Experience Da Nang, Vietnam with a Group Tour

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…
Kodak Is More Than A Camera

Kodak Is More Than A Camera

Rochester my home town is also the home of Kodak. It used to be that if you mention Kodak that people had fond feelings and were proud of Kodak. While today Kodak still exists and employs around 4000 people. It is nowhere near as large as it once was. At its height in 1988, Kodak employed 145,300 people worldwide. But how did Kodak get started? Over our summer home visit Tracy and I visited the George Eastman Museum to learn the answers to these questions and more. George Eastman, the founder, began producing dry photographic plates in 1880. Awhile after…
What’s Your Camera Journey

What’s Your Camera Journey

My first nice camera was a Canon T70. It was a film camera that I managed to get really cheap at garage sale back in the early 90s, but then digital began to replace film. My parents bought me a digital Canon point camera for my birthday. I think that camera was only 3 or 4 megapixel. It went a lot of places with me. Finally around 2005 I gave it away to boy who was graduating from the Fold Family Ministries. After that I went for a period of time without a camera. It felt weird to not be…
Spring Leaves Are Budding

Spring Leaves Are Budding

Some Trees At My School Spring is here and spring leaves are budding. I’m loving it here in Hong Kong. The sun is shining and there is newness all around us. I'm an English teacher and I often walk past the above budding trees and think, wow, they are so pretty; I need to bring my camera and take pictures of them. Sure, I know leaves bud every year about this time, but it's just one of those small miracles that we often take for granite. If you haven’t taken the time to notice or sit still and take in…
Choosing to Shoot Less

Choosing to Shoot Less

I know that there are die hard people out there who would say shoot everything and I used to be one of them, but I am being more selective now. I just don’t have time and I want to spend the time that I do have in more meaningful ways. For example in the past, I used to shoot at every school event, but now I have been at my school for 7 years. Sports Days Add Value is an example of some of my previous shooting. It’s not nearly as interesting as it used to be. In addition, my…
Watoto’s Better Days Tour

Watoto’s Better Days Tour

Watoto is back in Hong Kong. If you want to see clips from last years concerts click - Watoto Children's Choir Shares From Their Hearts. This year’s theme is "Better Days." I think lots of us are believing for better days. Tracy and I attended their first concert at St. Andrew's Primary School. You know if the people of Uganda, Africa were rich you might get away with thinking - "Of course, these kids are happy." They have all the modern conveniences a person could ask for, but that’s not true. These kids have lost their birth mothers and fathers.…
A Summer Camp Full of Happy Faces

A Summer Camp Full of Happy Faces

Alright I know we can't force kids to have fun, and 2 weeks is a scary long time for some of them. But I visited the camp twice this year and I saw a summer camp full of happy faces. Here's a link for last week's Friday and Saturday activities. Sure it takes some time for students to warm up to each other, but once they do some of them don't want to leave. The environment was good. I arrived at about 2:15 on Wednesday afternoon and I got to see students from my school. Here's a 2 minute photo…
The OxBridge Teachers Are Back

The OxBridge Teachers Are Back

Wow, I am surprised, Oxford and Cambridge, OxBridge teachers are back to TWGH’s English Summer Camp. It’s been a while, last year they hired teachers who lived in Hong Kong to teacher and before that the camp was canceled due to Covid19. Anyway, it felt good to have them back. The picture below has both the Hong Kong counseling staff and the teachers toasting each other. The HK counseling staff are a critical part of the program. They handle disciplinary issues and keep things running smoothly. This is my 5th year participating in the summer camp. My school, currently has…
Stepping Out at the Dragon Boat Festival

Stepping Out at the Dragon Boat Festival

Yesterday the weather observatory said that it was supposed to be sunshiny for today’s Dragon boat festival. They were partly right. The sun did come out, but it also rained. There were several venues in Hong Kong where the Dragon boat race could be viewed from. I went to the SaiKung venue. When I arrived, it was raining so I found some shelter. Stepping out at the Dragon Boat Festival meant talking with a variety of individuals. First I sat down next to an older gentleman and struck up a conversation. We talked about what a great opportunity the Dragon…
Sports Day Adds Value

Sports Day Adds Value

Before going to China and Hong Kong, I had never heard of Sports Day. The idea of asking the entire school to take part in a track meet that lasted a couple of days seemed very ambitious to me, but I have to admit there are a few things that I really liked about it. A lot of times people think that you have to be really athletic to try out for a school sport. We tend to think that sports need to be "professional". Only the best players or runners can make the cut and get on the team.…