Field Trip to Hai Van Park

This past Saturday we went on a field trip to a park north of Danang, called Hai Van park. Here is a link to some of the pictures that were taken by the staff. I figured this would be easier than me trying to post a bunch of pictures...!
http://picasaweb.google.com/thutrangsuperkids/FIELDTRIPATHAIVANPARK?authkey=Gv1sRgCOeNwtPXopbFTg&feat=directlink
But I also took some of my own:
Yes, that is a huge rock carved into a turtle.
This entire stream is filled with such creations, it really is marvelous.











These two cutie pies are some of the younger students. The one on the right is Kyle, I've shown pictures of him before. He is one of my trouble students...though he's just so dang cute. The boy on the left, his name is Superman. I kid you not. That is his English name. I have a hunch that he helped pick it out when he first began English school...















Here we have Ray and Simba, playing with their water bottles. So cute. They are in my middle level class, very funny. I love talking to them because they are some of the students that know enough English to crack jokes with me :)

This is off to the side of Hai Van Park. Apparently this is a location that the US landed during the war in the 60s. I knew there was a lot of war history in Danang, but this was one of the first times that a specific location has been pointed out to me.

Classroom Activities

This week in class I had my young ones review each other. I didn't even give them much direction, I just paired them up and gave them each a different stack of flashcards. They just took it upon themselves to "be teacher" and play review games that I usually play with the whole class. It was so cute to see, because each pair did something totally different! This first video is Giggs (the boy) being the teacher to taylor. He is playing the memory game, as well as asking her, "what is it?" He's adorable, because he also copies my "good job!" and thumbs up when she's correct.


I asked Kate to lead the class in the Rainbow song, because I don't know it--they learned it from their last teacher. She got up and started leading it, then without skipping a beat, started in on Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. So directive!

Sabbath

Today was a gorgeous day.
I woke up before 9am (which has been a goal of mine for the past few days, but today was the first time I’ve achieved it in awhile), got dressed, brushed my teeth, got on my bike and went to a nice (air-conditioned) café around the corner to use the internet. I sipped on a nice glass of iced tea (which is the equivalent to getting water at a restaurant in the states) and a very refreshing iced coffee, as I sent emails, returned Facebook comments, downloaded the iTunes Free Single of the Week, and had a wonderful iChat with my parents! All before 10:30am…
I finished my beverages and languagelessly interacted with two adorable little kids under the age of 2 who had wandered over to the chair I was sitting in. I paid my bill and got my bike from the attendant outside, and rode a few blocks over to church.
Church was good, hot and crowded, but full of joy and hope as usual. Plus we sang “How Great is Our God” which I love, and I always think of Kaitlyn when I hear it because for the past four years in college she’d always turn to me in chapel or at church when the song would come on and say “I LOVE this song!” It always makes my heart smile.
After church we all went north to Red Beach for a very yummy lunch and relaxing afternoon in the sun (and water). Red Beach is to the north of Da Nang, where the beaches I’ve gone to before have been to the east. It was different! I really liked it.
From church I rode with a fellow teacher, on the back of her motorbike. It was such a nice ride! The road followed along the river for awhile, and then once we rounded the bend it followed the bay line. It was beautiful, breezy, and altogether amazing.
I love being at the beach! The water was so very warm, in an unimaginable kind of way. Really, it was shocking. I waded for awhile in the shallow parts, chatting with a few others, then I ventured out deeper. I got far out, up to my shoulders, and the water was a little cooler, but not at all cold (and I’m not just saying that because I know what the Puget Sound feels like). For at least 30 minutes I just let the waves take me this way and that, gently growing and dying, going in and out, fast and slow. It was incredible to just give up all control and let go of any sort of anticipation or anxiety about what intensity or direction they would decide to move next. It was blissful, overwhelming, and an amazing revelation if you catch my drift—pun intended, without a doubt.
**Since I’ve been in Vietnam I have adopted this practice called the Sabbath…weird I know. But taking Sunday off as a complete and total day of rest, worship, and fellowship has been transforming to my life. Mostly, I think, because it was an intentional decision I made; to dedicate the day to be something different and rejuvenating, not stressful or dutiful, but an act of resting in Him and enjoying all He did in the past week and looking forward to what He will do and how He might use me in the week to come, and preparing for that mentally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally. I’ve never really done this in my life before, on purpose anyway, because I always felt I needed to be productive or get something done, or I had procrastinated on an assignment and really didn’t have a choice but to work. I don’t know if it’s the being out of college part, or the being out of American society part, but I feel I have a very new and different perspective on what take priority in my day, my week, my life—to take the time to observe how God is working in my life and how it’s not a matter of me letting Him work, but me letting myself see His work, not only in my life but everywhere.**
My evening concluded with an adventure with a friend from work. She and her two friends came to pick me up on their motorbikes. We took a drive at dusk (twilight, if you will) across the river to drive along the beach and up Monkey Mountain. We stopped a couple times to look down on the water and the city, and then continued on our way to where we eventually parked and walked down a very steep path, past a restaurant on stilts over the water, to the beach, to enjoy the fading daylight, semi-cool water, and indescribable beauty of the view. My friend told me they like to come here because they “find peace” here. Boy, that is an understatement. We may have broken the peace for the others we were sharing the sand with, because as four 20-something girls, we enjoy laughing. Shocking, I know. But it was grand, and we had a blast.
This was a better day than I could’ve asked for. Last night I felt I was going to begin feeling homesick, and I was having a lot of feelings of separation from things at home such as my brother and friends’ graduations, birthdays, and even just this time of year in California and in Washington. Waking up today I was hopeful for things to turn around, but never could I have imagined provision like I was given. How great is our God!

Kisses

Some days when I enter my classroom I feel very scattered and hectic, never really having a complete grasp on my approaching lesson, and feeling unprepared to handle the unknowns waiting to be discovered upon the entrance of my students…usually the 5 year olds. Last week I had one of those days, but for no identifiable reason. I just felt in a funk, and I couldn’t shake it. Everything the students did seemed obnoxious, out of control, and disruptive. Some of the children are very lovey, to a point at times that I literally have to pry their arms from around my waist or arm just so I can walk. It is adorable, don’t get me wrong, and very flattering, but also not helpful when there are 10 other students getting out of hand because I cannot fully keep order because of my being physically restrained. So this day last week was one of those, “everything that can get out of hand or overwhelming will” kind of days.
Half way through the class, during snack time, I had a chance to regroup and give myself a little pep talk: “Ok Teacher Audrey, these students are 5 and 6 years old. They have a lot of energy. They’ve also been in school all day, so this is the point that they want to play. Cut them some slack. Love them, find joy in their energy, use it to teach them in a fun way. Appreciate their unique and loving ways of expression.”
At that moment, little Emma sprinted at me, almost knocking me over, grabbed my face and started kissing my face over and over again. It was so cute. I couldn’t get out of her grip; her tiny, tiny hands are strong (she is the smallest, most frail and petite student I have, by a long-shot)! Karen saw this and ran over and started kissing me also! It made me laugh really hard, and made my heart smile real big.
As the students left that evening, they each received a sticker from me for having a good day, and they each repaid me with a kiss on the cheek. That had never happened before, and it hasn’t happened since, but it was such an incredible gift and it blessed me more than I ever could have thought. It’s nights like that that I just have to praise Him for His provision and love in even the smallest of crazy/hectic moments.
xoxo

I Choose Love

Happy Mother's day Mom, and all the other beautiful mothers I know!!!
Happy birthday Blaze!!
=)
My dear friend Kaitlyn shared many words of wisdom with me while we were roommates our sophomore year of college. Some of them were hard to hear, and some of them made me laugh until I cried. But all of them were challenging, inspiring, full of love, and a true blessing. I recently found an amazing poem written by Max Lucado that Kaitlyn shared with me, and that we had posted on the wall of our apartment. It has meant a lot to me since finding it again here in my new location, and I feel inspired and blessed all over again by the truth and passion written here:
I CHOOSE LOVE…
No occasion justifies hatred;
no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love.
Today I will love God and what God loves.

I CHOOSE JOY…
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance.
I will refuse the temptation to be cynical…
the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see
people as anything less than human beings,
created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as
anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I CHOOSE PEACE…
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I CHOOSE PATIENCE…
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world.
Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll
invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the
wait is too long. I will thank God for a moment
to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new
assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I CHOOSE KINDNESS…
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone.
Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to
the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I CHOOSE GOODNESS…
I will go without a dollar
before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked
before I will boast. I will confess before I will
accuse. I choose goodness.

I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS…
Today I will keep my promises.
My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates
will not question my word. My wife will not
question my love. And my children will never fear
that their father will not come home.

I CHOOSE GENTLENESS…
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle.
If I raise my voice may it be only in praise.
If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer.
If I make a demand may it be only of myself.

I CHOOSE SELF CONTROL…
I am a spiritual being…
After this body is dead, my spirit will soar.
I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal.
I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy.
I will be impassioned only by my faith
I will be influenced only by God.
I will be taught only by Christ.
I choose self-control.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
To these I commit my day.
If I succeed, I will give thanks.
If I fail, I will seek his grace.
And then, when this day is done,
I will place my head on my pillow
and rest.
-Max Lucado

Look to the Sky

This past week I have become aware of how lost I am, but in the opposite way. I am so wrapped up in myself that I am failing to see the big picture. I am seeing the things and events and people within my own bubble, but nothing else. The simplest thing happened yesterday: I was riding to work on my bike and I looked up at the sky, and I gasped in utter surprise-surprised at the sky! I'm not sure what the initial shock was about, I can only guess that it is that I have physically been keeping to myself as well, not looking away from the path I walk on each day, even for a glance to the sky. The grandness and beauty of the sky grabbed my attention and reminded me that there is a world out there, and it grounded me a little bit, to bring me back to what I felt when I first got here, the feelings and knowledge of His greater purpose and plan for us all. It was a very sobering and humbling experience and I am so glad it happened. Now I just need to make a plan about how to intentionally "keep my eyes on the sky," and not focus on my familiar and routine path here.

My Soul Cries Out

Do you ever have those days when you just feel completely and utterly blessed to be alive?
Like there is no way your life exists by chance, it is completely on purpose and there is a definite plan for you.....even if it is unclear what that plan is?
I have been feeling like this lately--amazed, blessed, thankful, blind.
But the good kind of blind; the kind that is trusting and not anxious. The kind that knows that 'it's gonna be ok,' even if 'ok' isn't what I might think it should be.
Sometimes this feeling even goes so deep physically that I can't even express it. "My soul cries out," in wonder and appreciation, in awe and worship, in love and adoration. The following song by Hillsong captures this feeling and state of being that I've been feeling. If you haven't heard this song, I suggest you do. Hearing the words and passion of the music is incredible and helps convey connection and longing angst like nothing other than music can.

From the Inside Out
by Hillsong

A thousand times I've failed
Still your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I'm caught in your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
my heart and my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart, in my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out Lord, my soul cries out