Picks from the Airport

Stephen's Boy....

Wow...the airport in Hong Kong has free wireless internet......we are currently waiting on our flight that will be leaving in about an hour and a half....here are some pictures of our goodbyes...we are really going to miss our hong kong friends! See you in the states-DTW

Look at all those taxi's!

A group picture gone wrong.

The ladies in Hong Kong are beautiful people!

Tyler...you can explain this one...I hope!Here is a picture of Stephen and I saying our goodbyes.Deanna, Allie, and Einstein.

Allie working in her journal before departing.

Sliva debriefing the group.

Barber and his host mom.

The last Good Morning from Hong Kong

We just had our wake up calls and are trying to cram everything into are bags (dad the second bag was a good idea!). Our flight leaves Hong Kong at 12:45 AM Friday Night your time, we arrive into Chicago around 3:30 PM Saturday your time and then we have a lengthy lay over in Chicago (should be fun) before we arrive in Lexington around 9:00 PM Saturday Night. Please pray for us that we will have a safe and timely flight and that we will not miss any of our connections! I am sure that the 15 hour plane ride will include alot of napping (even though I had the best sleep of the entire week last night!) At dinner last night we were really treated like royalty as Dr. Peter Wong passed us out a huge bag of gift (one gift was crystal with Hong Kong's emblem on it). We had about 20 courses of food last night, I thought that southern hospitality was the best but I have found that the people we have been around in Hong Kong are really caring and giving people, this has been a first class trip for all! So long from Hong Kong!!!! We look forward to seeing everyone back home!-DTW

This is Dr. Peter Wong MC'ing the event!

Here is Dr. Peter Wong and Jen Patrick, Dr. Wong is filling Jen's Plate full of good food!

The view from the front door of our hotel room, check out what i s behind the glass.

Final Day in Hong Kong!

Today Dale and I departed out of the hotel around 8:00 for two school visits, today both visits were to primary schools. The first school that we visited was Ma On Shan Ling Liang Primary School, this school was located in what is called the New Territories of Hong Kong. This primary school has around 1000 students enrolled but because of the Easter Holiday they were not in session. Ma ON Shan Ling Liang is a religous affilated primary school but is still governemnt funded....that part of the Hong Kong Educational System I find quite interesting! From the minute we walked in the door of this school we were treated like royalty, we exchanged gifts with the princpal Sylvia and lets just say they showed us with gifts. We took a tour around the school (pictures posted), had a tea, and then completed our visit with a private showing of their famous play that was done in the traditional Chinese Language. After the visit we were treated to Shanghi style Chinese food and our bellys were full to the brim. These Hong Kong schools really do take Invitational Education to the limits, the school had pictures of each class blown up on the front door and all of the hallways and classrooms were adorned with students pictures and work (some even framed). This mornings experience is one that we will not soon forget! Here were our tour guides for the day, they did a great job...all in English!

A young student doing a head stand. Here is the adorable student that did a head stand for us!

Here was the view from the outside of the school, the teachers said this was the fourth highest point in Hong Kong, if you look closely they said it looks like the back of a horse.

Here are all of the actors and teachers from the school, the Chinese Checker was adorable! Here is Dale and I with the Chinese Checker and the Frog, this was a first class performance! Mrs. Jennings here are some parents and students barcoding books in this invitational library....quite impressive (expecially on Easter Break).Here we are at dinner with some of the staff from Ma On Shan Ling Liang Primary School.

After lunch the second school we visited was also a religous affilated school located in inner city Kowloon (the town our hotel is in), Holy Carpenter Primary School . This primary school was a bit smaller with only around 400 students, this school is in the process of applying for the 2008 Invitational Schools Award, they showed us many great things that that do with their underprivilged students and parents. They had many great ideas on how to create an environment to allow their students to understand success so that they may accomplish it in their own lives both inside and outside of school. Tonight we will be meeting at 6:30 to go and have our farewell dinner with the Hong Kong Invitational Educatoin Delegation, I will probably get up a short post tonight and another quick one before we leave the hotel tomorrow. I will also post a reflection when I get back with some pictures of the trip home, I hope all have enjoyed, I also hope that all that are interested may too also travel with the Exchange Program in the near future. Take Care!-DTW

Below is a picture of the US Delegation with the Holy Carpenter Primary School Group. This is a picture of Dale and I and the principal of the school, Ms. Cheng Sze Sze.Here is the teacher's work room at the school.This is a view of the Harbor from the outside window of the school, quite impressive!Here is another view of the Harbor from the school. This is a picture from the school you can see how close the school is located to the harbor as well as see their basketball courts, their basketball team won the primary championship!

Wrapping up Another Great Day!

Jason and I just got back from a night out with Stephen, Silva, and Peter. We ate some Japanese Sushi (i ate a small fried fish...head and all) which was a first for me. We had a great time getting to know the educators from Aw Boon School alot better....one thing is clear they do know how to put away the food! It seems as if it is in their culture here to eat, and eat, and eat. I think a Golden Corral Buffet would do great business here. Tomorrow I will be getting up at the crack of dawn and headed out to evaluate two schools until about 6:00 PM, directly after we get back we will be going out for a debriefing dinner with the IE executives here in Hong Kong. Unfortunately most of the SC educators will not be able to make it to the closing ceremonies at Aw Boon tomorrow with our students because we will be doing a school visit. The adminstration and educators of Aw Boon have gone out of their way this week to make this a memorable experience for everyone who came, we really appricate all that they have done. I will hopefully get one more post up tomorrow night before bed and possibly one up before we leave on Saturday morning. I have posted our return flight plans below, as you can see we have a long layover in Chicago which should give everyone enough time to call their rides to be ready for them in Lexington. I believe that all students and educators have had a great week and we really look forward to coming home to see our families! Take Care-DTW

Here are our flight plans for coming home on Saturday.
Saturday April 14th
Depart Hong Kong 12:45 PM
Arrive in Chicago 2:20 PM
Depart Chicago 7:15 PM
Arrive in Lexington 9:35 PM

Aw Boon Basketball Camp

This morning Dale and I rolled out of bed and headed directly for the basketball court before 8:00. We set out for a 45 minute trip to the Aw Boon Secondary School for a English speaking basketball camp. At the camp there were around thirty campers and the instructor Mono was from Canada. Mano played for the University of Waterloo and then some for Athletes in Action but now he tours the world giving motivational speaches and conducing basketball camps, he also runs his company The Point Guard Academy (www.pointguardacademy.com) and makes a couple of stops around the US each summer. This was the first day of a three day long camp and I have to say I was impressed with the skill of some of the athletes at the camp....but trust me none could even play on the same court with our girl Allie! Dale and myself stayed at the basketball camp until about noon when we got on the bus to come home dropping the kids off at aia amusement park (a kind of like big time county fair), if those kids ride some of those rides they are braver than I will ever be. Looks like tonight will be going out with Silva and Stephen for a dinner in Hong Kong and tomorrow is full of two school visits and then the closing ceremonies back at Aw Boon tomorrow night.....it seems like this week has flown by! I really enjoyed watching the Hong Kong kids at basketball camp and I was glad to see that the school brought in a top notch camp leader, I even learned some new drills for the boys of SCMS! I hope that all is well back in the County, I think we are all seeing the finish line as our trip comes to a close, no one is looking forward to the flight home or the jet lag that will follow. The kids have done a great job this week, this has been a great experience for all. Take Care-DTW

The kids before we left for AIA, Tyler has got his classic pose!

A picture of Deanna and the all time winningist coach in Scott County Basketball History.

I guess alot of people could watch the basketball game and you would never know....this is a great pic!

Allie and Mano the basketball camp instructor (she probably could not take him off the dribble).

Allie hooping it up with the Hong Kong Ballplayers.

Moves off the dribble Hong Kong style!

Allie and Mano talking hoops during a break, you can look in the background and see another school's basketball court and how close it is, I guess when they play they just open up the gates!

Allie and the best male 7th Grade Social Studies teacher at SCMS!

Allie, Deanna, and Nicole were getting ready for their trip to AIA.

Night Out With CK

Tonight CK stopped by the hotel and took me out to some different sports spots around Hong Kong (Kowloon) after some chicken wings we then went to some sports shops. CK then bought me a Hong Kong Soccer Jersey (great hospitality), he then told me that most soccer fans follow british soccer in Hong Kong and do not really support their local soccer club. After visiting sports spots we then went back to the hotel via Ladies Market Street and I offically finished up the gifts that I will be bringing back. Tonight Coach Radford was nice enough to let me borrow his phone card and I called home to make sure my Mom was going to be able to pick me up on Saturday from the Airport. It looks as if Commander Stowe and myself will be leaving out early in the morning to visit a basketball camp at the Aw Boon School (we are both looking forward to this). I will probably get my next post up and some pictures about noon tomorrow. I havent been hearing from everyone so I assume all is well back in Georgetown. I did find out today that the scrub from Elizabethtown got Mr. Basketball....I am sure that Matt would take a state championship ring over losing first round of districts and being Mr. Basketball anyway! It's good to be apart of the best district in the state of kentucky! Take Care-DTW

This is a random picture I took of one of the million streets at night in Hong Kong, believe it or not Hong Kong basically shuts down at 12:00 at night....

Another picture of Hong Kong under the lights at night!

QESOSA Tong Kwok Wah Secondary School

Today Dale Stowe and myself left out of the Hotel around 8:00 and headed out on a school visit to Tong Kwok Wah Secondary School that was located close to Mainland China. We were picked up at the hotel by Agnes and Dr. Peter Wong. Along the way home we dropped off Dr. Wong at his office and headed out to the school. This school is a secondary school (grades 7-12) but because it has only been around for two years right now it only has 7th and 8th Grade. The school has just above 500 students, 13 years ago the land where the school sits and around it was empty, now, 13 years later, 300,000 people live in this town. Now, that is a population explosion if I have ever heard of one. Believe it or not, Hong Kong is only the 35th largest city in the world, with almost 8 million people....that's crazy! Back to the school, from the minute Dale and I stepped into the school we could tell we were at a first class school. Every room was equiped with a smart board and clicker system access (and the teachers/students knew how to utilize it!). After visiting with some of the educators we then observed two English classes and then were given a school tour by a few students. During the visit we got to see some of the students practicing for their school play that is coming up next week, The Wizard of Oz, all students are involved in this play (very invitational). After the school tour we then ate lunch, fried rice, with the educators (the students get an hour lunch break...but kids dont get excited they have to go to school from 8:00-5:00...dont want to hear you complain any more :).

Here are the kids after their lunch break catching a game of Chinese Checkers...looks like and intense match!After eating lunch Dale and I then were given a brief lesson on how to use the smart board and clicker system by seventh grade (Form 1) students. After this short lesson we then had a quick debriefing session with the Asst. Principal and she drove us back to our hotel. It was a real suprise that we got to see school actually in session because for a majority of the schools this is a week off because of Easter along with a holiday that is much like our Memorial Day. I think this afternoon I am going to crash...my constant going has caught up with me, I will get another post up tonight before bed. Looks like Dale and I will be helping out at a basketball camp at Aw Boon tomorrow, it should be an experience! Take Care-DTW

Picture of the front of thw school...the first few initals have to do with the school's affiliation, Queen Elizabeth School Old Students' Association.

This is the teachers offices, in Hong Kong teachers go to the students, for the most part the students do not go to the teachers, so the teachers all share an office and each have their own cubical.

This is Dale with some students of Tong Kwok Wah...these kids were awsome!

Here is Dale and I with a teacher form Tong Kwok Wah, hopefully she will be able to come and visit us in Georgetown for the IE Leadership Conference in October!

Here is one of the students at Tong Kwok Wah teaching us about how to use the smart board and clicker system....I like the idea of school uniforms....doesnt this student look well dressed!

Mrs. Jennings, I couldn't go without putting in a picture of the school's library....

I wouldnt mind having basketball practice outside (few indoor courts in HK) on this court everyday!

Here is a picture at the end of our visit of Dale and myself along with a educator from Tong Kwok Wah as well as the Asst. Principal Ms. Kwan.