"Bless me, what do they teach them at these schools?"
"Bless me, what do they teach them at these schools?" (Prof. Kirke, The Last Battle, 'Further Up and Further In') Every day these this week, and the last few weeks, I've gone to language school to, as my team leader likes to say, "play with dolls!" I'm at a fully immersive, speaking, and listening-based school. (No English is allowed in class!) So far we are focusing on listening. Our teacher gives us vocabulary by putting down objects (a toy car, dolls representing family members, or pictures of places or things) or by acting things out (run, jump, sit, pay, etc.). Then we point at the… Read more >>A Very Different Country
"It was a very different country from any they had yet seen." (Voyage of the Dawn Treader, 'The Island of the Voices.') There aren't any invisible monopods in this new country of mine, but it is still different than anywhere I have been before. Nearly every time I see a flower I stop to look at it or snap a picture to google later. So many plants I don't recognize! I've lived in a tropical Southeast Asian climate, the Southern California desert, and the conifer wonderland of the States' Pacific Northwest---I've even been to the Australian bush! But here there are still new things to see. One… Read more >>
Looking into the "Wardrobe"
"Lucy felt a little frightened, but she felt very inquisitive and excited as well." (The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, 'Lucy looks into a Wardrobe") I've been in my new home less than a week! My experience so far has been very "same, same, but different." We drive on the same side of the road in my city as in the US. I found my shampoo brand! I can shop at a big grocery store. I can book a place to stay on air bnb. I can use google maps to get where I need to go. There are also many things that are different and new. Uber and taxi are cheap here, walking is common, there is no… Read more >>"Worth all...it Cost"
Their quest had been worth all the pains it cost. (Jill’s reflection in C. S. Lewis' The Silver Chair) I’m getting ready to leave to tithe my career: two whole years halfway across the world from my home! It’s time to get ready to say goodbye. And it’s not just me who counts the cost. My choice means that my family has to say goodbye, too. I was on a call with my teammates from Cambodia who I call “Uncle Gil” and “Aunt Ruth” the other day, sharing about my plans and getting advice from people who had been on the field for decades. Uncle Gil reminded me that “there’s a cost to going, but… Read more >>