I Have Friends!

Just wanted to show you how big these stinkers are

This was a picture from dragon dancing. They lifted this kid on a pole and he danced around. I was scared for him the entire time.

We went out to Indian food for Nicky's birthday!

Lily and I went out with Pedro and one of his friends who convinced me to get the "Tea of the Kings". Yeah doesn't it look great!

Just an update to say that He provides! I have been asking Him for opportunities to hang out with my students or with ANYONE. So I have asked some of my classes to ice cream or pizza but both times I have been shut down. Yes, it hurt my pride a little bit but according to another friend, it usually takes three times of asking to receive a “yes” response. So I guess I have a few more rejections to take…However, the other night, after asking the whole class out for pizza and receiving a “no”, my class left except for one girl. She usually stays behind and I have always wanted to ask her to get coffee but I have never been bold enough to ask. Since I had already been rejected once that night, I figured why not ask. She was almost out the door when G0d gave me a kick in the pants….I called after her and when she came back in I asked if she would like to grab coffee sometime and to my surprise…she said yes! Woo hoo! I don’t know when that will be but at least it’s out there now.

And the excitement continues…last night, my class was forced to go to coffee with me. Every class has “outings” and with adults, we get to go to coffee! Poor me I know. Out of a class of nine or so, six students showed up and we had a lot of fun. In fear that it might be awkward, I had prepared a game to play but I never took it out. Conversation flowed…mostly my students asked questions about my personal life, “What do you think of Vietnamese men?”, “What do you look for in a guy?” etc. After answering…or avoiding questions we decided it was time to head out but before doing so the students asked me if after their last class (yes, we are ending soon…sad) we could go out to eat “local food”…since I haven’t been eating local food while being here? After dinner they said we would then go to karaoke! You guys…this is not a forced hang out this time! They have actually extended an invitation. Please yarp that the timing of my teaching schedule will work so I can join them. To top it off, one of the girls who I never really got to know because she is so quiet, asked how she could contact me after the class ends. I left the coffee shop with a smile plastered on my face.

James, Me, Peter, Clover, Bean, Ronnie and Tina

Can you guess who the class clown is?

These two boys are so funny. They remind me of a pair I had in HCMC.

And the latest update...Lily and I met a girl at an ice cream shop one night and she asked if she could have my email address. We have written a few times and I have seen her, briefly one other time. She had invited all of us to Hoi An during the Mid Autumn Tet festival but it was on a night we were teaching so all in all, we have not been able to meet. Today as I was at a friend’s house I received a call from an unknown number only to pick up and find out that it was her! She asked if tomorrow I would join her and her friend to play badmitten and go swimming at the beach! It is going to be an early morning since we are leaving at 6 AM but I am so excited! I can’t wait to update you on how it goes!

I have a Jo Bro in my class!

A group of us got together and went to karaoke!

After church a group usually goes out to lunch. This Sunday we went to Ban Xeo

So what have I been up to? Quite a lot actually. This past weekend I saw a movie, got myhair washed, my nails done and my bangs cut. I probably also gained 20 pounds in the past week due to a very fabulous French bakery and trips out, AFTER lunch, to get some dessert. But that's beside the point. Main highlights of my past few weeks would be my hair and my classes.

The girls got Saturday morning off and so we went to get drinks by the river

We decided to make a trip to the Big C on our bikes. Lily and I forgot we had our bikes and bought a hefty amount. Nicky is showing off her greasey thumbs because her bike lock broke on the way home.

My hair is not so much a highlight but it's definitely a story. For the longest time, I have been longing for cute swoop bangs. Nicky has a friend whose bangs are too cute so I have been waiting for a time when she could come with me. This weekend though I was so fed up with pinning my bangs back that I just decided to get them cut. I had just gotten my nails painted a pretty purple and decided to go two for two. I ended up getting boy bangs. I don't know how to describe it and I don't really want to post pics but just picture some pretty ugly bangs. But I pinned up back, we ate lunch and came home. Lily and decided to go back to a salon on our street and get our hair washed. They wave to us every day we pass so we thought we would check it out. Can I just say I almost fell asleep when the girl was washing my hair? It felt so stinking good and I think that will have to be a frequent event. After our hair was dried, Lily got hers straightened and was pressured into getting her hair cut. When I saw that he did a good job on her hair I decided to have him fix my bangs....according to my roommates he did but my crying when I got home proved I was not so hopeful. However, I think I have found a way to style them to where they are somewhat decent. Still no pictures to come.

In happier news, I am still loving my classes! I had a tough one tonight with my favorite class...they were a little chatty but I am hoping they will be back on track next class. After them, I got a new batch of students and I am asking right now for you to lift me up. They are very low and I can see in their eyes how little they understand of what I am saying. They seem to be great students though. Once we connect I am sure everything will be fine and I think they know more than they let on. One thing I wanted to note though was that I totally have a Jonas Brother in my class. Yup, I have an Asian version of the youngest brother! When I get to know them better I will bring in my camera so I can do a comparison. I have to be sly about it though because I am sure a 20 year old guy wouldn't be too happy with me if I asked him for his picture because I think he looks like a kid pop idol....or maybe he would.

For all who don't know...this is Nick Jonas. I never thought I would be putting his face on my page but yeah...my student looks like him!

Excitement!

Today I spent almost five hours with a friend at Googol Coffee Shop. Can I just say I met Audrey when I first got here and we hit it off right away....she is so cool. When I found out I was for sure living in DaNang we both got excited knowing we would be in the same city. Our hours spent at the coffee shop today was evident that we get along well. I am excited for more times like that but that is not why I am updating you. From day one of last year, I had this feeling that He was going to do something big here. I shared that today with Audrey and she confirmed that her group of friends have been feeling that exact same way.....that cannot be a coincidence.

Ironically...or not ironic at all, next year is the 100th year anniversary for the first church in Vietnam which happens to be here in DaNang. Because of this Vietnam is allowing speakers from around the world to come in and have a conference for the people here! Um what!? If that does not give you chills I don't know what will. What event can be bigger than thousands of people meeting in His name? Please start lifting this time up NOW. There are many months from now until next June and a lot can happen. So stoked for where He has brought me!

When I got back from coffee I began planning lessons and listening to my praise music and the song, "You Said", by Hillsong but sung well by Shane and Shane, came on. I may have quoted them before and I may have written a blog like this before but I am just so encouraged I wanted to share again. The chorus sings, "You said ask and I'll give the nations to you. Oh L0rd, that's the cry of my heart. Distant shores and the islands will see Your light as it rises on us." Please make this your yarp. That His people here will see Him and that this nation will turn and know Him.

Pictures and anecdote about my trip to Hoi An in next blog!

What have I been up to?

It was our friend Jane's birthday so we went to Indian food and had doughnuts for dessert!

I have finally begun teaching and I think I am going to have some fun this year with my students...not that I didn't last year. This year I am teaching adults who are taking English classes for their job or while they are attending university. Right now I only have three "classes" that I meet with in a week. I say "classes" because three times a week for an hour and a half I have a class with one woman, a chemical engineer at that, and we go through the book. It is such a lax class. Unfortunately the book is kinda boring so she has found a way to make class exciting, for 15 minutes out of class we talk about a different subject. Tonight we will be talking about travel. My other classes are pretty sweet. They are very low and I receive a lot of confused looks but I think I am starting to tone it down. I am excited to see what this year has to hold with my students!

The weekends have been so nice getting to attend fellowship with my peers which is usually followed by lunch with the group. From there we decide what our plans are for the rest of the day. This past weekend everyone decided to go home except for a few of us. One woman in our group mentioned a French bakery that she enjoys going to. Lily and I thought it would be nice to have some dessert so we told her we would go. She said it was a long way to ride our bikes but we thought we we would try it out. It's a good thing that food there was AMAZING because we biked there 35 minutes each way! Now to some of you, that might not seems like a lot but for a beginner like me...it was torture! It will definitely be a place for special occasions because I do not plan on biking out there every Sunday.

Later on that night Lily and I decided we wanted to go bowling and texted the gang only to find out no one could go. Plan B: See The Last Song. If you don't know what it is about, let's just say Miley Cyrus is the star. However it left us with some good memories.

Monday consisted of lunch at Dawn's and a trip over to the bike shop, which was unsuccessful. That night everyone was free to hang out and we ended up going bowling. We got an extra treat when we arrived because they were putting on a dance show of some sort. The weekend finally came to a close and we are back in the routine of teaching. I feel like I am not completely in the grove yet but after a few weeks I know I will get there.

Bowling and our coffee shop. Notice that Jane's name has been changed to "Vane" and Pedro's to "Perro". We had a few laughs over those.

Oh and side note...I think our coffee shop is a family of believers. The woman wears a cross necklace and her son was wearing a shirt that said, "I have 99 problems but faith ain't one." I am excited to get to know them!