From Taiwan

Here we are in Taiwan. We have spent many boring hours in the airport here in years past waiting for connecting flights to Los Angeles. Now they have free internet though! So we'll spend some time checking e-mail, looking in duty-free shops, riding the people movers with Gabe, running up and down the halls in the dead of night and taking drinks from water fountains (a novelty for Gabe). We can't wait to see our friends and family in America, but first 12 hours of flying, Los Angeles, a few more hours of flying then recovery. I actually find it kind of fun in a very tiring way.

This is the son of a collegue from Hong Kong. I was amazed at how dextrous he appears to be with chopsticks. Unfortunately, it's all a show. He can't really pick up anything, but he sure looks like he could.

Temporarily Dutch

Some friends of our used to teach at GIS but now teach at Northwestern (in Iowa). They brought this shirt for Pii La and told her to wear it to our house to show Eric. She was very disappointed he wasn't there, but I promised to show him the picture I took of her.

Kindergarten Graduation

We had a little kindergarten graduation ceremony on Monday. It's scary how quickly this year has gone by. It's been a good year for Gabe and he's learned a lot. The kids performed a little play and a couple of their favorite songs from the year. The teacher gave an award to each child and presented them with a portfolio of their best work. Gabe won the Science award for the class and needless to say, I was very proud. A lot of the parents looked at me when he won. Many of them know from preschool co-op know that I was pretty hopeless at teaching any subject but my favorite-science. I think they were more congratulating me than Gabe:)

Taekwondo

Gabe has been taking Taekwondo lessons for about a month. He'd been wanting us to let him learn to fight in some way (karate, kick-boxing, taekwondo, kung fu, etc.), so when a friend of ours recommended the taekwondo gym in our neighborhood, we decided to let him try it out. It's actually a pretty good class for him. The teachers are local Christians and it's been a good way for Gabe to understand what strength is for.

The other day I was sitting around at the Taekwondo gym during Gabe's lesson. I was feeling hot and lethargic and wishing I could be somewhere else. The TKD gym is on the top floor of a three story building so it can get pretty hot and this was a humid day. I went over to the balcony to get a breath of air and was refreshed by the view. To my left a water buffalo and its calf meandered through the newly green rice fields and to my right was the lovely view of the mountain that dominates Chiang Mai. Just the green of the landscape made me feel cool and peaceful. A moment later a cool wind announced the coming of rain. Within a minute a soft, breezy rain was falling on our neighborhood and I was feeling so grateful for mist on my skin, the fresh smell of rain on rice fields, the rhythm of the rain on the roof and the cool air blowing through the gym.

Since moving to a hot tropical country we have gained a deeper understanding of rain as a great blessing, but it's not just a physical blessing; it's also a blessing for the soul. We're in the middle of a season of hard physical work (moving, finishing the school year) and emotional good-byes, but my spirit felt revived just by a beautiful view and a cool rain. I'm so thankful to God that he has provided so many ways for our soul to be comforted and renewed.