Hi all,
I had my second tutoring session today. We went more in depth today than we did on our first visit.
The first visit was mainly us going through what I needed to learn before leaving. We did go through a few words that day but today was the first big day.
During the process of looking for a tutor, I spent time using some language CDs I borrowed from some friends as well as working through the Rosetta Stone disc that the organization wanted me to use. I will admit that I was a little skeptical that any of it would work but my tutor today said she thought I was doing great!! She said to keep doing what I'm doing on top of the work she gives me. I am so darned happy that she thinks I'm doing well! So happy that I could almost cry! haha
Just wanted to update ya'll!
Love,
Jamie
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
More pictures from my East Asia trip
These pictures include trips around the city we were staying as well as our short jaunt through Hong Kong.
Some of the people shown are David & Beth Siek and Cathy & Jamie Boyd.
(sorry if any of the pictures have already been shown!)
Everyone needs some humor in their lives!
I finally found a tutor to help me in learning this new language. We met last Friday for the first time and hit it off right away! She has a similar sense of humor, which could be scary, and is a very good teacher. So I'm excited to work with her. We meet Wednesday morning for our second session where she will test me on my first page of homework (gulp).
I swear this brings back such bad memories! :) For some reason it makes me think of Jr. High. I was never a smart student. Ask my parents - I struggled in nearly every subject I took except for Band. hahaha I just had no interest whatsoever to study. I would have rather been reading or hanging out with my family or friends...or watching Thunder Cats.....:)
I remember one day in the 7th grade, I got to school and was visiting with my friends while waiting for the bell to ring. One of my friends mentioned our homework assignment for Science. We were supposed to gather plants/vegetation to study and then go over our findings in class. We had nearly a week to prepare for this assignment but of course I waited until the morning of to remember it. So I grabbed some leaves off of a bush and tried to pass them off as my completed assignment. How about we just say that I didn't ace that assignment and leave it at that. :)
There was another time when my parents decided to come down hard on me and "ground" me to my room to study for finals. I did great for about the first 15 minutes until I decided to lay down. I quickly became drowsy and stretched out over the side of my bed, pretending to study, and I fell asleep. I honestly have NO CLUE how I made it out of Jr. High!!!???
I say all that because it is ironic how I'm back to studying. I don't remember the first thing about studying so I'm relying on lots of kneeling.... and then lots more kneeling. :)
And I'm sure many of you are asking why this international school wants me to help teach? Don't worry- I'm asking the same thing. ;)
But I'm sure it will all work out for the good of our Father. :)
I'm heading to Hico to see my family for Labor Day. Looking forward to visiting with everyone and just sitting around doing a whole lot of nothing!
I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Labor Day weekend.
Love,
Jamie
I swear this brings back such bad memories! :) For some reason it makes me think of Jr. High. I was never a smart student. Ask my parents - I struggled in nearly every subject I took except for Band. hahaha I just had no interest whatsoever to study. I would have rather been reading or hanging out with my family or friends...or watching Thunder Cats.....:)
I remember one day in the 7th grade, I got to school and was visiting with my friends while waiting for the bell to ring. One of my friends mentioned our homework assignment for Science. We were supposed to gather plants/vegetation to study and then go over our findings in class. We had nearly a week to prepare for this assignment but of course I waited until the morning of to remember it. So I grabbed some leaves off of a bush and tried to pass them off as my completed assignment. How about we just say that I didn't ace that assignment and leave it at that. :)
There was another time when my parents decided to come down hard on me and "ground" me to my room to study for finals. I did great for about the first 15 minutes until I decided to lay down. I quickly became drowsy and stretched out over the side of my bed, pretending to study, and I fell asleep. I honestly have NO CLUE how I made it out of Jr. High!!!???
I say all that because it is ironic how I'm back to studying. I don't remember the first thing about studying so I'm relying on lots of kneeling.... and then lots more kneeling. :)
And I'm sure many of you are asking why this international school wants me to help teach? Don't worry- I'm asking the same thing. ;)
But I'm sure it will all work out for the good of our Father. :)
I'm heading to Hico to see my family for Labor Day. Looking forward to visiting with everyone and just sitting around doing a whole lot of nothing!
I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful Labor Day weekend.
Love,
Jamie
Sunday, August 19, 2007
East Asia Trip
Sorry it has been so long since my last update! Things have been so busy around here.
I made my first trip to a new part of East Asia at the end of July. I visited the location where I will be moving in January. What an adventure it was! There were so many exciting things that happened on the trip that I want to tell you about them as best I can. We departed Austin on July 27th. Travel plans were to fly to LA on a short flight then to Hong Kong on a longer flight, somewhere around 13 hours. We had a long enough layover in HK that we stayed the night and did a little sight seeing. Not much to see although we did find a McDonald’s! The Hotel we stayed in was rather small. Smaller than the standard U.S.A. hotel room. The size of our room was somewhere around 9x9 with a small bathroom. There was such little space, approximately 12”, between the beds that I literally had to turn my feet sideways to take my shoes off. But it wasn’t too bad. The beds were comfy and the company was great.
The bathroom was rather interesting. It had a glass wall and door that separated it from the bedroom. And the glass wall had some sort of frosted treatment on the middle part of the wall and door. I guess they must have thought that this frosted stuff would work for when you wanted privacy in the bathroom. Needless to say I didn’t use the bathroom much…
We left HK on Sunday morning and caught our last flight to the final destination. We arrived at the KM airport and were expecting a friend to pick us up but we soon learned from someone else that she and her family were stuck in their village because of some major mud slides. This area has received some major rain fall, much like TX, the last few months or so and because of this they are experiencing problems with the ground being soaked and the rain water having no where else to go. So our other friend was called upon to pick us up at the airport. He was such a great help as he quickly took us to the awaiting taxi. We loaded up our luggage, squeezed a couple of people in this van, and hailed another taxi to hold the rest of us and then we were off to our apartment where we would be staying for the next week.
We set up our rooms for the next day then were invited to join a friend at her for dinner. She picked us up at our apartment and we took a leisurely stroll to her apartment. Our modes of transportation there were walking, riding the bus or taking a taxi. I thoroughly enjoyed the walking. It made me feel as if I was walking the streets of New York. I’ve never been to New York but the experience here was like I dreamed it would be in NY. Walking was the best because then we had time to check out the sights, practice our Mandarin (not so good), and get some exercise all in one!
Apparently we were the main attraction in our neighborhood and wherever we walked. Everyone would stare at us like they had never seen a foreigner before. We even had an audience when eating at times. I don’t think I ever got used to the staring. My friends, who have been there for many years, don’t seem to notice it anymore. They must be used to it. Many people told me that I would stick out because of how tall I was. There was one day when we were walking to breakfast and we passed a group of young men. One of the men came over to me and stretched his body to try and see over my head. They thought that was pretty funny. haha
I got to see my friends that I’ve been corresponding with these last 6 months. They gave me their final decision on what my job would be and where I will be living. I will be living far south of the capital and assistant teaching in an international school.
All laughter aside, I truly had an amazing time there. My heart immediately went out to the people of this country and I instantly lost all concern and discomfort that I had before going. I know there will be times of difficulty as I try to learn the language & culture, go to the market, make new friends and live so far from my family and friends but I know that our Father is going to be with me day and night and will never let me go. It became a reality for me when I went in July. Now I can’t wait to go back and I’m so excited to be able to include ya’ll in the journey. Boy is this going to be life-changing!
I made my first trip to a new part of East Asia at the end of July. I visited the location where I will be moving in January. What an adventure it was! There were so many exciting things that happened on the trip that I want to tell you about them as best I can. We departed Austin on July 27th. Travel plans were to fly to LA on a short flight then to Hong Kong on a longer flight, somewhere around 13 hours. We had a long enough layover in HK that we stayed the night and did a little sight seeing. Not much to see although we did find a McDonald’s! The Hotel we stayed in was rather small. Smaller than the standard U.S.A. hotel room. The size of our room was somewhere around 9x9 with a small bathroom. There was such little space, approximately 12”, between the beds that I literally had to turn my feet sideways to take my shoes off. But it wasn’t too bad. The beds were comfy and the company was great.
The bathroom was rather interesting. It had a glass wall and door that separated it from the bedroom. And the glass wall had some sort of frosted treatment on the middle part of the wall and door. I guess they must have thought that this frosted stuff would work for when you wanted privacy in the bathroom. Needless to say I didn’t use the bathroom much…
We left HK on Sunday morning and caught our last flight to the final destination. We arrived at the KM airport and were expecting a friend to pick us up but we soon learned from someone else that she and her family were stuck in their village because of some major mud slides. This area has received some major rain fall, much like TX, the last few months or so and because of this they are experiencing problems with the ground being soaked and the rain water having no where else to go. So our other friend was called upon to pick us up at the airport. He was such a great help as he quickly took us to the awaiting taxi. We loaded up our luggage, squeezed a couple of people in this van, and hailed another taxi to hold the rest of us and then we were off to our apartment where we would be staying for the next week.
We set up our rooms for the next day then were invited to join a friend at her for dinner. She picked us up at our apartment and we took a leisurely stroll to her apartment. Our modes of transportation there were walking, riding the bus or taking a taxi. I thoroughly enjoyed the walking. It made me feel as if I was walking the streets of New York. I’ve never been to New York but the experience here was like I dreamed it would be in NY. Walking was the best because then we had time to check out the sights, practice our Mandarin (not so good), and get some exercise all in one!
Apparently we were the main attraction in our neighborhood and wherever we walked. Everyone would stare at us like they had never seen a foreigner before. We even had an audience when eating at times. I don’t think I ever got used to the staring. My friends, who have been there for many years, don’t seem to notice it anymore. They must be used to it. Many people told me that I would stick out because of how tall I was. There was one day when we were walking to breakfast and we passed a group of young men. One of the men came over to me and stretched his body to try and see over my head. They thought that was pretty funny. haha
I got to see my friends that I’ve been corresponding with these last 6 months. They gave me their final decision on what my job would be and where I will be living. I will be living far south of the capital and assistant teaching in an international school.
All laughter aside, I truly had an amazing time there. My heart immediately went out to the people of this country and I instantly lost all concern and discomfort that I had before going. I know there will be times of difficulty as I try to learn the language & culture, go to the market, make new friends and live so far from my family and friends but I know that our Father is going to be with me day and night and will never let me go. It became a reality for me when I went in July. Now I can’t wait to go back and I’m so excited to be able to include ya’ll in the journey. Boy is this going to be life-changing!
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