Thursday, August 30, 2012
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Movin' In
My first week has been very eventful. I was feeling very homesick the first few days and I think have made a big round about. We got to see a lot of Vientiane which was wonderful and I moved in with my host family! It was weird looking on facebook and seeing my friends with there new lives and starting college and meeting people while I am here and it made me think of all the things I could be doing if I were in college. I think about how easy it would be to not follow what God wants me to do with my life and live a comfortable life in America. But that is not what I was meant to do. I was made to do something different and help people in anyway that I can. It makes it hard to see everyone enjoying college and that I could be there enjoying it with them. Being homesick is hard and I wish it would go away but it makes me realize that next year or anytime in my life I will be able to say if I made it a year without seeing my family and friends and love it then I can do anything! I moved in with my host family and it was so nice to meet everyone in the family and made me feel a lot less homesick. I am living with a single women named Patti and she has a big family and they all live next to each other so we went from house to house meeting everyone. We sat and talked with the grandma who is ill and she was so nice and sweet to me and said that she was worried about my safety and that she would take good care of me. She said she already loved me even though I had just meet her and I felt like part of the family. Patti gave me a Lao name, Sungmany which means light and vibrant. They told me that I have a vibrant smile and my skin is very white so that is why they gave me the name. I got all settled into my room which is very nice and bright. Next week I will start language school at Candle Light and take classes from 8:30-11:45 everyday for a month. Candle Light is close to my house about three kilometers away so I will bike to school each day. I will hopefully by October have my motorbike license and be able to drive to school on motorbike. It is a long process to get your license and so I might not get it in time. So first you have to be good at driving a motorbike which I of course, am not. Secondly you have to have a visa which we just sent to the embassy. Third you have to have a Laos I.D. which comes after you get your visa. And lastly you have to take a hard test where you can only touch the ground twice and do figure eights and all these things. But until I get my license I will go by tuk-tuk to school which is always an adventure. Then I start teaching school in October which I am excited about because I get to meet so many children and play games with them and teach them English. As much as I am excited I am also a little nervous because some of the kids are just a year younger then me. All the MCC staff told me that I should lie about my age to the kids. I thought that was funny but they said it will make them respect you and not just be your friend. So my new age is 25. Just kidding I am just not going to tell them. MCC has a special section of teaching supplies in their library so I have been reading and trying to see how I will plan lessons and what games I should play so I feel better prepared for teaching. I am excited to be settled and be able to get teaching and learning the language so I really begin to feel at home in Laos. Thank for continue prayers and for everyone's support these past two weeks!
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Photo blog
I had for countless hours tried to post pictures on facebook of my first couple of days here in Laos and it was very unsuccessful. I decided instead to have a photo blog with everything on there so if you would like to see all my pictures go there!
http://kateinlaos.tumblr.com/
http://kateinlaos.tumblr.com/
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Today is a new day!
Today was a new day!
I have been having a lot of trouble adjusting but I mean it was only my third day! I was very homesick and had awful jet lag but last night I slept through the night! It was hard to get my bearings and so it was really great to be able to see more of Vientiane. Last night our luggage arrived! Praise God! I thought that on Monday it was really Tuesday and , so they told us that our luggage would come on Tuesday, I was so sad when I realized it was Monday. God with his humor and taking care of me, he actually brought our luggage on Monday anyway! I was feeling very down and it made me feel so much better that God will take care of me even when I think he won't. In the morning we got to have a tour around Mennonite Central Committee with Sili and so that really helped me to get my bases and know where I am. I also got to try iced coffee for the first time which is very strong coffee, sweetened condensed milk, and some ice, it was very good. Lao coffee is very strong so I had lots of energy! Then we walked around a Buddhist temple which was really cool to see. We also looked at maps and got a little familiarized with the city. After we learned how to ride a motorcycle. Which seemed very scary to me at first but we aren't riding any Harley's here, they are more like Vespa's. So I got the hang of riding it and hopefully by October or so we will be able to get our license. The test you have to take is riding first in a circle without touching the floor, then a big circle, and last a figure eight. Which takes a lot of practice so I will have some time to learn.The driving in Laos is a lot different then America and so there are somethings you have to get use to. With culture shock and being homesick they said it takes about a month to get over so I think I will like it here in Laos. It is hard being so far away but I think I will be able to fall in love with Laos. I have till Sunday at Scott and Evonne's house and then I move into my host family. Prayer for a good transition would be appreciated and well as for adjusting for this first few months. Thank you for your support!
I have been having a lot of trouble adjusting but I mean it was only my third day! I was very homesick and had awful jet lag but last night I slept through the night! It was hard to get my bearings and so it was really great to be able to see more of Vientiane. Last night our luggage arrived! Praise God! I thought that on Monday it was really Tuesday and , so they told us that our luggage would come on Tuesday, I was so sad when I realized it was Monday. God with his humor and taking care of me, he actually brought our luggage on Monday anyway! I was feeling very down and it made me feel so much better that God will take care of me even when I think he won't. In the morning we got to have a tour around Mennonite Central Committee with Sili and so that really helped me to get my bases and know where I am. I also got to try iced coffee for the first time which is very strong coffee, sweetened condensed milk, and some ice, it was very good. Lao coffee is very strong so I had lots of energy! Then we walked around a Buddhist temple which was really cool to see. We also looked at maps and got a little familiarized with the city. After we learned how to ride a motorcycle. Which seemed very scary to me at first but we aren't riding any Harley's here, they are more like Vespa's. So I got the hang of riding it and hopefully by October or so we will be able to get our license. The test you have to take is riding first in a circle without touching the floor, then a big circle, and last a figure eight. Which takes a lot of practice so I will have some time to learn.The driving in Laos is a lot different then America and so there are somethings you have to get use to. With culture shock and being homesick they said it takes about a month to get over so I think I will like it here in Laos. It is hard being so far away but I think I will be able to fall in love with Laos. I have till Sunday at Scott and Evonne's house and then I move into my host family. Prayer for a good transition would be appreciated and well as for adjusting for this first few months. Thank you for your support!
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Arriving
With about 35 hours of transit, we arrived in Laos. It was a long couple of days and it was good to finally get here. We lost all our luggage sadly which will hopefully be here on Tuesday. The city of Vientiane is very much like I think Kenya, which is nice and something that I can relate to. I had quite a bit of culture shock and so it was hard to adjust the first night. We slept right when we got to Evonne and Scott's house ( our country reps.) and had woken up at 5 from jet lag. Then after we slept for many more hours til about 1. So it is going to be hard to get over the jet lag. We went to a very western restaurant which I had a bagel and some fruit. I thought that I wouldn't find a bagel here so I was excited to have one! Then we drove around Vientiane and went to the local mall where we got some clothes for a couple of days. It was nice to see the city and get a feel for what we will be experiencing. I am now excited to see what it will be like at the school and with our host families.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Good times in Akron
I leave in two days!
hajhjajadakakdjnvs
That is how I feel. It has been so long, waiting and anticipating the coming year and now it is finally here. It doesn't help that here in Akron we have been having a wonderful time and I have to leave all of these people as well. I have gotten the pleasure of meet some strong, funny, and beautiful people here and I though I would share some funny stories:
On the first day I meet many people and I was talking to Jonathan and asking him where he is from and so I told him I was from Colorado and he had said he just visited there because his fiance lives there. I had then asked him who is fiance was because Littleton is a small town. He then told me his fiance was Mandy Mramor and for literally ten minutes I was shocked and couldn't believe. Mandy had gone to my church and had been very good friends with my sister and I had for even on Facebook stalked their engagement pictures and it all connected and it was just amazing to meet the connections that God puts into our lives and it just took me way from how he is always working and it has been wonderful to get to know John.
Yesterday a bunch of us girls walked down to the Kmart, we were looking for scissors because one of the girls Krissy is very good a cutting hair and everyone wanted their hair cut. We arrived at Kmart and got scissors and then while waiting found some temporary tattoos and got so excited! I got a unicorn and some of the other girls got owls and cats and mermaids. We laughed for so long when we put them on and it was so much fun. We of course being Mennonites are very rebellious and put them onto our low backs. Tramp stampin' it up! Then later Krissy cut all of our hair and I got it cut way short and so did Rachel! We all cut off a lot and so there was a giant pile of hair and we didn't know what to do with it and so decided some ideas, we were going to prank someone or bury it like witches or throw it at people. It sounds creepy and it is. So we couldn't decide so be just put it in a plastic bag and it is sitting on a shelf in my room. Soooooooooo creepy.
Earlier in the day yesterday we had a session about jumping cultures where we played a game. The game was that there was two business people and the rest of a group was a country. You as a business person had to see if your country could open a shoe factory and if it was a good place to have a shoe factory. I was a business person asking questions to my country to see if it would be a good fit. You could only ask yes or no questions to the country as well. We asked many questions to see if it was a good fit and it became hard because they it felt had a separate set of instructions. In the end we tried to find what was wrong with the communication and found that they based answering the questions on if we were smiling or not. I was quite confused asking questions because you try to gauge your questions on how they responded but they didn't even care about the questions! I had a very confused look on my face and Wade was going around taking picture when he saw how confused I looked he laughed and he showed me a picture of my face in utter confusion, I laughed so hard I cried. It was such a fun game and as well we learned about communication and how not everything we know is the whole story.
It has been truly a wonderful experience getting to know these people as well as seeing how God will work in each and everyone of their lives and I am excited to come back in a year for reorientation and see how we have changed!
hajhjajadakakdjnvs
That is how I feel. It has been so long, waiting and anticipating the coming year and now it is finally here. It doesn't help that here in Akron we have been having a wonderful time and I have to leave all of these people as well. I have gotten the pleasure of meet some strong, funny, and beautiful people here and I though I would share some funny stories:
On the first day I meet many people and I was talking to Jonathan and asking him where he is from and so I told him I was from Colorado and he had said he just visited there because his fiance lives there. I had then asked him who is fiance was because Littleton is a small town. He then told me his fiance was Mandy Mramor and for literally ten minutes I was shocked and couldn't believe. Mandy had gone to my church and had been very good friends with my sister and I had for even on Facebook stalked their engagement pictures and it all connected and it was just amazing to meet the connections that God puts into our lives and it just took me way from how he is always working and it has been wonderful to get to know John.
Yesterday a bunch of us girls walked down to the Kmart, we were looking for scissors because one of the girls Krissy is very good a cutting hair and everyone wanted their hair cut. We arrived at Kmart and got scissors and then while waiting found some temporary tattoos and got so excited! I got a unicorn and some of the other girls got owls and cats and mermaids. We laughed for so long when we put them on and it was so much fun. We of course being Mennonites are very rebellious and put them onto our low backs. Tramp stampin' it up! Then later Krissy cut all of our hair and I got it cut way short and so did Rachel! We all cut off a lot and so there was a giant pile of hair and we didn't know what to do with it and so decided some ideas, we were going to prank someone or bury it like witches or throw it at people. It sounds creepy and it is. So we couldn't decide so be just put it in a plastic bag and it is sitting on a shelf in my room. Soooooooooo creepy.
Earlier in the day yesterday we had a session about jumping cultures where we played a game. The game was that there was two business people and the rest of a group was a country. You as a business person had to see if your country could open a shoe factory and if it was a good place to have a shoe factory. I was a business person asking questions to my country to see if it would be a good fit. You could only ask yes or no questions to the country as well. We asked many questions to see if it was a good fit and it became hard because they it felt had a separate set of instructions. In the end we tried to find what was wrong with the communication and found that they based answering the questions on if we were smiling or not. I was quite confused asking questions because you try to gauge your questions on how they responded but they didn't even care about the questions! I had a very confused look on my face and Wade was going around taking picture when he saw how confused I looked he laughed and he showed me a picture of my face in utter confusion, I laughed so hard I cried. It was such a fun game and as well we learned about communication and how not everything we know is the whole story.
It has been truly a wonderful experience getting to know these people as well as seeing how God will work in each and everyone of their lives and I am excited to come back in a year for reorientation and see how we have changed!
Monday, August 13, 2012
Orientation
It has been a few days into orientation and it has been great to meet so many new people so ready and willing to serve God. I have had the pleasure of meeting Godswill and Kinley who I will be taking the position of next year. I will be teaching secondary school which is high school in Laos. I am a little nervous teaching older kids which I have no experience in and I am just going to jump in! I am also rooming for the week with an IVEPer from Laos that is going to Colorado and so we have bonded and both asked each other many questions. We have sessions each learning about MCC policies as well as living with host families, communicating across cultures, how to nurture yourself, self-care and resiliency, and gender relations. Which have all been very helpful and have given me some reassurance. I have got to spend some time as well with my partner for the year Rachel. She will be teaching primary students and so elementary school. We are excited to see how the year will go! Keep me in your prayers!
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