Fast Food

Behave Yourself

The other day, it occurred to me how well behaved the kids of Hong Kong are. For all the time I spend riding the trains, wandering the streets, and cutting through malls to get from point A to point B, I have yet to see a young whippersnapper throwing a first-rate tantrum. I haven’t ever seen a group of middle schoolers horsing around and making a complete nuisance of themselves.

In public at least, the kids of Hong Kong seem to be pretty well behaved.

This young boy was the exception.

-Jack

Assorted Images March and April 2010

The Markets of Mon Kok

Something Fishy is Going On

Last month, Elise’s fourth-grade class did a unit on ecosystems. They cut the top four inches off of half a dozen plastic two-liter pop bottles. The kids turned these into makeshift aquariums by adding water, sand, a sea plant or two, a snail, and three or four small fish including one bottom-feeding cleaner fish. And –poof- they had themselves several self-sustaining ecosystems.

After the unit was over, Elise was one of the lucky ones who got to bring an aquarium home. Not surprisingly, she was quite excited to finally have a pet even if they didn’t invite petting. What was surprising though was the fact that the rest of the family got into these newest residents of the seventh floor.

We left the plastic aquarium on the dining table and spent several meals staring at the fish and talking about all things aquatic. Julie brought home an oversized, clear glass vase from Ikea to use as a bigger fish bowl. Elise talked us into taking her to the fish store to buy a replacement fish for the one that died. We all got very excited when the guppies had babies. We all got very sad when the adults ate them. Julie used a recycled plastic scoop to fashion a mini tank-with-in-a-tank in order to provide a safe haven for the next batch of babies.

This past Saturday, our big weekend outing was to head down to an older part of Hong Kong called Mon Kok to visit the aquarium street that has nothing but fish stores.

We left the apartment just after lunch, but didn’t get to the fish store until almost 4:00 o’clock, because first we had to visit the flower markets which are just down the street from fish street. The flower markets are street after street of florists with all their goods spilling out onto the sidewalk. Flowers or every variety and color.

And then we had to stop by bird street, where there were stores -stalls really- of birds, cages, and bird supplies. It was fun to look at all the birds some of which were not in cages and we were able to touch. As fun as that was, the real entertainment came from watching all the old men who brought their birds in cages to see and be seen on this Saturday morning. I’m not sure who was strutting and preening more, the cockatoos or the old men.

We finally made our way to the street that had nothing but stores with fish and turtles and aquarium supplies. We were in fish heaven. The girls looked and dreamed. We saw some amazing fish.

Looking at all the cool aquarium supplies and the exotic, colorful fish was awesome, but alas, we left without buying anything.

It was getting late.

It was time for dinner.

I asked if anyone else had a hankering for seafood. They all just rolled their eyes and headed for the nearest Indian restaurant.

-Jack

Tennis, Anyone?

Annika played on our school’s champion-ship tennis team. Kind of. Well, not exactly.
First, our school doesn’t actually have a tennis team. And second, Annika hasn’t really played any tennis to speak of. None-the-less, she’s got a first-place medal in her top dresser drawer and a US$50 gift certificate from K-Swiss shoes.

Let me explain.

In Hong Kong, youth sports work a little different than in the States. Many of the sports in Hong Kong –including tennis- function outside of the school framework. All of the kids who are serious about tennis take private lesson two or three or five times a week with a coach or through a club. These kids play in events coordinated by their clubs and play in tournaments that their private coaches or their parents sign them up for.

But every once in a while, someone such as K-Swiss hosts a tennis tournaments specifically for schools. At this point our school’s tennis coach –whole doesn’t really do any coaching per se- puts out the word that he has signed the school up for the tournament and then tries to round up students to make a team.

We have two standout tennis players at our school: sixth-grader Cheryl and eighth-grader Eudice who is ranked number one in here age bracket and number nine among women of all ages in Hong Kong. But the tournament required teams to have at least three members. After hearing back from a few other girls from our school who weren’t available (viola lessons or Kumon tutoring), the coach approached Annika. At this point, he basically needed a warm body to fill the roster. Much to her relief, he was pretty sure that Annika wouldn’t actually have to play.

Oops. When they all got to the tournament, it turned out that Annika would have to take to the court. The girl that Annika was slotted to play was not all that brilliant and Annika managed to score a few points off of her! Eudice’s dad commented that Annika had a nice stroke and was surprised to hear that she had not really played much tennis. None-the-less two or three games in, Annika –as she and her coach had planned- approached one of the officials complained of a sore shoulder and explained that she would have to withdraw.

But it didn’t matter; her work was done. Eudice and Cheryl swept the doubles and Eudice blew away the competition in singles. International Christian School took first place in the 2010 K-Swiss tournament.

And none of it would have been possible without Annika.

I missed the tournament, but made it to the award ceremony. Annika seemed to vacillate between being embarrassed over the ridiculousness of it all and being proud that in her own way she made a contribution to winning the tournament.

Sometime your biggest contribution is just showing up.

-Jack

Get on Your Bikes and Ride

Hong Kong tends to be either steep hills with dense greenery or heavily populated urban areas. This means that historically there have not been a lot of opportunities to wile away your youth riding your Schwinn Stingray around the neighborhood cul de sac.

So despite the fact that the much newer New Territories where we live north of the city center has been built with extensive bike trails, many people can not ride a bike or they can only do so with –how shall we say it- with a little tandem assistance.
In Hong Kong, it is not uncommon to see teens –or even adults- riding a bike with training wheels.

But hey, there ain’t no shame in that. You gotta do what you gotta do.

What would be a shame would be to miss out on the joys of biking with your friends simply because your ego got in the way.

Hey all you Four Wheelers out there, you just keep right on peddling!

And hold your heads high when you do.

-Jack

Okay, I tried to be really gracious with this blog entry, but I have to be honest, it still makes me giggle a little on the inside every time I see a big person with training wheels.