Part Eight: The Summer

WELP. After 7 weeks of full-on teaching, planning, marking and heavy sweating, that about finishes off the school year for me.
"Stuart you weren't even there for 2 full months. You barely did anything" .Brent I would request you take the RUDENESS and leave it outside. I still have to pack up my office and classroom and do a bit of planning for next year, so I did (and am still doing) plenty, thank you very MUCH. I think I deserve a little summer break.

This week has been a hectic one. After about 5 straight days of poor sleeping (≤ 4 hours each night), it's finally caught up with me. Thursday was supposed to be the first of 3 pack up days (students are at home, except for tonight), but with the possibility of infecting other staff right before their long trips home (or staying sick myself prior to my own trip), I logged my very first sick day ever. Is that a good thing? Should I be proud? I still kinda feel poopy so I'll take what I can get. BUT my kids (notice how I have claimed ownership of them) had their closing ceremony that night, and I was able to use my superior musical skills to 'conduct' my class through a One Direction tune. I knew my music degree would come in handy at some point! It was really something special to see all of the kids up on the stage, getting their awards & 'good jorb ya did it' certificates. While I only had them for under two months, it was really great to connect with each of them and build a community in the classroom, I can't imagine what a full year together could bring. 

P.S. Having a good time with kids is 100% related to how well-supported you are by your fellow staff. My grade 4 partner-in-crime, Hope, is an absolute gem. She keeps me on track even when I don't know I'm a train and should even be on a track. Without her (and actually, a good handful of other staff) I would be spending my time stressing, fussing and telling kids to 'KEEP IT DOWN', stumbling my way through each day. 

I actually had the distinct pleasure of having some visitors last weekend. A friend of mine from a big band (that's a JAZZ big band for you uneducated low peasantry) I was part of in high school & college, as well as his girlfriend, were both in the area (one travelling Cambodia, the other working in Hong Kong) and decided to reach out and drop by. It was remarkably refreshing having Canadian visitors come and see the things that you've just gotten used to (like a bubble tea after work, or feeding the fish in the flower gardens, or the excessive heat that soaks everything you wear). I no longer felt like a visitor or outsider, since I now had the opportunity to show someone else around the city using what limited knowledge I had. Dutch blitz was played, incredible food was eaten, beaches were walked on, and a lovely weekend was had. It was just really, really nice. As my first visitors to my place ever (except my landlord, but he doesn't count...), I award +5 points to Tristan and "the girlfriend" (or Joanna and "the boyfriend", depending on who you ask) for coming by for a weekend.  

THE SUMMER:

The school I'm at uses the same academic calendar year as a Canadian school, which means I get myself the summer to myself. Well, not the whole summer. For new staff, orientation starts on the third weekend of August, and (if I'm not mistaken), all staff are there the week after to get their classrooms set up, start planning, etc. That's business as usual for most teaching gigs (as far as I know). For me that means after I'm done packing my classroom and office (which, at the time of typing this, has just been completed), I have 7 weeks of free time to do what I want because I'm-an-adult-I-can-do-what-I-want. 

I'm off to Yurip on Monday (you know, the expensive continent with all the things). I hope I don't run out of money or get sick or something, that'd be poopy. Originally I had booked my flight in December (prior to being offered my job) to fly into Dublin in mid June, spend some time in Ireland (simply because I've never been there and it would be cool to explore it), and then make my way to Scotland and eventually some other country (I had planned for 3 weeks total). After the contract offer and request to come to Macau in May, that had to change. I fussed for how long I would stay, what I would do, etc etc. I had my doubts as to whether or not I should even go to Europe, with the alternative being to go home to Canada and do Canadian things for a number of weeks. It was only the other day when I actually started looking into where I might visit, what I might see, hear, taste & drink. Castles & whiskey in Scotland, pubs & folk music in Ireland, old friends and a Volvo museum in Sweden, and whatever I want to in London. What got me the hardest was Google Street View-ing some of the places around Edinburgh, 'walking' down the Scottish streets under a grey Scottish sky with old limestone houses and fields of green on the horizon. I'm absolutely chuffed to be doing this. GOOD JORB STUART YA DID THE RIGHT THING. Here's how things will pan out:

- Two weeks in Scotland with the parents, consisting of 5 days in Edinburgh, 5 days in the Highlands, and 2 days in Glasgow [June 30th to July 10th]
- One week in Ireland, driving a rented Mini (probably very vigorously) across the country: Belfast, Doolin, Killarney, Cork, Kilkenny, & Dublin [July 10th to July 17th]
- One week in Sweden, beginning in Goteborg, visiting Katrineholm and ending in Stockholm [July 17th to July 25th]
- A full day in London to see all things English (still need to book a hostel in London, so I'll take any recommendations you've got) [July 25th & 26th] 
I share this not to say "Oh look at me u guise I'm going to Europe be jealous cause I'm travelling isn't that so EXCLUSIVE TO TRAVEL". Rather, if anyone has been to any of these places (or better yet, will be in any of these places at those times), I would love to connect with you so better adventures can be had. After all that, it's back to Macau VIA Hong-Kong to poke around for a few weeks and try and do productive things. Canada will come next summer. However, Canadians (I.E. my frands) should be coming some time during the year. I hope.I like visitors, please be one. Please. 

With that desperate plea, I will leave you. I'll see if and how I might update this thing while I'm away, including pictures & whatnot. Same applies to snapchat, if I can get wifi (snapchat is a lil more mobile friendly than typing out a short novel for the blawg). Either way, I'll try my best to make things go. First things first, I have to decide what shoes to wear... 

Part Seven: Finding 'Home'

Most of this blog has been dedicated to the things that I've been able to see and do so far in this very new and different chapter of life. I even think I might have mentioned the climate here at some point. But today, the Macau Interlude is about something else. This is on the subject of finding a home, somewhere, in this new place.

Living away from everything that you've known most of your life is a big jump. I mean HUGE. I have so much respect for all those people who have done it, are doing it, or are about to start doing it. I've never experienced anything quite like it before. Living on your own is also different that what I expected at first. For those of you who saw the video, the snaps, the blog post from a week ago, I was (and still am) very pleased to get a place of my own for the first time ever. But there's something very different about having your territory, a place no one else is involved with or even sets foot in (So far). Coming home to an empty house, things being exactly where they were left (I.E. laundry still not put away, empty cereal bowl still on the counter, etc), as nothing happens while you're gone. Nobody to check on to see how their day's been, or to have dinner in the midst of cooking, or a cat to call inside and rub it's chin (believe me, I've thought about adopting a cat many times since I've arrived here). Yes, it can be lonely. I get those feels at times.


Coming from an almost uninterrupted period of school, camp & breaks filled with contact with people , there hasn't ever been a time like this where life has been quite so, well... lonely. Right now, sitting in an empty apartment, writing this, there is a sort of contrast to how things have been. It's a relative contrast; I couldn't have lived life as a student forever (OSAP would certainly come knocking), I probably wouldn't have found any decent work close to home (at least without a grueling commute), and I couldn't have maintained the kind of social life that my formative years allowed me as friends find new jobs, become involved in deeper/more romantic relationships, and generally grow apart as time elapses. I understand that. I will do my utmost to maintain those relationships (some people get jazz tunes, some people get pictures, some people (Brent) get classified car ads that make my more impulsive side writhe for control. Anyone on snapchat will get the odd silly update from my life. Despite this, I miss people at home a lot. At times, it's very a lot. The odd moment I will see someone's picture (like my own here) and it will be tremendously very a lot.

That being said (and I still have to tell myself this at times), there is no time and place like the present. Having lovely people in your presence is the most unparalleled, wonderful feeling that can be felt, and to experience that means making more friends (in a very non-English speaking country, mind you).

The only direction you can move is forward (as you probably already know). For me, most of that means my co-workers, and happen-stance encounters. On that account,they have been a joy to work with. People from all over the globe, of all different ages, interests, and favourite snack-types (you learn that quickly sharing an office with people). However, with the storm of exams on the horizon, and the various things that keeps 'grown ups' busy, I've found it more challenging to spontaneously put hangs together, so that take a bit more work. We'll see...


For me, finding home means doing things that make this new chapter work for me. It means trying new things, revisiting old things, (listening to albums I haven't heard since high school has been a favourite), and a bit of diligence in terms of seeking things out and staying with the neat things I find (notice how I used the word NEAT again).

So far, this is what I've been doing to stay busy and engaged in society:

Swimming in the park. Yes that is just the map of the park, but it's a nice one. This one is Nova Park, called 'Central Park' by the people in the neighbhourhood. It's the closest one to the school, and the one I swim at most often (well, the only one I've swam at, aside from the one you'll see in a bit). A post on Nova park will appear later. 

Live in the village. My part of town (that's right, I own it) is called Taipa Village. It's a nice old part of the city, with old colourful buildings, courtyards & squares, and a myriad of restaurants, cafes and shops I've get to visit. It also has an expat pub called the 'Old Taipa Tavern' that I've been lucky enough to run into staff at once, so that was a fun way to end my mostly anti-social weekend. 

Go to Macau side for things. Macau side (another post on that later) is the more populous and densely-developed part of the city-state. It's a little less gambling centered (only a little) and has plenty of places to shop. Unfortunately, I'm not very good at shopping, so I tend to wander around the city with my backpack for a surplus of 5 hours, only to buy a pair of undershirts, a book or a neat picture I found. Oh, and my blue pants. I really like my blue pants.
Visit Coloane Village. It's probably my favourite neighbourhood in the city. It's at the south-most part of the south-most island, and is the quietest and most European-influenced part of Macau. I go to the market on weekends for my fruit, rice and veggies, and take a few pictures while I'm out here too (you bet I'm going to have a post or three about this place). 

 Go to the casinos for non-casino-related activities. This is the pool I mentioned before. I ran into some staff one saturday who had me join them for someone's birthday. We spent a good 5 hours here and I wouldn't have it any other way. The casinos have some good attractions that are surprisingly not-full of visitors (despite the gambling areas being packed). Oh well, more room for us. 

Cook at home. Well, I suppose the alternative would to be 'not eating', which isn't very fun. Tonight I'm going to attempt coconut sticky rice with mango, as long as I don't butcher the rice like I did the first time. Maybe some people will come over to play games when I get that dining set this week. Maybe... (please come visit). 


I also take the odd picture when I can be bothered. Shout out to our family friend, 'Uncle' Scott, for the wonderful gift that is this camera (seriously though, this thing takes magnificent pictures for a lil babby hand-held). I don't really know anything about photography, so I point my camera at things, press the button, and hope nice pictures come out.

That's about all there is to life here at this point. Even finishing writing this, looking at the things I've been doing and am doing, I still miss the hangs and happenings back in Canada (what I wouldn't give for a patio beer in 20 degree weather). I'm glad to feel the love and support from home. The posts, snaps, skype chats. All these are lovely and great to have (and I will not follow that sentence with any kind of if and or but that diminishes its importance). For that, I am very thankful, and I can only do my best to return it and keep in contact with folks back home. 

Part Six: The Flower Garden (Jardim des Flores)

Today marks the 1-month anniversary of me stepping out of an airport into an entirely different world. A world full of new foods, smells, cars, cultures, languages and hot, soupy air. I've been here 30 days, and (despite having to hop over to Hong Kong to extend stay of my non-VISA'd a**) I think I might be kinda used to it now. Had my first staff meeting today, which was NEAT.

"Stuart that's not even remotely interesting"

Brent I would care very much if you would follow the rule "If you don't have something polite to say, then you are a cynical pessimist and a butt and have no place in this conversation". Since you didn't think that my shout-out to you was special enough last week, I thought I would let you in this week because I'm a nice man. Apparently I made a mistake. But I digress. No, you digressed. RUDE. 

But Macau tho. Not a bad place. I had reservations on coming to a new country. Well, to be honest, I had no clue what to even start thinking. My best-bud-on-many-levels Murray was unnerved during our last week together at the level of calmness as our days together were dwindling. The honesty of the situation is that I had no idea what to think, and I was too obtuse to realize what and how things would be different, although you can't be 100% accurate. I was probably about 40% accurate, which (if you know your way around #theteacher'slyfe) is not a passing grade.

Have I mentioned that it's hot? What about the humidity? Do you know about the humidity? Have you even felt humidity? Do you know what it's like to step out to get a tart or a cat or something for 3 minutes, and coming back needing to change your shirt? Or going through 3 T-shirts in a weekend? Do you know how it feels to bring your beloved Canadian corduroy pants & sweaters with you, only to find they are more useless than a Bachelor of Jazz Music? (heh) Do you know the feeling when you return home wetter than if you just stepped out of the shower? Literally dripping on the floor as you walk from the front door to the bathroom (although a cold shower after work is now one of my favourite things). Have you any idea what life is like when you never, EVER dry off? Where coming out of the shower is only an illusion, and that your hair will never feel the recluse of a cool breeze or the dryness that makes the summer so fresh and clean. I'm going to be washing my pillowcases every week.  

 Also I wear long sleeves and long pants to work because I am a man. No, not the "I am a man, and I will be the one who wires the home stereo/forgets what brand of toilet paper we use even though I've got to do the grocery shopping/curses while I try and mend the goddamn wireless router that rejects its password every single time my computer connects to it" kind of thing. I mean because I'm a man, the world expects me to wear clothing with minimal breathing ability and flair (although I do try by wearing colourful matching shirts & ties). There are times where the ability to wear (and pull off) a sundress is an enviable feat. But I digress (this time it's my fault Brent).


The Flower Garden (called Jardim des Flores in Porch-uh-geese) is a place to let all the stress, anxiety and mixed feelings about gender-role clothing articles float away. It's got a wonderful series of fish ponds full of, well, fish. Oh, and turtles! The turtles are cool guys too. Sometimes kids will come by and feed the fish (even though you're not supposed to, but I don't see any municipal people coming to feed them, so what do I know), and swarms of fish will crowd in the same spot trying to get some bread pour mangia. There is a small area for rollerblading/skateboarding [PICTURE NOT AVAILABLE], and a spot for kids & others pretending to be kids to play on the jungle gym (or whatever they call it here. They use a mix of American & British terms in their English, so I don't know what to call it. Maybe the Coloured-Metal Fort or Jolly Jumpus-Rumpus Range (Try and guess which one of those is the British-English one). There is also a small area with public exercise machines (you'll see more on this later) and a neat stone pathway that helps get the knots out of your feet (now that's what I call fuggin NEAT), more on that later too. It is truly a relaxing place, despite the numbers of people that visit (the Macanese in general have a lot of respect for quiet public parks like this, and it never really feels like there are too many people in the park).

Since I've used up most of my time to talk about things OTHER than the Flower Garden, here are more pictures. I'll have more pictures and stories of this intriguing place in the future. 

Also come and visit. Every day I'm finding new places to see and do and make things go (except my social life..... ᵖᶫᵉᵃˢᵉ ᶜᵒᵐᵉ ᵛᶦˢᶦᵗ ᵐᵉ). I can't imagine how much fun we would have, but I actually can and it is a lot. Start saving money because Asia has never been home to your best-friend-who-is-the-most-fun-person-even-though-sometimes-he-is-too-loud-and-rammy!

See you in a few days. 

Part Five: My First Apartment

I am an adult. I am this thing because I now say so, and also because I am by legal definition. I now say so because I have surpassed the financial, social and personal boundaries of being a student, into being strange and foreign land of grown-up life. The land that is centered around so many things, ranging from 'what material should my new tie be made of' to 'you have to pay all the bills which will entail religious management of your money because if you don't we'll sneak into your house at night, shave off your hair, and turn all your furniture upside down before coating the floors with butter'. If this new strange life could be summed up into two equal new strange parts, the first half would be full-time employment; a fascinating concept of going to a place to do things in order to get things from the people that run/own said place. Those things can vary, but they usually entail a certain amount of financial freedom. The other half was the acquisition of my own place, the central and largest representation of said financial freedom. 


The novelty still hasn't worn off. I live in an apartment. MY apartment. It belongs to me because I give money to a man and he says "yes you can live here this is now YOUR apartment". I can leave all the windows open all day, I can move the furniture in any arrangement I choose, I can lay on the kitchen floor and do stretches while I fuss about my back, I can do ANYTHING. Well, that is until my roommate arrives in August, but that just means I can buy the spices, arrange the furniture, and fill the bathroom with my favourite brand of toilet paper. It's kind of like marking your territory, but in a more selfish, passive-aggressive sort of way. 

But that's enough of that. It's time for you to see the place. If you've seen it already, I award you +5 points for caring enough to get in contacting me and chatting over my loud expressions of excitement at the new residence. If you haven't seen it already, I award you no points for your apathy and lack of concern for singular events in my life. If I have offered to show you my place after communicating to you that I have one now, and you have refused for poor reasons such as "Stuart, I'm in advanced calculus class I can't chat" or "No repsonse", then I award you -5 points for house Stansfield (that's correct, Brant). 

This is the main bedroom. It's got a bed. It's got a closet. It's got windows & an air-conditioner in the wall. That's about it. The view is pretty decent tho. 

This is my drawer of ties. Most of them are from Value Village. They used to belong to others, but they belong to me now. 

This is where I put my clothes. I own neither an iron nor any clothes hangers, so this is where my clothing goes when it's finished being washed. If I want to wear a shirt, I hang it up outside the day before and the moisture from the air allows me to put the shirt on and wipe out most of the wrinkles. I am a smart man. Yes, those are blue pants. Yes, they do look fantastic, and yes, I wear them with a matching blue shirt and tie, because I can do that now. 

This is the bathroom. It has the things a bathroom needs, and nothing more. There is one thing I would like to note about this bathroom. There is an infuriatingly poorly-designed toilet-paper holder that sits on top of the toilet. No beside, not across from, but behind. So after finishing some 'official business', I've got to put out my back trying to clean up afterwards.

<This is my face when writing 'official business'

This is the spare bedroom (well, spare would imply it's disposable). It's a nice little room with the same sized bed, but no floor space or door, only a curtain. It also has two windows (one goes all the way to the floor) and an air conditioner. The closet is also a little smaller, but still really big and tall. It's nice (but I took the other one because of... reasons)

And for the most important room in the house (pour mangia), the kitchen. I've got it set up just right. I haven't got any dining furniture yet (which would go just beyond the sing under the brighter window in the background), so I've got that to look forward to. As you can see, in Macau they don't believe in ovens, so we don't get any. I've got a mircowave, gas range and a couple other appliances that make food go.

Here is my spice/produce corner, where the spices and semi-perishables go (is that a term? Semi-perishables? The grown bits that can sit out and that don't have to be refridgerated...). Pasta at the back, cooking oils & sauces next, spices and herbs to the side, and the bowl of your semi-perishables up front where you can grabbem for maximum ease-of-access.  Notice the silly British plugs in the wall. Macau followed suit with Hong Kong for their electrical infrastructure.
 Next is the tea/goodies nook (yes, I called it a nook, because I thought that would be neato). I've got peanut butter & honey, tea & bread, nuts for salads & such, and sweets (dark chocolate, digestive cookies, and some of dem Portuguese egg tarts that find their way into my home refuse to let me shed any weight).

Not a bad view from the kitchen. I don't have a proper exhaust fan, but the fan in the window works A-OK for my needs (as long as I don't make Steak a-la-plancha).


I also have a pineapple. I got it for (the Canadian equivalent of) fifty cents.




This is the undramatic other side of the kitchen. Fridge, things on top of the fridge, cupboards, etc. Essential but inexciting. Overall, it makes a handsome and functional kitchen. I hope that it'll be used to host many tasty meals in combination with dutch blitz & Game of Thrones hangs.





And now we have come to the living room. It's an open concept kitchen so there isn't a separated area, but it works just fine for my needs. I moved things around a little bit since I posted the video on facebook. I use my TV for computer things (I hook up my laptop to it so I can play movies/music/video games on a respectable sized screen). As you can see there are also windows on this wall as well. I've got natural light coming in from 3 directions out of a possible 4 (five if you want to blast a hole in the roof, but I think someone is living above me, and they would likely give me something other than light if I ever entertained that idea).


 This is the living room from the other angle. There's seating for three at the moment, which will have to change if Dutch Blitz is going to take off (please come over), so I'll take care of that.

 And I've even got a balcony too! It's only a small one with enough room to store a few cleaning supplies & a shopping trolley, as well as hang clothes up (they also do not believe in dryers here). It's got a nice view, but so does the rest of the apartment, so I don't spend much time out there. To the right is the cabinet of endless entertainment, containing a grand total of six games, a dozen or so books, and the collection of DVDs that I have inherited from the previous tenant.

That, my friends, is the WHOLE kit and kaboodle. I very much hope that you'll be able to see it in person one day (I've had no visitors yet :(...), because I need to play Dutch Blitz. Seriously. It's been too long.

Dinner is ready so I'm off. Thanks for checking in.