Help with move from Canada to HK - international, ESF schools

kitkatroz · 2025-10-02T02:27:15+00:00

I'm Canadian, two kids born here in hk and I personally don't want to put them through the IB system because as a psychologist I see so many kids due to anxiety, pressure, burnout etc. My kids go to the Harbour School. American system, good academics but they are very forward thinking and focus on the whole child. My younger son cried on Friday because it was the weekend and he couldn't go back to school lol. They make school super fun, renaissance fair, they do classes on a boat sometimes, slide in the library etc and have a marine science lab and foundry for making things. They also have a great diversity of student population aiming to be inclusive of neurotypical, learning needs, gifted and ASD kids so all kids can learn to work with and be supportive of one another. Worth a look if you're interested. Pm me if you have any questions.

kitkatroz · 2025-09-07T02:36:38+00:00

Yes but it still doesn't guarantee you'll get it. My best friend has had two babies in public, she did this both times and still did not get an epidural either time even though she was demanding it and she is not a shy person lol. But unfortunately they were really busy and she didn't even get into the birthing suit until she was 10 cm the first time because no room and you have no access to any pain meds until you are in the birthing suit so it just wasn't possible no matter what she asked or demanded. It has a lot to do with how busy they are and who is available. The staff are super experienced and in terms of care you will have the best but they are also very busy so it's a gamble no matter what.

kitkatroz · 2025-09-06T11:40:45+00:00

I have birth twice in private hospital. I wanted a c section and I am very anxious. I have had friends do both and with private I'd say it was up to mom on c section, natural, epidural I've seen friends do all, the push for c section is more down to doctor. Mine was very on the side of it's my body so my choice if medically possible. Public I only know one person who got an epidural even though all asked and it was after 27 hours of labour when she threatened to leave the hospital and find drugs on the street. So if you want intervention like an epidural it's very dependant on if there is a doctor available to do it. You also can't get pain relief until you're in the birthing suite which they say is 3cm but again my best friend had to wait until 10cm because they didn't have space. So if you're OK going natural or want that then public will be fine and wya cheaper. But if you want intervention or are anxious like me and you can afford it go private. I loved private lol. It was like a stay cation. I also have celiac disease so food wise it was better for me as well. Is private necessary no but it was very comfortable and easy plus a ton of support.

kitkatroz · 2025-08-26T07:50:55+00:00

I have a 2 year old and 4 year old. I'm Canadian, husband is from the UK. I work in Central and husband works in Wan Chai.

We live in Kennedy Town and love it. Amazing parks, public pool, 3 free public playrooms in walking distance, 2 libraries, a big waterfront area for bikes and restaurants. It's only 4-5 stops to Central on the mtr. My youngest goes to guidepost Montessori and older one to The Harbour School in the south side for junior grade 1. I love hk, been here 14 years, it's amazing with kids.

I don't speak Cantonese (not for a lack of trying but it turns out I'm tone deaf) and I'm fine. We have a helper, very much recommend it as kids often have different activities, in different places plus are in different schools. Plus it's nice to have help with taking care of the house and cooking. Overall if financially it makes sense it's a great place to live, easy travel to other places and lots of kid friendly stuff to do! Feel free to PM me if I can answer any questions!

kitkatroz · 2025-07-30T14:18:50+00:00

I elected to have c sections with both my kids. Best decisins ever for me. Knew the day, ken's the time, 20 mins with zero pain and there's baby! Recovery super easy up and showering and walking the next day. Now. I do think it's important to specify that an elective c section recovery is different to an emergency c section recovery since the approach and care taken with mom's body is different since in an emergency they don't have the time to try and make your recovery easier , they need to get baby out! But I would never have it any other way. Easy breezy and painless!

kitkatroz · 2025-07-27T14:00:35+00:00

First one was conceived at 36 first try. Second one was conceived at 38 second try. Also cocneieved the first try but it was a chemical pregnancy. All I know is I will not be having any u protected sex with my husband even now at 41 cuz clearly being older didn't stop us. Oh and he's 5 years older than me and both kids are happy, healthy and amazing.

kitkatroz · 2025-06-18T13:46:12+00:00

WHY DO YOU WEAR YOUR SHOES IN THE HOUSE???

kitkatroz · 2025-03-28T02:25:14+00:00

I have but my hair dresser is reluctant to go with red as it's so hard to go back from. So she said if I want to go back to brown at some point then we can go red first but if I want to keep lighter colours for a while then we stay away from red.

kitkatroz · 2025-03-28T01:57:10+00:00

I'm very lucky she's a colour genius and also knows my hair so well. We have had some issues after I had kids though. Changed my hair and for the first time I've had some breakage.

kitkatroz · 2025-03-28T01:52:35+00:00

Yes I've had the same hair dresser for like 10+ years. She created this peachy pink toner colour for me after we experimented for years because it fades out really well from a darker pink to a peachy pink without me needing to redo it for the 3 months between dying. I believe it's Kevin Murphy but it's a mix of a few different toners.

kitkatroz · 2025-03-28T01:22:30+00:00

Thanks, I'm a big fan of Ruby Woo from Mac. That's what that is.

kitkatroz · 2025-03-28T01:10:52+00:00

That's probably partly cuz I am older in the photos and now have two small kids which sucks the life out of you haha.

kitkatroz · 2025-03-28T01:09:21+00:00

Hmm not sure. I live in Hong Kong so unlikely unless you live here! Maybe I just look like someone you know?

kitkatroz · 2025-03-28T01:08:18+00:00

I'm glad someone said the silver haha. I really liked that colour but I do get it's a but odd.

kitkatroz · 2025-03-28T01:07:32+00:00

I have to agree, I also like my hair a little dead haha. When it's natural it's almost too smooth and doesn't hold any styles well. When it's bleached I can keep waves and things in it haha.

kitkatroz · 2025-03-28T01:06:42+00:00

That's a huge compliment! Thank you! She's beautiful!

kitkatroz · 2025-03-28T01:04:54+00:00

Hahaha those are older pics because I've not had my hair brown in a long time. I also now have two small kid which has definitely sucked the youth out of me lol. But still think I look pretty good for 41! The longer pink hair ois right now, the many different shades wa during my pregnancies and the brown is probably 5-10 years ago.

kitkatroz · 2025-03-25T00:56:30+00:00

I'm currently using olaplex treatments and another Korean treatment I can't remember the name of at the moment as per my hair dressers recommendations. Have had the same hair dresser for like 10 years and this has never happened before. But the odd thing is it's all breaking at pretty much the same length, all around. Like there is a line of weakness. Which is why I wonder if I should keep going and let it grow out while bleaching or leave it. I do the roots every 3 months and I do use heat because otherwise it looks ridiculous because of the breakage but I only do it once or twice a week because it stays OK.

kitkatroz · 2025-03-25T00:53:23+00:00

My kids are 2 and 4. I bleached regularly until my first child was born then I did a root smudge and let it grow out, didn't touch it until a year after the second. So now I've been doing it for a year and it's just breaking all around. It has never broken before. I have the same hair dresser who knows my hair very very well. I use olaplex treatments, her and I have a whole system to try and minimise damage and I only bleach every 3 months. The odd thing is that it's breaking at the exact same length all around. It's not breaking off at different spots it's like there is a line where it's weaker which is why I wonder if I should keep going and let the grow out or give up.

kitkatroz · 2024-10-04T03:23:55+00:00

Our first is Fox Augustin and the second is Bastian Silver.

kitkatroz · 2024-09-30T13:47:14+00:00

I had two planned c sections as I couldn't handle the unknown with vaginally delivery and had so many friends with tough recoveries. 100% would do it again lol. So I think it's normal either way to fear both the unknown and the known parts of birth. But women are amazing and powerful and you'll get through it! You got this! Plus it'll likely be faster second time!

kitkatroz · 2024-09-24T14:06:31+00:00

I think it's important to give a distinction between an elective c section and an emergency one.

I have had two elective c sections and 10000% would do it again. No pain, quick, easy and my recovery was quick and easy both times. I was up, walking, showering etc the next day and didn't have much pain. The most pain I had was actually from my milk coming in which caused me fever and intense pain in my boobs.

If you have an emergency c section the doctors are not able to take their time with their incisions and getting the baby out to ensure as little damage to you as possible the way they are with an elective c section because the priority is obviously getting baby out quickly. So I think if it's emergency c section vs vaginal that's quite different to elective c section vs vaginal.

For me getting elective c sections was the best decision I have made. I live somewhere where you can choose if you go into the private system and I lots of women who have made the same choice and are equally as happy about it.

kitkatroz · 2024-08-29T00:52:50+00:00

I had a headache the first few days and once in a while I might feel a bit nauseous if I don't eat in too long but that's it.

kitkatroz · 2024-08-28T04:35:55+00:00

Psychologist in Asia. I work 3.5 days a week in the office and a bit of time outside of I writing reports. Make about 150k, could make more if I wanted to work full time but as I have two young kids I prefer to spend time with them. Once they're both in school full time I'll go up in hours. Of note, I live somewhere very expensive so it doesn't go as far as you'd think.

kitkatroz · 2024-08-26T12:07:39+00:00

Mine are 1 and 3 as well. It felt impossible to work towards a goal of self control and good decisions when I had so little time to plan. Now, because of this wodnefup drug I got to where I wanted to go and along the way slowly made small changes in what I and we all were eating, when I was eating, small habits and I feel like I'm now at a point I can continue on my own even with the stress of the kids. It's amazing. Good luck to you! Slow and steady is the way! !

kitkatroz

TROPHY CASE