Camping Trip

Dear Judith,

I just got back from camping at Managaha with Angie, Amy, and Amy's parents. I think that the next time I feel the urge to go camping, I'll just throw some rocks on the floor and lay down on them. Then, to make it even more realistic, I'll alternate between full blast and no AirCon. I'll throw sand in all of my bags and I'll go a couple days without showering until I'm good and stinky.

I try to like camping, but I just can't do it. I don't see the appeal of sleeping on hard ground and not showering. Everytime I go, I think that maybe this will be the time that I enjoy it, but it just hasn't happened yet.

We got to Managaha on Friday afternoon and set up camp. It was still light out, so we snorkeled for a little bit. I must admit, I did have fun at this point. Snorkeling at Managaha is so unreal. I've never seen so many fish in my entire life. I even saw my first octopus!

Dinner was veggie burgers, which were, of course, fantastic. I still had high hopes for the trip. Darkness descended and we laid on the sand, looking up at the stars. Occasionally we would have bursts of energy which would result in cartwheels, handstands, and spinning around in circles until, giggling, we collapsed on the ground. Amy's dad told us about the stars, and Angie made up constellation names.

We eventually went to our tents, and though the ground was hard, I thought I would be fine. I fell asleep for about an hour, and woke up because it was so hot. There was absolutely no wind at all and I felt suffocated. I laid there for a few hours, drifting in and out of consciousness. I was awake when Amy got up to remove the tarp that was covering our tent. Angie showed me her watch and said, "Don't you just want to jump off a cliff?" It was 12:52, and I already felt like I had been laying there forever. The rest of the night continued in a similar fashion. I think I got about 4 hours of sleep total.

Sabbath was spent snorkeling, relaxing, and reading. We vowed to go to bed later than the previous night, but after playing about 10 hands of Uno, we were bored, and we settled in for the night.

There was so much wind that we thought our tarp was going to rip. It sounded like the world was crashing in on itself and it was impossible to sleep, for me at least. Angie seemed to have no problem at all. Amy took the tarp down at about midnight, but it started raining at about 2, so it had to go back up. I eventually got a little bit of sleep, maybe 2 hours total. Every time I looked at Angie, she looked so peaceful--I just wanted to kick her!

The wind continued all night and into the morning, and made it a little bit difficult to take down camp, but we finally succeded, and loaded everything onto the Coral Queen. I'm home and clean and happy, despite my lack of sleep. I think my favorite part of camping is getting home.

I miss you. Like a lot. And I need to talk to you. Just you. Not everyone else who reads my blog. I love you Jude!

Jaimie

The Holiday Season

Dear Judith,

I'm sorry that I haven't written in awhile. I wish I could say that it's because I've been busy, but this Christmas break has been the most chill, relaxing time that I've had on Saipan. I've been staying with my friend Angie because Rhonda is in America. I can't wait for her to get back, but it's good to have a break sometimes, to realize how blessed you are with what you have.

I did the Jingle Bell Fun Run in the beginning of December and that was a lot of fun. I even won a prize in the raffle! I wear my jingle bells as a badge of honor, that I ran the whole time.

Our staff Christmas party started out at the hospital, giving presents to some kids, which was a lot of fun. Then we met back up at the Maycock's for a white elephant gift exchange. I ended up with a Big Dipper gift certificate so I was happy with it!

My class Christmas party was adorable. The kids were so excited to give presents that they barely looked at the ones for them. None of our parents signed up to bring entrees, so lunch consisted of Winchell's donuts, Choco-pies, and Chips-Ahoy cookies, but somehow, the kids survived with no signs of diabetes yet. I've gone back to work a couple times over break because I miss my kids a lot.

I've been a little bit disgusted with Saipan over this break. I mean, it shouldn't be possible to get more tan over Christmas break or to go to a water park on December 21. Awful stuff, this weather.

Angie and I have been to Oleai at least 4 or 5 times since break started, for their dollar tacos. We went on her birthday and in lieu of cake or ice cream, they gave her a scoop of mashed potatoes with a candle stuck in the top.

Amy's parents have been here, and it's nice to see Dean Foote, who was one of my bosses last year at WWU. We had dinner with them on Christmas Eve and it was delicious, which is no surprise. I awoke on Christmas morning to Amy, shoving a stocking in my face, filled with fruit snacks, yahtzee, and chocopies. Angie and I went to the dental hygienist's house in the afternoon and watched a movie, then headed back home.

Most of my days have been spent in the apartment, sleeping, reading, and watching movies. I would not recomment Love in the Time of Cholera, but My Sister's Keeper (This month's book club book) and The Case for Christ were both good.

The other night, Angie, Megan (office assistant), Joeie, and I had a makeup and hair party. It was a lot of fun, and Angie did my hair really cute. Yesterday, we dyed Megan's hair and did each other's make up again, so as to enter into 2009 in an attractive way.

Last night, we had a fondue party with Amy and her parents, watched a movie, and then drove to Tapochau with Michi and Kei to watch the fireworks. It was so foggy that you could barely see anything, but the company was a great blessing and I can't imagine a better way to start the year.

We're going to Managaha tomorrow with the Footes, and camping until Sunday morning. I'm excited to enjoy the great snorkeling and hopefully work on my tan.

Thank you for your last post. It gave me some insight into how you're feeling.

I miss you Judith, and I'm totally bummed that you're not coming back to camp. Happy 2009 and I love you so much

Reflections on a Busy Week

Dear Judith,
Friday evenings seem the most convenient time to blog, so I apologize if the tone is similar to my previous posts. Rhonda and I turn off the lights in a simulated power outage and rely on candles for our light. The sweet smell of incense entices us to relax from the stresses of the week as we ease into the weekend.

We've started to listen to Christmas music and I'm looking forward to a break in a couple weeks, though I'm planning on stopping by the preschool a couple of times because I know that I'm going to miss my kids. I never thought that I could love anyone as much as I love them. I'm trying to enjoy every second that I have with them because I know that time goes by so quickly and I don't want to miss anything. I don't know how much time you spent at the preschool last year, but the kids are so amazing. There aren't words to describe how much I care about them. I almost feel a parental love towards them, and I can't even begin to imagine leaving them.

My work schedule changed starting this week, so I go in earlier and get off earlier. I'm hoping that this will lead to more time spent with the other teachers. It's hard, because I feel really disconnected from my friends in America, and I often go the whole week without seeing the elementary teachers. As much as I love my kids, I do enjoy and appreciate interaction with people who have been out of diapers for more than a year.

Three of the teachers are getting off-island for Christmas, but I'm chilling right here. I'm excited to spend time here without working. I'll be able to see more of this island that's beginning to feel like home. Christmas will be a little sad without Rhonda though. I keep singing "Blue Christmas" to her, but she shows little to no remorse for leaving me.

I miss you Judith. I know I say that in every post but it's really true. It helps to know that you've been through and experienced much of what I do. Happy Sabbath and I love you so very much!

P.S. Here are a few Japan pictures for you!

We were so excited to get Starbucks!

Even the manhole covers were beautiful!

It was so wonderful to see autumn!

The Fire of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, mentioned in my last post

Amen

Preliminary Tokyo Post!

Dear Judith,

We just got home this afternoon from Tokyo, and it was fantastic! Amy, Rhonda, and I arrived on Wednesday night into Narita, then just barely made it to our hotel in Tokyo in time to keep our reservation.
We stayed at a backpacker's hotel. It was cheap and clean, though none of us ever got a great night's sleep. Our rooms were very small, but sufficient for the amount of time we spent in them.

We woke up early on Thursday morning and headed to Ueno Station where one of the most amazing things happened: Rhonda and I got Starbucks! I've missed it very much. I mean, Java Joe's is nice, but I haven't even been there for over a month.

We left the station and saw our first signs of autumn. Rhonda and I played in the leaves for a bit which was simply lovely. We went to Ueno Zoo and walked around, seeing all sorts of wonderful creatures. Unfortunately, Ling-Ling, the Giant Panda died on April 30th from heart failure.

After leaving the zoo, we went to my favorite shrine. There, we saw the fire of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A man went to his uncle's house in Hiroshima after the bombs were dropped and found an ember still burning. He kept it burning in his house as a reminder of the violence. This temple has been keeping it burning since he died as a memorial to those who were killed by the bombs.

On Thursday, we went to Tokyo tower and a park around there. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, full of beautiful fall trees. We went to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building observation deck. Unfortunately, it was foggy so we couldn't see too far but it was still a nice view.

On Friday, we went to the Hie Jinja shrine and temple. It was stunning. We ate our first real meal in Harajuku for dinner, and wandered around for awhile. We tried to find the SDA church and looked around for about an hour and a half. We finally found it, just in time for vespers.
That's where we met Jasmine, a British woman who's teaching English at the SDA Language school in Harajuku. She invited us to the church in Nagayama with the youth group and we gratefully accepted.

We woke up early on Sabbath morning to meet her at the church. We walked to the station together and took a very long and expensive ride to Nagayama with about half of the group. Sabbath school was nice, and church was conducted in Japanese. We met the rest of the youth group and everyone was so warm and accepting. We left them to go see the Imperial Gardens with plans to meet back up for dinner.
The Gardens were closed by the time we got there, so we went back to Harajuku and saw some Cos-Play, but not much. We found the guys and went to a really cool restaurant where we laughed the evening away.
We woke up very early this morning in order to catch our flight back home. The experience was great, the new friends were awesome, and Tokyo was breathtakingly beautiful. I'll post pictures later.

Miss you and love you!

Reconnecting

Dear Judith,

Sorry that I haven't written in a very long time. I keep meaning to, but something always distracts me. Work has been fun. We had two new kids yesterday. The little girl was adopted from Haiti, and she's adorable.
Today is the last day of elementary before Thanksgiving break, but I still get to work tomorrow. Then, at around 2:30, Amy, Rhonda, and I will leave the preschool, go to the airport, and get on a plane for Japan! I'm so incredibly excited to experience something new. After living in Saipan for 4 months, things start to feel a little mundane. That's not to say that I don't still love it, because I do, so very much.
My friend Angie, the kindergarten teacher, flew home on Friday. We plan to meet up with her in Narita while she waits for her connecting flight. I miss her though. She's one of my favorites.
Sabbath was a nice day. We had church and then a potluck at Susupe Beach Park, by the Grand Hotel and SCS. Ken and Crystal brought their new puppy, and she's so cute! Everyone was in the mood for a hike, except for me. My ankle was hurting and I didn't want to hurt it more before I go to Japan and walk everywhere. Everyone else hiked down to Bird Island and Amy and I went to Wing Beach. It was my first time and it was pretty cool. There were less sea cucumbers than at Pau Pau, which was nice because I hate them!
Anyway, I should start packing. I miss you and hope that life is beautiful for you!

My Busy Weekend

Dear Judith,

It's Monday evening and I'm relaxing while Rhonda makes me biscuits. I started a new tutoring job tonight but they didn't feed me. I made a chill playlist on my Itunes and I'm feeling good, despite the weekend I had.

Amy and I needed to change the theme in our classroom from bugs to food and giving thanks, so we decided to spend the night at the preschool on Saturday night and work while watching episodes of Lost.
However, on Sabbath afternoon, I found out that Twyla (the dental hygienist) had got 21 tickets to Managaha. Rhonda and Nicole both planned on going, and I really wanted to as well. I talked to Amy and we decided to see if we could finish up a lot of our classroom stuff on Saturday night and then go back on Sunday afternoon and finish. The plan was to leave for Managaha at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday.
We got to the preschool at 7:00 p.m. Saturday and got to work immediately. Since we had done little to no preparation during the week, there was lots of cutting and contact papering to do. Time went quickly and before I knew it, it was 11:15 p.m. We kept working, planning, organizing. My back was sore from bending over the miniature tables in my classroom. My hands ached from holding a pair of scissors for 4 hours. The hands on the clock kept turning, seeming to have a mind of their own. Before we knew it, it was 5:00 a.m. and we were both delirious. Deciding the ten hours was enough for one night, we left the preschool. I dropped Amy off at her house, warning her that if Megan had locked the deadbolt on my front door, I would be back. She gave me her extra key and I drove towards home.
Of course the deadbolt was locked and it's so rusty that my key doesn't work on it. I walked back to Subee, shoulders slumped, exhausted. Driving back to Amy's, I was angry at my roommates for locking me out, but after praying, I realized that there was no reason to be upset. I had a bed to sleep in and everything was worked out.
I crawled onto Amy's bed with her and was asleep in about 2 minutes. I awoke about an hour later and drove home. Rhonda and I got ready for Managaha and were out of the house by 8:15. We picked up Nicole then followed Twyla to the dock. Sean, Barbara, and Elijah came too, which was a real treat for me since I never see them. We laid out on the beach and I got a sunburn, though not a bad one.
We got home and Rhonda and I moved downstairs, then I went back to work for a little bit. French and Rhonda had to sing at the church for the evangelistic meetings so I waited in the car listening to episodes of a podcast that my friend, Donnie, started at Southern .
The three of us went and did laundry and tried to buy plane tickets for Christmas, but that was unsuccessful. The dryer didn't dry any of my clothes and we got home around 10:00 p.m. I hung up all of my wet clothes and put my damp sheets on my bed, which was so uncomfortable that it would have hindered my sleep if I hadn't been so exhausted.
I woke up this morning for a regular Monday, except that I tutored a different kid, which I think was a blessing from God because I probably wouldn't have had an adequate amount of patience to deal with Ricky.
It was a long weekend and it will be a long week, but still...there's no place I'd rather be. I love you and miss you Judith!

Charlotte

Dear Judith,

The books were arranged perfectly on the table, and five pencils, sharpened beautifully, stand upright in the pencil cup. The floor is swept, the windows clean. She brushes her hair and pulls on the wrinkles in her shirt, looking up when she hears her name.

"Charlotte, it's time to go," her mother says, leaning on the door frame. "Are you alright, honey?"

"I'm fine," Charlotte briskly replies, hoping that her mother doesn't notice her unsteady gaze and weak voice. Her mother eyes her suspiciously, then, shrugging her shoulders, grabs her keys and the two descend the steep cement staircase, Charlotte nearly tripping on the last step, the one that always seemed to reach for her, hoping to keep her from leaving her apartment, from entering the world, from growing up.

The drive to their destination is short, much too short for Charlotte. She is off her seat before her mother has shifted from Drive to Park. Looking out the windshield, she sees a woman saying goodbye to a little boy. The woman looks up, smiles at the car, and runs inside the building behind her. Charlotte falls back on the seat, closing her eyes and wishing that she could just disappear.

The front passenger door opens and the woman sits down, buckling her seatbelt and looks back at Charlotte. She smiles, but Charlotte notices that she never loosens her grip on her verdant satchel. Charlotte wonders if maybe this woman is as nervous as she, but quickly dismisses the thought. "There's no reason for her to be nervous about meeting me," thought Charlotte.

Within a minute, they were back at the apartment, climbing the stairs and entering the living room. Charlotte usually loved the pink glow of the spacious room, but today, she resented it. Removing her shoes, she slipped into the room and sat down. She started rifling through her backpack, hoping to look busy enough to delay conversation, if only for a moment. The woman entered the room, looked around, then shut the door. She smiled again at Charlotte, inspiring her to take a deep breath and begin their task.

Conversation felt awkward as Charlotte began her homework. It was easy enough that Charlotte knew she could do it on her own. The woman sat and watched her, however, and that made concentration difficult. Quickly, she began the next page, horrified to see that she didn't understand it at all. Looking up, she asked the question she had been dreading for a week.

"Can you help me? I don't understand it."

"Of course," the woman replied and proceeded to explain the suffixes and prefixes that confused the ten year old girl.

Charlotte was beginning to feel a little better, until the woman asked her to read out loud. She wanted to curl up and die everytime she misread a word, but the woman didn't seem to mind at all.

When the story was over, the woman surprised Charlotte by asking about her hobbies and interests, and the most amazing part was, this woman actually seemed interested. Charlotte soon grew comfortable enough to ramble on about the kids in her class, and the woman never seemed to lose interest.

Before she even realized it, the hour was over and the woman picked up her bag, asking if she could get a ride home. Charlotte's mother asked if she liked her new tutor, a question which she simply nodded to. The three of them walked down the stairs and Charlotte again caught her foot on the last step, but this time, she didn't mind so much. In the car, on the way to the woman's house, Charlotte smiled at her earlier trepidation.

When the woman got out of the car at her house, Charlotte called out to her. "See you next week!" The woman turned, grinned and nodded. Charlotte noticed that her tutor no longer held tightly to her bag, and her smile was genuine. She leaned back in her seat, and laughed quietly to herself. All the nervousness was gone, and Charlotte began to look forward to their next session.