Of Rugby, Scooters, and Christmas Coming

With the -ber months come Christmas celebrations. The word-play is a little skewed. Brr, it's cold outside meets SeptemBER, OctoBER, NovemBER, DecemBER. With no major holidays like Halloween or Thanksgiving, the Christmas celebrations are in full swing by the middle of September. My FX ride (one option for public transportation) into town the other night was filled with one Christmas song after another on the road. Everything from "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" to "O, Holy Night" on one station. I am excited about the Christmas season. At Eat the Book this week, we began to look at the narratives of Christ's birth. I just can't tell you how much this Sunday school class is teaching me! I'm working on doing the class for credit through Asian Theological Seminary. So worth it!

On a completely different note, I've been looking for a scooter recently. I am ready for a new level of independence in my life. I hope that I'm not putting too much stock in these two wheels. I looked at my first one today. It is an incredibly stress-filled experience for me. The bike that I'm currently looking at is not owned by someone I know. In fact, this afternoon's adventure involved an attempt to find the motorcycle shop during rush hour, in the rain, when the national school's were just letting out. Not good timing.

We got to the shop and I asked to see the bike. It wasn't there. Not a great sign. There is much discussion in Tagalog and two of the guys hop onto another scooter with an umbrella and go cruising down the road. Adios...I guess. Debi, Tim, and I just sat there staring at each other. Okay...I guess we'll wait. We stood around for 20 minutes or so when the two guys come back on two bikes. Here it is. We look it over and it looks pretty good for the most part but we don't know exactly what we're looking for. Tim took it for a little illegal spin up the road. He said it felt pretty good. We asked a bunch of questions...first owner? Any accidents? Stock parts? Hopefully tomorrow they'll bring the bike up to campus so that one of the school's mechanics can look it over and put it through it's paces. We're also hoping that they'll bring a police clearance with them to prove that it's not stolen.

This is a pretty big deal for me though. My stomach has been in knots for most of the past two days as I think over some of the implications of this new mode of transportation. One rather uneasy thing...I have seen far more motorcycle accidents since I made the decision to go ahead with getting a bike. I also want to make sure that I get a solid deal on this thing. I would rather not fork over cash for a dud.

And finally, rugby. Rugby took over Tim's life last week and a small part of mine. He played on the Philippine National Under 20 Rugby Team for a two game tournament against Guam. He was originally supposed to travel to Korea with them but that got cancelled when two of the teams backed out. So Guam came to the Philippines instead. We could have played the game "Which of these things is not like the other" when it came to photos of the team. See:

I was incredibly proud of the way that he played and the way that he stood up for his faith during the past couple of weeks. It had to be hard but he did it. My mom also survived. She was here in Manila for the final on Saturday. Tim went into this game knowing that his mom may put the kibosh on rugby altogether. It was intense! Some of the plays really made Mom nervous but I think she also saw how much he loved the game.

So now the Faith rugby season starts. I'm looking forward to Saturday tournaments and watching him play. I absolutely know how privileged I am to be sharing this part of his life with him. Who would've ever thought?

Nifty Wordle Art

Here's my wordle art for this blog. What a very cool concept! Apparently I write a lot about school in this blog.

A couple words of excitement and caution:
1. Wordle can take text or URLs and create a piece of word art. I already checked out some very interesting ones that took text from "Pride and Prejudice" or "The Odyssey" and created some very interesting (and telling) pieces of art.
2. Once Wordle has created a piece for you, you can take out words that you do not want to appear on your piece. A wonderful feature when you consider that you wouldn't really want that identifying information out there on the web.
3. You can change the font, the color, the "verticalness" or "horizontalness" of your words.
4. A NOTE OF CAUTION - Once you "save to gallery," the piece is there for anyone to see. You can see here that the website creator has no plans to erase any of them.

Have fun carefully wordle-ing!

Detention with Grade 7.

I'm sitting in my Middle School classroom with 6 young men. They're serving their detention with me by writing on the topic of "Do Hard Things." When they think they're done, I'm instructing them to go back and copy what they have written. An hour and a half of this should bore them to tears.

I've been atrocious with keeping up this blog so my apologies to those who attempt to stay in the loop with my life on here.

It is hard to believe that we're already a good way through the quarter. I still feel as though I'm constantly scrambling to get myself organized and on-track. My classes are going fairly well. I'm still trying to figure out how I can find balance in my life as juggle preparing for my classes with any kind of a social life.

Somehow, in the midst of the craziness that is teaching 3 brand new classes, I have found time to read. I've actually been doing a lot of it lately.

In the young adult genre, I've been reading the Twilight series. I absolutely understand why they appeal to the Grade 9-10 girls. I'm not totally sold on the whole vampire thing nor the "losing oneself" in another nor the potentially abusive relationships but they have had me laying in bed in my pajamas until noon on a Saturday with a perma-smile on my face.

I'm reading The Shack by William Young. Disclaimer: I think it is vitally important to remember that it is a piece of fiction. I'm only about 3/4 of the way through so don't give away the ending if you've finished it. I have enjoyed immensely the way that the author created these moving images of relationship, gardens, and talking with God. Tim is upset that I haven't finished it yet so that he can read it. So many essays to read, projects to grade, lessons to plan!

My World Literature class is reading Silence by Shusaku Endo together. I hope that my students enjoy it as much as I have. The book speaks to some of the experiences that I have had in my life. It is so powerful as it talks about the perceived silence of God during the persecution of Christians in Japan in the 1600s.

On a non-reading note, I have now twice watched Everything is Spiritual by Rob Bell. Wow! I think that's all that I can say about it.

Finally, my topic for today's detention essay comes from the book titled Do Hard Things by the Harris brothers. Remember Joshua Harris who wrote I Kissed Dating Goodbye? They're his little brothers. Let not your extreme reactions to their older brother deter you from their book. I have been so impressed by the book and some of their suggestions that I've made "Do Hard Things" our Grade 7 class motto. I don't think that Grade 7s need to fit the mold of the pre-teen that society expects has for them. I think that they can do hard things. They don't need to constantly be complaining. They don't need to be catty towards one another. They don't need to be apathetic. They don't need to not care. I want to encourage them towards something better.

15 more minutes before the torture ends for these MS boys...and for me.

Ninoy Aquino Day

As my last blog stated, "We're off to a roaring, or meandering, start." Today is Monday and we have no school due to a national holiday. How can a week get any better than canceling Monday altogether? It makes things a touch difficult as we try to get into the swing of things but it is so very nice for catching up on some much needed sleep and quiet.

Week One is complete. It was a challenging week but I think we started off the school year on a good note. Three preps takes so much mental energy but as soon as I get things truly organized in my head, I think that I'm going to have a great semester. I did try to get in some extreme, semester-long planning done today so that should get me on the right track.

One of the highlights of the first week of school at Faith is the opening ceremony. (I really like the closing ceremony too but that's another blog entry for May.) The entire school skips out on a few minutes of Period 1, comes to the Circle in the center of campus, hears prayers asking for a blessed school year, and then raises two flags - the Christian flag and the Philippine flag. However, the part that I like the most is the 5th-graders who carry in the flags of the nations. This year they paraded 20 flags of the students and teachers of Faith Academy. A pretty incredible sight as we think about the diversity in our school body. It's also fun to hear the cheers of each nation as their flag is announced and paraded into the Circle. It is a great way to start out the school year!

Our superintendent welcomes us to the 2008-2009 school year.

Here comes Great Britain!

The Korean flag represents the 2nd largest student population at Faith!

The Philippine flag is at the end of the line representing the 3rd largest student population.

The US flag representing our largest student and staff population.

One Week of Pure Chaos

I have now been back in Manila for one week. I vacillate between the feelings of "I never left" and "Didn't I fall asleep in my bed at Gramma's last night?" It has been an incredibly full week of emotions, hello's, retreating, setting up shop, and all the other fun stuff that goes along with the beginning of a new school year.

The staff retreat was amazing. The planners did such a good job of planning a rejuvenating retreat. I came back to Manila still feeling the pressure of the beginning of a new school year but in a much better place emotionally.

I encountered some unexpected changes when I arrived on campus this past week. A variety of things happened to change the schedule I thought I was to teach this year. These include only 2 Grade 7 classes. They are going to be a bit bigger classes by Faith standards but still smaller than most classes that you find in the US. I am teaching a speech class this semester rather than an Oral Interpretation class. Those don't sound so different, you say. Yes, but they actually are quite different. Same principles for the most part but fairly different content-wise. I am grateful for another teacher who has taught this class (in fact taught this class to me) for many years and has all of her materials and curriculum together. And finally, the one that I did expect - World Literature. It has been a cramming week as I try to pull together everything that I need for 3 preps while spreading stuff out between the four spaces that I will claim for the year. I have one room for middle school, two rooms for high school, and an office. I'm setting up shop in the office for the year in hopes of having an airconditioned, central place to work. I'll most definitely be getting my workout as I hike around campus.

Some things are hard about being back. The reality of some of the changes from last year is difficult to deal with. There are families and friends that have left Faith and their presence is sorely missed.

So here we are at Year 2, 2008-2009. It promises to be crazy and wonderful and difficult all wrapped up into one. I started one of my four classes today and my other three will start tomorrow. Off to a roaring, or meandering, start.

I have only a mere 24 hours before I head to the airport. Although I am not looking forward to the excessively long flights between here and Manila, I am looking forward to having all of my bags packed and being done with it. I have felt that my time in Michigan has been one big whirlwind of not getting enough in. I haven't been able to spend time with all of the people that I wanted to spend time with. I have not been able to spend as much time as I wanted with the people that I have been able to see. Not enough quality sister time. Not enough quality grandparent time. Not enough quality cousin time. I don't want to say that I live with regret living after this summer but in the back of my mind there are a lot of "I wish"-es. I'm going to try to be as proactive as possible today and get as much done in the little bits of time here and there that I have. So right now that means going and making my bed and putting my hair up for church.

Things Accomplished in the Last Two Days

• Made the big driver's license change - Illinois to Michigan for only $25.00. Why so expensive?!
• Bought flipflops that I will likely return.
• Ate an early lunch at Marie Catrib's with Anna.
• Gave Anna a pair of flipflops. Honestly, it was $1.50 more to get her a pair. A girl can't have too many pairs of flipflops.
• Turned a 5 1/2 hour drive to Indiana into an 8 hour drive. Ridiculous. I think my body is tired. I had to stop 4 times for power naps. Better than crashing.
• Ate Chipotle with Hannah.
• Did some school work. So much more to do for 7th grade!
• Fell asleep reading "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary Schmidt.
• Ate the blueberry pancakes that Hannah made for me.
• Addressed prayer letter envelopes.
• Made the "User's Guide for 7th Grade Language Arts."
• Went with Hannah to the eye doctor to find new eyeglasses. Lucky her. She got a big discount.
• Came to the Pourhouse coffee shop to steal their internet, eat their hearty chili, and drink their yummy sweet tea.

All in all, a very good Indiana visit thus far.

So so busy.

I wrote a very boring blog entry and just erased the entire thing. What I wrote wasn't terribly interesting. My last three weeks can pretty much be summed up by a couple words - busy and busy. Camping, Chicago, prayer letter, prayer card, Chicago, meetings, visiting. That's about the extent of my three weeks here in Grand Rapids. It's been good but, as always, I just wish that there was more time. Sayang. That's life. Here's some pictures to keep you amused for a while until unbelievably exciting things happen in my life.

Sunset over Lake Michigan.

Grampa and Gramma walking the pier.

Agh! It's going to hit you!

Grampa and Gramma at sunset.

Gramma making a fry-pie.

Pulling Great-Grampa in the wagon with a little help from Great-Gramma.

Anna and I in Grand Haven.

Most amazing Michigan sunset yet.

Grampa at the beach.

Becca, Yes Thai, and Cashew Nut with Chicken meet again.

We love blue men, especially this one! Tim, you were amazing!

Watching the Whitecaps with Anna and Carla.

Enjoying the pool.

Love the eyebrows in this picture!

A goofy smile.

Cousins and 2nd cousin.

Hooray Real Food with Erica and Carol.

Rachel - that's a perfect bridge!

I'm in Michigan!

It has been a really busy week. I've covered a lot of country this past week.

Saturday - Wrapped up my time in Lynden with a wonderful barbecue with the VW family. Everyone came over to Aaron and Becky's house. We had yummy grilled halibut that my uncle had caught in Alaska. I rode back to Seattle with Uncle Dennis and Aunt Jane. I am so thankful for their support of me, especially when it comes to rides between Seattle and Lynden.
Sunday - I spoke at Bellevue CRC in the morning. Powerpoint ran well. In the evening, we went to one of the Celebration rallies for the "Sea to Sea" bike ride. What an incredible experience! I must say a little bit about it.

The tagline for the "Sea to Sea" bike ride is "Ending the cycle of poverty." There are 220 cyclists who are riding from the Pacific to the Atlantic to raise funds and awareness for poverty initiatives in the US and around the world. When we went to the Celebration rally last Sunday, it was their first. They started the ride the next day. You've got to check out the website (www.seatosea.org) and some of the blogs! My words can't do justice but they have been in my thoughts and prayers this week...and on my wrist.
Monday and Tuesday - I hung out in Seattle with two of my friends from my high school dorm. It was rather low-key and that was perfectly fine with me. Good food, good friends, good conversations.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - Flew to Minneapolis, rented a car and drove down to Winona, MN, to visit my good good friend from Hope. Amanda works for the Great River Shakespeare Festival during the summer which means no time off while I am here in the US. I had a wonderful time with her! More down time, good coffee, and three nights of Shakespeare. I watched "Taming of the Shrew" twice and "Merchant of Venice" once. The two directors had two very different takes on the shows but they were both so well done! We also made a trip back into Lanesboro, a little town near Winona. Last year when we went there, we camped and kayaked. This year we went for a nice lunch along the river and the most wonderful ice cream known to man - Zanzibar chocolate ice cream.

Saturday - After a little bit of breakfast and some good coffee, I was on my way again. I drove back up to Minneapolis to catch my flight to Grand Rapids. I had a nice conversation with the lady I sat next to on the airplane. She seemed interested in what I am doing and asked many questions. Grampa, Gramma, and Rachel picked me up from the airport. We went up to Starbucks to see Anna then to Mike and Les' house to see all of my little shnookies before they went to bed. I can't believe how big they have all gotten!

Today - I spoke at Covenant CRC. People were so welcoming and asked lots of questions. Everyone came over for family lunch. Much too much food. Hung out with my sisters this evening.

Tomorrow - WE'RE GOING CAMPING! I'm very excited to spend some time with Gramma. We're praying for some seriously good weather and a spot at our favorite campground.

Photo Catch-Up

You can click on any of the pictures to make them bigger.

Levi on the small tractor that all of the cousins used to drive when we were little.

Mount Baker saying a little hello.

Levi liked Uncle Gerrit's salad at Bob's.

We went to the Deming Logging Show! The Deming Logging Show raises money for the "Busted Up Loggers." I didn't make that up.

Sheri, Kevin, and I wait anxiously for the Deming Logging Show to begin.

We had lunch while we waited. Yummy yummy salmon. A baked potato. Coleslaw (yuck!). Bread. Baked beans. A tasty red punch.

These two guys cut down this log while balancing on these little boards!

Starting the Deming Logging Show with a prayer for those who had lost loved ones in the woods, for safety for the upcoming year, and for safety in the competitions.

Back on the balance boards. They have to cut down the logs and try to hit the little orange cones on the ground.

One of the relay races. They had to run across these logs in the water as part of the race. So many people fell in but I didn't get any pictures of them because I was laughing so hard.

They had the two fastest tree climbers. They went up those logs so quickly! And then came back down so fast too!

We had some really good strawberry shortcake too! Kevin liked his so much that he couldn't wait for the photo.

These kids did the log roll. The water looked so cold!

They're doing the "Ma and Pa Saw." The lady in white is 4 months pregnant!

The clown climbed the tall tree and did a little show. His "wife" eventually came and "shot" him out of the tree.

A manly logger chopping the log.

Adults doing the log roll.

The "Hot Saws." They connect massive engines to a saw and can saw through that huge log in less than 2 seconds. Crazy (and loud)!

Hey Mount Baker!

Ashley giving her horse Rusty a pep talk before we started out. She was afraid that he was going to die on the trail.

Uncle Wayne teaching Uncle Gerrit how to properly put a saddle on a horse after he had done it wrong. :)

We were supposed to see some of the islands off the coast and the Pacific but as you can see it was a bit cloudy. We were most definitely in the cloud.

Eating lunch by Lake Lily. My toes felt like they were about to fall off at this point.

On my horse Sugar.

Heading towards home.

Driving back from horseback riding. What you don't see is Uncle Gerrit sitting next to me yet. All of us were in the cab of a pickup. Quite illegal but I felt like I was home again.

Grilling steaks at Berthusen Park with my uncle and aunt's small group.

The kids working on smores.

Congratulations Sheri on getting married!

My friend Sarah and her boys came up to the farm for the day from Seattle. Playing with kittens.

Trying not to kill the kittens.

Sarah helped Ashlee fix the riding lawnmower.

Swinging at the farm.

Checking out the calves.

Family photo.

Later that night, he asked his mom, "Can you just leave me on a farm?"

A boy after my own heart - loving the Woods.

Sunset from the farm.

The view opposite of the sunset.