Becs...Abroad

Moving Day!

2009-09-12T14:16:00.003+08:00

Turning over a few new leaves in my life. One is blogging. You can find me at my new blog (hopefully with a bit more frequency): www.becsblogs.wordpress.com

Recap and Upcoming

2009-03-04T17:57:00.002+08:00

A RECAP SINCE MY LAST POST...
- Faith Academy's Talent Night - Whoa! These kids are really talented!
- High School Spiritual Emphasis Week - Fran Sciacca came all the way from Birmingham, Alabama. Really cool! Check out his website at www.handsofhur.org/Faith/ for the five sessions he did here.
- Quilting Day - I'm really a novice. I mostly just watched these amazing women put together incredible creations.
- Rugby - Tim's last rugby game of the 2008-2009 season. They won! It was a great way to end the season.
- Dad Visits - My dad came up for meetings and we got to hang out for one night.
- Middle School Outdoor Education Week - The week had me doing all sorts of crazy things like encouraging my squad of 13 Grade 7 girls as they did a high ropes course, ministered at an Ayta village, created an award-winning lizard in a sand sculpture contest, hike through the jungle, make our own plates and utensils out of bamboo, and eat bats. Find me on facebook and you can see three albums of pictures!
- Korean Culture Day - The Korean Studies Department hosted a day filled with Korean games, traditional clothes, music, and yummy food! Check out the picture below of my Oral Interp. class. Either they really enjoyed things or they were keen on getting out of class.
- Truth Seminar - I sat on a panel with 2 other women as we talked with the majority of the high school girls about developing healthy body images. Powerful!
- Women's Retreat - Left the city for 2 nights to go to a retreat with 60 other missionary women. Added bonus was having my mom join me as she was already up here for meetings.
- Amos and Heidi - My friends from my childhood came back for quick trip so that Amos could help put an airplane together after it was shipped here. It was so good to see them!
- EDSA Revolution Day - A fantastic day off of school! Actually had time to catch my breath after being out of town for the weekend for the retreat.
- Amanda! - My friend Amanda came from the USA to spend 5 (very short) days with me. It was so wonderful to introduce her to my life here. She met my friends, saw Faith Academy, went an adventure-filled mini-vacation to the beach with me, attended my church, and did some shopping. Oh, and we read books! We wondered aloud as to what people who don't read do on vacation.
- NHS Celebration - I serve as an advisor to the Faith Academy chapter of the National Honor Society. We inducted 38 new members this year in a 35-minute ceremony (short, sweet, and to the point).
- And Dormsitting - I seem to have time to actually post these blogs when I'm dormsitting. AND UPCOMING...
- Classroom Management Seminar - I'm going to be presenting the 1 1/2 hour seminar to a group of Korean educators. I'm really excited to share stories and help each other in this very difficult area of teaching!
- End of 3rd Quarter - Agh! All the projects that need to be collected, the essays that need to be graded, the culmination of yet another quarter. It's always a little scary.
- Spring Break - I'll be sticking around Manila. Bring on the books and the sleep!
- Kota Kinabalu - I'm heading to Malaysia to attend an education conference. I learned so much last year and I'm looking forward to seeing how this year's conference changes what I do in the classroom. I'm also excited about perhaps seeing more of Malaysia than I was able to see last year.
- And oh so much more. That's the life of a teacher.

Another Week Comes to an End

2009-01-17T15:18:00.003+08:00

And so the second week of the semester comes to an end. I had this feeling this week of juggling too many balls and starting to drop those balls. I bought a little checkbook-sized planner this week. I really must get on top of all that is happening and work on keeping things running smoothly.

Every year the entire middle school leaves the city for a week to go on Outdoor Ed. Logistically, it is a completely overwhelming week. But not only is the week itself overwhelming, the many weeks leading up to the actual week can be a stressful time. I am co-leading a squad of 13 Grade 7 girls. We have squad meetings each Friday in which we have different tasks that we must complete. Recent squad meetings have had us trying to decide on a squad name (the Banaba Babaes, if you're wondering), a t-shirt design (caricatures of our cute faces), coming up with a squad cheer, learning songs to sing at our ministry day, and overall bonding. There are three very distinct groups of friends in our squad and it is hard to get everyone working together at times.

Yesterday, we took the bonding to another level by having a sleepover in my high school classroom. I'm so very thankful for my co-leader. Julie is fantastic! The evening was filled with watching a HS girls basketball game, lots of pizza, watching the sunset, me brushing out my hair, learning three songs for our ministry day, an Amazing Race, Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, brownies in bed, and Truth or Dare. My hair apparently was a big hit. No doubt that it was big too. I usually wear my hair up since it can get so warm. They wanted to see it down and I decided to take it a bit further. I had to buy a brush especially for the occasion.

During the rounds and rounds of Truth or Dare, I shoved my earphones in and fell asleep. Although I was asked numerous times to join in, I passed. I really don't think they wanted me to know all of the juicy details they shared. That might be a bit awkward come Monday when I'm at the front of the class knowing all sorts of info.

This morning, an alarm went off at 5:30. No idea why someone needed to be up that early! Thankfully, the girls kept sleeping. We ended our morning with breakfast in the senior hall together.

Despite my lack of preparation and organization, the whole thing went off so much better than I expected! And I think I even had a good time.

A Weekend in Los Banos

2009-01-11T19:36:00.006+08:00

I had a great weekend away from Manila. You wouldn't think that I would need a weekend out of the city after being back for just a week but it was just what I needed. I've been meaning to visit Dwayne and Gladys for ages but it just has never worked out. My weekends are generally full of busy-ness and craziness. Last semester we said that it must absolutely happen in the 3rd quarter. So what better weekend than the first weekend?

Dwayne and Gladys came all the way out to Faith to pick me up on Friday afternoon. What a blessing! Taking a bus or some other method of public transportation just wouldn't have been as fun. Despite the fact that we hit rush hour traffic, we had nice conversations in the car. And who can beat a stop at Yellow Cab? They do pizza right.

Saturday was a very full day! Gladys showed me a bit of the town and a few things they are involved in. And we ate banana-que. Oh so delicious! We went back to the house where I laid down for my first nap. Ridiculous to nap before lunch but I think I was a bit tired after trying to get back into the school thing. Lunch at the house. A little more reading. I finished two of my young adult books - Freak the Mighty and Among the Hidden.

In the afternoon, Gladys and I went up to a squatter village where Gladys does a Bible lesson with heaps of kids each Saturday. They were so cute! I mostly just took pictures and tried to listen carefully to figure out what Gladys was saying in Tagalog. I think I got a fair bit of it.

Handing out nametags.

Everyone wanted to answer the question.

Coloring is a big deal.

Oh so cute!

Everyone gathers to say goodbye.

After the Bible lesson, Gladys and I were off to check out the "baths." Los Banos - taken from Spanish "los banyos" - the baths. The whole community is surrounded by hot springs! Even the water at the house is definitely warmer than what we usually have in Manila. When you drive down the main road, there are hundreds of resorts lining the road and then even more with attendents out on the road waving to you, hoping that you'll go down the little side street that will lead to their "resort." We found a fairly clean one. There was one main pool and a kiddie pool. The water felt like lukewarm bath water until you went down to the covered end where a big fountain was spurting HOT water into the pool. It was painful to the touch and you couldn't stand under it for very long. Fun, nonetheless. It would've been a shame to go to Los Banos and never visit one of the baths.

After a good swim and a beautiful view of a full moon through the palm trees, we headed back to the house to pick up Dwayne and the girls to go to Arla for dinner. Arla is this amazingly cute restaurant that is owned and run by a former Faith classmate of mine. PJ does such an amazing job there! Such delicious food and a great time of catching up a little bit. I got to meet her husband and her two boys. Missed out on her little girl because she was asleep though.

I was her first classmate to come to her restaurant! A great privilege for me.

Today (Sunday) felt even more full. We went to church. What an amazing feeling to worship with other believers even when you can't always understand what's going on. I had the benefit of knowing all of the English praise and worship songs but not so lucky with the sermon. It was all in Tagalog. Wow, I really need to work on my Tagalog.

Dwayne and I went out for coffee while Gladys and the girls had Sunday school. I feel so blessed to have shared the coffee and conversations.

When Sunday school was finished, we started our trek back to Manila. Halfway back we took a detour up to Tagaytay. Tagaytay overlooks Taal. I can't believe I've lived so close and have never been there. Taal is an active volcano but what makes it even more strange is that the volcano is surrounded by a crater lake and then there's another crater lake inside of the volcano. It's so crazy.

We ate lunch at a BEAUTIFUL hotel that overlooks the whole expanse. It was a bit cloudy today but I think you might be able to imagine how divine it must look with the sun shining down on it. Lunch was delicious too. I had a roast beef sandwich and a bowl of minestrone soup. The soup was absolutely necessary because it was so freezing cold up there! Oh my goodness. Even my sweater did not help much.

Taal

So now here I am back at home. I've been working on school stuff for the past two hours and I have a bit more to do before I'll be prepared for class tomorrow. I just felt that I had to share about my weekend though.

Moments of Indecision

2009-01-02T11:20:00.003+08:00

I had a blog entry on here a couple days ago that I ended up taking off. The message that it conveyed is not one that I want to promote. As in any country, there are truly ridiculous things that can happen to you. However, I think that post accomplished little to express my love for this place. This country has been my home for more than 10 years now and I want people to love it as much as I do.

My apologies if you missed the first post and this message is cryptic. You can e-mail me personally if you want more details.

Of Rugby, Scooters, and Christmas Coming

2008-11-11T17:35:00.004+08:00

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

2008-10-09T18:00:00.004+08:00

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.

2008-09-24T14:30:00.002+08:00

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

2008-08-18T19:07:00.003+08:00

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

2008-08-12T16:32:00.002+08:00

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.

2008-08-03T21:27:00.002+08:00

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

2008-07-30T02:40:00.002+08:00

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.

2008-07-26T22:14:00.007+08:00

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!

2008-07-07T09:05:00.003+08:00

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

2008-06-25T02:11:00.013+08:00

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.

Chasing Cows

2008-06-25T00:27:00.002+08:00

I think my title describes the type of workout that I got last night.

I'm staying on the farm by myself this week while my aunt and uncle and their family are at the Ag (Agriculture) Teacher's Conference. Uncle Gerrit left me with two phone number that I should call in case of a farm emergency. When we were talking about this on Saturday night, I asked the sarcastic question of, "So I should call them if there's cows running out on the road, right?" Not good to joke about such things.

One of my uncle's students is doing chores this week so my responsibilities extend to the two kittens on the porch, the dog, and the flowers...not cows. I came home yesterday afternoon after working on school stuff at Woods, my favorite coffeeshop, to a different pick-up in the driveway. I saw Brent in the cowyard and yelled hello. He asked what I had done to scare the cows. Wasn't sure what he was talking about. He came out to tell me that when he had come to do chores in the morning, the cows in the orchard had broke through 3 fences to get to the hay field. He had to bring in 2 other guys to round them up and put them back in the proper field. They got that done and left. Everything was a-okay.

I had dinner and wasted some time on facebook before my cousin Sheri called and asked me to go for a little walk. As I was walking out the door to go into town, my cousin Aaron calls. We talked about the cows breaking through the fences and he shared his story of his first day of work up here. He had just gotten hired, was supposed to start his first day, was staying by himself on the farm while my grandparents were traveling, walked out the door, and there was a cow in the garden. In his case, all of the cows were loose and he had to round them all up by himself. He was an hour and a half late for his very first day of work.

I went into town to go for a walk with my cousin, came back, called a friend in Indiana, talked for a long while before I saw another pick-up pull up the driveway. Hung up with Hannah, met the guy at the door, and he said, "Ma'am, you've got a beef on the road." Agh! Said thank you very much and started making my emergency phone calls. "Ah, Brent, I've got cows out on the road." "Ah, Rolf, I've got cows out on the road." Voicemail for both. Called my cousin Aaron, "Aaron, can you come and help me? I have cows out on the road." "I'll be there in 20 minutes." I slip on the closest shoes I can find. Flip-flops. Not really good for chasing cows.

As I ran out to the road, an SUV stops. An old man gets out and says, "I'm from the old country [Netherlands] and I don't speak much English but I'll try to help you catch the cow." We chased the cow from the road and onto the yard. I started running around the fenceline to see if I could find where this cow got out - in my flip flops. Avoiding cowpies at all costs. I made it about halfway around the fenceline before the cow leaves the yard and heads down the Trapline to the Hampton. Trapline is busy but the Hampton is even busier. It could be really bad if someone hit the cow. The cow gets spooked by the traffic and tears off into the neighbors field.

At this point, I really do not care about that cow. The old man has gotten back into the SUV and left. I can't do anything with the cow by myself and I'm very concerned that the fence is broken and the rest of the cows are all going to get out and I'm going to have a much bigger problem on my hands. My emergency people start pulling into the driveway. Brent, his brother, and his dad head into the neighbors field to see if they can find the cow. Rolf heads to the train tracks that run behind our farm to see if he can head off the cow. Aaron pulls up and asks how he can help. I go to get a half bucket of grain to see if we can coerce the cow back in with some food. I make my first call to my uncle Gerrit, "So how many head are you supposed to have in the orchard?...7?...I count 12...What does the cow look like?...I don't know - brown." I'm not so good at this whole identifying cows thing. I head back up the Trapline and find Rolf, Brent, Kelby with the cow on the train tracks. They're going to try to get the cow headed back down Trapline and into our yard and hopefully back into the orchard.

Much conversation ensues as we stand there on the train tracks. "Are we sure that this is Gerrit's cow?" The counts are all messed up because of the cows getting out earlier in the day so we have no idea how many cows we're actually supposed to have in that field. The cow gets scared and starts running again - the wrong way. He heads further north and there's no way we can follow him through this field. So we stand on the tracks and start trying to figure out whose field he's in. Calls start to the neighbors. I'm not calling any of them since I have no idea who the neighbors are. On the Nextel beeping, we hear someone say, "Yeah, I'm supposed to have 8 head in this field and I only count 7. Maybe that's my cow. You know, I think that cow got out earlier this week." Great. Thanks.

Too much excitement. My emergency people start heading out. Rolf has to go help pull a calf - I think that's farm-speak for helping a cow give birth. Brent and his family start to head out. Aaron and I kind of stand there. I guess there's nothing else that we can do. Much too much excitement. I think my uncle is starting to second-guess leaving me here by myself. I'm praying for much less excitement for the rest of the week.

Fun on the Farm

2008-06-14T01:58:00.004+08:00

It has been a great week of hanging out with my family. I feel like I'm past the jetlag and am on to real life. I've been keeping myself busy as I try to help out where I can around the farm. That has meant that I've mostly been in the house cleaning and doing laundry as I also try to get some school work done. Since I'm teaching three new classes next year, I'm going to have to do a significant amount of prep work this summer. Current reading - "Roles in Interpretation" - a college-level textbook all about Oral Interpretation. I'll be teaching the class in the fall so I really need to have a good handle on the material.

I'm including a little photo below of my cousin and her attempts to get the bulls up the alley. Her magic solution? Throwing dirt clods at them. I like this action shot. The bull was not too happy with her.On the possible schedule for tomorrow:
- my 8-year-old cousin's dance recital.
- a logging show - like the ones you see on TV where they cut down a tree, run on logs in the water, saw through a trunk, and other fun logger things. It'll be an experience if nothing else.

A little sidenote: I am back in the world of cellular communication. While I am here in the US, I have a T-mobile cell number that you can use to get in touch with me. The number has a Grand Rapids area code then 516.7773. Please give me a call or at least send an e-mail with your number. My previous US cellphone was stolen in our house robbery so I no longer have your numbers. Sorry.

Next post: Pictures of the logging adventure (if we go).

A Week in Washington

2008-06-12T06:01:00.004+08:00

It's hard to believe that I've been here for a week already. In that time, I think there's only been about an hour of sunshine. It is so cold! My first purchase was a $3.00 clearance sweater at Old Navy. I'm not going to be able to tell if pictures are on the same day or not because I'm wearing that silly thing practically day and night.

This week has been busy busy. I spent 3 days down in Seattle with the wonderful surprise of my cousin and her baby. I was a bit worried that since they live in Alaska, I wouldn't be able to see them while I was here. But she surprised me with a pick-up at the airport. For the record, my aunt is a liar. When I called to tell her that I arrived, she said, "Be there in a minute." It was definitely not her who picked me up but I was okay with the designated driver. We spent three days just hanging out at my aunt and uncle's house. I had a lot of work to do on my Powerpoint for churches but we did squeeze in a little baby snuggling time.
On Saturday, I came up to Lynden with my aunt and uncle. Yea for Starbucks addicts! I love that there's no doubt that we still stop on the way for a cup of coffee. Yum yum.
We made it up here in time for me to work more on my Powerpoint and church talk while everyone else biked, went to the parade, or went to breakfast. Ah well, it can't be all fun and games. We then hit our family barbecue. Yummy food, good company, and the threat of rain that never actually happened. I have missed them all even though I haven't been away that long.

Sunday was my first talk at one of the churches that supports me. I don't think many people will remember what I said since they were also listening to and interviewing a pastoral candidate. However, I think it went fairly well. I kept myself fairly composed even though I was super-nervous. My Powerpoint had a little glitch but people were pretty understanding.

This week has been a fairly normal week out at the farm. I've been mostly working indoors while everyone else works outdoors. It's the only way that I can survive. It is too cold! Hopefully during this next week I'll have some time to make some individual contacts. Next church talk is this upcoming Sunday. It's going to be a busy summer.

One last little blurb for my dad. Delft Square, a Lynden landmark, burned on Tuesday. It looks like pretty much a total loss. Unfortunately, the fire was started by two kids from the community. It is a sad loss to Lynden and to the downtown storefronts. Here's a few pics for my dad so that he can see a bit of the damage to his hometown.

the end...well, sort of

2008-06-02T06:29:00.003+08:00

I've decided to give myself the title of worst blogger ever. I thought that I did a pretty good job of updating my blog until I opened it up today and realized it has again been more than a month since I have written anything. Apologies.

Well, here we are at the end of it all. School ended last Friday. My classroom is still in a state of distress...disorganization...upheaval, but slowly it is getting packed up and ready for me to leave in just three days! I'm not sure how I made it to this point. It feels wonderful and sad and exciting and melancholy all at the same time. The goodbyes are so hard! If we could figure out a way that those don't have to happen, this would be a glorious time of celebrating the completion of this year! But on the field, friends do leave...and lots of them at one time. Please pray for me in the next couple of days as I have to say goodbye to some pretty special people in my life - a family that has been an immense support to me and my brother, a couple who have graciously invited me to have dinner with them every Thursday night, a wonderful woman who has been in my Bible study and her husband, and my one other CRWM teacher who was just here for a one-year internship. It sure is not fun!

Just so that this blog doesn't sink into a pit of despair and sadness with this entry, allow me to tell you about the binds I've gotten myself into this past week.

Tuesday night - It is absolutely pouring outside. Sorry folks, if you haven't been in the tropics when it pours, you haven't really seen it rain. I was working in my bedroom, sorting through boxes that never got sorted when we moved into this house last November (no, I never got around to it. It was busy!). I'm home by myself and the cats are crying incessantly and going between my room and the kitchen. I hate cats. So, I follow them into the kitchen to get them some food. Oops, no. Not getting food or anything else because there is a good inch of water on the floor and there is a waterfall shooting out of our ceiling, cascading over our cupboards and countertops and creating a pool on the kitchen floor followed by a river all the way to the front of the house to the front door. What did I do? Saved the microwave that was directly under the waterfall and tried to call my dad. Dads always save the day. Not this one. He never picked up his phone. I spent a bit of time panicking, thought I might get electrocuted, saved the Vonage phone and cable modem, and prayed for the rain to stop! It turns out that a hole in the roof combined with gutters that haven't been cleaned in a while and a massive tropical rain - not such a good idea.

Fastforward to Wednesday night - We've banished the cats from the house because of a little problem that they have. Pink and Green - not their real names, but we never use their real names, only their collar colors - have redeveloped the unfortunate habit of pooping in the house. Out they go. Lock all of the entrances so that they can't get in. Not such a good plan as it turns out. The two dogs trap the two cats on the screen window outside of Kim's bedroom and bark at them for a good half hour making it impossible for Kim to sleep. She eventually went out and grabbed the two cats, held them over her head so they wouldn't become delicacies for the dogs and rescued them.

Thursday night - The cats have been allowed back in the house because we both want some sleep. Nevermind the fact that the dogs have found a new stray cat to terrorize. Actually, I'm not sure who was terrorizing whom. I think that stray cat pulled a Garfield, was just out of reach, and made faces at the dogs. Barking for a good 45 minutes outside of my bedroom. No amount of yelling would shut them up. I went out there and was ready to smack them both because it is 10:45 and our neighbors are going to have us evicted if two dogs bark constantly outside of their windows. I come back in, am ready to hop in the shower, turn on the light to the bathroom, and there is a large frog staring right at me. Agh! What is this? Attack of the wildlife? My brilliant plan was to grab a dustpan and a broom catch the frog on the dustpan, hold him down with the broom, and take him outside to enjoy actual nature rather than my bathroom. Minor problems include him peeing all over my bathroom floor and not staying put in the dustpan. Plan B - I'm going to sweep him out of the house like a rockstar! I've got on my towel and I start swinging the broom around in circles like I am doing some great rock-out on a stage in front of thousands of people. Kim said she heard me but did she come and save me? No. Finally got the frog out of the house and headed back for a much needed shower. Go to dry myself off with my towel and suddenly I feel like my whole body is getting bitten. Yes, yes it is. By little tiny red ants! What is with this "revenge of the natural world" scenario? Did I ever do anything bad to them?

The joys of living here. It actually has been a fantastic year. When I get back in the US and have a bit of time, I'd like to sit down and do some reflection on the entire year. It has probably been one of the hardest years of my life but by the same token it has been so rewarding!

Help!

2008-04-28T22:00:00.002+08:00

I'm in need of some help. I am so thoroughly bored by the websites that I check on a daily basis. I'm tired of the same dull news and e-mail and facebook. Do you have a fantastic website that you're addicted to that you wouldn't mind lending me so that I too may discover it's joys?

Eat the Book

2008-04-20T17:36:00.006+08:00

I've been attending UCM (Union Church of Manila) for the past two months partially for the Sunday service but mostly to be able to dig into the Word during the Sunday School time each week. It has been an incredible experience and I have so valued the knowledge and expertise of the people who are teaching. Each month is a different module. So, last month, the first month I attended, was "Bible Interpretation for Regular People" taught by a seminary professor. Very interesting. This month, taught by another seminary professor is "Five Books and God's Chosen People: The Pentateuch." I am learning so much! Have you ever looked at the Creation story like this?

Day 1: light (day)/darkness (night) Day 4: sun/moon
Day 2: waters of heavens and earth Day 5: fish/birds
Day 3: dry ground(land)/waters (sea) Day 6: animals/humans
Day 7: rest/Sabbath

Look! Have you ever seen that the days match up? Day 4 fills the Day 1 creation. Day 5 fills the Day 2 creation. Day 6 fills the Day 3 creation.

It has been so incredible to see the narrative story of God and His people. I am continually challenged to read the Word. And, let me let you in on a secret, I might be starting to like the Old Testament. It's been a while since I've read the OT without cringing at the violence, especially the violence against women. It has been so refreshing to read the Bible through a different lens!

You deserve a real entry...

2008-04-12T17:24:00.003+08:00

You deserve a real blog entry to accompany the funny things that I see.

I've been back from Kuala Lumpur for 2 weeks now. It has been an absolute mad-house of trying to get caught back up and staying on top of life. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed my trip to KL. The city itself, the few parts of it that I saw, were absolutely beautiful. The food was so delicious! I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I did eat on more than one occasion in the food court of malls but, in my defense, the food there was to die for. The food courts are this amazing amalgamations of foods representing nearly every ethnic background in Malaysia. I ate Indian, Indonesian, Mediterranean, and Malay. Beautiful. I really cannot wait to go back!

The conferences that I attended were incredibly insightful and have already changed the way that I am teaching. I spent my first 2 days at an AP Literature and Language conference. Mary Ellen Ackerman is an incredible teacher. She was so right-on with so many things she said, techniques she uses, and suggestions for improving our teaching. I would love to attend a whole-week seminar. I feel like there's so many more things I can learn from her. However, those two days really solidified my thought that I am wildly unprepared to be teaching classes like AP Literature or Language. I need to do much more reading before I can guide students through that level of reading and work.

The three following days were the EARCOS conference. I couldn't believe how many teachers were there from all over Asia. I was in awe at meals when I would listen to the travel stories of these international school educators. They've been everywhere! Who knows what my future holds but it sure would be fun to have some my own vivid stories of Africa, the Mediterranean, Europe, South America.

And overall I was proud of myself for traveling to a city, to a country that I'm totally unfamiliar with. I didn't know the language. I didn't know so many of the customs. I didn't know. And during the week that I was there, I found my way around on public transportation. I visited places on my own. I survived for the week.

Speaking of survival, don't get me started on how I survived the airline that I flew. Oh my goodness. In the future, if I ever fly that airline again, I will be paying for express boarding. Express boarding? Yes, the airline is a general admission airline. No assigned seats. They look at your ticket when you walk into the terminal. When you pay for express boarding get to go first. For the general public, the rat race starts when it's nearing time for departure. Suddenly a mob forms where there was no line a moment before. They call your flight and everyone rushes out the door, runs to the airplane, and claims their seat. Doesn't do a lot to show the kindness and charity of humanity.

I am so thankful for the opportunity that I had to attend this week of professional development. I really feel as though I gained so much by listening to the variety of experts and teachers like myself. What an absolutely amazing opportunity!

Definitely what I need in my life...

2008-04-12T17:01:00.007+08:00

So I leave things many places. One of my latest "leaves" - my travel soap container. I left it at my mom and dad's house. So off to the store to get a new one because I only shower at home probably half of the time. Let me clarify that. I do shower on a daily basis. I just shower other places as well - after swimming at Faith, weekends away, etc.

Bought a new soap container. Looks like a regular soap container, right?

Look closely. Read the label.

Yes, it does read, "This is goods for those who wish to enjoy simple and rational lives." If I knew that a soap container was all I needed to live a simple and rational life, I would've bought another one long ago!

I'm in Malaysia!

2008-03-25T20:25:00.003+08:00

I'm spending a week in Malaysia to attend 6 days of conferences in AP Literature and Language and other fun school-related topics. I got to go out last night and do a little bit of the touristy thing and see the Petronas Towers. So cool! 88 stories of beauty. Tonight is a super-touristy night at Starbucks to check e-mail, download handouts for the conference, and update my blog and Facebook accounts. Check back later in the week - I'll try to have a few more pictures and fun up on here.

It Happens...

2008-03-08T09:11:00.003+08:00

This week has been one for the books. As a side note, I'm cancelling Thursday next week. Thursdays are the problem, I've decided. Last week Thursday night, my phone registered a number of missed calls as I came home from dinner with friends. I called the numbers back and talked to my brother's dormdad. Tim was doubled over in pain and they thought that he might have appendicitis. Kim and I hopped into the car, drove up to get him from the dorm, and brought him in to the hospital. The end of the story is that we still have no idea what was wrong with him that night. Tim and I made it back to my house at 4 a.m. after numerous tests and inconclusive results. Not really what I had planned for my Thursday night. However, we are very thankful that a week later, he seems to be doing absolutely fine.

This week Thursday, Kim joined me for dinner at our friends' home. We headed home around 7 p.m. As I was still getting stuff out of the car, Kim came straight back out of the house and said, "We've been robbed."

In hindsight, we knew that something was amiss on Wednesday night when we came home to different lights on and off than we usually leave on and off. We did a full search around the house and nothing else seemed out of order. Now, we figure that they must've cased out the house. We have no idea why they didn't just grab the stuff then but, for whatever reason, they did come back on Thursday night.

They ended up taking Kim's laptop (but not the powercord), a 110v DVD player, a backpack from each of us (necessary to hide a laptop and DVD player in), some jewelry from Kim (high sentimental value but worth just about nothing monetarily), and our sense of safety in our own home. This is the second time that Kim has been robbed in the last three years. We both are definitely frustrated and saddened by this.

Probably the most immense sadness comes from the fact that a small child was used in this break-in. Extreme poverty pushes them to do just about anything for a few meager pesos for food. Our hearts hurt as we see kids having to resort to such measures.

Please keep us in your prayers. Pray for wisdom to know how to deal with our landlord in matters like these. Pray for peace as we come home each night. Pray for this country and the poverty that influences every aspect of life here.

Sitting in the Girls Dorm

2008-02-13T18:38:00.002+08:00

So the longer story about the flood isn't coming. I'm so sorry. It was a crazy experience that we are still digesting and discussing and recovering from. That fear was something I would never wish upon anyone. The screams of the Filipino families across the river were horrific. The terror of not knowing where Tim, Anna, and Carla were was heart-stopping. But we continually thank the Lord for His hand of protection that was on us that night and in the days following. My mom brought up pictures of Nasuli when she was here last. Just three weeks after the traumatic event, most of the brown had been replaced by green. Although the mud laid just below, the grass seemed more full and even more green.

Now, eight weeks after that night, I am sitting in the girls dorm listening to the sounds of studying. Study hour lasts for another 40 minutes and I think it might be the death of some. It is a good reminder of my previous life here. I sat at these tables, in these chairs, under these lights and enjoyed life. I wish I could tell my younger self that those problems that felt so monstrous at the time weren't so dramatic. I wish I could tell my younger self to have more fun and get into a bit more trouble. And one more, I wish I could tell my younger self to pick up something besides Christian romance novels. Agh.

We've dormsat three times now in the past two weeks. It is fun to hang out with the kids and hear their perspectives on things. Twice in the last week we've been at the girls dorm giving their dormparents just the evening off. It's a really tough job. You know - free dinner, good conversation, and an hour and half of quiet to get a few things done. My other dormsitting experience was two weekends ago at my brother's dorm. An entire weekend - Friday to Sunday - of 17 high school boys plus the dormparents' 4 kids. I love being able to help out in this way!

I promise to be a bit more proactive with my blogging. No more 1 1/2 months off.

The Short Version (with promises of more to come)

2007-12-29T23:21:00.000+08:00

"What's the short story?" you may ask. Well, it goes like this. Two nights ago, the river that usually runs around the west and south sides of the place where I grew up decided that the path of least resistance would be a better idea. So the water rose 20 feet and headed straight across Nasuli. Homes and offices have sustained much damage. The rushing water was followed by thick layers of mud. I will write more soon but for now, here is a bit of a photo-montage. One thing we're thankful for - we didn't lose anyone. The same cannot be said for the Filipino community surrounding us.

The mud is really thick!

Rachel is trying to get it out of Mom's office with the best tool available - a dustpan.

Looking down at the basketball court from the road.

Pulling cars out from the field along the back fence.

Aunt Ena's house came off it's foundation but was stopped by a tree.

And so did Notch but...

...it was stopped by a combination of the tree and the road that sits behind it.

Here They Come to Save the Day...

2007-12-17T20:34:00.000+08:00

Not superheroes. Just super-sisters. They should be arriving a little after 10 tonight. Tim and I will be headed to the airport within the hour to meet them. We are more than a little excited to see Rachel, Anna, and Anna's friend Carla. Thankfully the house looks half-decent. Three out of our four toilets don't work but we do have water. That was a bit of an issue last night. I was finishing up my shower when the water started to lose pressure. Knowing that this did not bode well for me, I hurried to finish. Just in time! No more water for the rest of the night. No water this morning. Asked our helper to figure out what was going on (despite the fact that she was working for someone else today). Came home at 2:30 this afternoon to find water flowing to the house again. Turns out that a knob that no one remembers off was indeed off, hence no flow from the main pipes out on the street.

So all in all, I think the house is mostly ready for guests who will be staying for a grand total of 36 hours before they jet-set to their next destination. Please be in prayer that we have a good few hours together and that I will still be able to maintain a semblance of focus on my grading that absolutely must be done by Thursday night.

This photo was taken just one year ago - back in my faux-hawk days.
We were celebrating Annie's birthday which we can't wait to do again!

Nothing of Incredible Interest

2007-12-15T22:10:00.000+08:00

Life chugs along here. Nothing earth-shattering has happened lately. I guess I have to save that for Monday when my sisters arrive. I am so excited for them to get here! In the meantime, here are a few things that have been happening recently (in reverse order).

1. All-Staff Christmas Banquet - the theme was "Christmas Down Under." We had to answer Aussie/Kiwi trivia questions. Had a wonderful dessert that I can't quite remember the name of. Sang a Aussie Christmas song. Good fun.

2. Grading - I've been grading like a mad-woman for the past few days. This is evidenced by the picture to the right. Yup, that's right, folks. No more purple ink in the pen. It is all on the students' papers. There is more grading in my future. I am still working on 2nd quarter projects, reading response journals, and starting to mark 83 exams. All of this must be done by Friday. Please pray that I am able to focus and give good feedback to my students.

3. The Brother - Tim broke his collarbone playing rugby. He had a nice tackle on his competition but it didn't work out so nicely for his collarbone. Thankfully it was not a full break and it was close enough to his breastbone that it shouldn't take too long to heal. That meant that last Saturday was a fun day of bringing him to get an x-ray. He's not really in pain. In fact, he actually played for a good 20 minutes with a broken collarbone. A rolled ankle finally pushed him out of the game.

4. Extended Homerooms - I meet with these 9 freshmen girls each week after chapel. That particular week, we did not have chapel and instead headed to the mall for lunch at a quickie Mongolian Barbeque place followed by sundaes at McDonald's. It was a nice time to get off campus and to enjoy each other's company.

5. Plumbing - Even as I speak, one month after moving into our new house, the plumbing is not quite up-to-par. In fact, my toilet is sitting in multiple pieces in my bathroom. Not really sure what the plumber is up to now but it would've been really nice for all of this to get fixed before my sisters came. Just have to remember that not everyone is on the same time schedule as me. There are some very interesting plumbing choices within our house though. Follow the picture diary below.

The bright blue pipe comes into my bathroom through the hole that has been cut in the screen.

It heads straight down the yellow wall and separates to go three directions -
the sink, the shower, and the toilet.

Nope, your mind is not playing tricks on you.
The pipe just doesn't connect to the showerhead. Now it does.

Just Another Day in Paradise

2007-12-01T21:39:00.000+08:00

Totally stealing the line from the song but you really couldn't have asked for a nicer day here. The only thing that would have made it better? Getting to spend it outside. We had an in-service for the past two days - "Dealing with Conflict Biblically." It was a good conference but a bit much after having one other 2-day in-service last month plus a half-day in-service just a couple weeks ago.

During our one-hour lunch break, it was so nice to sit and eat while the wind blew through. Then Kim and I went and laid on benches in the Circle and enjoyed the breeze and sunshine. I'm working on taking pictures with my new phone. Here was my beautiful view as I looked up. I also enjoyed a lovely walk with the dog here in the neighborhood this afternoon. Who knew that in a 35-minute walk, you could encounter more than 200 dogs? Fortunately, most were behind fences and were just yapping and annoying. The not-so-fun part: trying to keep our dog from killing the dogs who were actually outside. I think he was a bit overwhelmed by the whole process, as was I. I will probably carry a stick or a pocket full of rocks on future walks. I need something to fend off the dogs who are trying to stake their claim to their own territory. No worries, pups, we just want to walk through in an effort to get some sense of exercise.

Last night, we finished our move. We went and picked up a used refrigerator from a missionary who was leaving the country. Since we had our teenage muscle power (Tim) in the car, we stopped on our way home at McDonald's. Kim stayed in the borrowed truck while Tim and I went into the mall to get some food. We're not positive that the rather light ref (Filipino version of fridge) would be there when we returned if we did not have a minder. I did find out something else new while we were there. You can have a free gravy refill if you order fried chicken. Yes, McDonald's serves fried chicken and gravy to go with it. However, don't get any ideas about returning with your take-out meal. The offer only applies to dine-in customers. Thankfully, we did not have to worry about the free refill. We each went with super standard burgers. 8000 miles away from the USA and we go to McDonald's and order burgers. Seems a little less missionary-ish doesn't it?

Slowly Getting Better

2007-11-22T06:58:00.000+08:00

Life is slowly looking up. No longer am I ready to move out of the house we just moved in to. I had those thoughts on Tuesday morning. Chalk it up to Tuesday just not being a good day for me. I busted out some of my jail jargon and moves and I think I scared a couple of kids. Oops.

We are still struggling to communicate with our landlord. Please pray that the meeting we have set up with her will go well. We are hoping that she will arrange some repairs that desperately need to be made. Call me crazy but I would rather not die from a shocking light switch or dengue fever or breaking my head open when I fall on the bathroom floor.

Good news - I made an appointment for internet to be set up today or tomorrow. Yeah for being back online! I'm hoping that our internet is a tad bit more reliable than our 4 1/2 minute last internet connection.

Bad news - the phone company stole 4+ hours of my life that I will never be able to get back. Another example of a breakdown in communication. During my third visit yesterday, I found that the phone company isn't actually installing new phone lines in my area. So, I guess we will be solely reliant on our cellphones.

I am so thankful for a great housemate in the midst of all of this craziness. I'm thankful that we get along remarkably well for having never known each other four months ago. Please continue to pray for us. In the midst of all of this craziness, we are still trying to stay on top of our teaching, grading, and planning. Thank you for your prayers!

Please Pray

2007-11-20T07:25:00.000+08:00

Now that the move is over, the settling in begins. And so far...the settling in has not been the best experience. I was again reminded this morning that I have lived in much more challenging environments, that the majority of the world lives in much worse than what I currently live in, and that this too shall pass. However, for right now, the simple fact of not being able to take a shower or keep the cat from coming in the large aircon hole in my window during the middle of the night are making it pretty difficult to see the blessings that God has placed before me. Please pray with me for patience - with my students, with my landlord, and with the cultural barriers that are making communication difficult. I seek God's best for my life and I pray that I will be a witness of God's goodness in the midst of frustration today.

Mixed Success

2007-11-19T12:48:00.000+08:00

Well, we are officially moved. It took 15 people 2 1/2 hours on Saturday to load up everything at our old house and transport it to our new house. Among some of the challenges: the 70-gallon fish tank that had to be unassembled, transported, and reassembled quite quickly; a 24-inch US-made washing machine and 22-inch Filipino passageways to the backyard; and a variety of people (one plumber, 2 men on the watertank, our helper and her daughter cleaning, and the landlord meandering around) at the house while we were attempting to move. All in all, the move went fairly well. We were absolutely exhausted at the end of the day but not too tired to stop for cheesecake at Jason and Sarah's house when we brought them home.

Now, we are attempting to settle. It will be a while before all of the boxes are packed away and the closets are filled and such. But more important matters right now include figuring out why there is no water. Last night, we had to go back to our old house to take showers and brush our teeth. Still no water this morning. So there are dirty dishes piled in the kitchen, buckets in the shower to flush the toilets, and two rather unhappy girls who are trying to figure out how on earth to manage with no water.

Our only internet options right now are friends and school so we won't be doing a whole lot of e-mailing or chatting for a bit. But please keep sending those messages because I really enjoy reading them!

Today is the Day

2007-11-17T10:11:00.001+08:00

Just 3 1/2 short months since I arrived in country, I am moving again. I realized that I've made most of my major moves while teaching. Not really a great combination. The house is in complete upheaval as are our brains. The complications to this move seem overwhelming right now but I'm sure once it is all done we will laugh about them.

Problem #1 - Not having a key to get into our current house. Most of the keys work. Just not the one to get through the final door. We made valiant attempts at least 4 times yesterday. That was taken care of at 8:30 this morning. I waited for a half hour for the landlord and realtor to show up. Sure enough, we never received that key. Problem solved.

Problem #2 - The sheer amount of stuff we have. Thankfully we created a facebook event to invite our friends to help with the process. At 2:45 we should be overrun with lots of people who want to help chuck our stuff into a truck and move it 4 blocks away.

Problem #3 - The 70 gallon fish tank. Moving it will require re-catching the fish. Siphoning out the water into the many waiting buckets and barrels. Saving the water. Transporting the water and the fish tank to the new house and setting it all back up again. We have to save the water or the fish will die if we put them into a completely new watery environment.

Problem #4 - Actually more of a blessing. We found a stove and a washing machine. They are both used so they are much more affordable than the new ones we have been looking at. This afternoon before the move we will trek up into the hills to fetch them. Please pray that we can find an affordable ref (fridge). For now, we will haul our current landlord's ref over to the new house to use for the next 2 weeks. Please pray hard.

We will be without internet and phone and cable for the next couple weeks. We were unable to get those things hooked up before our move. So I guess I'll rely on e-mail to keep in touch with you all. I'll be able to check up at school. Blessings!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

2007-11-04T18:14:00.000+08:00

I arrived back in Manila this afternoon. Fall Break certainly was not long enough. There was not enough time to even read one "for fun" book. Too much grading, not enough relaxing. Note to self: Do not take any grading with you next break. It is much too time-consuming.

Now I am in prep-mode for a very full 5 weeks before the end of the semester. Many things have to happen. Two weekend conferences (one about assessment and one about dealing with conflict Biblically). Academic Bowl and practices for it. Moving house. At least 2 novels with my classes. All of the pre-Christmas happenings. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed but thankful for a good message this morning at CCF. The message was "Work is a Blessing." An appropriate message for the day that both my dad and I were feeling a bit down about work-related things.

So tomorrow is back to school. Please pray that I get enough rest tonight that school doesn't look too horrible tomorrow or that I don't look too horrible for school.

Reverting

2007-11-02T08:46:00.000+08:00

I've noticed that when I return home (wherever home might be), I end up reverting to my old self. Too much time in front of the computer. Too much time sitting around. Not enough time swimming. Not enough time playing games.

I think I've been able to balance things a little better this break. I'm slowly making my way through stacks of short stories that need to be graded. Getting some good sleep and some great naps. I've beaten my mom really good at our favorite card game "Hand and Foot." Snuggled up with the dog to watch a chick flick. Been swimming twice.

I'll try to cram the last few things in before leaving on Sunday morning. A few more naps, a few more swims, a few more card games. I'm thankful for this break from school, from the concrete of Manila, and from the noise.

Three Posts in One Day

2007-10-27T16:43:00.000+08:00

This is definitely excessive blogging. But I wanted you all to know that we decided on a house today! Yippee! It is in our same subdivision, just a bit closer to the front gate. Three bedrooms, four bathrooms, plus maid's quarters. Sounds so rich, eh? We are definitely excited and glad that the house-hunting process is over before we leave on break. Now it is time for the appliance-hunting to begin. It is totally unfurnished so that means that there's no stove/oven, no washing machine (dryers don't usually exist in this country), and no ref (fridge). Please switch gears in your prayers that we now can find affordable appliances. If you would like to see more photos, please e-mail me and I'll send you the link.

Book Survey

2007-10-27T07:45:00.000+08:00

I need a list of books from you! I'm looking for titles of books that stood as formative works during your high school career. What books changed your teenage perception of life? What books do you still go back to each year because they were amazing? What books do you think back on fondly? We're looking for new books to include in the curriculum and I would like to hear some personal suggestions.

The End

2007-10-27T07:25:00.000+08:00

After thinking that I just might die if we had one more day of school, we have arrived at Fall Break. And how are you celebrating, you might ask. By waking up at the crack of dawn as usual, listening to the cats bang against my bedroom door as they sense that I am no longer in a deep sleep, throwing them outside, and attempting to listen to "This American Life" if iTunes will let me download the most recent episode. I know that, at the end of break, it will be difficult to wake up at my normal school-schedule time but right now it is frustrating that I can't sleep in when I want to!

I think my students and I will be happier campers once we've had a bit of a break from each other. I had a couple small incidents in my classroom yesterday that just made me livid. I brought one student out into the hallway with me to reprimand her. I just keep reminding myself that that was almost a daily occurrence at York. I was just so disappointed and shocked! And I think the combination of those two emotions made it so that I didn't handle the situation properly. However, I think that there are always things that I will second-guess myself on. Perhaps when you stop second-guessing how you handled a situation or taught a concept, you've lost that learner's touch that is so essential for a teacher to have.

Yesterday afternoon, Kim and I did celebrate the beginning of break by hitting up our local Starbucks. "Local" wasn't incredibly local yesterday - a 25-minute drive. It was so nice though! Then to Lara's for a great dinner of homemade pizza. And finally, back up to campus for closing night of the Senior Play - "Emma." Brought back memories of student directing my senior play. That was a lot of fun!

Blog in the Works

2007-10-23T17:11:00.000+08:00

Sometimes I have blogs that I mean to write but just never get done. This is entry is one such.

I actually enjoy the ride up to school each morning. I don't enjoy the time that we leave. Getting out the door at nearly the crack of dawn is not always the most enjoyable part of my day but I am somewhat enamored by the ride to school.

We leave the house and we immediately encounter speed "humps." They're not speed "bumps" in this country. If I get a photo of a speed hump sign, I will post it on this entry. Before even leaving our subdivision, we try to avoid near-death experiences with the motorized and unmotorized tricycles (trikes). Usually, they cut in front of us and do not abide by the "I-am-bigger-than-you" pecking order. Getting onto the main road is a lesson in patience, persistence, and sheer luck. We make a left turn into oncoming traffic, traffic that is ALL headed to the city for a hard day's work. If we're really fortunate, there will be traffic cops attempting to direct the masses, but more often than not, we're on our own.

Although I'm not a huge fan of all of the motorcycles (they definitely do not know how to wait their turn), it warms your heart to see all these dads, and the occasional mom, driving their kids to school. Usually the small child sits in front of dad on the motorcycle and then dad has the adorable pink backpack on his back. It is so cute! I haven't been able to capture it on film yet but it just makes me smile.

The last obstacle in getting to school are the animals. Hordes of animals. All different kinds. We usually avoid at least a cat and a dog within our subdivision but things get really interesting when we're almost to school. Goats, wild turkeys, horses, cattle. It just makes me laugh as we try to avoid all of these things.

Yesterday, I made Kim stop the car to take this photo. Mind you, we are right near one of the main thoroughfares of Manila. There are many people standing around, waiting for public transportation, going about their daily business. However, these goats did not care. I'm not sure what they were looking for but I hope the REALLY WIDE one found a place to give birth!

Q1.Q2.

2007-10-14T21:30:00.000+08:00

It is so hard to believe that the first quarter of school has come to a close. I posted the last of my first quarter grades just an hour ago and, in less than 12 hours, I will be in my classroom to begin the second quarter. In the past, we had a week off between Q1 and Q2 but we must wait 2 weeks for that much-needed break this year. Perhaps we will welcome it even more.

I want to share all the fun we've had during Q1 but tonight is not the night. I must get a touch of sleep before hurtling into the unknown of the The Odyssey tomorrow with my lovely freshmen. Thankfully, my seniors should be running the show in their classes tomorrow as they are giving presentations on their favorite sections of literature we've studied thus far. However, I'm actually doubting that I'll have a lot of alive, awake, and on-task kids tomorrow. This weekend was filled with sports tournaments and the Sadie Hawkin's banquet. I'll be lucky if I can keep them focused on literature rather than who made the sweetest goal or who looked the best on Saturday night.

A Serious Lack of Blogging

2007-10-09T22:13:00.000+08:00

I do have an excuse. But it is probably a pretty boring one for those of you who are not teachers. Thursday ends the 1st Quarter and my life is a madhouse of grading. With 85 students, there is no shortage of essays, projects, reading checks, and such that need to be assessed before Thursday. The mounds of papers on my desks at school and at home are constantly calling my name and leaving little time for anything else. Hopefully, there will be a light at the end of this very dark tunnel soon. Please pray for energy and stamina as I read and mark their work.

A Momentous Occasion

2007-10-02T20:09:00.001+08:00

Mark this date on your calendars. October 2, 2007. This is the first night since I arrived in country that I will be sleeping with a blanket. It will not be my wonderful queen-sized down comforter but a thin flannel blanket instead. The temperature is reading 75 degrees. I think I might be starting to adjust. It has been raining fairly non-stop for the past 6 days. Someone said something about a tropical depression. The only thing it is succeeding in is making me depressed...oh, and making my shoes moldy.

Everything is over-saturated. I stopped my 5th period in the middle of my lesson on commas and semicolons to call their attention to the actual sunshine that was peeping through the clouds. They wanted to go outside and enjoy it. Sad to say, I nixed that idea. There just wasn't a way to haul the overhead projector out there to continue our lesson on commas. And the sun didn't last for long anyways.

Confused Chickens

2007-09-22T20:41:00.000+08:00

I'm fairly certain that the next door neighbors obtained a jet-setting rooster today. His internal clock must be off because he has been crowing straight from 6 this morning until now, 9 in the evening. The only logical conclusion is that he has just arrived and he is dealing with some serious jetlag and time zone changes.

I Have to Smile

2007-09-21T21:08:00.000+08:00

When I was teaching in Chicago, I had a couple of occasions where I would imagine what it would be like to do "normal" high school things like have a speaker come to class or go on a field trip or plan a class party. It simply wasn't possible.

Tonight I spent a bit of time at the Senior Lock-In on campus. The majority of the senior class is spending the night on campus to hang out, eat together, worship together, play games together, and watch movies together. I had to chuckle at the thought of doing this with my students back in the USA. It just wouldn't be possible.

It was such a pleasure to have dinner with these students (their moms prepared amazing food!), play a couple of games, and then worship with them. They are a unique group. I very clearly remember 8 years ago when I was in their shoes. There are things that I wish I could just tell them now but they have to learn so much on their own.

I am enjoying my classes immensely. Most of my freshmen students exceeded my expectations with a project that was due today. I had them draw an element of literature or poetry out of a hat - things like plot line or iambic foot or external conflict or tercet. Then they had to display their element creatively on a poster. They did such a great job! I can't wait to hang them up around my classroom!

I am hoping to finish up my prayer letter this weekend. It has been in the works for the last month and just needs some of my non-existent time. If you want to receive a copy, please send me your e-mail addresses so that I don't forget you!

Moving Again

2007-09-10T11:00:00.000+08:00

My housemate and I received an e-mail last night indicating that we will have to move before the end of the semester. While I am thankful for the relatively advanced notice that we've received, the thought of another move does not sit particularly well with me. On the upside - I don't have nearly as much stuff to move as I do in the US. On the downside - looking for a house while doing school everyday doesn't sound particularly fun. Please be in prayer that we can find something affordable, with amenities that we crave (I'm seeking a house with any airflow), and in a good neighborhood.

One Month Followed by One of Those Nights

2007-09-08T23:20:00.000+08:00

It's pretty easy to get discouraged. It definitely hits me when I'm tired. When I look back on this past month, I'm in awe. I never imagined that I would encounter nearly as much culture shock as I have since arriving. I'm trying to remind myself that this is a process that takes time. There's not a quick I'm-off-the-plane-I-need-to-be-acclimated pill that I can pop into my mouth like the throat lozenges I've been sucking on.

This has been a month completely focused on trust. After my very overwhelming first week, my mom and I had a conversation. She said, "Well, when you look back on this time of adjustment, you can be absolutely sure of whose strength has done this." I live in absolute confidence that I am not doing this of my own power and will. My strength comes from Christ.

Please be in prayer for me that I seek to follow Christ's best for my life each day. Isn't easy to get caught up in our day-to-day tasks and to forget to look for the big picture?

Congratulations Tim!

2007-09-01T17:03:00.000+08:00

What a special time to be involved in my brother's life! I left for boarding school when he was three years old. It sure is fun now to get to know him now as a teenager. I think that he's pretty excited that I'm here (at least based on his small beggings for money and load for his cellphone). :) Today I had the privilege to watch him play soccer. It was their first game of the season. They did great and won the game. I think the final score was 5-1. I consider it an honor to be able to be here during this time of his life.

Student Council Retreat

2007-08-27T20:52:00.000+08:00

I have spent the last two days recovering from my 3-day adventure to the annual high school retreat. I only have one question: How can these kids be so energetic with so little sleep?! My mom tells me, "How quickly you forget." I have to say that I received the best birthday present on Saturday: sleeping in my own bed. It was beautiful!

Thank you so much for your prayers for the retreat. The logistical nightmare of transporting 300 people went off very well. We didn't leave anyone behind at school, at the camp, nor the two stops that we made for bathrooms and food.

I was at the camp numerous times as a student and it was, again, a little surreal to go back as the adult. They have made tremendous improvements to the grounds, the buildings, and the food in the years that I've been gone. It was so much fun to watch the students enjoy their time. The cement slide at the pool was a favorite among students. I think, at one point, they had 10 students piled onto each other to form one train going down the slide. Later, they did a rapid-fire sequence that had kids racing down the slide after each other and then jumping up and running back to the top.

Injuries were relatively few as well. Some cuts. A lot of colds and sniffles. And a few rugby-related injuries. But no hospitalizations required. The nurse was in the cabin next to me and I can attest to the fact that she deserves two weeks off for the number of calls she had while we were there.

I enjoyed being able to watch Tim play sports with his friends on Friday during the sports competitions. His team won the soccer tournament. Then he played a couple games of rugby as well. I'm not sure how his team made out in that though. He's on the bottom of this pile somewhere during one of the rugby games.

On a spiritual note, the retreat went well. There were many distractions during the chapel services but I think most of the kids really enjoyed the times of worship and the things Jason, the chaplain, had to say. My prayer for the students as we left the retreat was that their spiritual awareness and commitment will continue to grow during this school year.

Thank you so much for your prayers!

Out and About

2007-08-23T10:05:00.000+08:00

I will be out of touch for a while (no comments on how I usually am anyway). The entire high school leaves today to go on the Student Council Retreat. Please pray that this will be a time of community, spiritual teaching, and learning from one another. I am excited about this time out of the city and getting to know my students outside of the classroom. Prayers for safety are also coveted as missionary kids generally count "getting injured" among their top skills.

Week One Down

2007-08-19T21:05:00.000+08:00

The first week of school is officially complete! However, we had a few complications along the way. Standard fare in the Philippines but they certainly didn't help us gain momentum as we started the year. Schools all over Manila were canceled on Thursday due to flooding the previous day and in anticipation of more flooding on Thursday. As it turned out, Thursday was a gorgeous day! A little bit cooler than some of the previous days and not too sunny. I took advantage of the nice day to go meet the CRWM area director. It was great to sit down and talk with him for a bit. Also managed to get a couple of things on my "mall list."

Friday dawned gray and ugly. The torrential downpours started pretty early. By the end of 6th period, school was let out early due to flooding. My housemate and I didn't even try to head home. We hung out at school until later in the afternoon when we left with a couple other teachers to have dinner at a NY-style pizza place and a special treat of Starbucks. Yum yum.

Back to school. It is strange to be back but everyone has been so welcoming. I have 80 students right now. That could change as a few individuals change their schedules around. Don't tell them but I'm in awe of these students. They are very different from my Chicago students. When I ask them to do an assignment, they do it! Without complaint! It is going to be so much fun to keep a step ahead of them as they travel this journey through my class. I've been reading their Summer Reading assignments this evening. They are opening up pieces of literature to me that I've never read. Their descriptions and accounts of these books makes me want to put down my grading and pick up a book. I can't wait to see the plan that Jesus has in store for us this year. Excitement!

The Official Beginning

2007-08-15T19:20:00.000+08:00

The school year got its official start this morning with the flag-raising ceremony. Technically, we didn't have a flag-"raising" as there were torrential downpours. Typhoon Egay is headed our way which means that it has rained off and on all day today.

The parade of flags before the raising of the Christian and Philippine flag is a moving time. This year, there are 17 separate countries represented within the student and faculty body. My housemate's elementary students carried the flags onto the stage and did a great job. There were prayers for the beginning of the school year offered by a faculty member who has served for 50 years, the president of the senior class, and the president of Student Council.

Please keep those people who will be truly affected by this incoming typhoon. Extreme rain causes some inconveniences for me (wet everything, not being able to leave school because of flooding, soaking wet clothes and bags) but that is nothing compared to those families who live in the squatter villages of this city. I can't imagine the frustration of these hard rains along with the dangers to which their families are exposed. On this night, I am thankful for the roof over my head and the electricity that is still on.

I Will Survive...

2007-08-14T20:00:00.000+08:00

Proper wording should be: "I Did Survive" (the first day at least). My first day went remarkably well. My students are very different from my US students - I predicted as much. I am excited about this school year and the interesting conversations and discussions that lay ahead.

Things I Learned on Day 1:
1. Be prepared for chaos.
2. Get your lunch early from the student store.
3. The questions never end.
4. It is okay to save things for tomorrow.
5. Learn to say "no."

Prayers Appreciated

2007-08-13T22:01:00.000+08:00

After a fantastic week of an informative orientation and a refreshing out-of-town staff retreat, the school year gets its big start tomorrow! I am looking forward to a productive and fun term. I hope that I can follow our retreat speaker's challenge "to create a yearning for the vast and endless sea." My prayer is that Jesus will use me in His creation of a yearning for both English Literature and Himself in my students.

Tag! You're It!

2007-08-07T19:48:00.000+08:00

My friend Lorraine has tagged me to write 8 random facts about myself and then tag eight other bloggers. I'm not sure I know eight other bloggers but I'll write the random facts.

8 Random Facts With Special Focus on My Recent Move

1. I think airports are some of the most interesting places in the world. They're good places for people-watching. And in Manila, there were thousands of people to watch at the pick-up area. It is a loud and noisy and hot place.

2. I met my roommate in the airport. We decided to be roommates there. Not really but it sounds pretty funny.

3. I have recently acquired a consortium of pets. A dog, two cats, multiple fish, and a couple of geckos that like the bugs in my house.

4. I LOVE the pool on campus. I will be spending many hours there. It was not there when I graduated. A new development that I'm in love with!

5. I had yummy food at a little place called Lemongrass. It might be an Asian replacement for Yes Thai but nothing will ever top Yes Thai.

6. I had my passport photo taken at a Filipino-style photo booth, ie. there was absolutely no notice that there was even a photo booth in the building. In fact, the guard at the door, in the same lobby, did not know that the ONLY other guy in the lobby was manning a photo booth. We had to wait for 5 minutes for the camera batteries to charge, then were led to the stairwell for the white background, picture taken, waited another few minutes for the picture to be processed on the printer. So fantastically random that it just made my day!

7. I discovered that my cousin Kevin's 8-hour traffic direction class for surveyors was a waste. Kev, all you need to know is how to shoo people off of the road. On my way home tonight, a work crew was working directly in the center of the road. There were barriers around the workzone but one guy was sitting on a bit of concrete in front just swatting people to the sides. He was wearing no reflective material nor was he holding any "slow down" sign. Just sitting there, swatting cars.

8. I'm certain that all the alum friends that I have are jealous of the amazing "V" food that I get to eat. Today's fare was AMAZING cinnamon rolls, yummy fruit, rice, Filipino chopsuey, pancit incredibiliosa, lumpia (not banana - I'm going to find some of that tomorrow), and pork
barbeque. Too good!

I arrived!

2007-08-04T06:40:00.000+08:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that I did arrive safely and soundly in Manila last night at 10:20 pm. All of my bags were off the carousel within minutes. I'm at my new house and excited to be here. I will update more when I recharge my computer battery and get a little more settled!

Un-Easy Changes

2007-08-02T12:09:00.000+08:00

Tonight marks a countdown of hours. It has been a week of "one-last's." One last time to visit Anna at work. One last shopping excursion with Rachel. One last time with friends. One last cuddle with my birthday-baby cousin. One last visit to my favorite Grand Rapids restaurant - Real Food Cafe (okay, more like two lasts. We're going to hit it on the way to the airport tomorrow too.) I leave fully aware of what I am leaving behind.

I've had this knack since we first started doing our major moves of living in the past even as the future was starting. I want to go into this adventure full force. However, it will not be easy to say my goodbyes to my sisters, my grandparents, my family, and my friends. I'm expecting many tears tomorrow at the airport. I just hope they aren't all mine.

I'll see you all when I get there!

Here Comes My Not-so-Little Brother

2007-07-27T09:31:00.002+08:00

We're all pretty excited to go pick up Tim from the airport. The three of us girls got to spend the week with him out in Washington. And now we're looking forward to great fun while we pack, clean, and shop.

Little Snippets

2007-07-17T10:03:00.000+08:00

I've been a bad blogger. In my defense, I wanted to start adding pictures to my blog and that just hasn't been possible with the conglomoration of computers that I've been on recently. But now I have my very own and I'm excited to be blogging from a reliable spot.

So here are a couple of highlights from my most recent weeks.

1. My send-off at Ravenswood. I will miss the people of this congregation and worshiping with them. It was hard leaving there. I was especially struck by the beauty of having someone say your name as you take communion. I appreciate a small church for this reason.

2. Camping with my family. Besides a little bit of blood here and there, I think we did pretty good this year. Campfires, s'mores, windy days on the beach, visits to the candy store with Grampa, and, in true old lady fashion, I was the first adult in bed every night.

3. Kelly and Arturo's wedding.

4. A last visit to Superdog with Jill and Kevin.

5. A not-so-easy but fun goodbye time with Amanda out in Winona, Minnesota. We went on a "hiking trip" that included a not-as-long-as-we-thought-it-would-be trail, camping overnight, schlepping our stuff out the next morning, coffee and bagels in Lanesboro, a 3 1/2 hour kayaking trip, coffee from Mugby Junction, and a fantastic hippie 4th of July party on a co-op. We had a fantastic time and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

6. A final fun weekend with Chicago with Ebony, Tim and Laura. I will miss my Chicago friends so very much!

7. Orientation Week with others going overseas for ministry.

8. My commissioning service at Oakdale. This was a pretty spectacular day for me. My aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents and sisters were all there to make it even more special. I'm not sure if there are any photographs or videos of this event but I think that I can get my hands on the audio. I was moved by the outpouring of support from this church family. Pastor George did not realize that the passage that he took his message from was one that means a lot to my family as well - Psalm 121.

It has just been an amazing month. I am tired. I am anxious about the future. However, I am confident that I am taking the right step at the right time.

Chicago Protested My Departure

2007-06-24T02:51:00.001+08:00

Chicago really did not want to say goodbye. And I really should know better than to open my mouth. I am so very thankful for my Chicago family and my Michigan family who both came out to help. It was a hot day but we got things done in relatively fast order. Three people from my church came and hauled all of my junk away to the church rummage sale and then helped bring the big stuff downstairs before the trailer arrived. At 3:25 pm, we officially locked the door on my Chicago apartment one last time. I was thrilled. I had hoped to have everything done by 3:00 pm, so we weren't too far behind schedule.

We took a couple photos and were on our way. I had a couple last errands to run. Then I got the call. "We're stuck. We can't get the trailer out of the alley." So for an hour and a half we worked and worked and worked. Unhitching, rehitching, moving 2 inches, and getting more and more stuck by the minute. I have never seen a pickle that my grandpa cannot get out of but he met his match in Chicago. Just when we were about to call a towing company to help us get out, a little bobcat came around the corner. They had been demolishing a house a few doors down and were getting ready to go home for the night. For $20.00, we got them to hitch the bobcat to the trailer with a chain, move it 6 inches, and voila we were on our way for real.

But the worst was yet to come...

Some of you are familiar with the fact that my family cannot go on vacation, or move, or travel without there being multiple instances of disasters. We've had landslides, typhoons, broken down vans, sick kids, missed flights, etc. Well, moving day for me would be no different.

My little sister Anna and I were driving my car and had gotten a half-hour later start. Not really a problem until just an hour from home, I completely lost all acceleration on my car. I attempted to switch gears to make sure that I was in fifth and completely lost everything. So there we sat on the side of the road for 2 hours while we waited for Grampa and Gramma to get home, unload the trailer into a storage unit, and get my uncle to come back down to get us. We were pretty slap-happy at first but that faded as we just felt more exhausted, more sweaty, and more hungry. At 11:30 pm, my uncle and my grampa made it, hooked up the car to the SUV, and towed us home. I have never been towed with a tow-line before but I think I did fairly well at keeping the line taut so we didn't get jerked around.

I am extremely thankful that we all made it home safely. Its been interesting trying to find where I packed things. Its meant multiple trips between Grampa and Gramma's house and the storage unit. But now we are going camping. Hip hip hooray for campfires, sandy feet, the beach, games with Gramma, playing with little cousins, and sleeping. It will all be much needed after the week that we've had.

While we are camping, I will be sending out my brochures. If I do not have your snail-mail address, please e-mail it to me ASAP!

Chicago Shout-Out

2007-06-16T07:37:00.001+08:00

I'm so excited about what the future holds for me! However, that does not make leaving any easier. You would think that after years of moving, transitions, new places, new faces, I would get used to it. But that's not the case. So I'd like to offer a little farewell to-do list of my own to current Chicago-ites, future Chicago tourists, and other random folks.

Book Cellar - A fantastic independent bookstore in the heart of Lincoln Square.
Cafe Too - Good food served with a side of social justice. They're doing great things here.
Chicago Lakefront - I highly recommend bike rides. And a perk of having to drive to work early in the morning was seeing sunrises over the lake.
Festivals - I love meeting up with friends and enjoying a lazy afternoon or evening hanging out at the street festivals.
Galter Lifecenter - You must take a cycling class with Susan. She'll kick your butt in gear.
House Theatre - Fun. Funny. They've got game.
Jeri's Grill - You can get ham-on-the-bone at 2 am or whenever it might strike your fancy.
Lincoln Square - I "heart" my neighborhood!
Superdawg - All about the drive-in. 60 years doesn't lie. I like the Superchic with grilled onions. Yummy.
Yes Thai - Always a "yes" even when my friends are sick of it. Easily the best Thai food in all of Chicago. A favorite - Cashew Nut with Chicken.
York Alternative High School - Fond (and not-so-fond) memories and crazy stories.

I leave Chicago feeling like I'm not quite done. Who knows...maybe I'll be back someday.

Here's a big shout-out to Chi-town: So long for now!