Weekly Reflection – Week of 30 May 2025
A week of setbacks, trust, and gratitude
🏥 An unexpected scare: a moment of hope, followed by more uncertainty
On Tuesday, I reminded my wife to prepare our children’s documents for the passport appointment at the Chinese consulate on Thursday. To our shock, we couldn’t find the children's Hong Kong ID cards. My wife was incredibly stressed and overwhelmed. Out of desperation, she emailed the Hong Kong Immigration Department to ask whether a birth certificate could be used as a substitute. That day felt like a descent into chaos.
Thankfully, on Wednesday we called my aunt, who turned her house upside down and managed to find the missing ID cards! A huge relief—we were beyond grateful.
On Thursday, my wife took our children to the consulate, only to be told that the old HKID had expired in mid-May and they could not issue the passports. Since renewing the ID requires a trip back to Hong Kong, everything is now stuck. We're hoping Immigration might allow the consulate to make an exception. Meanwhile, we may need to consult the UK Home Office to see whether this document issue would affect our ILR or future citizenship application. Another tough episode for my wife. She still insists we should’ve just gone back to Hong Kong earlier to sort everything at once. I believe this was just unfortunate timing—we were only two weeks too late.
💼 Still job hunting
This week I applied for a Project Manager role at Surrey University. A friend of mine works there as an architect—hopefully that connection might help. I also refreshed my CV and LinkedIn profile again, hoping to improve my chances.
🤝 Volunteering and an old friend reunion
I confirmed my role as a Management Advisor for a charity, with two initial tasks lined up. After meeting the founder, I rode my scooter to a nearby town to have lunch with my university friend Katy. We haven’t seen each other for years, but we clicked like old times—and she still looks just the same. She’s also interested in volunteering and might help with accounting. Hopefully we’ll get to work on something together in the future.
📄 Applying for Job Seeker Allowance (JSA)
I applied for JSA and visited the Working Council on Wednesday. I learned that I’m required to commit 35 hours per week to job searching, and I’m not sure if volunteer hours can count. This requirement adds some pressure but also motivates me to stay disciplined. If I can’t meet the conditions, I might have to give up the allowance. I even asked ChatGPT if claiming this support made me seem greedy, since we’re not in severe financial need. The answer? It’s contribution-based—like insurance—so claiming it isn’t selfish. That gave me a strange but welcome sense of comfort.
👦 Two small but meaningful moments
During Half Term, our son began sitting at his desk to do homework instead of twisting around restlessly. A small but real step forward that made us proud as parents.
📚 My wife’s dedication to improving her English continues to impress and inspire me.
🎶 A Blue Team misunderstanding
Gloria seemed unclear about the process for preparing the Blue Team’s PowerPoint slides and my role in it. To prevent further confusion among other worship leaders, I drafted a process explanation. I plan to discuss it with our preacher Edmond Tsui and the other worship leaders to make sure everyone is aligned.
🚗 Car repairs
My car repairs started on Tuesday. By Thursday, it was in quality control. If the road test on Monday goes well, I’ll get it back. My wife strongly recommends replacing the car, but I want to observe a bit longer and check if the extended warranty coverage has changed. I don’t want to hold onto a lemon, but I also don’t want to pass it on to someone else.
🏡 Neighbourly kindness
Jackson’s upstairs window was left open. His neighbour Val called to notify me and even watered his plants and shut the window. Such attentiveness is rare and truly appreciated. Good neighbours really make a difference.
每週反思 – 2025年5月30日這週
經歷波折、學習信任、充滿感恩的一週
🏥 一場突如其來的驚魂，以為有曙光，然後發現未去到隧道盡頭
星期二我提醒老婆準備小朋友的證件，因為星期四要去大使館拿特區證章。誰知找不到小朋友身份證，老婆非常緊張，壓力爆錶。最終抱著一線希望發電郵給入境處問可不可以用出世紙代替身份證去領取證件。那天心情真是好煉獄。
但感恩的是，星期三打電話俾四姑姐，幫手翻箱倒索，終於在她家找回小朋友的身份證！十萬個感恩，一天都光晒。
星期四老婆帶小朋友去中國大使館攞特區護照，最尾因為舊版身份證原來喺五月中失效所以大使館唔俾攞而申請身份證又要返香港， 而家卡住咗。睇吓會唔會入境處可以俾個指引大使館酌情處理。可能與此同時我哋都要問吓Home Office如果證件Expired咗會唔會影響我哋下年申請ILR同埋之後入籍英國。又要辛苦老婆。經一事長一智，雖然佢仲係好insist 話早知返香港一次過搞啲證件，唔使而家咁煩，我就覺得純粹今次係唔好彩遲咗兩個禮拜。
💼 繼續找工路上
這星期申請了 Surrey University 的 Project Manager 職位，剛好有朋友在那裏做 Architect，希望這條人脈可以帶來一點轉溫。雖然未有實質回音，但仍然一步步裝備自己。另外再執咗一次過CV同埋LinkedIn Profile，希望對搵工有幫助。
🤝 義務參與與友情重遇
確定會幫 Charity 做 Management Advisor，目前有兩個 Tasks，會花一日時間。見完 Founder 後踩 Scooter 去另一個 Town，和大學同學 Katy 見面吃 lunch。多年未見，依然熟悉，同埋大家個樣仍然一樣咁年輕冇乜點變。Katy 對義工也有興趣，希望幫手做 accounting 類工作，睇吓將來有冇機會可以一齊做義工。
📄 申請Job Seeker Allowance
申請了 Job Seeker Allowance (簡稱 JSA)，星期三去 Working Council 跟進文件，原來每週要commit 35小時找工，唔知義工時間可唔可以扣返出嚟。睇吓會唔會呢個要求與壓力可以進一步提醒自己要穩定地推進。如果真係meet唔到，就可能唔攞個allowance。問咗ChatGPT我申請呢個allowance 會唔會好似好貪心，因為我哋唔係真係好窮，佢答我話呢個係contribution base 好似買保險咁，所以申請呢個allowance唔係一個貪心嘅表現。過程有啲搞笑，俾個AI安慰，不過又真係安心咗啲。
👦 片刻安慰
Half Term 期間，見到阿仔開始會坐在書桌做功課，不再“扭來扭去”，細微但實在的進步，作父母，好感動。
老婆勤力練英文，實在值得驚喜和鼓勵。
🎶 Blue Team 的小誤會
Gloria 對Blue Team幫手製作PowerPoint的流程，同埋我的角色有點誤會，為免其他領會有類似嘅情況，我 draft 了個流程說明，計劃和傳道一齊同其他領會溝通攞啲意見，確保大家對流程有共同理解。
🚗 汽車修理
架車星期二開始維修，星期四去整好等做QC，星期一 Road Test 完就可以擁有。老婆強烈建議換車，我想再觀察一陣，同埋睇吓Extended Warranty個coverage有冇減少。雖然唔想攬住隻鑊，但係都唔想下一首買家中伏。
🏡 鄰里情深
Jackson 家窗打開，鄰居 Val 主動聯絡、幫手關窗和潤花，精緻體貼。英國有這樣的鄰居，真的難能可貴，內心非常欣賞。
