Working Wednesdays: K3 Graduation Picnic and Day of Sightseeing on Hong Kong Island

Today’s Working Wednesdays is as recent as a “WW” on Don’t Stop Living has ever been, as it happened last week on Friday 21st June 2013. Having been based in Hong Kong for the last two years or so of my nomadery, this has seen me take on about 5 or 6 different jobs, the most enjoyable of which has probably been working in TWO different Kindergartens in Tsuen Wan.

One of these Kindergartens is situated in the centre of Tsuen Wan. I’m the resident native English teacher there. I have attended many events with the school (mentioned one of them here – St. Patrick’s School fun day) but this was a day where I would literally be getting paid to go sightseeing and eat food completely for free. A backpackers dream if you like!

Here’s an overview of what the day entailed!

8.15 am – Arrive in work as per normal (I got a bus from Ma Wan/Park Island, which cost me 6HKD – I’m currently sleeping on a settee in my mate’s flat there!)

8.35 am – 9 am – Meet and greet the children in K3 (mostly all 6 year olds, but a few 5 and 7 year olds too) and their parents – the parents are with them for a day.
After 9 am – There is no assembly today (as there are no K1 or K2 children – just K3). I am given the school camera and a spare battery as I will be cameraman for the day. I am also given a bag to carry onto the bus.

9.20 am – I board bus number 4 with fellow teacher Miss Lai and am joined by the principal Miss Chow as well as about 30 children and their parents. Off we go! I can sit back and relax as everything is in Chinese. I only need to get up to say Good morning to the children and their parents.

10.25 am – After a bus journey with great views on a very hot day, we arrived at Stanley for the “photoshoot” – basically all the K3 students put on their graduation gowns and we pose for a big photo! Everyone is in good spirits and I take some time to pose for photos with kids and parents then walk around on my own admiring Stanley – a beautiful village on the south side of Hong Kong Island.

11.35 am – We head back to the bus and board as we drive round the coast to Aberdeen. It’s my first time in Aberdeen, a skyscraping town on Hong Kong Island which is much bigger than I imagined! We get out and head to a seafood restaurant for lunch. All paid for by the school and really top traditional Chinese food. Even if I’d rather have had a pizza!

2pm – After lunch we had some draws and raffles for the kids to win prizes which was fun and by 2pm were back on the bus and we headed directly to The Peak. I had been to the Peak 3 times before but always by Peak Tram so it was nice to go there by bus.

On arrival at the Peak there were more photos in the Graduation Gowns before a big shock – FREE entry ticket to Madame Tussauds!

I was working of course, but was still able to walk at leisure round the waxwork model and get my photos taken wth lots of fake celebrity models including Barack Obama and The Queen.

There I was getting paid to go sightseeing…and the view of Hong Kong from the Peak is quite stunning.

At 4pm I had two options, 叉芽河either get the bus back to school with the children, parents and fellow teachers or make my own way home. I chose to relax and enjoy the views and make my own way home. I took the Peak Tram back down towards central and loved it!

This is an amazing working Wednesday as I got paid to go sightseeing and loved it. Don’t forget working is fun sometimes! Or if you have checked out my working career or travel timeline, then it’s nearly always been fun!