Patches wasn’t having any of it. “I AM SOOOOO ITCHY !” He said and quickly sent me his experience throughout my body. I was literally insanely itchy from head to toe, it was awful, I had to tell his owner. “Tell him to stop using the green shampoo.” He said. I finally got around to telling his owner that I talk to animals and he denied using any green shampoo. I was a bit upset with Patches for blowing my cover. Then, weeks later I found out that the owner’s helper was using green dishwashing liquid on the dog every time he went to the beach which was 4 times a day. The fact that it was green made the guy into a total believer. They stopped using it and now Patches is okay. They introduced me to other people and that’s how I got star ted here in HK. I never thought I’d be doing this for a living.
Have you ever spoken with Hong Kong race horses - you could make a fortune... I have worked with race horses here in Hong Kong. To be able to work with them and communicate clearly, I had to promise them that I would refrain from betting, as it would be unethical. I was very lucky to get into the paddock area at the races and say hello to the horses as they went by. The well trained horses would say “Please don’t distract me, I’m focusing on my job” and others,
less well trained would say “What am I doing here?” They had no clue what they were doing. I’d tell them, “Pass a few horses sweetie, run fast and pass a few”.
Do you communicate in words or pictures? I often get a quick flash of a picture. Once, I was waiting for a client, who went to the restroom and I started to speak with his dog about his favorite food. He said “I LOVE pencils!” I doubted what I had received and asked him to send me the message again. He sent me a picture of a dog bowl overflowing with pencils. We stopped talking, as I couldn’t believe a dog would love pencils. When we got to my client’s apartment, I noticed that every single wooden object had been gnawed down. When I asked about his furniture, he said his dog was responsible for it and that if I even dropped a pencil the dog would eat it within seconds!
cultures that it helped me with my communication skills. It made me realize that there are many different perspectives and gave me a very global view of the world at an early age. I got a lot of confidence going to HKIS and liked that all the different nationalities got along really well. I liked how we could be individuals. I’m sure that the amazing art classes and studio at HKIS was the reason I went to Art College. In the last year, I’ve been in email contact with Ann Mulligan ’84. I hadn’t spoken to her since graduation; she found my name on the HKIS website so I’m very grateful for it. Sue is currently in Chiang Mai, Thailand, doing research for a television series for Discovery channel on communication with elephants. To contact her please email her at holanga@rocketmail.com
What memories do you have of HKIS? HKIS was great because there were so many different nationalities and
Alumni Power! The Annual Fund this year was such a resounding success in no small par t because of our Alumni volunteers serving on the Annual Fund Cabinet and Ball Committee. This is the first time we’ve had four alums serving on the committee, it is also the first time that we’ve had so many alumni tables at the ball. Our serving alumni include the 2005 Annual Fund Alumni Co-Chairs Timothy Zee ’84 and Ning Li ’76. Timothy has
twin daughters in R1 - Morgan and Madison, and has also served on the Alumni Board and HKIS Board of Managers Committee - Institutional Advancement. Ning and Margaret have two children at HKIS, Jacqueline and Victoria. A special thank you to Wendy Hsu ’85, who broke the mould when she became our first ever alum chairing the Ball this year. Well done Wendy!
Gisa Lee ’80 continued to be a source of guidance and wisdom ser ving her second year on the Ball Committee, Gisa also has a child, Godwin, at HKIS. Finally, we’d like to thank Deirdre Chan ’85 and Pattie Bossany Gordon ’84 who added more than a little panache serving on our Publications Committee. HKIS is indebted to you all. Many thanks!
HKIS Alumni Website: http://dnet.hkis.edu.hk/alumni
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