2017: A Photo Essay

2017 was an okay year. If I could summarize it in one sentence, it would be “The year in which I did not keep up with my blog”. It had its ups and downs like any other year, but this year in particular, the lows seemed lower than normal and the highs seemed higher. There were a lot of emotions, and that might be part of the reason why I didn’t blog so much. But I don’t want to forget about many of those times. And I’ve had some requests to update people on my life. So I present to you the highs and lows of the past year of my life.

January

Basically the only unusual thing I did in January was to help orient and work with a team of 20-somethings that came from America to experience life in Indonesia. They came through an org that a friend of mine works with, and I had the privilege of helping them get to know more about this place I call home. They stayed for a month, but because of my work schedule, I wasn’t able to interact with them as often as I’d have liked. One awesome thing I did get to do with them was to travel to Jogjakarta and spend time in a slum there that I wasn’t even aware existed. The team put on a children’s program, and while they did that, I spent time just talking to people in the neighborhood and hearing their stories. One thing I learned about myself in 2017 is how much I love hearing people’s stories.

February

In February, I was asked to chaperon our students as they participated in a basketball tournament in East Java. It was my first visit to the city of Malang. I had a TON of fun cheering my students on, hanging out with them at the malls there, and eating LOTS of good food. I also got to watch our boys AND our girls bring home championship trophies!

March

March started out with spring break! This time for spring break, I chaperoned our senior class on their traditional senior trip. It’s always fun to spend time with students outside the classroom, especially as they are about to graduate and move abroad. They had lots of fun activities planned for their trip, but two of my favorites were going to the beach and doing “white water” rafting (the water was more brown than white. I was convinced we were all going to get typhoid and die…).

Also in March, school held its annual Junior/Senior banquet. I got all dressed up and apparently turned into a dancing maniac!

 

(Me with almost all of my Advanced Calculus class. They clean up nice.)

April

In April, our school hosted a badminton tournament for multiple schools, and since I’m the math teacher, I was given the task of keeping score. Because… numbers. So in preparation for that tournament and then during the tournament itself, I spent a huge amount of April learning about and watching badminton.

My 31st birthday fell on Easter Sunday in 2017, and I really enjoyed getting to spend my birthday at church celebrating the resurrection of Jesus! One of my little 3 year old friends brought me some lilies for my birthday, and it was a fitting reminder of my church in America decorated with lilies for Easter Sunday!

May

First and foremost, graduation happened.

That’s always a good but difficult time of saying goodbye to the humans I’ve spent the last four years with on a daily basis.

Shortly after graduation, I also said goodbye to a co-worker and neighbor. In honor of one of her last days in Indonesia, three of us single ladies got up SUPER early to go watch the sun rise over the rice fields.

 

While I am definitely not a morning person, this view is ALWAYS worth it. Especially with sweet friends like these!

June

The first week of June, I traveled to Kalimantan to visit a friend there. I also got to set foot in the northern hemisphere for the first time in 8 months! The equator runs through the city of Pontianak on the west coast of Kalimantan, and we visited the monument. Here I am with one foot in each hemisphere.

While in Pontianak, I also saw this gorgeous double rainbow right at sunset, which I thought was worth mentioning. :)

The month of June also brought about more goodbyes. My boss for the past five years moved back to America in June to be closer to family there.

July

July was a BIG month! First and foremost, my parents came to visit me in July! This was the second time they had visited Indonesia, and it was so special for them to be here and to see my life and meet my people. I will be forever grateful for the time we had together last summer!

On July 19th, I celebrated my 9th Indoversary – the anniversary of the day I first landed in Indonesia! To commemorate the event, I dug out my old passport and found the immigration stamp dated July 19, 2008.

Two VERY important graduations happened in the month of July as well. First, my friend Cinta, whom I have known since she was just a kid in middle school, graduated from COLLEGE! She has big plans for her future, and I’m excited to see where she goes! Also, my dear friend Aldi finished his PhD at a university in Australia. He spent the past 3 years living away from his family, so this was a HUGE deal for him – it means he is finally back home where he belongs! I also proofread his dissertation, so I have awarded myself an honorary PhD as well. Doesn’t he look doctorly?

 

During summer break, I made a goal to start working out regularly in the weight room at the school. I have this facility available to me for free, but I’ve never taken advantage of it! Not knowing how to use most of the equipment held me back during the school year, when the weight room was busy and I didn’t want to look dumb in front of all the pro worker-outers. But during July, while everyone was gone and I had the weight room to myself, I figured out how to work all the doo-dads and I got pretty consistent about working out! So consistent, in fact, that I demolished the only pair of exercise shoes I owned. So as a treat to myself for all my hard work and dedication, I bought myself a much nicer pair of athletic shoes!

Unfortunately, my streak of consistency was ruined by a trip to the beach. The trip itself was great, and I had a lot of fun with my friends!

However, at one point as I was running through the sand Baywatch style, the pinky toe of my right foot came in contact with something incredibly hard that did not give. Instantly, I thought to myself, “I just broke my toe”. It immediately began to swell, and within a few hours, it looked like this.

Grotesque, I know. Once the swelling went down, I was able to move my toe, so I convinced myself that it was a bad sprain and not actually a break. Three months later when it was still bigger than my other pinkie toe and hurt to put my full weight on, I rethought that conclusion. I never did get x-rays, so I guess I’ll never know whether or not I actually broke it. But I will tell you that to this day, I cannot sit cross-legged with my right foot on bottom – it squishes that pinkie toe and it hurts!

August

August brought about the start of the school year. This is the lovely teaching staff that I get to work with this year!

I was also featured in a local photography exhibition at an art gallery as well as on my gym’s Instagram page. Guess which one I’m more thrilled about…

 

While exploring my local grocery store, I also found the following two items that caught my eye. Your guess is as good as mine…

 

September

September was a month of change. Rainy season started, which meant saying goodbye to gorgeous sunsets like this…

…and saying hello to walking home in torrential downpours like this.

Yes, there is a soccer game going on in that picture. Yes, they are playing in what appears to be a lake. But if we cancelled games on account of rain, nobody would play sports from September – April.

All this rain did mean that my yard went from the photo on the left to the photo on the right in the matter of just a few days.

 

Melanie, my very best friend on this side of the world, told me in April that she would be returning to America for good at the end of the year. I grieved that loss when she told me in April. But then I also felt moments of deep sadness throughout the rest of the year as I contemplated life here without her. It was – and is – a very hard loss to deal with. It was around September that news of her leaving became more public, and it was also when we decided working on a bucket list of things we wanted to do together before she left. One of those things was driving two hours by motorbike to the closest Starbucks! This Starbucks is located at a rest stop on the nearby toll road. Unfortunately, two wheeled vehicles are not allowed on the toll road. So we got creative and found an access road that wound through villages and rice fields and rubber tree forests and eventually took us to our location! I was quite the adventure, and I love this memory of our day together!

My brother was also deployed to the Middle East in September. The day he was deployed, a friend here sent me this verse, and it is still hanging by my desk at work, right next to my brother’s patch from flight school.

October

I quit yoga, and my cat thought this would be a great time to start napping on my desk. He does it regularly now.

November

There is only one thing to mention about November, and that is saying goodbye to this guy.

This is my pastor in America. He went to the hospital one day with a bad virus, a few days later was diagnosed with end stage leukemia, and within a matter of days, he had passed into his eternal home. I got to know him well when I was last home, and I was so thankful that my home church had him. He was such a blessing to me, to my family, and to my church family as well. Grieving this loss from a million miles away was difficult to say the least. Going back to America this summer will be hard too. The America I left still had Pastor Paul in it, and it won’t feel right without him there.

December

I had one of the most interesting experiences of my life in early December. Our school was asked if we would be willing to have a guest speaker give a speech to our students and faculty. The administration agreed, and one day we were all called to an assembly in the school auditorium. The man who wanted to talk to us was North Korean. He had escaped from North Korea and wanted to tell us what life was like there. He spoke no English, so some of our high school students translated for him. I’ve seen pictures of North Korea, but none of them do justice to this man’s story. His entire family died there, and he himself only barely escaped with his life. He now lives and works in South Korea doing all he can to bring awareness to what is happening. The things he said were fascinating and tragic and heartbreaking all at once. When I think about atrocities happening in North Korea, I think of them happening years ago. But this man is my age. His story could be mine.

December, of course, also brought about Christmas and all the festivities that go along with it! I’m not sure how many Christmas parties I attended this year, but I sure baked a lot of cookies!

One other thing worth mentioning about December is that I got to spend my first Christmas with THIS guy. We began dating in mid-2017, and in the midst of all the ups and downs that 2017 had to throw at me, I am so thankful to have had him by my side as a friend, as an encourager, and as someone who always speaks the truth that I need to hear.

Things My Job Consists Of (That it Usually Doesn't...)

The 2017-18 school year is well underway, and this school year has felt a lot different than years past. I'm still teaching the same four math classes, but on top of that, I seem to have undertaken a set of other responsibilities that are usually not mine. So far this year, those responsibilities have included:

1. Writing recommendation letters for students to go military academies.
2. Contacting US Senators and Representatives (see #1)
3. Leading a worship team.
4. Filling in on guitar, piano, and/or vocals whenever a student is absent from worship team.
5. Planning multiple retreats, each with an attendance of 100+ people.
6. Counseling and mentoring (there was a three week stretch where I could count on one hand the number of days there WASN'T someone crying in my classroom).
7. Being the official score keeper for athletic events.
8. Translating for non-English speaking parents.
9. Supervising my very own, brand new math department teaching assistant (I'm someone's boss this year!).
10. Being the final authority on dress code issues (seriously, the principal sends them to me).
11. Substitute teaching for 7th grade.
12. Interviewing potential new staff members.
13. Overseeing housing/furnishing needs for staff families.

Many of these tasks have taken me out of my comfort zone, put me in the spotlight, and pushed the limits of what I thought I could handle. But as we come to the end of our first quarter, I can say with confidence that this has been a really REALLY good school year so far.

Break Every Chain

"Hey, so that was my student. His friend is possessed and he needs help. Want to come?"

This is what my friend said from across the dinner table after excusing himself to take a call. I spent a few seconds staring blankly at him, making sure I actually heard him correctly. Then I asked him, "What do you think I should do?" I didn't know what we'd be walking into. I didn't know if I should be there.

I was coming off a very emotionally charged and spiritually heavy weekend. Attending to a demon possessed college student felt like the last thing I wanted to do. But I also felt like I couldn't walk away from a chance to pray over someone who needed it in a big way. So I went.

We arrived at a nearby boarding house to find four people on the floor in a dark room restraining a girl who couldn't have weighed more than 90 pounds. She was calm up until the second we walked through the door. Then she started screaming and thrashing, clawing and biting. We began praying. And praying. And praying. She eventually went limp. But she wasn't herself yet. Her eyes were vacant, empty. So we kept praying. Until suddenly she regained consciousness and control over her own body.

I'm not going to describe all the events of the night. I don't intend for it to be a spectacle or a wild story of some adventure I got myself into. But I don't want to forget. And I don't want you to forget.

Satan is real. He rules with fear. He causes harm. And I'm not even talking in a spiritual way, but in a real, physical way. When that girl finally started talking last night, the first thing she said was, "Everything hurts". Her body was in pain. And the four people restraining her did not walk away unscathed either.

The fear in that room was all but tangible. Girls were cowering in corners, shaking and crying uncontrollably as they watched this happen. They were scared and they were helpless. They say they believe in Jesus, but they don't know what that means. Because of their culture, they open themselves up to a lot of darkness, because they don't really know what that means either.

I found out that over the past week, about ten of the girls living in that boarding house have experienced attacks of demon possession. I had a chance last night to pray over the halls of that house. And while I know that prayer is not ineffective, I also know that the situation is not going to change for these girls until they make a choice for that to happen. All of these girls are from the same tribe in a remote area of Kalimantan known for its magic. This magic essentially consists of making deals with the Devil in exchange for some sort of earthly power, and many of these girls and their families have done just that.

We had a chance to talk to them about what they are doing. About the ways that they are allowing this to happen. About how Jesus is bigger. And most importantly about how much they need Him.

So all this to say... please pray. Satan is alive and well on this earth. Pray for eyes and hearts to be open to see and receive Truth. Pray for chains to be broken. Pray for peace to replace fear. Pray for revival.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12)

Accomplishments

Lest you think teachers do nothing all summer, let me tell you what I have done today.

I woke up at 7 AM.
I threw a load of laundry in to wash, including blankets, tote bags, towels, pillow shams, small throw rugs, etc.
I swept my whole house.
I had breakfast and coffee and watched the news.
I hung all the laundry out to dry.
I threw out some other things to sun (my helmet, a musty smelling brush, my rain jacket, etc)
I took out the trash.
I put away last night's dinner dishes (which I washed last night) and washed my breakfast dishes.
I walked to the gym and worked out.
I saw some friends at the pool and sat and talked with them for half an hour.
I walked home and took a shower.
I made lunch, which I subsequently ate.
I took laundry off the line, ironed it, folded it, and put it all away.
I drove up the street to have a neighbor put air in my tires.
I drove to the market to buy some fresh fruit and flowers.
I went to the supermarket to pick up some other things like milk and sugar and chocolate.
I came home and put all the things I bought in the empty apartment next door.
I also stocked the apartment with toilet paper, bedding, towels, etc.

ALL THAT and it's not even 2 yet.

WHY am I doing all this, you may ask?
Well, let me tell you.

1. It is the week of Idul Fitri, so my house helper has the week off which leaves me managing my own house which is kinda nice (also a never ending battle against ants and mold).
2. MY PARENTS ARE COMING! And they will be staying next door to me for almost TWO WEEKS! They are currently somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, and if all goes according to plan, I will get to hug them at noon tomorrow!

AP Calculus

Last year I started a new tradition (can you call it that after only one year) of having all of my AP Calculus students take a "final exam". It is an open note, open book, essay exam. Weird for a math class, right? Technically, any seniors with an A average (which is generally all the seniors in my math class) are exempt from second semester finals. So I don't make them do anything too terribly heavy for their exam. I'd have a riot on my hands. This "exam" is basically just a survey of their year. I force them to think over how far they've come, their future in mathematics, their understanding of God, and I also allow them to contribute their two cents to my planning of next year's class.

Following are the questions along with some excerpts from the students themselves.

1. Write about why you chose to take AP Calculus, what you have learned in this class, how it will benefit you in the future, and if/why you would recommend this class to underclassmen. 

- One thing I learned in Calculus is that math is not my thing.
- I would definitely recommend this class. Above all, it's fun.
- Even though the words like "derivation," "integration," "optimization," and other scary terms scared me in the beginning, as time went by, I realized that they were just math terms and that they weren't as scary as I made them sound.
- Why I chose this class is because I lost at rock, paper, scissors.
- The most important thing I have learned is that my work ethic matters.
- This class has been a great learning experience. I used to look at things the way they are, but AP Cal trained my eyes and mind to look at things from different perspectives. It made me more creative. It was challenging, but I feel a great sense of accomplishment.
- This class taught me that I am not incapable of doing something. What I mean is that if I put my mind on something and work hard, I can actually surprise myself. I'm glad I'm going to college with this mindset.
- AP Calculus has taught me to love math again.  I've always enjoyed math since I was young. However, going through Geometry and Algebra classes, I just couldn't like math anymore because either they were too easy or boring. Entering the world of calculus, I faced numerous puzzling questions, which for some I wouldn't even know where to start solving.
- I always thought about physics or other sciences as my major. But after finishing AP Calculus, I want to learn more about calculus. Even if I don't major in calculus, my passion for calculus probably won't fade.

2. Explain the three most interesting things you learned in AP Calculus and why they interested you.

- I thought finding the area under the curve using integration was interesting. It's so interesting because it's possible!
- Above all, learning how to play Euchre was the most interesting part of AP Calculus.
- L'Hopital's Rule taught me that there is always a way to solve an undefined limit, just like there is a way out for every challenge that seems impossible to overcome.
- I enjoyed finding anti-derivatives because they are quite easy to find the answers to, and for some reason, they just satisfied me.
- It's hard to choose only three things because almost everything in AP Calculus class was awesome. Questions were hard, and I like hard things. They made me spend lots of time to think about solutions and make errors, which are things I enjoy to do when solving math questions.
- Derivatives were one of the most interesting things I learned because it was the first time I thought I was really applying math to the real world.

3. Explain how (or if) you believe math and God are related.

- God gave humans brains that can process more complicated thought than animals, and we set out to learn the mysteries that God has placed in the world. We use math to do this.
- Calculus just hints at God's level of knowledge and transcendence so well through its incredible complexity
- Math allows us to see God's creation in more detail and helps us understand how He designed and made things work.
- Math has helped me become a patient Christian problem solver, which applies in every area of my life.
- No matter how much you want math to change, we cannot alter the fundamentals of math. Likewise, God does not change. We might discover new things about him as we live, but it does not change who God is.
- I want to focus on the concept of finite and infinite numbers. Man is created in the image of God and is called by God to do His work. Man is like a "finite" version of the "infinite" God. We humans have a limited life span and limited power on earth, while God is infinitely powerful.

4. What is something [the teacher] should know for next year's AP Calculus class?

- Many seniors who are applying to American colleges are mentally stressed. Maybe a short prayer at the beginning of every class would be helpful.
- Your teaching method is very helpful, and I really understand the material.
- You should NOT change your teaching style for next year.

5. This is free space for you to write anything else. Comments, suggestions, critiques, and all forms of encouragement are accepted.

- It was fun! I will be jealous of next year's AP Cal class.
- I hope you teach my brother when he is a senior too!
- I don't think anyone else could have taught this class better than you did. I loved your passion.
- We should play more card games!
- You are strict and loving at the same time, which is super GREAT. You model a life of organization, diligence, and service. You are happy to teach us, even though we made you upset many times. I hope I can be cool like you when I become a teacher.

Maybe a Bit Much...

So I need to share with you the BEST THING I'VE SEEN ALL DAY.

It's an Indonesian advertisement for Halal ("clean" in the Muslim faith) eggs. Here is the ad:

(Photo taken from Facebook)

Here's what it says in English:

Are we sure the eggs we're eating are clean?

We need to ensure that we are not eating eggs produced by FORNICATING chickens.

For that reason, we present to you

HALAL EGGS.

We take great care in guarding the socialization of our chickens so that they do not become involved in promiscuous sex. We guarantee that each rooster only fertilizes four hens in accordance with Shariah Law.

A healthy life begins with

HALAL EGGS.

Master Teacher

Due to sickness and death (which so far has been the theme of the year), our school has had limited human resources. As such, many of us have been attempting to cover classes for other teachers while also teaching our own classes.

In an unprecedented move (for me) I managed to somehow substitute teach the 7th grade math class one day last week while ALSO teaching my 10th grade math class. There were so many teenagers packed into one room I thought I was going to die of heat stroke. But we survived.

That feat wasn't enough for me though. No, I have set my sights higher. Much, much higher. Because, I mean, teaching two math classes at the same time - one of which was my own regularly scheduled class that I had prepped for - was not enough of a challenge. So on Friday of this week, I will be substitute teaching two classes for two other teachers in two different subject areas. During second period, you will find me simultaneously teaching 8th grade math AND 10th grade English.

Next time, I think I'll opt out of math altogether. Even though I don't teach 8th grade math, it's still a field I am far too familiar with. But let's see how Friday goes first...

May. Oh, May.

We're getting to that time of year. That magical time of year where I turn into an emotional mess. That time of year where I say goodbye to at least 25% of the people that I have poured my heart into. That time of year where I just want to hide in my apartment and never love anybody else ever again. That time of year that becomes the season of mourning that Ecclesiastes told me would happen.

Yesterday was a tear-y day. Contemplating upcoming goodbyes, some of which are going to be really, really hard. I almost skipped Bible study because I wanted to crawl into bed at 6 PM and forget that other humans existed. But I ended up deciding to go anyways because when I'm feeling down, what could be better than spending some time in the Word?

A friend from my Indonesian church hosts Bible study in her home, and a few other families from my church attend - most of whom have small children. When I pulled in the gate, two of the little ones were waiting for me on the front porch, and as soon as they saw me, they started clapping their hands, jumping up and down, and cheering my name. As soon as I got off my bike, they ran over and flung themselves at my legs and bear hugged my knees. Once I made it past the welcoming committee on the porch and got in the front door, the one year old looked up from her toys on the floor and SHRIEKED my name and gave me a HUGE smile! It was the first time she's called me by name (after MONTHS of coaching - I mean, I've been trying to get her to say it since the day she was born. It was a huge letdown when she learned to say "mama" first)!

Those things make me smile. And remind me that I'm loved. And that even though I have to say goodbye to a lot of the people I care about in the coming month, there are even more people I care about who will still be here.

On those same lines, my best friend in America wrote me this afternoon to let me know that her toddler woke up in the middle of the night last night, and when asked why, her little girl told her that she was trying to video call me on the tablet, and she was very concerned when I didn't pick up. (Note - I had no missed calls from the child, so I have no clue who she was actually calling in the middle of the night.) That made my heart feel all warm and fuzzy too.

Quarter 4

Well, we made it! Spring Break is over, and the final quarter of the school year is well underway on this side of the planet. Last week was the first week of the quarter, and at the end of the week, I joked to a co-worker that if that was any indication of how the quarter was going to go, then we should just call it quits now.

The week started with my fellow math teacher being informed that she had two hours to leave the country (due to visa reasons). She ended up hustling to Singapore for what was at that point an undetermined amount of time. It ended up being three days, so for the first three days of the quarter, I was teaching every single period of every single day, covering some of her workload as well as teaching my own classes. Thankfully, she ended up getting her visa sorted out, and no more last minute trips are anticipated in the near future. The day after she returned from Singapore, another co-worker's father suddenly died. This co-worker is an only child and felt that his mother really needed him to be with her, so the very next morning, he caught a flight to America to be with family and to handle arrangements, leaving his wife and three children here in Indonesia. Within 30 minutes of being notified of that death, I was then informed that a woman from my local church here had passed away rather suddenly while her husband was out of the country for business. Oh, and we also had parent-teacher conferences on that same day. By Friday, I really just wanted another Spring Break. But then our superintendent had to leave the country before I could convince her to declare an emergency supplemental break. She is still out of country at this point waiting on visa things to come through.

Unfortunately, rather than looking forward to some rest and down time in the near future, we are all bracing ourselves for April. The first weekend, we are hosting a national athletic tournament at our school, which will be an all hands on deck situation. After that we have Easter, which includes two much-anticipated days off. The following weekend we will have a drama production, and the weekend after THAT, we will be travelling to yet another athletic tournament, this one hosted on Bali. Somewhere in there, we will also have standardized testing for grades K-10 and the Indonesian national exams.

Fourth quarter always seems like a whirlwind, but this one seems even more so. It goes by in the blink of an eye, but in the moment, it feels like we've been stuck here for an eternity (I mean, did this quarter seriously just start LAST WEEK???). I'm thankful for the community I live in and the support and the grace that we extend to one another. We would appreciate your prayers for this last quarter. It hasn't been an easy year. We have experienced 8 deaths in our extended community (all parents of co-workers) in the last three months, we have had medical issue after medical issue (with students and teachers missing weeks of school at a time), our current principal is leaving after this school year, and we have not had a single applicant to fill his position for next year, some of our staff members have been told that under new government regulations, they do not meet the requirements for the visas they are on (meaning that when their current visas expire, there is a chance they may not be able to renew them), and the end of the school year is approaching oh, so quickly. We continue to trust in God's unfailing faithfulness and provision.

An Unexpected Answer

On Sunday at lunch, I found myself sitting across from a four year old girl that I had never talked to before. I vaguely know her parents, but they were elsewhere at the moment, and their daughter was staring at me wide-eyed while swinging her legs violently under the table, effectively kicking me in the shins repeatedly.

So I decided to strike up a conversation with her. I asked her what her name is, and she told me. I asked her how old she is, and she told me. Then she said, "I bet you can't guess what my favorite animal is!" So I tried. I went through all the obvious answers.

Ponies

Puppies

Kittens

Unicorns

Siberian tigers

Tarantulas

Pythons

And then I gave up. So I asked her what her favorite animal is. In glee, she squealed, "I LOVE NAKED MOLE RATS!"

I can't begin to fathom how I didn't guess that.

I'm A Big Kid Now

I have a house helper. This is common knowledge. I don't always like to make it common knowledge though, because I'm afraid it makes me sound like a spoiled elitist foreigner living the high life. That is not the case. I live well below the American poverty line in an apartment I do not own that is the exact same size as my classroom. That's probably why I can afford to have a house helper. I rely on her so much, and I love her dearly. I always joke that if it weren't for her, all I would ever eat is instant noodles.

Well, that claim is being put to the test this week. Tuesday morning, I woke up to an insistent knocking at my front door WAY too early in the day. I tried to ignore it, but it wouldn't stop, so I eventually stumbled to the door, hair askew, and opened it. My helper's husband was standing there, and my heart jumped into my throat. "WHAT HAPPENED?" I asked (or maybe barked... I'm not really sure). He told me, "She got in a wreck last night, and she can't come into work today." In a surprising moment of pre-coffee clarity (shock will do that to you), I managed to asked all the right questions.

Is she in the hospital? No.
Is anything broken? No.
Did she see a doctor? Yes.
Is she in pain? Yes.

So we agreed that she would not be in to work that day, and he went to his job and I put some gel in my hair and made some coffee and then went to my job too.

I visited her at her house after work on Tuesday. She was in bed. Her left knee was swollen to the size of a grapefruit, and she was covered in bruises and Betadine infused scrapes and cuts. The doctor had her on pain meds. She insisted she would be in to work the next day. I told her she was not allowed.

I talked to her Wednesday, and she told me she was having an allergic reaction to the medicine the doctor put her on. I told her not to come in on Thursday. It is now Thursday. She thinks she is coming in on Friday, but I'll see how she's doing tonight.

It's a little bit embarrassing to admit that this is the first time I've gone through a work week without a helper cooking and cleaning for me. I still don't think I'm an elitist or a high roller, but I can maybe accept that I might be a little bit spoiled. However, I am proud to say that even after 8-10 hour workdays, all my dishes have gotten done, all my laundry has been folded, and my floors are kind of clean. And most importantly of all, I have NOT ordered out OR made instant noodles a single time so far! But we'll see how long I can keep it up, because I'm running out of ingredients, and I refuse to wake up at 4 AM to go to the market.

If you think of it, please pray for my helper and her family. She told me yesterday that she feels "very sad" that she can't work. She thrives off of activity, so sitting at home is not easy for her. Her husband, her elderly mother, and her two kids also rely a lot on her, so her being out of capacity is tough on everyone. And of course, please pray for her to heal well. She never got her knee X-rayed, so even though the doctor said nothing is broken, it's still possible that there is some damage there.

I'm so incredibly thankful that her accident wasn't any worse than it was.
I'm also thankful that she has a great family and a great support system.

And lastly, I would also like to take this opportunity express my thankfulness to my mother for teaching me how to cook. Thanks, mom!

A Can of Worms

I took my new (American) neighbor on a cultural adventure yesterday. We went to my friend's village, and I taught her how to harvest rice. Afterwards, we were chilling in my friend's house, where his wife served us coffee (that he planted, harvested, roasted, and ground himself) and we talked. What I like about this friend is that our lives are different in basically every way.

I am the oldest of three kids, and he is the youngest of nine.
I am single, and he is married with three kids.
I am a 30 year old female, and he is a 50 year old male.
I moved halfway around the world, and he still lives in the house he was born and raised in.
I take my toilet for granted, and he just got running water in his house 2 years ago.
I do not smoke, and he firmly believes that if he ever quits chain smoking, he will die.
I have a college degree, and I'm not sure he ever finished high school.

So our talks are always interesting, and we almost always have different opinion and/or perspectives. We talked about several things yesterday afternoon over our coffees while it thunderstormed outside. My neighbor has only been here 7 months, so she is still learning Indonesian. At one point, I turned to her and asked if she was bored, and she told me she wasn't, that she was enjoying listening to Indonesian without feeling the pressure of having to respond herself. I imagine I must have had an impish grin on my face as I said to her, "Then watch me open up this can of worms."

And I turned back to my Indonesian friend and asked, "So what do you think of America's new president?" My neighbor gasped.

But my friend excitedly told me how into American politics he's gotten. He confessed that on voting day, he stayed up until 2 AM watching the news to see who won and to watch the news coverage of it. But then he told me that he doesn't think Trump is a good president. I asked him why and he said, "Because he doesn't have a heart." I asked what he meant, and he said, "Your president says he is a Christian, but Jesus says in the Bible that if you really love Him, you will take care of others. People in this world are being persecuted and killed and they are running away from evil, and does your president even know about them? Does he care about them? Because he told them they cannot come into your country. Where is his heart? Where is his compassion?"

And for once, I could not disagree.

How Many Months??

Four months ago, I left America to come back to Indonesia. I can't believe it has ONLY been four months. Life here is so hectic and not at all routine and time seems to move more quickly here than anywhere else. I mean, just look at all that has happened since I've been back in country...

• We've celebrated Idul Adha, Thanksgiving, Christmas, the New Year, and Lunar New Year.
• I've renewed my driver's license AND my motorbike registration AND my visa.
• I got a new phone.
• I spent half a week in Hong Kong.
• I've had two different bosses
• We've had six deaths in our community.
• I've been to three funerals.
• I've had a throat infection, pinkeye, and two different head colds.
• I've said one big goodbye to a close friend who moved to another island.
• My home country elected a new president.
• I've been to three different athletic tournaments (this number will increase to 5 within the next 3 weeks).
• I've read 18 books.
• I spent a week on Bali.
• I've helped host a ministry team.
• I've made 9 trips to other cities.
• I've taken a massive language exam.
• My town has had an earthquake AND a tornado.
• Six of my students have been hospitalized.
• My teaching schedule has changed twice.

I feel like I'm forgetting so much. Many other things have happened, good and bad. But man... How has it only been four months?!

Our Words

Today, a 7th grade girl came to me. This girl has never talked to me before. I have never taught her before. But I knew her name. And she came to me. And she asked me to pray for her.

So I did.

I thanked God for her and for bringing her to our school. I praised God for the talents He has given her and for all the good things that He has done in her life. And I prayed many other things over her.

Somewhere in the middle of all the things I prayed, she began to sob uncontrollably. And when I finished praying, I hugged her for a long time. Then she pulled away from me with tears in her eyes and asked one question. This girl who has never, ever spoken to me before. After everything I had just prayed, she asked,

"What talents do you see in me?"

So I started listing things. I don't know her very well, but right away, I was able to tell her three great talents that I myself have seen in her or that I've heard other teachers talk about. I told her how highly other people speak of her. And then I asked her,

"Don't you know you are talented?"

And she said no. And she began to cry again.

Nobody had ever told her before.

Nobody.

This beautiful, athletic, intelligent, linguistic, hard-working fourteen year old girl. And nobody had ever told her how special she was.

All day, I've been thinking back over that conversation. And about how I use my words. I use them to teach. I use them to discipline. I use them to joke.

I so rarely use my words to compliment or even to encourage.

Words are powerful things. We see how powerful they are when they are used negatively. But they are equally as powerful when we use them to speak truth and life.

What do you do with your words?

Rain

So it's been raining a lot lately. Like a LOT. Like I didn't see the sun at ALL from Friday of last week until Thursday of this week. And while the sun finally did show its face on Thursday morning, it was gone by the time I finished teaching my first class.

This is the glorious time of year when everything molds. My shoes. My clothes. The teflon in my pots and pans. This year, the mold has upped its game though. For the first time ever, my SKIN is now molding. That is right. I have some sort of fungus growing on my arms. Don't worry, I'm taking something for that and wearing long sleeves in the meantime (thankfully with the heavy rains comes the cooler air, so wearing long sleeves in the tropics isn't as unthinkable as you might think).

One nice thing about the rain is that most Indonesians avoid it. This means that during a heavy rain is a great time to go to the bank, the grocery store, the yoga studio, etc. BECAUSE THOSE PLACES ARE EMPTY! When you live on one of the most crowded islands on the planet, it is a LUXURY to not have to wait in line to pay for your groceries. I mean, it comes at the high, high price of your skin literally molding. But STILL. #worthit

At my yoga class last week, only one other person showed up. Usually the room is so jam packed with sweaty women that it's difficult to catch your breath. Being one of only three people in the entire room (2 students + 1 instructor) was divine.

At yesterday's yoga class, only 4 students showed up. The instructor waited to see if anyone else would come, and the lady next to me decided to strike up a conversation. It went like this:

Her: How much do you weigh?
Me: Oh, um... about 58 kilos.
Her: REALLY? That is much heavier than I thought.
Me: Oh?
Her: It must be because you're so tall. How tall are you?
Me: 170.
Her: Yes, yes... Very tall.
Me: Yes.
Her: But you have such a nice figure. What do you eat?
Me: Food?
Her: But I mean do you just diet all the time?
Me: Oh, no. I never diet. I just try to eat healthy foods and not too much rice.
Her: But what do you eat instead of rice? Potatoes? White people like potatoes.
Me: I don't think I eat too many potatoes. At home, I just switched out white rice for red rice. It's healthier for you. And if I eat out, I just order half a portion of rice instead of eating a full portion.
Her: Oooooooh. Yes. I'm going to start doing that. Half portions. Much better. But what about snacks? Do you eat a lot of snacks, dear?
Me: No, not really... Most snacks here are fried, and they upset my stomach. Sometimes I have a fruit for a snack.
Her: FRUIT! No wonder your arms aren't flabby!
Me: Um... thanks?
Her: Now what do you drink?
Me: Water mostly.
Her: What about milk?
Me: Not too much.
Her: I see..

And then we had to do some supta baddha konasana. But the whole time, I just kept thinking how funny it was that I was interrogated about my eating habits. And how that would NEVER happen in America. And how I'm glad that my Indonesian is pretty good because those were some weird questions.

OH! Speaking of language, the Indonesian government is now requiring foreigners to take a language exam in order to get a work visa here. So over Christmas break, I went to the nearest big city to take the Uji Kemahiran Berbahasa Indonesia (or Indonesian Proficiency Test - kind of like TOEFL, but for Indonesian). I was nervous about how I would do having never studied the language formally and knowing approximately zero grammar rules. So I did what I do best - I studied. I got myself a language tutor and a book of practice exams, and I worked at it. Because I am not OK with not doing well on something. I read up on the format of the test and on past test scores. I even found an article that reported on the average scores of Indonesian school teachers teaching Indonesian language in schools throughout East Java. Their districts had them all take this test, and their average was an abysmal 55%. Foreigners in the same province scored an average of 67%. So I decided to aim high, and I set a personal goal of 80%.

The test was HARD and took several hours to complete. I walked away from it feeling discouraged, as I realized that the test is essentially set up for failure. It is literally an un-ace-able test. We even had two of our Indonesian staff members take the test with us just so that we could get their perspective on the whole process, and neither of them even finished the test.

Anyways, we just got our certificates and scores this week. One of the Indonesian staff members who took the test got the highest score from our school. But yours truly came in second with a whopping 81%! This is exciting for two reasons - I achieved my personal goal, and I also did better on the test than one of my Indonesian co-workers! It's always exciting when your hard work pays off.

And with that, I am now going to go enjoy the start of my weekend! Happy Friday, everyone!

Christmas

This Christmas was… different.

In between church services, I spent my afternoon at a funeral. That’s right. A funeral. On Christmas. In the words of a five year old friend of mine, “Dying on Christmas? That must be a bummer!” Agreed.

But in the words of her very wise mother, “Isn’t it cool though that he was getting ready to celebrate Jesus coming to earth, and he got to go be WITH Jesus instead?”

I didn’t know Pak Santo very well. He made the best fried rice I’ve ever had though, and he always served up his food with the biggest smile. He also memorized my name the very first time I met him, and he always greeted me every time he saw me, even if I was just passing by.

Pak Santo had a heart attack on Christmas morning shortly after waking up. He was 58.

I thought that since I wasn’t very close to him, the funeral wouldn’t be a big deal. I thought it would be nice to stop in and pay my respects to a man who was always so gracious and welcoming to me. I forgot how raw death is here.

After going in to the front room to see Pak Santo’s body and shake hands with his children, we were directed to a few empty chairs in the yard next to the house rather than sitting in the street in front of the house with the rest of the funeral goers. I was seated right next to an open door that led into the back rooms of the house where Pak Santo’s wife was screaming and wailing in bouts as wave after wave of shock and grief washed over her. Her husband had only been dead a few hours, and she was inconsolable. Female relatives streamed in and out of the open door, all entering dry eyed and stoic, and all exiting tearful and shaking. Pak Santo’s sister also came out that door in hysterics, screaming and yelling, crying for her brother. She collapsed in the yard, and members of the family had to carry her away, sobbing and moaning, only half conscious. It was gut wrenching and heart breaking, and I couldn’t hold back the tears.

As I sat there in the midst of all the hurt and pain, all I could do was pray. I prayed prayers of hope and peace over that home and that family. And then I had a moment. A moment where I was reminded that the very things I was praying for are what this day is all about. Jesus came to bring us hope. Jesus came to give us peace. Jesus came to defeat death. And this is the day that we not only remember it, but we CELEBRATE it.

A funeral stands in stark contrast to the normal festivities of the holiday. And I’ll be honest, today felt a little less joyful after sitting through that. But it also felt so much more meaningful. Seeing death on Christmas day reminded me of how much we need hope and how much we need peace and how much we need Emmanuel. And above all, it reminded me of how God knew EXACTLY what we needed. He knew the end from the beginning, and He sent His Son to be God with us. To be Emmanuel. To be the light that cannot be overcome.

I hope you never have to go to a funeral on Christmas day. But I also hope you never forget the depth and the beauty of God’s gift to you.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14

Merry Christmas!

Hong Kong

As you may have noticed, Thanksgiving was last week. While most of my family was together, stuffing their faces with turkey, I was in Hong Kong. Of course. Because why wouldn’t you spend Thanksgiving in Hong Kong?

Actually, spending my holiday there wasn’t exactly my idea. But there happened to be an international teaching conference held there that my school’s entire staff planned to attend (I say “planned” because in the end, not everyone was able to go, but we did have a good representation of 24 teachers who went).

Though the main purpose of the trip was the conference and we spent nearly every waking hour there, I was able to see a little bit of Hong Kong (it was my first time) while at the same time finding myself extremely disappointed with the culinary choices of my co-workers.

We left our town at 3 AM on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and by the time we checked in to our hotel in Hong Kong, it was about 7 PM. We were all exhausted. There happened to be a McDonalds located right next door to our hotel, so several of my colleagues chose to eat there. The more adventurous among us decided to walk a little farther for food. By “a little further”, I mean we walked nearly a mile. In the cold (because it was WINTER in Hong Kong!) and we got turned around a couple times in the dark. We eventually ended up at an Italian restaurant. Not what I had hoped to eat on my first night in Hong Kong (I really wanted dim sum), but it was decent food nonetheless, and after we walked all the way back to our hotel, we were able to collapse into bed, even MORE exhausted, but with full bellies.

(The view from the hotel room I shared with my co-worker and neighbor, Tiffany.)

The next morning, we were up bright an early for our 7 AM breakfast at the conference venue, an international school located about 4 blocks from our hotel. Again, we walked because we like to be healthy people. Or at least I assume that’s the reason.

Let me interject here that I have a love/hate relationship with teaching conferences. I love getting together with like-minded people serving in similar situations to the one I find myself in. These teachers GET me. I sit and listen to them talk, and it’s like hearing my very own thoughts coming out of someone else’s mouth. I learn SO. MUCH. STUFF. And I enjoy learning. My mind gets stretched and my practices get challenged. But the introvert in me dies a little. Because day in and day out, I’m surrounded by 900+ people that I’m expected to interact pleasantly with. That’s not easy for me to do for five days straight. I mean, I realize that I’m a teacher and that interacting well with people is basically part of my job description. But the people I interact with at school are MY people, and at the end of each work day, I at least get to go home and be alone. This does not happen at conferences. And then I spend 8 hours a day absorbing so much good information that I feel like my brain can hardly keep up and I don’t even know where to start with processing everything I’m taking in. The time is so beneficial, but it is also so very overwhelming in so many ways.

Thursday was the first day of the conference, and it was also Thanksgiving day. The night before, when we drove to our hotel, some of us spotted an Ikea not too far away. So after the conference, I wanted to go out for dim sum, but everyone else wanted to go to Ikea. I wasn’t brave enough to venture out alone with no cell phone service, so I went with the crowd. We figured out how to navigate the MTR (train), then got lost in a mall, then finally found Ikea. People were hungry, so we also ended up eating dinner there.

(My Thanksgiving dinner, courtesy of the Ikea cafeteria.)

Now that I knew how to navigate the city a little bit, I ditched my co-workers (who spent 3+ hours in Ikea) and headed back to the hotel lobby (where I had Wi-Fi) to FaceTime my family on their Thanksgiving morning.

(Thanksgiving family photo!)

The next day was jam packed with more conference stuff, and that evening, I wanted dim sum for dinner. We got connected with Josh, an American teaching in our neighboring country of Malaysia, and also with Shinta, the friend of a friend, an Indonesian girl originally from Central Java who has spent the past several years living and working in Hong Kong. So all the single teachers from my school (the whopping four of us) along with our new friend from the school in Malaysia ventured into the heart of the city to meet Shinta for dinner at a place she had made reservations at. We took the bus this time. The double decker bus. And of course we sat on top. It took us an hour to get downtown, but once we did, we met up with Shinta who took us to the restaurant. It wasn’t dim sum, but I was just excited to FINALLY have Chinese food. The place was called Hot Pot, and you cook your own food at your own table. The table has a burner in it, and you order a pot of broth along with plates of raw ingredients, which you put into the broth. Your eating utensils are two sets of chopsticks and a mini colander with a long handle. Now I am kicking myself for not taking a picture… Not all of us at the table had mastered the art of chopsticking, much to the amusement of the tables around us. But it was a hopping joint with a fun atmosphere, and we all enjoyed our dinner and fellowship!

After dinner, we walked around downtown Hong Kong where we found an H&M with Black Friday sales!! I have never seen such a thing outside of America, and I bought myself a scarf because my neck was cold…

(This particular H&M also offered “Asian Fit” jeans… No clue what that even means.)

As we walked, enjoying street food for dessert in the brisk night air, I asked Shinta if she knew of any good places to get dim sum, and she told me that unfortunately dim sum is traditionally an afternoon food, not a dinner food. She thought about it a bit though, and recalled a restaurant she knew that DID serve dim sum on their dinner menu, and we subsequently made plans to meet up again the following night to eat there. I WAS THRILLED. I spent the one hour bus ride back to our hotel attempting to keep the guy in the seat in front of me from falling off his seat as he fell asleep.

(The view from our hotel room by night. You can see several of the double decker busses in the street below.)

Saturday was the final day of the conference and the day I was FINALLY going to get some dim sum!! We invited some fellow (non-single) teachers to come with us to dinner after the conference ended. Some of us wanted to go to the Ladies’ Market (which is basically just a night market) to pick up some gifts for friends and family back home, so we headed there first. Seven of us went along. Unfortunately, it had been raining steadily since about 6 AM and showed no sign of letting up. Another unfortunate fact is that we had three umbrellas between the seven of us. We took the train to the part of town where the Ladies’ Market is located. We felt very accomplished in this, since we had to change trains twice, and we managed it like old pros. One of the busier stations we had to change trains at looked like this:

By this point of the trip, I basically wanted to tase everybody who bumped into me and tattoo “DON’T TOUCH ME OR ELSE” on my forehead. This was clearly not an ideal place for me to be. Thankfully, once we left the station, the streets were pretty desolate since it was still raining. We found our way to the market where we poked around some stalls and bought a few items.

(A panorama shot of the Ladies’ Market.)

Our dinner reservation was set for 7:30, and we had gotten the address of the restaurant from Shinta. Since we were not familiar with the city, we had no clue which train to take to that address, so we decided to catch two taxis from the market, hoping the restaurant wouldn’t be too far away. Shortly before 7, we started looking for a taxi, and we were able to hail one within 5 or so minutes. Three people got in that taxi, leaving four of us to hail another and follow. We waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. No taxis went by. So we moved to a different street. And waited. And waited. And it started to rain harder. And we realized that two of the umbrellas had gone in the first taxi, now leaving us with one umbrella for four of us. A few taxis drove by with their lights on but wouldn’t stop when we hailed them. So we asked a shop owner where we could catch a cab, and he directed us around the corner. We went there, but about 20 people were waiting for a cab there, rushing into the street en masse to stop each passing empty cab. We decided our chances were slim if we stayed among such cutthroat competition. So we tried yet another street. The wind started blowing. By now, it had been over 30 minutes since the first group left. We had no phone signal and no way to contact them. I finally got a cab to stop, but the driver couldn’t read the directions on my phone and refused to let us in. We got a second cab to stop, but when we told him where we wanted to go, he suddenly drove away, leaving us standing in the street in the wind and rain. Another 30 minutes passed. By now, it was after 8 PM, and we realized that we were hungry, cold, wet, and that we were running out of options. We grimly headed back to the train station and took the three trains back to our hotel. There was a 7-11 in the station closest to our hotel, and I was determined to find SOMETHING Chinese to eat for dinner. To my surprise, I also found some home-country favorites and decided to #treatmyself.

It was not the dim sum I had waited so long for. But my evening did involve a long, hot shower, Chinese noodles, dark chocolate, Doritos, and three luxurious hours ALONE in my hotel room (my roommate had been one of the three to get in the first cab) watching Chinese TV programs. When the three who actually made it to dinner got back to the hotel, we swapped war stories. They had gotten stuck in traffic, and it took them an hour to get to the restaurant, then even longer to get back to the hotel by bus. They had also considered that the four of us may have been kidnapped and created an entire contingency plan for if that been the case.

The next morning, we left for the airport at 6 AM. I was still bitter about the evening before and the severe lack of dim sum in my life. And also about having to wake up at 5:30 AM. We gathered in the hotel lobby, and one of my co-workers sauntered over to me and proudly declared, “Well, I did it!” I asked him what he did, and he replied with the hugest grin, “I made it through a week in Hong Kong without eating ANY Chinese food!” I excused myself to go to the bathroom. This is how I know I am really an adult. Because I wanted to throat punch him, but I made a good choice instead. It was WAY too early of a morning after such a disappointing night, but our bus driver had majorly pimped his ride, so that made things kind of better.

 

(I think it was kind of a nautical theme with a GLAM driving area. Notice the GIANT gemstone gear shift.)

We made it to the airport and checked in. The Hong Kong airport might be a new favorite of mine. I enjoyed it very much. So efficient and clean and nicely laid out. Anyways, there was a Starbucks kiosk right across from our gate, so I obviously headed there first because coffee makes me a better person. As I was walking back to the gate, I crossed paths with a Buddhist monk. Well, I mean, I would have crossed paths with him. He was headed towards the travellator, and our paths would have intersected. I didn’t feel right walking faster to cross in front of a monk, so instead, I stopped and bowed until he had passed. Because I DON’T EVEN KNOW WHY BUT IT FELT RIGHT IN THE MOMENT, OK?! I made it to the gate, and I must have been flushed or flustered or something, because my boss asked me, “Why does your face look like that?” and I told her about bowing to a monk and she said, “Well.” So THAT happened, and looking back at that moment, I think it is HILARIOUS. But for real… WHAT IS THE PROTOCOL FOR HOW TO TREAT MONKS?! I hope I never come across a monk before my morning coffee ever again. Because I CLEARLY don’t make good decisions when that happens.

It was still dark and overcast when we left (BTW, I feel like I never really saw Hong Kong in the light – all of our adventuring was done after dark). So overcast, in fact, that this was our view when we took off:

(Our flight was at 9 AM, and I STILL didn’t get to see Hong Kong in the daylight.)

By the time we flew over Vietnam, the sun finally came out, and I got to enjoy looking at the beach.

(Eastern Vietnam.)

To end the story on a happy note, I have to tell you about that dim sum. Shinta had gotten to the restaurant way before everyone else since she actually knew how long it would take her to get there and could plan accordingly. So she ordered food for 8 people. But since only 4 showed up, they had TONS of leftovers, and they brought them back to me!!! So I carried them in a bag ALL THE WAY from Hong Kong, through Jakarta, and on to Central Java. And when we got home Sunday night, I threw those dim sum in the oven and ate them! And they were DIVINE, even re-heated after a whole day of unrefrigerated travel. Also, they are the cutest little dim sum in the world!

So that is the end of my Hong Kong journey. I feel like I only got a tiny taste of it. I’d like to go back sometime as a proper tourist and spend some time actually exploring the city. Like maybe in the daylight. And maybe during the summer when it’s not so cold and rainy. Because I do love my tropics. And if I ever go back, I will make sure I get dim sum EVERY SINGLE DAY.