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Is This Good Enough?
I find myself asking, is this good enough a lot. For the last few years, my mainstream school in Hong Kong has been making videos of sports day and campus related events. Our goal is to make the school look good while showcasing our students’ English abilities. Well, that sounds nice on paper, but if you work in a mainstream school, or are familiar with the trends in Hong Kong you know that that is not easy. In recent years, many well off locals and foreigners alike have been immigrating to other countries. This means that higher banding schools have…
Ready or Not it’s Showtime
We’ve been shooting campus related video events for a few years now, but finding students who are willing to appear on camera and making the technical side of things come together have all been challenging. This year marks a bit of a milestone for us. The school bought some really nice camera gear. So it seemed like a good opportunity to talk about the new equipment as a promotional video. We need new helpers for Sports Day and we need to train our current students so that they can get better at filming and being on camera. Last week we…
Experience Da Nang, Vietnam with a Group Tour
Over the Easter Holiday, my wife, Tracy and I got to experience Da Nang, Vietnam with a group tour. I had been to Vietnam once before with some friends maybe 15 years ago. It was a short more budget friendly trip. Tracy had never been to Vietnam. Growing up, I heard about Vietnam in the context of the Vietnam War. It left sort of a bitter unhappy taste in my month. I was born in 1973 and the “American War” as it was called ended in 1975. I didn’t realize that the war with the US went on for 20…
Don’t Forget 2025 Favourites
Tracy and I did a lot in 2025. We traveled overseas, went back to the states for home visit, visited friends, went to a variety of places in Hong Kong and even invited Watoto boys to come live with us twice. At the time, many of these events seemed like a blur together for me. I didn’t have time to really fully appreciate the moments as they happened, but I did however have a camera in hand. You probably did a lot as well. Whether you had a camera or smartphone in hand is secondary. I want to encourage you…
Embrace Challenges in the New Year
A lot of teachers go traveling during the holidays and normally my wife and I are keen to go traveling also. But this Chinese New Year was different for us. We took a break right here at home in Hong Kong. In the West, most people make New Year’s resolutions and in Asia there is big a emphasis on starting the year new. That could be new things, new red clothes or even new ideas. The two traditions are similar. It’s not that the old is bad. Many times we are too busy to appreciate the old. Sometimes we really…
Good News For Hong Kong
Between political unrest, Covid 19, lots of people leaving and now the TaiPo fire, Hong Kong people have been through a lot. A number of people have told me that they are leaving for their kids (they want a better future for them) and I have talked to others who tell me that they are staying because they need the money. They have established themselves here in Hong Kong and they are afraid to leave and start over again somewhere else. It doesn't sound like a very positive atmosphere, does it? I think in Hong Kong, most people tend to…
The GH6 at a “Rock Concert”
Okay it wasn’t a rock concert, but there were lights, fog machines, and lots of people. I was at the Justice Conference Asia. The theme this year was Re-imagining. It was amazing, and I will write a separate post on it. In this post, I want to reflect on how the GH6 handled the conditions and show you the 3 minute video I put together. Panasonic GH6 First I am relatively new to the GH6. I have owned it a little over a month and have not had a lot of time to play with it. It’s a M43 camera…
Finding Community in Hong Kong
Hong Kong is a busy place. Everyday people sacrifice relationship in favor of efficiency. Get more work done often translates into more money but fewer relationships. I know that this isn’t just a Hong Kong phenomena, but maybe I’m more sensitive to it because Hong Kong is my home. People work really long hours here, but it's not just work that gets in the way of community. As modern people who live in a modern city, we place a high value on food, convenience, and gadgets. These things aren't by themselves wrong. However, they do have a tendency to distract…
Spirited Away is Still Relevant
Years ago a friend in China gave me a video titled Spirited Away. It was in Mandarin and Japanese, and because at the time, I was studying Mandarin, I was really excited to receive it from him. I watched the film several times. I couldn’t understand all the words because my Mandarin was only so so, but I was captivated by the animation, colors, sound effects and characters. The basic storyline of a little girl, Chihiro, left alone to survive in this world stuck with me. Years later, I found the story had also been translated into English so I…