Spamtoberfest

Celebrating SPAMtoberfest at ICS SPAM and Kimchi Soup, Spam and Apple Dish SPAM and Dates

Today was a busy, but productive/relaxing day. I started with a trip to the chiropractor, a little work at school, and foot reflexalogy. Then, I rushed home at 4 to prepare food for my first ever SPAMtoberfest. I tried my hand at making SPAM, cabbage, and apple dinner before rushing back to school for the festivities. For SPAMtoberfest, you have to eat food made with SPAM. We had SPAM fried rice, SPAM and pineapple pizza, SPAM and potatoes, SPAM dip, and dates stuffed with SPAM. After toasting with rootbeer, we ate the "yummy" food, and then went to a nearby bowling alley for some more SPAMtober fun. I didn't do so great, 99 and 92, but I had fun trying. After bowling, we walked to McDonald's for ice-cream, but their machine was broken. :( So, off to the 7-11 for an ice-cream bar instead.

Interesting Facts about Living in Singapore

Interesting facts about living in Singapore. 1. You can miss two buses in the time it takes you to cross the street. (Even though the buses are supposed to come every 20 minutes!) 2. It can take 4 hours to go to a chiropractic appointment, and never get an adjustment. 3. For the first time in my life, I had to mark “Other” for my ethnic background…Caucasian wasn’t an option. 4. Your religion is part of your medical history. 5. Going to the chiropractor costs more than going to the emergency room. 6. Medical clinics and malls go hand in hand. 7. Leaving home in your workout clothes may not be the best option. Today was a very enlightening day! I went to the chiropractor, hoping for an adjustment and ended up on a journey. After an initial consultation, the chiropractor decided he needed x-rays, which required a 22 minute taxi ride (costing $11.40) and landed me in the most upscale part of town. Normally, not a problem, but today I had intended on going to the chiropractor and working in my classroom, so I left home in sweat shorts and a t-shirt. After the x-rays, I decided to take a bus home, which took over an hour! The worst part, I didn’t even get an adjustment, have to wait until Monday!

Carnival

Today was our school carnival. It was a lot of fun! There were lots of games, and even a ICS has talent show! Had a fun-dip for lunch, and then some Korean beef for dessert. (Backwards I know, but the lunch lines were too long, and my students won candy for me!) Then, I purchased some rice and cabbage for supper from the Indian booth. What a great way to wrap up a busy day. I must admit though, that reading other people's posts on facebook make me miss the cooler (and even cold) weather! I'm having a hard time realizing it's the middle of October with 80+ degree weather.

Perspective

This morning I needed a good dose of perspective, and God, being an all-knowing, and all-loving God, gave it to me! I had a very frustrating night last night, and woke up this morning grumpy and overwhelmed by all of the things I didn't get accomplished yesterday, even though I had spent literally HOURS working on them. On Wednesday we have small group devotions, and I went just because it is the routine. However, when I got there, another teacher shared that God had been reminding her to count it all JOY when we face trials. I was not doing such a good job with that one. As we talked and prayed, I felt God filling me with His peace, and reassuring me that He had everything under control. Well, it was a good thing He did! I walked into my classroom this morning, and just like every morning, began going over the daily schedule. However, I only got as far as "Good morning boys and girls, today is Wednesday, October 7" when it hit me. October 7 was my day to be in charge of chapel, and October 7 was today!!!! That was a HUGE problem, because I hadn't even looked at the chapel program since it was handed to me in August! I quickly explained to my students that we were cancelling classes for the day, because WE needed to plan chapel! Actually, it was a really good discussion about responsibility and grace. Anyway, my students were excited to help me, so I got out the chapel program, which I hadn't looked at since August, and had a moment of awe! The topic for chapel today was "God's building program." Can you guess what we were studying in Bible this week? We have been studying God building us into the workers that He can use! How awesome is our God? He knew the exact place we would be, and the exact lesson that I needed to present all of those months ago, and even though I messed up big time, He had grace, and a perfect plan to use my mistake when I gave it over to Him for His glory! My students helped me plan the entire chapel. They turned the Bible story from Haggai into a play, complete with a tissue box tower representing the temple. They picked out the songs, and even made up games to play. My favorite part though, was when we were talking about the jobs of the Holy Spirit. My students worked in groups to act these out. They did that ALL by themselves! There were so many praises from the day that it would take me all night to type them, and you all day to read them, but just know this: God is an awesome God, who knows our futures, and plans for our good! It was such a neat opportunity to share with my students about God's plans. As my kids prayed as we prepared for chapel, I was struck with the honesty, but also the magnitude of their prayers. They asked God to help EACH student leave chapel today ON FIRE FOR HIM!!!! How's that for a little perspective?

Dessert or Vegetable?

I must admit that I wasn't that excited to get up this morning, being Saturday and all, to go to a meeting to talk about the transition of moving to Singapore. However, I was presently surprised, and enjoyed the fellowship with other teachers from my school. After the meeting, the school treated us to Subway (which I thought was kinda funny, since we had just been talking about the importance of jumping INTO the culture, and we went for American...) Free lunch is always a good thing. While we were eating, one of the other teachers mentioned that he wanted to go to see the movie Cloudy with the Chance of Meatballs. Not only did Stephen want to see it, he wanted to see it in 3D. Well, after a week of sitting at home by myself, I was definitely in! We had to go to Vivo City (a very large mall in the middle of the island) for the 3D part, and pay a pretty penny, but hey, lunch had been free. The movie was good, and the fellowship was even better. There were 7 of us who went to the movie, and then 5 of us went to supper afterwards. I had some yummy Indonesian food (it's quickly becoming my favorite) and then some very interesting desert. One of the deserts ordered was longuns and some kind of nut. Longuns are a fruit. It was in a cold sweet liquid. The nuts were the texture of cheese, and didn't really taste that great. The longuns were okay, but overall, it was not my favorite. The second desert we tried was kind of like a snow cone, very Singaporean, but with some different flavors. The three flavors of syrup were rose, lime, and sugarcane. Then, it was topped with sweetened condensed milk and corn. The snow cone part was pretty good, but the corn threw me for a loop! Overall though, it was a good night. The only problem is that I didn't manage to get my work done....a Mexican party on Friday and a movie on Saturday, leaves a lot of undone work going into a new week. But, in the long run, I think it was worth it.

Taxi Ride Conversations

I took a taxi to a friend's house after school today. On the way, I had the most bizarre conversation. (The story would be much funnier if you could hear the different accents, but typing will have to do.) The driver asked me where I was from, and I told him the US. He some how decided that I was the best, most hardworking person around, and was a work a-holic that needed a break. Then, he asked me "you're not married are you?" I said no, and he proceeded to tell me all the "reasons" I needed to be looking for a husband. I told him that sometimes husbands are overrated, that if God has someone for me, He will bring him into my life. The driver was aghast to this, he said "No, the God does not want you to be lazy, he gave you a brain and energy and...you have to use them to search for a husband." Then he asked me what kind of husband I wanted. I said a husband that was a Christian and loved God. He said "Oh, you are Christian, you have it easy, just go to the God house more, you will find a husband there." Then he proceeded to tell me that I'm lucky, because the husbands you find at the "God house" are better than the ones you find at night clubs, they don't last too long! Part of this conversation also included a conversation on the shifting "qualifications" of relationships in Singapore, how men don't want beautiful wives anymore because they tend to cheat more, and vise versa. From here, he asked me what I thought was the most important thing to do in life. I told him that loving and bringing glory to God were the most important things. He said "I agree 100% with what you say, but also, maintenance." He proceeded to give me WAY TOO MUCH INFORMATION about his personal life, and conversations he has with his wife over coffee in the morning about how to "improve their relationship." His point was actually a good one, that you have to maintain the relationships you have rather than looking for new and "easier" ones, but his delivery could have used some work! When I finally arrived, I had a good story to tell (the less censored version). You never know what to expect when you get in a cab!