To Fung Shan Diaries

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25194949312104366442012-02-17T03:44:41.723+08:00To Fung Shan DiariesRyan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.comBlogger281100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-59525468017951376312008-11-12T12:31:00.009+08:002008-11-12T12:47:19.834+08:00So far this semester...

Dear loved ones,Hello! We have been orbiting in outer space it seems, hardly communicating with most of you, and for that I live with great shame! A million apologies! It is not for lack of love, for we both love you all very much, and it is not because we don't think of you often, because we do, or because we don't miss you, as I can assure you that we do indeed miss your company, but it is

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-86256827426319401212008-07-28T11:25:00.000+08:002008-07-28T11:27:28.386+08:00Summer English Program Begins!

Dear family and friends,Today, Ryan and I begin the great adventure of our new summer English program! It will last for the next three and a half weeks, during which time the English proficiency level of the students should increase and the new international students should become orientated to culture of LTS (our seminary), the academic expectations of the school, and become more comfortable in

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-12200629062481540142008-07-26T11:41:00.002+08:002008-07-26T12:06:33.609+08:00Summer English Language and Orientation Program

Dear family and Friends,Hi! Katrina here! You have had many great posts from Ryan with exciting photos but I am afraid I am going to bore you a bit with this one... I am going to ask for you think of us and pray for us and we embark on an adventure right here on To Fung Shan hill: out summer program starts on Monday!We have been planning the summer program for over half a year now, and we are

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-34541022835066086592008-07-22T00:24:00.005+08:002008-12-10T00:47:12.603+08:00More Pictures!

These pictures pick up where the last post left off. Most of our other pictures of the Angkor temples, all our Thai beach pictures, and our Singapore pictures are on film, so you'll have to wait to see those in person. Our hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia, the jumping off point for visiting the Khmer temples (such as Angkor Wat and the like). A view of Ta Prohm through the trees. This was

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-51809362103390829362008-07-21T23:44:00.012+08:002008-12-10T00:47:15.470+08:00Pictures! South East Asia Trip

Here are some pictures of our trip through South East Asia. We took about three weeks to see what we could. Enjoy the pictures - they'll tell so much more of the story than I could.Our hostel in Bangkok, Thailand. Some of the beautiful detailed roofs at the Thai Royal Palace grounds. More roofs at the Thai Royal Palace.The famous green roofs at the Thai Royal Palace.Look at that detail! The

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-37237509306988942032008-06-25T09:27:00.010+08:002008-12-10T00:47:18.696+08:00Some pictures!

The LTS faculty milling about the courtyard of the first seminary we visited in Wuhan.A shot from the bus as we drove through Wuhan. One of the many beautiful old buildings in Wuhan.Dinner the first night in Wuhan.Dinner the secind night in Wuhan.A view of a street in Shanghai Venice. A sampan in a backwater canal inShanghai Venice.One of the canals in Shanghai Venice (Thisis why they call it the

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-15231040680405798342008-06-25T08:56:00.002+08:002008-06-25T09:22:35.751+08:00the work situation

For those of you wondering about where we are in our work....We had our graduation ceremony on June 1st, and enjoyed the experience! As faculty members, we got to robe up and process in and sit on stage- it was all very formal and official! What a treat to be marching trough the church in our gowns with all these great theologians when we are just the young English teachers!The graduation banquet

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-11327070383567588362008-06-25T08:34:00.003+08:002008-06-25T08:56:10.031+08:00update

Dear all,Hi! I hope this post works... I have been struggling with our Internet connection in the past weeks, and my last few attempts to post news have failed! (I am getting sick of writing blog entries and having them get erased because of my Internet failing/freezing...)Anyways... more rain here as we have the tropical storm Fengshen off shore... as the Hong Kong Observatory reminds us:PLEASE

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-80584651188056938592008-05-15T08:08:00.003+08:002008-05-15T08:35:24.037+08:00Prayers for our brothers and sisters

Dear loved ones,We have returned from Bud's beautiful wedding (Ryan's Dad just got married to Gwenn in North Carolina) to the hectic final days of the term and to the sad news that the people of Burma are suffering. Not long after, we heard more news of the plight of the earthquake victims in the mainland... all of this weighs heavily on our hearts.This has been hard for our LTS community, as we

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-63018569566539424352008-04-17T15:03:00.002+08:002008-04-17T15:33:30.166+08:00What have we been up to?

Hi everyone!You might wonder what life is like for us... so what have we been up to in the past weeks? Plenty! Gosh... so much that I am not even sure where to start... but let me give you some brief nibbles:One Saturday we accompanied our dear friend/neighbor/colleague John to an inter-faith peace talk at one of the reformed Jewish congregations on "Building Holy Cities" and got a fascinating

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-83745848297130509522008-03-31T21:36:00.002+08:002008-03-31T22:16:45.013+08:00News from the mountain

Greetings!I hope you are all well- and not too many of you fall victim to cruel April Fool's jokes! Ryan's sister, Erika, will celebrate her birthday on the 1st of April, so a Happy Birthday to you, Erika, if you are reading this! We continue to pray for Erika as she recovers from her surgery, but as far as we know, all seems to be going well. Thank you to everyone who has been remembering Erika

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-87120319422016123992008-03-31T15:59:00.002+08:002008-03-31T16:12:12.090+08:00Notice our HUGE American fridge?

Hi!If you have scrolled down to see the new pictures we posted below, you may have noticed the HUGE American fridge that came with our apartment. Or, perhaps if you are American and have one of these beasts yourself, you did not take note. Well, it is something very special to have such a large fridge in other parts of the world... indeed, our little British fridges could never compete with this

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-70706432878160092262008-03-31T15:37:00.002+08:002008-03-31T15:56:25.237+08:00Using Jeopardy in teaching

Hi everyone!I am at work right now, and just completed writing up the following activity for possible submission in our ELCA Asia ESL network newsletter. I thought I would post it on the blog because it would give you some more insight into our ESL teaching. Using Jeopardy-style games in a language classroom is not an innovative idea, both Ryan and I have played similar games for review before an

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-50961753799481962412008-03-30T19:23:00.002+08:002008-03-30T19:43:26.784+08:00Time enough!

Hi family and friends!I can't believe I have managed to go this long without posting a blog! It is always something on my 'to do' list, but somehow the immediate needs of my job and my body seem to take precedence! (Yes, imagine that... I prioritise eating, sleeping, running, etc., over spending time on the Internet).Ryan and I are always thinking about (and praying for) all of our loved ones

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-13326745174146267332008-02-01T18:31:00.000+08:002008-02-01T19:27:21.737+08:00Winter update

Hi friends and family!We have been a little slow in the blogging department of late, and I must apologize. The new academic semester just absorbed us, and we seemed to never have time for the non-teaching-related important things outside of basic survival and needs (i.e. making it to the grocery store or getting enough sleep!).We are also battling extreme cold, and this seems to take up lots of

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-45996529970318891852008-01-06T15:55:00.000+08:002008-01-06T16:25:19.459+08:00Family love

I know my family loves me dearly. One knows this, of course, you know that your family must love you- they sort of have to, right? It's just that way. Unless you have extremely good reason to believe otherwise, you simply assume, on some level, that your family loves you. It's their job. And you love them back, even when they confuse the hand towel with the dish drying towel, and so on... :)But

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-8217273709256508202008-01-06T15:25:00.000+08:002008-01-06T15:53:27.941+08:00Late Christmas and New Year's greetings

Hi Loved ones!This Sunday we celebrate Epiphany and we have neglected to even wish everyone a happy Christmas! Not to mention hope and peace for the New Year! Dear me! Perhaps some of you can understand... maybe you are even in the same boat as we are... a little behind as a result of the seasonal festivities (and in our case, seasonal guests).We had the great pleasure of having Katrina's Mom,

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-60874636739956184802007-12-03T17:37:00.001+08:002007-12-03T17:52:32.805+08:00Advent

Dear friends and family,We hope that you have begun this festive time of year with peace in your hearts and joy in your life! We had the pleasure of attending two lovely services yesterday at St. John's Cathedral to mark the start of our Advent journey, first the regular 9am Sung Eucharist service and then a special candlelight 'Carol Service' at 6pm comprising of eight readings and beautiful,

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-86480764270383566882007-12-03T14:28:00.000+08:002008-12-10T00:47:22.324+08:00Founder's Day and Seminary Outing

Greetings friends!The semester is drawing to a close here but our lives continue to be very busy! The seminary community has recently had some exciting events that we have (of course) participated in and we would like to share the experiences with you: November was a full month, with reading week, 'Founder's Day' and the 'Seminary Outing' all added to our regular calendar of classes, 'family

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-45088101066786569032007-11-12T15:31:00.000+08:002007-11-12T16:29:33.518+08:00About our day...

Some of you might be asking, 'what does you day look like?' and so I thought it might be helpful for me to comment on this question...We work Monday to Friday, a regular work week. We teach in an academic setting, so we follow the school's academic calendar. The school doesn't 'open' until 8am, so we usually never arrive before that time, although we teach an 8am class on Wednesday, making for an

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-71097739966856489822007-11-12T11:35:00.000+08:002007-11-12T12:31:56.999+08:00

Dear friends,We have heard through our sources that many of you would like to know more about our work in Hong Kong. I am glad that you are so interested in our service here and I hope that I can explain our mission a bit better. I will start with a brief introduction to our work and a little information about why it matters - I know some have asked why English teachers are necessary in Hong Kong

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-56752185202086759782007-10-17T16:37:00.000+08:002007-10-17T17:07:43.319+08:00Autumn Homecoming

Autumn has arrived in Hong Kong! (I think!) This is our first year in HK, so I had to ask my students if the seasons had indeed changed (or was I just getting used to the heat and humidity?!), and they have all confirmed that these breezy and sunny days with slightly lower temperatures and humidity means that we are now in Autumn. And it is glorious! The guidebooks all tote October as THE month

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-38493707803801767092007-10-03T15:12:00.000+08:002007-10-03T15:34:23.048+08:00Please pray for the people of Myanmar

The situation in Myanmar has been front page news here in Hong Kong.... I am not sure how much people are talking about it outside of Asia, but I hope all of you are aware of the recent protests by the people of Myanmar, led by the Buddhist monks, and the subsequent crackdown by the military regime who controls the country. We have many students here at LTS from Myanmar, and they are concerned

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-40628555135838995172007-10-03T14:02:00.000+08:002007-10-03T14:43:56.724+08:00Teaching has begun!

We are now members of the teaching profession! It's exciting to be working after months of packings, orientations, unpackings... (although to be honest, we are moving again this week to another apartment, so I guess this transition phase has not ended yet! We are really happy about our new place, but no one is ever thrilled to bits by the prospect of another move).Our classes are wonderful. We

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-8519167827687164412007-09-16T22:03:00.000+08:002008-12-10T00:47:23.435+08:00LTS Retreat on Cheung Chau Island

The tradition at LTS is for the faculty and students to gather for a retreat before the start of the new academic year. The retreat has been held on the outlying island of Cheung Chau for several years- to our great joy! For those of you who haven't looked at a good map of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region lately, the 'territory' is made of up numerous islands and a chunk of mainland (

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-57131232089241599212007-09-09T22:07:00.000+08:002008-12-10T00:47:23.895+08:00Day Trip - Macau

In order to activate our work visas, we had to leave Hong Kong. On the advice of our friends and our guidebooks, we chose to go to Macau. We hopped on a ferry and after about an hour and a half of rough seas, we were there. We walked around for a little while, mostly past the casinos, before stopping for lunch. The casinos didn't seem that impressive, but, to be fair, we never went in any of them

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-40716494720133991722007-08-20T17:14:00.000+08:002007-08-20T18:28:33.939+08:00Cantonese cuisine: more than mere rice

During our orientation in Chicago this summer, we had to complete an exercise that involved checking off our reasons to serve as missionaries overseas so that we could be honest with ourselves about our motivation; the list included extremes from all ends ( 'to convert all the heathens' or 'escape a boring job' ) but also entries about seeking an adventure and a desire to experience other

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2519494931210436644.post-31216394868018759922007-08-18T18:20:00.000+08:002007-08-18T19:16:06.097+08:00Noodle bowls and a Typhoon

We flew into Hong Kong during a category 8 typhoon. They didn't mention this during our flight, where they distracted our stomachs and minds with classic styrofoam noodle bowls and only briefly mentioned the presence of extra turbulence, but in fact we flew in with the storm.After we happily found all seven pieces of checked luggage and made it through customs, we met up with the business manager

Ryan and Katrinahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17139912081693677955noreply@blogger.com0