Things have returned to normal pretty much here. The ban on kindergarten and elementary classes was lifted after last Friday. James went to Jaydan's party on Saturday at the Hong Kong Cricket Club. It wasn't a big party by Hong Kong standards---a lot of their classmates were still away on holiday. 
Getting a taxi was difficult due to the Rugby Sevens.
Both kids went to Sunday School at St. Anne's. They seemed happy to be back among other children. I noticed during mass that there were a lot fewer sick people. Before the school closure, Tom and I were freaking out during church---so many people were coughing and hacking---it was nasty.
Monday morning started not so bright but very early. I knew traffic was going to be bad because it was Monday, the first day back at school after the Easter break and it was raining quite hard. We left at the marina at 7:30. We can usually be at Claire's school by 8:05. We didn't make it until 8:35. Tons of traffic. All day, in fact. Ugh. I then had to drive James to Ap Lei Chau to his campus. Not a fun way to begin the week. And I missed coffee with G and S. Grrrr....On the plus side, I rang JJ and actual got ahold of her which was great because she was leaving for Vegas the next day. She's going to a convention and then a bunch of friends are meeting up with her (including Julie and Jacqui) to celebrate JJ's 40th birthday slightly early. (Over an approximate three week period, JJ turns 40 first, then Julie and then me!!! How the hell did this happen??? Very disconcerting.)
I've only seen one child masked up...that was a girl from James' class who was on the same bus Tuesday afternoon. The only other thing out of the ordinary is that at our Club, the ball pit is still closed (and will remain closed indefinitely according to a posted notice outside the children's playroom). Interesting. It's actually a pretty clean ball pit compared to a lot of them. The balls are all sucked out on Monday afternoon and Friday morning and washed with a bleach/water solution. Then they are put in large mesh bags and left out in the sun to dry. The cleaning lady will then vacuum out the ball pit and wipe everything down with a bleach solution. She's also very nice...Claire used to have ballet on Mondays and James & I were usually in the playroom during the Monday ball pit cleaning process.
I've played hockey twice this week...Monday night with my D3 team and tonight with my D4 team. It was the second game of the playoff's and we needed to win both games. Didn't happen...not by a long shot. We got smoke on Monday night 0-7 and then lost tonight 0-2. I guess we now move into the consolation (i.e. LOSER) round and I believe we have two more games against the other losing teams.
I was also stressing about school placements for next year. I need to let the current school know our plans for next year by April 15th which is also the same deadline for families at the school where we've applied. Thus it will be impossible to know whether or not our kids have spaces at the new school before April 15th. I rang the Admissions Office yesterday and found out that "Third grade is a NIGHTMARE". Not looking good for Claire. There are 46 kids that are either debenture holders or coming from US schools (which includes other international schools with US curriculum) that have applied for places in third grade next year. We are somewhere after those 46 kids. (I believe there are only 200 kids per grade---at least that's what it used to be at the middle school when I taught there.) James has slightly better odds. There are 39 kids applying for Reception 2 that are either debenture holders or coming from US schools. However there is one more class in R2 than R1. That means that there are already 20-something places available. I like those odds a bit better but I'm not planning on anything at the moment. This also affects our plane tickets for the summer. The school where we've applied starts back on August 18th while their current school begins classes on August 28th. Complications, complications, complications.
Tom's in LA...he's back on Friday afternoon. It's a public holiday here, Ching Ming. The kids and I will be at the Aberdeen Marina Club (Adventure Zone) for a birthday party and then...who knows? Claire has another party at the same venue next Thursday afternoon as well. (And she just received a third invitation for yet another party at the same venue for the end of the month---unfortunately we're going to be in the US for Cathy's graduation that weekend. James also has his judo grading tournament that weekend which is extremely bad timing---he's been waiting for six months for this tournament so that he can earn a yellow or orange belt. He's not happy about being away.)
I have Claire's birthday next Wednesday afternoon at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club. We're having a bowling party although our kids have never bowled. I need to sort out goodie bags and Claire needs to design her cake so I know what I'm making. I'm hoping there's not a lot of people in her cake design this year...last year I had to draw her and some of her friends in soccer gear.
Off to bed soon...
