Report from Mr. Mark Loh and Mr. Augustine Chan on 14 Jan 2009:
Just visited Galway yesterday. We had brilliant weather and the opportunity to visit another Jesuit school, Ignatius College, under the liason of Mr. Gerry Foley.
All the boys are behaving well and are well settled with their host families. A lot of good bonding was done by the WY boys with their partners and us and Mr. Foley yesterday during the 3-hour bus trip to and back so it was slightly tiring especially having to face rush hour on the way back.
Ignatius College, a Jesuit co-ed school, is a school of very limited resources compared to Belvedere yet they are able to produce good atheletes and individual achievements. We were particularly impressed by the presentations of the students concerning social and economic aspects of Ireland especially where a pair of girls gave a comparison of the educational systerm between HK and Ireland. The girls managed to give a comprehensive overview of our educational system in HK despite not having been there before. We think the boys benefited greatly from these insights which hopefully would be translated into their projects. The headmaster is Mr. Bernie O'Connell.
The Irish Times piece is due to be published around Chinese New Year so Mr. Foley will be bringing the article with him when Belvedere arrives in March/April.
Initially, the Chinese Ambassador was thinking of meeting only us, but for Mr. Foley and Belvedere is a great opportunity so they made it into a larger thing so it becomes a mini-reception. We are thinking of asking Lai Kiu Fung to write a calligraphy piece of Wah Yan One Family in Chinese characters.
Report from Mr. Mark Loh and Mr. Augustine Chan on 19 Jan 2009:
A quick note to let all know that the reception/meeting with Mr. Liu, the Chinese Ambassador went extremely well. He was warmly received by all and our boys chatted warmly with him (he spoke Cantonese as well even though most of our conversations were in Mandarin). The event is well documented with photos and video-recording of speeches made for.
He has given all participants in the exchange a pin of the flags Ireland and China. He has given us extras to take home to the staff in Wah Yan.
Quite a few number of local parents expressed that the boys were a pleasure to have. So far the trip has been quite successful in the boys seeing life in Ireland and learn more about the school life in Dublin.
We are leaving early afternoon to London after a farewell reception and hope to be in touch soon once we are in London. |
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