It's not a bad life...

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Hi everyone, sorry it’s been so long. School’s been ridiculously busy the past few weeks, not been getting home until after 7 and then I’ve only got the energy to shower and sleep!

So dad’s visit was obviously amazing, we had a great time, he loved it and it was fantastic to see him! He wasn’t impressed with me on Saturday morning after his night out in soho though, apparently shaking him and laughing while he turned green on the MTR wasn’t very nice. ‘Stop it Jessica I’m serious I’ll be sick. Why did you keep me out until that ridiculous hour?!’ were his exact words I think. Seems like ages ago now, can’t believe it’s only just over 5 weeks until I’m home for Christmas, I honestly can’t wait. I love it here but I just want to be back in England for a little bit now, I want to see fields, and be cold because it's actually cold rather than because of air-con, and not feel like I’m breathing in a lung full of pollution every time I go outside. I also want to go to Tesco, see frost, and watch TV. My computer won’t buffer any programmes here so I’ve literally not seen any tv for 3 and half months, awful! I suppose once I’ve done all that I’d quite like to see you all as well!

Well the weekends have been pretty awesome recently, the weekend before last I went to a day festival thing called picnic in the park at discovery bay which is on Lantau island, just small bands playing but there was plenty of cheap beer and it was a lovely way to spend a Saturday. Then last weekend we went camping and sea kayaking in a place called Pak Lap, it was beautiful. Pitched our tents on the beach and went for a paddle in the kayaks, I didn’t fall out once which I’m sure you’ll all agree is a small miracle given my track record with water. In the evening we had a campfire complete with singalongs and toasted marshmallows. Again lots of beer was despatched and getting up at 8am the next morning to get in a kayak and go out to sea was pretty unpleasant but it did sort of shake off my hangover!

So I’ve been balancing out stressful weeks with lovely weekends, basically we were prepping for our English Ambassador Team’s opening ceremony (basically a pompous assembly) it involved making lots of booklets and boards and badges. The most problematic part of the whole thing was the fact that we had to cut out insane amounts of stuff - I’M LEFT HANDED. It takes me at least twice as long to cut stuff out as a normal person. Plus I’ve never been able to cut straight, something that I really didn’t think would be recurring as a problem at 21. Everyone was stressed out so it was a fraught week, there were a few tears at our desks from me and Maeve about formatting booklets (again, IT, not a strong point. Or rather, the lack of patience I have with IT. I take after my mother.) But it all went smoothly in the end, and I was really proud of the kids who spoke in the ceremony. Also in Maeve’s ceremony (we have a different English ambassador team each, because our school is split into morning and afternoon sessions, I’m not sure if I’ve said that before) anyway in the morning one the headmistress asked ‘so who is going to help you learn English?’, the answer she was looking for was the English ambassador team but one of my P1’s apparently put their hand up and said ‘Miss Wallace’, which was very sweet!

I have had a few lovely meet ups in the past few weeks, just before dad came I had a lovely meal with Meggi and her son and his girlfriend who she was visiting. It was lovely to see her and hear some stories about mum! Then on Friday night I had the treat of seeing Lynn and Mick who were on a brief stopover in Hong Kong on their cruise. Was fantastic to see them and catch up. Actually I heard some good stories about mum then too! (one way streets can be a right pain can’t they mum?) This weekend I’m going to try and have a bit of a rest, but there is a flat party on Saturday for someone’s birthday, so it wont be to quiet! Then next weekend we are having a party on one of the trams that run up and down Hong Kong island on the Saturday night, and then going to Disneyland for someone’s birthday on the Sunday!

I’m a third of the way through my time here now, and I was thinking about how insane these past months have been the other day. I wondered what I might say to myself on the 6th of August while I was packing up to come here. For the majority of the first two months the answer to that question would have been ‘Just leg it, turn and run in the opposite direction as fast as you can. IT’S REALLY SCARY.’ I think now I’d just say ‘Brace yourself, you have no clue what’s about to hit you. Stick it out. Try not to panic, it's all going to be worth it.'

Can’t wait to see you all soon, try not to get too cold!
Loads of love xxxxx

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Comments

[Janice McVay]

Looks like you're having fun!
Hi Jess Just got your blog from your Mum. Looks great and it's lovely to see photos of what you've been getting up to. I can sympathise with the left-handed problem but remember all the best people are left-handed!! Can't wait to see you at Christmas. Lots of love, Janxxxxx