Packing...

Because my original plans for today didn't work out, I spent the day packing.

Oh. My. Goodness.

I totally stink at packing. I know many of the rules of Good Packing, such as:

-Roll your clothes
-Put heavy things at the bottom of your bag
-Cram socks (or, in my case, skeins of yarn) wherever they'll fit
-Etc, etc, etc

However, when it comes to minimalism, I'm kind of a failure. I know that in theory, there is absolutely no reason for me to need eight sweaters in Singapore. Hello? It's hot there. But I like the green one and the red one and the white one and the other white one and...do you see the problem here? Something tells me I really need to work on my clothing coordination skills. Very soon.

Sorry, Buddy, you can't come with.

RAFT Building 101

fI've been home in Wisconsin for almost 2 weeks now and I've got...10 DAYS LEFT! Crazy! Can I effectively pack in 10 days? We shall see, my friends, we shall see.

While I was at PFO (which I now realize I never explained...) we had a wonderful talk on leaving your home country, along with several on moving to a new place, entering a new culture, etc. One very important concept covered in this session was the necessity of building yourself a good RAFT.

Very quickly, the "R" stands for reconciliation: if you've got issues with somebody, it's important to resolve them before moving away. The "A" is for affirmation, or letting your special people know just how awesome they are. The "F" is for farewells and "T" is for Think Destination.

I'm in a crazy combo circle of affirmations, farewells, and - you bet - I've got Singapore on the brain almost 24-7. Last night I had dinner and three great hours of conversation with a long-time friend (Hannah A., if you're reading, you're fabulous!). This weekend I'll be saying good-bye to several relatives (after driving 8 hours together, maybe we'll want to say good-bye?). And next week...well, it's going to be a little insane - but maybe in the best bittersweet way possible.

You can thank David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken, authors of the book Third Culture Kids: The Experience of Growing Up Among Worlds, for the RAFT concept.

Friday, Friday

PFO continues...it's hard to believe that at this time next week, I'll already be home in Wisconsin. Time flies! Or doesn't fly, depending on the changing factors of: 1.) how long a session is and 2.) how hungry and/or tired you are. Today all of the sessions I attended were geared very, very much for teachers - I'm not sure if I was required to be there or not, but it was okay to be along for the ride. I'm trying to be open-minded about all of this information about curriculum, the multi-cultural/multi-national classroom, etc...you never know when something is going to come in handy (maybe at a trivia competition? Probably not).

There was also a meeting on our health insurance. Guess who stayed wide awake.

What else, what else? My favorite part of this whole experience is still the people. You automatically have something in common with every person you meet: 1.) they're all Christians and 2.) they're all involved with teaching overseas. You have this instant connection with just about anybody - it's pretty fabulous!

I think we have praise and worship in the morning - excited. I kind of wish we'd sing something in a language other than English, but that's okay. Yae Su Sa Rang Hae Yo (sorry, can't do Hangul) has been stuck in my head all day...I doubt we'll be singing it here, but I'd be thrilled if we did!

PFO - I'm Here!

So...I sat down to write tonight and the first thing that came to mind was that I don't particularly enjoy trying to make this blog look pretty and appealing...at least not when my computer isn't cooperating. Hence, I'm chilling (rather literally) in the computer lab here at PFO and settling for just an update.

HOWEVER - nobody needs (or probably wants) to hear about the trials of me picking out font colors. I have indeed sucessfully travelled to Pre-Field Orienation and with two days behind me, it's been a blast! I think the most fabulous thing so far has been being able to meet all of the wonderful people I've been communicating with via email, skype, and facebook in person: member care people, home office staff, and especially members from my very own team in Singapore (and what an awesome team of people they are!). Blessings abound.

We sleep in classrooms on cots (surprisingly comfy) and have attended most of our meetings in the auditorium (reminds me of high school). Everywhere you go, smiles and introductions are everywhere (Urbana, anyone?). I'm awash in thoughts of a hundred very good things and am already learning so much: we've just breached diving into new cultures and this afternoon we spent a few hours going over one of my most favorite personality assessments, the Myers-Briggs. It's been awesome discussing the featured traits with other people and especially the coping skills we develop out of our needs to succeed, conform, and build new and/or lasting relationships. If you're ever bored, I could babble about that for, well, quite awhile.

There's much, much more I could start writing about (good food, waking up extremely early, the awesome story of how NICS started [ask me about that!] and all the fabulous people I've been able to meet)...but I think this is enough.

Baggage

There are certain things I really dislike shopping for, and in the last 6 months or so, I've discovered I really don't enjoy shopping for luggage at all.

When I went to France, I - being ever so clever - thought a rolling duffel was the smartest thing in the world, since it would be compact when unpacked. Try rolling the thing up and down the steps in the Metro - not so fun (especially after it lost a wheel...)! Of course I could have just carried it...except that I'd overpacked the thing to the point of it being excessively unmanagable. I think there must be an art to duffel packing: I imagine it's got to be perfectly balanced so that it's liftable and yet doesn't tip over when upright.

In addition to that smart move, I also brought a smaller shoulder bag as my carry-on, as well as a laptop case...which was all fine and dandy until I had to carry both through multiple airports.

Suffice it to say that I have developed a keen appreciation for handles, wheels, and a bag's ability to stay upright, intact, and under the airline's weight restriction when crammed full of my worldly possessions. Also, for colors other than black, black, and more black.

So...today consisted of trips to multiple stores (including three separate trips to two different Kohls stores) and a fair amount of somewhat unnecessary online comparison. Add in a trip through the check-out five minutes before closing time and an additional online purchase, and my luggage-buying is over...I hope.

On the upside, everything was on sale and I had coupons. Also, the luggage area is right across from the footwear department in Kohls, and I found some great shoes. Skippity-do-dah!

Moving...and indulging

Last week was one lonnng week. I packed, cleaned, and moved...among other things. Someday soon I'm going to have to take a photo of the massive pile of wordly objects I've acquired...which are all sitting in my unfortunate (but oh, so kind and uncomplaining) parents' family room.

Dad and Buddy in the U-Haul (which was as tightly packed as possible).

Apparently, bringing masses of stuff into my parents' home prompted them to get rid of a fair amount of things themselves - namely, old furniture. Reallly old furniture...the sort even Good Will doesn't want. Nothing a fire pit and a burning permit can't fix. It also gave my two youngest sisters an opportunity to burn up some old homework - I'm all for recycling, but letting the occasional horrible geometry test go up in flames is okay with me.

The flames got MUCH bigger. It reminded me of tales of the infamous InterVarsity guys' manly bonfire...or whatever they called it. As a girl, I was never allowed to go - but I heard about the quest for old furniture and the questionable inclusion of baking products.

The last few days have been a lot quieter. There's been time to relax, read, catch up, reflect...and indulge. Yesterday my sister Jamie and I had a little sisterly bonding time while getting pedicures - definitely worth the cheap-o beauty school rates!

Guess who can't tan? And yes...we're 100% related!

Summer "Break"

Technically, I have the summer off, but it's already feeling like an incredibly short summer. I've been spending this week packing up my apartment - and I'm convinced that no single person needs as much stuff or as much boxed food as I've accumulated over the past 2 1/2 years. What did I ever think I was going to do with a half a dozen cans of pineapple or an entire cupboard of Hamburger Helper? And speaking of excess, why did I ever start a snobby yarn stash? You can't just sell off a bunch of 100% wool yarn for a dollar a ball at a garage sale...which might be why I have three rubbermaid totes full of the stuff. *sigh*

I've also revisited the joy of booking airline tickets. I was raised to hunt out bargains, which makes ticket buying an insanely long process: checking travel sites, checking the airlines' sites, weighing the option of leaving at 6 am for $100 less than leaving at 10 AM, etc. It's all good though - I've got both my ticket for PFO (summer training in Mississippi) and SINGAPORE! Feels fabulous - I am incredibly, incredibly blessed.