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.