A day in the life of a language learner

We are now in unit two of studying Bahasa Indonesian. I thought you might like to get a sense of what our day is like.
5:30am I wake up to wash and get ready (other members up at 6am)
8:00am We start class and meet for four hours. We work on fluency, grammar, pronunciation,
vocabulary, etc.
12 noon We eat lunch
12:30pm We get right back to studying, typing new vocab in, working on our homework and
going out into our community to use what we learned that morning in conversation
with Indonesian neighbors and friends.
4:30pm The boys get home from school, at which point all language learning is suspended. :-)
5:00pm We eat dinner, unless Rick has soccer practice.
6:00pm We begin studying again and do so until bedtime.
9:30pm I go to sleep. In my mind words and phrases of Indonesian are buzzing. Lora goes to
sleep a little later.

The days of langauge learning are long and often frustrating. There have been many days of tears (Lora) and of hitting things (Andy). But as we look back on the last month and one week of learning, we have to admit that we HAVE learned. There is a long way to go, but we are making progress.

In the meantime we have made some friends in our neighborhood and in our school and among our colleagues. Sometimes we just need to get tother with fellow language learners and vent and laugh. That eases our stress.

That is a day in the life of a language learner.

Language mistake of the month: I said, "Saya mengambil perawat ke Makassar." Unfortunately that means, "I took a nurse to Makassar." The word for "airplane" is Pesawat. My instructor, after composing herself from a big laugh, said, "Hati-hati," "be careful."

Volcano Trip

Greetings from Bandung! We have now lived here about 2 1/2 weeks, and are slowly settling in. Besides buying stuff for our house and lives, we have made a few trips into the city via the little bus called an Angkot, and we made a trip to a local volcano. Shown here is a bubbling pool near the bottom. We also relaxed at a hot springs spa, fed from the waters of the volcano. The kids and adults were amazed. Who would have guessed we would be standing near an active volcano, and actually buy stuff from vendors? In the cauldron we boild three eggs. And we ate them. They were actually good.

We have met a few of our neighbors and are learning a bit of the language, though we haven't officially started language school. That will come soon. Abbie is getting ready to go to Dalat on Sunday (with us), and the boys start school in Bandung on August 18. So we will all be in some kind of school.

We have found that food is inexpensive here, as well as clothes, but some things are still the same. If we want western foods, we have to pay the price! Nice, name-brand shoes are more expensive. Electronics are also not very cheap. We have had to purchase cell phones, and a few gadgets. Plastics are about the same as the US, but utitilies seem to be less.

Our area is quiet at night, except for the roosters who like to awaken us early, and keep waking us, and keep waking us. Some time soon, we will have ayam (chicken) soup, made courtesy of our neighorhood roosters. We have to travel down a steep paved path to get to the cut off that goes to our home. We will have strong leg muscles in a few months.

Thanks for your thoughts about us.

Wrapping Things up in the US

We are relaxing in Dayton these days, waiting for our final across-the-road trip to Tampa this Friday. We rented a trailer (hitch and all) for our van to give us a lot more room insdie and to insure that we don't totally get on each other's nerves. I'm looking forward to this last stage of our US journey until we fly out next Saturday (July 18). We contacted our airline and they assured us that for the right price, we will be allowed to take an extra 5 pieces of luggage. That will give us a total of 15 for 5 people. The good news is that the extra pieces can be up to 70 pounds each. The extra weight doesn't change the price for the extra piece.

Rick and Josiah went to King's Island yesterday with their cousins, while the ladies got their hair done. That left some quiet relaxing time for Dad. I moved the lawn here for my in-laws, and enjoyed the beautiful outdoor sunshine.

Looks like we'll be getting our visa in Indonesia (first a visitor's visa and then a long-term visa while we drop Abbie on at Dalat). We also received somewhat of an official appointment via our leadership team's minutes. It looks like after language school that Lora and I will be assigned to Makassar. We are excited about that, the surety of it and the location. We will have a year in Bandung and then move in the summer to Makassar, provided we pass our language school units.

Surviving Training

We have been in Wheaton for about 2 weeks now. It has been a lot of fun, but very busy. It is nice to get back to our college days (nostalgia-like), and show the kids where we went to school. Our first week (June 6-12) was PFO, or Pre-Field Orientation. This was a very valuable time of learning about transitions, the importance of perseverance, and working together with other team members. We are currently in the first week of a three week course on cross-cultural training. We are learning phonetics, our personal learning styles, and many other valuable tools that will equip us to learn Indonesian. We have been blessed to have access to all of Wheaton College's facilities, including their huge fitness center and Olympic-size pool. I have exercised more here than I have had time for back in Ohio. The kids are all learning along with us, except for Josiah. He is in a group called Third culture kids. He is learning and doing a lot of interesting things geared to his grade level. Ricky is with us in class and is catching on much faster than me in phonetics. We have also learned some introductory Korean and will be attending a Korean church on Sunday to practice. I hope I don't offend anyone.

This blogging thing is still pretty new to me, but some time soon I would like to get some pictures up. Maybe I can try that now!

Things are wrapping up

Only about two more weeks left of ministry in our church after almost sixteen years. It is hard to believe. Many will be missed. But many also will stay in our hearts and go with us to Indonesia in prayer and giving. We are thankful for a faithful team behind us. I also concluded my teaching at the University after almost ten years. One more week for exams and then I clean out my office. I'll miss the college students, but I look forward to being free to teach about Jesus more openly in the seminary setting of Indonesia.

All is set now that we have medical clearance from the denominational doctor. All we are waiting for now is our visas. The big garage sale is next week and then the house will begin to look like an empty shell. It will be strange to see all that furniture and household goods go "bye-bye."

We give it all away for the glory of God and to follow His lead to the ends of the earth. May He continue to be glorified!

Community Send-off

April 20, 2009

Last night we had an encouraging send-off from the community church members in Swanton. It was held at the Nazarene Church and we appreciated the kind words from Pastor Ratliffe. We have less than four weeks left of ministry in Swanton. Hard to believe after almost 16 years. God is faithful and will continue to be so. I am convinced that not only is He calling us to serve Him in Indonesia. He is also calling the Swanton Alliance Church to a new phase that is much better for them as well. To Him be the glory! John 15:16

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