I'm Still Here!

Goodness what a week! I love my job, but the learning curve is huge. Having over 1000 children at the school multiplies everything at the start of the year and adding construction to the mix isn't helping much. The first big day is tomorrow. We'll see! In the meantime, here are some pictures of the neighborhood around the flat. (Sorry, Torrie...)

This is acutally Peel Street - my street :) I live in the building about half way up in this photo - just above the store with all the bright clutter on the roof. Go through the marble archway, drop your keys and least twice, and you're home. I live on the fourth floor, but around the back, which is good. Across the road, which you can't see, are several very popular pubs, which make the evenings somewhat noisy if you live at the front. I never hear them.

This is the view out my bedroom window. There's a park down there. On Sundays, people play chess, and the kids swing - lots of picnics. Hong Kong is full of these little parks, "rest" places, and amazingly trees. I have yet to find a part of the city that isn't green and beautiful....well, the MTR stations, but they're underground. Aberdeen, where the school is located, is quite industrial, but the harbor is there, and there are some beautiful beaches.

Staunton Rd., which runs perpendicuar to Peel. I walk down this one every morning to get to the escalator to get to the bus to go through the tunnel to go to work. Staunton is one of about 5 or 6 streets that make up the Mid-Levels and Soho. Restaurants, pubs, small shops, and

apartments. A good mix of ex-pats and locals live here since it's close to Central (where lots of business people work or shop). Soho and the Mid-Levels are spread out all along the escalator that runs from Queen's Road up to Caine Road. The area is really handy to most everyplace since there's a major bus exchange and MTR station at the bottom of the escalator.

So, there you are. Now you know where I am. :) Next time, the school...assuming we all survive the next couple of days...