Happy Six Months!!!

As of 10pm (10 am EST) I have officially been in Southeast Asia for 6 months! WHAT!!! It's crazy awesome to look back on these past months and see all that God has done.

When I first arrived I was afraid to really leave the apartment because I didn't know how I was going to get around this foreign city. I was crying many nights because I missed the familiarity of home. I began teaching at school 3 days after I arrived and I felt as if I was barely staying afloat. I was this outsider that everyone stared at and I didn't really talk to anyone at school except for the lead teacher.

God opened up some great doors for fellowship. I got involved with the Young Adults group at the International Church. This has opened up such an amazing ministry here. It blesses me that the young adults meet at my apartment every Thursday. It is such a great time to fellowship with other believers and even invite our unsaved co-workers, None have come but I am praying that one of these days they will! 

Also I got involved with the Women's ministry at church. I am helping with planning the events for the year and with communication. I love being around other believers from other nations. It is so refreshing and life-giving! 

God has also been moving at school. There is a major change in our student's behavior. When I look back on summer school, I remember how crazy our students acted and how little English they knew. Now I can have conversations with my advanced students and my beginner students are able to speak to be in sentences that I can understand. Also the way the interact with each other in very different from summer school in  such a positive way! They are not perfect, but they are improving!

Also the relationships with coworkers are building. In the beginning of August I never really spoke to the local staff because we didn't speak the same language. But God opened the door to start taking language lessons and it broke the ice with the staff. Now, we joke with each other and practice language together. They are learning English, so it is fun to communicate in broken languages but yet we usually understand the gist of the conversation. Also having them over for a Western meal has been so awesome! My housemate and I love having them over to just hang out and have girl time! I pray these relationships bear fruit!

I am so excited for what God is doing here! I am so glad God has called me here! There are definitely times that I miss home and want to go home, but then the thought of returning home and not coming back here is heartbreaking. God has called me here for this season. I am learning so much about him and myself. I can't wait to see what the next 6 months have in store, as well as all of 2016!

Back 2 School Nite

Back 2 School Nites are happening all over the US and UK. It's a time for parents to go to the school where their students spend a lot of their time and see what they do and meet the teachers. It might go by a different name, like Open House, but it is still a common thing that most everyone knows about. Well here in Southeast Asia, its a foreign concept. LOL. 

One of my second graders painted a picture for our school and she "presented" it. It is very beautiful and is going to be displayed for everyone to see, forever!

Our school had its first back to school night yesterday, Friday 28 August. The parents were invited to school from 7:30-8:30 to see the classrooms and meet the teachers. We had been planning this night for about a week and really no one had any idea about how it was going to go. Were the parents just walking to all the classes? Staying in their child's homeroom? Are teachers moving classes? Do we need to present something? Many of these questions were answered differently by 4 different people. So we went into it not really knowing what to expect.

Parents began to arrive at 7 and at 7:30 we began with an assembly. Jean, the principal's wife, introduced the night and then David, one of the Board of Managers and our director, talked a little about the school in the South and where we see our school in the future. At 7:45 students and parents were released to their classrooms. They were moving in and out. Kids running everywhere.

At 8:00, David came into my classroom and asked me to talk. So I did the English TPR to get everyone's attention. Then I presented a little about the English department and asked the parents to ask questions. I only had 3 parents ask me questions about English. Since I don't speak the local language it can be difficult to communicate, but I did have our interpreter with me :). 

At 8:30, when this shindig was supposed to end, the parents began to make their way to the buffet tables while all the kids ran around the foyer. The one time they were allowed to because we weren't supposed to be the ones disciplining them. 

This night was also for the teachers. I feel like I got a chance to see our coworkers outside of school but still inside. It was nice to see them acting like young adults taking selfies with each other and taking pictures with us. I really am praying we have some opportunities to hang out with them more outside of school. I already have started building a relationship with our interpreter. I am really excited to see what God brings to this relationship! She has already invited us to her wedding in March :).

Back to School Nite with my friend, Ngan, and her friend. Really excited to see where this relationship goes!!!