I have been reading a lot more in the last year or so than I have been previously. I don't mean reading for school, but reading for my own enjoyment. Or should I say listening? Because most of my books have mostly been in the form of audio books.
They have included titles in many categories including the following:
-- Novels --
Sense and Sensibility
Emma
Mansfield Park
The Help
Little Women
Go Set a Watchman
-- Children's Fiction --
The Trumpet of the Swan
The Little Princess
Nancy Drew - The Secret of the Old Clock
-- Children's Stories --
Lentil
Make Way for Ducklings
Burt Dow Deep Water Man
Blueberries for Sal
One Morning In Maine
-- Mysteries --
The Reckoning
Murder at the Brightwell
Murder at the Vicarage
Evil Under the Sun
-- Biographies and Autobiographies --
The King's Speech
Einstein
When Breath Becomes Air
-- Life Advice --
French Women Don't Get Fat
At Home With Madame Chic
Bullet Journal - The Method
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
What the Most Successful People do Before Breakfast
The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People
Rare Leadership
Love and Respect
The Good Girl's Guide to Great Sex
Taking Charge of Your Fertility
The Meaning of Marriage
Sheet Music
His Needs, Her Needs
The Language of Love and Respect
What I've noticed is that where I used to just enjoy stories (biographies, autobiographies, novels, children's literature) I am noticing a trend where I am reading about how to do things. Notice, that wasn't books about how to make things (which has historically also been a favorite category of mine) but how to do things that will prove useful in life. The question is: has this trend come from a long while of studying at Moody, or from watching Rex research things he wants to know how to do better at?
Friday, November 30, 2018
Thursday, November 29, 2018
School Assignments that make you feel vulnerable
The other day I had to post a video on YouTube of me teaching a Bible lesson to an audience. I invited two of my coworkers over first to play the role of elementary school kids, and then to switch roles to real adults and review my performance.
I didn't particularly like how I did on the project, and I feel vulnerable having to actually post it online. Good thing I have the option of making it a private video where only people with the link can access it, such as my professor.
It's just a class, so it's a safe place for mistakes and failure, but I think what makes me feel vulnerable is the fact that I have to receive a grade back for it - something I'm not particularly looking forward to.
I didn't particularly like how I did on the project, and I feel vulnerable having to actually post it online. Good thing I have the option of making it a private video where only people with the link can access it, such as my professor.
It's just a class, so it's a safe place for mistakes and failure, but I think what makes me feel vulnerable is the fact that I have to receive a grade back for it - something I'm not particularly looking forward to.
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Mail and Visa applications
We move in 27 days. That's not very long from now.
We are in the process of applying for a Taiwanese visa. We have all the papers together in a file ready to be mailed. They have been sitting in the filing drawers for several weeks now.
Why haven't we mailed it?
We are waiting for the final detail to arrive in the mail: a document that has been express-mailed from Taiwan at the beginning of November. It was supposed to arrive within 10 business days, but it's stuck in Chicago somewhere.
We received a letter last week from USPS International Research something or other. It was a paper asking if we had received this letter, that the Taiwanese government was asking if it had come or not. I returned it with an X in the spot stating the letter had not come.
Rex called USPS today to try and find where it ended up. He waited on the line for 40 minutes. No one picked up. Finally, he hung up the phone. There are other, more urgent things to do today than track an express letter three weeks late - things like finish a doctoral paper before its deadline tomorrow.
One day the document might come and we can continue the application process. Until then I'm checking my mailbox daily - and hoping.
Disclaimer: I'm not too worried about the situation (only frustrated) because I know I can go to Taiwan for an entire three months without needing a visa for entry. This process is for a residence visa as the spouse of a Taiwanese citizen. This route is the way the we've been told we need to do it. We are just becoming aware of how little control we really have over the mailing system.
We are in the process of applying for a Taiwanese visa. We have all the papers together in a file ready to be mailed. They have been sitting in the filing drawers for several weeks now.
Why haven't we mailed it?
We are waiting for the final detail to arrive in the mail: a document that has been express-mailed from Taiwan at the beginning of November. It was supposed to arrive within 10 business days, but it's stuck in Chicago somewhere.
We received a letter last week from USPS International Research something or other. It was a paper asking if we had received this letter, that the Taiwanese government was asking if it had come or not. I returned it with an X in the spot stating the letter had not come.
Rex called USPS today to try and find where it ended up. He waited on the line for 40 minutes. No one picked up. Finally, he hung up the phone. There are other, more urgent things to do today than track an express letter three weeks late - things like finish a doctoral paper before its deadline tomorrow.
One day the document might come and we can continue the application process. Until then I'm checking my mailbox daily - and hoping.
Disclaimer: I'm not too worried about the situation (only frustrated) because I know I can go to Taiwan for an entire three months without needing a visa for entry. This process is for a residence visa as the spouse of a Taiwanese citizen. This route is the way the we've been told we need to do it. We are just becoming aware of how little control we really have over the mailing system.
Scribe?
I figured it out. I'm a scribe. Or maybe a secretary, I'm not sure which.
I have been helping my husband write his doctoral thesis proposal. He's a verbal processor, so sometimes I let him talk while I type what he says. It makes the painful process much easier for him.
I have learned about dendrites, endothelium cells, neurovascular coupling, electrical signals, blood flow, and pericytes just from helping him type and explain concepts to me in order to ensure they are simply enough expressed to be understood by people outside his own field.
In ancient times, the scribes understood quite a lot of information including the law because, as they copied down the words, they learned the material inside and out. I have not reached this level of expertise, but perhaps one day I will be if I continue transcribing doctoral level work.
This reminds me a little of the mom in Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes. Mr. Gilbreth was an efficiency expert and, together with his wife, he would find the most efficient techniques to move and do work in factories, etc. He even developed a time efficient way of bathing and taught his children how to bathe within the time of a record (not a long record, apparently). He died while his family of twelve was still not yet grown, and Mrs. Gilbreth began traveling and showing his work to others. People who were the recipients of her presentations were often surprised to see a woman show up to their conferences and events thinking that she would be a man. In those days women were not often involved in that kind of work.
So, for now I'm acting as scribe and slowly becoming more knowledgeable about the inner workings of the brain.
I have been helping my husband write his doctoral thesis proposal. He's a verbal processor, so sometimes I let him talk while I type what he says. It makes the painful process much easier for him.
I have learned about dendrites, endothelium cells, neurovascular coupling, electrical signals, blood flow, and pericytes just from helping him type and explain concepts to me in order to ensure they are simply enough expressed to be understood by people outside his own field.
In ancient times, the scribes understood quite a lot of information including the law because, as they copied down the words, they learned the material inside and out. I have not reached this level of expertise, but perhaps one day I will be if I continue transcribing doctoral level work.
This reminds me a little of the mom in Cheaper by the Dozen and Belles on Their Toes. Mr. Gilbreth was an efficiency expert and, together with his wife, he would find the most efficient techniques to move and do work in factories, etc. He even developed a time efficient way of bathing and taught his children how to bathe within the time of a record (not a long record, apparently). He died while his family of twelve was still not yet grown, and Mrs. Gilbreth began traveling and showing his work to others. People who were the recipients of her presentations were often surprised to see a woman show up to their conferences and events thinking that she would be a man. In those days women were not often involved in that kind of work.
So, for now I'm acting as scribe and slowly becoming more knowledgeable about the inner workings of the brain.
Saturday, November 17, 2018
Long Distance Relationship part 2
Today while listening to music I heard a lovely cover of a song which included these lyrics: "I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again." It took me back to the distinct memory of a feeling like my heart was being torn out as I took off from Chicago nearly three years ago after saying my goodbyes to Rex and my parents in the airport. I know that sounds dramatic, and I'm not much of one for drama, but it truly was quite dramatic. When I left at that time I didn't know if I would be staying 3 months, six months, a year, or perhaps forever. I was leaving and putting the results of the relationship into God's hands. Hearing the song again today left me in tears.
Switchfoot's "Enough to Let Me Go" has a similar affect on me. It was a song I listened to over and over as I was preparing to leave for Romania nearly three years ago, and which serenaded me on Spotify as I would work on projects in the room where I was staying.
As the sequel to my introduction of the topic of long distance relationships, today I will describe some of the challenges we faced using the same bullet points I used in my last post.
1. Time difference
We know, of course, that people on the other side of the world sleep while we're awake and are awake while we sleep, but Rex and I also learned that talking at 7am his time and 3pm my time found us communicating in entirely different moods. He would be slow and sleepy, I would be in high gear, full of energy to get things done. Deep or meaningful conversations don't happen too easily in this kind of scenario. Regardless, we found ways to work around this.
2. Figuring out when schedules allowed for talking
Rex and I wanted to be involved in friendships and responsibilities around us, and not simply become distractions to each other. So, we looked decided that there were three times of the day that we were allowed to text or make a phone call. That was usually my morning before 8am (12am CST), 3pm (7am CST), and my night time at or before 10pm (2pm CST). Any other time of day we were restricted from texts and phone calls which would distract from work. We liked to use,
- Google Docs
- Email
- Voice recordings
- Video recording (although we didn't do this often)
Usually we talked at his 11pm and my 7am often for about an hour. I know it sounds like a lot, but we had a lot to say. As we hung up we were never sure whether to say "good morning" or "goodnight." Also, weekends aren't necessarily free days when you're working in missions because you ministry happens when the people are available, such as weekends and evenings.
3. We didn't want to distract from other friendships or responsibilities
We really learned from observing what didn't work so well for us. For example, there was a time some guests came to eat dinner at the home where I was staying, and I was invited to join. I remember being largely absorbed in a texting conversation with Rex and later realizing that this was inhibiting me from connecting well with the people around me. So we really tried not to be on our phones talking to each other when it was a beneficial time to spend time with other people. But we had to be careful to prioritize our time with each other as well - especially if it was a scheduled call.
During much of my time in Romania I had limited or no cellular data, so that meant I also couldn't make or receive calls unless I was home or at another place with WiFi. Eventually I realized that it was totally worth it to pay for better phone service with international minutes as well as more GB and faster internet signal. This paid off the week I went camping and the time we went on a walk together - he along Lake Michigan and me along the Danube River. That way we were able to walk next to water "together."
4. Having marriage in mind (and the accompanying pressures)
We both were of the mind that our dating relationship was ultimately for the purpose of understanding each other well enough to know if marriage was right for us. Rex made it a point to ask my dad's permission before we made the relationship official, and the topic of marriage had come up a couple of times before I left for Romania. If he weren't someone I were considering marrying, I wouldn't have bothered with a long distance relationship anyway. I would have said goodbye and not looked back. But having seen some of his character and realizing that guys like him are hard to find, I decided to take the risk, to pray about it, to get to know him better just as he was getting to know me. If we reached the point where we realized the relationship shouldn't continue towards marriage, we would revert to being just friends.
That being said, there were tons and tons of questions in my mind that I wanted to talk with Rex about. Someone once suggested that it was healthy to limit our conversations to texting during the week and save phone calls for the weekend. In the end I realized that this only created unnecessary pressures and strain on an already strained situation. Texting is far less efficient than calling anyway, and, eventually I would just call him in the mornings before heading out for the day.
This made life much better because I got things off my chest when they were bothering me instead of trying to bottle them up and save them for the perfect time. And if I had free time when Rex was busy or sleeping I could always get the message to him using email, google docs, etc. While I was away I learned to confide in Rex about most things and we became very close this way.
5. Not getting to hang out with each other or in each other's social groups
From the beginning there was this sense that being long distance meant we couldn't go out to eat together, go on walks together, play games together, spend time together with people who are important to us. Rex said that looking at it this way was only going to put a negative spin on things, and it was much better to look for things we can do together.
For this reason we looked for ways to create special moments in unique ways. We played Words with Friends on our phones, we played Sudoku on video calls, ate breakfast and dinner together in a video call (remember the time change?). We sent each other gifts on birthdays, sent a few letters and post cards in the mail, and we even arranged a three way call between us and his family in Taiwan. This involved three time zones. Sometimes our phone conversations were a Chinese language lesson. I also taught him a few things in Romanian, mostly terms of affection, of course. And of course, as I mentioned earlier, the walk we took along a body of water - albeit different bodies of water.
6. Others
People generally didn't understand our relationship. People didn't know what we were like together, some were skeptical of our relationship (including my dad and Rex's mentor). Many people thought we had met online. Friends or roommates would make fun of me if I told them something Rex did that I thought was very sweet. Some people would just ask me if I wanted to marry him, and I was definitely still in the stage that I really didn't know yet. It was a process that we were working through. I found two people I could talk with about our relationship, my sisters Laura and Ginnie. They didn't make fun of me, they helped me think about what was healthy, what was not. They let me confide in them, etc. Honestly, because of being gone for so long and friends in the US feeling distant and friends in Romania not feeling close enough to be confidants, I ended up confiding in Rex more and more.
Not getting to hug or hold hands was especially hard as well. I'll be honest, there were several times I dreamed that Rex was right there in the room with me, he was so close, but I still couldn't hug him or hold his hand.
I should also mention that not knowing when I would return was very hard. It became especially hard when I realized the funds I had would last longer than the six months I had originally estimated and I could stay closer to nine months. I was torn. Should I work in Romania longer, should I return to Rex like I so badly wanted to do? When I told Rex my dilemma, he reassured me repeatedly with the words, "Rachy, I'm here for you. I'm waiting for you. I'm not going anywhere." I think he already knew he wanted to marry me.
That was my first glimpse of the vows he said on our wedding day, but they were comforting words, words I needed to hear at the time.
This sums up my description of most of the challenges we faced in a long distance relationship. I hope eventually to write about some of the benefits involved as well as the unique aspects of coming home at the end of my time in Romania.
Switchfoot's "Enough to Let Me Go" has a similar affect on me. It was a song I listened to over and over as I was preparing to leave for Romania nearly three years ago, and which serenaded me on Spotify as I would work on projects in the room where I was staying.
As the sequel to my introduction of the topic of long distance relationships, today I will describe some of the challenges we faced using the same bullet points I used in my last post.
1. Time difference
We know, of course, that people on the other side of the world sleep while we're awake and are awake while we sleep, but Rex and I also learned that talking at 7am his time and 3pm my time found us communicating in entirely different moods. He would be slow and sleepy, I would be in high gear, full of energy to get things done. Deep or meaningful conversations don't happen too easily in this kind of scenario. Regardless, we found ways to work around this.
2. Figuring out when schedules allowed for talking
Rex and I wanted to be involved in friendships and responsibilities around us, and not simply become distractions to each other. So, we looked decided that there were three times of the day that we were allowed to text or make a phone call. That was usually my morning before 8am (12am CST), 3pm (7am CST), and my night time at or before 10pm (2pm CST). Any other time of day we were restricted from texts and phone calls which would distract from work. We liked to use,
- Google Docs
- Voice recordings
- Video recording (although we didn't do this often)
Usually we talked at his 11pm and my 7am often for about an hour. I know it sounds like a lot, but we had a lot to say. As we hung up we were never sure whether to say "good morning" or "goodnight." Also, weekends aren't necessarily free days when you're working in missions because you ministry happens when the people are available, such as weekends and evenings.
3. We didn't want to distract from other friendships or responsibilities
We really learned from observing what didn't work so well for us. For example, there was a time some guests came to eat dinner at the home where I was staying, and I was invited to join. I remember being largely absorbed in a texting conversation with Rex and later realizing that this was inhibiting me from connecting well with the people around me. So we really tried not to be on our phones talking to each other when it was a beneficial time to spend time with other people. But we had to be careful to prioritize our time with each other as well - especially if it was a scheduled call.
During much of my time in Romania I had limited or no cellular data, so that meant I also couldn't make or receive calls unless I was home or at another place with WiFi. Eventually I realized that it was totally worth it to pay for better phone service with international minutes as well as more GB and faster internet signal. This paid off the week I went camping and the time we went on a walk together - he along Lake Michigan and me along the Danube River. That way we were able to walk next to water "together."
4. Having marriage in mind (and the accompanying pressures)
We both were of the mind that our dating relationship was ultimately for the purpose of understanding each other well enough to know if marriage was right for us. Rex made it a point to ask my dad's permission before we made the relationship official, and the topic of marriage had come up a couple of times before I left for Romania. If he weren't someone I were considering marrying, I wouldn't have bothered with a long distance relationship anyway. I would have said goodbye and not looked back. But having seen some of his character and realizing that guys like him are hard to find, I decided to take the risk, to pray about it, to get to know him better just as he was getting to know me. If we reached the point where we realized the relationship shouldn't continue towards marriage, we would revert to being just friends.
That being said, there were tons and tons of questions in my mind that I wanted to talk with Rex about. Someone once suggested that it was healthy to limit our conversations to texting during the week and save phone calls for the weekend. In the end I realized that this only created unnecessary pressures and strain on an already strained situation. Texting is far less efficient than calling anyway, and, eventually I would just call him in the mornings before heading out for the day.
This made life much better because I got things off my chest when they were bothering me instead of trying to bottle them up and save them for the perfect time. And if I had free time when Rex was busy or sleeping I could always get the message to him using email, google docs, etc. While I was away I learned to confide in Rex about most things and we became very close this way.
5. Not getting to hang out with each other or in each other's social groups
From the beginning there was this sense that being long distance meant we couldn't go out to eat together, go on walks together, play games together, spend time together with people who are important to us. Rex said that looking at it this way was only going to put a negative spin on things, and it was much better to look for things we can do together.
For this reason we looked for ways to create special moments in unique ways. We played Words with Friends on our phones, we played Sudoku on video calls, ate breakfast and dinner together in a video call (remember the time change?). We sent each other gifts on birthdays, sent a few letters and post cards in the mail, and we even arranged a three way call between us and his family in Taiwan. This involved three time zones. Sometimes our phone conversations were a Chinese language lesson. I also taught him a few things in Romanian, mostly terms of affection, of course. And of course, as I mentioned earlier, the walk we took along a body of water - albeit different bodies of water.
6. Others
People generally didn't understand our relationship. People didn't know what we were like together, some were skeptical of our relationship (including my dad and Rex's mentor). Many people thought we had met online. Friends or roommates would make fun of me if I told them something Rex did that I thought was very sweet. Some people would just ask me if I wanted to marry him, and I was definitely still in the stage that I really didn't know yet. It was a process that we were working through. I found two people I could talk with about our relationship, my sisters Laura and Ginnie. They didn't make fun of me, they helped me think about what was healthy, what was not. They let me confide in them, etc. Honestly, because of being gone for so long and friends in the US feeling distant and friends in Romania not feeling close enough to be confidants, I ended up confiding in Rex more and more.
Not getting to hug or hold hands was especially hard as well. I'll be honest, there were several times I dreamed that Rex was right there in the room with me, he was so close, but I still couldn't hug him or hold his hand.
I should also mention that not knowing when I would return was very hard. It became especially hard when I realized the funds I had would last longer than the six months I had originally estimated and I could stay closer to nine months. I was torn. Should I work in Romania longer, should I return to Rex like I so badly wanted to do? When I told Rex my dilemma, he reassured me repeatedly with the words, "Rachy, I'm here for you. I'm waiting for you. I'm not going anywhere." I think he already knew he wanted to marry me.
That was my first glimpse of the vows he said on our wedding day, but they were comforting words, words I needed to hear at the time.
This sums up my description of most of the challenges we faced in a long distance relationship. I hope eventually to write about some of the benefits involved as well as the unique aspects of coming home at the end of my time in Romania.
Friday, November 16, 2018
Long Distance Relationships part 1
Two years ago today I arrived home from 8.5 months abroad in Romania where I was volunteering with a missions organization. Just before I had left for Romania a friend of mine (now my husband) and I had developed an interest in each other, and so we were in a long distance relationship for the extent of my time away.
I looked forward to arriving home again with so much anticipation. It was truly a joy to see him again for the first time waiting for me in the airport, flowers in tow.
While the distance was a difficult hurdle, it was also a very meaningful and formative time for us.
I'm thinking I'll present the topic here in this blog and expound on it further in subsequent blogs. I may also include some of my sister's pointers from her time spent in Thailand for six months during her engagement to my current brother-in-law.
So here we go, here are the challenges:
I looked forward to arriving home again with so much anticipation. It was truly a joy to see him again for the first time waiting for me in the airport, flowers in tow.
While the distance was a difficult hurdle, it was also a very meaningful and formative time for us.
I'm thinking I'll present the topic here in this blog and expound on it further in subsequent blogs. I may also include some of my sister's pointers from her time spent in Thailand for six months during her engagement to my current brother-in-law.
So here we go, here are the challenges:
- Time difference
- When schedules allowed for talking
- Needing to be fully present for things going on around us (work, etc)
- Having marriage in mind (which creates its own pressures)
- Not getting to hang out with/in each other's social groups.
The benefits:
- Understanding the value to place on the relationship from early on
- Having a tangible challenge to endure together.
- We developed a strong sense of trust
- We confided in each other and had a close relationship because we talked regularly
Since our relationship developed so profoundly while I was away there were some expected and unexpected occurrences after my return. I'll share those below.
The aftermath challenges:
- People not realizing you've been dating for close to a year
- People not understanding how we interact as a couple
- Having to get to know the other's idiosyncrasies in person
- People not realizing you're in a serious relationship
- People thinking you're ready to get married tomorrow (oh wait, I guess that's all relationships)
The aftermath awesomeness:
- Getting to hang out together, go places together, share experiences
- Getting to be in the same time zone
- Holding hands and hugging
- Being able to observe how the other interacts with other friends and in various social groups
I think I'll describe each of these categories in future blogs. The international dynamic of our relationship might also deserve a few blogs as well. For example: conversations with future in-laws needing to be translated, anxiety of the unknown culture in question, the inability to get to know future family in person, etc.
While I was gone in Romania I had also found a few blogs, articles, and videos talking about how to do well in a long distance relationship. I might try and dig those up as well and post them somewhere.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Am I a Health Nut Now?
I didn't realize until today that after a few months not even having sugar in the house and eating almost entirely food made from scratch that there has been something of a change in me. Granted, I still consume sugar - when I stop at my parents' house and snack on something sitting out, when I buy myself a bit of dark chocolate, when I add a drizzle of honey to my oatmeal or something similar, and when sugar happens to be hiding in something that is not generally considered a sweet food. You also have to realize, I don't say no to desserts, I just don't eat a ton of them.
The change is this: after eating a plate full of breaded, sugary, glazed chicken with fried rice and only a 5th of the plate actually holding vegetables, the result was a mild headache and lack of satiation which led to an overall frustration and hangriness. To my dear husband: I sense I am beginning to understand your low mood after consuming sugary foods with more empathy.
I had noticed that I have been enjoying the naturally occurring sweetness in vegetables where I had previously not considered it to be that sweet - carrots, onions, squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and much, much more.
At the same time I find the food I'm consuming to result in more contentment and good energy over all. Think of the potential of eating chicken soup for breakfast because it's on hand rather than a bowl of cereal. It has a significantly higher ability to fuel me for the day and leave me feeling satisfied until my mid-morning meal or snack thing. Yes, I often eat mid-morning because I eat breakfast around 6am, so four or five hours later my belly is asking for more.
So, although I'm not really much of a health nut, I find myself becoming more of one than I thought I was. I am because of my husband's needs, but perhaps it's really for my own needs as well.
The change is this: after eating a plate full of breaded, sugary, glazed chicken with fried rice and only a 5th of the plate actually holding vegetables, the result was a mild headache and lack of satiation which led to an overall frustration and hangriness. To my dear husband: I sense I am beginning to understand your low mood after consuming sugary foods with more empathy.
I had noticed that I have been enjoying the naturally occurring sweetness in vegetables where I had previously not considered it to be that sweet - carrots, onions, squash, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and much, much more.
At the same time I find the food I'm consuming to result in more contentment and good energy over all. Think of the potential of eating chicken soup for breakfast because it's on hand rather than a bowl of cereal. It has a significantly higher ability to fuel me for the day and leave me feeling satisfied until my mid-morning meal or snack thing. Yes, I often eat mid-morning because I eat breakfast around 6am, so four or five hours later my belly is asking for more.
So, although I'm not really much of a health nut, I find myself becoming more of one than I thought I was. I am because of my husband's needs, but perhaps it's really for my own needs as well.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Phone Repairs
My mom and I went to the Apple store at Mayfair mall today so I could get my phone battery replaced. We pulled into the parking lot and walked into the nearest store.
Surrounded by books and eye catching titles, we browsed and chuckled over various titles.
"Grammar: Know your s*** or Know you're s****"
There was another with advice on how to be lazy. The advice was given by a sloth.
There were colorful and mesmerizing covers for old classics: Charlotte's Web, Murder on the Orient Express, etc.
There was a whole shelf of cook books, which I glanced at but didn't actually peruse over.
"Bullet Journal Method" caught my eye, since I use a bullet journal, but want to use it to a fuller extent than simply a calendar and to-do list.
Then there were the New Releases and the Biographies and Memoirs shelf that we had to look over for a friend's newly published autobiography/memoir. Unfortunately we couldn't find it.
In spite of the book store, eventually we made it over to the Apple store and waited our turn to have it worked on over a plate full of Sesame Chicken from Little Tokyo in the food court. Much to our dismay, it was mostly sugar, with only a few vegetables, and nothing particularly Asian about it except the name. I guess businesses know how to cater to American tastes.
Moral of the story: if you ever go through a bookstore to get to where you're really going, expect to be delayed.
Surrounded by books and eye catching titles, we browsed and chuckled over various titles.
"Grammar: Know your s*** or Know you're s****"
There was another with advice on how to be lazy. The advice was given by a sloth.
There were colorful and mesmerizing covers for old classics: Charlotte's Web, Murder on the Orient Express, etc.
There was a whole shelf of cook books, which I glanced at but didn't actually peruse over.
"Bullet Journal Method" caught my eye, since I use a bullet journal, but want to use it to a fuller extent than simply a calendar and to-do list.
Then there were the New Releases and the Biographies and Memoirs shelf that we had to look over for a friend's newly published autobiography/memoir. Unfortunately we couldn't find it.
In spite of the book store, eventually we made it over to the Apple store and waited our turn to have it worked on over a plate full of Sesame Chicken from Little Tokyo in the food court. Much to our dismay, it was mostly sugar, with only a few vegetables, and nothing particularly Asian about it except the name. I guess businesses know how to cater to American tastes.
Moral of the story: if you ever go through a bookstore to get to where you're really going, expect to be delayed.
Saturday, November 10, 2018
The Not-So-Serious Drawings
Some days at work I find myself sitting by the front door of the school so parents can sign their kids in and I have to open the door for them. On those days I often make odd drawings. These drawings sometimes end up in my conversations with the kids, so that in itself adds a fun dynamic.
Awhile ago, I drew a common housefly.
Another day I drew a water dragon and I returned to the same drawing to complete it another morning.
Another day I drew an iguana. Unfortunately, I didn't finish and it landed on a poster for a kickball tournament. I don't have it anymore.
Lately I have also drawn a lot of patterns and designs where the emphasis is all about rhythm and repetition. It also gives my hands something to do while listening to sermons or sitting through long meetings for work. It helps me listen better, helps me have a physical outlet while my ears are taking in the material.
Awhile ago, I drew a common housefly.
Another day I drew a water dragon and I returned to the same drawing to complete it another morning.
Another day I drew an iguana. Unfortunately, I didn't finish and it landed on a poster for a kickball tournament. I don't have it anymore.
Lately I have also drawn a lot of patterns and designs where the emphasis is all about rhythm and repetition. It also gives my hands something to do while listening to sermons or sitting through long meetings for work. It helps me listen better, helps me have a physical outlet while my ears are taking in the material.
Sparking Interest part 2
In the mornings at work we typically require the kids to have some reading time at least twice a week. This is hard to reinforce since many of the kids are already required to read for a certain amount of time at school and since they are antsy to just get outside for awhile before classes start.
I found a printout recently about incorporating math and literacy into an active program in the forms of scavenger hunts, puzzles, word searches, yahtzee, Farkle etc. It is incredibly difficult to integrate some of these into the morning because of the structure we have and the fact that we are in the gym - a simple fact that seems to encourage a lot of running and tag games in the middle of reading time.
A couple of things I have actually been able to integrate (at least minimally) are penpal letters which I deliver between my morning site and my afternoon site, and some out loud reading of a Nancy Drew chapter book. I have actually found some of the kids asking me to write letters or to read Nancy Drew. This is the part that fascinates me most - the kids are now beginning to look forward to these things and remind me when I forget. This became particularly obvious after I lost some of the penpal letters. The kids chided me, "Ms. Rachel, how could you lose them?" I was glad to see that a couple of them were willing to start over and write new letters to their now designated penpal.
I found a printout recently about incorporating math and literacy into an active program in the forms of scavenger hunts, puzzles, word searches, yahtzee, Farkle etc. It is incredibly difficult to integrate some of these into the morning because of the structure we have and the fact that we are in the gym - a simple fact that seems to encourage a lot of running and tag games in the middle of reading time.
A couple of things I have actually been able to integrate (at least minimally) are penpal letters which I deliver between my morning site and my afternoon site, and some out loud reading of a Nancy Drew chapter book. I have actually found some of the kids asking me to write letters or to read Nancy Drew. This is the part that fascinates me most - the kids are now beginning to look forward to these things and remind me when I forget. This became particularly obvious after I lost some of the penpal letters. The kids chided me, "Ms. Rachel, how could you lose them?" I was glad to see that a couple of them were willing to start over and write new letters to their now designated penpal.
Friday, November 9, 2018
Sparking Interest?
For class the last few weeks we've had to read and watch a lot of material about teaching. A lot of it is just helping people bring their audience into what it is they're trying to teach and be engaged with the material, or simply finding ways to facilitate students' independent discovery process. It has been very exciting.
I had the chance to begin to apply some of these things at my work.
In the afternoons I work with a group of about 20 kids from 4K to 5th grade. The majority of the group are kindergartners and 1st graders. This means that as leaders it is very difficult to invent things for the younger kids and leave the older kids to find something to do on their own. But that's not engaging them or helping stir them on to creativity and discovery.
After a conversation I had with one of these older kids I decided to go to the library and pick up a plethora of books that are capable of stirring interest - you know, the kinds I pored over when I was a kid. I got drawing books, a few DIY books, a bird guide book, some gardening books, and one with photos of Korean architecture. I made sure that all the books were visually stimulating, full of pictures (not too many words) because this was exactly the kind of thing that stirred my fancy when I was a kid. I also want to look into instructions for how to build things out of cardboard - a resource of which we have plenty.
The point is this: to get the kids thinking of things they would like to learn more about and we can help facilitate their curiosity by providing more books of similar topics. Who knows how it will go, but I'm excited to see what happens.
I had the chance to begin to apply some of these things at my work.
In the afternoons I work with a group of about 20 kids from 4K to 5th grade. The majority of the group are kindergartners and 1st graders. This means that as leaders it is very difficult to invent things for the younger kids and leave the older kids to find something to do on their own. But that's not engaging them or helping stir them on to creativity and discovery.
After a conversation I had with one of these older kids I decided to go to the library and pick up a plethora of books that are capable of stirring interest - you know, the kinds I pored over when I was a kid. I got drawing books, a few DIY books, a bird guide book, some gardening books, and one with photos of Korean architecture. I made sure that all the books were visually stimulating, full of pictures (not too many words) because this was exactly the kind of thing that stirred my fancy when I was a kid. I also want to look into instructions for how to build things out of cardboard - a resource of which we have plenty.
The point is this: to get the kids thinking of things they would like to learn more about and we can help facilitate their curiosity by providing more books of similar topics. Who knows how it will go, but I'm excited to see what happens.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Checkpoint: Final College Payment
Well, it's been done: my very last and final payment has been made to Moody Bible Institute. All loans and payment plans are finished. I won't miss having that money disappear from my bank account each month, but I think I might miss being a student at Moody.
I tell people I'm glad to finally be done, but I think that applies more to the practical end of things. I'm glad to be attaining a degree that will help me fill positions that are more advanced, help me qualify for bigger things. I'm also glad that I won't have deadlines set on my learning goals in the same way, I'll have more freedom for discovery and exploration outside of the confines of assignment requirements.
But I'm realizing that what I have been enjoying quite a lot (in spite of how much stress it can cause me) is the learning experience. I get to research things, learn about things, write about those things, interact with the material, etc. I feel I have become more of a habitual learner over these past four years at Moody. I already was a habitual learner, but I learned mostly how to do this or that. I now interact more with analytical, thoughtful ideas, approaches, etc. I have learned strategies and techniques for study habits and learning. I have learned how to observe what I've learned and tell someone else about it.
I tell people I'm glad to finally be done, but I think that applies more to the practical end of things. I'm glad to be attaining a degree that will help me fill positions that are more advanced, help me qualify for bigger things. I'm also glad that I won't have deadlines set on my learning goals in the same way, I'll have more freedom for discovery and exploration outside of the confines of assignment requirements.
But I'm realizing that what I have been enjoying quite a lot (in spite of how much stress it can cause me) is the learning experience. I get to research things, learn about things, write about those things, interact with the material, etc. I feel I have become more of a habitual learner over these past four years at Moody. I already was a habitual learner, but I learned mostly how to do this or that. I now interact more with analytical, thoughtful ideas, approaches, etc. I have learned strategies and techniques for study habits and learning. I have learned how to observe what I've learned and tell someone else about it.
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
Strategies for Eating in the Chen House
Food requires strategy.
Well, in our house it requires strategy. I don't like to spend money in restaurants because I don't like paying for the extra labor, unless it's some kind of special event and the restaurant is nice. Restaurants don't always serve what satisfies my appetite, and if they do it usually costs upward of $10 for a single meal.
Also, when you're in school and work, when your husband commutes to work and needs nourishment, thinking about food at the last minute doesn't work well anyway.
So here's what we often do. Every few days we will make a relatively large batch of food - enough to have fed my family growing up (7 kids) for one meal. It could be a large batch of vegetables, grain, meat, or a combo of some kind.
These we just warm up at the moment we're hungry or we will freeze several servings of one meal or another to be used when needed. This is nice because then Rex can grab a meal to go if he is commuting to Milwaukee. I don't usually use these frozen meals since I have largely been studying from home ever since the school year began. That being the case, I can just warm up what is in the fridge and determine the portion sizes based on my current appetite.
I like this approach to managing food because I don't have to cook every meal, I only have to clean up after every meal. I also don't necessarily have to cook every day, but most days I prepare some kind of food.
We learned this approach from some friends of ours. In their family, both the parents are working on PhD level and beyond kind of work and they have a young daughter. They recently had another baby, so I'm sure they are busy in another way now. The daughter goes to daycare during the day, but the parents with their demanding schedules pack meals that have been prepared at the beginning of the week. They will make three types of meals and freeze about 12 portions at once. They then just grab the meals as needed throughout the week. No worries about food going bad because it's frozen, no worries about food not being there when its needed.
That reminds me of another way they inspired me. Before getting married, there was a time I got stranded in Milwaukee while visiting Rex because of a snow storm, so I stayed at their house for the night. In the morning I was given a bowl of lentil soup. As a child my mom used to make lentils, but they weren't prepared in a flavorful way, but my hosts had created a very tasty dish. I have since incorporated lentil soups into our meals on a more regular diet. Rex loves them, they are a good source of energy, and when you add the right kinds of spices and other diced or chopped vegetables, it becomes truly delectable.
Well, in our house it requires strategy. I don't like to spend money in restaurants because I don't like paying for the extra labor, unless it's some kind of special event and the restaurant is nice. Restaurants don't always serve what satisfies my appetite, and if they do it usually costs upward of $10 for a single meal.
Also, when you're in school and work, when your husband commutes to work and needs nourishment, thinking about food at the last minute doesn't work well anyway.
So here's what we often do. Every few days we will make a relatively large batch of food - enough to have fed my family growing up (7 kids) for one meal. It could be a large batch of vegetables, grain, meat, or a combo of some kind.
These we just warm up at the moment we're hungry or we will freeze several servings of one meal or another to be used when needed. This is nice because then Rex can grab a meal to go if he is commuting to Milwaukee. I don't usually use these frozen meals since I have largely been studying from home ever since the school year began. That being the case, I can just warm up what is in the fridge and determine the portion sizes based on my current appetite.
I like this approach to managing food because I don't have to cook every meal, I only have to clean up after every meal. I also don't necessarily have to cook every day, but most days I prepare some kind of food.
We learned this approach from some friends of ours. In their family, both the parents are working on PhD level and beyond kind of work and they have a young daughter. They recently had another baby, so I'm sure they are busy in another way now. The daughter goes to daycare during the day, but the parents with their demanding schedules pack meals that have been prepared at the beginning of the week. They will make three types of meals and freeze about 12 portions at once. They then just grab the meals as needed throughout the week. No worries about food going bad because it's frozen, no worries about food not being there when its needed.
That reminds me of another way they inspired me. Before getting married, there was a time I got stranded in Milwaukee while visiting Rex because of a snow storm, so I stayed at their house for the night. In the morning I was given a bowl of lentil soup. As a child my mom used to make lentils, but they weren't prepared in a flavorful way, but my hosts had created a very tasty dish. I have since incorporated lentil soups into our meals on a more regular diet. Rex loves them, they are a good source of energy, and when you add the right kinds of spices and other diced or chopped vegetables, it becomes truly delectable.
Monday, November 5, 2018
Food - An Adventure of Its Own
Lately food has been a little bit of an adventure for me. Not surprising, since I just got married, right?
But food has had a particularly nerdy aspect to it. How can I create some of my old favorite dishes that Rex typically can't eat in a way that he can eat them without detrimentally affecting his body, his mood, ect.
This was his birthday dinner. I got out the China dishes and ate a little of basically all the food we had in the house at the time. The candles were Rex's idea.
Shortbread has been one thing that has solved the issue of Rex being unable to eat most desserts. I make it with whole wheat flour and flax meal, and use a little stevia and honey for sweetening. I don't sweeten much and allow the fruits served on the side to provide the sweetness to complete the treat.
Coleslaw has also been one dish I particularly enjoy, but Rex will generally not eat because he believes it's full of bad ingredients. He's probably right about the typical coleslaw, but I found a way to make it using sesame oil, some vinegar, and withholding significantly on sweeteners. It's still very tasty and satisfying - without any guilt or repercussions.
Honestly, cooking isn't generally my favorite thing, but when I'm sharing food with someone else, I'll get a little more extravagant. I also cook because I don't like spending money in restaurants. I'm discovering that I am enjoying my food more and more as well.
Rex and I were observing that when you're not constantly adding sugar to food, as many are in the habit of doing - even to savoury foods, you begin noticing how sweet foods are already. Squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, and many other vegetables provide a unique sweetness all their own.
One of our favorite things is frozen berries. We toss these into the microwave and about 30-60 seconds later we have a delectable fruit sauce. In my opinion it's far better than many fruit sauces typically added to pancakes in any typical family diner.
Here is something that doesn't happen too often, but it was fun to make and eat. This was a little spread of random snacky things that became the equivalent of a filling and satisfying meal. You can see pears, tea eggs (a Chinese food item), almonds, white cheddar cheese, carrots, olives, artichokes, and pickles here. We may have added some salami and Rex added tahini to his carrots and nearly died and went to heaven he was so happy.
Friday, November 2, 2018
Transitions
This is my dilemna, I have had so many things I'm thinking about lately, but I can't really understand what I'm thinking about or tell other people about it so well until I have slowly and painstakingly written about it. Not painstakingly, just taking the time out of a busy schedule to actually do these things. So the other day I have literally spent a couple of hours typing up about topics that are on the forefront of my mind, or that have been stewing in the background. I find that there is just so much information that I am not sure where to stop.
The reality is, I feel inspired to express these things, but I often feel that people are disinterested in engaging in real conversation about these kinds of things. But I think I have had many interesting experiences, I just don't know how to relate them to other people very well.
It's hard because everyone has seen the missionary photos, everyone has heard the assortment of missionary stories. I even forget that with my brother having lived in Tanzania for nearly a year, he was practically camping for that whole time until he came to visit me in Calarasi, Romania, which was like a gradual reverse culture shock for him. Since that part of Romania is not as extreme a situation as Tanzania is, but it is a more extreme situation than Waukesha or Weyerhauser Wisconsin, it was for him a type of gradual transition back to first-world civilization. I know he learned a lot from and grew loads from that time in Tanzania, but sometimes I don't even know how to understand it better.
I think I've been in such an interesting time of life, too, because I have had so much back and forth, so many moves, so many changes throughout all my adult life - so far. When I was 20 I went to Romania for a month, I came home and worked at my jobs discontented and longing to travel again. When I was 21 I went back to Romania for a month and a half, this time with some knowledge of the language (although limited in understanding oral speech). Again I returned home to my jobs discontented and with the desire to go again. I studied my Romanian, kept in touch with friends abroad, etc. and aimed to go to Romania long term. The thing that stopped me from going long term, aside from not being fully funded, was that my sister was getting married in the Summer. In my mind I would "go home for a visit" but God extended my visit into about one and a half years. The next time I went to Romania "long term" I was in the beginning stages of my relationship with Rex. That year I moved 8 or 9 times just between different housing situations in the ministry, not to mention my regular overnight stays in one of the villages. Often when going to Romania for a month or two I would do so at the same time as terminating my current employment situation and then return home mostly broke and having to restart again from scratch. So I changed jobs a number of times over these years because I was a wanderer who wanted to find my home abroad.
I suppose that is now what is happening, in a mid-term sense of the word and with a change of direction. I am now about to go to Taiwan for a year, start a new job from scratch, learn the language, get to know my new family more closely, and hopefully be a light of God's truth to them. It's home, a home I've only experienced for three weeks, but home nonetheless. I'm going to another home with my husband. It's just a much more adventurous home (for me and my limited Chinese abilities) than being at my home here in Wisconsin.
I hope to teach English. I've never done that before, but I am glad that God has put me in some teaching/leading positions with children to begin experiencing what it takes to lead a large group well. I remember how hard it was to do just that using a second language in Romania, but my Romanian is far more advanced than my Chinese. So I really don't know what will be involved on a practical level there.
The reality is, I feel inspired to express these things, but I often feel that people are disinterested in engaging in real conversation about these kinds of things. But I think I have had many interesting experiences, I just don't know how to relate them to other people very well.
It's hard because everyone has seen the missionary photos, everyone has heard the assortment of missionary stories. I even forget that with my brother having lived in Tanzania for nearly a year, he was practically camping for that whole time until he came to visit me in Calarasi, Romania, which was like a gradual reverse culture shock for him. Since that part of Romania is not as extreme a situation as Tanzania is, but it is a more extreme situation than Waukesha or Weyerhauser Wisconsin, it was for him a type of gradual transition back to first-world civilization. I know he learned a lot from and grew loads from that time in Tanzania, but sometimes I don't even know how to understand it better.
I think I've been in such an interesting time of life, too, because I have had so much back and forth, so many moves, so many changes throughout all my adult life - so far. When I was 20 I went to Romania for a month, I came home and worked at my jobs discontented and longing to travel again. When I was 21 I went back to Romania for a month and a half, this time with some knowledge of the language (although limited in understanding oral speech). Again I returned home to my jobs discontented and with the desire to go again. I studied my Romanian, kept in touch with friends abroad, etc. and aimed to go to Romania long term. The thing that stopped me from going long term, aside from not being fully funded, was that my sister was getting married in the Summer. In my mind I would "go home for a visit" but God extended my visit into about one and a half years. The next time I went to Romania "long term" I was in the beginning stages of my relationship with Rex. That year I moved 8 or 9 times just between different housing situations in the ministry, not to mention my regular overnight stays in one of the villages. Often when going to Romania for a month or two I would do so at the same time as terminating my current employment situation and then return home mostly broke and having to restart again from scratch. So I changed jobs a number of times over these years because I was a wanderer who wanted to find my home abroad.
I suppose that is now what is happening, in a mid-term sense of the word and with a change of direction. I am now about to go to Taiwan for a year, start a new job from scratch, learn the language, get to know my new family more closely, and hopefully be a light of God's truth to them. It's home, a home I've only experienced for three weeks, but home nonetheless. I'm going to another home with my husband. It's just a much more adventurous home (for me and my limited Chinese abilities) than being at my home here in Wisconsin.
I hope to teach English. I've never done that before, but I am glad that God has put me in some teaching/leading positions with children to begin experiencing what it takes to lead a large group well. I remember how hard it was to do just that using a second language in Romania, but my Romanian is far more advanced than my Chinese. So I really don't know what will be involved on a practical level there.
Thursday, November 1, 2018
School Assignment
Recently I had to write about the passage in Proverbs 3:1-8 for my class, Teaching the Scriptures. I thought I would share it here. Admittedly, the passage that gets the biggest highlight here is not the one in question, but Psalm 23, which had more of a story line to it.
Growing up, my mom would put me and my four roommate siblings to bed, tuck us in, say a prayer, recite a few Bible passages, and sing a song. It was like a liturgy, familiar, repeated, regular, comforting, something I envisioned as I drifted off to sleep.
“These six things doth the Lord hate, lying lips… feet that are swift to mischief, hands that shed innocent blood…”
“...Let not kindness and truth leave you, bind them on the tablet of your heart.”
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want… Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,” and she would sing a song with the ending lines of the 23rd Psalm.
Night after night, I would envision in my mind the green grass pastures, the still and calming waters, the valley of the shadow of death with the narrow path of righteousness stretched out ahead, the rocky red-orange cliffs on one side and a steep precipice descending on the other. I would envision a table spread before me in the grass, and Shirley Goodness following me. She didn’t teach on the passages, she just recited them with and to us.
As I grew older and read more of the Scriptures, I understood that binding kindness and truth on the tablet of your heart is much like binding the words of the covenant to your forehead, to your arm, and to your doorpost, in the Mosaic law and Jewish tradition.
When getting my husband’s suit tailored for our wedding, we were serviced by a Jewish tailor from Azerbaijan, who spoke at least five languages. On his doorpost was a part of the Talmud, perhaps a Psalm, rolled up into a small clear container attached to the door. He said it was for good luck, and I wondered if he knew it was for a reminder. It reminded me of the passages in Deuteronomy which talk about keeping the words of the covenant close, talking about them each day and passing them on to the next generation - just as my mom did in our nightly ritual.
Growing up, my mom would put me and my four roommate siblings to bed, tuck us in, say a prayer, recite a few Bible passages, and sing a song. It was like a liturgy, familiar, repeated, regular, comforting, something I envisioned as I drifted off to sleep.
“These six things doth the Lord hate, lying lips… feet that are swift to mischief, hands that shed innocent blood…”
“...Let not kindness and truth leave you, bind them on the tablet of your heart.”
“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want… Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever,” and she would sing a song with the ending lines of the 23rd Psalm.
Night after night, I would envision in my mind the green grass pastures, the still and calming waters, the valley of the shadow of death with the narrow path of righteousness stretched out ahead, the rocky red-orange cliffs on one side and a steep precipice descending on the other. I would envision a table spread before me in the grass, and Shirley Goodness following me. She didn’t teach on the passages, she just recited them with and to us.
As I grew older and read more of the Scriptures, I understood that binding kindness and truth on the tablet of your heart is much like binding the words of the covenant to your forehead, to your arm, and to your doorpost, in the Mosaic law and Jewish tradition.
When getting my husband’s suit tailored for our wedding, we were serviced by a Jewish tailor from Azerbaijan, who spoke at least five languages. On his doorpost was a part of the Talmud, perhaps a Psalm, rolled up into a small clear container attached to the door. He said it was for good luck, and I wondered if he knew it was for a reminder. It reminded me of the passages in Deuteronomy which talk about keeping the words of the covenant close, talking about them each day and passing them on to the next generation - just as my mom did in our nightly ritual.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)