valentine's day

In honor of Valentine's Day, we had a party at the English club on Friday. Originally we said everyone had to wear something pink, but after hearing great protests from the guys, we expanded the requirements to pink or red. We also incorporated another American favorite (although not typically associated with Valentine's Day, but whatever) and made it a dessert potluck! Around 25 or so students came - a good turnout for a rainy day. They brought chocolate, fruit, cake, pudding, cookies, all sorts of goodies! There were games and plenty of joking and laughter. We have a great group of students. I love them. :)

 

 

 

 

 

Another attempt to capture the beautiful sky. This looked unreal, so much like a painting.

 

This photo is yesterday's photo. After our discussion groups (which went awesome, by the way) a couple of us went out to eat at our favorite almost-American restaurant. Here's them fake-toasting for the camera. :)

birthday week

I don't really like to make my birthday a big deal. I don't like to be the center of attention, so I'm usually not a big fan of everyone singing to me... and drawing a lot of attention my way... It kind of makes me want to hide, just being honest. Typically my birthday consists of going to dinner with some close friends and family. Nothing big, no elaborate party, just a nice, quiet evening.

This year was a little bit different. Thursday I turned 22. It was going to be unique anyways because A: I was in a foreign country, and B: because of the time difference, my birthday was really like 36 hours long. Everyone kept asking me what I wanted to do for my birthday. I kept responding, "Oh, something low-key, maybe just a nice dinner." What ended up happening was pretty perfect.

We get to school late because I was skyping with my family, and as soon as I walk in, everyone starts singing "Happy Birthday," and one of my teachers brings out an apple coffeecake with a birthday candle, a very sweet surprise.

 

After class, we come home and relax for a little bit. Morgan makes some really awesome Mexican food. It tastes like it came straight out of a Mexican restaurant. I mean, really. It would have been awesome in the States. After dinner, Jenn and Morgan come in to my room, singing and carrying another cake! Apparently, they forgot to pick up candles, so my birthday "candles" were matches stuck on top.

  

Around the time of eating the cake, two dear friends, Donna and T, show up with flowers! We eat the cake with some super sugary chocolate icing straight out of the pan, tell jokes, laugh a lot, sing a little, just really enjoy each others company in a very laid-back night. Pretty perfect.

 

 

But that wasn't all they had in store. We had decided to go out to dinner with all of our friends on Saturday. Birthday dinners are opposite of that in America. Back home, the one celebrating the birthday gets treated out to dinner, but here the birthday girl (or guy) pays for everyone else's meal. I decided I was going to be like a national and pay for everyone's dinner. Thankfully, the local food is really inexpensive, so it wasn't going to be quite like picking up the bill in America.

All week long, that was the plan. Dinner at 6:30 on Saturday. Rachel's paying. When I get up that morning, Morgan's already dressed and heading out the door. She tells me she's going to go read. Not out of the ordinary. She likes to get out of the house, whereas I'm perfectly okay staying at home all day.

I get up and make blueberry muffin bread (thanks, Aubrey!). As I'm making them, Jenn comes in and says she's going to the store and asks if I need anything. "Mmm, maybe pick up some eggs?" She leaves. I'm home alone. I do all the stuff I would do on any other normal day at home: eat, exercise, shower, read, play guitar. Around 4:30, Morgan finally comes home. We finish getting ready right at 6:30 and get in the car. Morgan says that Donna doesn't know how to get to the restaurant, so she's going to ride with us. We pull in, and Donna's apparently "not ready" so we have to go inside and wait.

I walk up the sidewalk, open the door, and walk inside the dark room. "SURPRISE!" Suddenly, some 20 people pop up at me from all directions.

Hey, guess what? We weren't going to the restaurant. Morgan hadn't gone to read or Jenn to the store. They had this planned all along, those sneaky girls. They had gotten here earlier and decorated the whole house, made cupcakes, and even set up a "photo booth" of sorts with funny masks and hats. 

So I got to spend the evening with some great friends who, despite always starting and showing up at things late, actually arrived early to surprise me! They are awesome. So, in the end, it was the perfect combination - a quiet, chill birthday evening and a crazy surprise party on the weekend. I wonder how long I can keep this birthday celebration going...

 

 

'Tis the season...

Can you believe we're in December? I mean, really. It's especially difficult to realize how much time as passed when the weather stays 90 degrees year-round. There's no gradual (or sometimes drastic) dropping of the temperature to indicate we're approaching the end of the year.

With December comes holiday celebrations! It is hard to imagine it's the holiday season when you could fry an egg on the sidewalk, but nonetheless, we fully embrace the festivities. Last weekend, we celebrated Christmas with the students at the English center. Because this city is pretty large and diverse, there are a lot of people who celebrate Christmas here. 

We colored ornaments, exchanged gifts, sang carols, ate some chicken... we had a ball. It was quite amusing to hear Asians sing "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" when they have never experienced snow and will never see anything of the like unless a miracle happens (see video below). There was a sweet time of sharing family holiday traditions and memories that brought laughter and tears.

 

One thing's for sure: not having all the commercialism and images of Santa around really allows one to think about why we're doing all of this. Thank You for Your gift. You sacrificed more than we can ever fathom. Praise be to the one who is always faithful and infinitely great.

fall festivities

I love fall. That's one of the things that's been hardest to adjust to - having only two seasons: dry and rainy. While loved ones back home may be enjoying the crisp autumn air; leaves changing into brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and red; and corn mazes in the shape of Abraham Lincoln, I'm sweating in the constant 90-degree heat, missing the festive hayrides and cider.

Well, last week, we brought a little bit of America to southeast Asia with a Fall Festival! Complete with homemade scarecrows, caramel popcorn, and pumpkin decorating. We taught them about the four seasons and how fall is associated with the harvest. They learned how to play hot potato with a pumpkin that surprisingly didn't bust when it was dropped and got to take pictures next to our scarecrows (which I somehow managed to not get a single picture of). I did get some pictures of our other festivities, however.

Caramel popcorn! We put the caramel on the side because A: they tend to not like really sweet things,
so B: we didn't want to waste any of the precious caramel sauce.

A group decorating their pumpkin

The finished pumpkins. The front left pumpkin was the winner. Earlier we talked about the seasons, and so this group decorated their pumpkin with scenes from spring, summer, fall, and winter.
If you'll notice the back right pumpkin, you may see a familiar face. It's Angry Birds!

Nothing could have finished the evening better than a little bit of line dancing. That's right: imagine 30+ Asians dancing to the Cotton-Eyed Joe. Highlight of the evening. We had a blast, and it was great to be able to share fond traditions from home with new friends.