Fresh Adventures and Perspectives

Check out Jo's blog for her adventures and experiences on Guam so far (she's on the left). She's here for a few weeks to teach a masters course and develop our counseling center. Last night, we were able to get together with her student (and my new friend) Marci and even newer arrival, Stephanie. These are awesome ladies and an exciting time for us right now. Jo has some great experiences and video of what's going on at PIU. Enjoy!

Scrabble

Over Christmas break, I got to play a game of Scrabble with my brother Leeman and he was really good at it. I want to play this more with my friends out here because it's really a good vocab builder and it develops awesome strategy and thinking skills, especially for me. The other week, I walked into the library and found Leeman playing Scrable on the computer. I'm totally excited! OK- maybe I'm a huge nerd, but this is cool- it looks like we'll be able to play a good match one of these days.

Chili's (on Guam)

I am grateful for my mom who sent me a Chili's gift card as a random surprise. I was able to take two of my students out for appetizers and drinks (ya know, like soda and lemonade) last Friday night. I loved bonding over meals or coffee out when I was in the states, and I love to do it here too. It also gives us great opportunities to get to know each other, practice English, etc. I love these opportunities to hang with the girls. Thanks Mom!

Inarajan Pools

Today, my community group from PIU took a trip down to the natural pools in the village of Inarajan. I love taking trips to this place, which is pretty much at the bottom of the island (30 minutes, give or take). I'd say that all of the students and staff here are pretty adventurous. There's this thing that we usually climb up with rope and jump off of, but someone took down the ropes. This didn't really stop us from getting up there. Everly, Jake, Sme, and I all got up with the help from our friends Joyce and Jaynee's shoulders, knees, backs, and whatever else we could use to get up.

I must have lost most of my strength over break because these guys had to grab me and pull me up (this was kind of embarrassing, but whatever). We had to climb up this way twice, but then some locals brought a ladder.



The rest of the time, we jumped off of other rocks, explored the coral, and swam around the pool. I still have a ton of salt water up my nose. We had an awesome time and I can't wait to go back.

Yup...we're back!

My colleague's haole (howly=white person) kid turned to me last night during a wild student group's entrance performance and said "I think that tonight I'm going to have dreams about cannibals!"


Hmm. We're back in action- let the Spring semester begin.

Spam Spam Spam

Wow, this recipe looks kinda yummy!

I researched them as suggested by my mom in a previous comment. Hmmm...I came across some interesting sites.

Time Magazine Recipes

Spam Recipes

And my family favorite, egged, breaded, and deep fried.

Praying for the new semester

We have one week to go before the new semester starts, and to tell you the truth, I'm kind of anxiously anticipating it. I can't wait to use my new curriculum, to work with the students, and to hang with them again. I can't wait to be back in the swing of things with the staff. I'm not sure what this year has in store for us but please keep us in your prayers. This first semester was so different than anything I thought it would be, but also so much better. I can't even describe how excited and proud I am of our students. I can't wait to see some of them again after a month away.

Still, there's challenges, and some really personal ones for me.

On another note, please pray for my friend Rob. You can check out his last blog update here. He's the Dean of Men, organizes chapel, and does a lot for the Student Life team to name a few of his many ministries. I've learned so much from him so far and I know he's been a huge blessing to the students and staff. His requests are in that post.


Here's to a new semester.

Beach Cleanup

JaylBeen, Meyou, and I joined the Lutheran Church of Guam family this past weekend to help with a beach cleanup. The church sits on oceanfront property and shares a pretty private stretch of beach with houses, businesses, and a local park. The cleanup started about 8am, we arrived about 8:30, and within the next two hours 20+ people showed up to fill trash bags. The majority of our trash consisted of old tires and anything beer related. Beer bottles, cans, six pack cases, 12 pack boxes, empty bottles, full bottles, etc. We had an interesting time thumbing through all of it. The islands choice? Budweiser products. Every little market has huge Budweiser advertisements plastered all over the front of it. I'm thinking these ads, plus the evidence, is another big problem aside from the dirty beach conditions we sometimes have.

Here's a double prayer request: pray for Guam's alcohol issues and the preservation of our beautiful beaches and jungles. I don't know what I can do about the drinking problem, but as far as the trash thing goes, I want to join and organize a few more community service projects for the semester. I'm hoping some other friends here are up for that.







Part of it, Before . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . After
(around the same spot)

meet my roommate

This is my roommate for Christmas break, Meyou. She cracks me up. I'd have to say that she reminds me of one of my best girlfriends in the states in our conversations and just day to day interactions. We're really learning from each other and it's awesome.Our cultural differences just add to the craziness.

One afternoon, (I have no idea what I was having for lunch), she made her favorite meal: canned corn beef with Kool Aid and white rice. Yep- so, I eat Spam, and I eat rice and all that stuff...and sure, I will put Kool Aid on some things like Cheetos, but canned meat is where I draw the line. To her, it's delicious, and I love that. It's cool to have your favorite meal every once and a while. I mean, in the states- it's weird for most of my friends that I'll eat Spam. Here, it's normal. Maybe I should branch out into the canned corned beef department.

The other day, at the grocery store- I got really excited because canned meat was on sale. I got one of each: corned beef and Spam, although I probably should have just picked up a case or something. Hey, why not? When in Rome, right?

Learning Chinese

I am learning so much out here even though I'm here to teach. Two of my students are Chinese, and one of them, Lynn, is trying to help me learn Chinese (Taiwanese style). So far I know three words: hello, thank you, and dimentia. Why those three? They are the ones I have used so far. Don't ask :)

Over Christmas, her mom Mei was out visiting us. I wanted to send her a "thank you" note and Lynn had the idea of me writing the address in Chinese. I copied what she gave me but she laughed at me the whole time! I guess it looks like little kids' writing, and yeah maybe I made some of my characters backwards and upside down, but in the end I guess it was legible. I am really proud of my envelope and yet at the same time have no idea what I wrote down. Thanks, Lynn, for being a great teacher . . . maybe I'll get a good grade in Chinese?

Sunsets

There are two things out here that remind me of God's promises for us and that I am serving in a beautiful place. Rainbows and sunsets . . ..

Meatballs

One night this week, my brother Leeman and I made spaghetti for friends. We didn't actually make the spaghetti, we just boiled the noodles. We did, however, make meatballs from scratch and sauteed broccoli in the leftover meatball grease and onions. Pasta, meatballs, and salad- what an awesome meal for a group of friends.

years in review

So, back in the 90's my dad got me into this band called Counting Crows. A few years ago, I blogged a whole lot on MySpace. I was going through my old blog tonight and found this entry from July 2008. It's part of a Counting Crows song that spoke volumes to me. I always go back to these guys, to Damien Rice, and Elliot Smith when I need some outlet or inspiration.


There's things i remember and things i forget
I miss you i guess that i should
Three thousand five hundred miles away
But what would you change if you could?

I need a phone call maybe i should buy a new car
I can always hear a freight train if i listen real hard
And i wish it was a small world
Because I'm lonely for the big towns
I'd like to hear a little guitar
I think it's time to put the top down
I need a phone call
I need a raincoat.

I found that I quoted their music often, and I am even listening to them as I write this. Between the quotes were about five years of journals- starting from when I was in a much different place in my life. I look back on some of the struggles that I've had, the different places I lived, the things God did in my life, and when God was hardly a part of my life. If my students or friends out here read far back into my blog they might not know the person writing, but I just see tremendous growth in my life. It's so cool how we are worked on and worked through, how we document these things.

I see poetry, my own and others like Kenneth Rexroth. I see adventures to Colorado and Utah, to Thailand and Australia, Hawaii and Dominican Republic. I see rants about how much I can't stand drivers on the California freeways (yes..ok, note to self: I don't miss it that much) and raves about the times I got to spend in Northern California with my dad, and in my quiet places. I see my best friends from when we were a lot younger but we are still the same with each other. Funerals, the MFA program I still hope to be a part of. There's wine, foreign films. Months when I seemed so busy, and days where I had no clue what to do with myself.

There is so much I wrote about past experiences that changed me or shaped me....I guess not much has changed in that sense. The entry I was really looking for is this one from October 17, 2007- a month after returning from travel:

(In the moment) I dream that I am sitting on my front porch in Koh Tao watching the nightly storm pass across the ocean, leaving us with a little wind and a little door-knocking...our padlocked wooden "door" that closed us off from virtually nothing. We would walk onto the porch in sarongs and stand over the ocean watching the slow waves flow in and pull out, that slow pull of the ocean in all its power can seem so deadly yet peaceful in the right times. Combing out dreds over the pull and drift, it just brough out this surreal... intense... extracting every feeling that I try so hard on a daily basis to keep stored away- out of plainview, sight...somewhere in the back of my mind.

I try to avoid the times where these need to exist.

But I think all I want to do is let it all out.

I still look back on that and feel the same way. I know that I still have a heart for this place . . ..



Interestingly, one of the last blogs I came across was from 2006, when I was trying to "figure things out". I quoted Jeremiah 29:11 from a sermon I heard at church-


"I know the thoughts that I think toward you," says the Lord, "thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."

It seems that this was a rededicaiton to put things back in God's hands and not my own.



I love looking back on what life has brought about, but I pray about being able to stay in the moment...to focus on the moment more often. One thing for sure is, I am waiting patiently (usually) for the future. I don't know what it holds, but even through all of my hopes and dreams, I know that my plan was written before I could even speak. One day I will look back on all of this- still quoting Counting Crows, still dreaming about travels, praying for God's future, reading my Bible, praying for peace, writing poetry, watching foreign films, developing my life.



(If you are someone who encourages me, please encourage me to write. I really have a lot to get out =)

year in review

Here's a little year in review...some numbers are missing.

1. What was the single best thing that happened this past year? God sent me to Guam.
2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened? God sent me to Guam.
3. What was an unexpected joy this past year? Ending up in Guam, seriously, and the way my friendships flourished before I left- the ways they revealed themselves to me when I got out here, and all of the blessings I received.
4. What was an unexpected obstacle? goodness...honestly, this island.
5. Pick three words to describe 2009. What. just. happened.
8. What were the best books you read this year? The New Testament, Ecclesiastes, The Shack, and some old books I had been holding onto.
9. With whom were your most valuable relationships? Wow, all of them- if we are in touch or we are family, this has been an incredible year for us.
10. What was your biggest personal change from January to December of this past year? Trusting in God and being obedient- learning how to stay quiet a little more often.
11. In what way(s) did you grow emotionally? I learned to let go.
12. In what way(s) did you grow spiritually? I realized what being filled with God's love means for my relationship with others.
13. In what way(s) did you grow physically? I lost weight and got in better shape- accomplished some hard climbs and yoga poses that I had been working on.
14. In what way(s) did you grow in your relationships with others? I learned how to listen and that I can't please everyone.
17. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year? the internet
18. What was the best way you used your time this past year? i'm not really sure- I tried to stay in touch with people.
19. What was biggest thing you learned this past year? That no matter what, God's in control. He has our best interests at heart and a perfect plan for us.
20. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2009 for you. 2009 was a life change.