saturday. august 25 2oo7

wow i can't believe i let nearly two weeks go by without updating. i think i communicate best through my camera. it helps me not only capture the moment, but it also helps me remember what was going through my head at the time. our first complete week just passed, and i feel good about this upcoming year. we had girls bball tryouts this past week too. the girls are definitely better than last year. it was really tough choosing. i'm excited about our first game on sept10. the girls seem really enthusiastic about playing this year. last year it was our first year playing sports against other schools. this year, some of our girls know what to expect, so they're looking forward to it. aside from bball, there are some students my heart really aches for this year. i know ache sounds like a bad thing, but i mean it in more of a deep, feel-for kinda way. i love it when God makes it so obvious. i'm eager to get to know them and share my experiences with Him with them. topic switch...i went to the market today. and i just had to do it. green, checkered vans. $10. i think i enjoy bargaining more than actually buying the shoes. it's fun. alright my brain has run out of words. ::: :::

monday. august 13 2oo7

here's my tentative schedule: 1st 8:18-9:10   2nd 9:15-10:05 Geometry 3rd 10:15-11:05 7th Computer * + 4th 11:10-12:00 8th Computer * + 5th 12:05-12:55 7th-8th Boys Bible * Lunch 12:55 -1:35 Lunch Duty Everyday 6th 1:35-2:25   7th 2:30-3:20 Algebra II + After School 3:30-4:30 Sports * alternating days + permanent substitute geometry will have the same curriculum as last year, except i'll probably have 3 times as many students this time around. 7th grade computer will focus mainly on typing. students in the states, who have easy access to high speed internet, instant messaging, emailing, blogging, etc, have a greater opportunity to practice typing. because of that huge difference here, many of our students aren't proficient at typing. the 8th grade computer class wil be learning microsoft word and excel. last year, this class was challenging to teach b/c we were using outdated computers which had varying operating systems and different versions of office. i'm glad we ordered new computers that will keep consistency throughout the courses. the 7th-8th boys bible class will have 20+ students in that class. we will be studying the book of acts. classroom management...umm yea...that's all i have to say about that. our students have a wide area in which to hang out for lunch. as a result, we will have two teachers on lunch duty each day. i volunteered to watch over the lower bandas area every day. i'll probably kick myself later for putting myself in that position. and then, there's this business of teaching algebra II while making myself available as a permanent substitute. whenever a teacher needs a sub on my alternating days for 7th computer and 8th computer, i am free to do it. when they need me to sub during my algebra II class, i will bring the potentially 1-3 students along with me. ok i hope that made sense. finally, there's sports. i will be coaching girls basketball, boys basketball, and helping out with boys rugby. we're hoping to have practice every day after school, but that hasn't been finalized yet. during the two off-periods, i will be lesson planning, grading papers, or working on the school's website. hopefully that's all i will be doing. then again, you gotta learn to expect the unexpected if you don't wanna stress out. oh i just remembered. i could be asked to help with remedial teaching during one of my off-periods. in addition to all that, i will probably be tutoring with my free time. ::: :::

thursday. august o9 2oo7

first i need to tell the story about my camera. i hope you enjoy reading b/c it'll be like this for at least the following month. ********************** i ended up sitting next to this girl on my flight from amsterdam to nairobi. she had a really interesting story. for starters, she was one of the kids in the library hiding under a desk in the columbine shootings. since then, she has graduated from college, and now she is a public speaker. she goes from school to school giving talks to young people about not waiting till later to begin their lives. she gives a positive message using her columbine experience as a platform. she happens to be in kenya for two weeks helping a group called Food for the Hungry. i think they are building a water pump here. she’s gonna speak probably. oh also, she travels with a band. they play every time she speaks somewhere. after i told her what i do, then she mentions that she’s also christian. in addition to that, she also happens to be the author of a book. i forgot the title of the book, but you can do a search on amazon for her name. oh yea, her name is crystal woodman miller. we had a great time talking about her experiences traveling all over. since she speaks in public schools, she can’t really talk about christianity. she has also worked with samaritan’s purse in the past. and she’s also been on talk shows. meeting her made my flight fun. on top of that, there were these 3 flight attendants that were hilarious. it was one guy and two girls. we laughed so much on the plane because they were messing with us. at the end before getting off the plane, i was standing in their food work area talking to them. they were busy packing up their suitcases getting ready to head off the plane. next thing you know, they were handing me sodas and food. they were telling me to sneak it into my bag and not let the other passengers know about it or else they’ll get jealous...hahaha! they were awesome! the guy’s from belgium, and the girls are from holland. by far, they’re the best flight attendants i’ve ever had. after a took pictures with them and crystal, we sat in the plane for abit waiting for the plane to park next to the gate. it took a good half hour. after i got off the plane...after i got through customs...i’m standing at the baggage claim going through my backpack just to see all the stuff they gave me. that’s when i realized my camera was missing. i even went back into the plane to check, but it wasn’t there. i was really bummed out. in a way, it ruined my welcome experience back to kenya. up until then, i was happy about coming back and having a good time meeting crystal and the attendants. the camera is gone. the 2gb memory card is gone. the great pictures i took of them are gone. and because of the amount of time it’ll take to get another camera, there will be alot of untaken pictures for a good month or so =\ so last night i came back to my place, and i was frustrated. i went through my backpack a million times in hopes of it showing up in a pocket i didn’t check. i ended up unpacking all my stuff just to get my mind off the camera. around 11:30pm, my mom calls to check if i landed safely. i shared with her that i was an idiot and misplaced my camera. i probably left it on my seat, and someone took it while walking by. it felt like crap. i was totally distracted by it. but then my mom reminded me that it’s replaceable. that simple realization helped me go to bed easier. i ended up praying alot about God’s purpose for me this year. i know there are alot of things i want to do, but i think i’ve forgotten to ask God what he wants me to do. so i woke up this morning aorund 5:30am filled with joy...a joy i’m sure only God could’ve given me. any way, i still want a new camera because i enjoy capturing moments, but this incident was a good slap in the face. God realigned my perspective. i guess i’m sharing this with you because many times we may feel like we’re at a good place with God because of where we’re going or what we’re doing. but in actuality, he cares more about our hearts and how we feel about him and his purpose for our lives. ********************** since i've been back, i've spent a great deal of time reflecting on how i will teach this year. what will i do differently? how does God want to challenge me this year? if you saw me, you'd probably think i wasn't feeling well or possibly depressed b/c i've been quiet most of the time when i'm around people. i think alot of it has to do with me processing. i'm preparing for the ball to begin rolling. i know that once it starts, it doesn't stop. topic switch...it's cold over here. especially coming from houston to here, it was a drastic change in weather. before i left, it was a beater and shorts. now i try to cover every inch of my body. it's usually cold in the mornings and evenings. in the afternoon, it warms up abit. wed-fri 9-12 of this week, we've been going to school for orientation and acsi biblication integration training. to my surprise, the videos aren't too boring. there's actually many truths said in those videos. on top of that, some of the cheesiness cracks me up. for a dude who's not exactly the awesomest cook, school providing lunch those three days helps alot too. speaking of food, i ordered a ginormous calzone the other night and kept the other half in my fridge. my grandmother, being the chinese grandmother that she is, insisted i buy a rice cooker. from a more practical sense, my mom suggested i get a microwave. who am i to disobey my mother, right? hahaha! so today with the help of the girls giving me a ride, i went to nakumatt (like walmart) and bought a microwave. this pretty much revolutionizes my eating habits. so like my lil niece ansley who eagerly awaits for cake, i sat outside the microwave door patiently waiting for my nuked calzone. i wasn't around back then, but i can totally relate to the first owners of the microwave. this is coming from a guy who grew accustomed to eating cold pizza last year. actually all leftovers i ate were cold. so this was definitely a good addition to the house. it's such a privelege to have one of these. i'm also grateful for electricity. taking cold showers in cold weather wasn't fun last year. ok i think that's enough reading material for you today. maybe i can use my webcam to take some pictures of stuff. or i will use my awesome stick figure drawing abilities in paint to capture the essence of nairobi. until next time, be cool stay in school! ::: :::

thursday. august o2 2oo7

i was treated out to fogo de chao, a brazilian restaurant, by alfred tonight. thank you alfred!!! we ate with sam, jeremy, and jonlai. we were so stuffed with meat by the end of the night. i'm pretty sure i gained some weight after that meal. if you've never eaten at a place like this, then i'll explain what the round card represents. basically you flip it onto the green side if you want the waiters to come around and give you meat off their skewers. and then you flip it to the red side if you don't want them to come around and serve you. it's an all you can eat meatfest! the different meats actually had distinct flavors, so it was pretty good. we didn't get pics of meat b/c we were too busy scarfing it down. ::: :::

wednesday. august o1 2oo7

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COUSIN! i wish i could be there to celebrate with you. on a completely different note, here are all of them minus 6, which are in kenya. also, there are some that i have double, triple, or quadruples of. the bigger pics can be found under the Shoes link. some people collect stamps, and well... ::: :::