Predictions Revisited

These were my predictions before I came to my site.  With the advice of a friend, I thought I would revisit them.  Let's so how far we've come!

• That my students will teach me more than I can teach them
• True.  I am met every day with smiles and an eagerness to take in all that my students can.  They are infectious and rub off on me until I can't help but join with them in laughter.  My students have also been wonderful teacher's for me as I learned a new language.  They were so patient and kind while helping me learn and feel like I belong.  
• That I will somehow learn to like spicy food
• I officially put some chili sauce in my friend noodles these days.  The ground up chili's in lime juice are still on my "too hard to handle" list.  One day I accidentally bit into a small red chili pepper and that was the complete opposite of a delight, especially because I ran out of water by the time this mishap happened.  
• That "service" will take on a whole knew meaning
• Need and service have indeed taken on new meanings.  Financially the people of Malaysia are fairly well off.  They are surrounded by an abundance of resources and with Family as the top priority of many people, many are able to get by just fine.  Beyond my role as an English teacher, I would say that my secondary responsibility is just to love on people.  Which is incredibly easy because they are so willing to accept me.  Also, I have been opening my heart to all sorts of people and learning alongside them.  This has been a great journey where I am able to walk alongside people and be with them in times of sorrow and joy.  I'm learning that service means sometimes all that is needed of you is to just be present.  
• I could get fantastic at hand-washing clothes (I'm super slow now)
• Mer-- I tried it for awhile, but we DO have a washing machine.  Though, I do soak all my clothes first and scrub them with a brush before tossing them into the washing machine.  
• Living in community will be a highlight of my year.
• This is for sure true.  For the last few months I have moved into a different room to be with one of my housemates who is the same age as me.  Being in community has its perks (cooking together!) 
• I will try things I would never try at home (food and more)
• This list is so long I just don't even know where to begin.  But- I do have to say, I still haven't made myself try liver or the strange fermented fish.
• Malay will become second nature (my language skills are still minimal)
• I officially struggle to transition back to English if I have been in my city for too long.  If I spend two months in my town, without seeing another native speaker it takes almost two days to get back to a suitable form of English.  
• Grace and Love will take on many forms and faces.
• I see this in my students and I see this in my friends.
• I will learn and grow in what it means to be me
• To be honest, the first half of my year I saw the most growth within myself.  This is when I tried all of the new foods, was doing devotions every day and was really transforming into what I think I was meant to be all along.  The second half of the year has been more of a struggle for growth.  I already know what I like to eat and all my devotion books are already finished.  Now everything I do has to be very intentional and that is where I am finding I am struggling. 

The Path Traveled

If you don't look closely, you won't see the path that leads to the kampung that marks the home of our school.  The path actually just continues on from an average bus stop.  In the mornings you will find orang kampung (village people) waiting here for mini buses, pick-up trucks or ever lorries to climb into by the masses on their way to work. 

The path is narrow and on both sides there are looming walls of tall thick grass.  When someone walks in the other direction you often find yourself stepping into the grass to let them walk on by.  The path is strewn with rocks and boulders of all shaped and sizes, some are jagged and some are smooth and slippery when wet.  When it rains the path is difficult to navigate and many children just trudge through the murky water that marks the way.  Others try to break the tall grasses and lay them down to protect their shoes or slippers.  For those who are barefoot, it's unlikely to phase them.  The path leads the way down a slope at first and then eventually to a bridge.  The bridge is long and it sways.  There are boards that are broken and some that just don't fit.  There is water below, some days brown from rain, and some days rather beautiful, once you get past all of the plastic and rubbish floating about.  The path finds refuge for many animals, from small kittens I want to take home with me, to smelly dogs and big cows with pointy horns.  

The people that walk the path are varied.  Small students finding their way to school with their friends, Adults walking to the bus stop to go to work or to the market.  Korean Missionaries, teachers, church  members and even police officers find their way here at times.   If you happen to be around in the morning, chances are you will spot some men carrying massive bags of beras (uncooked rice) or lada (small chilli peppers), students helping to carry the day's food for school, a young man or two carrying a rooster or a chicken (I learned cock fighting is a big thing here).  In the afternoon you will likely spot kids hiding along the path or chasing you on the path just to say 'goodbye', 'hello' or 'good morning' (no matter what time of day it is). One man has a bucket tied behind the seat of his bicycle with fresh fish to sell to the people in the kampung and if you happen to be walking the dirt paths at the right time you might run into the man who has fixed a grill to the back of his bicycle and goes around in the late afternoon to sell satay.  In the afternoon the path will be less traveled as most people will be inside hiding from the heat of the midday sun.  Those who dare go about do so with umbrellas. 

I've come to find this path absolutely beautiful in the variety it is graced with.  When I walk this path I know it will lead me to a place where I am welcomed and embraced to be with students and teachers whom I love and who love me in return.  

English Week

Wednesday:
Each class took an English quiz
(I have never seen students so excited to take a quiz before)


Thursday:
BINGO and translation/crosswords puzzle for grades 4-6 and 2 afternoon classes
New English songs for grades 1-3


Friday:
Guess the action for grades 4-6
Guess the sound for grades 1-3
Spelling Bee
Awards

spelling bee

 teammates

all students

Number 1 for crossword puzzle!

Murut Wedding

April 12, 2013

 wedding couple with cousins

cousins in traditional dress

family of the newlyweds and friends (Ashley and Nam Dae)

 "gifts" sort of..still learning how to explain this..

food and drink after the wedding

The Excitement Continues

April started with utter chaos and unpredictability.  On the first of April we had visitors from  Korea who put tiles in four classrooms, the library, computer room and two quest rooms.  A new house was also being built next to the school, so the first week in April was a charming melody of saws and hammers.  For the first few days we attempted to have class.  Two classes were held in the chapel and one in the canteen.  We had to reconsider our game plan and decided on a sports day for Thursday.  Students had a blast playing games and it was really fun for me to join them!  On that Friday only a few students came to school to help out everything back where it belonged.

All but one of the visitors went home after week one, but our house and our school has been blessed with a new companion, Nam Dae.  He will be at our school for the next two and a half months.  He speaks Korean and VERY little English but we are able to communicate enough.  He is also learning Malay really quickly.  This has been really fun for me because I now have someone to show around, help translate, or just sympathize with when communication just isn't happening.

Another exciting thing that is happening is that on Friday, April 12, the teachers from my school will be going to a traditional Murut wedding.  My friend Hailley's younger brother is getting married and so Nam Dae will get to see a traditional Malaysian wedding for the first time.  This will be my second time to witness a wedding in Malaysia, but this time I will make sure to bring my camera!

More updates:
 After standing on top of a chair for a good ten minutes I discovered that we have quite the lovely array of mice whose presence graces our kitchen every evening.  Cockroaches, as of lately, love to surprise we when preparing for bed.

I have officially cooked fried bananas on my own

I am learning a little Korean and can count to 5 (haha)-- still working on some Mandarin as well

Stay tuned: English Week at TGSH, April 10-12 

The future

February marked the half way point of my journey.  I am a natural planner so part of me needed to start figuring out what would happen when I went home.

Thus started the applications! I spent a good two-three weeks preparing essays, cover letters and resumes.  I attempted more Skype interviews than I knew was possible on an iPad with wifi service in the middle of no where Sabah, Malaysia.  After three wonderful options presented themselves I started the difficult discernment process with family, friends and God.

February also marked out second retreat to Hong Kong.  The theme was "stillness in the city". The purpose to find peace and serenity within the chaos of our lives.  Now, maybe this isn't ironic, but it seemed to be exactly what was needed at this point in my discernment process.

In the end I decided to take a position at Calvary Luthern Church in Willmar, MN, as a Faith Formatin Coordinator.  I am truly excited to work as a member of this new team and see how God is working in that place and with the people there.  I also know that God is continually equipping us for the plans that he presents, so I am excited to see how my gifts will serve in a new community and how I will fit in this new "family".

On the other side of things, it seems surreal to have plans for what comes next.  Most days future plans are not mentioned because they are bitter sweet.  Wonderful and rich relationships present themselves to me everyday and I want to cherish them all the best that I can for as long as I can.

Easter without Lent

For the first time that I can remember I did not go to any special services for Lent.  Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday and the rest of the seemingly "traditional" days of Lent are only held in Catholic Churches in my community.  Most of the people in my community had no idea what I was talking about when I inquired about these days.  At first I was dumbfounded, thinking that all Christians practice these traditions, but I was clearly wrong.  This year I had a traditional Sabah Easter, which was seemingly just another Sunday- for I think that the people I am with treat every day as a precious gift from God.

Maundy Thursday, another unheard of day in the Christian church I am a part of here, brought on discussions for Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  I was told that all chuch members fast on Good Friday and then attend church at 3 pm.  When I was first told this I basically shrugged it off; I've never tried fasting before.  Then it was brought up again, and instead of shrugging it off, I asked why. The answer came in quick Malay but I was able to catch 40 days and 40 nights and I realized it was this congregations attempt to try to understand some of the suffering that Jesus went though for us (something I quickly forgot with the other abundance of thoughts present in my mind at the time).

I went to bed self conconcious of an already grumbling tummy, not knowing when, according to these fasting rules, I could eat again.

I woke to a house full of people and children, family members from the Kampung (village) who have come to stay for this Easter weekend.  Immediatly I caught a wiff of chicken with fried noodles frying in the kitchen and I quickly closed the door and covered my head with a pillow.  This was going to be harder than I thought!

I made it through the morning after three cups of green tea and a desire to move upstairs by the time they started cooking lunch.  I spent my late morning/early afternoon cleaning my room, folding and putting away clothes, washing some clothes, showering and basically whatever I could do to keep my mind off of food.

(For those of you who don't know, I used to have to eat every three hours to function properly, and eating is probably my favorite hobby)

I think I actually did pretty well.  After removing myself from temptations I found that my stomach didn't rumble and it was rather okay.
 
In the afternoon I was checking my home congregations facebook page for their lent devotion and ended up chatting with an old friend.  It was at that time that I realized I was going about this fasting thing all wrong.

I decided to do this only because I was told all the people at my church are doing it
I am selfish and often think about how much I love food and so I kept thinking of the food I was missing out on.
It took me this long to figure out these things and than remember of the REAL purpose of fasting

I shook my head at myself at my seemingly elementary mistake.  As children how many times are we are always told by our parents, "Don't just _______ because everyone else is."  This is where God's wonderful grace comes into play.  We may make mistakes over and over again, do things without thinking about why we do them and fall short time and time again, but God forgives.  In fact, God loves us SO MUCH that he sent his only son to perish so that our sins would be forgiven and that we may have eternal life.
This Lent I was especialy thankful for the time to remeber the sacrifice that God made for all people, but also for the challange of being able to explain some of my religious practices.  I am learning to ask myself the question 'why?' a lot this year; maybe this is God's attempt to make me a stronger person.