Greetings from Mae Sa Luang!
I want to catch all of you up on what's been happening since my last blog. There's been a ton, but I'll give the hopefully shortened version.
I got to spend time with my family and friends, which I enjoyed immensely!
This is my beautiful, newest niece who I met for the first time when I went home. :) I was told I was monopolizing her time. :) It was great to see all of my nieces and nephews. They are pretty spectacular and I'm going to miss them so much!
Hanging out with my family was great. I'm blessed to have them. I'm really going to miss them, but I'm thankful for SKYPE! :)
While at home, I was blessed with a nannying job. It wasn't what I had planned, but God answers prayers in ways we don't expect. It turned out to be better than what I had planned. Imagine that!
I was able to travel a little bit while I was home as well. I wasn't sure whether I was coming or going half the time, but all the traveling and visiting was a lot of fun. I was also in a car accident, which totaled my car. :( So sad, but I am thankful I'm okay, everything worked out and Grammer let me borrow her pickup. :)
I was a counselor at Camp Hye Sierra this year, which was an amazing experience. At the end, we were all exhausted, but it was worth it!
The Ladies of G1 AKA Jericho
I had mentioned before that I was starting a Master's Program in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (MATESOL) at Azusa Pacific University (APU). This program commenced on the Monday following camp. I think it's going to be a really good program. I'm really excited about it. One of my main reasons for starting this program is volunteering at Legacy. It will give me knowledge on how to be a more effective English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher. I hope that it will add to Legacy. Some of the things covered in class were review having received a degree in Education in the State of California, which focuses on Language Learners, but it's going to be good. The was the classes work is this... 2 weeks of intense all day class at APU in LA then they give 6 months worth of homework. The second semester, we meet in Chaing Mai (20 mins away from my village) for 2 weeks of intense class and then get another 6 months worth of work. The program is 2.5 years long. Our cohort is made up of 10 people. 7 will be teaching in China, 1 in Japan, 1 in Mexico, and me. They are wonderful people.
We're the Cougars
While at APU, a couple of us found a new boyfriend...
This statue was kind of freaky how real it looked. So nearly all the girls took pics with him.
So getting back into the swing of being a student has been kind of interesting. It has been very surreal. A couple of us were asking ourselves, "Why in the world are we back in school?" Haha! There were many moments when we stop and think, "Wow! We're grad students! Really? Wow!"
Well, I am back in Mae Sa Luang, Thailand. I was greeted with humidity, noise, smiles, and many stories from the first part of school that I missed to be able to start the MATESOL program. Thanks Aj. Nathan for being kind enough to teach my classes while I was gone. I'm glad to be back. I'm still adapting, but 9.5 hours of sleep last definitely helped in that process. The flight over was nice. Not only did I have a seat with extra leg room, no one sat in my row giving me 4 seats to myself. I promptly took advantage of it and slept for about 9-10 hours of the 13 hour flight. The next flight was only 3 hours long and it wasn't bad at all. It was pretty empty too so the gentleman who was sitting next to me moved and I was able to put my leg up and I napped considering it was 7 in the morning, I was preparing to try and get over this jet lag business ASAP. So the trip went really well.
I had forgotten how noisy Thailand is. There are people on motorbikes, trucks, music, animals, and fans always making noise. It's kind of crazy. Those of you who have talked to me on skype know what I'm talking about. :)
Fish... how lucky for me... Dinner last night we had fish. For lunch today, we had fish hot stuff nam pit (I think that's how you'd write it. lol) So I'm making up for not eating fish very much over the past few months.
As we were driving back from the airport. I was thinking, "Oh No! He's on the wrong side of the road." Good thing K. Wian was driving and not me. :) He's a good driver. It was a bit of a shock at first.
Last year, I wrote about my shower buddy. There is a new one in the teacher house. Luckily he didn't surprise me while I was showering when I first got back. I would have screamed for sure. He made our bathroom his home last year, but Erika kept on taking him outside and he would find his way back into the house somehow. Apparently he found his way into Erika's heart this summer by eating some weird bugs she didn't like. So, we now have a little buddy living in our shower. He's a little scary looking and I'm not exactly thrilled with having him in there. But it's all good. So, here is a pic of Pete...
Mr. Pete who likes my shampoo.
I think that's all for now. Thank you all for your prayers and love. I am so happy to have spent the time will all of you at home. It's bittersweet being back, but 9 months is going to fly by and I'll be home before you know it.
Take care enjoy your week!
Much Love and Hugs,
Lainy
