending most of our time indoors in the "air con" or at the pool.  The temperatures have been in the high 80s and 90s with heat indices often over 100.  Being closer to the equator, the sun is very intense here.  The humidity is also very high.  I often get soaked with sweat just walking back and forth to pick the kids up from school.  

The kids have both improved greatly in their swimming.  They get swimming lessons at school once a week.  Charlotte is learning to swim without any help for short periods of time.  She is not afraid of the water. Some of Charlotte's classmates are timid jumping into the pool, but her teacher often tells me how when it is her turn to jump in the pool, she says, "move back Mrs. Fraser, move back."  She wants to be able to do a big jump with a big splash.  Tommy is also doing well.  He swims around the entire pool without help.  He has gotten good at diving and loves diving deep to get things off the bottom of the pool.  His endurance is much better and he does well with swimming with his head underwater and just turning his head to the side to breathe.

Tommy also started playing football (soccer) after school this term.  He also frequently plays football at recess and has improved greatly.  Toward the end of the year, it was SO hot,  I really felt bad for him running around outside.  He would wear his hat and their coaches gave them lots of water breaks, but I was dripping with sweat just sitting outside watching him, I couldn't imagine running.  Tommy's coach gave out "Match Attax" cards to the 3 best players each week and Tommy often got one.  Match Attax cards are trading cards with soccer players on them.  They are very popular at school.

This last week, we got a break from the heat as a tropical storm was nearby and brought us lots of rainy days.  The kids' last swimming lesson of the year was cancelled and there were a few days we had to walk or from school in the pouring rain, but, for me, the rain was a definite improvement over the extreme heat.