I understand its been a while since i last posted anything on here; i've been kinda busy working 11 hour days, and well, its starting to wear on me. I only hope that i'll be able to actually enjoy my holidays, and not feel like sleeping in all the time. the good news is that when I'm away from my place, I usually go to bed much earlier than if I'm here surrounded by all those good things which distract me from sleep; but when I'm in under-developed countries, those same comforts make me feel really blessed to be where I am.
Things with me haven't really changed a lot - the old adage of "no news is good news" sorta applies; talking to my brother, i feel guilty not posting anything, however, I'm not going to just make stuff up so that I can feel like I'm giving you time well spent - no sense in both of us wasting time.
Things have changed a little with my classes - i've let go of one class I'd had for a while - if you remember my posting about "teacher, he's is from the bacumbaga", that's the one i lost. It was time for a change, and while i've unfortunately taken to task on a class of eight middle school girls in grade five and six, i've realized that certain comforts of the familiar are making me wish i had even "bacumbaga" back in exchange for about half a dozen of the girls. I like teaching girls, don't get me wrong. They do their homework much more steadily than the guys, and you can sway them with talk of a future education; but man, I hope that when I have children, my first child is a boy. if i have to worry about a middle school girl like one of these? I'm praying hard for a first child son already, and i'm still single, with no girlfriend.
This weekend, I'm departing for Cambodia; prayers would be much appreciated. While i may talk tough on land-mines, truth be told, I'm scared to shit of the things, and I'm not joking. If i see the slightest protrusion out of the soil, i'll be running away like Noel Prefontaine in a short-distance track marathon.....pack or no pack. I'm excited about the possibilities, but I'm a little scared as well. I know that from most people i've talked to, Cambodia is even worse than China was in this regard: outside of tourism and hospitality industries, when you get outside of the city limits, you see poor like you've never seen them before; and that sorta stuff makes me feel so guilty for complaining about the crap i do on a regular basis. Its a good guilt though, because while i may not be able to help them out, it will at least remind me of how blessed I truly am already. So if you could offer prayers for safe travels, I would really appreciate it.
Lastly, if you could offer prayers for south Korea. right now, we're expected to get another 300-mm of rain in less than 36 hours, and this is after another 500-mm of rain came in the past week; places are still flooded out right now, and its only going to get worse if they can't keep up with all this unexpected rain. the wealthy in seoul are doing fine; its the poor in the outer-lying regions outside of Seoul where this rain is doing the most damage; in low-lying farms and small towns. So if you could pray for them, I would appreciate it as well.
take care all - with my new camera and tripod, i'll be taking as many pictures as my 1 gig card will hold; i'll be sure to post when I get back.
God bless,
Me