Haman the Bully

Yesterday. I was teaching from the book of Esther for my Bible class. I love talking about the lessons in this book!  I was scheduled to teach chapter three: the chapter that introduces the villainous Haman.  As I was talking, the kids got real quiet (which is one of their spelling words this week and also quite (oops, another spelling word) rare) as I started discussing why I thought that Haman was a bully.  I talked about why bullies do what they do and then gave examples of some of the bullying the kids may encounter on the playground or in other social settings.  As I preached... I mean teached.. I mean taught, I just felt that I needed to really hit home that in actually bullies do what they do because they are afraid that people might find out what they are scared of, not like them, and make fun of them.  So I said to the kids, "When someone is bullying you, you need to ask this question - What are you really scared of?" With the understanding that the person they ask this to, probably will not know how to answer that at first and be thrown off. So be prepared.
It was a interesting to watch a number of the faces in the class as we talked through this.  I am praying that God gives me numerous opportunities to speak truth over this class and see some much needed changes.

first day in G3

So today I  started my adventure with the G3 class. We had a chance to discuss the weather and climate. So we talked about the fact that if they were wise, they would buy land now here in Nepal. They all looked at me a bit  strangely... but don't worry, I've seen that look many a time. I can handle it... so I continued with this whole idea that with the reported global warming, ice caps were melting, thus sea levels were rising, thus high places in the world would see an increase of population. All those people would need housing, therefore if you bought land now, when it was needed they could use it as needed. It was quite funny to see their looks. I ,of course explained that God was ultimately in control of His creation, so we need not worry, but we are commanded to be good stewards of God's creation. One of the students said,'"Then we need to pray!"
Amen to that!

Boy, it is good to be back in the classroom again!

The Silence it Over

I realized that I have been quiet on here for a while. So I just wanted to write a quick note to say I am doing well and that once I get a bit more settled in my new job I will  pick up on the blogging. Oh! The new job?!.. I am now teaching third grade. Not for long.. but to 'PHIL' in for an emergency home leave this term. Should be fun!

Thanks for the prayers..

New Direction

Yesterday in my post, I mentioned that I was moving to a new office in about three weeks. That is because I have a new title in my job and will be needed to have my own office. At last count I will have about four different jobs.  My new title, for the next 18 months or so, is Academic Director (K-13).  The job description is varied and all things I am looking forward to doing. It is a new position at the school, so I will be writing a lot of the job as I progress.
I ask that you pray for me as I take on this new role. I want most of all to glorify God in all I do and be an encouragement to others.

Above the School Kitchen

My office at school sits over the school kitchen.

Each day my nose is assaulted with the aromatic smells of garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, turmeric, black pepper, chilies, onions, and cilantro. It smells heavenly and i just wish that they would make a hot drink of it all, for these cold, winter days. Today I wandered down to the kitchen to see what was actually on the menu and it is tomato soup with pasta. I thought, 'Never knew that tomato soup smelled this way? Wished that I had signed up for lunch now." It is really quite difficult to concentrate some days because I am salivating so much. I was thinking how could I make a scratch and sniff of this wonderful aroma for my blog. When I figure that out I will share it with you.
Other issue with being over the kitchen is the heat. I thought that during the winter months the heat from the kitchen would also help heat the office. Alas, it is not true. A gas heater is still needed. Most days we are wearing gloves, mufflers, and at least three layers, trying to stay warm. The other day, I was in the staff lounge getting a cup of hot water and the kitchen cook came in. I said, " Man, it is a lot warmer today." To which she retorted, "Only if you are in the kitchen." I replied," I was wondering why the kitchen always had at least five people in there." She said, "Because of the heat." I smiled, "And here I thought it was your warm personality." She laughed, " Well, that too."

I guess I need to enjoy the aroma while I can, as I will be moving to a new office in about three weeks. Hope that I can still get some whiffs of lunch cooking.

is this term over yet!?

We have been in school for four days, but already I am asking, " When is spring break?" It's going to be a long term.
But on the side of silver lining... look at all the future opportunities I have to teach and influence the next generation.
Okay, Okay, when you look at it that way....Bring on Day 5!

hail poetry!

this week i took on a new adventure
it has to do with poems
i am teaching grade 3 this wordy art
when i'd rather read them tomes.

each week we will gather and we will study
a plethora of rhymes
but i would rather teach them verbs or nouns
addition, even times!

when i was a kid, my father often read
us children  poems in verse
he is the poet, he excels at it
so reading poems i dread the worse.

i've tried my hand at smithing
to get  the rhythming right
but as this poor attempt will show
in poetry... i'm not so bright.

so this term will be a challenge
as I try and instill this art,
this love for poetic artistry
into each tender heart.

Another First

When I lived in Singapore, it seemed that every afternoon during certain seasons and then again in the middle of the night, massive thunderstorms would roll over the island. I hated that roaring, rolling sound! Did as a kid, still do as a bigger kid!  Here in Nepal, I have never heard thunder... until today!

I was sitting in a meeting when I heard this sound like someone rolling an empty 50-gallon drum across a rocky road. I thought, " What on earth is that?" It seemed to go on forever!  When it stopped, I got back to the business at hand. Then the noise came again. About this time, the kids out on the playground for lunch, realizing what it was and started to cheer!  Someone at the meeting said, " Oh that is thunder." I was so shocked. But sure enough, it started to spit and the thunder rolled again.
Rain has been so scarce this year that I had forgotten what it sounded like. It was nice to see the rain, if only for two minutes. And within seconds after the 'storm' passed, we were back to our sun and warmish temperatures!

Science from the Bible?

So yesterday, I was teaching G2 science and we started a new unit on animal variation and adaptations. I began with Genesis (a very good place to start) and then moved to Job.  The students had not heard of Job or his story before, so I ended up telling them that story as a precursor to why God was asking Job questions about animals. It was a good tangent!  We discussed the known purposes of animals and thought about the creativity God has and that we, made in His image, also have. I love using my creativity to teach and using the Bible to teach. What a blessing!

Post 200!!!

Wow! I am at post 200! I got on to write about my science class yesterday and realized that I was about to write my 200th post. I don't think I ever journaled  that long or that much in my life! I have been in Nepal for seven months now and it was been an amazing journey. Well here's to the next 100!

First Day of 2nd Semester

It has been a very quiet day today. No classes to teach and I have been able to move around the school and observe. My favorite past time!  I actually have not taken any photos either...boy, I am slacking!
Actually I am going into the Year Two to teach a math class about measuring in a couple minutes. We do not do inches here, so I am working with centimeters. So instead of using inchworms, I am using ...slugs.  You thought I was going to say centipedes, didn't you? No, I can not use those.. they are too dangerous and besides this class LOVES slugs! So got to go and teach. But it is nice to be in my 'real' roll again!

Precious Treasure?

In church on Sunday, the pastor was giving a children's sermon and he raved about his most precious treasure. He had had it for 38 years and wherever he went, this treasure went too. He goes on and on about it and then asks the kids, " What do you think my treasure is?" About three kids replied with a heavy 'duh',   "Your Bible! "  The whole congregation laughed at the tone of the kids and also in agreement. Pastor turned bright red and look very embarrassed. He said, " Yes, a bible is a wonderful treasure, but unfortunately that is not the treasure I was talking about!" The congregation laughed again. He continued, " Maybe I should not do this talk this week. Maybe I should hold off til next week and come back with my Bible in this bag!"
He did reveal that his most treasured possession was a plain, white cup! When one of the kids saw it, they said, " That's boring." I think Pastor was a bit offended, but his message about how God looks at us each and considers us His treasure, no matter how ordinary or plain we look to others was good.

Nepali Update

On Saturdays, I attend a Nepali church usually (then on Sundays, I attend an Int'l Church).  However over the holidays, I have been remiss in going to the Nepali church. So this Saturday, I decided to pick up again and see how rusty my Nepali was. It was not as bad as I thought, which was a pleasant surprise. I was able to follow most of the songs. They sang " Shout to the Lord " which is a nice, slow one, making it easier to read along, but I had to stand on the fact that God understands even my 'fumblese.'
The sermon was in Nepali, but all the power points were in English. So I was able to follow the sermon too.
All in all, I have such a wonderful time of praise and worship on Saturdays. I need to be more diligent to attend.

Monkey Guards

So I was attending this meeting at a local hotel and as I was walking around the grounds with a friend, this very official looking man greeted us as he walked by. My friend whispered to me, " Those are the monkey guards."
"The what?!"
" The monkey guards. They shoot the monkeys."
I was a bit unbelieving. I could not imagine this guard using his gun  and shooting monkeys. That would be so against his religious values.

At lunch as we were sitting in the garden, I took a closer look at these Monkey Guards and that's when I noticed their weapons. They had slingshots!  Just regular old stick and rubber slingshots. So now I understood. I was relieved to know that there was no conflict of religious beliefs and job requirements.

I snapped a quick photo. Not sure if you can see the slingshot. But he is armed and dangerous.

Needless to say, we were not bothered by any of the vermin, so he was doing his job well!

Itching to Get Back.

The last three days I have been away on a leadership team meeting to plan for the next year. It was so nice to have central heating and running water. Oh the meetings were okay too...but it is good to be back and see what has been happening in the rest of the world.  I have a couple funny things to blog about, but since I need to get caught up on work, the blog will have to wait. Just wanted to touch base and warm up my keyboard again.
:)

Knocking Down the Walls!

A school wall.

I believe in past blogs I have mentioned that the city of KTM is on a huge road-widening initiative.  Since May 2012, the city has looked like an earthquake hit it. There are piles of bricks and rubble everywhere as walls, storefronts, and road have been tore down and tore up!  Our area has seen some minor work, but this past week that changed.

A make-shift wall

 A couple bulldozers rumbled up the main road of our burb last weekend and as they rolled along, they would suddenly just swerve into a random wall, ripping huge, gaping holes.  They might travel a bit down that wall, pushing bricks and mortar over or sometimes they would back up and move down the road and then suddenly attack another random wall. The owners of the wall would all rush out in surprise, but really had no recourse to complain. They had been warned about a year ago, when men from the Urban Planning Dept. came through, measuring and spray painting the number of meters each wall needed to move back.  So since they had not done the work themselves, ( and were probably waiting for the city to do most of the work) the bulldozers came in to serve as a reminder.  So now as I walk to school I get to see into a lot of private property. The neighborhood is looking a bit like a war zone. Maybe by this time next year the road will be wider with a sidewalk, and actually paved. I will not hold my breath!

Experiencing the Weekend

On Sunday after church a friend invited me to tag along and visit a children's home not to far from where I live. I really enjoy getting out and doing different things, so I went along. It was a joy to see the excitement on the kids faces as we entered the courtyard and their eagerness to interact was a delight. My Nepali is shameful though and it was difficult not being able to converse with them easily. We looked at books for a while, asking questions about their homework, and then played some games in the yard. One of the youngest girls didn't let language get in the way when we were playing soccer.  If we didn't share and pass the ball to everyone, she gave a lecture about it!
It was such a refreshing way to spend a couple hour this weekend. I came away with warm fuzzies in my heart and a spring in my step, ready to face a very busy week!

A Little Cricket in the Alley

Yesterday as I was headed out to the store, I walked up the alley near our house and came across a little game of cricket. I have seen the guys playing before and had to catch a ball once or twice, but on this day they invited me to play. So I got ready to field a couple bats, but they could not hit them my direction well.  So I gave a wave and headed off on my errands.

On my way home, they were still playing and as I approached the batter motioned for the bowler to pitch. I knew he was going to try one more time to bat a ball my way, so I slowed my pace and freed a hand in preparation.  The bowler bowled and the batter actually hit it. The ball popped up into the air and ...over the zoo fence, just above my head!  I shouted, " Six" and walked on laughing. The other guys playing razzed the batter quite a bit for ending the game!
I enjoy cricket so much!

Hot Water Bottle Bed fact

 Last night as I was laying in bed trying to stay warm with two hot-water bottles, I got to thinking about a water bed. If I just bought about 15 more hot-water bottles and filled them up with hot water I could cover my bed, sleep warm, and have a water bed. I  began to wonder if the person who created the waterbed started with this idea. I decided to look it up this morning, found a couple websites that explained it, and this was the one I liked best.

Who Invented the waterbed? The earliest recorded use of a 'waterbed' was over 3000 years ago when Persians slumbered on sun-warmed goat skin water bags. Modern waterbeds were first devised by a British physician, Dr. William Hooper, in 1851. He recognized the benefits of a pressure reduced surface in the treatment of a number of medical conditions and made a basic water filled mattress from rubber. Finally, in the 1960's an American, Charles Hall, refined the construction using hi-tech materials and sophisticated production techniques into the PVC based mattresses we are familiar with today. copied from http://www.waterbed.co.uk/faq01.html

So it actually sounds like the sun-warmed goat skins were hot water bottles of sorts. Just wanted you to be informed and if you get a chance, bring this fact up in conversation with someone today!

Motoring on Ahead!

It is amazing how much work you can get done with just a couple days of no students or staff at the school.
I am feeling that I at least am ready for the first day of school this term. I will probably feel behind once that day is done, but for now I am just plugging away at my list of things to do.  Now if I could just get my desk cleaned off! :)

Day One of 2013

 2013 crept in quietly at my house. I was asleep by 10PM last night and woke up at 6AM this morning wondering if the new year had come. I mean, I had no indication that it had happened! There were no fireworks, no street roamers singing at the top of their voices, no noise! It was just another day on the calendar here. It was quite bizarre.   (Nepal's new year will be celebrated in March or April, and then I will not be sleeping, so I should get caught up now.)

I went in to school today and got some work done.  When I got back home, Didi was still here.  She was finishing up work and I asked her if she wanted a cup of coffee. She was a bit taken back, but said, "Yes."   I had one of those sticks of coffee powder with the milk and the sugar already mixed in. I got the water boiling and she ran over to get the milk and sugar. I said in very broken Nepali, " No, it is already in there." "What?!" she exclaimed. So I torn off the top and poured the mixture into the cup and handed it to her. She could not get over it. When I poured the boiling water in, she cried out, "The milk, the milk...I see it!" There was such delight on her face, I just had to smile.  She enjoyed the whole cup and kept marveling over the whole thing. I realized it was the small, personal interactions that really matter.  Before she left, I gave her another one to take home.

I am not one to make New Year resolutions but I decided right then and there - I need to take more time to delight in the little interactions this year! That should not be hard, right!?

Happy 2013!