January 2008

This year, January has held a lot of milestone birthdays for my family but also the death of a beloved family friend.
This year...

• My dad turned 60!!
• Kevin turned a quarter-of-a-century: 25!
• Kraig turned the big 21!

But on January 5th, Dr. Wendell Kempton passed away quite suddenly from cancer. It was quite a shock to me. He served as president of ABWE and has known me since I was a baby and frequently visited us while in the Philippines. He led a very full and faithful life and is enjoying our Savior now. Every time we saw him while I was growing up, my mom got a picture of us together to re-enact a famous picture in the ABWE home office of Dr. Kempton holding me as a baby in Togo. I was especially touched a year and a half ago when I was working at ABWE that Dr. Kempton recognized me and took time to talk to me despite his busy schedule and the fact that he knows sooo many people. We didn't get a picture together, which I regret, but I did take a picture next to our famous picture.

Bits and Pieces of Nothing

• Exactly two weeks from now I'll be enjoying my first day in Korea!! I'm so excited to have a break from school, see a new country and one that I've heard about my whole life, and most of all to see one of my best friends from highschool, Hyunmi! I'll also get to see a few other friends who went to Faith Academy.
  
• I graduated from college over a year ago, so it was very weird last night that I had a nightmare about not turning in a college assignment on time or doing really poorly on it or something like that! It's so strange because I haven't been thinking of classes or college. I did chat with Kraig earlier that day and we chatted really, really briefly about his classes. So, I guess that's how it ended up in my dream. But, it was really nice to wake up from that dream and breathe a HUGE sigh of relief! Whew, I already graduated! No worries!
  
• This weekend I started watching a very popular show, Prison Break, which I have only heard good reviews of. So, I was looking for something to watch while I wait for my favorite shows' new seasons to start, so I started watching season one and I am completely hooked! It's the most riveting show I've ever seen. Wow. And I thought LOST was good. haha. I watch it online through the website: www.surfthechannel.com. I stay away from the movies because I would normally pay to watch a movie, but I figure Prison Break and other shows I watch there are on local TV in the US, so I would watch them for free anyway if I was in the US. My conscience is clean. :)
• I really, really want to start packing...but it's way to early. I'm just itching to pack though! :) But if I start now, my apartment will be ugly and empty for too long. I have sorted and organized a bunch of papers and junk and thrown out a lot, which is good. I have no idea how I'm going to get all my stuff back into my suitcases and back to the US (if Morrison says 'no' to me that is). I also have no clue what to do with the stuff I don't want to take with me, but is too nice to just throw away. There aren't any Goodwill type of places here. We'll see. I spend a lot of time thinking about it and how it's all going to get dealt with.
  

All Over the Place

My brother, Kraig is now on his way to Xiamen, China to study abroad there for a semester. Now, my family is even more spread out than before! But, Michael, and Kraig, and I are all in a line and relatively close. To make it more clear, my dad made this map to show where we all are or will be for the next couple of months (those are our initials, btw). Then it'll change again and again and again until July when 5 of the 6 of us will be Stateside for a bit.

KEC & AAC = my parents in Thailand
KRC = Kraig in Xiamen, China
KAC = me in Taiwan
KMC = Michael in Okinawa, Japan
KEC2 = Kevin in Ohio, USA

365 days

Today marks one year that I've been in Taiwan....crazy! 365 days ago I arrived here full of excitement and nervousness! I had nooooo idea what was in store. What a year it's been! Sometimes that seems like just yesterday, but most days it really does feel like it's been a year. A long one. I am so thankful I've survived for one year! :) I know it was only by God's grace every single day, getting me out of bed and helping me make it through the day without going insane. And I'm proud of myself for not giving up when it got tough. I was tempted at times to break my contract and leave this job, but I'm glad I stuck it out and have a whole year of post-college employment under my belt. :) And I know so much more about this country now and the people and while, I still don't know much Chinese, I know a lot more than a year ago!

I celebrated by making a Jell-O No Bake peanut butter cup desert I got for my birthday and looking through some of the 356ish cards my mom has sent me this year to encourage me with. It's been a real blessing. I have such a great mom! :)

Since I got back from Christmas break, I've been totally focused on leaving! I put up a countdown of weeks and have been planning my packing gameplan. It's hard NOT to think about when I look at the calendar and see that I only have 11 weeks at most left here! My boss told me that the new teacher is scheduled to arrive Feb. 21st and then have training for a week, so then he/she'd start the first week of Mar. If he/she does arrive on time, then I will be finished early afterall! I'm so excited! And I'm also looking forward to going to Korea for Chinese New Year in just 3 weeks! So much to look forward to!

This is my Post-It weekly countdown

What a weekend

Well, I said in my last post that I wasn't sick, but it turns out after that, I did get sick! I spent the whole weekend inside doing nothing, but resting. I didn't have work on Sat. and stayed home from church on Sunday and then today was my day off, so I just rested again! What a weekend! I'm on the mend, I think now and my voice sounds much better. I usually only get sick once a year- I didn't expect to start off 2008 being sick!

This is weird

Well, this is weird. I'm home early from work and I don't have work tomorrow because I've lost my voice! I don't know what happened. I was fighting a cold last Sunday/Monday, but I triumphed over it, but then on Wed. morning my voice was weird and then it's just steadily gotten worse since then. They canceled two of my classes, but I still had to teach 3. It was just awful. I should have just gone home when they told me to-- as soon as I got to school! Another teacher is covering my classes tomorrow. So, now I've got until Tues. night to recover. I'm trying to decide about church still. It's the highlight of my week, so I hate to miss it. But on the other hand, if I can't talk to anyone, then...

My adult students think it's the sand storms from the Gobi desert....but I don't know. It can't be from overuse because I spent the 2 days before it started doing nothing and not talking to anyone! In fact, on Monday, I don't think I spoke even one word aloud. So, I don't know what's up. I don't really feel sick, it's just my voice.

Haircut and work changes

I finally got a haircut on New Year's Day to celebrate the new year! Once again, it took 2 hours and included tea, a massage, a 20 minute shampoo, and cable TV. My hair is a little shorter than I wanted, but it's ok. It took me so long to decide whether to cut it and now that it's done...I still don't know what I think about it. haha.



In other news, all kinds of crazy things are going on with my schedule theses days. I lost 2 classes (6 hours) at work. But gained a new private student. So, I'm just down 3 hours. But, they decided to move my day off to Mondays instead of Tuesdays now. This is fine, but just kinda frustrating because just about every holiday this year was on a Tuesday and so it's a little fishy that now that it's a new year, they decide to give me Mondays. I guess I should be happy for the hours! The weird thing is though, that my private student is on Wed./Fri., so now on Tuesdays, the only thing I have is one class from 8-9:30pm! And I have Mondays off, so it's like I have a day and a 1/2 off.

Happy Birthday to me!

So, I'm 23. Fantastic.

I have to work today, but fortunately, only for 4.5 hours. I already celebrated my birthday with my parents before they left and I celebrated with my friends last Sunday. So, not a very exciting day, but that's ok.

The best of my 22nd year:

Best book I read: Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Disappointment with God by Philip Yancey, and Searching for God Knows What by Don Miller
Best movie I saw: The Bourne Ultimatum and The Science of Sleep
Best CD I heard: Switchfoot's Oh!Gravity, Travis' The Man Who, 12 Memories, and The Boy With No Name, Josh Groban's Awake, and Casting Crowns' The Altar and the Door
Best tv show I watched: new ones: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Kid Nation, Kyle XY, and CSI: NY. old ones: The Office, Survivor, The Amazing Race
Best website I visited: www.icanhascheezburger.com, www.improveverywhere.com, www.mininova.org, www.surfthechannel.com, and www.alluc.org
Best restaurant I went to: Taco Bell!, Chili's, Alley Cats, Friday's
Best friends I hung out with: my church buddies and women's small group
Best new thing: exercising twice a week, doing my devotions consistently, Scripture memory, getting 9 hours of sleep a night
Best trip: Thailand in June and Okinawa in Dec.
Best moment at work: laughing and joking around with this one really fun and friendly class I have
Best memory: my 2 vacations and fun times with church buddies

Me turning 23. ha ha.

midnight on my birthday:
So, the day was pretty uneventful. I enjoyed getting birthday emails and Facebook messages all day. I slept in nice and late and then enjoyed a lunch of some favorite foods on hand: Mac N' Cheese and Stovetop stuffing mix and Crystal Light pink lemonade. :) Then I chilled out until work. No one at work knew it was my birthday. Then I enjoyed my birthday dessert: a Bowl Appetite microwaveable dessert: Fudge Chocolate Chip Cookie. Mmm...a yummy, and very high calorie day.

No, I didn't sing to myself. :)

But I listened to this and it made my day.

Sunday, Jan. 6-
My Biblestudy co-leader bought a cake for me for my birthday! It was beautiful with lots of fruit on top. And my small group sang to me! :)

END of YEAR INVENTORY

a. copy the survey question.

b. add your answer to the end.
c. post it on your blog!

1. is there any song/cd/artist you listened to back-to-back-to-back-to-back this year? I listened to Switchfoot's Oh!Gravity over and over, and all of Travis' albums since I discovered them this year. Recently, I've listened to Josh Groban's Awake over and over.
2. what was the single most beautiful physical, geographic place you found yourself in? Definitely Phang Nga, Thailand
3. who is a delightful person you met this year? Hmm, I've met a lot of delightful people this year at church.
4. what was the biggest point of upheaval or change in your life since last December? Oh my! Moving to Taiwan, starting my first real job, getting my own apartment and living completely alone for the first time ever.
5. What was a really, really good time in which you had a lot of fun with people?
Hanging out with people from church after the service and hanging out with my family
6. Who do you think you talked with the most over the last year? Definitely my parents!
7. What is your favorite material belonging you acquired over the past year?
Hmm, does an apartment count? I didn't buy many cool things this year. I guess, I really liked my Christmas decorations
8. did you fall in love this year? Say something about it? If not, what sorts of crushes or relationships or hobbies did you prefer? Um, no I didn't fall in love this year and instead I occupied my time with watching TV. hahahahaha
9. What food item / beverage / illicit drug was your most characteristic this year?
Taiwan milk tea and Skippy peanut butter
10. What was your best blooper reel moment? Mistaking English cider for apple cider!
11. Describe a conversation you had this year that you will never forget. hmmm...I can't think of one particular one.
12. What was the funniest inside joke of the year? Hmmm...don't know
13. What was your most expensive purchase of the year? plane tickets to Korea for Chinese New Year
14. What was your favorite live performance (a play, a band, an orchestra, the ice capades) that you attended this year? I only saw Streams of Praise charismatic concert in Taipei this year
15. What song will always remind you of this year? Switchfoot's "Awakening" and all Travis songs
16. What is a big lesson you learned this year? To surrender to my plans and future to God and realizing it's all about Him, not me. Everything about the Christian life points back to God.
17. What was the phone number you called most frequently this year? My parents' Skype account
18. Describe one instance this year in which you were giddily, grinningly happy.
Walking into the military exchange with Michael and my parents in Okinawa and cracking up at dinner in Okinawa
19. What place, thing, person, creative outlet, etc. did you turn to when you needed cheering up? talking to my parents, exercising, www.icanhascheezburger.com
20. What did you do this year that you'd like to do more of in the future? read more books, exercised regularly, and slept 9 hours a night.

Happy New Year!

Finally, it's 2008! I know the last post talked about time going too fast, but as I celebrated new years I was relieved to see 2007 pass. I'm not going to lie: 2007 was not that great of a year. It was the most challenging and the longest year ever. But, ironically, because it was the worst year...it was also the best year in other ways, like spiritually. It was terrible in that I hated my job, moved to a new country which is always traumatic, struggled with loneliness and missing college, struggled constantly with language barriers, and had to live on my own for the first time. But, through these challenges, God taught me so much and was so faithful to me. Because I had more time on my hands than ever before, I was able to really draw closer to God through personal time with him and in his Word and really focus more on my spiritual development. I can't even put into words all that I've learned through his word, others, and books I read this year. It's been great in that sense. I also learned a lot this year about just growing up and being an adult as well as learning what missions is like and learning a lot about myself. The brightest spot in my year, besides my two vacations with my parents and time with my brothers last New Year's and then just recently; was my church- The Pearl. This year would've been so wretched without it. Through it I've made so many friends, learned so much, and just had good Christian fellowship. I am so thankful for it and all the fun times there that made this year bearable! Despite this year being really rough, I can look back on it without cringing too much because of the friends I made here and what I learned through this year.

Now, 2008, I greet you with open arms... and an open mind because I have no idea what's in store! Things are really up in the air--I don't know when I'm leaving- end of Feb? or sometime in Mar? or first week of April? And I don't know if I'm coming back here or if I'll be teaching in the US next school year? And if so, where? The only things I know right now is that Lord willing I'm going to Korea for Chinese New Year to visit a friend from Faith Academy and the other thing is that God will be with me this year as he always has been. I can count on his faithfulness.

2008

I had to work on New Year's Eve, but after work, I rushed up to Taipei to join some friends and watch the famous fireworks display off of Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world. We had a great view on my friend's roof and the fireworks were awesome! It was fun to ring in the new year that way since that's what I'm used to--having fireworks on New Year's and it was also great to be with friends too! I wish I had better pictures and that I hadn't videoed sideways and that I had videoed the MRT stations that were just absolutely crazy since everyone wanted to see 101 too!