Robertson Tribe Updates

changes

mom2rbdl — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:23:01 +0000

I carry an umbrella everywhere now. I need it for sudden, HARD showers, or to keep the sun off my head in 100+ degree weather.
Budget busters are no longer trips to Target and gasoline for the car. Now they are buying fresh milk, taking too many taxis, and buying too many iced cafe mochas. Oh wait….guess that’s a budget buster in both places.
I now have the motto of, “I’ll get there when I get there”. So much is out of your control when you take public transportation that you can’t stress about being punctual. You also can’t stress over people not meeting on time. You have to build in 10-20 minutes grace periods, for both sides. Life is so much nicer now. Ahhhh….
I sweat all.the.time. You can’t avoid it, unless you never, ever leave your house. I hate to sweat.
I never wear cute shoes. You can’t walk far in cute shoes.
I am a cell phone junky out of necessity, NOT preference.Every single person you see out and about has a cell phone. Young, old and in between. It’s how you connect with people and the most important piece of information you can give someone.
I see billboards all the time and many are not rated G, if you know what I mean. (For those of you not living in Maine, billboards are illegal there. There are none! It was such a treat to go back and NOT see them).
I never leave my house without a cell phone, tissues (for noses, napkins and toilet paper), hand sanitizing gel, house keys, Octopus card (for public transportation), pen and paper, Octopus cards for all the children, and a folded up bag or back pack to carry home whatever I might pick up while I’m out. I’ve gotten brave recently, and stopped carrying my map with me. That was a huge step for me. But that’s just the minimum. It gets more involved from there, depending where we are going. Plus, you carry all that. You can’t just toss it in the car in case you need it.
I have children in private school and we walk to school and home each day. I’m still adjusting to that one.
I use cash all the time, for most everything as HKG is very cash based. It’s been strange to get used to carrying so much cash, and burning through it so quickly!

David

mom2rbdl — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 00:01:53 +0000

While dropping off my one and only boy at school today, I stopped in to chat with his teacher. She said, “I didn’t realize David had open heart surgery when he was just a wee lad.” (She’s not from the US, can you tell?) I briefly explained and wondered in my head how in the world that came up. With David, you never can tell. She then cleared up the mystery.

Yesterday in class, they were reviewing letters and the sounds they make. She put Z up on the board as well as a picture of a zipper. As soon as it went up, she heard David behind her. “MrsBlackwellMrsBlackwellMrsBlackwellMrsBlackwell….oooh, oooh, oooooh” all in one frantic breath. “Yes David?” He promptly jumps up from his chair, whips his shirt up over his head and announces, “I HAVE A ZIPPER! RIGHT HERE! WHERE THEY TOOK MY HEART OUT, FIXED IT,PUT IT BACK IN AND ZIPPED IT UP!!!!!!!!!!”

information I did not need

mom2rbdl — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 10:19:10 +0000

Our family is a big milk drinking family and consumes gallons and gallons in the states. Since living here, that has been a problem. The milk does NOT taste the same except for one or two kinds that are close. It must say “fresh milk” or it could be milk powder, or frozen then reconstituted…all nasty options, trust me. So, we bite the bullet and pay the big bucks for the teeny containers of fresh milk and cut way, way back on our consumption.

As I was reading through my friend Beth’s blog, I saw her calculations on the price of milk here in HKG. It was information I did not need.

Here is what she said…

I buy milk in 946ml cartons so that is about 1/4 gallon so when you do the math or is it maths (British say maths) and then convert it works out to . . . really I shouldn’t do the math. But since I already did, I might as well tell you - $9.61 for a gallon of milk.

the heat, it is upon us

mom2rbdl — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 06:32:22 +0000

I went out today with a friend (ok, my best and probably ONLY friend in HKG) and I was just melting; sweat literally running down my face and back. Curiosity got the best of me so when I got home I went online to a site that converts the temp for you from C to F and then factors in the humidity. The result? “Feels like 99 degrees”.

Let’s just call it 100, people!!

typhoon education

mom2rbdl — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:02:10 +0000

Since moving to Asia, we’ve had to learn about typhoons. Actually, we don’t know much and have been giving people back in the states wrong information. The rating scale stumps me as every website has different criteria. Go here and see what I mean. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_cyclone_scales#West_Pacific All I know is, right this very moment, we are in the middle of a number 9 typhoon and it’s kind of cool.

((Edited to add, I just found this information that explains things better…. http://www.hko.gov.hk/textonly/explain/intro.htm ))

We got up this morning, headed for school, and found the streets deserted, which is highly unusual. No people, no buses, no cars, no taxis….very strange. A man drove by in his car, rolled down his window and said, “Is category 8 typhoon. No school little ones. No school. No open.” Okie dokie….no school kids…let’s go home!

Sure enough, we got home and saw the news and he was right. We’ve since been upgraded to a 9. The winds have done some damage around the city and flooding has been a problem, but we are safe and sound. One more memory of Hong Kong.

it’s a whaaaat?

mom2rbdl — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 14:24:41 +0000

Today was the first day of school for two of my children; “real” school, that is. A brick and mortar, bells for lunch, recess, a teacher besides mom kind of school.

When they returned home after a long day, we sat on the couch looking through everything in the backpacks. “David”, I said, “what’s this book?”

Oh, that’s my diarrhea. You have to write notes to the teacher in it, she writes notes to you, and it has all my homework.

WHAAAAT?

“Ummm, I think you mean DIARY!”

getting ready for bed

mom2rbdl — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 04:53:13 +0000

My three year old, L, was getting herself ready for bed. Of course, I was only allowed to sit on the bed and watch as she did it all herself, thankyouverymuch. She is, after all, THREE.

As she pulled down her shorts, she said in a completely matter of fact tone, “Oh! I have my singing underwear on.” I said, “What did you say?!” Then she sings, “LAAAAA!!” and says, “Didn’t you hear it?” Laughter erupted from my mouth before I could stop it and I nearly fell off the bed.

I stayed behind in the bedroom, trying to gain control of myself, as she pranced to the bathroom to brush her teeth. As she crossed the dining room, I heard her sing, “Lllaaaaaaa” and then say “Ooops, there it goes again.”

BAH HA HA HAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

an update

mom2rbdl — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:11:33 +0000

We’re here. Completely exhausted, but we’re here!

for those that care

mom2rbdl — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:24:57 +0000

We have arrived in the US in one piece. We are incredibly tired and happy to be here. It was a rough trip home, but the end result was worth it.

big announcement

mom2rbdl — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:55:24 +0000

It looks like our entire family will be joining Daddy on his trip to the states in June, instead of our previous plan of returning in August. We leave at the end of next week (GULP! ) and will stay for approx. 4-5 weeks. The kids are ecstatic and have started counting down the days. I’ll be happy as soon as I catch my breath. I’m off to write, re-write and create lists. So much to do!!!