Compared to my laid-back life of a stay-at-home momma (aka not changing out of my pj's unless I expect guests), this coming week is going to be quite busy. It will go as follows, with other things thrown in last-minute (aka Chinese style), I'm sure:
Thursday: Chinese lessons for 2 hours in the AM, teach 4 hours in the PM, girls night in the eve
Friday: small group in the AM, office hours in the PM
Saturday: all-day trip/trek to Beijing IKEA. woo!!
Sunday: NOT set our clocks back b/c DST doesn't exist here (a post on why you shouldn't complain to come next week), rest, fish fry for team dinner
Monday: teach 2 hours in the AM and 4 hours in the PM
Tuesday: all-day trip/trek to Beijing again for various items I'll discuss later
Wednesday: teach 2 hours in the AM, office hour over lunch, teach 4 hours in the PM, team meeting in the eve
Thursday: CRASH
I'm sure I'll have a lot more respect for Michael by the end of all of this. :) Bonus: He has already created the lesson plans for me, and they're on health! Excited to get back in the groove a little!
I asked Michael if we were going to completely switch roles (ie, he does the cooking, shopping, laundry, etc.) His response: never mind, I'll teach my classes. Haha I'm sure he'll pick up some of the tasks, but probably not the first 2 mentioned. :)
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
1 down
1st week of the semester down.
A focus of ours this round is for me to get more involved. First opportunity is to have a couple of office hours. All of the full-time teachers have them, and now I do, too! For 2 hours on Friday, I sat in the Foreign Affairs office (a library full of English books including classics, spiritual, etc. with comfy couches, and snacks!) awaiting students to come in and practice their English. The first hour, I waited alone. I decided to start reading Pride and Prejudice. Never read it before. Not bad so far. We'll see if I get to finish it. The 2nd hour, 3 enthusiastic and well-spoken students came in to visit. 2 of them were girls I met last semester and who had been to our home. They heard I would be there, and wanted to see me. How sweet. :) They even promised to come back next week. Woo! It's a fun opportunity I'm thrilled about because we can talk about anything in that room. You can lift that up.
Michael also suggested taking a week's worth of his classes to teach. I'll teach one day this week and 2 days next week on the topic of health. I'm excited! The hard part is done--he already has the whole lesson planned out for me. I may just add in a few of my own things. I asked him if I should show a clip from Super Size Me. Think that would scare them?! Haha. I might actually do it since fast food is becoming very popular over here.
The weather is getting warmer. I know how many weeks until we'll pack our bags (15, not that I'm counting...), and all I think about is the food I want to eat at home. I'm sure I'll compile a list before we leave so I can make sure to consume it all while there. :)
A focus of ours this round is for me to get more involved. First opportunity is to have a couple of office hours. All of the full-time teachers have them, and now I do, too! For 2 hours on Friday, I sat in the Foreign Affairs office (a library full of English books including classics, spiritual, etc. with comfy couches, and snacks!) awaiting students to come in and practice their English. The first hour, I waited alone. I decided to start reading Pride and Prejudice. Never read it before. Not bad so far. We'll see if I get to finish it. The 2nd hour, 3 enthusiastic and well-spoken students came in to visit. 2 of them were girls I met last semester and who had been to our home. They heard I would be there, and wanted to see me. How sweet. :) They even promised to come back next week. Woo! It's a fun opportunity I'm thrilled about because we can talk about anything in that room. You can lift that up.
Michael also suggested taking a week's worth of his classes to teach. I'll teach one day this week and 2 days next week on the topic of health. I'm excited! The hard part is done--he already has the whole lesson planned out for me. I may just add in a few of my own things. I asked him if I should show a clip from Super Size Me. Think that would scare them?! Haha. I might actually do it since fast food is becoming very popular over here.
The weather is getting warmer. I know how many weeks until we'll pack our bags (15, not that I'm counting...), and all I think about is the food I want to eat at home. I'm sure I'll compile a list before we leave so I can make sure to consume it all while there. :)
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Thailand, finally
My attempt to summarize a wonderful 3 weeks:
The first week, we spent at Cha'am beach, 2 hours southwest of Bangkok. Beautiful. Serene. Relaxing. We learned that we're not exactly beach people. I mean, neither of us desire tans and the water is not that fun to "swim" in. We played soccer on the beach a few times, but that was it. It was a little rocky where we were, so not even a sand castle...I know, sorta lame. But we loved looking at it! We also rented bikes to ride into town since our hotel was about a 20 minute walk into town. A great perk of Thailand: free wifi just about anywhere. Coffee shops lined the street advertising such a luxury. Sweet! A few pics from our week there:
The next week was spent in the northern part of Thailand in Chiang Mai, where we would also have our conference. LOVED the town..almost more than the beach. Don't hate me for that comment. But coming from a lack of western anything, this town was chock-full of stuff! Restaurants, English-speakers, grocery stores, etc. Just plain lovely. Most days, we just took off walking to see what we found and were never disappointed. We did eat Thai food a few times, but we just wanted to ingest as much American food as possible. One day we took a trip to see the elephants, the Karen long-neck tribe, take a bamboo raft ride, and ride on an oxen cart. It was a fun, full day! Pics:
The last week, we attended our annual conference with our whole organization. 500 people who serve all over Asia, gathered together to worship and learn. It was wonderful. We don't have a fellowship nearby that speaks English, so to be able to understand the services and sessions was extra special. And, of course, nothing like worshipping freely again. Wow, we didn't realize how much we missed corporate worship.
At the end of last semester, I was really struggling to find purpose. Why was I here? I wasn't interacting with many students. Josiah and I were running out of things to do. Poor Michael heard an earful of complaints every day. I was jealous of all that he was doing.
On the first night of conference, the MC spoke straight to my heart. We all have it hard. All of His servants do, in one capacity or another. We weren't called to a life of ease and comfort. Our challenges are mostly in the comfort zone...different culture, language, food, etc. But who cares about all that if we get to impact lives eternally? We were very specifically called here. We will have to clearly be called elsewhere. And we haven't been. So why not focus on the positives? The blessings. The opportunities.
Needless to say, we've come back refreshed. I have a new perspective. Father-willing, I'll be able to keep it for the rest of the semester. A big focus is for me to get more involved. First, I'll have an office hour on campus. All the other teachers do, but I'll add my own. It's just at time when students can come in and chat freely. They see it as practicing their English. We see it as divine opportunities. And wow, does He work during those times!
The theme of our conference was broken & restored. Glad to be on the latter end. Praise Him.
The first week, we spent at Cha'am beach, 2 hours southwest of Bangkok. Beautiful. Serene. Relaxing. We learned that we're not exactly beach people. I mean, neither of us desire tans and the water is not that fun to "swim" in. We played soccer on the beach a few times, but that was it. It was a little rocky where we were, so not even a sand castle...I know, sorta lame. But we loved looking at it! We also rented bikes to ride into town since our hotel was about a 20 minute walk into town. A great perk of Thailand: free wifi just about anywhere. Coffee shops lined the street advertising such a luxury. Sweet! A few pics from our week there:
 |
| Daddy and J checking out the pool. |
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| Bikes! Josiah wishes he could have ridden on the back, but he rode on the front of me in a carrier instead. |
 | |||||
| Dinner overlooking the beach. Fancy high chair, huh? |
 |
| In front of our hotel. |
The next week was spent in the northern part of Thailand in Chiang Mai, where we would also have our conference. LOVED the town..almost more than the beach. Don't hate me for that comment. But coming from a lack of western anything, this town was chock-full of stuff! Restaurants, English-speakers, grocery stores, etc. Just plain lovely. Most days, we just took off walking to see what we found and were never disappointed. We did eat Thai food a few times, but we just wanted to ingest as much American food as possible. One day we took a trip to see the elephants, the Karen long-neck tribe, take a bamboo raft ride, and ride on an oxen cart. It was a fun, full day! Pics:
 |
| mango smoothie! so glad they aren't skimpy on their proportions. |
 |
| Woman from the Karen tribe. She loved J's hair! |
 |
| Getting a snack from the crowd. |
 |
| On the raft! |
 |
| Elephant ride! |
 |
| Oxen cart...a little boring, but at least we did it. |
The last week, we attended our annual conference with our whole organization. 500 people who serve all over Asia, gathered together to worship and learn. It was wonderful. We don't have a fellowship nearby that speaks English, so to be able to understand the services and sessions was extra special. And, of course, nothing like worshipping freely again. Wow, we didn't realize how much we missed corporate worship.
At the end of last semester, I was really struggling to find purpose. Why was I here? I wasn't interacting with many students. Josiah and I were running out of things to do. Poor Michael heard an earful of complaints every day. I was jealous of all that he was doing.
On the first night of conference, the MC spoke straight to my heart. We all have it hard. All of His servants do, in one capacity or another. We weren't called to a life of ease and comfort. Our challenges are mostly in the comfort zone...different culture, language, food, etc. But who cares about all that if we get to impact lives eternally? We were very specifically called here. We will have to clearly be called elsewhere. And we haven't been. So why not focus on the positives? The blessings. The opportunities.
Needless to say, we've come back refreshed. I have a new perspective. Father-willing, I'll be able to keep it for the rest of the semester. A big focus is for me to get more involved. First, I'll have an office hour on campus. All the other teachers do, but I'll add my own. It's just at time when students can come in and chat freely. They see it as practicing their English. We see it as divine opportunities. And wow, does He work during those times!
The theme of our conference was broken & restored. Glad to be on the latter end. Praise Him.
Friday, February 25, 2011
night-night kisses
Josiah's new favorite game: If we pretend to go night-night, he'll wake us up with a kiss! It started when I really was trying to go to sleep, and Michael coaxed him to kiss me. He hasn't stopped since. He'll often say, "night-night" so he can kiss us. Um, adorable. :)
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Duibuqi/Xiexie
Sorry/thank you. (Say: dway-boo-chee and shye shye..sorta. that one is hard to spell phonetically!)
Sorry for not updating about Thailand yet. We've been home a week, but I just can't seem to sit down and write it all out. Not sure why. Soon.
A very belated thank you for all the mail we've received. Many of you heard my cry for Christmas cards and sent them! Thank you, thank you! Special thanks to those who have sent packages. It's always awesome to get a package...even better when it's stuff we dearly miss or truly need. Shout out to my parents who have sent multiple boxes...some out of necessity, some out of wanting to shower us with love. (We hear there is a V-day box waiting for us...now if only the campus PO would open so I could retrieve it!!!)
Just another way we feel blessed to be here...knowing we have ya'll at home, rooting us on.
Sorry for not updating about Thailand yet. We've been home a week, but I just can't seem to sit down and write it all out. Not sure why. Soon.
A very belated thank you for all the mail we've received. Many of you heard my cry for Christmas cards and sent them! Thank you, thank you! Special thanks to those who have sent packages. It's always awesome to get a package...even better when it's stuff we dearly miss or truly need. Shout out to my parents who have sent multiple boxes...some out of necessity, some out of wanting to shower us with love. (We hear there is a V-day box waiting for us...now if only the campus PO would open so I could retrieve it!!!)
Just another way we feel blessed to be here...knowing we have ya'll at home, rooting us on.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
let the injuries begin
I'm not ready for my little man to get hurt so often. I don't like the bleeding. Nor the crying. Nor the fighting of momma's help.
Josiah got his 2nd fat lip in 2 weeks the other day. This one was worse. The first happened 2 days before we left to come here, and it healed quickly. This one seems to keep re-opening, usually when he eats. And the crying continues. But, I have a feeling this is only the beginning......
In other news, Thailand is still super wonderful. In the past two days, I've scored 1 dress, 3 shirts, 1 pair of leggings, and 1 pair of sandals...each costing less than $7. Yes, please.
Josiah got his 2nd fat lip in 2 weeks the other day. This one was worse. The first happened 2 days before we left to come here, and it healed quickly. This one seems to keep re-opening, usually when he eats. And the crying continues. But, I have a feeling this is only the beginning......
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| Saying "teeth" |
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Thailand is the bestest!!
We're here. We've been here for 7 full days now. I don't want to leave.
All last week we spent at/near the beach. Our hotel walked out onto the beach, but we didn't actually spend much time there. Maybe we're lame. Or maybe we just like to look at it instead. Josiah and Michael had a great game of soccer on the beach. So cute. The next day, a lady commented on little man's skills. Haha. Our hotel was a 15 min walk to "town" (aka a bunch of random shops/restaurants/vendors/motels/cafes). We often rented bikes for $1/hour so we could explore a little more. It was fun and relaxing and our room was fab.
We arrived in Chaing Mai yesterday. I already love it more than where we came from. More cafes. More foreign restaurants. Cute alleys with mom and pop shops. And this is only from a few hours of exploring. We're going to be here the next 2 weeks. Can't wait to see more!
Josiah is loving just running around. Poor kid has skinned knees and lots of leg bruises from falling (does this ever end??), but he doesn't even cry. Gets up and runs some more. This morning, we were at the mall and someone gave him a balloon. He played soccer by himself all over the mall for at least 30 mins until we forced him back in the stroller since he only had one shoe on. One broke, after buying it 4 days ago. Lame, knock-off, $3 crocs. For now, a twisty tie is holding the strap on. Haha. Maybe we'll spend another 3 bucks to get him another pair. ;) (*Insert grammie complaint here.*)
Also a bonus, Josiah is sleeping well. We haven't even had to put him in the bathub yet--haha. These 2 hotels have had an actual crib. He's not the best sleeper in new places, so a crib has definitely helped. (He is terrified of his little tent we got him....) Hotel #3 probably won't have a crib....ugh. We'll see what happens.
Welp, the tike is about to wake and we're headed out for more adventures. Weee!!
All last week we spent at/near the beach. Our hotel walked out onto the beach, but we didn't actually spend much time there. Maybe we're lame. Or maybe we just like to look at it instead. Josiah and Michael had a great game of soccer on the beach. So cute. The next day, a lady commented on little man's skills. Haha. Our hotel was a 15 min walk to "town" (aka a bunch of random shops/restaurants/vendors/motels/cafes). We often rented bikes for $1/hour so we could explore a little more. It was fun and relaxing and our room was fab.
We arrived in Chaing Mai yesterday. I already love it more than where we came from. More cafes. More foreign restaurants. Cute alleys with mom and pop shops. And this is only from a few hours of exploring. We're going to be here the next 2 weeks. Can't wait to see more!
Josiah is loving just running around. Poor kid has skinned knees and lots of leg bruises from falling (does this ever end??), but he doesn't even cry. Gets up and runs some more. This morning, we were at the mall and someone gave him a balloon. He played soccer by himself all over the mall for at least 30 mins until we forced him back in the stroller since he only had one shoe on. One broke, after buying it 4 days ago. Lame, knock-off, $3 crocs. For now, a twisty tie is holding the strap on. Haha. Maybe we'll spend another 3 bucks to get him another pair. ;) (*Insert grammie complaint here.*)
Also a bonus, Josiah is sleeping well. We haven't even had to put him in the bathub yet--haha. These 2 hotels have had an actual crib. He's not the best sleeper in new places, so a crib has definitely helped. (He is terrified of his little tent we got him....) Hotel #3 probably won't have a crib....ugh. We'll see what happens.
Welp, the tike is about to wake and we're headed out for more adventures. Weee!!
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