A Weekend at Work

This weekend was a rather hectic one.  Hectic with work related stuff, but the work encompasses part of the reasons why I've loved the expat life in Macau.  Having Macau be a great fit for me personally has been one part of the reason for keeping me here beyond the initial 2 years.  But ultimately I am here for work and I can happily say that the professional side of life as a teacher here in Macau has been very close to perfect.  This weekend was a rather hectic one.  Hectic with work related stuff, but the work encompasses part of the reasons why I've loved the expat life in Macau.  Our school feels so much more like a community than any school I've been to in Canada.  Over the years, I been able to develop a close link to my students and get to know them as people better than I ever would for students in Canada. 

While I was back at school this weekend, I was surrounded by the people who have most made my time in Macau worthwhile, my students.  Seeing them at our community day event, helping volunteer for the first of three senior volleyball tournaments, and playing their hearts out, was very uplifting to watch.  That handy phone of mine was on me and can summarize the day's events:

The highlight of this first community day was the unveiling of our new field.  Here the TIS student athletes are shown breaking the banner for the unveiling.

 During the same day, TIS played host to the Pearl River Conference volleyball tournament.  The girls led after round robin play with a 3-1 record.  After taking care of business in the semifinals, the girls squared off against an international school from Shekou.  The girls felt confident going into the finals, having taken a well-contested 2-0 win over the same school in round robin play.  However, a few bad breaks, along with a sub-standard effort in the serving and serve receiving game spoiled the party for us.  There was much disappointment after the finals loss but I reminded them of their ultimate goal and that this was merely the first step. 

I've coached all of these girls since they've first tried out for the team and know them all very well.  I didn't expect to be coaching any of them after last year, so I try to remember to cherish every moment I'm coaching them again because they are all amazing people.  Our group is of one mind when it comes to being competitors and not winning when the opportunity was there was hard on everyone.  However, the girls taught each other that in order to experience enduring success, they have to learn how to pick themselves back up after failure.  Despite the tournament being only a day and a bit, I was touched to be told by my girls how appreciated the values I've instilled in them through sport and demonstrated this with their behaviour on and off the court.

PRC Senior Volleyball tournament award ceremony

Maybe not the trophy we wanted but I reminded them of how much effort it took to win it and how they're beginning to inspire a new generation of volleyball girls (many of my junior girls came to watch the games)

Well done to the senior boys who captured their first ever volleyball championship.

Finally, here is the poster I designed for our senior girls volleyball team.  Their big tournament is called ACAMIS and is quite similar to the junior team's SCISAC tournament.  The other 5 schools are from Hong Kong, Dalian, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, and Beijing.  We are hosting this year's ACAMIS volleyball tournament and it begins on in 3 weeks.  

Lots of familiar faces.  The ACAMIS 2014 team.

September in the Books

Hi All,

The first five weeks of school have wrapped up and we've worked through the first of the week-long breaks of the year, so let's recap what has happened so far this year. 

On the school front, things have progressed quite smoothly even though it has been busy.  I'm as comfortable with the routine as I've ever been.  Re-teaching the same curriculum content and the same group of students has made the professional side of life quite manageable.  I say things have been busy because the start of the year is always about change and setup a routine that lasts for the year.  In the process of setting up the year, we've decided to move our experience week travel destination away from Cambodia, as it never seemed to gain any significant traction with the students and parents.  Later this school year, we'll instead be heading off to the unanimous top pick destination, Japan.

We were suppose to have another school trip early in the year as well.  Some of you may recall that we took the grade 9s to the Dom Bosco outdoor education centre last September.  All was going according to schedule this year until a typhoon day coincided on the same day.  Unfortunately, as the camp is solidly booked through the beginning of the school year, we have to postpone the trip all the way until March, within weeks of the experience week trip. 

Outside of class, things have moved along at a steady pace with a volleyball practice each day, alternating between the junior and senior girls team.  The entirety of the senior season finishes before things ramp up for the junior season, so for now there's more priority on getting the senior girls game ready for their season.  It is a peculiar season too, because it just so happens that we are hosting all of the tournaments of different international schools and won't traveling anywhere.  Sure, it might not be as exciting as it has been previously, being able to travel with the team, but it'll be less logistical details I'll have to manage.  I'm also excited to play in a familiar environment with a hopefully boisterous home crowd.  In the meantime, practices are running their course, with the girls improving their play as the weeks progress.  In the upcoming 5 weeks we've got 3 tournaments.  More to come about that later.  The juniors have considerably more time before their big SCISAC tournament in the new calendar year. 

Offsetting the lively start to the year, we've just finished up with our Fall Break, where myself and 5 other teachers when to Bali, Indonesia for the break.  It was my first time south of the equator so that was a neat milestone.  Bali itself was beautiful and offered a great mix of adventures and relaxation.  Our accommodations were to everyone's immense satisfaction and really help settle us into that relaxed island vibe that we all needed as an escape from the first month of school.  My highlights from the trip were very much to do with our connection with the land.  I'll fondly remember:

• Monkeys jump on me and trying to poach non-existence food from my camera bag 

• Having a sensory overload while we rafted through a narrow canyon with 2 million bats screeching overhead; the sight, sound, and yes even smell of bat droppings

• Sipping on the famous Kopi Luwak coffee; the most expensive blend of coffee in the world that is processed from the digested and excreted fecal matter of the palm civet

Definitely an idyllic tropical island worth another trip to in the future.  I guess there's a reason it's a such a popular getaway location and the site of many beach weddings.  The rest of the adventures from Bali, I'll show you in picture form.

Home sweet home for the week in Bali.  Never had my own pool before.

Villa Nesa Nur.  That's right, we stayed at a villa, an awesome one at that.

Sweet digs

The native inhabitants of Bali

Meeting a friend in the monkey forest.

Monkey family

Hindu temples line the street everywhere in central Ubud.

A huge ceremony at night in Ubud.  Was told it only happens once in 100 years.  Lucky us.

Did anyone say water water rafting?

Starting point

A batcave.  2 million bats.  Coolest thing from the trip.

A stop at a coffee plantation.

Unprocessed Kopi Luwak coffee beans

Let's trying biking here

A brief stop at the rice field during our bike trip.

Delicious

The rice fields outside of Amed where we went snorkelling

Additionally, I now have a smartphone that I picked up over the summer.  This makes it easier to snap up some shots from day to day life in Macau.  Over the span of first month that I've been back, here's a few more memorable shots.

Our athletic director suddenly had to leave TIS, so there was a joint teacher and student farewell/birthday party for him.

Well liked

Where's Waldo?

Explored a little garden in Macau that I'd never been to before called Lim Iok.  Small but beautiful.

Turning to 4

Hi All,

The past two months that make up summer have absolutely zoomed by.  Having now made several trips between Canada and Macau, I found it quite interesting to note that neither places seems foreign or unfamiliar when I get back to it.  My time abroad has now broaden my comfort with a much greater cultural landscape.

First though, I thought I'd show you a snapshot of my summer back in Canada.  It seems like a suitable way to lead you back into the story of my current foray into teaching in Macau.

Back in Victoria, BC.  Can't say it isn't beautiful out there.

The BC Legislature surrounded by an array of colours

Butcharts Gardens just outside Victoria.  A dazzling sight to behold.

In full bloom

Bird Garden

I travel across 3 time zones to see this guy get married.  One of my closest high school friends tied the knot with his perfect girl.

Miles and years have come and gone.  One is an international teacher and the other is destined to be a doctor.  A lot has changed in 8 years but through all the adventures the connection remains.

The Olympic Cauldron from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics

Where sky meets sea in BC, you will find the mighty Orca whales.

Granville Island Public Market

A feast of the senses.

Gastown in Vancouver

It's okay, I know you want some.

Canada Place in downtown Vancouver

Scarborough RibFest.  Also very delicious.

Went to the archery range a few times this summer (I don't own the equipment though).  Finally hit this paper target from 18m away.

At the Rogers Cup tennis event.  Posing beside the pictures of Novak Djokovic and the legendary Roger Federer.

Rogers Cup Singles Final.  Roger Federer vs. Jo-Wilfrid Tsonga

The Swiss Maestro at work

Tsonga was the better player on this day.

Birthday dinner for my dad.

This was just a mere snapshot of my summer.  As you can tell it was an eventful summer though.  One way or another, another chapter of the current year has now drawn to a close and I am currently once more in Macau.

It similarly hard to believe that two full weeks are now in the books during round 4.  The start of the year is predictably busy but also eventful and picture-worthy.  Here's what I've been up to so far:

It's been a while, but once again I manage to get back to Macau in time to catch the FIVB World Grand Prix.  Here is action from Serbia vs. South Korea

2nd match of the day.  China vs. Japan.  Has a bit of a Canada vs. USA rivalry match feel to it.

Well that was unexpected.  Free tickets to UFC Fight Night.  Where do all these free tickets in Macau come from?  There is literally at least one person from TIS each time that has free tickets to every major sporting or concert event.

Fight Night!

Double the fun?  Yes that's right, there are now two volleyball teams under my tutelage.  The senior have a run and gun season that only lasts 9 weeks, with 3 tournaments (all of which are hosted by TIS), a league season, and possibly additionally friendlies.  The junior season is the same as it has always been, with a year end tournament this year in Hong Kong. 

I get my first lunch prep this year.  "Sadly" my classroom is occupied that period.  What to do with 2 hours for lunch?  Maybe head over to Hard Rock for a delicious (and discounted) pasta lunch buffet with bottomless iced tea.  What are you having for your work lunch?

Weekend morning hike.  The view of Macau peninsula from Taipa Grande hill.

The view of the Cotai strip from Taipa Grande.  You can see the school from here (it's that small building to the left of that grey cube).