saturday. december 3o 2oo6

alright i'm trying to update more often, so i can stop making these massive posts like the past two days. today is the first day i got to reap the benefits of the househelp. she washed my clothes and made me lunch. the best part is that she takes the responsibility of the dogs off my hand now. hmm what did i do today? i think i caught coach carter on tv for abit. it got me thinking about how i'm going to coach the boys bball team this upcoming season. i learned to *vroom vroom* alittle. oh yea if i hadn't mentioned before, there was this game us teachers played at a retreat back in september. the guest speaker gave a prize to whoever won the game. i won a gift certificate to an italian restaurant called mediterraneo. all this time i guess i never really found the right time or people to take. then i realized that the expiration date is today! talk about waiting till the last minute...hahaha. so i went to dinner with brad, grant (brad's bro), janine (brad's sis), and megan. it was fun getting to interact with people again. after dinner, we watched The Departed...finally! it just came out here a couple days ago. for all my chinese people, i think this movie's script was based off of Infernal Affairs which came out in 2002 with andy lau and tony leung. actually i'm certain it was a remake because brad pitt's production company bought the rights back in 2003. i enjoyed watching the little differences. the ending left no room for a sequel like the chinese version, but it was well done. someone in the cast deserves an academy award for the boston accent. it's kinda kool to think that leonardo dicaprio, matt damon, and brad pitt watched Infernal Affairs. i guess it just never occurred to me that american actors watched chinese films. ::: :::

friday. december 29 2oo6

[ 12.22.06 ] - it was one week from the day school was let out. i had never been away from the school or the students for that long since i arrived. i was invited to join hanbeen, sam, and ian at wns for bball. they wanted to play/practice. it's kinda nice being able to go to the school any time i want. after bball, i hung out with sam and hanbeen. we got to go to karen country club. a country club in kenya? weird huh? i learned how to play squash for the first time. i liked it because it felt alot slower than racketball. after that, we went back to sam's house to play more bball. later mr. kamaleson picked me up to take me to his place to housesit till jan10. i only remember being really sore that night. playing sports back to back pushed my legs to the limit. [ 12.23.06 ] - this was my first complete day of staying at this house. there are pros and cons to staying here. on one side, there's internet and dstv. i usually walk 30min in order to get internet, and even then i still have to buy something to eat in order to use the service. and dstv is television from south africa. as you may already know, south africa is probably the most developed country on this continent. i've never been there, but knowing that they have mcdonald's tells me alot already. the shows are all re-runs, but it's still fun to enjoy a familiar passtime. this will all go away soon, so i might as well enjoy while i can. [ 12.24.06 ] - this sunday morning was probably the weirdest one i've waken up to. i first find out that the househelp will be gone for a few days, so i'm in charge of feeding the dogs (two german shepherds and a rottweiler). i'm not exactly a fan of these big, hairy, smelly animals, but it's not so bad. because one of the german shepherds just got back from the doctor, i was told to give her two tablets per day. it's not as simple as it seems because when you throw the tablet on the floor, all three dogs run for it. so i had to find a way to isolate that one dog. that same morning, the househelp from the house across the street asked me for a favor. i happened to know that family also, and their househelp also was leaving for a few days. oh btw, both of these families went to the states for vacation. the favor was for me to feed the dog and cat. all of a sudden, i'm taking care of five animals. to make things even trickier, the hagmans (sam's family) invited me to spend the night christmas eve. so i made an arrangement with a neighboring friend to take care of stuff for the two days i was gone. so i spent christmas eve going to church with the hagmans. after lunch, we played nine holes of golf. (golf? i know right?) sam's really good at the game. i think he's won tournaments. after golf, we come back to the house and relax till dinner. mrs. hagman prepared fondue, and it was really good. it was one of those moments where i forgot i was in kenya. traditionally they prepare a stocking for each person. the stockings are filled with little gifts, and they're individually wrapped. so we went around and opened each of our presents. it was so fun spending time with them. afterwards, we watched the movies Christmas With The Kranks and How The Grinch Stole Christmas. sam and i crashed around midnight. [ 12.25.06 ] - around 630am, simon (sam's younger bro in 3rd grade) quietly comes into my room and goes, "Mr. T, are you awake?" i could also hear his dad out in the hallway saying, "simon, don't wake him up if he's not ready." i already knew simon wanted to wake me up because he wanted to open presents. he was pretty much fighting between his urge of opening presents and him wanting to be polite and not wake me. so i decided to rollover. he was pretty excited when he saw movement, so i got up. again, i was quite shocked to know that presents were also prepared for me. i am so blessed to have this family welcome me into their house to celebrate christmas with them. they involved me in their family christmas traditions and embraced me like i was part of the family. if there are people i'd like yall at home to meet, it would be them. as for the rest of the day, the only other significant event was our visit to the hartleys. they go to the same church, and they're a kool british family. the father and mother have been in kenya for 30yrs. they live in the same neighborhood, so we walked to their house. because we had been waiting for the rain to stop, we showed up to the party abit late. as we arrived, everyone else was leaving. but that didn't matter much because we ended up sitting with mr and mrs hartley and their two daughters in college visiting from england. it was nice to sit and chat. i enjoy times like those because i get to learn more about different cultures. i got to try two new foods that day. first was pimms, which is a british gin beverage with fruits in it. second was mince pie, which is a tiny pie-shaped fingerfood filled with the similar stuff as fruit cake. it was a fun experience. the entire day was fun. in the evening, i was brought back to the kamaleson house. the hagmans needed to pack because they were leaving for south africa the following day for vacation. [ 12.26.06 - 12.28.06 ] - when i think of these three days, one of the biggest things that comes to mind is dogs. of all the things i thought i'd be doing in kenya, this one never entered my mind. during the day, it's not so bad. but when night falls, it gets really interesting. i tell you my routine, so you can get an idea of what's going on. first of all, i have two sets of keys because i'm looking after two sets of animals. there are three dogs on one side, and there is a dog and cat on the other. first i must leave the kamaleson house and lock all three locks behind me because it's nighttime, and i wanna be responsible. then i walk across the street and open two locks to get into the andrews' house. on the first night i did this, i put out food for the cat. and before i could put out food for the dog, he started barking towards the gate. i became abit worried because usually dogs bark at people. so i peaked out the window and spotted two german shepherds. i was like, "what the heck?" i left the andrews' house and locked the doors behind me. i went out into the street and realized the kamaleson dogs had broken out. i was concerned because if the dogs can get out, it means a burglar could get in. i became frustrated because i had to reopen the gate to bring the dogs back in and couldn't find the right key. oh yea, i forgot to mention that it was dark and pouring rain at the time. after bringing back in, i locked the gate again and went to the andrews' house. again i had to reopen the locks to get inside. and once again, the kamaleson dogs came out. so i pretty much had to repeat this going in and out, unlocking and relocking several times all in the rain. good stuff huh? since i was concerned, i decided to investigate how the dogs got out. it turns out there was a hole under the fence. the dogs dug underneath in order to follow me. so basically i'm stranded here by the dogs. every time i step out, they attempt to follow. i think maybe all of this became frustrating because it was pouring outside, and i could never figure out which key went with which lock in the dark. but life goes on. sitting in this large house all alone and recalling the robbery at the girls' place has been getting to me lately. every little sound at night makes me freeze for a moment. i think alot of it has to do with me not being familiar with the house. and i'm sure being in an unfamiliar country adds to it too. so i have to remind myself that God is here. bored yet? well i got more =] because i've been sitting in this house alone with no househelp, i basically haven't seen or spoken to anyone in person for days. strange huh? what's the longest you've gone doing that? but lucky for me, i have friends who consider me. people are beginning to come back from their vacations outta town. on wednesday, i was invited to eat at carnivore with megan, daylan, daylan's brother, jen, aaron, and their families. i knew it would be pricey, but i needed to get outta the house, see people, and eat lots of meat. it was fun eating there a second time because i knew what to expect. we had ostrich, camel, lamb, crocodile, turkey, chicken, pork, and beef. it felt good to eat something besides ramen and spaghetti. [ 12.29.06 ] - today is friday, and new years is closing in fast. it's strange thinking about the year 2007. i still remember going from 1999 to 2000 with the whole Y2K thing. i even remember last year's new year's. actually the only reason i remember is because we always end up at niki's house. this year who knows where i'll be? if you asked me in june what i'd be doing for thanksgiving, my bday, and christmas, i would've said the same thing as last year because that's what i find comfort and joy in. this year i spent thanksgiving with a chicken, a robbery on the weekend of my bday, and christmas with a caucasian family in africa. there really is no way to predict my future from here on out. i just gotta take it one day at a time. p.s. i saw a mouse in the house *shivers* ::: :::

chooseday. december 19 2oo6

alright so how does Mr. T spend his holiday? he spends his time doing just about the same thing he does back at home in the states....movies =] actually i need to slow down. i've already watched three movies in the theater since school was let out. before i begin rambling about my movie thoughts, i must mention my activities from the past few days for memory sake. [ 12.16.06 ] - on saturday, i was invited to a get-together at the lim's house. i had never met hannah and nathaniel's mom before, so that was nice. she's a kool lady i think. she tries to make things fun for everyone. hannah's bday is on the 22nd. nathaniel and jeremy's is in january. so it was sort of a celebration for all of them. it was funny singing the happy birthday song because we sounded like a broken record when we sang the names...hahaha. i got to catch the end of the rockets/lakers game. boo...losing in double OT was not fun. watching yao ming's polished turnaround and kobe's vintage right-side fadeway was entertaining. i wish tmac wasn't injured...stinkin back spasms. he needs to wear that "henry" belt. for those who have guarded henry, you know what i'm talking about...that thing always scratched me =P anywayz after hanging out, i got dropped off at adam's. for the first time ever, java's internet was down. for the first time ever, my grandmother was getting on skype =O i ended up paying for internet at a place nextdoor. my mom ended up telling me that my grandmother was gonna get online the following day, so that worked out. [ 12.17.06 ] - on sunday, i went to church with brad and his brother. it's weird during christmas time here. so many people leave town that church is beginning to thin out. that's completely opposite from home. fbcc normally gets packed and has an extra special service. because there are less people here, the services get shorter...hahaha. after church, i ate lunch then attempted to get online again. i stayed online long enough to catch my grandmother. it was fun because i enjoy hearing her speak chinese. i'm glad she got to see me alive and well. she was quite worried when i first left. one of her first questions was "have you found a girlfriend?" then she commented on how i looked fatter...like my face. right after that comment, she tells me that i need to eat more...hahaha. naturally she's concerned about my health. i totally enjoyed our short convo. after all that, i hung out with brad, his bro, and megan at prestige. then we chilled out at megan's afterwards. [ 12.18.06 ] - monday began with a meeting around noon with jim, who works in administration at wns. for those who went on the kenya stm, his daughter is one of the girls we saw at new life homes. small world, huh? anywayz, we went up because i'm helping him build a website that helps to raise money for people in a slum area in nairobi. i don't think the site is up yet, but it will be giftafrica.com. hopefully his idea will work. it will benefit many people in that slum. since we met at adam's arcade (my internet place), i figured i might as well stay and utilize the internet. boredom set in, and that's when the movie extravaganza began...(spoilers ahead) Nu Metro (theater company here) offers a deal of a coke, hotdog, and popcorn with the purchase of a movie ticket on mondays, so i didn't wanna pass that opportunity up. that was basically dinner and a movie for me. i chose to watch Holiday. i know they must've put alot of work into telling two love stories at the same time, but what i truly appreciated about the movie was the subtle contrast in characters. one lives in a small cottage; one lives in a huge mansion. i say subtle because it would've been cheesy if the girls were complete opposites. one thing i particularly liked was the mention of film. cameron diaz's character was consumed with the commercial side of film. btw, that movie voice in her head was a nice touch. and then kate winslet's character got a nice dose of classic hollywood and film music history. the movie left me wishing i could live their lives. i think at some point in time we would all like to do something spontaneous and adventurous. and for that journey to lead to love is a nice bonus. and for all you weirdos out there, no that is not the reason i came here =P oh yea, i also thought the two daughters were cute. i want daughters with british accents. hahaha...now i'm the weirdo. [ 12.19.06 ] - today was great. i hadn't spent much time with the chinese friends since the last time i mentioned them, so that made today especially fun. btw, i didn't stay for too long at the lims on saturday because i was trying to meet up with my grandmother. anywayz, i met up with nathaniel, hannah, and vivian (silent daughter *wink wink*). again, kenya stm should know what i'm talking about. you've never met her before, but you should know what i mean by silent. we watched the long awaited Eragon. of course it didn't meet the grandiose presentation of lord of the rings, but the dragon was kool. the only time i've seen dragons before was in Dragonheart and Harry Potter. they did a good job with it. as far as eragon himself, he reminds me too much of the guy they used for anakin skywalker. it was alittle difficult to get drawn into the movie. i never read the books, but the storyline was so-so. i'll probably end up watching the entire trilogy just because i wanna know what happens. right after stepping out of the theater for eragon, jeremy shows up. he met up with us to watch Happy Feet. was this a complete waste of money? not exactly. i didn't expect anything, but now i know why the cast of voices had so many big names. the storyline was decent for a story about an outcast penguin. i did find the songs they chose to be weird. they attempted to use familiar songs and give them a twist. that idea worked well in moulin rouge, which is my guess as to why they picked up nicole kidman. but the music just didn't seem to fit. i did find it interesting how they brought in real people at the end. i don't remember the last time i saw reality compliment animation. it's usually the other way around. ok so why the big names? in a way, the film seemed like it was being used as a platform for animal activists, more specifically marine life. if those stars didn't care much about animals before, i'm sure they do now. the big savior for the entire movie was actually the five "hispanic" penguins. every word that came outta their mouths was hilarious. it's always funny to have adult wit in a cartoon. and thus ending my loooong verbose critique about the past three movies i've watched. what do the days ahead have in store for me? i'm not exactly sure, but i would like to know what all of you are up to =] ::: :::

friday. december 15 2oo6

one of the biggest parts of the missionary kid lifestyle is coming and going at uncontrollable times. i really feel for the students because friendship is so important at that age. with all the moving around, it's not easy to develop close relationships and keep them. only half the year has gone by, and already kelsie, katie, brandon, and jc have left or are leaving. from a teacher standpoint, i didn't anticipate myself missing students. i mean how much can you get to know a person in 4-5 months? with wns being such a family atmosphere, everyone is missed when they leave. brandon was only here for half a semester, and he's already heading back to new york. we're all missing him very much. his last day was thursday, and it felt really strange not having him there on friday. with our tiny geometry class, one person leaving is a huge chunk of our class. since friday was a halfday, there was alot of partying and christmas celebration. actually the whole week has been like this. i was getting sick of eating all the junkfood. i knew someone should've brought carrot sticks...hahaha! anywayz, here's the french class singing a song. check out the enthusiasm there =] during the last period of class, we brought the entire school out to the upper basketball court to sing christmas carols. k-3, 4-6, and 7-8 each had songs prepared with the music teacher. it was funny to see the volume of singing increase as the grades got lower. just when i thought this day was over, it actually just begun. i was invited to austin's 13th bday party. we out to village market right after school. they all went swimming and played on the water slides. i decided to walk around village market. even though i've been there like 3-4 times, i've never actually checked out stores. after swimming and eating pizza, we headed upstairs to go bowling. it's weird how all this stuff can make you forget that you're in kenya. but once you leave these malls and ride on the roads, it's back to reality. besides austin's bday party, there was also jc's bday and farewell party. she turned 14 on thursday i think. she's also leaving us to go to another school called ISK. that was actually the first girls bball team we beat, so next year we're gonna face jc in a game =] she's been at wns for many years, so there's alot of history there with all her friends. we're all sad to see her leave us, but at least she'll still be in nairobi. oh yea, i forgot to describe the pictures =P her parents decided to treat us all to dinner at mediterraneo, which is a really nice italian restaurant. all the 8th and 9th graders were invited to come. since i was invited and chang hwan happened to be with me, i just went ahead and brought him with me. and besides, all the koreans are good buddies anywayz. after we ate, we hung out in the media store in junction. then all us guys said farewell because we needed to head back to austin's party at his house, which happened to be behind junction. the girls went and saw eragon...lucky punks! after the cake, singing happy bday, and taking this pic, we went outside in the dark to play capture the flag. it's so hard to play in that small area, but it was so fun. we ended up using alot of strategy to get the flag. i only stayed for two games, and it was 1-1 when i left. can you believe that the last time these guys played CTF for austin's bday was in 3rd grade?!?! when they reminisced about it, it just reminded me of how long they've known each other and the type of bonds they have. it makes it that much more difficult to watch them separate and leave each other one day. ::: :::

chooseday. december 12 2oo6

today is kenya's independence day, so we have a dayoff. but there isn't much to do because alot of places are closed. it's a good thing i received THREE packages all at once yesterday. i got one from my family, niki, and elena. packages are great because it's like receiving alittle piece of home in a box. it's also the most tangible way to send love. thank you sooooooo much yall!!! if you wanna know what my reaction was when i opened each box, just imagine me sitting there with this huge dopey-looking smile on my face. i occasionally let out bursts of laughter cuz i couldn't hold in the excitement. thank you again!!! i can always count on niki for games, anime, and music. i really enjoyed looking at the pictures and videos of your 18th bday and talent show. the kenya sticker from starbucks was a nice touch. if you look back at my nov30th post with my geometry class, the guy on the left, josh, is holding out a small blue ball. it's the exact same thing as the red ball in this picture below. we spent an entire class period playing with that thing once. so when i pulled mine out of the box, i laughed so hard. what are the odds? currently, i've gotten up to ep3 of kiba. it reminds me so much of pokemon...hahaa. so far i like it. thanx for getting me four swords! it'll definitely give me something to do during christmas break =] thanx niki! ok elena caught me offguard. i didn't know she was sending something. or maybe my memory is so bad that i forgot. *shrug* this was quite creative i must say. in case you can't see it, it says School supplies, Tastily gummies, Everything random, Very crunchies, Edible candies, Noodles instantly. there isn't much to describe about what she put in each bag. the titles explain it all. i do find it funny that the stickers she used to seal the bags say "poison center"....hahaha. i wonder if it scared the kenyan postal service. my food supply practically doubled after getting this. thanx elena! and then there's this giant sucker of a box. my bday/christmas present from my mom is a fat shipping bill. as you can see, alot of this stuff is my own. most of the picture explains itself except the collection of dvd's. my uncle recorded four nba games from november for me. he even took out all the commericals! i've never been away from the nba in my entire life, so this is a huge deal to me. thank you uncle simon! you're probably wondering what the thing in the middle is. well it's a usb hub that i requested. i kept having to plug/unplug usb devices all the time, so this makes it to where i only have to unplug one thing each time. thanx for getting that stanley! and of course, big thanx mom for finding all that stuff and sending over a gigantic box! thank you everyone for putting so much thought into these packages. i know it also requires your time and money to send them out. it's mainly your gesture of thoughtfulness that i appreciate the most about receiving packages. believe it or not, these things help me get through the day. whenever i miss home, i'll look at, play with, use, or eat something that you've sent. ::: :::

friday. december o8 2oo6

upon request, i'll post a couple pics with myself in them. last weekend was quite eventful. happiness and tragedy struck on the same night. on saturday, friends took me out to village market for dinner and bowling originally. there happened to be a bowling tournament going on, so we had to change plans. well not only does village market have a bowling alley, mini golf, and a water park, but it also has a theater. it's not exactly your typical mall. instead of bowling, we watched casino royale. i liked it. out with the suave james bond, and in with the rugged, tough guy who runs through walls and actually sheds blood. after the movie, we went to brad's place to have cake. in case you're wondering, kayla and jen made me a dragon cake....hahaha. it tastes really good, or maybe i'm just a sucker for frosting. after cake, a few people went home. this is where the story takes a turn. now would be a good time to put your children to bed or cancel your plane tickets to kenya...hahaha just kidding! let me give alittle background first. five female teachers live together in a two-story house. two of them were home at the moment. alison has a bedroom downstairs. jen was sleeping upstairs. late late at night, two kenyan men broke into their house through a window. they went into alison's room and took alot of valuable things, like her laptop, camera, phone, etc. keep in mind that she was in the room at the moment. she awoke, and they threatened her to be quiet. they also walked around the rest of the house and took stuff. i know i'm sitting here talking about stuff that was taken, but more importantly i'm glad the girls are safe. it has been a traumatizing experience for all the girls. some of them don't feel safe in their own home. they have been staying at different homes while the window and bars are being fixed. please pray for the girls' peace of mind...that they will find comfort in God as their protector. i know it may sound strange to say this, but also pray for those two men. maybe they live a life of crime because they weren't blessed with the same upbringing as we are. maybe they rob out of desperation to survive. whatever it is, they obviously have never experienced God's love. if i were robbed, i hope that i can say the same words that i'm saying now. to love the helpless is easy, but to love the hated is God's challenge to us. ok now you can see my awesome dragon cake =] ::: :::