Currently there is a typhoon hitting Central Vietnam (near Hue and Da Nang where I was visiting just 2 days ago) pretty hard. I haven't heard about any damage or deaths, however I can't understand the Vietnamese news stations. But I am able to see that swirling red thing headed straight for us. I've been told Hanoi is only expected to get some pretty large amounts of rain, but that equals lots of flooding. Please keep Vietnam in your prayers, especially those who have lost/may lose their fields which are a source of food and income for their families.
http://www.divevietnam.com/weather_forecast.shtml
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Sweet Somethings
For some reason I really expected the transition back to Vietnam was going to be a lot harder, especially since JP and Aimee aren't here yet. But it's been awesome! Of course it's only been a couple days, but I am feeling so incredibly blessed! I have only cried once which is a huge change for me lol. I didn't even cry at the airport!
Blessings:
1. I slept a decent amount on the airplane with the aide of some wine and sleeping pills
2. All my luggage made it from Detroit to Hanoi
3. I had 2 people to pick me up at the airport
4. My new house is AWESOME! Four stories all to myself for now! My own room and bathroom and most importantly: air conditioning!!!!
5. There is a bun cha place around the corner!! It's my favorite Vietnamese food of all time!
6. My internet is extremely reliable so far and I have even been able to use video chat on Skype :)
7. Ted's niece, Julie, is in town for a few months and we get along pretty well!
8. I got to meet the Winkelman's which is super awesome to add another family to that family atmosphere that is so important to have here
9. Church!! I missed it so much! What joy to get back to the raw worship that St. John has been missing for a while! Plus there are so many familiar faces that I missed seeing regularly, especially Rachel!
10. I met 3 cool new friends at church and we went out to lunch with the Englebrecht's for yummy Indian food :)
11. Yung Ting personally asked me if I wanted to go see the water puppet show...so cute!
12. Had coffee with 2 of the 3 new friends...it'll be nice to have some close ex-pat friends this time around :)
13. Spent $50 or so on groceries...I finally have some food and water!
14. I unpacked and realized I have a lot more space than I thought! It makes me that much more excited to have a place of my own someday
15. I only have one 6:45am class and it's on Wednesday instead of Monday like I thought
Everyday I am reminded to remain in awe of how God has a hand in everything in my life. I am glad I can blog and journal about good times like this so that next time there is a down time I can look back and be filled with hope that the future is in God's hands! The screen saver on my phone is "Ebenezer" which means "Thus far the Lord has been with me". What a great reminder!
Blessings:
1. I slept a decent amount on the airplane with the aide of some wine and sleeping pills
2. All my luggage made it from Detroit to Hanoi
3. I had 2 people to pick me up at the airport
4. My new house is AWESOME! Four stories all to myself for now! My own room and bathroom and most importantly: air conditioning!!!!
5. There is a bun cha place around the corner!! It's my favorite Vietnamese food of all time!
6. My internet is extremely reliable so far and I have even been able to use video chat on Skype :)
7. Ted's niece, Julie, is in town for a few months and we get along pretty well!
8. I got to meet the Winkelman's which is super awesome to add another family to that family atmosphere that is so important to have here
9. Church!! I missed it so much! What joy to get back to the raw worship that St. John has been missing for a while! Plus there are so many familiar faces that I missed seeing regularly, especially Rachel!
10. I met 3 cool new friends at church and we went out to lunch with the Englebrecht's for yummy Indian food :)
11. Yung Ting personally asked me if I wanted to go see the water puppet show...so cute!
12. Had coffee with 2 of the 3 new friends...it'll be nice to have some close ex-pat friends this time around :)
13. Spent $50 or so on groceries...I finally have some food and water!
14. I unpacked and realized I have a lot more space than I thought! It makes me that much more excited to have a place of my own someday
15. I only have one 6:45am class and it's on Wednesday instead of Monday like I thought
Everyday I am reminded to remain in awe of how God has a hand in everything in my life. I am glad I can blog and journal about good times like this so that next time there is a down time I can look back and be filled with hope that the future is in God's hands! The screen saver on my phone is "Ebenezer" which means "Thus far the Lord has been with me". What a great reminder!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Travels
“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.” - St. Augustine
“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” - Lin Yutang
“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things - air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky - all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” - Cesare Pavese
“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” - Henry Miller
“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” - Freya Stark
“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” - Miriam Beard
“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” - Martin Buber
“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” - Bill Bryson
“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” - James Michener
“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” - Tim Cahill
“Not all those who wander are lost.” - J. R. R. Tolkien
“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” - Maya Angelou
“What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do - especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” - William Least Heat Moon
“The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.” - Rudyard Kipling
“Adventure is a path. Real adventure - self-determined, self-motivated, often risky - forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind - and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” - Mark Jenkins
“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.” - Lin Yutang
“Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things - air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky - all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” - Cesare Pavese
“One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things.” - Henry Miller
“To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world.” - Freya Stark
“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” - Miriam Beard
“All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” - Martin Buber
“To my mind, the greatest reward and luxury of travel is to be able to experience everyday things as if for the first time, to be in a position in which almost nothing is so familiar it is taken for granted.” - Bill Bryson
“If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” - James Michener
“A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.” - Tim Cahill
“Not all those who wander are lost.” - J. R. R. Tolkien
“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” - Maya Angelou
“What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do - especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.” - William Least Heat Moon
“The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.” - Rudyard Kipling
“Adventure is a path. Real adventure - self-determined, self-motivated, often risky - forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind - and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” - Mark Jenkins
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