Ready for K4!

8 months ago I sat in the elementary office talking to the principal, exploring the possibility of moving to elementary. When she mentioned that a K4 position would be open I knew it was for me.  Today we had our open house and I met most of my sweet kiddos. I can't wait for them to come tomorrow!  It's going to be such a fun year :)  

Classroom "before" pictures (what it looked like when I showed up July 23):

The classroom in progress...

Ready for Open House today!

Ready or not, here they come! And yes, I'm ready :)

Summer highlights

If I had to sum up my summer in one phrase, it would be quality time.  The last three consecutive years I've had major summer events of some sort that kept me pretty busy (Argentina, Meg's wedding, then Argentina again), making this summer feel a bit low key. Somehow though, it was still jam packed, and as always, there were things I hoped to do that didn't happen. 

The highlight for sure was the quality time that I got with so many different people.  

One definite highlight of any trip to Michigan is my time with my friends Katie and Cora and their families. If anyone wants tips on how to keep their kids connected to relatives who live far away, these ladies are great models.  It brings me so much joy to see the kids' little faces at the front window when I drive up. Despite the fact that I've lived out of the country for most or all of their short lives, their moms make sure that they know me. I am so thankful for the time I had with them this summer! 

Making and then playing our own board game with Cora and her kids. 

Another highlight was the time I got to spend with my brother Matt. Between my five days in New York and his three in Michigan, I felt like I had more time with him than I have in years.  I also loved that I got to enjoy both of my brothers' cooking this summer. I don't know many (or any!) other expats who return home looking forward to the dinner their brother is going to make for them! 

A rather unexpected highlight was that by the end of the summer, I had managed to see, at least briefly, every single one of my aunts and uncles on both sides of the family.  I think there are 20 of them, and with so many people out of town during the summer months, it was a remarkable feat.  It also meant that I got a lot of time with my family and extended family in general, and that is always awesome.  They are the roots that give me the wings to fly here.  Within the aunt and uncle highlight was the particular time I got with my aunt and uncle in San Jose.  It was really special to get that one-on-one (or two) time with them and I can't wait to go back. 

In California with Aunt Leona and Uncle Dave

A long awaited highlight was the time I got with my friend Holly in Central California.  Ever since she made the decision to leave Bangkok we've were planning this trip and it did not disappoint.  I love that we had hours and hours to talk and that I got to see a little snipet of her life in California.  

With Holly :)

My final weekend in the States brought several great highlights of food and company. My friends Katie and Amy, who I skated with many years ago and both live out of state now, we're both in Ann Arbor visiting family. We had a chance to catch up over a long dinner at Bigalora Friday night. I'm not sure the last time that all three of us were together, but I think it was in the ballpark of five years ago. Then Saturday I went out for a farewell dinner with my mom  and siblings (we missed you Matt and Andrew!) at Bacco, which was amazing. Every single course was just perfect. Then on Sunday we had a bridal shower for my cousin at Bigalora Royal Oak and I wrapped up the weekend with breakfast with Katie and Amy on Monday before a Tuesday morning departure. Whew! 

The most anticipated highlight (and it lived up to its billing) was the quality time I got with my nephew.  I got time with him at family events, time with him at his house, one-on-one time babysitting him, and time with him at Aunts and Elliot Day. It was awesome to be there to see him roll over for the first time and watch him grow and develop over the course of the six weeks.  He was definitely longer and gigglier by the time I left, and he had just learned to sit up and had started eating cereal.  He is just absolutely delightful and I miss him terribly!  In addition to the joy of meeting him, I also really liked seeing my sister and brother-in-law as parents.  They're doing a great job :)  

The day we first met. Yes, I bought him that onesie :) 

What a great mom she is! 

Too cute! 

Our last day together- sitting up like a big boy! 

There were so many other quality time moments sprinkled throughout my summer that made it a lot of fun to be back.  It's never easy to leave everyone and the adjustment back can be a bit rough, but somehow the working crazy hours has made it a bit easier in that at least I don't feel the quiet quite so much.  I'm thankful for all the quality time that God blessed me with on my trip!  

Jet lag brain

I would like to write about my time in Michigan this summer, but that would require processing that is wel beyond my emotional or physical energy right now so instead I will put my feet up, eat a Thin Mint (or two or four) and tell you about my jet lag brain. 

Jet lag brain is defined as doing stupid things all day due to a lack of sleep.  I'm an 8-9 hours a night girl and my first years in Bangkok were blessedly free of jetlag, but lately I have not been so fortunate.  It's Friday night and I haven't slept more than 5 hours a night since Sunday night. That must be a lifetime record for me.  As I result I have done laughably stupid things all day, despite feeling much better than I really should. 

1. I spelled wonderful as "wonerful". On a bullentin board. Redo. 

2. A short time later I hung a line of numbers 1-100 on my classroom wall (for counting the first 100 days of school).  Well, that I was the idea anyway. Somehow I missed 76-80 and skipped right fromm 75 to 81. I was just glad that I only had to redo the last 3/4! 

3. I chose background paper for my jungle animals bullentin board and picked yellow.  Two of the animals are the same exact yellow. So I added some green grass to the bottom so they could be against a green background. But then the animals in the yellow looked like they were floating in midair. A quick text message consult with a friend decided that the floating was just going to be okay. Then I needed to add a sun because the giraffe's neck was too long for the grass resulting in yellow on yellow again. I have lightly tacked everything up now to make sure I like it before finalizing.  I've already adjusted the elephant around 100 times.  Quick project rapidly became a long project.  

The elephant is less angled now, but this is essentially the final product. No, I did not make the animals (credit there goes to my friend Karly), but yes, I did make that grass and I am pretty impressed with myself for that! 

4. Perhaps the mostly costly oops of all- I started a load of laundry without turning the water on (you need to turn it on and off every time you do a load). I discovered my mistake 20-30 min later when the machine was beeping like crazy and flashing all kinds of lights. I got the water on, but it wasn't coming out much and couldn't restart the machine/cycle. I unplugged the washer and plugged it back in because that fixes everything, right? Now it won't even turn on. Sigh. 

Luckily there are new coin operated machines on the ground floor of my building that I can use tomorrow night. Here's to hoping that I'll actually sleep tonight!  

California Dreamin

This past week I had the privilege to spend some time with family and friends in Central and Northern California. I had a few days with my friend Holly and then a few days with my Aunt Leona and Uncle Dave. Holly and I taught together at ICS before she moved to Central California a year ago. We started our trip in San Jose, traveling down the coast through Monterey, Carmel, and the Big Sur area, before catching the sunset in Cambria and finishing our drive at her home in Paso Robles. The drive was absolutely stunning, as was the company. We had a great breakfast with Holly's family the next morning and then we spent Friday in Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo and had oceanside apps and cocktails at Avila Beach before another beautiful sunset. It was so good to spend time with Holly after just talking via Skype for the last year!

On Saturday, Dave and Leona joined us for wine tasting in the Paso Robles region. With most of my wine tasting experience coming in deep Argentine reds and Malbecs, it was a lot of fun to taste a variety of wines from small vineyards in the area. At the end of the day, We ended the day at my uncle's favorite brewery, and then I head back to San Jose with them

After a lazy Sunday morning, Dave, Leona, and I went for a beach walk and tide pool exploration in Carmel. The sunny weather was perfect and it was a refreshing change to be on a gorgeous beach that wasn't 95 degrees and humid! We explored the charming town of Carmel a bit before heading to the Monterey Aquarium for their summer live music evening. The aquarium itself was amazing, and that much more fun for the evening atmosphere (and lack of hoards of children). For my last day we drove north to Napa for a couple of tours and tastings, fulfilling a lifelong dream of mine to visit Napa Valley. It lived up to everything I imagined, and more. We had a special dinner at home that night before I flew out the next morning. 

It was a wonderful week that left me asking, can I do this every year? 

New York!

This past weekend I got to go to New York to visit my brother.  I love NYC, but I've been several times in the last few years so we decided to spend some time outside the city and rented an Airbnb in the Catskills for two nights.  I got some time in lower Manhattan on Friday before while Matt worked and then we drove north with his girlfriend, his dog, and his roommate's dog.  It was a crowded car, but it worked.  Like any good up north trip, our activities primarily consisted of hiking and discussing, planning, preparing, and eating great meals.  Our cabin was next to a pond near the small town of Walden, NY.  Almost like being at Walden Pond, almost.  The cabin had a screened in porch overlooking the pond that we found was the perfect breakfast spot. And appetizer spot. And dinner spot. 

Saturday was cold and a bit wet so our hike got cut a bit short and we had a nice big lunch in town before heading back and going for a long walk in the woods behind the cabin.  On Sunday afternoon we hiked in Harriman State Park on our way back to the city.  It was a beautiful day, gorgeous hike in the hills, and perfect ending to the trip.  On Monday I got my city fix with a visit to the Tenement Museum, Central Park, the MET, and a cafe while Matt worked and then a great evening with dinner and drinks in the Lower East Side.  Tuesday I got time in Matt's neighborhood, Ridgewood, which I really enjoy, before flying back to Detroit.  I can't wait to go back next year!  

Saturday hike to the waterfall in Minnewaska State Park 

Wildflowers and woods behind the cabin. 

Start of the Sunday hike in Harriman State Park 

Lunch in Central Park 

Ten Years Ago

Ten years ago this week I went on a "once in a lifetime" trip to Argentina to visit my brother at the end of his study abroad semester.  Over the course of the two weeks I was there I fell in love with the country and rekindled the love of travel that I had discovered on my own study abroad semester a few years earlier in Aberdeen, Scotland. Those two weeks I spent in Argentina drastically changed the last decade of my life, leading me to move to Buenos Aires myself two years later, and then on to Bangkok a few years after that.  I never could have imagined this international teacher life- that someone would pay me to teach in a Christian school in a foreign country where the perks include introducing students to Christ and traveling on weekends.  I never imagined as I struggled with caring about high school and college German classes because "when would I ever use a foreign language?!" that years later I would speak Spanish and even a little bit of Thai (and spend a week in Austria during college really wishing I'd paid attention in German class!).  

My life in Bangkok comes with a great many sacrifices, but it also comes with much joy, great adventure, and a daily life that feel amazingly normal to me now.  The more I travel and live, the more I leave pieces of my heart scattered around the globe.  The more people and cutlures that I encounter the more beauty and suffering I see in the rainbow of faces around me.  I love being a part of this global community, love living as an ambassador for Jesus in a land where his name is barely known.  I hate the unknowns, the how longs, the what nexts.  But I love the present, the todays.  I love summers in Michigan and around the US, connecting with friends and family around the world.  

In the ten years since I stepped off that flight at Ezeiza airport (to a baggage handlers strike and a swarm of angry Argentines, I might add) I have changed in ways I never could have predicted, shaped into something new by both the beauty of it all and the pain that accompanies.  So the next ten years? I don't think I can even begin to imagine.  

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end...

I've spent most of my teaching career in a middle school classroom, despite my dual certification in elementary and middle.  From Lincoln to BAICA to Derby to ICS, I've found a home within the strange structure and nuances of the middle grades.  So it not without sadness that I pack up my boxes and move them to K4.  But even as I say good-bye to my 120+ students this week, I still know it's the right choice.  I'll miss my older students. I'll miss their ability to do things on their own. I'll miss their humor.  I'll miss solving equations with them. I'll miss that they instantly know what The Look means and why they are receiving it. But, I am ready.   

I spent my morning sorting and organizing in my new classroom and beginning to envision more concretely what my coming year will look like.  It's fun and exciting to think about the joy and delight in four year olds as they discover and experience the world around them.  Even when that joy gives way to fatigue and tears, I love the honesty of kids that age. They are who they are, even when you might not want them to be :)  I love watching them learn, seeing them master new skills, and the sense of accomplishment they feel when they do that.  I love the small class, and really getting to know each student and family. I love that I get to exercise a muscle I haven't used in a number of years and put to use the full range of training I got at Hope and The Discovery Center.  

I am thankful that ICS has given me this opportunity. I'm thankful that I could change teaching positions and do something new without changing jobs.  In a field that has very few opportunities for professional growth (though the personal growth is unending), making lateral moves keeps things fresh and interesting.  And I am thankful that I have six weeks in the States to see people (and buy classroom stuff!) before the transition is official.  Two and a half more days middle school!