International Hockey Flavour

Over the past 3 years, we have been talking about how great it would be to play some other teams, rather than just shuffle our teams every Tuesday night. We have had some rec games against the Macau Nationals, but definitely not frequently enough. This past weekend, we traveled to Shenzhen China to play a group of expats that find themselves in the same hockey bubble as us. Here in Macao, we play 3 vs 3 on a small ice surface. In Shenzhen, this was the first time that many of our players had played on a full sheet ever, or in a few years at least. You could definitely tell that the other team regularly played on this ice 5 v 5, as our team was pretty scrambly and wasn't used to skating the full ice. In the end, we ended up losing 5-2, but a great time was had by all on the ice including drinking many Tsing Taos out front of the nearby 7-11! Our team is in the white jerseys in the photo above. Next up? Possibly a tournament in Shanghai!

Deck the Halls!

The Christmas season is creeping up on us all and things are beginning to get festive here in Macao. The temperature this morning was 13 Celsius and I was freezing! The last couple of days, I've had to wear a long sleeve shirt or carry a light jacket around.....BRUTAL!!!! hahaha.  Anyways, Kaidyn has been busy with the TIS crescendo choir performing at various resorts throughout Macao. Here is a news video of their performance at the Galaxy Macao tree lighting ceremony! Fast forward to 26:30 to catch a glimpse of Kaidyn!
http://portugues.tdm.com.mo/evideo.php?vid=7008

So Long La!

Whoa! I can't believe that we haven't blogged since May. Time just flies and life just keeps us busy, especially this year! Well, let's get you caught up with what has happened since the spring........

As usual, this summer we headed back to Canada for some family time and to get our fill of the western lifestyle. It is always so relaxing being back and having the 2 months off together as a family. We spent a lot of time out at the Bourne cabin out west as well as just relaxing and doing absolutely nothing for days on end!

To celebrate the completion of high school, Amanda treated Kylisha to a quick trip to New York! After all the hard work of finishing school, Kylisha deserved a break before the real work started. They spent a few days watching Wicked, checking out Central Park, the Statue of Liberty and Times Square. I'm sure they may have each gained a few pounds based on what they told me they were eating during the trip! I was so jealous!

We did however, have a small mini vacation planned to Vegas for our good friends' wedding in August. Our friends Scott and Danielle, who have been in Macao for the past 3 years, tied the knot this past summer. Not only were we celebrating their new life as husband and wife, but also their new beginning back in Canada, as they decided to return home and continue their careers in the Edmonton area. Man did we look cute in those slim fit suits Olsie! I was honoured to be the Macao representative in the wedding party!

As summer drew to a close, we were also preparing to say farewell to our precious daughter, as she would be remaining in Canada for college. It was always the plan for her to stay, but yet it wasn't any easier to say goodbye that morning before we left for the airport. Many tears were shed that day on both ends, but Amanda and I are confident that we have raised an honest, ambitious and responsible young woman who will follow the path to a successful career. It was a big summer for Kylisha, as she had to cram in many hours of driver training in order to get her license before school started, she got a job in the cosmetics dept. at Shoppers in Innisfail, and she inherited my beloved 2000 Malibu to cruise Lakeshore Drive on those hot summer afternoons! She is currently attending RDC taking the U of L Bachelor of Education program! Good luck to her and from the sounds of it, she is totally embracing college life (maybe a little too much!).

Upon our return to Macao, I was excited because I had been asked to coach the Sr. Boys volleyball team. My good friend Ed Tse had coached the team the previous 2 years, but this year, they had lost the majority of their players to graduation and only 3 of the players were returning. Once the final roster was selected, I ended up with one G12, two G11s and eight G10s! This was a young team! After a couple of lacklustre tournament performances, we were off to Hangzhou which is just SW of Shanghai for the big ACAMIS tournament. Although our team had improved during the 2 months of practices and tournaments, I was not prepared for the amount skill my boys showed me during ACAMIS! These guys were phenomenal and were fully dedicated to winning our school's first ACAMIS medal. After some nail-biting sets, we triumphed over ISNS and won the bronze medal! Surprisingly, they team was happy, but also very disappointed as they thought we should have at least come home with a silver. It was a great finish to the season and I had a total blast coaching these young men. The other schools will definitely be worried about us next year because we only lose our one G12 student and we have our core for at least a year or two.

For October break this year, we decided to head to Gili Trawangan in Indonesia. It is a small island that is boat-only access and there are not motorized vehicles allowed on the island. All transportation is by foot, bike or chidomo (horse drawn cart). We spent the week with our university friends Jason, Lisa and their boys Jake and Josh. We had a great week, snorkeling, swimming, biking and playing truth or dare every night.

Well, that pretty much catches you up with our adventures since May, but I promise to update more regularly from now on. Volleyball is over so that will give me some extra time. Also we have the Macau half marathon next Sunday then its off to Canada for Xmas!!!!! So long for now!