Another New Year!

It's been awhile since I have written a blog post... It's been a crazy couple of weeks.  

 It all began with the coming of the Lunar New Year. Some southeast Asian countries celebrate the Lunar New Year so where I am is no different. This year the Lunar New Year fell on Feb. 8th. So most of the schools get at least a week off, my school gave us 10 days (Feb 4-14). What?!? So a couple friends of mine and myself decided to leave the country for the holiday. 

Lunar New Year (LNY) is probably the biggest celebration of the year. Some people compare it to Christmas. Students don't get a Christmas break but they get a LNY break. During this time families travel back to their hometowns and spend the week with their family. Their is usually a lot of cooking and eating of traditional foods. The city that I live in is basically shut down, everyone leaves and all the shops close down.  

There is a lot of hype as the new year approaches. Everyone is getting ready. You start to see these huge cherry blossom trees and fruit trees on the backs of motorbikes in preparation for the holiday. We had a new year party with our staff the Saturday before and we went bowling and then to our team leader's house for lunch. Then on Monday we went out with our staff to dinner. Then Tuesday we went to one of the sisters who owns our school house to wish them a Happy New Year. Then Wednesday we were on a plane leaving the country. 

It was really cool to experience the hype of the LNY but then have a nice relaxing and refreshing holiday.  

Happy New Year!  

Baby It's Cold Outside!

Oh my goodness! I never thought it could be true, but it is! It is sooooo cold here!!! 

This summer everyone was adamant that the winter here would be cold. But I had a hard time believing them. I mean the temperatures in the summer were in the 100s with 100 percent humidity. And it was like that all the way through October. Come on! There is no way it could get cold here.  

The temperature started to drop to the low 90s/high 80s and the locals are breaking out their winter parkas. Seriously? That weather is awesome! This made it hard to think it got colder because I don't know how they will survive if they are wearing parkas in 80 degree weather.  

Then in November and December the weather dropped to the low 60s/high 50s. Back in the States that is my favorite weather, but here I have to agree that it's cold! It pained me to say that it was cold because seriously it's not even below 50! But I will say the temperature is different here. Since it is so humid the temperature is more like the temperature of a swimming pool. No one likes swimming in a pool that is below 60 degrees! 

I broke out my jackets for this weather. I actually enjoy jacket season. But this week I had to break out my big winter coat. Yup! Today has been the coldest day I have experienced here. Today the high was 39 degrees! Yeah I know everyone back home is enjoying temperatures in the teens, but trust me it's cold here too!!! 

Also our apartment doesn't have heat so it's basically like living in an icebox. I don't want to wake up in the mornings and leave my toasty bed. I could take a nice hot shower but my hot water only lasts for 8 minutes and usually I am in the middle of washing out conditioner when the water turns ice cold (and it's really hard to get warm once you've had an ice cold shower).  

I can't wait til February 4th when we will be in sunny Australia. Thankfully Australia is experiencing the opposite season! Looking forward to the warm weather!  

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!