Crickets, Doctors, and the Beautiful Khmer People

I'm here! I cannot remember if I'd sent another update, but I arrived Sunday night with my team and another team led by team leader Mark, an older man who's been teaching in China for awhile.  We stayed at a nice place built and run by a local Khmer (Cambodian) pastor for the first two nights.  I ate a couple crickets (and even caught one in my mouth), enjoyed Khmer pizza at three different meals, rode around the city of Phnom Penh in a tuk tuk (look up a picture on Google!) They're pretty sweet! We met about 30 Cambodian male college students, enjoyed a meal and fun games with them.  About half or more of them are brothers of ours; the rest have yet to know Christ personally.  They all live in the upper floors of a brothel turned CHURCH shepherded by the same pastor letting us stay in his guest house.

Yesterday we explored a Khmer village.  I learned (quickly!) how to use a squatty potty, became a patient at my first Cambodian hospital and got stocked up with four different pills to take all week.  Yesterday we also saw part of the river front near Phnom Penh (Cambodia's capital) and enjoyed breakfast at Vandenn's home.  Vandenn is the ELIC country leader for Cambodia.

Today (Wednesday), we spent five hours in two big white vans traveling north across Cambodia to Siem Reap, home of the famous Angkor Wat.  We enjoyed delicious Khmer food, snapped some pictures of elephants, saw parts of Angkor Wat, and swam in the hotel's awesome pool.  Several Khmer university students and one ELIC teacher are traveling with our two teams.

It's been a busy but FAST three days in Cambodia.  I cannot believe how fast time has flown! We fly back to Hong Kong for debriefing on Saturday afternoon, and I'm hoping to spend some time visiting some of my students one last time.

Today, I really enjoyed looking out the windows and embracing God's creation while reading through the Psalms while everyone around me slept! Every part of God's creation simply echoes that HE IS GLORIOUS! Even the variety of laughs our teams have, the variety of homes around, and the beautiful rice fields.  The sad thing is, no matter how awesome, intricate, and gorgeous God's creation is, we still forget about His glory! Cambodia's been reminding me day by day, and I hope and pray that I can continue seeing that everything reflects God's glory because it was all created for us to enjoy and glorify Him through that enjoyment!  

Since most of you are just starting your day now, take some time to look around you, bask in His glorious creation, and thank Him for His details, intricacy, variety, and simply gorgeously creative blessings that surround us!

I miss you all! It's so hard to believe I'll be back in less than a week! I'm looking forward to seeing you all--whether at home, college, church, or elsewhere.

Prayer concerns:

-God's glory to be continuously marveled at

-Teammate Candy's mother--she's caught up in drugs and worse back home in Denver

-the Khmer people--85+ percent of the population is Buddhist and less than 10% is Christian

-continued safety traveling around Cambodia--we head back to Phnom Penh on Friday morning

-financial support for Vandenn and ELIC's work at the Royal University of Law and Economics in Phnom Penh.  Teachers here teach mostly first-year university students English

-for other teams in Shi'an (China), Laos, and Vietnam

Because God loved me first and unconditionally forever, I am excited to be able to say I love you! to all of you! Have a wonderful Wednesday :)

Kristin

And I'm off!

Well, in the morning I'm off.. to Cambodia that is! We leave campus around 8 am Sunday morning.  

The last day of classes went incredibly well. I have never laughed so hard or so often along with my students.  We finished up the lesson book, played many games, wrote letters, and did other "end of camp" activities.  The kids were their wonderfully weird selves.  They laughed at my accidental sarcasm for the first time ever, wrote me sweet letters, FINALLY let me take pictures of them, and even insisted on a "jumping" picture at the end of the morning session.

In the afternoon, I walked with my class in the pouring rain to a nearby school for our closing ceremony program.  I'm glad to hear HK sent some rain to IA, by the way!  On the way, I shared my umbrella with a student I don't get to talk one-on-one with very often, so that was great! At the closing ceremonies, each class presented a small program or skit.  My class has improved tremendously in their English skills, but they are still quite shy in front of a stage, so we decided to create a video.  I videoed each student and compiled many pictures from class into a video and attached music to the video.  When it was our class's turn to present, I hooked up my laptop and the class sat on the stage looking at the big screen.

The video wouldn't work.  The school's tech person even came and tried to fix the problem, but we were unable to show our video.  I was devastated.  The program I used to make the video crashed twice without saving, so I had stayed up until 2 am making the video the night before.  When I looked at my students while the tech guy worked with my computer, they looked pretty bummed.  When my toughest student gave me a sad look, tears began rolling down my face.  Knowing the video wouldn't work, Team Leader Amanda dismissed the students, the crowd still applauded, and I went backstage to prevent myself from losing it.  I didn't, and my class and I enjoyed watching the other seven classes perform, but I still ended the camp feeling like I had really let my students down.

After school, Rachel, Joy, and two of our students--Candy and Karen--went to movie in the theater together, and I was able to enjoy my FIRST 3D movie with them! Today (Saturday), my students, Karen and Vincent, joined me and all of the ELIC teachers for a youth rally in the morning, then we met with some other students and teachers for lunch, shopping, and ice skating! At the end of the day, Karen and Vincent both asked me if I would like to go biking next weekend when we're back in Hong Kong for two days, so I'm hoping we can find a time that will work! Vincent wants to get more students from class, too, so I'm looking forward to this!


......


Tonight we had our last team devotions in Hong Kong since Cambodia is TOMORROW.  It still hasn't sunk in that I'm leaving this city and going to an entirely different country and culture tomorrow.  We'll be in Cambodia until Saturday, then fly back to Hong Kong for two days, and leave for HOME on Monday morning.  It's so hard to believe that I'll also be home in a little more than one week. Time has FLOWN by, and it's going to be full of more sad goodbyes, especially with my teammates!


I'm not sure about internet access in Cambodia, but I should be able to send at least one update!

Love you all!
Kristin

Twas the night before saying goodbye...

...and Miss Teacha Kristin is hurting.


Tonight is the final "night before class in the morning" that I'll experience in Hong Kong.  I know that might be a little crazy of a "last" to begin talking about, but as I spend way too much time trying to finish putting together a final slideshow for my students reminiscing our time together, I'm realizing how much I (and they) have grown through this entire thing.

A week ago, I was wishing and hoping and begging God to make time move faster.  Now I just want to be able to spend more hours, days, and weeks with my beautiful students, who I am also proud to call my dear friends! At the same time, I asked my team leader if I could just take them all home with me in my suitcase.  She said that she won't be traveling back to the U.S. with me and won't be in charge of me anymore, so I can do what I want.  Who knows.. maybe you will all meet a few of my new Chinese friends on Sunday morning.  Dad and Mom-- the spare bedroom is open, right? ;)

But in all seriousness, I can't believe I didn't more openly pour my love into these kids earlier.  I've seen so many of them begin to flourish already, and all I want is to be walking alongside them as they do.  I've had one convinced we're going to date (he's 15--yikes!) because he is a Christian and I am a Christian and all Christians should just quickly date and marry.  Yes, that was a fun request to answer :) But he's also one of my favorite students, so I was still able to encourage him to wait for a great Christian girl his own age who isn't leaving for America in a week and a half ;)

...........

So anyways, here I am, shedding tears as I make this video and picture collage and look through all the memories we've had together.  Today was THE BEST DAY I've had since leaving Iowa.  It was full of more laughter and "Miss Kristin, you're crazy"'s than I've heard during the entire three weeks of teaching.  I just told my roommate that it can't be real that this is ending. I feel like I'm just getting to know my students, and all I want to do is love them and love them and love them.  Tomorrow, I'll be walking out of their lives for what might be forever physically.  I pray, I'm praying continuously that I may be able to see them all again one day in Heaven, but I know this reality is completely out of hands, so trusting is what I'll have to do.

God has had me crying tears of sorrow because I wanted to go home so badly.  He's had me sobbing for friends back home and crying myself to sleep because of the brokenness and dangers in this city.  And now, He has me in tears for news reasons.  I want to be with these kids every day for the rest of my life.  They bring me joy.  They bring me so much innocent, hilarious happiness.  I want them forever and ever, but even more than that, I want them to have the Hope and Trust that lasts forever that I've been freely given and freely received. I want to wake up exhausted every single day; walk in ten minutes of intense humidity, cram into a subway train full of smelly, angry, busy people; and arrive at school dripping with sweat only so that I can spend all day laughing with, learning from, and loving these beautiful young people.  I don't know what this means for my life right now because I can't stay here right now.  Many of these kids didn't even know each other before camp and may not even see each other in Hong Kong ever again, but I don't even have any plans to return to Hong Kong in the near future.  

For those of you who know I've been wavering in whether or not teaching was for me, it's been confirmed.  I'm not sure how I'll ever say goodbye to students after years of teaching them, but these are the feelings I love.  The classroom is a place I feel so comfortable in.  Young students like all of mine in Hong Kong are the beautiful lives I want to serve and love for the rest of my life.  I have never felt so confident in my calling to teach than I do now, and I rejoice in that reality and truth God's brought before me.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, thank you all SO VERY MUCH for all of your prayers, words of encouragement, and great comments on all of my Facebook updates. Although I still have no idea whether or not God may lead me into serving Him through overseas teaching in the future, this amazing opportunity has confirmed the gift of teaching and passion for children that I desire to continue to develop and deepen.

I'll be home in one week and four days.  I cannot wait.  I also wish tomorrow would last for years. God is good. His timing and plans in my life (and yours) are perfect! PRAISE THE LORD!

Typhoons and Unconditional Love

Due to a Level 10 typhoon (the highest possible level) in Hong Kong, all of the schools were cancelled today.  The typhoon began yesterday morning (Monday) already and reached a Level 8 by 5 pm on Monday.  Our team waited in line to catch a taxi, but since no one else wanted to walk in the rain either, the line was incredibly long and we waited for 40 minutes before deciding to simply walk the 10-15 minute walk in the rain!  We arrived back at our dorms soaked, but I kicked off my shoes, embraced God's powerful storm and LOVED running through the downpour and insane winds with a couple teammates! Plus, I'm not sure there's going to be another time that I can say I ran across Hong Kong barefoot during a typhoon! 


Later that night, the storm reached a Level 10.  We woke up the next morning (Tuesday) around 6:30 to find out that the storms were cancelled and several windows of our building had been blown out.  All of the ELIC teams are on floors 15-17 (I'm on 17) of the building, and we're all safe! It still rained for most of the day, and the typhoon stayed at a Level 3 all day until tonight when it changed to a Level 1.


Today was a wonderful day off! As much as I wished I could be at school with my students, several of them ended up chatting with me one-on-one via facebook, I was able to post some photos from back during training week (you should be able to check them out here--https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3864838657683.2155997.1179990101&type=1), and I was able to spend a large part of my day in God's Word and prayer for several different things going on in my life.  I've read through tons of the Psalms today and last night, and I'd recommend Psalm 148-150 to you all especially!


Tomorrow we begin our third to last day of classes, and it's amazing how fast time has flown! I've been loving on my students and getting to know them, their joys, and their sorrows so much lately! These Chinese children are SO HUNGRY for Truth.  They are SO HUNGRY for anything that can answer their questions, calm their fears, and take away their sorrows. I'm praying continuously that God will provide me with opportunities to share the Truth I know with them in these last few days.  Please join me in praying for that and opening their minds and hearts to hear the Great Truth!


The Lord is GOOD. He is GOOD To all.  


"The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made."


My dear brothers and sisters whom I love SO much, rejoice in that truth. Pray for this city.  Pray fervently for these children.  And keep seeking Him, trusting Him, and experiencing the Truth He alone is able to give us.




Some individual needs--

Vincent is a 15-year-old Christian.  I've heard him be openly mocked by some of his classmates for believing in Jesus. He's smart, so smart, but he can also lean towards breaking the rules and following the wrong leaders.  He desires to learn English and become a doctor so that he can share of the Good News with others in Hong Kong. He'd love to study in America someday, but in order to pass the test to become a doctor in HK, he must learn better English.

Hercules is a broken, angry, and stressed out 14-year-old.  He's done much of the mocking of Vincent.  He's an intelligent boy.  Some of the vocabulary he uses are words I don't even use! However, he is also SO in need of the Truth and Light.  His life is too full of sadness and darkness for a young boy to experience.

Angel is probably my quietest and shyest girl.  She's also only 12 in a class dominated by 14 and 15-year-old boys.  We were told that we'd all have shy students because speaking English to a native English speaker is often quite intimidating.  I figured this was simply Angel's problem.  She told me early on in her journals that she is a Christian and loves that God loves her and that she is able to love Him back.  However, I was reading her journal today.  In response to the prompt, "What do you fear?", she replied, "When my mother punishes me, I feel afraid.  She punishes me very loudly.  Also, she beats me." Pray for this brokenness and her pain.  Pray for me to have the words to share with Angel and love her unconditionally.

Finally, Iris is a 13-year-old girl with the attitude of a 16-year-old drama queen.  When I asked the class how much they would probably spend on various things in order to determine and learn more about what we valued and what we should value, she replied, "I don't buy things.  My daddy just buys me whatever I need to make me happy."  Iris and I haven't exactly clicked.  No matter how hard I try to love on her, she just seems to test my patience, roll her eyes at me, and whisper secrets to the girls next to her.  Her attitude even reminds me a little of my own high school self, but I simply can't figure out how to get through to her.  From her journals, it sounds like Iris's idea of love is a love that is bought with nice things, not a love that is patient, kind, and everything else 1 Corinthians says it is.  Pray that I might be able to show Iris the depth of real love, a love given in response to undeserved love from my Savior.


Love,
Kristin, the teacher of some wonderful 12-15-year-old Chinese students, Jackson, Wilson, Oliver, Peter, Hercules, Edmund, Vincent, Tom, Stephen, Steven, Mike, Justin, Hayes, Candy, Sindy, Katie, Katy, Angel, Iris, Karen, and Alice.

The Lord's Day in HK

Today was the third Sunday in Hong Kong and the fourth Sunday since I've been home.  For the third Sunday in a row, I attended Watermark Community Church on Hong Kong Island with most of the other ELIC summer teachers in Hong Kong.  The church is an international church plant.  While at church, I've heard in a German accent, singing in British accents, kids with thick Chinese accents, and visited with an Australian accented woman around my same age today.

This morning, I was blessed to be able to serve in the kids' ministry and help teach the 3 and 4-year-old Sunday school class today.  If you know of my own home church involvement, you'll know that I taught this same age group this past year.  Teaching the adorable Chinese, American, and European kids about the Resurrection really made me miss you all--Braelynn, Taylor, Dakota, Jackson, and Everett.

After church, we all headed to Watermark's Community Center--about a 20 minute bus ride from the church.  We ate pizza together, then awaited the arrival of several of our students from across Hong Kong.  This afternoon, we hosted any of them who wanted to come from 2-4 pm for games, English activities and practice, food, and drinks.  One of my students (Karen) showed up with one of my teammate's (Joy's) students (Candy), so Joy and I spent the entire two hours learning new card games and teaching Karen and Candy our American card games.  I have a GREAT new one that I absolutely love just in case any of you want to learn a new one when I get back! :)

From L-R--- Me, Karen (my student), Candy (Joy's student), and teammate Joy from North Carolina

Karen, Candy, and I about ready to leave after all of our card-playing.

 During the first week and a half of English camp, Karen was quiet and knew only my two most mischievous boys because she had been in their same class and school during the year.  I mistakenly judged her as a student who didn't care to be there and would probably cause problems.  Looking back, Karen has caused no problems and always participates eagerly in class.  She's such a loving, beautiful creation.  However, she also doesn't attend church on Sundays, and neither does her mother--whom I met.  Keep Karen and her family in your prayers.  Pray that God would open doors and hearts in this family.  She is such a joy and priceless gem.

After those two hours, we walked to the bus station with Candy and Karen, met Karen's mom--a kind Chinese woman who didn't speak any English--and all traveled back on the MTR together.  Karen's mom took us the long way back because they were on the opposite side of Hong Kong than us, but Joy, Candy, and I enjoyed our 45 minute MTR ride across the city!

In a few minutes, we have a team meeting to kick off our last full week of teaching.  After that, I plan on spending the rest of my night responding to my students' journals before class tomorrow and reading through parts of Ephesians, Psalms, and James.  A teammate suggested another sermon by John Piper, so I'll hopefully have some time to check that out, too. I miss my Sunday being sandwiched with morning and evening services.

Oh, and the picture below shows you my Sunday evening dinner.  Yes, even the college campus food service gets old and repetitive in Hong Kong! :)

Fortunately, with my lesson plans for the week finished, I'll hopefully get a good and full night of sleep tonight!

Sweating, exploring, sweating, getting lost, and always more sweating.

So it's hot here.. if you can't tell by the title of this post.  It's foggy OFTEN because of the crazy humidity.  The coolest times of the day are when it rains (which happens once every day or so), but as soon as the random downpours stop, the humidity gets even worse and the sun fries us all once again.  Needless to say, I've been taking quite a few buses and staying indoors as often as possible.  Often times I've broken a sweat before I've even ridden the 17 floors down on the elevator to leave my building.  On school days, our team is drenched before we even get to the MTR station.

And then four of us decided to hike a mountain on Friday when we had the day off of school.  And we proceeded to get lost and wander around for quite awhile.  Before even reaching a halfway point, our shirts were soaked through, sweat was running into our eyes and mouth, and our arms and legs were simply glistening as we chugged our water bottles dry and swatted away the bugs.

Joy, Rachel, and I all sweaty and exhausted in the middle of our hike.  Little did we know just how far we had yet to go.  Team leader Amanda joined us for the hike and took this great picture.

Finally, after two hours of hiking, sweating, bug sweating, water drinking, rest taking, and asking for directions, we made it to The Peak overlooking the city, harbor, and ocean... and the view was totally worth it...

The entire city of Hong Kong on one side...

And the beautiful expanse of the ocean on the other...

Later that night, we met up with the rest of our team.  We grabbed dinner at a delicious Thai restaurant, took the ferry across to Hong Kong Island and back, watched a light show on the city's buildings across the harbor, and toured the Avenue of Stars.

It was a great day off of teaching with a wonderful team!

Shouts of JOY!

“Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!” Psalm 126:5 


I’m not sure of a Psalm that has better described my life at thepresent moment.  

Why?  Well, if you’ve beenkeeping up with my posts, you’ll know that Hong Kong has been nothing shy ofthe world’s largest rollercoaster of emotions.

From things as trivial as bug bite-covered legs and humidity far worsethan Iowa to things as emotionally taxing as frustrating students, evident spiritualdevastation in the city, and team frustrations, sometimes I’ve felt as if God’sbrought me to Hong Kong simply to teach me every single lesson He has plannedfor my life in these short six weeks.  Add to that theever-present homesickness I’ve been struggling with since the day I left, andmy emotions have been in the lowest of the lows lately.

Before you stop reading this because my past couple blogs have been allabout Hong Kong’s hardships making my life so miserable, know that this posthas a much happier ending.  Why?  Because God is faithful and today is now inthe running for having been the best dayin Hong Kong yet!

Week two of teaching started out Monday morning with Rachel’s alarmwaking us up at 6:30.  I laid in bedawhile, simply wanting to sleep all day. I wanted to do anything butteach.  After a full and exhausting weekwith such frustrating students, they were not who I wanted to spend another daywith, let alone another TWO WEEKS.  But,this is kind of like my job…and I know deep down I never would have skipped, soI left for school.  Plus, you all are a great encouragement, both through your prayers, but also accountability.  I would never have been able to write you all saying I skipped a day of teaching because I was frustrated.  So I left for school, still not wanting to go, but willing to at least show up and present the lesson I'd prepared.

And then English camp was awful. My students were silent when I wanted them to talk; they were talkative(in Cantonese, of course) when I wanted them to be quiet.  I had a headache by the end of the firsthour, had several students angry at me for making them do extra journaling, andspent most of my day trying to quiet the class down.  I struggled for control of my students.  I struggled to get any sort of answer out ofstudents.  They refused to talk withpartners.  They refused to do anything except speak in Cantonese whileI repeated directions three or four times. I even perfected my “I can wait” face. 

To top it all off, the rest of my team seemed to have the BEST DAY onMonday.  “My students were SO greattoday!” “Oh, I just love my students!” “My students want to take me out forlunch tomorrow.”  I heard it all, and itall stung.  Why couldn’t I have thosestudents?  Why weren’t my students thatawesome?  Why didn’t my students loveme?  I left school in tears and spent thenight eating puppy chow, watching a movie, and preparing lesson plans with myroommate.  I fell asleep praying that Godwould simply make the next day a little less miserable.  I prayed that He would allow my students to simply be alittle bit nicer to me.

Just like the Psalm says, I sowed in tears.  

But the Psalmist was also right when he wrote that I would reap withshouts of joy.

Tuesday morning.  (About 16 hoursago, actually.)  I woke up, took ashower, started getting ready, and realized that heavy, burdened heart wasn’tthere anymore.  I wouldn’t say I was excited forclass, but I wouldn’t say I was dreading it either. It was more like that same nervous anticipation I had for the first dayof camp.  What would my students be likethat day?  

Just before I was ready toleave for team devotions before heading to the school, a friend from homecalled me on Skype.  I ignored the callbecause I was in a hurry, but then decided to quickly call him back.  We only talked for a few minutes, but I canremember that one of the last things he told me after I expressed my frustrations and worries was to trust.  “Trust in the Lord,” he said. 

45 minutes later, as our team entered the school building, a teammate cameup to me and shared the same words with me. “Kristin,” he said, “I know your students are difficult to teach, but trust in theLord.”  The words echoed in my head as Ispent the day joyfully teaching.  For thefirst time, I was able to really, truly laugh while teaching.  I smiled at the quirky sayings and hilariousgrammar mistakes.  I got excited by theirvictories and their successes.  

And then something else began to happen.  THEY beganlaughing.  THEY began smiling.  THEY began clapping for each other andcheering one another on.  Today, for thefirst time, I was able to simply throw my head back and laugh along with my students because of somethingfunny I’d said or did.  We were able tolearn together and simply enjoy each others’ company.  We celebrated each others' victories and worked through struggles together.

I’m not saying my students and I are going to all be great every secondof every day.  I know we’re still goingto have rough days.  They probably won’tenjoy all of the activities I plan.  Iprobably won’t enjoy all of the purposefully incorrect or funny answers theygive.  However, today I began to love mystudents…not because I have to, but because I want to.  I began to love mystudents because they have awesome dimples I’ve never noticed, helpfulattitudes that finally came through, and even because I realized that I have a couple realgentlemen in my class.

Today I was reminded yet again that my students are not the enemy.  There is only ONE true enemy we arefighting.  My students are on OUR side,or at least they can be.  The war is won andforever will be, but it is still happening. My students need the Truth.  Theyneed to hear the Truth so that they can join our side in the great battle.  I have the Truth.  The Truth is in ME.  As their teacher and friend, my greatestprayer is that I can have the opportunity to share this beautiful Truth withthem.  And until I have that opportunity, I will keep fighting for it.  I will keep fighting because God loves me.  And because of His great and matchless love, I will love my students.  Because I love my students, I will fight for them.  I will fight for them.  I will fight for them.  

Today, I walked out of Ming Yin College with those “shouts of joy” thePsalmist so beautifully declared to come from sowing in tears.  There were only tears of joy shed today.  (Yes, my eyes did get watery several times during the wonderful times with my students this morning.)  So tomorrow, you better believe I’ll bewaking up refreshed, renewed, and shouting for joy to continue learning from,sharing with, and loving on my awesome students.

p.s. I was basically able to share the Good News with about 60 of theEnglish camp’s students today (unfortunately, not my own).  Praise the Lord for that! These kids arecurious.  They’re so hungry for truth ofsome sort.  More details about thatawesome opportunity will come in a later post. Pray that all of the Hong Kong students may be nourished with thebeautiful Truth you and I are filled with everyday.

Love and miss you all.  Keep on trusting, trusting, trusting.

"Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." James 1:2-3

Kristin

Miss "Teacha" Kristin

Even with the struggles, I still have a couple quotes of humor and encouragement to share with you.  Some of these were spoken to me, while others were written in the students' journals to me.

"Uhm, Miss Teacha Kristin, why have you been to Chicago?  There are only lots and lots of gangs there..."

"Dear Miss Kristin, sometimes some of the kids in class say foul language in Cantonese to teacher because they are not happy.  I do not like this, but I still laugh." The sad thing is, I'm pretty sure half of my class was doing this to me during the first two days because there was a whole lot of laughter and just as much Cantonese.

"Could you tell me my life important? Why?" Wowzers.  A 12-year-old asked me this in her journal on the very FIRST day of class.

"Teacher, did you know I am a Christian? I go to church every Saturday... etc..." Amen. Hallelujah. Amen, amen, amen.

"Teacha Kristin, would you like me to teach you some Cantonese?" Uhm. YES PLEASE!

"God makes me very happy."

"Someday I would like to visit Australia because Santa can only wear underwear on some of the beaches there. That is very cool."

"Jesus changed my life.  One day I was very naughty and then he decided to save me."  This student continued to share his testimony with me by writing this all in his journal.  How awesome!

"So, teacha, when are we going to hang out?" This was the BEST time ever.  This boy--one of the ones with quite the attitude--just walked up to my desk during one of the breaks and demanded this out of me.

Homesickness strikes again!

Now that you have that little update on teaching, I’ll share a little more of my spiritual and emotional struggles with you.

This past Wednesday night, we had a large group team devotions night.  This means all nine teams got together and one of ELIC’s Hong Kong representatives led us in reflection, worship, and prayer.  As part of the reflection, we filled out a sheet asking us questions regarding things like what we had been praying about, reading about in His Word, singing about, thinking about, etc…

Through all of that reflection, I realized I’d been thinking a lot about home, but also about my future.  Living both in the past, present, and future was wearing me down.  While trying to plan for my students and spend time praying for their lives, I was also wishing I was home and trying to figure out my future after graduation.  All of this simply kept pushing me to question, “Why am I in Asia?”  I’m not sure that God’s calling me to teach overseas, at least not right away—my constant homesickness in Asia has taught me that much. 

However, that realization has only made me miss home more.  Add to that my best friend getting engaged, and I was a mess Thursday night.  When I saw the news on Facebook, I burst into tears but was surrounded by encouraging friends and hugs.  When two more friends got engaged the next night, the desire to head home was overwhelming.  I spent my third Friday night away from home listening to one of Dad’s sermons as I fell asleep before supper and slept until almost lunchtime on Saturday.

Fortunately, a good friend of mine, Jessica Glenn, has made my Saturday go quite a lot better.  We spent the afternoon writing lesson plans at a Pacific Coast Coffee Shop one bus ride from our dormitory, headed back to campus and wrote a few more while sitting outside the canteen.  Now we’re watching a movie in Jessica’s room with Kathleen, a girl on Jess’s team, and waiting for some other girls to join us before we call to order dinner.  Tonight I’ll get to skype my best friend who got engaged and hopefully go to bed on time before church across the island in the morning.

All in all, I know I’ll make it.  With nine more days of teaching, I know I’ll have some more rough days, but I know I’ll also have some good days.  I’m finding my peace in knowing that God has brought me here, so I will continue to serve Him and share the Good News with the people here in Hong Kong.

Prayers:

-For my team to work better together; less frustration; less impatience

-For my students to be more excited, responsive, and come to class with much less attitude J

-For my homesickness to be alleviated by a deeper desire to serve God and seek the Kingdom’s needs I’m recognizing all over Hong Kong

First week... done!

I realize it’s been about a week since my last update, and to be honest, I’ve had plenty of time to write this one all week.  I have been procrastinating so much because I have never been in the greatest mood to write home telling everyone how “great” and “exciting” life in Hong Kong is.  Because, well, to be honest.  The past week hasn’t been “great” or “exciting” at all.  In fact, I think I’d be quicker to describe my week as exhausting, stressful, and frustrating.  This week was filled with situations testing my patience and a couple nights filled with tears.

Backing up a little, week one started out with Gauge Day.  That basically meant that we spent the morning testing all 160-ish students to determine which level of English they were.  After the testing, three of us sorted the results into eight different levels and assigned a teacher to each level.  During this time, the other five teachers entertained all of the students with games in the huge gym-like hall.  The last hour of the afternoon was spent meeting our students, introducing ourselves, and developing a few classroom rules.

Day two began the real lesson plan teaching.  Day three (Wednesday) was a day off because the students had graduation from the regular school.  Our students come from five different schools, so they were all at their separate schools for that day.  My team spent the day preparing for Thursday and Friday.  Thursday and Friday were the last two teaching days of the week.

My team meets for morning devotions at 7:45, leaves our dormitory at 8, walks 15 minutes to the MTR subway station, takes the subway to the next stop, and arrives at CCC Ming Yin College (middle school) dripping with sweat around 8:30. The humidity here is ridiculous.  I teach the students in my own classroom from 9 AM-12:30 PM.  From 12:30-1:30, we have a lunch break.  Lately, I’ve been packing my own lunch and spending time reading through students’ journals so that I have less to do each night.  From 1:30-3:45, my team works together to teach the students about the American culture.  So far, we’ve only taught them about our personal hobbies and American fairytales, but this week we will cover Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter.

After school, we head back to our dormitories, arrive around 4:30, and have a team meeting until around dinner time.  We grab dinner at the canteen (dining hall) on campus and have the rest of the night to plan our lessons or explore the city if we have time.

I’d love to tell you that my students love me and are perfect angels, but any teacher knows this is rarely true.  This first week has been interesting, to say the least.  With 21 students who are middle-level English students, I have my hands full.  Several of my boys have quite the attitude, while the girls either have the same attitude or simply refuse to respond.  All week long, I have made progress.  Smiles are beginning to show up, laughter occasionally graces our classroom, and some students even talk to me after class or during the lunch and breaks.  Their English is getting there, and they know a lot more than I had expected they would, but the attitudes are what leave me exhausted and hurt by the end of the day.

However, after 16 hours of sleep last night and another 10 hours to come tonight, I have finished one week, have two weeks to go, and have already finished all of the lesson plans for my four days of teaching this next week.

A day of firsts.

Today was a day full of new things!

1.  First Hong Kong injury.  I tripped on the escalator... I was trying to go up the down escalator. If you know me at all, you're probably dying laughing at that one right now.

2.  First taste of ox tongue. Surprisingly delicious and remarkably similar to the taste of corned beef.

3.  First clothing purchase.. at a Hong Kong store that America also has (whoops!). Since it's so humid here, I purchased another dress to wear to teach in instead of wearing pants as often.  Hong Kong prices are SO cheap, though! Woohoo! :)

4.  First day worshipping in an American-style international church surrounded by Chinese, Germans, Americans, and probably numerous other nationalities.  I recognized all of the songs, and the sweet accent the German pastor spoke with was still totally understandable!

5.  First time finding my way across Hong Kong with my roommate and no team leaders or other adult leaders. SUCCESS!


Tomorrow will have the BEST first yet to come.  In less about 10 hours, I'll be meeting my middle school students for the very first time! We do some pre-assessments and mixer games all morning, then divide into classes and do introductions/get-to-know-you things in our classes in the afternoon.  I AM SO EXCITED!

Prayers:
-That we might sort the kids to the best of our ability.  (Our team does the testing, scoring, and class placement.)
-That the students may be placed with the best one of my team's teachers to fit them :) I'm SO EXCITED to begin building these relationships!
-Continued safety
-Open doors and open conversations

Rewind.

Due to a lack of internet and general busy-ness at training all week, I didn't have a chance to post much until tonight.  Here are a few highlights to catch you up on what's happening in Asia, but you'll have to wait until I return if you want to get the full story!

TRAINING

This happened on Lantau Island, one of HK's islands.  Hong Kong is part of China, technically, but still has its own government, I believe.  I think it's in the process of switching over to be completely under China's rule in the next years or so or something like that.  Anyways, we stayed at a YWCA surrounded by gorgeous mountains.  We spent most days in a big hall learning everything from team love languages to a few Cantonese phrases and lots and lots of Hong Kong culture.  Learning how to use the teaching curriculum provided for us was another big part of training.

Teammate Michelle and I SO EXCITED for another afternoon of curriculum!

HOUSING

Our team was packed into pretty small rooms for all six of us at the YWCA, but it made for plenty of bonding time.  Also, mattresses in Asia are THIN and HARD. I think my back's finally getting used to that one.  "Only in Asia..." is a common phrase we ELIC-ers are using, and I think it fits in perfectly with the bed situation.  Also, I'm not complaining about the small room thing.. only thankful I won't be moving into an apartment this small at Dordt in the fall!

Our team's room at training.

JESSICA

My good friend Jessica Glenn and I the morning we left Lantau for Hong Kong.  We didn't know each other until this summer, but we met up in LA and explored the city a little together.

LOVE ME SOME CHINESE FOOD

Needless to say, we'll be eating quite a bit of rice this summer. Actually, we already have.  Not a day at training went by without sticky rice.  I'm becoming a chopsticks pro, and this delicious (and leaky) soy sauce made the rice at training just that much better!

JULY 4TH AT THE BEACH

Even though we were in China, we still celebrated July 4th at the beach!  All 100 some of us college student English teachers swam in the ocean, played ultimate frisbee and sand volleyball on the beach, and worshiped once the sun set.  Here are Rick, Joy, (teammates) and I enjoying dinner with the rest of the students on the beach!

Have I mentioned how BEAUTIFUL this place was? Gorgeous.  Here's a view of the YWCA from above... oceans and mountains only minutes away.  

...oceans and mountains. LOVE. What a wonderful Creator we serve!

HONG KONG!

After spending a week of training/meeting the other college students/bonding with our team/spiritually preparing for our summer teaching/learning a whole lot about Hong Kong in short amount of time, we have now arrived in Hong Kong and are staying in dorms on a university's campus here.  We're about a 10 minute walk from the MTR station (Hong Kong's subway system), so we can get virtually anywhere in the city! Life is fast-paced and exciting around here, and we've really only been around the city for a day.  It's Saturday evening as I write this, and we didn't arrive at the college until yesterday afternoon.

First glances of the city as we crossed the bridge from Lantau Island to the actual city/island of Hong Kong.

When we first arrived yesterday, we moved into our rooms and settled in for a little while before heading out to visit the school our team would be teaching in for the next three weeks.  Out of 14 summer college student teaching teams, 9 of us are in Hong Kong.  Another 3 are in China, 1 is in Vietnam, and a final team arrived in Mongolia about a week before I had even left the United States.  My team walked to the MTR, rode the subway for one stop, and arrived at our school within 15 minutes of leaving our dorms.  We saw the classrooms we'd be teaching in, met the administrators, and learned a little bit about what our summer schedule will look like.  Check out our school in the picture below!

The school enrolls over 1000 students, but the English campers we will be teaching will come from five different schools in this area, not just Ming Yin.  The teaching will just take place here.

The staff office is through the door on the left (with the chairs) and our home base will be in the library through the door on the right in the picture (all of the books, of course).  The classrooms are on floors 2 and 3 of the building.

Candy called this one my "excited teacher" face.  There are also "worried teacher," "frustrated teacher," and "confused teacher" faces, but this is my current feelings for the start of teaching on Monday!

That evening, we ate dinner (rice, of course!) at the university's campus "canteen," or dining hall.  After eating dinner as a team, we were blessed to be able to attend a HUGE variety show that our school--Ming Yin College (middle/high school)--put on for the 45th anniversary celebration.  Although we might have possibly been the only Americans (and non-Asians) there, we had a great time watching the 2 1/2 hours of performing.  Since the school teaches English classes, the two longer play/musicals were in English, some of the speaking and singing was in English, and the rest of the speaking/singing in Cantonese was definitely still enjoyable.  The place was PACKED.

Everyone involved came out on the stage for the final curtain call.  Actors, actresses, musicians, dancers, a magician, etc... There were many acts involved in the program!

Today (Saturday) was adventure day.  Well, actually, we spent about three hours planning as a team for the curriculum we'll be teaching during the next three weeks.  For all you teachers out there, just imagine team planning with a group of 9.  There were lots of opinions and ideas, but it all worked out SO well! I'm excited to work with this great team.

This picture is actually from training on Lantau Island last week, but these are all the girls I'm blessed to be teamed with for the summer. From L-R-- Abby, Michelle, Rachel, Me; Front Row--Joy, Candy.

During the afternoon, my roommate and teammate Rachel (from Michigan), Sierra (from North Carolina), and I took the subway to an area called Lok Fu.  We explored a mall/food center, wet market (every kind of sea creature you can think of was alive and wriggling there), and bazaar where we picked up items for teaching, umbrellas (it rains randomly often here), and other little essentials.

Sierra in the pink, roommate and teammate Rachel in the black, and I in a small bakery/coffee shop at Lok Fu.

Yes, there are McDonald's in Hong Kong. No, I did not eat there and am planning on avoiding it if at all possible while in Asia :)

DELICIOUS watermelon slushie drink I enjoyed at Lok Fu!

Tonight, we grabbed dinner at the canteen and made a small grocery run for some breakfast foods.  We've finally gotten internet, so I think the majority of us are spending time writing home or lesson planning for the coming week of TEACHING!

I'M IN ASIA!!!

I’m in Asia!  Believe it or not, it’s almost July here!  We’re 13 hours ahead of Central Time.  About seven hours ago, we hopped off our 14-hour plane ride—I slept for about 8 hours of it after being awake for 25 straight—and entered the large (and humid!) Hong Kong International Airport.  After loading all 100 or so of us onto three large buses, we drove up winding, scenic roads to a small YWCA in the midst of mountains.  

It’s currently pouring, but that certainly hasn’t stopped the humidity a small YWCA in the midst of mountains.  It’s currently pouring, but that certainly hasn’t stopped the insane humidity or excited spirits from filling our campsite.

The five other girls on my team and I met our team leader—Amanda, originally from Pella and Dordt—and she led us to our small hotel-like room complete with eight bunk beds!  Our team met together, did some general introductions, and then planned a short skit/rap song to perform to introduce Team Ming Yin to the other ENGAGE teams!  We’ll grab lunch soon, then spend the rest of our time here (until Friday morning) doing several other training activities and discussion/instruction-like meetings.

Now that you know what I’ve been up to, here’s how I’m doing:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->1.      I’m super hot and sweaty all the time, but I’m pretty sure I’ll get super used to that.  Thanks to Iowa for teaching me what it’s like to walk outside and need a shower almost immediately from the humidity J

<!--[if !supportLists]-->2.       <!--[endif]-->I’m exhausted.  I have some excited energy left, but quite a bit of that was used during the couple of hours before boarding our flight yesterday and on the plane ride over here.  It looks like we’re done with training around 9-10 PM every night, so I should get over this jetlag pretty quickly and rest up.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->3.       <!--[endif]-->I’m overwhelmed.  There are SO many people, many of whom are much more outgoing and energized than I am.  Remembering that I am here to be used in the gifts I have been blessed with is going to be a necessity.  Looking at others and instead seeing my own limitations is way too easy and natural.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->4.       <!--[endif]-->I think I might already be a bit homesick.  When I think of the fact that I’m in Asia, I get incredibly excited.  When I remember how long I’ll be here, I get tears in my eyes.  My team’s bonding well already, so I’m confident this will be a wonderful help.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->5.   

    <!--[endif]-->Among that all, I’m also excited.  This week of training is a bit daunting, teaching is even more scary, and spending so much time so far away from home is more terrifying than I thought it’d be.  However, the passion I see in my team leader, teammates, other students, and other staff is so encouraging.  YOUR excitement all along is SO encouraging.  Great things are going to be done in Asia this summer—I’m confident in that. 

Major concerns to think of me for:

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Rest and Jetlag

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Homesickness

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Team-bonding, for all teams, not just mine.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Continued excitement, energy, and passion for the work I have been called here to do.

<!--[if !supportLists]-->·         <!--[endif]-->Constant servant mindset

On my way!

Good afternoon!!

I’m currently chilling in a Mariott a few blocks from LAX.  I met up with another girl (from Springfield, Ill.) who had an earlier flight, and we decided to take a tour of LA together--see Hollywood, a beach, etc... It's not every day we'll have 10 hours of a layover in LA!  We just met and have hit it off well so far! We've been chatting with our moms on the phone, sending updates, and talking to the nice hotel workers.  

We have to meet in the airport with all of the other China-bound college students at 10 PM.  I’ll take off for LAX in a few hours, and I have to check in at 9 PM for my flight to Hong Kong.  I’ll arrive early Saturday morning China time, or around 6-7 PM on Friday night Iowa time.

Now that that little update's said... The purpose of this update is to let you know about communication guidelines—if you’ve received my support letter in the mail, there was an insert regarding them enclosed in the envelope.  However, if you didn’t get one or misplaced it, here’s a refresher:

• ·      Don’t mention anything about evangelism in China.  A big no-no for their government.
• ·      Limit the use of “Christian words” (God, Jesus, Bible, etc…).  Example:  Replace God with Him or Father and Bible with Word.
• ·      You’re more than welcome to use Bible verses, but keep them to a minimum.  Including references to passages without actually citing the verse is the best way to do this.

I would LOVE to receive emails and comments on my blog, especially in these first couple weeks.  My team leader told me the first two weeks are the hardest.  She says it’s exciting for about two days, then most people start missing home and feeling the cultural differences the most.  Sometimes it’s like that for a week or two, but usually students settle in by week two or three.

Thanks for all of the encouragement and prayers so far.  As I was finishing up some packing last night, I was thinking about all of my supporters praying for me, then realized that with every other student having prayer supporters too, that’s thousands upon thousands of people lifting our summer in China up to the Lord.  That realization was a great reminder.  All over the country (and in Asia too!), people I don’t even know are praying for my next five weeks in China. Wow.

That all being said, keep praying! Pray for my team leader as she completes her leader training today.  Pray for my team and the rest of the college students as they’re all traveling to meet at LAX tonight! Pray for safe travels, successful luggage transport, and our much needed rest on the 14-hour flight.  Finally, pray that God will provide us with the energy and wisdom to begin our full week of training.

Reality is slowly hitting me that I’ll be in Asia SO SOON. I think it’ll come crashing in when I step off the plane in HK for sure.

Have an enjoyable Thursday!

Kristin

PASSPORT FOUND!

I forgot this little detail. Visa and passport secured in a safe place, I WILL be traveling to China for sure now :)

Checking it off the list!

There are so many little details that go into planning for a trip like this. While lifeguarding every day in either Hospers or Orange City and still scrambling to finish unpacking from moving home from Dordt (oops!), I haven't even had a chance to begin packing for China.  The bad news is that I'm gone all day Friday and Saturday and work at one of the pools every other day until I leave.  The good news is I'm getting some of those other details crossed off the list.

1.  The second batch of China letters are JUST about finished. I'm hoping that they'll be ready to send out tomorrow. I have about 50 stamped, addressed, and sealed, another 15 that still need stamped and sealed (I ran out of stamps.), and another 30 that need to be sorted into the mailboxes over at church. However, they are ALMOST DONE!

2. My email group is almost complete for the group that I'll send all of my updates to from China.  Unfortunately, I can only create the group on a computer at Dordt, so finishing that might need to wait until early next week.  I have about 20 more addresses to look up and add to that list. If you've asked to be a part of it, you can look forward to getting your first update SOON! If you'd like to be on it, send me an email at krstnjns@dordt.edu, so I can add you to it!

3.  Three thank-yous from a weekend trip have been written, stamped, addressed, and sealed.  These will join the 60-ish other letters I'll be dropping in the mail tomorrow.

4. LA Planning. Since we're flying out of LA late, another co-Engage participant, Jessica, asked if anyone wanted to fly in early and explore the city with her. I jumped at the chance, so we're trying to decide what's the most efficient (and cheapest) way to see the sights! So far, only In-N-Out Burger is in the plans. We've never been, and I've been told that it's a must-do.  We have about 10 hours to explore, so any other suggestions are welcome :) Some relaxing at the beach might be a great idea, too.

That's all for now. I've got 9 1/2 hours between the two pools tomorrow, plus a skype date with my team leader after work tomorrow night.  With letters to finish in the morning before laps and water aerobics, sleep is a must!

CHINA IN EIGHT!

PASSPORT MISSING.

My passport is missing.  I can't remember if I had sent it into the organization I'm serving through.  They have no record of having received it. We can't find it anywhere in my house. China's in less than two weeks.  Getting a new passport rushed here in time could cost between $300-400.  Prayers would be great. Pray, pray, pray.

Flight's booked!

There's no turning back now.  A non-refundable $400 has been spent to fly from here to LAX and back.

Not that I was every planning on turning back, especially with everyone's amazing (and also non-refundable) support of my trip.

But this just got even more real.  Instead of just knowing I'm leaving on June 28 and returning on August 6, I now have times.  I'll be leaving from the Sioux Falls Airport at 8:55 A.M. on June 28, landing in Denver at 9:24 (note time change, of course), meeting a couple fellow travelers there, flying out to LAX at 10:24 with some of them, and landing in California at 11:50.  I'll then have the next nine and a half hours to wait to meet with my team.  I've been talking to a couple team members, and we might all try to arrive around Noon and explore LA a little.  The airport's only about a mile from the beach ;)

After an afternoon of exploring, we meet with the rest of our team of China travelers (about 120 in all) at 9:30 P.M., and then it sounds like we do a bunch of waiting once again because our flights to Hong Kong leave around 12:30 A.M.  The flight's 12-13 hours, I think. AND THEN I LAND IN CHINA!

Four weeks in Hong Kong.. one week in Cambodia.. a couple days back in Hong Kong.

...and then we're off to LAX again! I'm not sure when we'll land at LAX, but my flight takes off and heads back to Denver at 5:05 PM on August 6th. I fly to Denver, wait for a few hours, then fly back to Sioux Falls and land at 12:15 AM on the 7th.

It's all getting so more and more real. That's the last big detail I had to figure out. And now it's done!

It's what everyone's asking.

Are you ready for your big trip?

It's what everyone's asking.  I think I get asked that same question at least five times every Sunday after church.  And everyone's been asking that question since the deadly finals week ended and summer began.  I remind them that I'm actually not leaving until the end of June, but now that it's basically June already, China's getting close.  I guess I better start answering that question.  So here goes...

Yes, I mean, no.  I mean, I don't know.  I haven't really thought about packing.  I'm kind of scared out of m mind.  The money's all in... in a more amazing and testifying way than I could have ever imagined.  WOW. When I think about that story, I sometimes still can't quite believe it.  Check out a few more of those details here.

However, to be honest, I don't think I'll ever be ready.  It's China... I've never been there before.  I'm teaching something I've never taught before.  Heck, I'm teaching, period, and I've never really taught my own class before.

And yet, if you ask me  if I'm excited about my big trip... Go ahead, ask me sometime... I'll respond with an exuberant YES! Because of the faithfulness, patience, love, and grace I've been shown over the past year, and especially so in all of my China preparations and financial needs, I know that the same beautiful character is going to pour out of me, my teammates, and the students I teach this summer.

One month and three days...and then to China I GO!

And the winner is...

If you're reading this, then you probably know that I'm heading to China in ONE MONTH!  That's right.  I leave June 28th and return August 6th.  I'll teach English to some middle school students for three weeks after one week of training, then head to another country for one week of exploring the long-term focus of the program I'm serving through.

Until yesterday, I had no idea which country I'd be headed to for that final week.  I mean, I knew that Laos, Cambodia, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Mainland China were my choices.  Laos and Cambodia were my top two choices, not necessarily in that order, but my coordinator said I'd most likely head to one of those.  I picked Laos because I have a friend whose sister is teaching there, but I've never met the sister or even heard about her experiences, so I have no real connection there.

The story about my Cambodia choice is pretty comparable.  A friend of a friend spent a year or semester or some extended period of time in Cambodia and told me a little bit about her experiences when I met her at Tulip Festival last year.  (If you don't know what Tulip Festival is, Google it, then come to Orange City next year for the third weekend in May.  It's awesome, seriously.)  I somehow have developed this deep passion for girls caught in the sex slavery trade--through a recent trip to Nicaragua and some special speakers at college--so when Joy (my friend's friend) told me that was a huge issue in Cambodia, the country received the same passionate vigor.

So, I put down Laos and Cambodia as my top choices and waited and waited and waited to hear back.  I'm not the most patient person in the world, and I applied to teach in China way back in August, so I've been waiting for quite a while.

But TODAY... I found out the exciting news that I will be headed to CAMBODIA for that fifth week of the English teaching program.  I'm pumped.  Part of me now wishes I were doing something with the sex trade rescue missions now that I'm heading there, but who knows what is in store for me in the future, or even in that one week?!


Anyways, that's an update on my China trip.


I'll be traveling with Brendon, Rick, Michelle, Candise, Rachel, Abby, Joy, and our team's leader Amanda (a Dordt alum...I'm even friends with her sister!) to Hong Kong, and then on to Cambodia in approximately ONE MONTH!