Alex and Chika were away for five days on “week without walls” camp. That was the first time they have gone away from mom and dad for that long. We were a bit concerned about that, but they coped very well. We thank God for that.
They are increasingly growing independent and, in a way, we like that, since Hong Kong is a pretty safe place. Also, the boys participated in a soccer as a way to acquire some skills and get some exercise. They played once a week on Saturdays. They are continuing in January, but will be practicing at a different location on Friday evenings and for longer time.
Their classes at school put up some performances - bands and singing. They also took part in the Christmas peagent organized by the children’s ministry of our local church – The Vine Fellowship. Chika participated in singing while Alex was an actor.
I was an under-12 soccer coach for International Christian School during the first season of games/sports. We did okay and were in the third place out of six teams in our league. Some of my players had never played in an organized soccer team before. So it was like starting from the scratch.
The secondary component of our school went on week without walls in November (26th – 30th). It was the first time I participated in this program. It was really fun. Another teacher and I had sixteen students with us and we went biking, bouldering, camping, and kayaking. We also went on a canyon.
The Christmas break was a good time to unwind. My family did not travel out of Hong Kong. However, it was a good time to sleep in, travel within and enjoy Hong Kong. We visited the beach at Cheng Chau, the botanical and zoological garden, the Ocean Park (a park that has cable cars, many rides, and the largest aquarium in the world). 
We also travelled on the longest escalator in the world. It takes 20 minutes to complete. We were a little bit disappointed though, because the escalator is not one continuous piece. It is a chain of escalators from Central to Mid-Levels. 
