Part Four: Adventures, Mishaps and Tasty Foods (pour mangia) for May 2015

After a bit of collaborating with a friend of mine, I've decided to put together a monthly post that hits a few of the smaller points that may get left out of the main blog ideas. These smaller points can be something as small as a tiny shop I happened by and thought was neat (some things are just really neat to me, I can't explain it), a certain car/bike/truck I see, or just a way of life that contrasts what I'm used to in Canada/North America. Either way, it's bound to be NEAT.
Since adventures and neat experiences also come with embarrassing or otherwise unfruitful outcomes, there will also be stories about how an outing, day or series of days went south due to any number of reasons (often, my own obtuse qualities). This week, as expected, you will hear about my first weekend in Macau that entailed me visiting the hospital one day, and being locked inside a Panda park on the next. I also want to devote a small portion of it to new and interesting foods that I've come across as each month passes. At the risk of coming across as a turd-burglar (yes, you read that correctly), I will try and sneak some pictures of some of said foods and drinks. Since it's impossible to individually use these generally neat, embarrassing and tasty little moments as the basis for an entire post, I've collaborated all of these neat little things into one monthly post. Now that we have those formalities out of the way, here's the first recap of Adventures, Mishaps and Tasty Foods (pour mangia) for the month of May 2015.

Adventures: I don't have a specific adventure to put out there this time, but I thought I'd chat a bit more about what it's like to live here in Macau. Generally as places go, Macau is a neat one. However, as places go, Macau is a different one in many ways than Canada. It is a geographically small place, but while it is inhabitants are 95% Han Chinese, they possess particular differences to what we call 'Mainland' Chinese people. Being under Portuguese rule for such a long period of time has had its impact on the city-state, and when put in contrast with the Chinese tourists and workers that travel in and through Macau on a daily basis, they become evident fairly quickly. The Macanese locals, as a whole, are generally friendly, tidy and organized people. They don't honk at others in traffic, they give up their seat on the bus others, and they do their best to be polite while you butcher your way though a Cantonese 'Hello' or 'thank you'. I've made a local friend since arriving, and we've chatted briefly about life in Macau as a local: How things are now, what it's like to live with your family in a dense city center, how things have changed due to the past decade of new money and development. It certainly makes me more aware of things outside of my own Western perspective (how to act on that though, that's a different story). 

Mishaps: After my first night out drinking with some of my new work collegues, I accidentally my whole weekend. The whole thing, that's right. It started by joining the staff for a few drinks on a Friday night (I had a grand total of four pints, by no means beyond what I can handle in Canada), and felt in surprisingly rough shape by the end of it. Catching a cab home, I went to bed with a glass of water expecting to use the rest of my weekend to explore the city and do fun things. Upon waking up, I felt worse than I ever had before, wondering if I hadn't caught some kind of illness, or perhaps food poisoning. After most of the day passed without any end in sight (nausea persisting throughout the entire day), I sought medical assistance as I was concerned that this wasn't any regular sickness/hangover. Upon my arrival, they proceeded to force a tube through my nose into my esophagus, which was probably one of the single most unpleasant experiences in my life (it didn't help that it constantly triggered my gag reflex due to it being lodged in my throat). Anyways, that fun aside, they filled me up with a saline solution (hydrogen peroxide perhaps?), checked to see if there was anything in my stomach that was causing the trouble (NOPE) and then gave me some medicine and sent me on my way. The culprit of my illness has only become evident to me recently: Due to the sheer and relentless heat and humidity that is the climate of Macau, I can no longer consume alcohol. "But Stuart can't you just hav-" No. I cannot just have. I cannot. I am on the verge of dehydrated all day, and a bottle of beer, glass of wine, or drink of whiskey will easily put me over the edge and make me feel hungover before I even have a chance to pour myself another. So it was just a very potent and relentless hangover (Only...), and this was only Saturday mind you.

On the Sunday that succeeded it, I decided to get some air to help soften the blow of my entire body. Next to the apartment complex I was staying in, there is a small zoo & park that has a collection of birds, monkeys, woodland creatures, and a Panda (this picture was taken inside the zoo, with my former living space in the background). We call it 'The Panda Park' because we can't read the signs and it has a Panda on it. So, wanting to see the panda and get out of the house, I wandered into the zoo for some pictures, 'wild'-life and fresh, hot, moist-and-soupy air. After taking a walk around the bird and monkey cages, I went for a hike in the mountain that the zoo sits at the foot of (there is a designated trail that runs parallel to the zoo, and spits you out at the other side, takes about an hour to do the whole thing). I take my time, snap some pictures, and struggle with the intense temperature (have I mentioned the heat here?) as I explore the cool rivers, trees, pathways & whatnot. The first dilemma: I could not finish the trail, as the last 500m was closed for construction. It was walled off, with a sign in Cantonese that I could only assume meant 'NOPE WE'RE CLOSED SORRY BUSTER. That meant I had to go back through the entire course. Mind you, at this point I had been outside in the heat, sweating profusely, for about an hour and a half. I was already (as I learned later) still quite hungover, and being obtuse, I did not bring a water bottle (of course). I decide to head back through the train until I can at least see the zoo again, and then cut through the forest before I get any more dizzy than I already was. I found a clearing with a courtyard in the distance, and trudged my way through the loose muddy soil (while there were not many mosquitos or other pesky bugs, there were a ton of spiders. LOVELY), grabbing onto trees and vines for support as I got my new shoes and shorts covered in mud, being careful not go drop my glasses (which were already falling off my face due to my face dripping in sweat). I can confirm that there was heavy breathing throughout the entire ordeal. After finally reaching the bottom, I made my way towards the gate, ready to go home and crawl into a cold shower and then back into bed. As I approached the main gate, I saw that it had been closed, which was odd considering that the zoo was a public park type place, which I thought wouldn't close to the public. Thinking that I could just let my self out, I tried the gates, only to find that they were locked tight. I looked around for some assistance (or another route out), and found the zoo to be completely empty. Like I mean completely. Families were gone, security guards had called it a day, not even any custodians or groundskeepers hanging around to clean up. I had actually gotten myself locked in a zoo at a point where I was at serious risk of passing out. Dumbfounded by my own level of obtuseness, I eventually wandered around the park long enough to find another gate that I was able to climb around (there was a steep-ish hill that I managed to climb over) and escape Macau's first attempt to trap an oblivious newcomer. NICE TRY MACAU. At the end of the day, all I had to show for it was ruined clothes and a hangover that persisted even longer. Oh, and these photos, at least they were pretty good.
http://i.imgur.com/6zqglT4.jpg


Tasty Foods (pour mangia): On my way to work in the morning, I pass by a local bakery called Maxim's. It's a small chain run by a Hong Kong restaurant company that is popular both there and here in Macau. When I was living on the equivalent of about $20 for a week, I would stop at Maxim's for some cheap buns and croissants to keep me tied over (free school lunches helped out too). What's really neat about places like this (as there are other cake shops/bakeries all around Taipa and Macau), is that when you get to the bakery, you pick up a tray and a pair of tongs from the front, and proceed to put on things that you want for yourself. Since I'm more indecisive than a young child given free reign to adopt any pet in the animal shelter (ooh what a wonderful but challenging task that would be), I try to stay out of everyone's way as they choose from a selection of different baked goods. Some are familiar to us (dinner & sandwich buns, croissants, etc), some are a sort of bastardized version (sweet buns with tasty goop inside, pizza with sweet tomato sauce & corn, baked hot dog-bun combos) and some are just plain out of the ballpark (meat-floss buns come to mind in this case). 

That's in for now, I'm struggling to upload all of these pictures on my new apartment's poopy 3MB/s (download) & 0.4 MB/s (upload) internet. It's the one main downfall of the new place. More posts to come, perhaps a tour of the new apartment & neighbourhood by the end of the weekend!

Part Three: Work Life

 "Work Life? Like your job? Are you really using this blog to talk about your jorb? Everybody does something, what makes you so special?"

Hey there cynical sally, settle down. My school is a cool place where kids can do things and fun games can be had. Teaching is hard, and I didn't have the best or easiest time all the way through my practicums. However, with a good team, good resources and a good amount of preparation, it becomes a little easier every day (Write that down because that's a quote I intend to sell for money one day). Now, I don't intend to turn this into a pintrest-fuelled pink-coloured crazy teacher resource blog full of silly lists like "TWENTY NEW WAYS YOU CAN USE THOSE OLD POPSIGGLE STICKS" or "58 NEW MATH GAMES USING ONLY A STRING AND A CUP", although the latter would be so impressive I may just have to invent it myself.

So this work thing. So I really miss being a student, in a lot of ways (class four days a week, spending time with friends, being a goof but a manageable goof, hangs, nights out, etc. To some of my friends, I have said this about school (being a student, that is): You give them (the school) your money, quite a large sum. With that money, they put you in a building filled with people that are roughly your age. They have, roughly, the same interests as you, most of you live in the same neighbourhood, have the same time schedule, and the same kind of budget for going out & having a good hang. There are, however, a diverse enough group of you through your different personalities, interests and little isms that it makes for an entirely enjoyable group to hang out with almost relentlessly. Looking at this picture it makes my heart hurt thinking about how much I miss it.

 On the other side of things, there gets a point where it would REALLY be nice to afford, you know, proper groceries, a new pair of shoes now and then, or maybe put some money into a bank account to at least pretend you're saving for your future and not for that old Volvo you saw on kijiji. Besides the money factor (and arguably more importantly), it's nice to go out and practice instead of just prepare (notice how I didn't say work vs learn). For that, teaching is great. I learn new things about my kids every day, I get to know my co-workers, I slowly figure out what kind of things I need to do to be or stay energetic, active, creative, positive, prepared, etc. It's a slow but satisfying process, kind of like slowly untying a big big big knot. As you can see, physical organization of my desk is still something I'm working on...

But really, by the end of week three of this whole 'Teaching in Macau' thing, I feel like I've got a good grip of what's good, even though the novelty of working full-time has certainly not worn off. Basically, I walk into a building, I give little brains some exercise and fun, I walk out, and then they give me MONEY (and also a good working environment)! It's a fantastic system. I highly recommend it.

 Oh, and they call me 'Mr. Stuart'. That's a thing here with most teachers in that they go by their first names, unless you really don't want to do that. For me, that means I can bring back my famous 'Stuart Nickles' that were so popular and useful for campers (if a camper did a good thing or a silly trick I wanted them to, they got a Stuart Nickle. They could use that nickle for fun, or a vote on a game/activity, or maybe even a spot of candy at the end of the week. Being camp, where candy is hard to come by, this was a valuable commodity.) Next year I will be doing that for sure.

 In two days, I move into my new place (pictured here). There will be more frequent posts as I make more time for them and not silly things like wasting time on the innernet & dancing to jazz in the kitchen. Well I'll probably still do that.

Part Two: Living in Taipa

So I'm situated in a part of Macau called Taipa. Macau itself is currently divided into two parts: The northern portion, Macau proper, sits on a peninsula coming out of the Most-Glorious-And-Unquestionably-Perfect People's Republic of China. The southern part, divided into Taipa, Cotai and Coloane, was formerly two smaller islands that were filled in and joined into one. I live (for the time being) in Coloane in a large apartment complex, but the school where I work is in Taipa. This week's post is meant to show you some of the neat things and ism's that exist here in this greenhouse of a city that has become my new home. 

While Macau itself is more traditionally European/Asian (narrow streets, older buildings, more Portuguese), Taipa & Cotai have become a mix of Asia and North America (lots of big flashy buildings, a bustling entertainment industry. In 2004, the government decided to take a large pile of things, and push them into the sea. The result was that, because they pushed so MANY things into the sea, that they connected the two islands of Taipa and Colaone together with a flat, wide, build-on-toppable strip of land. They named it Cotai, a rough Chinese translation of "oh look at all the room we have for new casinos, theaters and mega-resorts. We're going to make a killing!". In the past decade, the economy, population and culture of Macau has significantly changed (China's breakup of the monopoly on the gambling industry there in 2002 further opened things up for lots foreign investment & development). But that's all dry stuff I paraphrased from wikipedia. You want to see the pictures and have me shout "MANGIA", so we'll move onto the next bit. 

Living in a country like this, I was expecting things to be different, but you can never really prepare yourself for what's in store (but having enough money and your VISA certainly helps. No, I brought neither of those things...). The school I've been lucky enough to sign onto has been nothing short of lovely. My class is full of typical 9-year olds; curious about new things, eager to help, and pretty great to spend a day with. The staff have been friendly and welcoming, I even get to plan with them (no, I don't just mean they let me into the meetings). I work together with the other grade 4 teacher when we make a week's lesson plans, halving the workload for both of us. It's the smartest idea since putting an eraser at the end of a pencil. I really think that it's a good fit for me.

This is the place I'm staying at until the end of this coming week, a large condo/apartment complex that's only a few years old. There have been a number of these kinds of 'urban communities' popping up around Taipa & Coloane in the last few years. This one has a free shuttle you can take you to the city center for free. They've also got a gym, a pool, a rentable mini-cinema (for about $30 you can have your friends in and put on your favourite film), a children's 'go nuts and play with all the toys including giant soft lego bricks you can use to make forts & stuff' room, and more. The frills cost a bit more to use, and I've been . Wanting to be closer to the school & city center, I'm moving to my own place in a different part of town, Old Taipa village.

The village is an older part of Taipa with more European influence, with lots of small shops, pubs and restaurants in a small area. I'm on the top floor of a 3-story building next to a place that makes Argentinian BBQ & pizza (I am not sure if that was a smart decision or not). The community seems really great, and the apartment I've picked out (while a bit pricey) feels like home to me, so this will be home for me for the next little while. More to come on the village later. 


There is one thing in particular I've got to mention about Macau & Taipa; The parks here are excellent. Really really really excellent. There will definitely be lots to share in the future about the parks & recreation spaces here. Last weekend, to get some moist fresh air and exercise, I went to the panda park nearby the apartment. I enjoyed myself so much I stayed too late and was locked inside my security staff who thought everyone had left (more of that later too). Combined with my hospital visit the previous day, it made for an eventful first weekend in China-not-China.

Overall in terms of life, by the end of week two, things are pretty good. I feel like I'm used to this place (the weather, sleeping properly, eating regularly) and getting the hang of this teaching-overseas thing. I also broke out my fresh version of Dutch Blitz for its first of many eventual rounds of furious, card-mashing entertainment.

I think I'm going to have to up the number of weekly posts, there's just way too much to share. It'd take me months just to write about what I've seen so far. Maybe a shorter bi-weekly thing might be in order (keep your eyes on on Thursday night). 

Part One: The First Week

Welp, I suppose this is the blog. After some fussing and indecision about how narcissistic or genuinely neat this might become, I've decided to pull the trigger on this ol' bad boy. While this isn't my home territory as far as innernet fun goes, I think it could be a good way to get away from facebook & whatnot, and perhaps give myself an opportunity to reflect on what I've seen & done. Writing isn't really something I've done much of, I never kept a journal when I was younger (I hated reading my own words), and I wrote a grand total of 6 essays during post-secondary. Even so, I'm finding it quite relaxing (especially with some palatable jazz & alcohol) so I might just keep on it and not cut it off. So here goes; the Macau Interlude: Part One

Arriving in Macau last week has been an experience unlike any other. I say that because I've been abroad before but I haven't been so worn out. After being processed at the airport, waiting for 20 minutes for my baggage before I realized I was at the wrong terminal, and being picked up by a friendly Birminghammish fellow named Dan, we exited the airport only to be be hit in the face with a wave of 30-degree moist-as-oatmeal city air (My body was certainly not ready for that). Since then, I've been around town a bit, eaten out once or twice, and wandered into a Casino to meet some fellow teachers for drinks. I even managed a hospital visit this week, after a bout with something that really did not agree with me (how rude). Overall, it's been a very damp but interesting learning experience, professionally, physically and personally.  Without further ado. Adeo. Adeuo. Audo? Audi? Achoo. Without any more words, here's a few pics I snapped this week to give you an idea of what this place is like. 

Many people here ride scooters around the city. Being a busy city-state packed into 30 square km (making it the 5th smallest country in the world), compact vehicles are the way to go. Surprisingly, there's not so much traffic that it makes transportation inconvenient or unpleasant (public transport is well-used throughout the city).

About half of the dedicated street parking spots look like this, lined with scooters, mopeds and bikes. I'll get my hands on one once I learn to ride (and on the opposite side of the road no less).

The climate here is, well, quite something. With temperatures orbiting 30 degrees, 90%+ humidity, and frequent rainfall, there's plenty of plant life in the city (the same cannot be said of critters, where even bugs have a hard time finding a home). I plan on focusing a future post on some of the plant life & geography of Macau. "ʷᵒʷ ˢᵗᵘᵃʳᵗ ᴵ ᶜᵒᵘᶫᵈᶰ'ᵗ ᵗʰᶦᶰᵏ ᵒᶠ ᵃ ᵐᵒʳᵉ ᵈʳʸ ᵃᶰᵈ ᵇᵒʳᶦᶰᵍ ˢᵘᵇʲᵉᶜᵗ ᶠᵒʳ ʸᵒᵘʳ ᵇᶫᵒᵍ⋅"

Most of where I am (Northern Taipa) looks like this. Lots of tall apartments with shops on the ground level. There's also a constant smell of city/sea/food mixed into the air. It's not bad, but not particularly fragrant either. Just a smell. Learning my way through the maze of the city (and Macau proper, the main part to the north of where I am), is my challenge for the next few months.





Looking back on my first week, I'm really excited that I've got the opportunity to work here and explore all the fun things that life has to offer in such a different place. While this week has been tough to get settled (in more ways than one), I think there is a cool challenge in this major upheaval. I still miss my friends and family, but working that into my life is part of that challenge. In the weeks to come, I'll show you around the city, talk about the school & class, and maybe even include a little bit of food here and there pour MANGIA.

Thanks for taking the time to check in. You'll hear more from me next week when I get some more pictures & see some more things.