Great Expectations

I've started a list of some things I'm looking forward to about my time in the US. I thought I'd share some of them with you...they might be different than what you expected :)

-at the top of my list--people--being able to visit leisurely and more than once a year, celebrating holidays and birthdays together, meeting my niece
-simplicity of grocery shopping with a car
-milk that I enjoy drinking
-the cereal aisle
-being back in school
-being in a closer time zone

I started thinking too of the things I'll miss from Romania...

-again at the top of the list is people--students, colleagues (at school and within ReachGlobal), small group, friends
-church--I've grown very fond of the church I've attended these past two years. I'll miss worshiping in Romanian and the joy of a service that is 2+ hours long
-walking everywhere or being able to take public transportation
-my apartment
-simplicity of life
-a schedule--my life next year will be much less structured than it is right now
-BCA and teaching (although I expect there will be many opportunities for teaching in MN, but it won't be the same)

Christmas 2009

Because I knew my time in Bucharest would be short, I decorated my tree shortly after Thanksgiving. It was wonderful to enjoy it before traveling to Prague to be with my parents.It was neat to be with family during my vacation! I enjoyed celebrating with them and many others during my time.
My dad and I worked to install new ceiling lights in their office. The vacuum is to help keep the inevitable dust to a minimum.













Doing puzzles is one of our Christmas traditions.












It's been a long time since we've played Monopoly. I remember as a kid that my dad always won. The three of us battled it out one night until my mom was declared the winner.

















We enjoyed having others join us for a Christmas meal and some games and crafts into the afternoon!

Poland Pottery

We started our time in Poland with a tour of one of the factories where the pottery is made. It was neat to see the many stages the pottery goes through before it reaches the shelves of stores around the world (recently seen in JC Pennys catalog). The pottery shrinks 10% in the first firing and an additional 20% in the second one. Once the items are removed from the molds they go through a number of steps before even reaching the kiln the first time.
Many of the patterns are done with stamps made of sponges. It was amazing to watch these women work! The pottery items are placed on turning platforms and they work with amazing agility and speed.
The display rooms/stores were overwhelming! These shelves are arranged with all items of one pattern grouped together, but some stores were arranged by item (ie all teapots together).I was excited about the huge variety of patterns and thought it'd be fun to have a set of dessert plates. I also found some mugs for gifts and some large serving bowls. The colors are stunning and it's wonderful to see the intricacies.

Cereal

I'm not sure I realized how much I took the cereal aisle for granted. It's full of an amazing amount of options--overwhelming before I moved to Romania, but even more so now. But, I'm a big fan of cereal. For my birthday I received some frosted mini-shredded wheat (a favorite of mine). From Christmas, I brought home a box of toasted almond crunch which has made breakfast more exciting the past few days. And in a Christmas package I opened this afternoon--some life cereal. It's going to be a great couple of weeks. :)

Never did it occur to me that when I found the trail again,
it would ruin my life forever.

For once you feel the breath of God on your skin,

you can never turn back, you can never settle for what was;
you can only move on recklessly, with abandon,
your heart filled with fear and your ears ringing with
the constant words of encouragement, "Fear not."

~Mike Yacconelli

GRE

It's done...My testing appointment was for 9:30 this morning. I was told to arrive no later than 30 min before testing was scheduled to begin. I decided to leave my apartment at 7:45 to give myself plenty of time. Since I don't use public transportation during the day, I wasn't sure how long it would take. I was pleasantly surprised with the time it took to get to my stop. I walked for a bit and found the testing site well marked. I wandered into the testing center just before 9:00.

I greeted the woman who graciously explained (in Romanian) that they had been having technical difficulties for the past 2 days and she wasn't sure if I'd be able to take the test today. She didn't expect to know anything before 10:00. I could wait in the hall. I pulled out my vocabulary flashcards and waited...and waited...and waited. Three other examinees arrived. She kept telling us she hoped it would only be a few minutes longer. Two examinees decided to leave and come back for the 1:30 testing time.

Just before 11:00, she called me in to register and assigned me a computer--only an hour and a half behind schedule. I was thankful the exam was computer based so when I finished sections early, I didn't have to wait on anyone else to finish. After 2.5 hours, I finished. The woman 'proctoring' the center was a little shocked that I had completely finished the test. Apparently, most people use 4 hours. I was thankful to be walking out the door when I did...hungry and ready to stop thinking! I'm thankful to have this step done in the process of applying for grad school.

Thanksgiving :)

I had the privilege of traveling to Budapest, Hungary for Thanksgiving break this year. My parents also arranged to be in Budapest so we were able to enjoy some time together! We all stayed with another missionary family with ReachGlobal who graciously welcomed us into their home. It was wonderful to leave my computer at home and just enjoy being with people.It was fun to be around young kids again. We spent lots of time sitting together reading books!

This is all of us headed into downtown Budapest on the train.

In front of St. Stephen's church. The designs on the ground were beautiful!

Some things I'm thankful for:

• God's still at work in my life and in the lives of those around me
  
• warm weather so far this winter which makes traveling to/from school pleasant
• friends and family who love me and support me
• technology that allows for communication
• a great group of students to work with at BCA

Szentendre

On the last day of my time in Budapest, we drove to Szentendre, a small town near Budapest with lots of fun little shops and beautiful scenery. We walked around enjoying the sights and stopped in to look at numerous shops. This town claims the world's only Marzipan museum. Their collection includes the Hungarian Parliament, beautiful wedding cakes, Walt Disney characters, furniture replicas, and so much more, Additionally, you can watch them create new things.

The Never Ending Tram Ride

Because of a Romanian national holiday on December 1st, we had Monday and Tuesday off this week as well. Because of the shortened week, I knew I'd need to spend some extra time at school to be ready for next week. As I left school Friday evening, I was thankful for my warm coat and gloves. I trudged down the street about 10 min to catch the tram. The first one came and it was packed so I decided to wait for another one, figuring it'd be coming soon. Two rounded the corner just a few minutes later. I passed up the first, hoping the second one would be emptier and I might end up with a seat. I was thankful for the seat and the warmth. Before arriving at the next stop, we came to a halt. I didn't really take much notice of it (I was reading a good book), until I realized we'd been sitting for some time and people were starting to walk to the front of the tram to get off. I decided to give it another five minutes (or until everyone else left the tram) and then make a decision. Five minutes later, we were still sitting in the same spot. I trekked to the front of the tram and exited, seeing 6 trams lined up in one direction and three coming on the opposite tracks. Blocking the path was an ambulance. I snapped the picture below (I know it's blurry...) just as the ambulance began to move. So instead of taking the metro or walking, I ran back across the street and got on a tram for the remainder of the trip home. Over an hour after leaving school, I walked through my front door thankful for a beautiful, warm apartment, safety, and a quiet evening ahead.

Family Advent Celebration

Last fall, I found myself frustrated with the Harvest Party that's turned into tradition for BCA. It felt too rushed, frenzied, and like way too much work. I loved that families were together, except that with limited space it ended not working out quite so well, and what adult really wants to bob for apples, have their face painted, or color a fall picture. So, I was watching for other ideas for that Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving.

God provided the answer in the form of an advent celebration. My heart was for families to spend time together and to give families tools that perhaps they weren't familiar with that might help them in guiding their children spiritually. With those hopes in mind, I started brainstorming and researching. I landed on a simple event--time together with a story (one of my family's traditions) and some sharing followed by time spent with other families working on a couple different activities. Students made ornaments and cards and worked with their parents to create an advent calendar made of construction paper rings labeled with verses.

The afternoon went better than I could have anticipated. Rooms were filled with laughter, conversation, and Christmas music. I wandered between the rooms helping answer questions and interacting with parents who I don't often get a chance to talk with. I'm thankful for the staff that was willing to help and for families that were willing to try something new.

With the daughter of one of our elementary aides.

EuJin and her family working on their advent calendar.

Rose working to make her family's advent calendar.

Working together to make a 3D snowflake--no matter the ability of the child, they turn out great!

There were a couple options of style for cards families could make.
Some are visible in the picture below.

The afternoon ended with a couple families playing "6-square" in the courtyard of one of the buildings. The 4th-6th graders have adapted the game "4-square" to allow more people to play in the limited space they have.