Category: Migrations

  • Saturday with the kids

    here are some pics from my 11-hour day with the kids (teachers and parents) from kindergarten last saturday. we went to a “farm” in tainan county, called “cow’s house”:
    doing the loco-motion – everybody’s on the train and ready to roll!
    daywalker – our guide avoided the sun at all costs.
    moving on up – snapped in transit.
    calves – the hungry kind
    we’z gots ta get some!
    note to self: cut out figure on the right…
    standoff: Jocelyn wanted to feed the pony – but she wouldn’t stand any closer.
    Meg loves candy – mom loves coloring.
    my sentiments exactly!
    Dylan made it to my desktop with this one :0)

  • 24 Nov Devotion – THE GOD OF PEACE

    I got this message from a friend on Facebook – and just had to share it with you:
    ____________________________________________________
    “Now the God of Peace be with you all.”– Rom_15:33.
    “Having made peace through the blood of His Cross.”– Col_1:20.

    WE ALL need Peace! There are sources of Peace which are common to all men. The peace of a happy home; of an increasing business and enlarging influence; of the respect and love of our fellows. As a man is conscious of these, he is inclined to say with Job, “I shall die in my nest.” We can all understand a peace like that; but there is a “peace that passeth understanding.” It is too deep for words. It is like the pillowed depths of the ocean, which are undisturbed by the passing storm. Here is a sufferer, almost always in acute pain, and needing constant attention, and yet so happy. Joy and Peace, like guardian angels, sit by that bedside; and Hope, not blindfolded, touches all the strings of the lyre, and sheds sunshine,–how do you account for it? Let the skeptic and the scoffer answer! Here is a peace that passes understanding which comes from the God of Peace.

    For the Christian soul there is a silver lining in every cloud; a blue patch in the darkest sky; a turn in the longest lane; a mountain view which shall compensate the steepest ascent. Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt thee to inherit the land. The thing impossible shall be; because all things are possible to God.

    The peace of God is the peace of the Divine Nature—the very tranquility which prevails in the heart of the God of Peace. It was of this that Jesus spoke when He said, “My peace I give unto you”; for His own being was filled and blessed with it during His earthly career. “The Lord of Peace Himself give you peace always.”

    There are three things against which we must ever be on our guard lest they rob us of our peace. First, un-confessed sin; second, worry; third, the permission of an un rebuked selfish principle. The Apostle says, “Let the Peace of God rule in your hearts.” The Greek word means arbitrate. Let God’s Peace act as umpire.We shall not escape life’s discipline. We may expect to abound here, and to be abased there. But amid all, God’s Peace, like a white-winged sentinel angel, shall come down to garrison our heart with its affections, and our mind with its thoughts.

    PRAYER
    I humbly ask, O God, that Thy Peace may be the garrison of my heart and mind; that it may ever rule within me, asserting itself over the tumultuous passions that arise within. And out of this Peace may I arise to serve Thee.
    AMEN.

    Blogged with the Flock Browser
  • Boyzone – Better: Video

    http://youtube.com/v/2Hc0uHs1X9s

    one day (http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=mhDC6k7dx00)

    ps. youtube has disabled embedding for this video “by request”… oi. the link should work though.

  • the blessings keep rolling in!

    hold on to your hats! i’m flyin’ high on some good vibrations today :0)

    first i hear that i’m one of my student’s idol – and then i get a marie antoinette: a real person- a real award!

    thank you so much to Rod (kickin tina) for this surprise :0)
    what do you do when your hero hands you an award like this?

    smile and spread the love, baby.

    here are the rules for the award:

    1. please put the logo on your blog
    2. place a link to the person from whom you received the award (kickin tina)
    3. nominate at least 7 or more blogs
    4. put the links of those blogs on your blog
    5. leave a message on their blogs to tell them.

    i browse, read, enjoy and devour quite a number of blogs on a daily basis. choosing the top 7 isn’t easy and some of my choices are 100% biased – but i’d like to tip my hat to the following stars in my blogosphere:

    1) Life and Times of a Gay Man in Idaho
    2) Feisty Female
    3) Bipolar to Bipolar
    4) Jockohomo Datapanik
    5) PinkSheep’s spot
    6) The Mangina Monologues
    7) Defying Despondency

    (also – if you haven’t already – do yourself a favor and check out kickin tina)

  • i can be a hero, baby

    every week, i have to write in the communication books of my students at kindergarten. it’s quite a bit of work (we’re talking 4 classes here) – and it often feels like pouring water into a hole in the ground. my comments have to be translated into Chinese so the parents can understand it (which means i can’t use difficult words or elaborate grammar – who knows what that will translate to?), and i never get any feedback.

    make that past tense – i never got any feedback.

    i was surprised by the following little note:


    Loosely, I’m told this translates to:

    “Hi Willie:
    Hunter recently told me that he would like to go back to USA with Willie when he grows up. I used the chance to encourage him to study English harder for it. Willie, you are his idol. Thanks for teaching so well!”

    color me all warm an fuzzy :0)

    *note: Hunter is barely 3 years old. taken into consideration that i’m pale, tall, hairy and that i speak English – in his world, where else would I be from than the US?

  • drivel

    it’s been quite a while since i’ve attempted to write, well, anything. in fact – ive been staring at the blinking cursor now for… a heck, there i go again.

    blink
    blink
    blink
    blink

    i’m being over critical of what i write even before i think of writing it. it’s a nasty habit. one i only seem to excel at during winter. my personal “low tide” as it were. heck, i don’t know if that even makes sense. i probably shouldn’t care, right? this is, after all, my personal blog. so what if it all comes out horribly wrong?

    nah, that didn’t work. theres no conviction in that last sentence. i do care. and caring is a good thing – what with all the power in words and sentiments. caring is good. but for these last few weeks – it’s also been debilitating.

    still is, it seems. if it really is caring (or some form of concern) that is keeping the words hidden from me. am i scared of what i’ll say, if i do say something? there isn’t really anything that i feel a strong desire to comment on – so i should be safe. even the proposition 8 fiasco going down in the states leaves me cold. okay, maybe just a bit nippy – otherwise i wouldn’t have called it a fiasco, right?

    (note: i deleted and rewrote a follow-up sentence 5 times before deciding to just give up on it.)

    maybe it’s this cold i’m battling with? probably not – though it is a handy excuse.

    ugh… i need a hug.

  • Sights of Kaohsiung

    Kaohsiung city is one of my favorite cities in Taiwan. by grace and good fortune, it is also not that far from DongGang, where i live and work :0)

    it is safe to say that i pretty much love this city.

    imagine my great joy and surprise when i discovered the following video on MacMing’s page! treat yourself to a sneak peak at the wonder of KHH:

    [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viQqvnZFvKs&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1&w=425&h=344]

  • new adventures in teaching II

    look at the jello men
    going wobble, wobble, wobble
    they’re in the kitchen now
    going gobble, gobble, gobble…


    i recently refilled my red marker – and overfilled it *grr*
    now, when my kids have to draw in their books – i encourage them by splattering red ink all over the white-board, and then (through adding and erasing) finding an image inside the chaos.

    probably not my best work ever – but these guys loved the new approach to the song ;0)