Take that, Martha Stewart!

If any of you are blog readers of old, you might remember a particular unpleasant run-in I had with Martha Stewart a few summers ago. If the tragedy has escaped your mind or you just want to laugh at me all over again, you can do so by reading here.

Well, now I can raise my head once more for I've actually successfully accomplished a culinary miracle. I, Becky Peek, made a little boy's day by making him a Lightening McQueen birthday cake.


Our househelper, JJ, has a nine year old son who is also a student of mine at our English school. When I found out his birthday was coming up, I told JJ that we could make him a cake together. I had received a cake mix in a care package a while ago (thanks Nancilea!) and hadn't used it yet. I figured this was the perfect opportunity. In my mind, it would be a seamless endeavor: throw the mix in a 9x13 pan, throw it in the oven, ice it up, slap on some sprinkles, that ya go!

But then the next day, JJ came over raving about the "xiao qi che dan gao" (little car cake) that she wanted us to make. She had found out from her sister that one of my American friends (who, mind you, is a whiz with cakes and all things involving sugar) had a Lightening McQueen cake mold. I couldn't bring myself to tell JJ that I'd never once in my life used a mold, nor was I very confident in my ability to make homemade icing, dye the icing, and then apply said icing in such a way that it would actually resemble a car. My friends weren't too helpful either when they affirmed that this was in fact a pretty difficult cake to pull off.

But, with the encouragement of my friends (after seeing my crestfallen face upon receiving the news of the cake's difficulty factor) and the donation of sprinkles and icing recipes, I gave it a shot anyways.

Lo and behold! It worked!

We decided Lightening should be blue instead of red (apparently red icing looks pink and that will never do for a nine year old boy). Then we made the tires out of chocolates sprinkles and his lightening bolt out of red sprinkles. JJ then insisted I write her son's English name for an extra flare of presentation.

JJ's son called me later that night, overflowing with giddiness over his qi che dan gao (which, JJ told me later, was accidentally knocked off the counter by the uncontrolled giddiness...oops) It took nearly an entire afternoon to pull it off but it was so worth it.

Ha! Take that, Martha Stewart! Those things that look impossible...you know, the things you make look do-able...maybe they aren't so impossible after all!

Life, Death, and something in between

We all know it but we just don't always care to acknowledge it. The cycle of life that ebbs and flows. It just so happens that this past week, all of life's ebbs and flows got shoved into a very concentrated period of time for me.

Life We were oh-so very thrilled to welcome our little nephew, Jonathan Peek, into the world on February 21. My rockin' sis-in-law labored with the little guy for 24 hours before popping out a healthy little boy. Seeing that our time zone is 13 hours ahead of them, we were happier to take her 5 AM call (our 6 PM) than probably the rest of the family. Chris & Sarah might possibly be coming for a visit in July, so we could potentially be able to give this little guy a hug sooner than we thought.

Death My granny has recently been put in Hospice care, which most likely suggests the beginning of the end. She has had shortness of breath recently because of excessive fluid build-up in her lungs. The drugs they are using to treat that are really hard on her kidneys. So it will probably end up that either her lungs or her kidneys will give out on her. I got to talk with her on the phone twice over the weekend. We had a really sweet conversation. A long time ago, she had told me her favorite hymns so we sang "In the Garden" and "How Great Thou Art" on the phone together. Then she told me her faovrite bible verses: John 3:16 and John 14. "You know," she said, "I think John 3:16 sums it all up." I agree, my sweet granny. I agree. I am thankful for her faith and confidence that she will see her savior Jesus face to face because of her trust in him.

Something in between My little friend Emma turned five this weekend. She is Beans previous owner so she is seriously in love with our wee puppy (who, in fact, is not so wee anymore). As a surprise, we decked Beans out in her pink argyle sweater and birthday signs to meet Emma at the park for her birthday outing. Emma was thrilled, Beans was so excited she made a big puddle on the sidewalk. All in all, a good day.

So the collision of all these emotions has made it quite a tiring week. I'm thankful for rest and for the sovereign God who is over all things.

Most Worthless Vocabulary Contest

OK bloggers...it's time for you to weigh in! As I was re-copying my vocabulary collection (see previous post about the hungry little puppy), I realized that our tutor has accomplished an incredible feat. (Well, I suppose we've accomplished an incredible feat as well.) Since starting this new method last November, we have been exposed to, can comprehend, and use hundreds of new words. Consequently, our tutor has also taught us a handful of entirely bizarre words. Kev & I are curious to know which ones you think are the most worthless.

First, let me give a quick explanation of how we study these days. We have a collection of wordless picture books, from which we select a book for the week. Our tutor records himself telling the story he sees, inventing characters, creating their motivations, crafting internal conflicts and dialouges...it's all quite entertaining. After about ten minutes of recording, we stop and listen to his masterpiece. Whenever we come across a word or grammar structure that we don't understand, we pause the recording and "negotiate" the meaning of the word in our new language. It's kind of like a mixture of storybook hour at the local library, charades, and that party game Catch Phrase.

OK onto the contest...These are my choices of our most random words and the pictures from which they were derived by our tutor (who, I think you'll agree, has quite the imagination)


beer belly
bikini
Michael Phelps


punk
to smoke marijuna
rock & roll music


EEG (dear friends who have gone to medical school or like watching doctor shows on TV--is this a fancy word for brain scan?)
X-ray
hospital beds that go up & down
Manhattan
Empire State Building


Siciliy
to extort; to blackmail
to illegally cross an international border
Cupid (yes, as in Valentine's Day)


T-rex (which, if you look closely enough at this picture, you'll realize that dinosaur isn't a T-rex at all...)
prebyoptic glasses (I have no clue what this word means in Asian-ese, let alone in English!)
jurassic period


Tarzan
latin
eating disorder
unlawful entry; trespassing
wizard hat
dwarf


Converse All-stars
revealing, scantily clad
backless shirt
really tight pants
platform heels
senator (this country doesn't even have senators!?!?)

The possiblities are endless for the outlandish things we're able to say now...

What's your favorite worthless word? Any ridiculous sentences you'd like to create out of our word list?

(Disclaimer in defense of our wonderful tutor: we do actually learn helpful words too. Those just don't make a very good blog post)

Hackneyed Excuses Realized

Not that I've ever really given this paltry excuse in my entire educational life but I can attest that it can actually happen...


My dog ate my homework.

During our tutoring sessions, Kevin & I keep journals of all the new words we're learning. It's like our personal dictionary. Very useful & rather time consuming to maintain. Well, one day, Beans decided she wanted to have her fill of vocab, so she snatched my notebook up, ran under the bed (where all her naughty schemes take place), and before I could track her down, the last week worth of class notes had been reduced to shreds. Thankfully, Kevin keeps an identical notebook so I was able to recover all my lost information.

Puppy for sale...any one? International shipping fee included.

On second thought, maybe I'll keep her. I am rather attached to this little sausage dog.

Let the countdown begin!

It's official! It's officially official! My parents, my brother & sis-in-law are coming to visit. In a mere 73 days, I will get a real mama hug. Now the question remains: how to hasten the countdown?

Here are my options:

Option #1) Make a paper chain like we used to do in elementary school to countdown Christmas. But seeing that my ceilings are made of cement, it will be difficult to properly hang said chain for all to see & share in my countdown excitement.

Option #2) Employ one of those "pregnancy countdowns" on my blog. You know, the ones with the prego lady silhouette with the days left until baby comes. But that might send mixed signals to blog readers (if there really are any of you out there...)

Option #3) Busy myself with the finishing touches on the guest room, making a fun-filled itenerary of all the things things we have to see & do (most certainly including the hour and a half massage for $8).

Yes, I'd say that option #3 seems like the best bet. But don't be surprised if you see a prego baby silhouette on the side of the blog for the next 73 days...

The Energy Gluttons of the 4th Floor

Gone are the days of discretion. Gone are the days of a covert envelope arriving in the locked mailbox, informing you (and only you) how much money you owe to the electricity company. Gone are the days...

This is the welcome home we get once a month:


As you can see, the electricity bill for the entire building is posted on the door.


As you can also see, all the numbers surrounding ours are significantly lower. As you can also also see, these numbers are displayed for all to see. And, being the foreigners in town whose strange and curious ways are always worth knowing about, I wouldn't be surprised if any one of our hundreds of neighbors could tell you the exact amount the energy gluttons on the fourth floor are paying this time around.

Water Babies & Monster Coats

In keeping with the pregnancy theme that this here blog's got going on, I've got another story for ya, ags (and other non-ags--this is, after all, an equal opportunity blog).

When I was in eighth grade, I took this class called Life Management Skills. The sole reason I took it was because I heard that you got to take home one of those electronic babies that cries every once in a while to give you the experience of what it would be like to have a real baby. If you don't pick up the baby when it cries, the computer chip logs it as neglect. I think it had water in it too to make it feel more life-like. Well, my baby ended up being broken and cried every fifteen minutes without fail. Around 10 PM when the whole family was trying to go to sleep and the baby kept crying and crying. Despite my protests & fears of failing the project, my mom locked the baby in the garage and let it cry all night. So keep that story in the back of your head as a little prelude...

Our fall semester is about to come to a close at our English school, so we've been gearing up for next semester by recruiting new students. I know it may seem strange that it's nearly February and we're still technically in the "fall" semester, but that's the way things are around here. Their main holiday revolves around the lunar new year, so we'll take off the month of February and start up classes again in March.

So the point is that we've been recruiting new students, which involves going out and passing out flyers at primary schools and pre-schools to all the parents. Have I mentioned that it's been cold recently? Oh yes...perhaps I have. My dear husband even bought me this contraption that's become my winter best friend. It's more or less a hot water bag that plugs into the wall to heat the water inside. You never have to change the water and the sucker can get pretty warm. Throw it in bed at night or keep it in your lap for a while and I'm one toasty lady!

Since it's been so cold, on the first day of flyer pass out, I wore every single layer that I own. Our househelper owns this amazingly warm coat that she let me borrow. I call it a "Guai Wu Wai Tao" (which translates to "Monster Coat") because it has fur on it and it reminds me of a Yeti. To top it off, I heated up my water bag and shoved it down my coat. Sure, it looked a little silly but all is fair in love & warm.



So off I go to be the best flyer passer-outer of all time. But instead having beneficial conversations with parents about how great & wonderful our school is, this is what I happened with one of the fathers:

Father: Oh you're pregnant! How many months are you?
Me: (Long pause...not wanting to admit I've shoved a water bag down my coat) Uhhh...not yet.
Father: Is it a boy or a girl?
Me: Uhhh...I don't know. (Which, in reality, is the truth. I have no idea what gender my hot water bag is)

So there you have it, folks. Another pregnancy run-in. Don't ask my why I didn't just play the stupid foreigner card and say "I don't understand." Why didn't I just say "Oh I'm not pregnant" and be done with it? Who even knows?

I'm hoping that maybe, just maybe my "water baby" helped recruit some students because all the parents felt sorry for the poor pregnant girl passing out flyers in the cold. But then again, if those parents actually do register for classes with us, they might wonder why I never gave birth. Oh well... Even though this "water baby" created a bit of an awkward situation, at least my mom won't lock it in the garage...



(In this picture, I'm standingon the pond outside our house. It's been frozen solid! If you look closely, you can almost get a glimpse of my "baby bump.")

I give up...

It's been cold recently. Like really cold. Below zero everyday (of course, that is in celcius but the fact that it sounds cold makes it feel colder!) Seeing that winter clothes are bulky and wouldn't fit in our limited luggage space, I got rid of most of them when we moved here. All that to say, my sweater collection is a bit sparse. I have this one sweater that keeps getting me into trouble. My friend Rachel Ware even had it sent to me from America but I'm afraid I might have to stop wearing it.

No joke but everytime I wear it someone asks me if I'm pregnant.

Exhibit A:

Shortly after we did our Christmas lecure at the university in December, I received this email:

Dear Becky:
May you happy Christmas Day ! And enjoy your life in [Asia],with your darling and the coming baby.
Yours, Windy

(I had to leave the "Windy" part because I think it's funny that she chose a weather feature as her English name. Hello, my name is Tornado! Typhoon, so pleased to meet you!)

Exhibit B:

I wore my unfortunate sweater to class this very morning. After teaching two classes back to back of pre-schoolers, I thought I was entitled to sit down for five minutes or so before my third class began. But apparently sitting down while wearing the pregnancy sweater is a bad idea because a parent approached me and asked if I was pregnant, even making the round belly gestures just in case I didn't understand what she was talking about. (Which I do, by the way, but almost wish I didn't! Rue the day I learned how to say "pregnant!")

Exhibit C:

Back in the fall, I wore my "pregnant" sweater to school and was asked by another woman when the baby was due. The ironic thing was that I actually was pregnant at the time but didn't even know it. But still, I certainly wasn't showing!

What is the deal here? Did I get fat when I moved to Asia? Does my belly stick out past my toes? Do I need to burn this sweater? I asked all of these burning questions to my local friends. Apparently, it's not my wardrobe that suggest pregnancy but my age . Clearly, every 26 year old woman should have a baby already or be expecting a baby. Clearly.

Oh well. Either the sweater goes or I'll just have to put up with the comments. What I'm really hoping for is that the weather will get warmer so I can start wearing all of my non-maternity clothes again...

Our dog has become a woman

There comes a time in every young female's life when she starts to wonder about the changes going on in her body. Usually, at about this same time, school curriculums swoop in to explain. In fact, I still remember the video we watched in fifth grade. A girl was having a campout with her friends in the backyard when she started her period. Not knowing what to do, she went inside her friend's house where she explained to the friend's mom what happened. Her mom was in the middle of making pancakes and took the opportunity to illustrate the entire femal anatomy with pancake batter. I suppose you could say this video left a lasting impression on my, as I've not been able to ever eat a pancake again without wondering whether my breakfast looks more like an ovary or the uterus.

Unfortunately, they do not offer such great educational materials for puppies or puppy owners. If they did, perhaps someone would have spelled out to me in pancake batter to get your dog spayed/neutered IMMEDIATELY. I thought we still had some time but alas...Beans is officially in heat.

Whatever shall we do? The internet had some helpful suggestions and some not-so-helpful suggestions (like playing soothing music to your dog to calm their nerves...what?!?!) One of the helpful tips was to outfit our little dog with "puppy panties" so she doesn't leave little messes all over the house. Since there are no Pets-Marts around here, we had to improvise:



Beans is obviously practicing her new womanly, seductive charm in this picture. She looks like a puppy pin-up model!

We asked our mama friends if they would be willing to donate their little daughter's retired underwear on Beans' behalf. Snip a hole in the back and we have one diva puppy:



Now Beans sports Dora the Explorer panties when she's inside. This morning, she was shivering so I put on the sweater my parents sent her for Christmas. Now she's dressed and ready to attract every male dog in the neighborhood.



The funny thing about our little dog is that people are actually afraid of her. Not just a little uncomfortable but adults go out of their way not to cross paths with her, children cry and hide behind their mothers. Maybe it's just because pets are a relatively new concept for families here so they're not used to dogs. But I still have to wonder what in the world is scary about a weenie dog in a pink argyle sweater and Dora the Explorer panties? Nothing, I say. Absolutely nothing!

Onomatopoeias and other such things

I have never, ever in my whole life thought about language this much. What it is, what it's used for, why it is the way it is. Never again will life be as easy as walking into a store, moving my mouth around, an entirely intelligible string of commands eliciting forth, and exactly what I expected to happen taking place. Never again. (At least, not while my address is still in the Far East)

On the other hand, thinking about language more and more has made me realize what a subjective and cultural experiment it really is. For example, the onomatopoeia. (Which, by the way, who didn't feel like the proudest third grader in the entire world upon learning such a long & impressive word?) Recently, we've learned in our new language the onomatopoeias for sneezing, heartbeats, and the chug chug chug of trucks. What does ah choo mean anyways? Does my heart really say thump thump?

But these thoughts truly came to culmination when I was teaching farm animals to my kiddos at school a few weekends ago. It's impossible to learn about farm animals and not learn the Old McDonald song. Especially in light of the fact that the McDonalds golden arches are so wildly (and in my opinion unfortunately) popular here. Old McDonalds farm animals talk of course. They quack and moo and neigh and carry on like all good farm animals should.

After about the fourth verse of the song, one of my little students turned to me with innocent eyes and asked, "Is that really what they say in America?"

Now I have a little student wondering what would in the world would happen if Old McDonald brought an Asian duck, cow, or horse to his All-American farm. All because of onomatopoeias...

4 Years Later...

4 years later and I'm still this happy...



Today is our four year wedding anniversary. I love my husband. He is my best friend and the most patient man I know. He somehow refrains from laughing at me when I have melt downs in the kitchen and begin cursing Martha Stewart and during an argument make examples of parents not sending their kids to space camp and feel confident that this is proving my point. He is appreciative for every meal I make him. He brought home a puppy for me when I was sad and still lets me thank him for it every day. He realizes his personality isn't very spontaneous nor adventurous so he lets me talk him into going backpacking in Europe and maybe someday to Australia or Indonesia. He desires to be a father as much as I desire to be a mother. He is one of the most generous and hard-working individuals I've ever met. He loves, loves, loves God and seeks to honor Jesus with every aspect of his life.

Since our third anniversary was more or less eclipsed by jet lag, we're actually going to celebrate this weekend! They just build a really nice Sheraton hotel here in town, so we're taking the day off from teaching so we can go spend Saturday night there. They have carpet! And English TV channels! (OK so I'm pretty easy to please these days...) We have some marriage questions we go through every year to always be vigilant about finding ways we can better love & respect each other, so we'll be taking some time to do that this weekend too.

Thankful for marriage. Thankful for Kevin...

Happy one year Asia-versary!

One year. Twelve months of ex-pat life. This place is home now. Don't get me wrong. There are still those cultural stress moments when I long for the American life where things make sense, where I understand why people do the things they do, and what in the world they're talking about. But this place is home.

Though we lack most of the markers of American adult life that most of our friends back in the States have (an 8-5 job, mortgages, owning and driving a car, kiddos), I still feel like quite an adult these days. In fact, I think I've grown up a lot during the past year of living here. There's something about two visits to a developing country's hospital that will do that to a person I think...

So enough of the musing...on with the humor! Here is our top 10 countdown:

YOU KNOW YOU'VE LIVED IN ASIA FOR A YEAR WHEN...

10) You English is digressing at about the same rate your Asian-ese is progressing. Phrases like "how do we say that in English?" or "what's that word again?" frequent your daily conversation. Not to mention the lovely blend of Asian-ese and English that turns out to be the easiest way of communicating with our other American friends here.

9) Your big forks and little forks, who once were so nicely separated and organized in their own compartments in the silverware organizer back in America, now are forced to cohabitate in order to make room for the big players: chopsticks.

8) You are now the easiest person in the world to buy gifts for. All that has to be done to make your day is for someone to raid the spice aisle at HEB. Basil and oregano now hold as much value as the keys to a brand new BMW.

7) The shock you once experienced from removing black boogers from your nose is now replaced with the shock of a day going by when you are NOT removing black boogers from your nose.

6) People peeing on the street and spitting directly in your path just don't surprise you anymore.

5) The thought of wearing shoes in the house will never seem natural or sanitary again. (For reasons why, please see #6)

4) The first book you actually read and comprehended (using characters mind you!) will be etched in your memory as deeply as your wedding day or the birth of your first child. Most likely, the target audience for said book will be children between the ages of 3-5. (my first one was about six pages long and with a plot line involving two kids climbing a mountain...)

3) When a local attempts to be polite by remarking that you look fat that day, you will receive it for exactly what they mean it: a compliment.

2) The near-death experiences that occur when riding in a taxi no longer scare you. Yes, that bus did just come about six inches from your side of the car. No problem, it's just an open pot hole in the middle of the road.

1.5) Frog legs have actually been prepared in your kitchen and eaten at your dining room table. (Pardon the fractions...had to preserve the symmetry of the Top 10 Countdown while still capturing that real-life experience!)

And finally the top reason you can celebrate living in Asia for a year is...

1) No matter how strange it seems at times, there is no place better to be than the place you're supposed to be.

Thankful for one year! On to the next...

2009 Year in Review

I've decided to crawl out from under the Blog rock with our 2009 Year in Review. This has been one of the most tumultuous years of our lives, and we've really identified with Solomon through this season of our lives.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
Ecclesiates 3:1-8

This year, we have experienced times of death as we lost my Uncle David and miscarried a baby; times of refraining from embracing as we left our families behind in America to move here; times of seeking as we tried to make sense of our new life here. We've also experienced times of laughter as we've bonded with locals here; times of planting as we've put down new roots and developed new family traditions; times of building up as we've been so encouraged by how God has led us during 2009.

JANUARY



We kicked off the first of the year with the completion of one of my life goals: to run a marathon! I finished the Texas Marathon in 4:08.



Four days later, with sore thighs and all of our earthly possessions packed up, we boarded a plane for our new home in Asia. Once we landed, we had a whirlwind of a week, including a quick trip to the capital city for teacher training for our school, choosing paint colors and having squatter painters live in our house while they worked, all on top of dealing with jet lag.

FEBRUARY



We headed to Thailand to escape the gray winter skies for a few weeks. It seemed a little silly at first to leave the country when we had just arrived but it ended up helping break up the cultural stress.



When we returned "home" from Thailand, things still didn't still feel quite like home. We only had bedroom furniture so our apartment felt a bit like a cave. Not knowing where to grocery shop or even what to buy, our first meal (beyond the pb&j sandwiches we had been surviving on!) was as simple as they come.

MARCH



After yet another trip to the capital city for an IKEA shopping spree, all our boxes arrived. My dear husband spent some quality time with his Leatherman in order to help our cave become a home.



I also started volunteering at a local orphanage with some other American friends. The need for loving arms was so great there, and I had to practice self-restraint every time not to take one home with me. Unfortunately, in the summer, we were asked not to return because of concern of a disease scare.

APRIL



Once the weather turned warmer, we started venturing out to explore our new city more. We gradually became accustomed to the staring we received from the local people and, with about two months of language study under our belts, we were even able to have simple conversations with people.


Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country (Proverbs 25:25). We found out just how refreshing visitors from home can be this month when some friends from Louisville came for a week. Just hearing stories about mutual friends, laughing, and chatting was such a break from the normal grind of life. Not to mention the yummy American goodies they brought too!


We helped our American friends put on an Easter egg hunt for all the kiddos. We have become "auntie" and "uncle" to some really fun kids since we've arrived here, and we've been so thankful to serve our friends by babysitting and loving on their kids.



With our English school's first semester in full swing, we planned a special party to celebrate Easter with the kids. We played games, sang songs, decorated Easter eggs, and learned the story of Easter.

MAY



Besides celebrating my 26th birthday this month, our househelper Gigi joined our family. In order to free up our time for language study, she comes over four days a week to help me around the house and to cook us really good local food for lunch. Not only has she helped maintain my sanity and stress levels, she has become my best local friend and our unofficial language teacher. Her 9 year old son is one of our students as well.

JUNE





Summer months brought warm weather. Though I'd like to add clear skies, they were still an unfortunate shade of polluted gray. But we found a makeshift "backyard" in our apartment complex (don't think American apartment complex--think small, concrete city of 2000 residents) where we could have BBQs, play badminton, and lounge in the sun. I know our measly BBQ pit doesn't compare to your mammoth one, Mark, but we still attracted a fair amount of attention, as you can see from the little girl in the background of this pictures.

Kevin's appendix also decided to call it quits in June. After a harrowing day in the ER, he ended up in surgery. We were so thankful to be provided a suite in the international wing of the hospital for Kevin's recovery stay. I can't do the complete experience justice here, but if you'd like to read the entire tale, you can click here.

JULY





We headed to Malaysia in July from a vacation and for Kevin to take a class. We shared a hotel with some good friends of ours from Louisville. While the husbands went to class, the wives explored the island, hung out by the pool, and hit the beach. Tough life, I know.



The r&r was much needed in order to prepare for our English summer camp at school that kicked off as soon as we returned. We had a handful of students come for a week-long day camp. We ate Western food, played outside in the sweltering heat, and studied English. (I'd just like to point your attention to the color of the sky in the above picture. No photo shop. Real thing. Enjoy your blue skies, America!)

AUGUST



Though summer months didn't mean a break from full-time language study, it did mean a break from teaching English on Saturdays. With our free weekends, we were able to hang out with local friends more. We took a trip to the zoo with the family of a little girl that Kevin tutors (the girl from the "grass on your arm" story if you remember) If you think zoos are inhuman in America, you would really hate them here. In fact, the word I added to my vocabulary that day was "pitiable."



We also took a hiking trip with some youth on the outskirts of town. The spoke zero English so it was fun to connect with them in any way we could.

SEPTEMBER

This was one of the most difficult months of 2009. At the end of the month, we miscarried our first baby. Through the trial, God dealt with my heart so tenderly. I still miss our little baby and wonder how he/she would be doing today inside of me. We are still waiting, trusting, and praying for children and hope that in 2010 we will be able to welcome a little one to our family.

OCTOBER





God knew we needed some distraction and laughter in our lives after losing our baby, so only three days after the miscarriage, he gave us Beans. Some of our American friends bought her at a local pet market but discovered her puppy energy wouldn't compute with their three young children. We had been talking about getting a dog for a while so we more than happily welcomed this little Beanie Weenie into our home.





We're not playing, we're studying! During October, we also started a new language learning method. Since the beginning of the year, we had been slaving away with textbooks, memorizing vocabulary and listening to endless dialogue, with moderate success. But we were introduced to a new method that uses toys and wordless picture books to build both our vocabulary and listening comprehension. Our progress has been so much quicker, and I actually look forward to studying because it truly is fun!

NOVEMBER



We had our first snow day! It's just wrong to study on a snow day so we quit earlier and built a snowman, threw snowballs, and just played.



We kicked off the holiday season by hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house. We had over 30 people here altogether. We had all the traditional fare: turkey, stuffing, greenbean casserole, sweet potatoes, crescent rolls, cranberry applesauce, pecan pie...the list goes on! How is that possible, you might ask, when we live in Asia!?!? It was a sweet time of fellowship together as we discussed how God had blessed us during the year.

DECEMBER

The family gatherings and parties that kept most of you busy this Christmas season was what I missed most being away from home. But nonetheless we were very busy.



We were invited to give a lecture at a college English club about Christmas & American holiday traditions. We also threw a Christmas party for our kiddos at school.



I found a Christmas tree at a local market. Though the lights all blinked, flashed, or pulsed at different intervals, thus earning it the name "Seizure Tree," our home felt festive enough. We also started our own family Christmas traditions by having a sleepover in the living room by the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. We had lots of Skype & phone dates with our families to open gifts.

But most of all this Christmas season, we were thankful for Emmanuel, God with us.

Buy One Get One Free...Sort Of

Last week, I made a mistake. One of those mistakes where even in the split-second that the decision is made, you know it won't turn out the way you envisioned it.

Do we all remember the crockpot I got off Asian E-Bay? The one who came to my stove's aid in its hour of need during its convalescence? To refresh your memory, read here. So needless to say, my dear crockpot and I have a long, happy history together.

Until recently.

It often happens that when our househelper buys chicken, she puts it all in one plastic bag and sticks it in the freezer, creating one big chicken ice cube. When I set out to make some BBQ chicken for dinner, this is exactly what I found. So here was my train of thought...

Chicken.
Frozen.
Too big to fit in crockpot.
Must break apart chicken.
Smash it apart. Yes, that sounds fun.
Use the floor? Use the countertop? No...
Wouldn't it be convenient when the chicken breaks apart for it to already be in the crockpot?
Yes, most definitely convenient.

So I lift the chicken brick about a foot above the crockpot (glass mind you) and let it fly. It was during the chicken's air time that I realized that this was not going to turn out well in the end.

Exhibit A:





Exhibit B:



A few days later, my friend found the exact same crockpot on Asian E-bay. A few days after that, a huge box arrived at my door. Way too big just to be a crockpot. Upon opening the box, I found that the shipper had included a pressure cooker as well. (Oversights like that are pretty common on our side of the world.) I have no clue how to use a pressure cooker but I find it pretty ironic that my blunder was rewarded with a most useful cooking gadget that I'm sure I need and will grow to love.

Once I figure out what it does. Does anyone have a clue?

Higher Level Math

Today, in my tutoring session, I learned the words for "add," "subtract," and "multiply." (Not sure why "divide" was left out...maybe the other three math functions have a teenage girl clique and "divide" is the Ugly One who gets left out?)

So I'm supposed to read (yes, read. I am learning to read! Illiteracy, your days are numbered!) from my text book the following:

6x7 is how much?
6x7 is...

I rattle off the Asian-ese with no problem, but then come to a screeching hault. I thought this was supposed to be language study, not flashback to third grade multiplication tables? Oh multiplication kickball (true elementary school game--North Oaks Elementary really did rock the house), where are you when I need you? Mrs. Osborne, faithful third grade teacher, let me hear your sage mathmatical wisdom whisper in my ear...

Meanwhile, my tutor begins to prompt me. I decide to bust out my cell phone calculator to help this exercise along.

Forty two. 6x7 is forty two.

My tutor is impressed when I come up with the next answer so quickly. (He didn't know about the cell phone.)

I guess it should be promising when a crazy tonal language that once sounded like a fastfood menu gone crazy now proves to be more manageable than simple multiplication facts. Then again, maybe I should be making multiplication flashcards instead of vocabulary flashcards...

Ice Cream Soup

Last weekened we hosted a "stay-cation" of sorts at our house with the other American friends that live here in our city. We decided to spring the big bucks and buy import food treats--including "real" ice cream Dreyers for around $8 a pint! After the madness of nearly 30 adults and kiddos in our house, we were richly compenstated by all the goodies left behind. A lot of goodies. Literally, I drew blood from my finger trying to get the drawers in my freezer shut yesterday. (OK so I've got a little freezer with weird drawers but you get the idea!)

Kevin, being the protecter husband that he is, has assigned himself the arduous task of cleaning out the freezer in order to avoid such future injury to his precious wife. Translation: eat yummy ice cream every night. Being the domestic diva (well sort of kind of at least) of this casa, it's very rare to find ol' Kev Kev in the kitchen. But on one particular night this week, I was detained and Kevin had no choice but to prepare his ice cream himself.

It's not uncommon for ice cream to come out of the freezer as hard as a rock, and seeing that I still haven't purchased forks & spoons of my own (still waiting to get a hold of the ones I left in America--ahem--Beth Wilson), I make sure to soften the ice cream a bit as not to bend my borrowed spoons. Kevin has seen me do this before so he thought he would follow suit. But unfortunately, the fact that I use the defrost function and only for 10 seconds or so, escaped his recollection. I'm sure you can all guess what happened to dear Kev's delicious (and might I add expensive?!?!) evening treat. You guessed it...warm, melty, sticky, gooey ice cream soup.

A funny thing that comes with learning a second language is that your language ability is usually limited to your spheres of life. This means that Kevin knows very few kitchen words. Another funny thing about learning a second language is when that word you want to say sounds remarkably similar to some other word you didn't mean to say, something inevitably hilarious comes out of your mouth.

Case in point: After Kevin concocted his ice cream soup, he confessed his culinary blunder to me and says, "Well, I don't even know how to work that carrot anyways!"

Disclaimer: This story really is so much funnier if you speak Asian-ese. So for those of you blog readers who do, hope you enjoyed yet another newbie language blunder! For those of you who don't, consider picking it up. It provides endless hours of entertainment!

A "Weighty" Decision

Seeing that my marathon days have now come to a conclusion (there's not much pleasure in long, long runs when there's a gray sky and lots of curious onlookers outside), I've had to stir up some creative juices and broaden my athletic horizons. A few friends in the states had previously spoken highly of this 12 disc work-out program called P90X. Having always associated exercise videos with Richard Simmons doing the pony in neon spandex, I wasn't quick to jump on that bandwagon. But I finally bit the bullet and tried it out, only to find out that these things are hard. Really hard.

I needed to purchase some free weights to go along with my little endeavor so one Sunday I rode my bike to a nearby market where I was told I could find them. After wandering around several shops for some comparative shopping, I started developing that dull headache that I often get on shopping expeditions. For one, I was speaking my new language. Second of all, this purchase required higher level math. This weight cost this many local dollars per pound but this one cost this many local dollars per kilogram. Converting kilograms to pounds, local dollars to real dollars in an effort not to spend too much, all the while trying to understand the sales ladies (and defer their questions why I wanted to buy men's weights) and articulate myself became quite a challenge. I finally made a selection, bargained down the price a bit, and happily left the market with my purchase all boxed up.

Well, to be more specific, a helpful sales guy carried my purchase out of the store for me. Perhaps if I had been the one to carry my box, I would have forecasted the challenge that lie before me: getting a 60 pound box home with only my bike to assist me. The trek home went something like this:

Walk my bike 20 feet or so until the weight on the back somehow sent the back tires air born.

Recover box. Painstakingly place it in my basket.

Venture another 50 feet or so. Become unwarrantably confident.

Spy a cart full of peaches for sale. Only 2 local dollars a pound (roughly thirty cents). I can't pass up an offer like that!

Depart from the peach cart with an extra four pound of peaches, bringing my total weight load to 64 pounds.

My unwarranted confidence gets the better of my as I decide to attempt to ride my bike. My box of weights, my peaches, and myself end up on the ground. Right in front of a bus stop and quite a few chuckling onlookers.

Repeat process of re-loading box into basket but this time with the assistance of a concerned bus patron who decides to offer me the helpful comment: "It's too heavy." Thank you, sir, I know.

My confidence in check, I cautiously walk the rest of the way home.

Making it up the bike ramp of my apartment building and into the elevator was also a challenge but I'll leave that to your imagination.

The moral of the story: if one ever wants to make a purchase exceeding a certain weight limit, it is best to take a cab.

Thankful Day

I think living overseas, if you let it, can make you a more thankful person. The things I once took for granted or even considered my "rights" in America are not so easily come by here. We ex-pats can either become bitter & cynical or thankful for the realization that any good thing we have really is a blessing. So here is my thankful list for today:

1) the sky is blue!!
2) there is water in my pipes!!
3) I got to take a shower this morning!!

The list could go on but it's study time now...

Happy Thankful Day to you!

The Woes of Illiteracy

Today, in the ultimate manifestation of irony, there is plenty of water outside but none in my home. Interpretation of my sage prose: it's raining outside but the water is turned off in our entire apartment complex.

It's days like this that I wish I could read because apparently there was a sign on our door informing us of this small inconvenience. Unfortunately, however, the sign gave no indication of when exactly the water will come back. I'm thinking about starting a "pool" among the neighbors (thank you, amazing pun!). You know, we can all make bets about when we'll have water again, winner takes all! That could definitely be a good way to meet the neighbors and get some language practice...

It's really not that big of a deal since we don't drink the tap water. It's just a matter of not being able to bath, brush our teeth or do the dishes. And who really needs to do those things anyway? We thought back to our Viva Europa adventure and figured if we could live out of a tent & backpacks for three weeks, then a few days of creative general hygiene won't be so bad.

Well, my dirty little self is off to do some more studying...

Tour Guide Barbie

Remember that part in Toy Story where Mr. Potato Head, Hamm, and Slinky Dog cruise around Al's Toy Barn looking for Buzz with Tour Guide Barbie at the wheel? Well, that was me a few weeks ago. Except we weren't in a toy store, we were in one of the world's biggest cities. And I wasn't giving tours to cowboys and piggy banks but to some American friends that came in town. And I'm not made of plastic nor are my feet sporting the perma-high heel wedge. But all of these things are beside the point...

My tutor Anita (who also happens to be one of my best friends here) and I took a three-hour train from our city to the Big City where our friends were flying in from the states. Their flight didn't come in until nearly ten (which in reality ended up being nearly eleven) so we had some time to kill. I took her to my current Big City favorite spots--TGI Fridays and the import grocery store!

Now this place is certainly no HEB or Kroger but it makes my familiar-food-loving-rice-overloaded heart (or stomach rather) go pitter-patter (or perhaps "Feed me, feed me!!" if we're going with the stomach theme) at the sight of all the familiar and yummy food. I walked Anita up and down every aisle and gave her commentary on everything I could think of:

"This is Honey Bunches of Oats, my favorite cereal in America but I only buy it here on special occasions."

"This is Chef Boyardee, a staple for busy moms with kids to feed."

"This is Kraft Mac & Cheese. Somehow a package of orange powder magically turns into cheese when large quantities of butter & milk are added."

"This is turkey deli meat, my all-time favorite. This one especially only gets purchased on special occasions because it's nearly 10 USD for a meager box."

"This is Spam, I'm not sure what it is or why people eat it."

With a suitcase full of my must-haves (this is how we grocery shop around here--with empty suitcases!) and a Dr. Pepper for Anita, we headed to Friday's for lunch.

After picking up our friends at the airport, we spent the night at the luxurious Holiday Inn (note: I am not using luxurious sarcastically! After some of the hotel beds I've slept on here (otherwise known as plywood!), I'd come back to this hotel anyday!)

The next day was a busy one. The Great Wall of...ummm...Asia, a famous city square, and a five-story tourist shopping place. But since this was my third time to visit all of these places, I was more excited about visiting Subway for dinner!

Once we were back home, we spent the next week showing our friends around the city and meeting people. After a tiring ten days, our friends went back to the Big City to fly back over the big ocean.

So if anyone else is in the mood for a 24 plane ride, I'll pick you up at the airport and show you the town: TGI Fridays, import grocery stores, and Subway Sandwiches! If you're lucky, I'll even take you to that big, boring wall.