This is the garage at our new house. It's nice to be able to park our motorbikes inside during rainy season so they stay dry. Four bikes fit in here when everyone is home. Mine is the one on the end. It's a Yamaha Mio.Saturday, August 30, 2008
My Motorbike
I wanted to share with you some pictures of my motorbike. Many people have been asking for these for awhile. I love my motor bike and the freedom it gives me to get around. I ride it to school everyday and skip the 30 minute walk. On occasion I drive it into Bandung which is a long ride but it gets me there. On Sunday we went in for church and got stuck in bad traffic on the way home. It took us over an hour. I haven't come up with a name for my motorbike yet. Any suggestions?
This is the garage at our new house. It's nice to be able to park our motorbikes inside during rainy season so they stay dry. Four bikes fit in here when everyone is home. Mine is the one on the end. It's a Yamaha Mio.
This is the garage at our new house. It's nice to be able to park our motorbikes inside during rainy season so they stay dry. Four bikes fit in here when everyone is home. Mine is the one on the end. It's a Yamaha Mio.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
He Has Been Faithful
We paused this morning to give the Father thanks for all He has done. He has been so faithful to us as a school. Over this past year again and again it seemed that there was no way we'd be able to finish our new school campus and move into the building in time for school to start this fall. In the midst of financial unknowns, changes in administration, and construction delays, we started school at our new campus in Kota Baru Parahyangan on August 19, 2008.
I remember last spring there was a period of much uncertainty as to the timing of finishing the building and our inability to secure a loan to pay the contractor. As many people were asking what the plan B was going to be if we weren't able to move, we spent several Saturdays packing up all of our classrooms in faith that the Father would provide. We did now know then how things were going to work out but we trusted that He had called us to this step and therefore He would be faithful. The moving process brought with it much craziness and chaos at times, but we were able to get set-up enough to start school on Tuesday (instead of Monday because it was a holiday).
So on Tuesday, August 19 we opened our doors. But God not only provided us with a beautiful, big building, he also provided us with LOTS of students. It was like the flood gates opened wide as they poured in on the first day. At the end of last year we lost many school families who were going on furlough, leaving Indonesia, or switching to other schools. But by the start of school we were already back up to our same enrollment from last year. Of my 75 students are so over 25 of them are new to BAIS this year.
He has provided in these big ways, but also in a hundred small ways too.
"I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not give my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
you islands, and all who live in them.
Isaiah 42: 8-10
Enjoy some pictures of our new school:
The building is huge and has space enough to hold everything. Eventually there will be other buildings for separate cafeteria, gymnasium, and offices, but for now we are blessed with this space that is much bigger than what we were in last year.
The front entrance.
The second floor hallway- it's huge! This is where all the secondary students have classes.
Down the stairs looking out to our sport hall (this was brought over from the old campus).
Looking down on the sports hall from the third floor lookout.
My classroom is finished and ready to be set-up.
In process.
Almost there.
Ready to go on the first day of school.
Finally a classroom of my own. :)
I remember last spring there was a period of much uncertainty as to the timing of finishing the building and our inability to secure a loan to pay the contractor. As many people were asking what the plan B was going to be if we weren't able to move, we spent several Saturdays packing up all of our classrooms in faith that the Father would provide. We did now know then how things were going to work out but we trusted that He had called us to this step and therefore He would be faithful. The moving process brought with it much craziness and chaos at times, but we were able to get set-up enough to start school on Tuesday (instead of Monday because it was a holiday).
So on Tuesday, August 19 we opened our doors. But God not only provided us with a beautiful, big building, he also provided us with LOTS of students. It was like the flood gates opened wide as they poured in on the first day. At the end of last year we lost many school families who were going on furlough, leaving Indonesia, or switching to other schools. But by the start of school we were already back up to our same enrollment from last year. Of my 75 students are so over 25 of them are new to BAIS this year.
He has provided in these big ways, but also in a hundred small ways too.
"I am the Lord; that is my name!
I will not give my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you."
his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
you islands, and all who live in them.
Isaiah 42: 8-10
Enjoy some pictures of our new school:
The building is huge and has space enough to hold everything. Eventually there will be other buildings for separate cafeteria, gymnasium, and offices, but for now we are blessed with this space that is much bigger than what we were in last year.
The front entrance.
The second floor hallway- it's huge! This is where all the secondary students have classes.
Down the stairs looking out to our sport hall (this was brought over from the old campus).
Looking down on the sports hall from the third floor lookout.
My classroom is finished and ready to be set-up.
In process.
Almost there.
Ready to go on the first day of school.
Finally a classroom of my own. :)Saturday, August 16, 2008
Photo Tour of our New House
So as I've mentioned before we've moved into a new house. I'm living with three other girls- Emma, Molly, and Jennie. Emma was my roommate last year and Molly and Jennie were both here last year as well. Emma is teaching 2nd grade this year. Molly is teaching 4th grade. And Jennie is one of our high school science teachers.
We've been enjoying settling in and fixing up our house. We've had someone help us paint (the whole inside needed a fresh coat of paint) and do some other odd jobs. Also we've been able to keep our same pembantu (house helper) from last year who has been making the commute to help us with cleaning, laundry, and cooking. It's a blessing to have someone working for us who we already know and feel comfortable with. She's been doing a great job even though we are living in a much bigger place than last year.
I thought I'd share a few pictures so you could see what our house looks like:
This is the front of the house. Our grass died while we were gone over the summer so we've hired a gardener to come on Saturdays. Hopefully soon it will be green and nice again. It's really our only yard because we don't have anything in the back but a cement slab.
This is our living room. The house came with all this furniture including the piano. I don't play but my roommate Jennie is excited about using it this year.
Attached to our living room is a dining area that leads to the kitchen. Our fridges (we have two!) don't fit in the kitchen so we keep them out here.
This is our tiny little kitchen! When we first saw the house there was nothing but a counter in here. Before we moved in our landlord agreed to redo the kitchen by putting in cabinets and buying an oven.
This is our upstairs living area where we often watch movies and hang out. It's nice to have space to spread out in our house, especially because there are four of us.
This is my bedroom. It's smaller than last year, but I really like it.
Another view of my bedroom from the inside.
This is the street right outside our housing complex. The road is well paved, wide, and free from traffic... very different than a typical Indonesian street. It's such a different place but we are learning to enjoy the clean, fresh air with no pollution. :)
We've been enjoying settling in and fixing up our house. We've had someone help us paint (the whole inside needed a fresh coat of paint) and do some other odd jobs. Also we've been able to keep our same pembantu (house helper) from last year who has been making the commute to help us with cleaning, laundry, and cooking. It's a blessing to have someone working for us who we already know and feel comfortable with. She's been doing a great job even though we are living in a much bigger place than last year.
I thought I'd share a few pictures so you could see what our house looks like:
This is the front of the house. Our grass died while we were gone over the summer so we've hired a gardener to come on Saturdays. Hopefully soon it will be green and nice again. It's really our only yard because we don't have anything in the back but a cement slab.
This is our living room. The house came with all this furniture including the piano. I don't play but my roommate Jennie is excited about using it this year.
Attached to our living room is a dining area that leads to the kitchen. Our fridges (we have two!) don't fit in the kitchen so we keep them out here.
This is our tiny little kitchen! When we first saw the house there was nothing but a counter in here. Before we moved in our landlord agreed to redo the kitchen by putting in cabinets and buying an oven.
This is our upstairs living area where we often watch movies and hang out. It's nice to have space to spread out in our house, especially because there are four of us.
This is my bedroom. It's smaller than last year, but I really like it.
Another view of my bedroom from the inside.
This is the street right outside our housing complex. The road is well paved, wide, and free from traffic... very different than a typical Indonesian street. It's such a different place but we are learning to enjoy the clean, fresh air with no pollution. :)Thanks for reading and keeping up with my life here in Indonesia!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Summer has come and gone
Well it seems summer has come and gone already for me. I packed my bags, boarded a plane and found myself back in Indonesia for another school year. I got safely to Indonesia last night after over 24 hours of traveling. It's a long flight but everything went as smoothly as possible which was nice.
After arriving to my new house (in the city of Kota Baru Parahyangan- a name I had to say frequently at the airport as I was trying to find a way to get here) I was met by my three roommate who had already arrived. We also went over to say goodbye to our school nurse who will be going with her family on furlough this coming year. I was able to stay up until 11 pm last night and was so exhausted that I slept all through the night and woke up very rested this morning at 7 am. If you've ever tried to get over jet lag you know that this is a good sign that I'm probably well on my way to being adjusted to the time here.
Today I worked on unpacking and setting up things here at my house. I had a few errands to run so while I was out I stopped in at the new school. It's looking great! They basically have everything done inside, although it still needs to be cleaned and there is lots of unpacking to do. Outside they got our covered sports hall put up and grass planted. Tomorrow I'm going to start working at school on the numerous things I need to get done there before school starts on August 19th. Arriving here is truly a reminder that summer is over and now it's back to work... and there is lots of work to be done!
A view from the plane on one of my many flights.
After arriving to my new house (in the city of Kota Baru Parahyangan- a name I had to say frequently at the airport as I was trying to find a way to get here) I was met by my three roommate who had already arrived. We also went over to say goodbye to our school nurse who will be going with her family on furlough this coming year. I was able to stay up until 11 pm last night and was so exhausted that I slept all through the night and woke up very rested this morning at 7 am. If you've ever tried to get over jet lag you know that this is a good sign that I'm probably well on my way to being adjusted to the time here.
Today I worked on unpacking and setting up things here at my house. I had a few errands to run so while I was out I stopped in at the new school. It's looking great! They basically have everything done inside, although it still needs to be cleaned and there is lots of unpacking to do. Outside they got our covered sports hall put up and grass planted. Tomorrow I'm going to start working at school on the numerous things I need to get done there before school starts on August 19th. Arriving here is truly a reminder that summer is over and now it's back to work... and there is lots of work to be done!
A view from the plane on one of my many flights.
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