29 July 2007

The Wedding Banquet, The Resignation and The Orphanage













From title you can see that it's been a jam-packed month! I can't believe how many things transpire in the course of a very short time here. The photos were taken last weekend at the wedding banquet for my co-worker and friend Thomas, who was married recently to his Chinese sweetheart Lizzy. A good time was had by all at a Muslim-Chinese restaurant run by Canadian expats here in Shenzhen. The first photo is of me with my good friend Bonnie, we became friends through the school I work for. She is a wonderful lady, always happy to help the sometimes inept foreign friend and always cheerful and optomistic. Then you have a photo of me with the happy couple and another of me with the school office staff. I have actually resigned from my job and will leave at the end of a month. There were many factors involved in making this decision, and I believe it is for the best. I will update you on my progress in this area in a future entry. I want to travel in September for a few weeks, so the timing of this decision was made to coincide with these plans. My other news is that I've started volunteering at a local orphanage. I can only manage to go one morning a week, due to work commitments. I have been going for 3 weeks currently and am finding it very rewarding but also a little heart-breaking! There are so many children there and so little time to spend with them all. I play with the kids who are active and just nurse those who are either not yet walking or infirmed in some way. I can't post any photos as the orphanage does not allow us to take any pictures. We have to follow strict procedures, otherwise they will close the program down and at the end of the day it's the kids who will suffer. This particular orphanage is sponsored by a Canadian group, if you are intrested in their work go to www.halfthesky.org to see what they are all about. I've had another trip to Hong Kong since last I wrote, I did get to hit some tourist spots and events this time around. I went to The Peak, Quarry Bay and saw The Symphony of Lights show on the harbour. I have my ups and downs here but I am also having some amazing experiences and am making some wonderful friends. Till next time, take care and God bless! xo