Notes from an Airport Lounge

Pictures from the Philippines

2006-03-28T11:37:00.000-05:00

Here are some belated pictures from our time in the Philippines. We had a great time at the school, and it was nice to be able to see a bit of Manila and the surrounding countryside as well. Beautiful!

We've been back in Houghton for almost a week now. Mostly we've just been getting used to not planning our next trip and settling back into the Houghton community. On a more personal note I, Amy, finally got my driver's license!

from our outing to Tagaytay

view of Tagaytay

Finally together at Faith

Katrina leading a discussion during 10th grade Bible

our "home:" the Ballentyne Dorm

Langhap Sarap sa Jollibee!

2006-03-18T08:27:00.000-05:00

Amy and I will finally be reunited! She gets in tonight at around midnight. I think I am quite ready to get back to work again after a week of unplanned down time, although I am thankful for the unexpected time with family. I've spent the majority of the week in the small town of Bauan, Batangas hanging out with my grandparents and getting to know my 2-year-old nephew, Nate. (Nate's my cousin's son and also my "godson." In the Filipino tradition, being his godmother simply means that I get to spoil him with lots of presents-which I did!) Less than a month ago, I found out that my grandparents will not be able to come to Paul and my wedding in May, so these several days with them have been a great blessing.

A few pictures from this week:

My grandparents' house

"Lolo" and "Lola" Brion (and me)

My adorable godson, Nate

A little late, but here's a picture of part Sydney from the plane!

Wow! This will be the third non-work-related post in a very short time! It's also quite a novelty to post more personal pictures of members of my family...

Despite all the unexpected changes, God has been faithful (as He always proves to be). Thank you, friends, for your prayers. I don't know if Amy and I have mentioned this yet, but reading your comments is always a great encouragement! (Keep 'em coming, please.) Blogging has been a wonderful way to feel connected with friends and family around the world regardless of where we are...

Hopefully, next time we post, it'll once again be about our experiences and adventures together. (We've both gone through quite the identity crisis having to act as individuals instead of as a pair!) I, for one, am quite excited at the prospect of visiting our next (and last) school, Faith Academy...

Mi Orait

2006-03-15T20:52:00.000-05:00

view from the SIL plane

view from Ukarumpa

An update from the other half of the Houghton Reps:
With only an hour in Cairnes to digest the huge changes, I found myself boarding the plane to Port Moresby on my own in a sort of daze. It still, after four days, has not really hit that Katrina isn't here, and I find myself constantly speaking with the royal "we" and telling Katrina stories to students. People here have all been understanding of the changes and have taken good care of me. Once again, I am grateful that international communties are so friendly and welcoming to strangers! God has been good, and it has been a continuing lesson in trust regardless of circumstances.
So Ukarumpa:
I had an uneventful two hour flight (other than the spectacular views I had of the coast and then the mountains) on a tiny plane up to Ukarumpa and I suprised myself by sleeping most of the way (I have a hard enough time sleeping on commercial flights let alone tiny singe engine ones!).
My first day in Ukarumpa, I was met by the principal, given a tour of the school and compound and then got to have dinner at one of the six hostels that they have for boarding students and for those whose parents are out in the village translating. Tonight (my last day here), I'm having dinner at another hostel and with that, I will have eaten at or visited each hostel. It's been a great way to get to know kids, eat delicious meals, and get a picture of what life is like here.
Every morning, I walk to the school and every morning, I am again taken by how beautiful this place is. Rolling green hills surround the school and the mix of tropical plants with highland plants is gorgeous. At school, I've gotten to visit some English classes, a Japanese class (yeah!!) and a Spanish class. It's been a lot of fun to hang out and be at the school.

I loved the round table dinners!

Mi orait is the little bit of pidgen I learned when I got to go to a mumu in nearby village (figure it out!). I got to go after school on Wed with Mr. Sommer, the principal, and his family. A mumu is a traditional PNG feast and I'll post pictures soon so you can see what it is. Basically, they cook a bunch of vegetable and meat in the ground with hot rocks. It was fabulous, but more fun than the food (it's possible!) was just getting to meet a family and spend some time with them, getting a brief glimpse of what village life is like. It was also fun to hang out with the Sommer kids who are a wealth of knowledge about PNG life. They even treated me to a "car wash." You'll have to wait for pictures!

the mumu being prepared

the feast - so very colorful and tasty!

the "car wash!"

Separation Anxiety, or The Terminal: Part II

2006-03-13T07:10:00.000-05:00

I don't even know how to begin to blog about today. A Qantas Airlines lady stopped Amy and me during our layover in Cains and asked why I didn't have a visa. We were told by our PNG contacts that visas were available upon arrival, but apparently this was faulty information for me, a non-US citizen.
Two hours, two long-distance phone calls to Janyce (our boss), a jaunt to the authorized-personnel-only baggage area, several calls to PNG and Australia immigration, and several jokes about the Tom Hanks movie The Terminal later, Amy boarded the plane to PNG. Alone.
That's right. Amy went ahead and proceeded as planned, leaving me with Mark (a very nice Qantas guy). Mark and I threw around several options and within half an hour of Amy's departure, I was on a Cairns-Sidney flight. Within a few hours of THAT, I was on my way to Manila. Yep, we figured out that the easiest thing for me to do was leave Australia (since I didn't have a visa for there, either) and fly ahead to Manila.
So here I am, at my parents' missions' guesthouse. Tomorrow, my grandparents are picking me up and I'm going to spend the week with them. Amy arrives Saturday night.
This is unbelievable.
(Here's the truth: Before this trip, Amy and I bragged incessently that we haven't lost luggage, missed any flights, etc... As you can see from this post and the post about Vancouver, pride comes before fall. Who would've ever thought one of us would come close to being deported?)
Let's hope Amy posts about PNG soon!

note: Neither Houghton College (I imagine) nor I mean for this post to be read as an endorsement of The Terminal. I referred to this film simply because I've been compared to Tom Hanks about 8 times today, and I don't even remotely resemble him.

At home in the library...

2006-03-09T22:05:00.000-05:00

lunch with students at BAIS: Tim, Won Seop, Jeni, Megan, and Val

dinner with the Taguchi's

our walk to school

Day two and Bandung Alliance Interantional School (BAIS) finds us once again in the library; a great place to talk to kids, catch up on emails, and stay cool as it is one of the few air conditioned rooms. Bandung is absolutely beautiful and while it is hot and humid, it is not unbearable as we are up in the mountains. We've gotten to hang out with a bunch of the kids and while they mock us for all but setting up house in the library, they have been incredibly friendly and welcoming.

Last night, we got to have dinner with the Taguchis, a family that I know from Japan where they would come back to on furloughs. Once again, a reminder of how small the international world is! I had always dreamed of visiting them in Indonesia but I never really thought it would ever happen. It was fun to again speak a mixture of English and Japanese and eat Japanese food. Dinner was topped off with a delicious dessert of "shoecream," and hilarious converstion on cross-cultural language misshaps.

Two of the teachers, Andrea and Kelly, have opened up their lovely home to us for our stay here. Tomorrow, they are taking us shopping (this is a huge textile town) and much to Kat's delight (she's going to hate that I used that phrase to describe her...hee hee!), one of the teachers, Andrea, is also engaged and so she knows all the best places to get material and other great "stuff" for weddings. Good thing we have extra space in our suitcases!

Note: shoe creams are cream puffs

You know you've been in an airport too long when...

2006-03-08T22:01:00.000-05:00

Airport personnel recognize you and walk over to say hello.

Amy and I were stranded in Vancuover for what seemed like days and days. What we did to pass the time:

Slept in the departures area with the United Airlines blankets we "borrowed." You know something isn't right when you wake up to a stranger's snoring. (There were quite a few of us crashing at the airport at 4:00 AM.)
Pretended we had NOT just rolled out of an airport bench as we were seated at a restaurant for breakfast.

See, we look awake!
Took care of business (booked a new flight, checked in with the immigration people a few times...)
LEFT THE AIRPORT (legally) !! The immigration officers told us we were free to go wherever we wanted. We asked where we could find a small shopping area so we could perhaps sit at a bookstore or coffee shop as a simple change of scenery from the airport. Plus, I wanted to be able to officially say I'd been to Canada. They recommended the Richmond Centre. It turned out to be a huge shopping mall. So yes. We spent our day in Vancouver at a MALL.
Had swollen feet. Amy and I had cankles!! No kidding. This is a sad premonition of possible future pregnancies/obesity. Since we couldn't find a bookstore, we settled for mall armchairs (quite comfortable):

Me and the Sleeping Old Man. (See the bags on the floor? I think carrying pounds and pounds of Houghton literature and a laptop computer didn't help the cankles.) I am reading a book by Haruki Murakami, a Japanese author originally recommended by the TIS guidance counselor Mr. Farwell, who sent me home with The Wild Sheep Chase. See--this job has so many benefits! Great reading material! Note that cankles are not visible to the public due to my very intentional sitting position.
Ate Japanese food.
Returned to the airport and found a seating area with a TV. We watched old sitcom reruns for three hours and laughed with strangers. (The United Airways blankets came in handy yet again). Besides the fact that we were with strangers, we could've been sitting on a couch at home. This is when we officially realized that the Vancouver airport had become "home."
Were recognized. In the span of five minutes, one of the immigration officers who helped me walked by on his way to break and waved hello, and another guy who had stamped our immigration cards the night before spotted us from Starbucks and came to talk to us, exclaiming, "you guys are still here?!"
Had Japanese food for dinner, again.
Finally checked in. The guard on duty asked us repeatedly if we were sure that we wanted to go past security to our gates at 8:00 for a 1:30 AM flight. "There's so much more to do in the other parts of the airport," he said. We didn't bother explaining that we MEMORIZED the other parts of the airport and were dying for unexplored territory.
Logged online for 12 minutes (as much a dollar would buy us). I updated my blog and clicked on "Publish Post" within a second after my time ran out. Oops.
Slept some more.
Got escorted by security to the plane. Because I didn't have a visa, immigration wanted to make sure that I actually left the country. I could've kissed the lady who escorted me to the plane--because of this, I got to cut ahead of even the first class passengers!
WHEW!

Belated pictures and an update

2006-03-05T11:53:00.000-05:00

Some more pictures of beautiful Dakar and the beautiful Miss Austin. It was great to meet yet another of our friends from Houghton on this trip. Eryn is teaching Bible at Dakar Academy and also played host to us during our stay - feeding us amazing chwarmas and crepes, getting us into her sister's English classes (thanks Ginnny), into dorms, and even rooftop tea parties. The pictures are from our outing on the weekend to the beach where we sat around, ate good food, and I proceeded to get a lovely sunburn (on only half my face...I'm hoping to start a fad).

For the last two weeks, we have been back in Houghton New York, enjoying catching up with friends and family. It's been a nice break and it is hard to belive that this is our last trip.
We are off in a few minutes for Buffalo Airport where we will catch a flight to Jakarta, Indonesia via Chicago, Vancouver and Hong Kong! We will be visiting Bandung Alliance International School.

To the coast!

2006-02-17T09:13:00.000-05:00

For ONCE, we have pictures before text!
(more to come, too!)

Our beautiful hotel courtyard--check out the blue sky!

Fun with the Schultz girls' dorm

Valentine's in Sahel

2006-02-14T07:08:00.000-05:00

Kose!

Yes, white people have bigger mouths

Making Valentine's treats with Jessica

With the 11th grade class

Kat collecting sand from Niger for her dad

It is valentine's day today, and here at Sahel, they have a strange tradition where the guys make hearts decorated with candy and the girls have to try to "steal" their hearts by getting the guys to talk to them. So on this day of "love" and "romance" it is all about keeping and stealing hearts. Just as a note of interest, Katrina has already stolen two hearts and is set on getting a few more before the day is over! Tomorrow, the roles are reversed and the guys have to get the girls to talk and thus win thier hearts. A strange but fun tradition.
We have been at Sahel now for nearly a week and we are really enjoying the staff and students. There are sixty six students at the school so we've had the chance to get to know them quite well. We've gotten to visit the two dorms, take over the Bible classes and "interview" each of the juniors and seniors. One of our highlights (yes, it involves food), was going and getting Kose after school yesterday with three of the guys and one of the teachers. They sell the Kose right along the side of the road and they were just starting to heat up the oil and open up shop as we got there. The temperature during the day gets up to 102F (39C for those of us that prefer metric) so they have the wonderful tradition of closing down businesses druing the hottest part of the day. We put in our order, bought the bread to put it in and sat around and waited (oh, and this is still the end of the cool season). Kose is made from ground up beans that is then made into dough and deep fried. You then have them put it in the bread with a yummy sauce and enjoy! It was Job Wong, a Sahel and Houghton Alumn who told us to try it and it was amazing so thank you Job!
It's hard to believe that we are taking off again tomorrow. We've had a great time here and will miss the wonderful people we've gotten to know.
Happy Valentine's Day!

Our not-so-crazy travels

2006-02-09T07:34:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to let you all know that we've arrived! We are now in Niamey, Niger, where we will be for exactly a week. Amy and I had quite the "non-adventure" traveling from Yaounde (Cameroon) to here. As most of you know, the trip took three days (with stops in Cameroon, Benin, Cote D'Ivoire, and Mali). What's interesting to note is that the entire trip went SO smoothly, we don't even have too many interesting stories to tell! Despite all the warnings we'd received of intra-Africa travel, every flight was safe, every plane was comfortable (and nearly empty), and all our luggage came through. No delays or anything. It is kind of crazy; traveling in America is usually so much worse.
Okay, this is me scrounging around for bloggable stories:
One interesting thing is that almost every airport we were in was completely deserted. In two of the airports, people had to wake themselves up from naps and turn on the electricity just for us. One of our flights was comprised of two pilots, a flight attendant, and four passengers (including us). We're not complaining. :) (I counted at least twelve Air Service employees who had to work in order to allow four passengers to fly on this flight. We hope that they have more passengers in other flights, or Air Service won't be around for much longer.)
Another incident worth noting: we spent the night in Abidjan for one of our longer layovers. During the first afternoon, we woke up suddenly from our naps to hear loud cheering all around us. Turns out the Ivory Coast team beat Nigeria during one of the Cup of Nations games. We looked out the window to see people dancing in the streets, and hundreds of birds were flying in the air (as if joining in the celebration). But when we took a closer look, we realized the "birds" were actually BATS! Yikes. Bats had filled the air at 3:00 PM.
Amy and I also gained two extra stamps in our passport. In Bamako, Mali, we only had a four hour layover. And yet, we were still asked to go through the normal processes of immigration and customs and had to leave the airport (thus gaining a stamp in our passport). As soon as we were out (with our luggage), we simply turned around and walked back in. Strange.
Pictures (of the bats and empty airports) to come.

the bats in the evening

From bustling city to rain forest

2006-02-04T08:13:00.000-05:00

RFIS campus

Kat, Amy, Mary LeBeuf (guidance counselor), Anastasia, Josie

Kat and Amy at the outdoor internet port--this place is WIRED!

We are now in Yaounde, Cameroon, our first taste of Central Africa. Although it is dry season, it is remarkably green; Rain Forest International School (our host school for this week) really IS in a rain forest.
We've kept quite busy with classroom visits and appointments. There are a couple of students here who have applied to Houghton and it has been a lot of fun to meet with them and answer more specific questions about what Houghton life is like. We were also invited to share in chapel. Amy shared about learning to trust in the Lord's provision of peace that is not of this earth. Even though I sometimes think that I know everything about Amy after traveling with her for so long, her testimony was just the encouragement I needed to hear.
Speaking of God's provision--after the whirlwind of Kenya, we've been so grateful for the opportunity to rest this weekend. Mary, RFIS's extremely competent guidance counselor, has thoughtfully provided us with our own apartment, well stocked with greens and coffee (for Amy) and lots of salty snacks (for me). We decided to take things easy this Saturday and it has been wonderful to sleep in, cook our own food, read, and basically just catch up on rest. Our travels are wonderfully fulfilling and exciting, but we sometimes find ourselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually drained. It has been such a blessing to (literally) put up our feet and relax for a few hours.
Tomorrow, we will visit a Cameroonian church with a couple who are also Houghton alum.
We leave Cameroon on Monday,and begin our three day journey to Sahel Academy in Niger. As always, please pray for safety!

For Tegan

2006-02-01T11:53:00.000-05:00

Kroenings!

Eating families?

2006-01-31T03:44:00.000-05:00

We finally have pictures! Which means that most of you will be scrolling down to the pictures at the point...but for those loyal few who will read on, an update on our time in Kenya:
Another amazing reunion was accomplished over the weekend when Kat and I were able to meet up with Ben and Carina!!! For those of you who don't know, Carina, Rachel (the friend we got to see in Japan!), Katrina and I all lived together in the basement of the Arensen house for a year, and through this trip, we have gotten to have two mini "Arensen Girls" reunions. Love it! We've also gotten to spend more time with the Kroenings over the weekend and had a wonderful lunch of Injira Bawat (sp?), an Ethioian dish, with them and another family of Houghton Alumns.
Yesterday (Monday), we spent the day at Rosslyn, talking in three classes and hanging out with students during lunch. During the class, we would tell students about the schools we've been to and of course, RVA comes up. We always named RVA with the expectation that it would be met with much jeering and insults, but evidently, the RVA-Rosslyn rivalry is quite one sided as no one here even batted an eye (sorry RVA)! Also, after three classes of sharing the same stories, our speech becomes somewhat less eloquent, leading to such statements as, "in Houghton, we love to eat families," or "we love hanging out with food..."
We have had a wonderful time here at Rosslyn and in Kenya and it is hard to believe that we are leaving for Cameroon today. Please pray for safety.
Okay, now go enjoy the pictures!

Lunchtime display table

Amy, Kat, and Carina's Java House reunion!

Ethiopian food with the Kroenings and McKees

Chai and Stoney

2006-01-30T03:04:00.000-05:00

One can't be friends with an Adkins or Arensen (RVA alum who've gone to school at Houghton) without hearing larger-than-life stories about Rift Valley Academy. Since Amy and I know multiple Arensens AND Adkins, we've heard more than our share. To be perfectly honest, we went to RVA feeling like real life couldn't possible compare to one of Mike or Aaron's stories. But we were blown away.
We had a great time in RVA! We, to use guidance counselor Steve Peifer's words, "worked like mules" (four Houghton info sessions, two dorm talks, and two class visits in two days!), but enjoyed every second of it. We found RVA students very approachable (and smart!) and simply enjoyed being part of the community for a few days. We got to witness RVA's version of Shen Block (or is Shen Block Houghton's version of RVA's "cheerleaders?"), drink Stoneys at the snack shop, have lots of chai, and eat Mrs. Adkins' cafeteria food. Not to mention getting to enjoy the beautiful views and the perfect weather!
It was also great to catch up old friends. Colton Rabenold, who is well known to Houghton-in-TZ students, is currently a junior there. Blake and Nicole Arensen (Houghton alum) are now on staff.

We caught a ride back to Nairobi on Saturday and have since spent the weekend with Tegan Kroening's family and catching up with our old friends Ben and Carina, Houghton alum who are currently doing research in Southern TZ. Ben and Carina are distant relatives of the McKees, missionaries here in Kenya who ALSO went to Houghton.
Whew! As I write this, I'm realizing yet again how there are Houghton connections everywhere! And I'm also realizing how often I use parentheses! And exclamation marks! I think this is a sign that I need to sign off; this is enough for today. (Blech. I'm going to try to convince Amy to take over blogging duties.)

Chatting with students and Mr. Peifer during chai time

You can't beat RVA views!

Caf building

Proof that we were there!

Blake's fourth period Swahili class (Colton, Kat, Blake, and Amy are in the middle of the back row)

From Buffalo to Buffalo Country!

2006-01-27T02:05:00.000-05:00

We are off again! After a false start, we have made
it to Kenya and are now on day two of our time at Rift
Valley Academy. We will post pictures tomorrow so you
can see just how beautiful it is here and tell you a
bit more about our time here.
Meanwhile, I am going to steal a post off of Paul's
(Katrina's fiance) blog that describes our crazy
travels out of Houghton to Kenya.

SUNDAY
1:00pm - Dropped Katrina and Amy off at the Buffalo
Airport to fly to Nairobi on Sunday. They will be gone
for a month.
1:20pm - Realized that Katrina's headphones were in
the van, and turned around to take them back to her.
(Goodbye #2)
2:20pm - Flight to O'Hare was 4 hours late.
+ I stop in a Borders parking lot to sleep and wait.
+ Amy and Katrina go nuts trying to figure out how
they are going to get to Africa.
3:15pm - Katrina calls asking sheepishly if I can wait
until things are worked out.
5:00pm - Wake up from my WONDERFUL 2 hour nap. Katrina
calls.
5:15pm - Pick up two sheepish and exhausted girls.
-[ OVERNIGHT AT HOUGHTON ]-
MONDAY
10:50am - Leave for Buffalo
12:20pm - Arrive Buffalo Airport
1:10pm - Say Goodbye #3 (ugh)
TUESDAY
2:50pm EST (9:10pm Kenya time) - Katrina and Amy
arrive safely at the Kroening's in Nairobi!

Thank you Paul for driving us, waiting for us, and
driving us again!
It was wonderful to arrive in Nairobi and be met by
the Kroenings (our good friend Tegan's parents) and to
stay with them again. After a good nights rest and a
wonderful breakfast with Mrs. Kroening, we drove out
to Rift Valley. It is great to be back in Kenya, and
coming from cold Houghton, it is wonderful to get to
wear summer clothes again!

We're back!

2006-01-08T17:12:00.000-05:00

After a long hiatus, during which Amy and I spent the holidays with our families in Japan and Taiwan (respectively), we are back at Houghton! We were greeted by a quiet campus, a little dreary with all the melted snow, but that is quickly changing as school is back in session tomorrow.
We will be departing for Africa early next week!

A couple of pictures from Christmas:

With our dear friend and former housemate, Rachel

Katrina with her familyl

Break!!

2005-12-19T08:02:00.000-05:00

Amy and I are now on Christmas break with our respective families--Amy's in Japan, mine in Taiwan. I am sure you can imagine how thrilled we are to finally be able to UNPACK and stay somewhere for more than a week!

It is hard to believe that the first leg of our travels is done! The last school we visited was Morrison Academy (Taichung, Taiwan), which just happens to be the school I attended from first grade on. What fun! There have been a LOT of familiar faces. It was strange to be visiting the school in a professional role, though--especially since many of the students now know me as "Lawrence's sister." We visited a few classes and held a Houghton info session. To my horror, a couple of my high school teachers attended just to "see how [I] had turned out." I was actually nervous!

It was fun to see that Amy had connections at Morrison, too, despite the fact that she'd never been there. One of the student teachers in the middle school just happened to be Erica Anderson, a Taylor student who studied abroad with us in Tanzania last year. Amy also got to meet Annalise Nordvedt--they are in the same mission and had read each others' newsletters and had seen pictures of each other grow up, but hadn't met until this visit. Crazy!

We especially enjoyed being at Morrison during all the holiday festivities--one of the choirs came and caroled for us and the band held a concert on the plaza.

Of course, I had to take Amy to see the "sights"--in Taiwan, this meant visiting night markets and eating LOTS of vendor food. We also had lots and LOTs of tea. Even Amy, the Tea Addict herself, was a little overwhelmed! It was so much fun to share my childhood expriences with Amy, especially after seeing her hometown in Japan.

Katrina, Amy, and Erica reunited in Taiwan?!?!

MCA students and community members enjoying the outdoor plaza concert

Kat and Amy at a teahouse, known for its Taiwanese "antiques"
(this is a reproduction of an old Taiwanese store)

Our favourite mode of transportation--scooters!

More pictures to come...

A Hearty Christmas!

2005-12-11T06:52:00.000-05:00

Rachel and Katrina on the JR train to Sendai

Amy's old house! (she planted that tree!)

The Farwells (TIS headmaster and his wife), Amy, and Katrina

TIS students

Or so proclaimed the huge sign on a building. We are in Sendai, my home for eleven years, and the city is all decked out for Christmas. I had a lot of fun dragging Kat to all my old haunts and making her listen to all the stories of "when I was 10, this is where..." Adding to the fun was Rachel (one of our closest friends from Houghton), who was able to visit us from Akita where she has been teaching English. It was kind of strange to wake up in my old home with friends from the America part of my life sleeping next to me like so many sleep over friends from the past. It was/is wonderful! Who would have thought that two of my friends from college would ever be able to go home with me? God is good!
Yes, we did come to Sendai to work, and we spent two days at my old high school, Tohoku International School. We were met at the station by Mr. Farwell, the principal of the school, and also our kind host for the evening. We had a lot of fun getting to know him and his wife (thank you for everything!). Speaking in two classes, we were able to share about Houghton and a bit about transitioning to the high school students, one of whom is the youngest brothers of one of my classmates! Things have changed but it was still fun to go back. For me, the highlight was reconnecting with the secretaries at the school, one especially whom I've known since fourth grade. She surprised us with cake and tea, and we were able to spend some good times talking about "the old days." Yeah for home and old friends!

More CAJ pics

2005-12-07T18:10:00.000-05:00

Kat and Amy with the t-shirt raffle winners!
(Kat, Evan, Jolena, Lara, Amy; not pictured: Amanda J.)

CAJ students

Our wonderful hosts, Ethan and Linda Pettit (Ethan is the guidance counselor at CAJ)

part way home...

2005-12-06T06:24:00.000-05:00

Here I am, sitting in a tatami room (woven mat flooring) on a futon (mattress on the floor) and it is once again hitting me that I am home! Soon, I will go in the ofuro (Japanese bath), get all warmed up, crawl into bed, and hopefully fall right asleep (there is no central heating in Japan so the bath is a prerequisite for staying warm at night). Through the wonderful hospitality of the guidance councilor, we are staying in their home for our time in Tokyo. Even though we've only been here one night, it feels like home (we even get to cook supper tomorrow!) and it's nice to be part of a family again.
We just finished our first day at CAJ (Christian Academy in Japan). We got the chance to introduce ourselves in three classes, and sit in one of them. The students here are great, and for me, it's a lot of fun to hear the mix of English and Japanese that the students speak! Tomorrow is our last day at school, but even though it's a short stay, we've already had a lot fun getting to know the students and staff.
Our next stop is Sendai which is quite a bit further north of Tokyo. We think it's cold here...hopefully we will survive the north, too!

(top to bottom: Kat, Jolena, and Sonya at the Houghton display table; Amy and the CAJ bulletin board; Kat riding Isaac Pettit's "monkey" motorcycle)

Korea pictures

2005-12-06T06:16:00.000-05:00

(belated, once again...)

TCIS students in the atrium

TCIS worship band

Hannam University students

Amy and Kat at their favourite vendor, buying the TCIS addiction: cinnamon pancakes!

Kat and Amy with TCIS guidance counselor, Jeff Steuernagel

Amy livin' it up on one of our business class flights (part of a deal our travel agent got--don't worry, we aren't squandering Houghton's money)

Cold feet

2005-12-03T03:13:00.000-05:00

We've been in Taejon, Korea for almost a week now. While much of this place reminds me of Taiwan, this has probably been the most "foreign" country for Amy and me in that we don't speak the language at ALL (ask us about the crazy taxi ride sometime)!
This has been a particularly fun school in terms of all the random connections we've discovered: the HS guidance counselors' wife grew up with the Cliftons and Torgersons (from MCA and Houghton); one of the IT guys here used to work at Morrison; the new PE teacher is a Houghton grad and used to room with Mike Arensen; one of the RAs went to school with Eryn Austin... We've pretty much decided that this IS a crazy, small world.
What's most fun of all, though, is that Michelle Adkins is a TA here! It has been SO wonderful to reconnect with an old friend and also see the city with someone who is more of a "local." We've gone to a bath house, eaten shabu shabu, and braved vendor food (we've avoided eating dog, though).
Amy and I are also polishing up our skills (??) in extemporaneous speaking. We were asked to lead a couple of devotions and chapel. The nice thing is that we never really have the time to get too nervous! We were also asked to speak at a local university about study abroad opportunities. They thanked us with the perfect gift: warm socks! (it is COLD here!)
Everyone has been so gracious and we have been grateful for all the little ways in which we've been able to get to know students on a more personal level.

(top to bottom: view from one of the dorms; shabu shabu!; SNOW!!; kat, shell, and amy)

Pictures of TIS and Hannam students to come!

Beijing, Day 3: The Great Wall

2005-11-26T22:10:00.000-05:00

I'll let the pictures do the describing. Suffice to say that the wall was truly breathtaking and it was quite surreal to be walking on the wall. Our most memorable adventure of the day (besides Katrina thinking we would plummet to our deaths on the little cable cars) was on our ride back. To get to the great wall, we had had to basically rent a taxi for the day. It took us several tries to finally find a driver who was willing to take us the two hours out to the wall. Even after he had agreed to take us, our driver was unhappy to the point that we were worried he wouldn't wait for us as we went up to the wall. However, he waited, and when we returned, he was suddenly much more relaxed and happy. He told us that he had grown up around the area and that the fish there was a famous delicacy. When he found out that Kat hadn't eaten any breakfast or lunch, he told us he was treating us and off we went to a little local restaurant! Soon we had a table full of food: fish in a sour soup (my favorite), fried fish (Kat's), an omelette, and vegetable stuffed corn bread. Everything was amazing, and we had a great time getting to know our driver/host. I basically smiled and laughed while Kat had to use her Chinese and translate both ways. Thanks Kat! Of all the things we saw and did in Beijing, for us, it will be this man's hospitality that will stand out.

(Top to bottom: the "dragon-like" Great Wall in Simatai; closer view of the wall; Kat; Amy in the cable car; Kat and Amy with a tireless, determined hawker who was our self-appointed tour guide; Kat and our wonderful taxi driver/host, Mr. Gao)

Bejing, Day 2: Forbidden City

2005-11-25T22:02:00.000-05:00

(top-bottom: throne room; bamboo; Kat and Amy in main courtyard; the Hall of Supreme Harmony Taihe Dian)

Walking into the Forbidden City is, according to Katrina, like walking right into all those Chinese movie sets. The palace is huge, amazing, and beautiful and we spent a good two to three hours just wandering around and trying to see it all. We left the palace at closing time and wandered out to Tiananmen Square, which seemed really open and even deserted after the crowds of the city. We saw the huge Mao picture and the outside of his mausoleum before getting too cold. Our final adventure of the day was our ride home. We took a little three wheeled taxi home (basically a motorbike with a box for passengers attached) and it was great fun sitting backwards watching the traffic and the city go by.

Beijing, Day 1: Temple of Heaven

2005-11-24T07:53:00.000-05:00

We are spending Thanksgiving Break in the overwhelming and beautiful city of Beijing! We will try not to overwhelm all of you by posting too many pictures. Here are some of our favourites from today:

An Ode to Food (the Penang, Malaysia version)

2005-11-22T04:40:00.000-05:00

We had a great time at Dalat International School (in Penang, Malaysia). As appears to be the trend, most of our experiences seemed to revolve around food:

~During our first day, Ruth Strong (the guidance counselor) and history teacher Kathy took us to the mall, where Amy and I ate McDonald's for the first time during our travels. We avoided "copping out," though, by ordering something not available in the US: veggie burgers!

Amy and me at Mickey D's!

~This same evening, Amy and I bought chocolate drizzled waffles TWICE. They just smelled so good. Needless to say, Ruth and Kathy got to know the REAL Amy and Katrina really fast. :) We like food!

~We were invited to "sit in" a class, aptly called "Survival Cooking." In this seniors-only class, students are taught how to cook basic college meals: burritos, omelettes, pasta... and the current project, stir fry. Amy and I are queens of college cooking, so this was a lot of fun. They ended up sending us home with a huge bowl of leftovers, which of course endeared the Dalat students to us even more.

Talented Ted and the "Survival Cooking" class (that so kindly made us dinner)

~Rivka, Heather, Lindsay, Ted, and Terry "saved" us from cafeteria food by taking us out to the stalls (vendors) to eat their favourites: chicken rice and wan than mee.

Lindsay, Heather, Terry, Rivka at the stalls for lunch

Wan tham mee and chicken rice!

~Amy and I also reprised a Thai night market favourite--banana roti!

Lest you think that food is our only concern, rest assured that we had a great visit with the Dalat students, who were a lot of fun. They also seemed remarkably unspoiled, despite the fact that their school campus is right off the beach (!!!). Amy and I also got to speak during a couple of classes and were reminded of what we discovered in Chiang Mai: we have memorized each other's stories frontwards and backwards. We joke that during our last school visit, we'll switch identities and no one will know the difference.

Some more pictures of our week in Malaysia:

The beautiful beach bordering the school campus

View from our hotel room balcony

Amy and me at the beach, right behind our hotel and Dalat (it's a tough life!)

Daytime view from our hotel balcony

Now, we are in Tianjin, China. On the subject of food again: we had originally thought that we would miss out on a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, being halfway around the world away from most of the people that celebrate it. We were ready to improvise and celebrate the holiday with Peking Duck (which was not an unwelcome prospect). But lo and behold: we have had three Thanksgiving dinners in the two days we've been here! Woo hoo! All the stuffing, mashed potatoes, and green beans we want. So don't ever worry that people don't take care of us over here: Amy and I have consistently seen the benefits of being adopted by families wherever we go!

Expectations...great or otherwise (heh heh)

2005-11-18T01:54:00.000-05:00

Part of the adventure of this trip has been the fact that we don't really have time to research each country and school that we are going to. For instance, I heard that Dalat was on the beach, but I pictured it as small school in rather remote area. Instead, we find the school sandwiched between huge hotels (one of which we are staying in and can look right down on the school) within the city of Penang...
Kat and I have somewhat given up on trying to predict what each school will be like but expectations are invariably formed (we know this because they are usually dead wrong, and thankfully, almost always for the better!). For example, the one thing that Kat and I have to go on as we prepare for each school is the correspondences that we have with the guidance counselors. As we email back and forth, we can't help but create an image of who this person is. As English majors, you might think that we would be adept at interpreting the style, form, etc in order to put together a fairly accurate picture of the person. Not so. In Dalat's case, we pictured the guidance counselor to be a competent, middle-aged (sorry!) missionary mom type. Instead, she is a young, super energetic, world traveling MK (and competent to boot). All this to say, for all our expectations (or lack thereof), each school has proved to be wonderfully unique and incredibly welcoming. We look forward to continuing to have our expectations broken and exceeded.

favourite yet-posted pictures (Part I)

2005-11-18T01:48:00.000-05:00

Views from Woodstock

Fruit stand

Amy at Sisters Bazaar

Women Washing by the River

Katrina messing with her camera (as always)

Tibetan prayer flags over bazaar

GIS recap

2005-11-16T03:46:00.000-05:00

Due to inconsistent e-mail, Amy and I are once again stuck blogging retrospectively. We are now in the beautiful island of Penang, Malaysia. Dalat International School is literally just off the beach! Amy and I still look at each other and shake our heads, not really able to understand how in the world we ended up with such an amazing job!
But before we start blogging about Dalat, it is absolutely necessary for us to list the highlights of GIS--we had SUCH a great time!

Our daily "walk" from Marge's house to GIS' campus

TOP 5 GIS MEMORIES
1. Dessert night with GIS seniors--the guidance counselor, Mr. Johnson, invited seniors over to talk about college over banana splits. Amy and I began the night with a rousing round of Houghton/Katrina and Amy Trivia (the grand prize? Houghton t-shirts). Funny moment--we asked (in light of recent womens' soccer updates) what Houghton team has done particularly well this season, and one boy cried out, "WOMEN'S LACROSSE!" No one can figure the field hockey teams' skirts out.

2. Riding the Thai versions of "taxis" (song tao, I believe)--Amy and I insisted on hanging on to the back of the vehicle, ignorant of the fact that it is apparently illegal. Not much can beat riding with the wind in your hair in an exotic country during sunset!

Riding a song-tao

3. VENDOR FOOD! Through the graciousness of various hosts (particular Sam, Eli, and John, and the wonderful Southern Baptist dormies.), we got to try all sorts of wonderful things! We figured eating authentic thai food (SO tasty and inexpensive) was definitely worth the few mornings of stomachaches. ;-)

VERY cool Southern Baptist kids!

4. Suppers with various families--through the graciousness of the community, people signed up to host us for meals before they even met us. On second thought, they probably ONLY signed up to host us because they HADN'T met us. Haha. (Okay, corny missionary humor is contagious!) All that to say, we got to have dinner with different families every night. Thank you, Harrises, Eggers, Johnsons, and Dotys!

5. We felt incredibly blessed to take part in a largely student-run orphanage outreach. On Saturday, we met with the kids from House of Love. It was so much fun! Amy taught them random Japanese clapping games and I scared the kids away with my gigantic camera. Many GIS students have committed to visiting the orphanage weekly and have been able to establish close relationships with the kids. One spent her summer studying the Thai language in order to better communicate with her House of Love friends. In Amy and my opinion, seeing the kids interact was much more fun than being tourists!

Eh and Amy <--check out her nosering!

Senior night, yummy noodles, etc.

2005-11-11T01:12:00.000-05:00

Chiang Mai International School students: Bethany, Hannah, Candace, Grace, and Sean

Amy and me trying too hard (wearing GIS uniforms)

Houghton Shirt Ad with various GIS guys

WONDERFUL Thai noodles with Eli and Sam at their favourite roadside stand

A Glimpse of Grace

2005-11-10T01:43:00.000-05:00

(note the alliteration)
We've been at Grace International School for three days now, and are starting to get to know the community!

Thai foot massage with Eli, a senior at GIS

We have dinner with a different family every night--Amy and Kat with Blakely Harris (11th grader)

College info session with Joseph, Stacy, Eli, Chan, and Aaron

For an insider's view to GIS, check out our new friend Sam's website.

Highlights

2005-11-09T03:13:00.000-05:00

Katrina and I are now on our second full day here in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It is quite a change from the mountain cool of India, but we are quickly establishing a "home" here. Pictures are soon to come, but before that, a quick list of highlights from our Woodstock experience:

1. The views: I went up "zigzag" three mornings in order to see the "snows" of the Himalayas. Looking up, you see the snowy peaks and looking down, you see the valley opening up. Truly breathtaking!

2. Diwali: I may have lost some of my hearing, but being able to be in India during one of their biggest festivals was well worth it. We went to town with a group of Woodstock teachers, dodging fire crackers and setting off some of our own! We also got to see larger fireworks being set off far down in the valley as well as right in our backyard.
3. The Bazaar: We got to wander around the bazaar quite a bit with staff and students. It was great because the students were able to take us to the best places to eat and shop. I also somehow got swept up in the whole piercing binge and got my nose pierced (ouch)!
4. The people: Once again, we were overwhelmed by the friendliness of the staff and students. We had a great time getting to know them, and it was especially fun to be able to watch the staff "talent" show. Especially memorable was the staff Indian dance performance - it made Katrina and I wish we could dance, although then the performance would much more lean to the comdedic, rather than to the talented end of things... Thanks again to all the great people we met at Woodstock! We had a great time with you.

Woodstock pictures

2005-11-07T22:00:00.000-05:00

We set up a display table advertising Houghton during lunch--and were mobbed by elementary school kids and high school kids alike!

A group of seniors took us out for an "authentic" lunch of tandoori chicken during our last day at Woodstock. L-R: Sachiko, Grace, and Nora

Nora getting her ear pierced! Check out Katrina wincing in the background. Incidentally, Amy has a surprise! Guess what SHE did?

Quick note

2005-11-06T19:38:00.000-05:00

We haven't been able to update because of lack of internet access... but here we are in the Bangkok airport! (We loved Woodstock, by the way, and promise to post pictures as soon as we can). For now, a couple of pictures from today/yesterday:
(top: Woodstock with Kevin, the guidance counselor. bottom: Katrina turns 23 in India/Thailand!)

Safe and Sound

2005-11-01T02:08:00.000-05:00

Happy Diwali!
Don't have much time to update, since I am borrowing a school adminstrator's computer during his lunch break to catch up on e-mails. Just want everyone to know that we arrived at Woodstock safely, and our travels through Delhi went smoothly. Thank you for all your prayers. Please remember to continue to pray for all those who lost loved ones in the bombings and all those who now live in fear. It has been humbling to realize that it is so much easier to remember others when it relates to us.
We will be here through the week, leaving at midnight on Sunday/Monday for Thailand.
At the risk of sounding repetative, Woodstock is GORGEOUS. Tomorrow morning, Amy and I are hiking up to one of the mountain peaks, where there are apparently beautiful views of the Himalayas. Pictures to come!
It is Diwali, one of India's most celebrated holidays, so we might head to town tonight with Woodstock's guidance counselor to take part in the celebrations.
Thanks again for all your encouragement and prayers!

today in the news

2005-10-29T14:37:00.000-04:00

Watching news when traveling is dangerous. After a week of no TV, Katrina and I were watching TV in our hotel room in Coimbatore when we turned to the news. Train crash in India due to flooding. Terrorist bombings in Dehli. Plane crash in Nigeria. I don't want to make light of the suffering that is involved in each of these tragedies and if anything, because they relate to me, they are all the more real and terrifying. Tomorrow, we take a plane to Delhi where the next day we take a train to Dehradun. I am not really worried about my safety, but the proximity makes reality the daily tragedies that news always broadcasts and I so easily ignore. So if you think of us, please pray for the families of those lost in the tragedies and especially for Delhi and all those whose joyous holiday is now changed to fear and sorrow.
Amy

KIS Students

2005-10-28T22:50:00.000-04:00

Marie-Louise, Valeska, and Tanja. They are here at KIS as exchange students from Germany. We got to know them a little because they volunteered to take us around town to shop for souvenirs--and made sure we got good bargains!

Ola was one of the first to express interest in coming to Houghton. He is a senior and would like to play soccer in college.

Pippa, Amy, and me. Pippa is KIS' extremely competent guidance counselor. We took her out for Northern Indian food (at her recommendation :) during our last evening here.

Curry, curry, and more curry

2005-10-28T01:28:00.000-04:00

Amy and me at our favourite bakery, where we have eaten breakfast every morning. (Our favourites? Curry egg pastries and chicken buns!) We've realized that routines can quickly make a new place feel familiar.

Our "home" for the week: the beautiful Bachman Cottage, which KIS uses primarily for alumni housing. We wake up every morning in a state of disbelief that we get to be here.

So what have we done since Amy last blogged? We've been crazy busy, meeting with students and faculty/staff. Everyone seems very eager to talk about TCK and transition issues, so we were asked to lead a workshop and speak in the school youth group. We have also been approached by quite a few students who are interested in Houghton. We feel like it's been a very positive visit all around.
A couple of students have offered to take Amy and me around town this afternoon, so we can do a bit of sightseeing and maybe even some souvenir shopping. We've been so busy on campus that this will be our first time to really walk around town. We leave tomorrow for Coimbatore, where we will spend the night before our flight to Delhi.

Check back soon for pictures of KIS students.

and we're off!

2005-10-26T03:21:00.000-04:00

So after months of planning, talking, and packing (okay, only days but) we are actually living out our plans. Three days of traveling by car, plane, and taxi has brought us to Kodaikanal International School. The school is absolutely beautiful, all built out of stone, situated on a mountain top within the town of Kodaikanal. Katrina and I get to stay in a little guest cottage where last night, we got to make a fire (after fifteen minutes, we discoverd kerosene!!)and spent a really cozy evening there. This morning, we got up and went to a bakery for breakfast where we had amazing curry pasteries...this might become a habit. We had our first real "job" experience this morning with our first student interview and a fifteen minute talk in chapel. Very exciting! We are slowly getting acquainted with the school, learning to navigate, meeting staff and students, and getting a feel for the school culture. Everyone has been gracious and welcoming and we look forward to our remaining time here.

KIS Campus Entrance

Packing [four more days!]

2005-10-19T12:04:00.000-04:00

Now, packing is an adventure in itself. Amy and I finally finished packing the college literature (HEAVY!) into a small suitcase. Now we're working on packing clothes and personal items. We hoped to pack all our clothes into carry-ons so we wouldn't have to check anything in (and thus avoid the risk of losing our luggage) until we realized we will be visiting schools in vastly different climates. We are now attempting the task of packing lightly for weather ranging from the 90s to 20s. Yikes.
Funny note: we asked guidance counselors from the schools we will visit what the weather will be like during our visits. In India, both counselors insisted that we pack warm clothes because it can "get chilly." We looked up the current temperature and, lo and behold, their nighttime lows are HIGHER than our daytime highs! I'd say 85 degree days and 68 degree nights sound pretty pleasant to me.
Still about packing: Amy and I are also tackling the daunting task of packing up all our belongings. Our wonderful Houghton "family" for the past year and a half is moving, so we intend on being completely moved out by Sunday. This is not a fun job. I think I own too many books.
~K.

Trip 1 (Asia) Itinerary

2005-10-10T14:54:00.000-04:00

Click on the map:

October 23: Coimbature, India: Kondaikanal International School

October 31: New Delhi, India: Woodstock

November 7: Chiang Mai, Thailand: Grace International School and Chiang Mai International School

November 14: Penang, Malaysia (Penang): Dalat International School

November 21: Tianjin, China: Tianjin International school

November 28: Taejon, South Korea: Taejon International School

December 5: Tokyo, Japan: Christian Academy in Japan Sendai, Japan: Tohoku International School

December 12: Taichung, Taiwan: Morrison Academy

January 3: Back to Houghton!