September

It's been a whole month. I left Canada on a plane a good 30-some days ago and now it's been an entire month. I feel like it's been a lot longer, but that could be my hazy memory and poor attention to detail. I'm back in Macau for another year of 4th grade teaching. 

I'm really grateful to have seen so many cool people, both new and old since the school year has begun. New staff at our school, other teachers from around town, locals, Portuguese, the lot. There are some pretty cool cats in this city/country, and lots of opportunities to hang out. Best part of it all is they encourage me (directly or indirectly) to break free of my miserable habits and try new stuff. I'm  dressing much better due to the persistent good advice of my room mate, and now playing squash due to the insistence of a buddy of mine. 

Look at those charming characters 

Yup, that's a sport. I play sports, because I own active wear and a water bottle and throw the towel around my neck like an athlete who does sports in active wear. But with the passing of time, contracts expire and we lose a few friends too. I suppose that happens no matter where you go, I'm no special snowflake. 

This year's new batch of kids may be the best yet, although that may just be my perspective, as these students haven't been tarnished by my bad manners and excessive volume. That may yet change yet. Each new year brings new challenges and rewards, but you can read that on an inspirational poster with an artsy cursive font. As you can see by my impeccable MS paint skills, I've protected their privacy and enhanced the photograph simultaneously. 

This isn't Japan. These are steaks.

In a few weeks, I have a period of time off that I'll be using to go to Japan for the first time. I've heard good things about it but I will have to go there for myself to see if it's a country I'm fond of. That should be neat. If you have any recommendations I'll take 'em. 

What a MESS

Macau is still about the same, although with a little less foliage. Now that it's the beginning of year #3, I suppose it would be a good idea to do a little self-improvement since I've got this teacher thing down. Health, creativity, number of neat shirts with cool patterns, who knows. Maybe I'll do some redecorating I still have some lovely framed maps & paintings I'd like to put up, which means drilling holes in walls, putting studs in holes, and hanging pictures securely enough to inflate my ego and assure myself that I can fix anything (the same feeling you get when changing light bulbs and tightening pot lids or cabinet handles). Gotta get ready for a Canadian Thanksgiving extravaganza after all. 

A bunch of pals

While it's only the beginning of the school year, I've been constantly thinking about if and when it's time to leave Asia and return home. Ideas of home loom in my head, ideas of rooming with pals from back home, having chili nights & board games hangs, and driving that Buick of mine in rain, sleet, snow or shine. MMMM-MM. Yessir. Every summer/Christmas I return, I'm reminded of so many of the things I took for granted that I now enjoy so much. 

A mom-cooked meal

It's a decision I'll have to make soon, as applications for teaching positions will open and close relatively quickly. But you're not concerned about that, you're here to see if I screwed up another seemingly simple aspect of life. How rude!

Well, it just so happens that I recently did...  

On the penultimate full day of my summer vacation, after packing my things and paying the collection of parking tickets that I had accumulated, I decided to pull an all-nighter to combat the jet lag and time difference in Macau. I arrived at the airport in Toronto with luggage packed to the limit, and a cozy outfit to make sleeping on the plane a breeze. I arrived at Pearson airport and sat in the lobby to allow my flight's excessively long check-in line to dissipate (this is also part of my scheme to get bumped to business class). Unfortunately, my outfit was a little too cozy, as when I rested my eyes for only a short moment, I slipped out of consciousness for almost two hours.... 
It's in these 'Oh Shit' moments that I lose the arrogance and cavalier attitude towards the things I can and cannot do. You can strategically be the last one to board an airplane in order to plunk yourself down in a business seat, but you cannot get on said airplane if you haven't checked in before the desks close. A very gracious Air Canada employee allowed me to purchase a ticket on the following day's flight for a mere $100, when it could have been ten-times that amount. Perhaps I will take this as a sign to respect the check-in process. Or perhaps not, time will tell. 

It only cost me an extra hundo to do this again

And in a short time, perhaps I'll have more disgraceful experiences to share, who knows.

Take care

Typhoon Hato

What used to be the scaffolding next to our school

Hello again! It's been quite the long absence from writing. I suppose I didn't really put the time aside to keep it up,  perhaps I was content with my surroundings and didn't think to share any new happenings of China-not-China. I would say sorry, but I'm an adult and owe an apology to no one but myself so just be lucky with what you get. 

Wind was strong enough to push this over

In the world of a teacher's head, September is the start of a brand new year. New students, new school policies, new colleagues, and new stories to tell about each of them. Unfortunately, this story is less of the silly type and more of the serious type. 

And knock this down

And rip down trees

And twist this like a stick 

Or just take most of them away completely

This is the north end of town

As a disclaimer - This was a significant natural disaster - There are photos and videos below that represent the intensity of the storm, and accordingly may be uncomfortable to see.Typhoon Hato was the most powerful storm to hit Macau in half a century. Here in Asia, they have a different system to categorize storms. Typhoons, Hurricanes and Cyclones are all the same thing, just with different names. I was not present for the storm, a story I will explain in a later, more light-hearted post. However, the vast majority of my colleagues and friends were in Macau, some at work or away from their homes when it hit. 

In a bit of political dissent (something I don't often do on public forums), the Macau government was very late in issuing a serious storm warning to residents. If you follow local news at home, you may recall forecasters tracking storms and predicting their landfall and intensity, usually giving lots of warning time. For whatever reason, that didn't take place in the South China sea last week. 

On the morning of Wednesday, August 23rd, even after Hong Kong and mainland China had emergency warnings issued that closed businesses, schools & government offices, in Macau there was no serious warning until the storm was almost upon the city. Locals were ill-prepared, some people were even caught at work, out running errands or even in the streets. You might notice buses & vehicles still travelling the roads, and pedestrians trying to make their way to their homes/shelter. This is the consequence of such a late warning being issued. There is still some debate over why things transpired the way that they did (indecisive weather services, a reluctance on the part of the many casinos to provide typhoon weather overtime pay to its many employees, etc.), I hear different things as I watch my facebook feed. Ultimately, a very embarrassing and shameful job on the part of the government. (Let's hope I don't lose my work visa for saying that...)

Here is a link to Time's report of the storm
http://time.com/4917981/typhoon-hato-macau-aftermath/

I'll have to find a new place to get lunch now...

Just a few of the knocked in windows

During the actual chaos (as you can see from the video), the winds were kind of very nuts. Blowing trucks over, ripping trees apart & out of the ground, and sending debris soaring through the air. One particular apartment complex (where quite a few of my friends live) had the vast majority of its windows on all its south-facing buildings blown in (as in, the wind pushed the large panes of glass so hard they shattered and blew into the apartments. I've heard a few funny stories of the shoddy build quality at what presents itself as an upscale living community, but that is the most surprising (and concerning) bit of news I've heard in that respect. I've been told stories by friends & colleagues of having to sit in the bathrooms/corridors of their apartments to stay away from potentially harmful blow-ins. The fact that the wind also carries chunks of trees, garbage, shop signs, and random rusty metal bits (courtesy of the construction sites which leave them lying around), I'm not surprised that a lot of people were worried about their buildings being peppered with not-so-fun surprises.

You may have heard about Hurricane Harvey that recently hit Texas and the Caribbean. In comparison, wind speeds and intensity was similar (Harvey was a little stronger), while damage costs were much higher in the U.S. & Central America largely due to the more widespread flooding. Nasty stuff.

Macau is now looking quite a bite more bare and ravaged. Trees have been largely torn down or dismembered, many shops are missing their large metal hanging signs, vehicles (especially buses) have lost a lot of glass, and there is of course the flood damage to neighbourhoods in the north end of town. 

I'm grateful that those I know in Macau stayed safe and were unhurt by the storm, although I can't say that about all the locals. Definitely a powerful and humbling force of nature that is not often seen.

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