Weekend Trip - Ie Island

Last Saturday, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to a nearby island and help teach English. We were a group of 5 teachers from OCSI. We traveled about an hour north to a port where we were to board the ferry. I was SO excited! We boarded the ferry and I could not sit still.

I quickly left to explore the boat. The ferry ride was really nice, about 30 minutes and we landed on Ie Island. The island is fairly small, I think I heard 4,200 residents. There is one rock mountain in the middle of the island and the rest is flat. On the island there is one church (other than one Catholic church and supposedly some Jehovah's Witness). We were met by the pastor of the church. He runs a Kumon on his church property and that is the way he makes a living since only about 10 people attend the church.

First, we taught elementary students which included 9 students. Their English level was limited so we taught on family, played a bingo game, and made a Christmas wreath. Next, we taught 6 adults while we fellowshiped over lunch. It was so great to be with these people and share my time and smile with them.

Before heading home on the ferry, we toured the island. You could easily drive around it in 30 minutes. We went to the only mountain on the island. There was stairs that could be walked all the way to the top. The view was amazing! You could see all 360 degrees around the island. We then visited a few more sites including caves and monuments and hopped on the last ferry out.

The day was rainy and hazy but so neat to visit another island. I'm looking forward to going back! I'll definitely bring my bike next time and ride around the island. :)

Blessings,
Sarah

Thankful

2012 is quickly slipping by and so many events and things have been going on recently. Since the last time I wrote, I successfully completed parent-teacher conferences, report cards, finally found a church family, caught my first cold of the season, and so much more!

Today is our first day of Thanksgiving break. It's been so nice to have a few days off of school. I really needed the break. Last week I caught a cold which consisted of coughing and tiredness. My roommates and principal persuaded me to take the day off of school. I was so nervous to leave my kids for the day! I quickly wrote sub plans and hoped for the best. They survived fine, but I sure missed them!

Last week was also our big event in 1st and 2nd grade: Harvest Day. This was an all day event where the students rotated between the 4 first and second grade classrooms and learned about Thanksgiving in it's different aspects. I had my first parent volunteers which was a lot of fun, as well as got to teach the other class of students. 

My students eating Thanksgiving lunch on Harvest Day

Today for Thanksgiving, all the missionaries who teach at the school were invited to a potluck int he cafeteria. It was definitely family style where we all sat at a big long table, passed the food around, and plenty of food and desserts. We also went around the whole room of people to say what we were thankful for. It's so neat to be part of a family like this. It is definitely home away from home for everyone!

mmmm food!

a game of Mexican dominos

While most of the world is getting cold in these winter months, I was in a t-shirt all day. I know Okinawa will have it's moments of coldness soon too. I hope you all are staying warm! If you ever come to Okinawa during the winter months, I will take you to eat famous Okinawa soba to warm your heart and your hands!!

Blessings,

Sarah

Life recently

While most of the world seemed to have hit the fall season starting in the beginning of October, for Okinawa, the descent into fall is very slow. Once in a while you can feel a bit of a chill in a breeze where you are reminded that the winter season is coming, but it is very rare. Today, though, is very different with an overcast, gray day with no sunshine, and bits of light rain. As my Saturday routine is turning out to be, I jumped on my bike for a ride.

I rode to a near by beach with some pretty cave/cliff like formations.

The last few weeks have been very rewarding weeks:

2 weeks ago, we had a typhoon which took out our electricity for 3 days. I enjoyed every moment of it, getting away from the technology and hum of electricity and enjoying the quiet. I did get bored a few times and got stir crazy being in the house, but all the more, it gave me a much better appreciation for what we are given, as well as showed me that some of it is not necessary. Most of the time, I played cards, read a book, went out to the beach, and enjoyed the extra time God gave us.

Our typhoon weekend

I added another student to my class 2 weeks ago also which brings my class size up to 21. October is full of four day weeks with professional development days, records days, Parent-Teacher Conferences and so on. I'm not nervous yet for Parent-Teacher Conferences but I know I will be, so please start to pray for me as I prepare for that event.

Many of my students don't know much about God or the Bible and I am so honored to be the first one to teach them about our Great God! The Bible curriculum we use is made for students who do already have a background in the Bible, so on Friday, I stepped away from the curriculum and talked about the Bible and laid out the simplicity of Jesus and a God who loves them. Please pray for me that I may use this Bible time in our day to clearly show students how much God loves them.

On another note, I fulfilled a life long dream of starting my own garden! Planted eggplant, broccoli, and lettuce, as well as the stalk of a celery plant. So excited!

Blessings from Okinawa~

-Sarah

Stains and songs

Can I please just tell you about today??? :D

So the past two days have been 'ok'. Not completely bad because you can always learn something from a day which is always a good thing. Today, I knew from the beginning it was going to be a good day. And it was. Until 12:30. I had my beautiful white glittery shirt and I thought I looked pretty cute. I was writing on a big sheet of paper with a permanent red, blue, and black marker, teaching the students about what we should do in the library. I was unaware of the fact that the red top didn't make it back on the cap. So I look down and first see red marker on my hand. THEN OH NO! A RED CIRCLE ON MY SHIRT!!!! All my students were sitting at the carpet with me, so I start slightly freaking out, not much, but just a little "Oh no!" "my shirt" as I attempted to walk around looking for a wet wipe to wipe it with. I finally found it, my students are laughing and talking about it. I finally come back and I am making sad faces and fake tears/ crying. That's when some students brought up Pete the Cat:

I don't know if you know the story but there are many books about Pete the Cat. In one story, he has these awesome white shoes and sings his songs about the white shoes. Then he steps in strawberries. The book asks, "Did Pete cry? Goodness No!" He kept on singing his song, and then he changes the song to say how he loves his RED shoes. 

So a few weeks ago, I read one of the Pete the Cat stories to the students where he looses some buttons and keeps singing and so the moral is, if bad stuff happens to you, you don't cry - you keep singing!

So here I am - big red stain on my shirt. And I am a hypocrite. Crying because I got a red stain on a lousy shirt. So in front of my whole class, I sang a new songs "I love my red stained shirt, I love my red stained shirt." :) I just love my students. They didn't even know if but they taught me something new about life and living through unfortunate events that happen. :)

School, bikes, and typhoons.

Hi everyone! It's been a while but I wanted to update you on how teaching and life in Okinawa is going!

School: Teaching and school is going fantastic! I am loving everyday with my students. Yes, some days are challenging, yes I loose my voice and am too tired to do anything after school ends, yes sometimes I have cried from frustrations, BUT I still am reminded everyday that this is exactly what I am meant to be doing and giving it my all! My students are just great and I love them all! I am up to 20 students now which is a bit difficult at times to manage, yet I still am learning through every situation. My students just love learning. They beg me for homework and want harder homework. :P Next week, our reading story is on ants, so I'm excited to incorporate some science with it and learn all about ants with the kids. 

Outside of school: Many people have asked me, "so what do you do outside of school?" Well, the answer is sometimes difficult. We live right beside the school, with people that we see all day at school, and I have even attended churches where most of the people in church somehow work at the school. But, I refuse to let school take over my life so I am making steps to also have some sort of life outside of school. My most exciting step towards this is the purchase of a bicycle! I have been dying since the moment I arrived to own a bicycle. A few weeks ago, I went on an Okinawa yard sale website, where mostly military people buy and sell, and found a nice used bike, being sold really close to school. I looked into it, went and tested it out, and it was soon mine! Yeah! I have taken it out a few times, even rode to church on Sunday. It has been a blast except that we live on a pretty big hill so going places is fun but coming back to school... well... bring on the sweat! :) Other than biking, I've taken walks, took a Tango lesson, watched a local Okinawan dance, helped with a cross country meet.... um I'm still working on the life outside of school thing... :)

This weekend, we had another typhoon! The third since I have been here! No school was canceled though and it was just a lot of wind and rain. 

My bike:

The other day I biked 20 min to a nearby beach to watch the sunset. So beautiful!

A few Friday's ago, the whole school had an Assembly. Our first grade was paired up with the 11th graders and we had a great time doing different outdoor activities such as tug-of-war, water games, and sack races. 

Blessings to you all! Love you!!

-Sarah

First, first, first

Lately, I have had SO many first! It's quiet exciting. Each time, I think, "there will never be another first of these again." Yeah, there will be different situations but never again, the FIRST first day of school, never again my FIRST Open House, never again will I be in this exact position in life that I am. So, I am taking it all in daily, living fully, working hard, and continually reminded that I am exactly where I am supposed to be in life, doing exactly what God has prepared me to do. It's so thrilling!

I can say that I successfully completed my first week of teaching!!! Woohoo!! Don't get me wrong, it was very challending. I made so many mistakes that I am already looking forward to next year where I can correct all the bugs. But, through it all, I have the cutest, sweetest, most active 19 first graders ever. We had a four day week. Friday we had off but in the evening was the open house where the parents came and I got to speak to them about myself and our class. I told the parents that I spoke Japanese, so many of the parents were grateful and came up to me later speaking Japanese. I told the parents this was my first year teaching and they all seemed ok with it. I'm out to prove them that I can do this successfully my first year!

Today, Saturday, a huge typhoon is almost upon us so we may be out of electricity in the next few days depending on how bad it is. So, Monday their may be no school. But for now, enjoy some pictures and celebrate with me :)

 Come on in kids! Ms. Turner is excited to meet you!

 Before

 After

 Before

After

Entry to the door

Okinawa~ 沖縄〜

Hi!

I would like to say that I have arrived safe and sound to the beautiful island of Okinawa. Ever since hitting the ground, I have hit the ground running with orientation and touring the island. Today, church was canceled due to a typhoon so we are lazying around the house while the wind violently churns.

Some highlights~

Beautiful view on the north side of island at Okinawa Expo Park. This place was huge and consisted of free dolphin shows, free viewing and of turtles and manatee's, a replicated old Okinawan village, a planetarium, and one of the largest tanked aquarium in the world.

We also went to Pineapple park where we rode a self driving golf cart decorated yellow for pineapple around a track to learn about how pineapples are gown and the different kinds. We then walked through and area where we could taste all different kinds of pineapple flavored products from wine to cookies.

This is the sky the night before the typhoon hit. It's so purple! This was taken from my balcony. The long building on the right is the school and the blue beyond the lights is the ocean.

Till next time!
-Sarah

Reflections from the summer: Suitcases and Silence

Traveling is such a good time for reflection. Sitting on 15 hour flights... sitting in terminals... lots of sitting and waiting. I'm sitting waiting to board my final leg of my journey to Okinawa. This step is uncharted territories. This new step brings new friends, new adventures, new challenges. I'm so excited and nervous all at the same time! But I also sit here and reflect on my last month in the states with 2 lessons.


Lesson 1: Suitcases


Prior to May, some would have called me a pack rat. I kept everything from empty yogurt containers to scraps of paper. Moving my life from Knoxville to Florida then to Japan was hard but a growing experience. After a grilling 3-4 days of packing and sorting I manages to cram my life into 2 suitcases weighing 50lbs each. Rest of the stuff was stored in my grandma's garage (thanks Nanny). It was a meticulous process to cram your life into a rectangular cloth-framed box, but it made me think of my material possessions allowing me to break free from the pack rat I was and lead me to need less in life. For the month in Florida, my family lived out of our suitcases. A suitcase becomes a closet, a dresser. A suitcase is the epitome of a traveler's life with thoughts of how much can you cram into the suitcase without going over the weight limit. It truly is a profession. Suitcases also make me think of a song I discovered by Dara Maclean called "Suitcases." The chorus goes, "You can't run when you're holding suitcases..." Oh how I have learned that both literally and metaphorically. Sweat poring down my back as I lunged my two suitcases across Narita airport going to the wrong floor and back to my original level before finding the right check in place... you sure can't run, barely can even walk! But it also mean baggage, our material possession, our junk in our lives. So as I start to unpack, I'll think of this lesson, and may I remember it for future travels.


Lesson 2: Silence


For the month of July I got to spend a lot of time with my brother Spencer. After graduating from HS 5 years ago, I felt like I had lost touch with my younger brothers. I didn't get to see them grow up in their HS years. Watching and learning from my brother was one of the neatest things I did all summer. He is very quiet. But when I say quiet it is not in a "I don't care what's going on around me" or "I don't know what to say so I won't say it". Instead is a calm quiet, a controlled, confident, quiet of one who's personality is just one to not say something even when it could be needed. For me, if I've got something to say, I'll say it. If I don't need to say it, I'll still say it. For me, it taught me the lesson of silence, of not having to be in control or a part of every situation around me. They say "silence speaks louder then words." In this case, his silence was loud, loud to show me, it's ok not to speak, calm down and let God talk to you instead of you ruining the silence or the chance for others to speak. Watch your tongue Sarah. Speak through your actions and your love.

Life and death

On Tuesday, one of my mentor teacher's from last semester passed away. She was 32 years old and died of childbirth complications. Someone told me her liver failed. The baby lived so she leaves behind her husband and now two girls. This was the closest death I have experienced in a long time. It just hits you kind of hard. I know I never had sent this teacher a thank-you card and always had wanted to. Now my chance is gone. I went to the visitation today. It was an open casket which was the first one I've ever been to. My teacher was a world traveler and had visited around 50 countries. She was holding her passport in her hand.

Life is so fleeting. Not that I wished she had died, but everyone always needs a little reality check like this once in a while. We need to stop and re-evalute the life that we live. Are you doing everything we can to love those around us? Are we wasting our days? Are we putting our treasure in earthly things or things that will last past our time on this earth?

It makes me think of a song I hear on the radio a lot by Building 429. The chorus goes:

"All I know is I'm not home yet, this is not where I belong. Take this world and give me Jesus, this is not where I belong."

May we all make the most of our time on earth but also remembering where our real home is.

Decisions

So if anyone knows me, they know that I hate making decisions. From simple decisions such as where to eat-out to complex decisions such as which school to choose for my future profession... and it is that decision that I our drama called life occurs.

Enter school #1

Okinawa Christian School, Okinawa, Japan

I had heard about this school simply from living in Japan. I didn't know much about it at all but what I did know that it is in Okinawa. Okinawa is the Hawaii of Japan. Florida like weather, close to the ocean, palm trees. What could be better? I went to a conference for Christian Schools in Alabama a few weeks ago for a part of my schooling and got to meet two representatives from the school. They had a need for some elementary teachers. I began to research the school more. The class sizes are small, it's a Christian environment, I would already know the culture and speak the language... the list for pros and cons grow and shrink. I submitted my application and looks like they need me saying they would probably offer a 3rd or a 1st grade teaching position...

Enter school #2

International School, United Arab Emirates

While at the Christian school conference in Alabama, I heard of a school in the UAE that needed 16 teachers for next year. My dream is to travel the world and teach in exotic and new countries so when I heard of this opportunity, my heart beat for the adventure. The expenses are paid for including apartment. UAE is one of the more safer Muslim countries and though it isn’t a Christian school, the headmaster is a Christian and wants Christian teachers. I talked on skype with the headmaster and he is very interested in having me so I gave him the ok to move forward.

So what do a do? Which do I choose? Which is the right way? I don’t like be so existentialist (I don’t know if that’s the right word but it sounded big ad philosophical enough) but what ever decision I take it will determine the rest of my life. What an epic decision right? I’ve had my ups and downs and days of more anxiety then others but other all, I am seeing this as an exciting experience. I’m giving all of this up to God constantly and I know that He is in control of my future, He already knows which one is for me, He’ll open and close doors, and overall, He Is. 

If you all have any wise wisdom or guidance through any of this, it would be greatly appreciated. Please keep me in your prayers as I make this decision in the near future. I'll try to keep this updated more!

Love,

Sarah

Fashion Fiasco

So Sunday morning as I was dressing to church, I knew one thing: that I wanted to wear my black tights and black boots. The hunt began as I ripped apart my wardrobe to find something adequate but trying to look cute in the process. I put on a black shirt and a lovely teal skirt and walked in to my roommates room with who has a full length mirror. A cry of anguish echoed through the house. I looked like a midget. The skirt was too long for my short legs. My roommate was nearby and came to my rescue as I was quickly deciding that I would never look pretty again. She ran to her closet and pulled out a skirt or two which didn't quite work out either, then she pulled out a dress.

Now, I love dresses but I don't ever spend money on them and most of them look too dressy to wear to church or to teach in. She remarked that this dress is kind of short on her so she only wears it to church, but on me, it should be just right. I put it on, rocked a purple sweater with my black boots and I was stylin'. Never looked so stylish in my life! Watch out world! I felt a little out of place but weirdly knowing that I fit in more then ever.

Coming back home, I examined the dress which was only comprised of 3 stitches and some hemming. It looked so easy! I pulled out some fabric from my closet, started cutting and sewing and in a hour or so, voila! I had my own version of the stylin' dress.

Even with my stylin dress I still manage to look super awkward with my eyes closed... I'll post a better picture once I actually wear it around :)