January

A year ago at this time I was beginning my application process with the hopes to be a Young Adult in Global Mission soon after graduating from Concordia.  Fast forward one year, and I am half way done with my year of service.  I can't believe how fast time has gone, and I am truly sad to continue on the journey knowing that it will soon end.  With that-- I am in this weird transition of what comes next, all the while  cherishing every second that I have left in this beautiful place!

When school came  to a close last year, I was bound and determined to find resources to help this year have structure and support.  When I asked what to teach, they said, "just teach what you know", but it's so hard to start when you don't know what they know. Before school started I wrote out my first week of lesson plans and was pretty excited about them.  I set aside two days for introductions.  The students would fill out a sheet that included information about them, their favorite color and food, where they are from, how old they are, and two pictures: a self-portrait and a family portrait.  The first day they all finished the form, and the second day was set aside for them to introduce a friend.  We discussed "boy words" and "girl words"--because many times they may point to a boy, and say "her name is..".  This was very telling for me, because not only did they struggle with gender nouns, but they couldn't say how old their friend was, they always resorted to Bahasa Melayu.  After investigating further, I discovered they filled out most of their form in Bahasa Melayu, but that was very helpful to me, because then I knew which vocabulary they hadn't acquired yet.  Later at a meeting I asked who was in charge of teaching the students to read, because I was finding that reading skills were fairly low.  I am not sure why I was so surprised when I found all fingers pointing at me.

The first week was rough, as my lesson plans seems all the more unrealistic, I realized I would need to purchase new books, and really evaluate what is essential for my students to know.  Then--I started all over again, and brought in more creative ways of learning--movement, singing, and games to help them learn, enjoy and focus.  With one class of 35 students, if I'm not on top of things, I just want to sit and cry--It reminds me of a quote I have seen somewhere-- "What really messes us up, if the image we have of how things are supposed to be"--here I write my own story, there is no outline.

Among all my planning and frequent trips to book stores, I also spent the beginning of January applying to seminary, and searching for ministry related openings at churches.  

Towards the middle of the month I somehow once again found myself in a fabric store and attending a camp at a last minute notice. But-- I must share with you, out of mere humor and astonishment on what I got myself involved in.  A picture, from my Girl's Brigade training camp.  Enjoy--because I never know what will happen, and sometimes it leads to things like this.  (Somehow I got out of the marching--but I have a feeling that won't be for long)

The rest has been a blur, mostly because I spent two weeks sick, and one of them almost completely in a state of sleeping.  My heart overflowed as I was barely functional because of the wonderful friends I have here.  In a strange state of half-awake and half-asleep, I found housemates and teachers in my room checking on me, and bringing me meals. My dearest friend drove here every evening until I was well again.  Finally, last night I was able to stay awake for more than 4 hours, and we played some mean rounds of Uno!