WOW The kids all did a fantastic job at their Jazz and Hip Hop exams. We had a guest examiner from Australia, Miss Lynelle Kertland from The Australasian Dance Association here to examine the kids. 60 students took part this year and many more will sit their exams next year in March 2010.
Well done everyone and I'm super proud of you all!

The new morning has motivated me to update this page.  ** must admit that Facebook and our Academy of Jazz websites have taken my focus off this portal **  My main purpose for this page, though, has always been to provide Rich Media for people to view in regards to HK, so this will continue to be my focus here-- photos, videos, and links. 

What have we been doing?
-- We went to NZ in the month of Feb 09
-- We've been immersed in the Grace message being preached at City Church International (and others)
-- promoting the JazzAdict and Broken Beat Dance Syllabus that Sonia uses at her studio
-- we just administered the first year of Examinations at the studio (they did very well!)

What is coming?
-- comprehensive Summer Program (camp style) for dance studio starting in July 09
-- Greg is working on plans to start an educational centre in Nov 09 (ESL, problem solving projects, & ICT)
-- my sister is joining our joy ride here in HK (hopefully her passion & love can be put to good use!)

Once the curriculum and details for the new Educational Centre are finalized, I will post a new page on this blog that will be entirely dedicated to that business.  My dream is that it will give children the opportunity to develop problem solving skills, initiative, team work, English language proficiency, and an increased ability to use technology.

and my newest Hong Kong family videos are now posted on my Videos from Asia page here:
http://gregandsoniainasia.typepad.com/videos/

Once again, yep, we're on the move....this time as a result of dodgey Chinese visa laws that have been changing and messing up border crossing and business travel.  so I packed it up, and now I've interviewed with some great schools back in HK for this next school year in September.  we count ourselves so blessed, as we've come into a tremendously exciting time of opportunity and change.  we've started business plans for expansion of SHAJ with a few other Christian entrepreneurs, we're looking for a village house in Sai Kung (a laid-back, artsy beach town), and God allowed us to be invited to the most lovely church body in the world!  They call themselves City Church International, and their passion for God's heart of hearts is nothing short of amazing.  We are super super excited about living as a part of a cool community again, since we've been out in Timbuk 2 for a while now.  The peace, joy, and love that Jesus brings to our hearts when we seek him and hang out in his presence is all we need to endure, and now it looks like a renewed time of rest is just around the corner.  Please pray for these interesting developments, as they are by no means complete, and everyday we must choose to lean into God's will.
ALERT:  watch the HK WEBISODES link for new and improved videos that I've been creating since I purchased a new video mobile phone that makes the process very easy.   Click on these 2 links for my most recent ones:

1.  Rainy season in Hong Kong

2.  Greg in MTR train HK

see our pics from numerous commutes from Timbuk 2 to civilization...

Classes are booming and more and more families are finding our studio. Now we have classes from babies all the way through to teens in gym, dance, jazz and hip hop.
The latest news is that I will be working in partnership with a specialist in baby gym and music classes to design a brand new curriculum that really brings together all the benefits of music, dance, gym and creative expression through art. This is so exciting for me as it gives me a chance to put onto paper some of my research and experience in the areas of sensory integration training for children and the lifelong health and educational benefits. WOW what a privilege to be impacting these kids lives by  making exercise both fun and  nurturing  their brains. Our Jazz and Hip Hop classes for older students are also doing well with some really talented kids joining the studio. We will be bringing over international examiners and the choreographers of the BBDS and JazzAddict syllabus to Hong Kong in March 2009. Our students will be the first in HK to have the chance to sit these examinations.

I wanted to share pictures of our new house, which puts us very near the HK-China border now.  we are loving life and looking forward to the new possibilities this move has opened for us.

watch this cool highlight film from the first ever professional hockey game played outside in the USA.  The Buffalo Sabres took on the Pittsburgh Penguins, and it is decided finally by an overtime shoot-out!

These are God's words taken from about 50 Scriptures, and it shows us how he has expressed his love to us.  Jesus Christ, His Son, was the peak of his revelation of love to us.  I had to share this as a logical second part to my previous testimonial video.

still on my quest for truth....
I happened upon this first-person account that is worthy of attention, and I hope you dedicate a short 10 minutes to watching it.
It is very down-to-earth, non-religious, and completely relevant to any individual still alive in our universe.

I've been pondering this question lately, and when you really stop to think about it, there needs to be quite a bit of explanation in order to satisfy people who are on a genuine spirtual quest...
I hope this video helps you on your journey to find the truth about our world....

first video talks about hell

second video talks about the contentious issue of pain and suffering in the world

third video talks about why Jesus, the Son of God, came to the Earth