Merry Christmas from Indonesia, where the sun is shining, the grass is green, the high is 83 degrees, and the cicadas are singing in the trees outside my front door!! :)
(You should come spend Christmas here with me next year.)
24 December 2014
22 December 2014
Christmas Miracles
Several things have happened in the last week or so that I believe are nothing short of miracles. Since Christmas is coming up (more quickly than I can believe), they must obviously be Christmas miracles! And I want to write them down here so that I can remember them later. They might all seem like little things, but miracles are always worth remembering!
1. Last week, I took my motorbike to get serviced. While I was there, I had them change the back tire as well. It was getting pretty thin. When the mechanic pulled the tire off, he had a funny look on his face, and he called me over to look. A broken off nail had punctured my tire - in one side and out the other. But somehow, I didn't have a flat tire! The mechanic was really very confused by this...
2. Back in October, I ordered some essential oils from the States from a company that offers free international shipping. They never arrived. But last week, I got a letter from the post office in Semarang saying that my order was there, but that I needed to come explain the contents in person. The letter said that the items were supplements, which are not permitted to be imported without special permission. Oh, brother... On Saturday, I was in Semarang already, so with great trepidation, I went to the post office. I was expecting to either have to pay a ton of money (AKA a bribe to get them to release my package) or to jump through a hundred fiery hoops (like getting special letters of permission from other offices) or to bat my eyelashes and get my flirt on like crazy. In the end though, NONE of those things were necessary! It did take an hour of explaining, but once the nice post office man opened my package and thoroughly sniffed my essential oils, he decided that I was not a criminal and that I was not importing dangerous substances, and he let me leave with my package for FREE. If you know anything about living in this country, you know what a huge miracle that is!
3. Christmas never really feels like Christmas here. Because, I mean, it's the tropics. There's no snow and no cold weather. Not that I'm complaining... But one of my traditions here is that every year, I buy a cinnamon scented candle and burn it in the week leading up to Christmas. It helps me feel like it's actually the Christmas season when my house at least smells like Christmas. Money was really tight this month though, and I had to sit down one day last week and decide which things were most important. Obviously, food and paying my helper's salary were top priority. And I decided that since a candle wasn't a necessity, I would do without this year. The very next day (which was mid-week and not even the last day of school), a student gave me a little cloth pouch with something inside of it. With a huge smile, he said, "Merry Christmas!" and was out the door. I opened it up, and inside was a cinnamon scented candle!
4. Part of the reason why I did a bake sale a couple of weeks ago was because I wanted to make sure that I had enough money to pay my helper, Ibu Sri, this month. In Indonesia, there is a tradition called thirteenth month. Either at Idul Fitri or Christmas (depending on the employee's religion), people receive an extra month's salary. Since Ibu Sri is Christian, she gets her thirteenth month salary in December. What I made in the bake sale was enough to cover the thirteenth month. And in fact, after that bake sale, I set aside her double salary in an envelope and saved it in my bedroom so that I wouldn't have to worry about it at the end of the month. Last Friday was her last work day of the year (because when I'm off school, I usually give her time off as well), so on Thursday night, I was preparing her salary. I usually leave it in an envelope on the counter since I always leave for work before she comes in. As I was setting the money out and writing her a little note to go with it on Thursday night, I really felt like God was telling me to give her a bonus. To give her extra. To give her all the money in my wallet. That made me a little nervous. Because all the money in my wallet was $75, and my bank account was down to $40. And my next pay day is January 1st. That money was all I had for the rest of the year. But I just kept feeling like I needed to give her everything. So I did, believing that God would take care of it. The next day, I had a church leadership meeting at a local coffee shop. On the way there, I stopped by the ATM planning to take out like $5 to pay for my drink. I almost burst into tears right there in the mini mart (where the closest ATM is located) when I checked my balance and saw that instead of $40, I now had $3200!! The school paid us all early this year so that we would have our money in time for the holidays!
5. One day last week, a favorite candle of mine wouldn't light. I think there was too little wax. But there was still SOME wax left in the bottom! So I got the wax out and I had the (not so) genius idea to put it in my little tealight candle fueled oil burner. I set it on the desk beside me while I worked on something on my computer. In case you are thinking what a smart and resourceful girl I am, you should probably stop right there. Apparently, putting candle wax in an oil burner is actually kind of dangerous and can cause the entire deal to EXPLODE. Which it definitely did. Boiling hot melted wax blew up EVERYWHERE. On the floor, on the chair I was sitting on, all over my desk, on my laptop, on my printer. BUT - somehow not a single drop landed on me. I had quite the mess to clean up, but I'm thankful that I was not harmed in the making of what I thought was a great idea.
Again, most of these might seem like such little things. But this month has been a good reminder of all of the million little ways that God loves me, protects me, and takes care of me every single day, even in spite of my selfishness and faithlessness.
This will probably be my last post until after Christmas. So try to find some Christmas miracles in your life this week. And have a Merry Christmas!
1. Last week, I took my motorbike to get serviced. While I was there, I had them change the back tire as well. It was getting pretty thin. When the mechanic pulled the tire off, he had a funny look on his face, and he called me over to look. A broken off nail had punctured my tire - in one side and out the other. But somehow, I didn't have a flat tire! The mechanic was really very confused by this...
2. Back in October, I ordered some essential oils from the States from a company that offers free international shipping. They never arrived. But last week, I got a letter from the post office in Semarang saying that my order was there, but that I needed to come explain the contents in person. The letter said that the items were supplements, which are not permitted to be imported without special permission. Oh, brother... On Saturday, I was in Semarang already, so with great trepidation, I went to the post office. I was expecting to either have to pay a ton of money (AKA a bribe to get them to release my package) or to jump through a hundred fiery hoops (like getting special letters of permission from other offices) or to bat my eyelashes and get my flirt on like crazy. In the end though, NONE of those things were necessary! It did take an hour of explaining, but once the nice post office man opened my package and thoroughly sniffed my essential oils, he decided that I was not a criminal and that I was not importing dangerous substances, and he let me leave with my package for FREE. If you know anything about living in this country, you know what a huge miracle that is!
3. Christmas never really feels like Christmas here. Because, I mean, it's the tropics. There's no snow and no cold weather. Not that I'm complaining... But one of my traditions here is that every year, I buy a cinnamon scented candle and burn it in the week leading up to Christmas. It helps me feel like it's actually the Christmas season when my house at least smells like Christmas. Money was really tight this month though, and I had to sit down one day last week and decide which things were most important. Obviously, food and paying my helper's salary were top priority. And I decided that since a candle wasn't a necessity, I would do without this year. The very next day (which was mid-week and not even the last day of school), a student gave me a little cloth pouch with something inside of it. With a huge smile, he said, "Merry Christmas!" and was out the door. I opened it up, and inside was a cinnamon scented candle!
4. Part of the reason why I did a bake sale a couple of weeks ago was because I wanted to make sure that I had enough money to pay my helper, Ibu Sri, this month. In Indonesia, there is a tradition called thirteenth month. Either at Idul Fitri or Christmas (depending on the employee's religion), people receive an extra month's salary. Since Ibu Sri is Christian, she gets her thirteenth month salary in December. What I made in the bake sale was enough to cover the thirteenth month. And in fact, after that bake sale, I set aside her double salary in an envelope and saved it in my bedroom so that I wouldn't have to worry about it at the end of the month. Last Friday was her last work day of the year (because when I'm off school, I usually give her time off as well), so on Thursday night, I was preparing her salary. I usually leave it in an envelope on the counter since I always leave for work before she comes in. As I was setting the money out and writing her a little note to go with it on Thursday night, I really felt like God was telling me to give her a bonus. To give her extra. To give her all the money in my wallet. That made me a little nervous. Because all the money in my wallet was $75, and my bank account was down to $40. And my next pay day is January 1st. That money was all I had for the rest of the year. But I just kept feeling like I needed to give her everything. So I did, believing that God would take care of it. The next day, I had a church leadership meeting at a local coffee shop. On the way there, I stopped by the ATM planning to take out like $5 to pay for my drink. I almost burst into tears right there in the mini mart (where the closest ATM is located) when I checked my balance and saw that instead of $40, I now had $3200!! The school paid us all early this year so that we would have our money in time for the holidays!
5. One day last week, a favorite candle of mine wouldn't light. I think there was too little wax. But there was still SOME wax left in the bottom! So I got the wax out and I had the (not so) genius idea to put it in my little tealight candle fueled oil burner. I set it on the desk beside me while I worked on something on my computer. In case you are thinking what a smart and resourceful girl I am, you should probably stop right there. Apparently, putting candle wax in an oil burner is actually kind of dangerous and can cause the entire deal to EXPLODE. Which it definitely did. Boiling hot melted wax blew up EVERYWHERE. On the floor, on the chair I was sitting on, all over my desk, on my laptop, on my printer. BUT - somehow not a single drop landed on me. I had quite the mess to clean up, but I'm thankful that I was not harmed in the making of what I thought was a great idea.
Again, most of these might seem like such little things. But this month has been a good reminder of all of the million little ways that God loves me, protects me, and takes care of me every single day, even in spite of my selfishness and faithlessness.
This will probably be my last post until after Christmas. So try to find some Christmas miracles in your life this week. And have a Merry Christmas!
11 December 2014
Christmas Season
As you might imagine, living in the largest Muslim nation in the world, I am pretty sheltered from the side effects of Christmas. And by "side effects", I mean basically everything that defines the holiday season in America. Don't get me wrong - I don't mind the lights and the pretty trees. But I definitely don't miss all the radio stations, TV shows, and storefronts shoving Christmas commercialism down everyone's throats. I like being in control of how much Christmas I have to experience. And I feel like I expand a little bit more each year.
Last year, I got my first little Christmas tree. My first tree in five years! This year, I hung lights and some small decorations in my classroom. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. And I started listening to small amounts of Christmas music last week. I also get to celebrate this Christmas with Melanie, my lovely friend who currently lives on Borneo. She's flying in next week to sleep on my couch for Christmas. What a gal, right?
Christmas never really feels like Christmas here, because it's during rainy season. Someone at my church last Sunday got up and did a solo rendition of "White Christmas", and I was like, "YEAH RIGHT." The closest thing I've got to that is the white mold I found growing on my leather sandals yesterday...
Anyways, all this to say that yesterday something happened that made me have warm and fuzzy Christmas feelings, which I don't usually have here.
I was walking home from work when I noticed all of our national staff - guards, cleaners, cooks, office workers, facilities guys, gardeners, teaching assistants, IT guys, secretaries, drivers, librarians, lifeguards, etc - gathered in the school pavilion. So naturally, I stopped and rubbernecked. There was a GIANT gift wrapped box sitting on a table in front of everyone, and our superintendent was talking to them about how much he appreciates them and how our school wouldn't be able to function without them. Then he asked for a volunteer to open the box. Inside the box was a letter, and the girl who opened the box read the letter out loud to everyone.
Have you ever watched The Price is Right? Do you know how exaggerated the emotions are when the people get called from the crowd to compete? Or when they win big, and they jump up and down and clap their hands and scream and cry all at once? That's what happened as the girl read the letter and the entire national staff realized simultaneously that the school board appreciated them and wanted to bless them EACH with a Christmas bonus. A bonus that for most of them is equivalent to a three or four month salary. Think about that - that is HUGE. The pavilion erupted. There was laughter, there was shouting, and there were lots and lots of tears and hugs! Some of them saw me standing and watching and they came over and hugged me and kissed my cheeks WHILE jumping up and down and crying so hard they couldn't even talk.
I'm so glad that they know how much they are cared for and appreciated. I'm happy that I work for a school that values its national staff. And I'm thankful that we recognize that we are a body and that we couldn't have one part without the other.
Teachers got a big Christmas bonus for the first time last year. I don't know if we will this year or not. All the bonus money in the budget may have gone to the national staff this time around. Seeing them get their bonuses was so special though. I'm glad I stuck around. And if all the bonus money went to them, then it is so worth it. THEY are so worth it.
Last year, I got my first little Christmas tree. My first tree in five years! This year, I hung lights and some small decorations in my classroom. FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER. And I started listening to small amounts of Christmas music last week. I also get to celebrate this Christmas with Melanie, my lovely friend who currently lives on Borneo. She's flying in next week to sleep on my couch for Christmas. What a gal, right?
Christmas never really feels like Christmas here, because it's during rainy season. Someone at my church last Sunday got up and did a solo rendition of "White Christmas", and I was like, "YEAH RIGHT." The closest thing I've got to that is the white mold I found growing on my leather sandals yesterday...
Anyways, all this to say that yesterday something happened that made me have warm and fuzzy Christmas feelings, which I don't usually have here.
I was walking home from work when I noticed all of our national staff - guards, cleaners, cooks, office workers, facilities guys, gardeners, teaching assistants, IT guys, secretaries, drivers, librarians, lifeguards, etc - gathered in the school pavilion. So naturally, I stopped and rubbernecked. There was a GIANT gift wrapped box sitting on a table in front of everyone, and our superintendent was talking to them about how much he appreciates them and how our school wouldn't be able to function without them. Then he asked for a volunteer to open the box. Inside the box was a letter, and the girl who opened the box read the letter out loud to everyone.
Have you ever watched The Price is Right? Do you know how exaggerated the emotions are when the people get called from the crowd to compete? Or when they win big, and they jump up and down and clap their hands and scream and cry all at once? That's what happened as the girl read the letter and the entire national staff realized simultaneously that the school board appreciated them and wanted to bless them EACH with a Christmas bonus. A bonus that for most of them is equivalent to a three or four month salary. Think about that - that is HUGE. The pavilion erupted. There was laughter, there was shouting, and there were lots and lots of tears and hugs! Some of them saw me standing and watching and they came over and hugged me and kissed my cheeks WHILE jumping up and down and crying so hard they couldn't even talk.
I'm so glad that they know how much they are cared for and appreciated. I'm happy that I work for a school that values its national staff. And I'm thankful that we recognize that we are a body and that we couldn't have one part without the other.
Teachers got a big Christmas bonus for the first time last year. I don't know if we will this year or not. All the bonus money in the budget may have gone to the national staff this time around. Seeing them get their bonuses was so special though. I'm glad I stuck around. And if all the bonus money went to them, then it is so worth it. THEY are so worth it.
08 December 2014
Bake Sale: An Update
Clearly my life is full of adventures, because, I mean, I'm blogging about a bake sale.
Here is the executive summary.
1. The power NEVER WENT OUT ALL WEEKEND. I was thankful for this, but I also felt dumb for having buckets of water all over my kitchen and bathroom. And it was a pain to dump and dry them all out.
2. The lemon cake, which I thought would not be a hit (because Indonesians don't like things too sweet OR too sour, and lemon cake is BOTH) sold out BEFORE THE BAZAAR STARTED. Long after it was all gone, people were coming and asking me, "Where is the lemon cake people are talking about?" And the colorful cupcakes that I thought the kids would be all over sold out LAST! So now I know for next time... Do the opposite of what I think I should do.
3. I spent about $20 on ingredients. It's hard to tell exactly how much, because I bought two kilos of flour, but I didn't use the entire two kilos. And I bought that bottle of dried ginger, which I never used. And a lot of ingredients I already had on hand. So $20 is just my rough estimate based on how much I spent when I went grocery shopping.
4. I made about $75 in two hours of selling. That may not seem like much until I put it into perspective. First of all, everything sold out and nothing cost more than a dollar. Also, $75 is about twice as much as what I spend on food in an entire month. I also have friends who make that much in a month. So $55 of profit, which is enough to pay my half of my helper's salary this month, plus some left over!
5. All in all, I think it was a success. I spent probably about 7 hours shopping, mixing, baking, and packaging, then another 2 hours selling. I calculated how much I made per hour and it's more than I make teaching! I might just quit my day job....
6. Oh, one other thing - I woke up Sunday morning wondering why my hands were in so much pain. They felt bruised. It took me a couple of hours of flexing and massaging them to realize - I HAVE A BAKING INJURY! Kind of... Haha... Doing that much mixing all by hand took a toll and made my hand muscles VERY sore. I didn't even know that could happen...
7. And last but not least, here is the only picture I could find of me at the event. I was also in charge of selling books. And most of my baked goods were gone by this point. And some tired people were also sitting at my table. And I have a new white friend. Clearly the best picture possible.
Here is the executive summary.
1. The power NEVER WENT OUT ALL WEEKEND. I was thankful for this, but I also felt dumb for having buckets of water all over my kitchen and bathroom. And it was a pain to dump and dry them all out.
2. The lemon cake, which I thought would not be a hit (because Indonesians don't like things too sweet OR too sour, and lemon cake is BOTH) sold out BEFORE THE BAZAAR STARTED. Long after it was all gone, people were coming and asking me, "Where is the lemon cake people are talking about?" And the colorful cupcakes that I thought the kids would be all over sold out LAST! So now I know for next time... Do the opposite of what I think I should do.
3. I spent about $20 on ingredients. It's hard to tell exactly how much, because I bought two kilos of flour, but I didn't use the entire two kilos. And I bought that bottle of dried ginger, which I never used. And a lot of ingredients I already had on hand. So $20 is just my rough estimate based on how much I spent when I went grocery shopping.
4. I made about $75 in two hours of selling. That may not seem like much until I put it into perspective. First of all, everything sold out and nothing cost more than a dollar. Also, $75 is about twice as much as what I spend on food in an entire month. I also have friends who make that much in a month. So $55 of profit, which is enough to pay my half of my helper's salary this month, plus some left over!
5. All in all, I think it was a success. I spent probably about 7 hours shopping, mixing, baking, and packaging, then another 2 hours selling. I calculated how much I made per hour and it's more than I make teaching! I might just quit my day job....
6. Oh, one other thing - I woke up Sunday morning wondering why my hands were in so much pain. They felt bruised. It took me a couple of hours of flexing and massaging them to realize - I HAVE A BAKING INJURY! Kind of... Haha... Doing that much mixing all by hand took a toll and made my hand muscles VERY sore. I didn't even know that could happen...
7. And last but not least, here is the only picture I could find of me at the event. I was also in charge of selling books. And most of my baked goods were gone by this point. And some tired people were also sitting at my table. And I have a new white friend. Clearly the best picture possible.
05 December 2014
Grocery Shopping
My church is hosting a bazaar tomorrow afternoon, and I decided to do an impromptu bake sale. Because, I mean, who doesn't need a little extra cash for Christmas?
So today, with the promise of an all day power outage (which, btw, hasn't even started yet, at 11:30 AM), I will be baking German chocolate brownies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, white cupcakes with homemade frosting and sprinkles, vanilla coconut muffins, and a lemon cake.
Naturally, I don't have all of the necessary ingredients on hand. So I went grocery shopping this morning. I still find myself chuckling internally about what a grand adventure grocery shopping is. I had to make four different stops. Just for baking ingredients.
1. At the first stop, I bought brown sugar. It's the only store I've ever found in all of Indonesia that sells REAL brown sugar (as opposed to palm sugar which I don't like), and thankfully it's right here in my town. This was the only item I bought at this overpriced import store (which is run out of the front of someone's house).
2. From there, I went to the new baking goods store that just opened up a month or two ago. And thank goodness for them, otherwise this list would be a lot longer! I did the bulk of my shopping here - flour, sugar, cocoa, oatmeal, milk, etc. They sell ingredients by the kilo at only a 15 - 20 cent increase in price over the distributor. I could go crazy shopping there. But I limited myself to only what I needed for baking today.
3. Next, I needed a lemon for the lemon cake. Fresh fruit is sold all the way across town from the first two stores. I also happened to find ground ginger at this store, which I don't need for today, but I've been out of it and looking for it for quite awhile now.
4. And last but not least, I needed eggs, which NONE of the other stores had. So I ran to a tiny little ma and pa shop near my house. Supporting local business and all, you know. I picked up half a kilo of eggs (they're sold by the kilo, not the dozen here), and headed home just in time to miss the rain.
Now to start baking and hope I make a little bit of profit off this whole adventure!
So today, with the promise of an all day power outage (which, btw, hasn't even started yet, at 11:30 AM), I will be baking German chocolate brownies, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, white cupcakes with homemade frosting and sprinkles, vanilla coconut muffins, and a lemon cake.
Naturally, I don't have all of the necessary ingredients on hand. So I went grocery shopping this morning. I still find myself chuckling internally about what a grand adventure grocery shopping is. I had to make four different stops. Just for baking ingredients.
1. At the first stop, I bought brown sugar. It's the only store I've ever found in all of Indonesia that sells REAL brown sugar (as opposed to palm sugar which I don't like), and thankfully it's right here in my town. This was the only item I bought at this overpriced import store (which is run out of the front of someone's house).
2. From there, I went to the new baking goods store that just opened up a month or two ago. And thank goodness for them, otherwise this list would be a lot longer! I did the bulk of my shopping here - flour, sugar, cocoa, oatmeal, milk, etc. They sell ingredients by the kilo at only a 15 - 20 cent increase in price over the distributor. I could go crazy shopping there. But I limited myself to only what I needed for baking today.
3. Next, I needed a lemon for the lemon cake. Fresh fruit is sold all the way across town from the first two stores. I also happened to find ground ginger at this store, which I don't need for today, but I've been out of it and looking for it for quite awhile now.
4. And last but not least, I needed eggs, which NONE of the other stores had. So I ran to a tiny little ma and pa shop near my house. Supporting local business and all, you know. I picked up half a kilo of eggs (they're sold by the kilo, not the dozen here), and headed home just in time to miss the rain.
Now to start baking and hope I make a little bit of profit off this whole adventure!
This Week
It's been a big week. I went to Korea and a missionary passed away and a fellow teacher lost a child and two students have dengue and a strange, bad smelling cat is currently sitting on my desk watching me write this.
But it's also been a good week. Good talks and new friendships and lots of learning and maybe a little growing. Starbucks treats from students and times of reflection and good books and permission to sleep in.
My power is going to be out from 7 AM - 5 PM tomorrow. ON A SATURDAY. No laptop, no internet, no phone, no lights, no fans, no TV (not that I own one anyways), no running water, no appliances. But I am bound and determined that it will be a good day too.
Two more weeks until Christmas break.
But it's also been a good week. Good talks and new friendships and lots of learning and maybe a little growing. Starbucks treats from students and times of reflection and good books and permission to sleep in.
My power is going to be out from 7 AM - 5 PM tomorrow. ON A SATURDAY. No laptop, no internet, no phone, no lights, no fans, no TV (not that I own one anyways), no running water, no appliances. But I am bound and determined that it will be a good day too.
Two more weeks until Christmas break.
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