Laura and Brian are interviewing Mr King, their NET teacher.
Brian: Good morning, Mr King. Laura and I are writing an article on you for next term’s newsletter. We need to get inside your head! First things first: What is your earliest memory?
Mr King: Playing in the sand on the beach near our home in Sydney with my brother and sister. My mother had made a kind of open tent to keep me out of the sun. I remember playing for hours digging in the sand with my plastic spade and then filling them in again.
Laura: What sort of child were you?
Mr King: Busy. I was always doing something. Kicking a football in the back yard, swimming, building stuff out of Lego. My mum taught me how to cook when I was a kid. I loved making cakes and bread. I still do. I was never still as a child. There was always something to do.
Brian: What are you best at?
Mr King: Talking. Haven't you noticed that? When I was at secondary school, I won a talking competition. I talked non-stop for six and a half hours.
Laura: What would you like to be better at?
Mr King: Sport. I do a lot but my problem, is I spread myself too thinly. I don’t concentrate on any sport, so I am not brilliant at any. I wish I was really good at squash or swimming. But it’s my own fault. I’m mediocre at lots of sports.
Brian: What has been your greatest achievement?
Mr King: Making the decision to come to Hong Kong and work as a NET. I had a good job teaching in an excellent school in Sydney and I had to think long and hard to give that up and leap into the unknown. But I’m glad I did! I’m not generally a risk taker, and it was a great achievement upping sticks and coming here.
Laura: What has been your biggest disappointment?
Mr King: Not learning to play a musical instrument when I was a kid. I love music, and learning to play is something I always talk about but never do. It’s never too late to start, I know. I’m disappointed in myself for not making a move.
Brian: Who would you like to say sorry to and why?
Mr King: My grandad. My mum’s father. He died when I was at university. I never met him. He lived in Scotland, and I never made the effort to travel and see him. He was disabled because of a car accident he had in his twenties, so he couldn’t do the long flight to Australia to see us, but I could have gone to see him. I just never made the effort. Sorry, Granddad.
Laura: Who would be your dream dinner date?
Mr King: Nicole Kidman, the Australian actress. Just the two of us. I think she is a brilliant actress and she comes across as so natural and interesting when she’s interviewed. I once saw her swimming with her mother at Balmoral Beach in Sydney. But I didn’t dare go up to her and say hello. I’d love to have dinner with her. Her father was a doctor in Sydney. She’s a local girl made good.
Brian: What has been your most embarrassing moment?
Mr King: Oh, I have lots. I’m a bit accident prone. A few years ago, I was up for an interview for a teaching job in a good school. I was sitting in front of the interview panel, and I saw that a couple of them kept looking at my shoes. I didn't know what they were looking at. I was wearing my best shoes and I’d polished them that morning. When I got home, I saw, to my horror, that i was wearing odd socks. One black and one yellow! I had been half asleep when I got dressed that morning.
Laura: What is your most unappealing habit?
Mr King: Sometimes I’m just too impatient with people.
Brian: What do you most like about your appearance?
Mr King: My eyes! I think I’ve got quite nice blue eyes.
Laura: Who would play you in a film of your life?
Mr King: Daniel Craig - the actor who plays James Bond. He would be excellent at portraying me. Don’t you think we’re quite similar?