Surf and Sand - Proof of Life Off the Main Island

Life as I know it has been progressing at a lightning pace. Consequently, the lack of writing has reflected my zeal for participation over observation in its activities. My list of students continues to grow as I take on new one-on-one sessions, but beginning Summer Courses at school in just a two weeks - International Affairs, Literature through Film, and History, to name a few. June has started and a new rhythm takes place: Yawn, wake up, read an IB text for school lessons, shower, step outside, (need another shower) step lightly through the dense humidity, go to school, breathe in the suffocating air conditioning, teach, step outside, remember why I stayed inside, breathe in the suffocating sweat at the gym, 15 minutes of cardio, pump some iron for another 15 minutes, stand on my head for 60 seconds, 30 minutes of conditioning, sit ups, another shower, step lightly through the dense humidity, then run through the dense humidity, eat a cup of noodles (a staple), take another shower, moisturize dry skin (Why do I need to do that when there is so much moisture outside? I don't know), watch Animal Planet or HBO asia, maybe finish a little more reading, go to sleep....



Did anyone catch how many showers I take in a day? arrrrrrrrrrrrrgh.

My office (below)



Just a week or so ago, a group of fifteen departed Pier 9 to see a small island past the Hong Kong main island; we enjoyed grey skies and a crisp wind. It rained the night before the Super Fun Day Out. But, I didn't care. Somehow it was a sign of good will - and despite the cloudiness that followed us out into the harbor the next morning, we were all in high spirits. The occasion? A friend's wife was in town just for a month before leaving Hong Kong. The couple will be moving back to Aussie country in just another 30-60 days. It is amazing how many Hong Kong residents are expatriates moving back and forth from different countries around the world. I would not be surprised at all if both move back in another few years.

The sunshine peeked out from the clouds intermittently and we managed to get a bit tanned red. Consequently, I was sunburned for the past few weeks. The best part was the jump into the water- diving, laughing, and all slick from the rain (Yes, it rained -- it won't stop pouring in HK!!! Make it stop!!) We may not have had a chance to windsurf, wakeboard, or wander around because of the strange weather, however, it was a lovely day. Highlights: red sangria and sundeck relaxing before the rainfall, five of us diving in swift simultaneous perfection into the swirling waters below off the top deck, a $500 prize for who could do a double back flip off the boat, (No one was succesfful.) catching teeny tiny fish on one side of the rocking boat during the rain, shrimp salad, potato salad, and chicken kebabs (with a sort of satay sauce - yumm), water fight a half hour before docking at the day's end, the naps on different cabin hideaways and in/on/around the boat, and the lovely view of the main island upon pier arrival.



A few arts festivals and events have come to Hong Kong recently. The HK International Arts Festival presented works from international galleries in Japan, Thailand, United States, Canada, France, Spain, just to name a few. My friend toured the warehouse in Wan Chai where these art pieces were showcased: paintings, light installations, and photographs lined these walls and hallways. It was such a pleasure to gawk at these works. Not all art is impressive to me, but to have so much at your fingertips gives you the gift of choosing one or two to stare longingly at. Art has a way of speaking to one's soul. I don't know how it manages to make such an impression on me each and every time, but I will feel contented, uplifted and sublimely thoughtful when I'm in its presence. Simon Birch, a popular English artist who has been living in Hong Kong since 1997 recently had an exhibit space art show called "Hope and Glory," which was an ode to the hero's journey. Simon is a friend of several of the people I spend time with and I was quite impressed with his art pieces. He is an accompished painter, but he also used the aid of many of his friends to create some interesting quasi-virtual art. As referenced from Birch's art brochure, Valerie Doran comments on the region of the the journey, as a massive, "immersive environment."For example, there was a green room which showed up looking like a grid (glow-in-the-dark living room) where the audience can sit and watch two videos on the death of an artist and a satire of American Idol about an artist. (Irony: Simon Birch is still alive and he enlisted the aid of dramatic tears and fascinating comments on the purpose or impact of his supposed termination.) There was a chasm created by a skateboard ramp where space ships sailed over, and they showed an eventual crash to a pile of residue or rubble, as any war. The collateral damage of these hanging warships was a strange culmination to the journey of our hero. I was not-so-surprisingly brought in by the reference one of my classic favorite sci fi films, Star Wars. (I will show these photos in my next blog. Valerie Doran states that Simon has constructed art, which "embodies the realm of wonder (in both its dark and light manifestations)... the paradox is that (like any circus) the physical materials from which this experience is created are mundane, of the present world: wood and paint, plastc and metial, computers and holograms. What this means, of course, is that the tools to transport ourselves are already here with us. We only need to understand and assemble them in a new way."



My thoughts: break away. Art can take you there.