Once Again

Once again, God allowed me to be at just the right place at the right time. A few weeks ago, Sakuras Japanese Steakhouse opened up down the road from our house. I decided last Monday, to go give it a try for lunch. I pulled into the parking lot and by the looks of it, figured I might be the only customer. I was correct-not another soul in there aside from the staff. Immediately, Toy rushed over to greet me and ask if I wanted the Sushi Bar. After telling her I desired to order of the menu and eat within, she seated me at a table. I was not at the table for very long as I was moved into another section once I told her I wanted the Teriyaki Chicken. I was then seated at the big table for eight generally used for groups. I found the whole thing rather humorous as there I sat alone in this large, empty room set up for 32 people. Soon, a gentleman came out to cook my meal before me-as is done during the Hibachi Grill shows. He had an audience of one. I'm sure he must have felt a little awkward coming out & twirling knives, throwing fire, building candles out of onions, etc. for a rather silent crowd (if I may call myself that!). He finished his show and I applauded him time and time again commending him on his great work. Toy continually visited the table. I inquired as to where she was from and also asked if any of the workers were actually Japanese. I discovered that she is from Thailand and everyone else is Chinese. When she said she was from Thailand, I shared with her that I may be going to Thailand next spring. She never asked why so I did not tell why. The more we talked, I divulged that I had been to Taiwan to teach English. Having never mentioned Christ, Jesus, church or anything of that nature, she returned to the table and asked me if I had been to Taiwan on mission (she was not sure what to call it but I realized she meant a mission trip). I was delighted to answer her with a "Yes." She then was curious as to whether or not a mission would be my reasoning for going to Thailand. Again, I said, "Yes." She diappeared and several minutes later, came back to the table and began to tell me that she is Catholic but rarely goes to her church. She said that when she goes, she does not see love from the people within, or care and concern for anyone. She said she wanted to know how to find love, joy and caring people at church. Having to busy herself since she was getting paid to work and not just socialize, she went to find something to do and returned shortly. We talked further and she asked if I went to church and where. I gave her the information and told her that she is more than welcome to go with me sometime. She seemed quite excited. She pulled out a business card for the nail salon nextdoor and wrote her phone number on it and handed it to me. We continued talking for sometime. She encouraged me to visit the nail salon nextdoor if I wanted my nails done. She is trying to strum up business for them as well. If I go, I am to call her so that she may go with me and work on teaching me some Thai while we get our nails done. Toy (yes, that is her name and it is pronounced just like a toy) is in her early 50's. She married an American man and has lived here in the USA for many years. She and her husband have a 30 year old daughter. She speaks 6 or 7 different languages and said she has worked most of her life in kitchens as a cook or a waitress. To some, they would just think that because it is a fairly new business, there weren't too many people in there that day. To me, I see it as God's providence. I was not there at that time by accident-He had a greater purpose in mind than mine which was just to get some food (which, by the way, was very good). Please, pray for Toy as I plan to contact her and am eager to get to know her further and share the love of Christ with her!

Bowling at the Royal Palace, A Little Taste of Korea & Much More

I have quite the week. Last Thursday, I arrived at my church at 7:15 a.m. to travel to CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) to take part in their Mailbox Club as our church had signed up to do so as a mission project. I've been saying for some time that I am eager to be a senior so that I may take advantage of the senior discounts as well as go on senior outings. I had my opportunity to "hang" with the 55+ club last week as I went with 19 senior adults. What a time that was. Having never been to CEF, I was uncertain as to what to expect. I was highly impressed. In fact, if they were not such a drive away from our home, I would seek full-time employment with them. While there, we all split up into groups to help with different aspects of the mailroom. Another lady & I, graded papers. For those who desire to receive them, CEF will mail out Bible Study homework papers. Once completed, the student mails them back to CEF where they are graded, commented on & then the next lesson is mailed out. I found it very interesting to see the high number of people that actually were on the mailing list to receive the lessons. After returning back to the church, lucky me, my car would not start. Fortunately, Uncle Rex (he is the missions director at our church which I have had the privelege of traveling to Taiwan with twice-I call him Uncle though he is no blood relation to me) was there to save the day. He & another man were able to jump my car & get me on my way home. I look forward to volunteering at CEF in the future.

Having worked in retail for so many years, I never have had a need to know particular computer programs such as Word, Excel, ect. However, most jobs require knowledge & proficiency in these programs. With that in mind, I decided to take some 3 hour courses on these. Last Friday, I went to a class to learn Word in a day. Thankfully, as I prepared to waltz out the front door, I thought about the probable temperature of the classroom (thinking back to my days in a classroom) & grabbed a jacket. How glad I was that I did so. I was pleased to see that I was not the only one freezing. Despite the fact there were only 4 others (including the teacher) besides myself, I felt a bit strange walking in. It was a bit like walking back into school for the first day..only after 10 years of being out! The class was rather interesting..it was myself, a lady in her late 40's or early 50's & a couple who had been married for 51 years. The older lady was mesmorized when she learned how to italicize a word or change the font size. What a revelation to her! I had to chuckle. I guess for some, that really is unfamiliar ground. While I knew much of what was taught, I did learn some things. I am attending an Excel class in a couple of days.

Finally, a smoke-free bowling alley has hit our town. After receiving a coupon for a hours worth of free bowling, Haley & I went on Sunday afternoon to check the place out. My oh my, we felt like we were royalty. A hostess at the door to greet us & direct us to the right location, shoes delivered to our lane, a server if we wanted anything off of the menu that sat in front of us, our names already in the computer & the whole nine yards. We were able to get 3 games in during our hour. Best of all, we left smelling no different than when we walked in!

My friend Megan was up visiting for a few days from Memphis so we decided to get together with our friend Kristina and her newly adopted baby, Evelyn. Eveyln is from Korea. Kristina knew of a great authentic Korean restaurant so we went there for a taste of Korean food. My aunt & uncle having lived in Korea years ago, brought back with them a recipe for Bul-go-Ki (I may be spelling that one wrong). We've been making it for years & it is without a doubt, my favorite meal. Once we arrived & I saw that on the menu I decided I must order it to see how different it was from what we would prepare. I was surprised to find that it was actually very similar. I do not know about all Asian countries but it seems to me that the norm with an Asian meal is to have a main dish & many sides are brought out. Such was true yesterday. Having ate many a strange things in Taiwan, none of us were too fearful to try that which was placed before us. We knew that one thing was seaweed-it was fine. One thing, appeared to be tiny fried fish with the heads still attached. I actually liked those while Megan found them to be too salty for her liking. I believe one of the dishes may have been Kim-chee (again, sorry if I've got the spelling incorrect). Whatever it was, one piece was more than plenty for me. We had some other dishes-fish cakes perhaps, sprouts, etc. All in all, I thought everything was good. While we ate, the waitress wagged Evelyn all around & even sat down & fed her her bottle. We received a discount thanks to Evelyn-they extend such to all Korean families. While there, we also were very in tune to the t.v. which was airing what appeared to be a Korean-Christian network. We recognized familiar praise & worship songs & saw Korean pastors. Once we were full, we headed back to Kristina's to hang out for a while. Kristina's black lab seemed to be jealous of all of the attention Evelyn was getting. Megan & I headed out & HAD to stop at Fritz's for some ice cream before she prepared to hit the road once again. We all had a great time together. The bond we formed while serving alongside one another all hot, sweaty & stinky in Taiwan is one that I believe will last for many, many years. I hope.

Seattle Scenery-For me, that means seeking out Asians!

Just trying to add some more pics for everyone to see. I'm still learning how this whole thing works. Now that I've mastered adding a slideshow, I'm hoping to conquer adding pics! Both of the pictures shown were taken while vacationing in WA last summer. The people shown in the picture with me are some college students that I met while at one of the National Parks. As we headed to the visitors center, I noticed that one of their shirts read "Tapei University." Tapei is the capitol city of Taiwan. I could hear that they were speaking what I believed to be Mandarin Chinese. I hurried closer & began to converse with them. In doing so, I found out that all of them were from Taiwan & were here in the states studying at Idaho University. We spoke for a bit about my visit to Taiwan as they inquired as to why I had went there & so forth. When asked if they would mind having their picture taken with me, they were most eager to do so. The picture of me by myself was taken at a dam that we went to. During our trip, we decided to ride the ducks (for those that have no idea what the ducks are, they are a cross between a boat & a bus-kind of. Basically, it travels in land & once it hits water, it becomes a boat)in Seattle. As most tours do, the tour guide generally tries to find out where everyone is from. This tour was no different. I noticed an Asian couple before we ever got on & was wishing that i would have been sitting by them. When the guide went around the duck asking each person where they were from, what do you know...the Asian couple was from Taiwan. My energy level went up several notches at that point. As soon as we got back to the duck offices, I hurried off the duck to track the couple down. At first, my forwardness frightened the lady. Once I began talking to she & her husband & they learned that I had been to Taiwan, there was a connection & a receptiveness like no other. We also, visited for a while. They were glad to pose for a picture with me and were happy to give me their e-mail address to write to them. Unfortunately, the scare with taking liquids on the planes came about while we were in Seattle so when it came time to pack it up & head home, we were tossing all kinds of stuff out of our bags. I accidently threw away the ticket stub which had their e-mail address on the back of it. I realized that by the time we were sitting in the Seattle airport. I was so mad at myself. I do not have any recollection as to their names or anything. I only know that the man was here on a business trip & brought his wife with him. If only I had not been so quick to dispose of everything I had! Oh well.

To the Capitol we go!

Over the weekend, both my sister and I as well as our friend Elinor, drove to Jeff City, MO to visit our friend Crystal. What a time we had! We arrived around 8:00 p.m. on Friday evening. We would have been there sooner but I missed the exit & we had to backtrack 4 miles. I do not know how I missed it-not like it was my first time to go there. Anyway, we had some yummy pizza upon our arrival. I had purchased the "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader" game earlier in the day to take with us. We attempted playing as teams first & found that we were dumber put together than we were apart from one another. I'm pleased to say, I did OK. Crystal & I tied, both dropping out of school at $300,000.00. I'm hoping my check arrives in the mail soon. I think they forgot to give it to me at the time of my win! The half a million dollar question that I decided walk away from was, "What is the only city in the world that is located on two continents?" I had no clue & figured winning my $300,000.00 was better than dropping back down to $25,000.00. Good thing I did not guess as I would have been wrong. For those interested, in case you ever need to know, the answer is: Istanbul. I never in a million years would have thought of that answer! Other students (hmmm...Haley & Elinor), did not fare to well. A good time we had though. After stuffing ourselves on hot fudge brownie ice cream sundaes, we played a round of the board game "Like Minds." Unfortuntely, Haley & Elinor were losers on that game as well as once again, Crystal & my's mind's thought alike. I will give the losing team credit though-they were only a point or two behind. If you have never played that game, I encourage you to do so. The game is great fun & it is interesting to see how others think. For instance, we once played with some family & my sister or cousin was my partner when the question asked us to name types of math. My mind immediately thought of things like trig, algebra, calculus, etc. while there mind was completely opposite--they answered with things like addition, subtraction, division & so forth. Always leads to, "What were you thinking?!" After Crystal & I tried to spook Haley & Elinor in their bedroom & continued on with them never making an attempt to get us back, we finally decided to retire & get some shut-eye. Those two had to be party-poopers!

Everyone awakened after a bit of rest & we took off for the day. We headed to Columbia. Two, had never seen the Mizzou campus (Haley & Elinor) so Crystal drove through so they could catch a glimpse of it. While driving, it did not take long for us to get lost. Eventually, we found our way back to where we needed to be & entered into the Columbia Mall. We grabbed a bite for lunch & then, I opened their eyes to the beloved, Lollicup. I was uncertain as to whether or not they would make my slushie just as I had it in Taiwan (half yogurt/half passion fruit), but they agreed to do so. Elinor, having never had one of these slushies, followed in our footsteps ordering the same. Haley & Crystal were ecstatic when they just saw the cups alone! The three of us were enjoying ours so & I only hoped that Elinor would like it as well. She did. One sip & she was giving the thumbs up. We wandered around the mall for a while, buying nothing. We returned to Lollicup before we left so that I could order another slushie to put in a cooler & bring home to a fellow Taiwan team member. Crystal & I could not resist. We each ordered a Caramel Milk Tea. While Crystal drank hers hours later, I downed mine within minutes. I was so very happy to see Hope & Jocelyn working again & even filmed them sending a message to my friend Megan (who introduced me to the place). I can't wait to go again.

Once we left there, we were off to the Hong Kong Market so that I may buy some more Apple Cider Soda. My dad loved it & had asked me to so. I wanted some more for myself as well. Haley was preparing herself for the smell walking in as I had told her, it smelled like Taiwan-stinky. You will notice in my slideshow, a picture of Haley, Crystal & Elinor as well as a black guy. He was a kid working in the store that I had struck up a conversation with. I was joking with him asking him how much Chinese he knew, what country was he from in Asia, etc. He noticed that I was preparing to take a picture of the girls in front of the Market sign & dashed into the picture. He was a funny little fellar. I brought back some treats for 3 other team members. I was able to give one to one of the men on Sunday morning. He looked thrilled as he said, "What exactly is this because it looks like rocks?" I told him I had no idea & really, I do not. They were inexpensive & I knew it would make for a good joke. I'm sure that whatever it is, it's probably horrible tasting!

Time to head back to Jeff City...we stopped at the Governor's Mansion for a photo session. Some, were more enthusiastic than others. I was not enjoying the swarming gnats & bugs that were biting me every second. Granted we have some nice pictures, when it came time to go, I was perfectly OK to escape to critters eating me alive!

We returned to Crystal's & she showed Elinor the video of she & Haley's mission trip to Poland. How beautiful that we are able to share such with one another. Elinor, is a 5th generation South-African native living here in the states as a teacher. Her parents are missionaries. Elinor has been on many mission trips herself. So cool was it, as we drove around to sing hymns & Elinor sing in Africanz (I'm probably not spelling that one right). We had a great time of laughter with one another & fellowship as believers. Once my car got jumpstarted (for some unknown reason, it was dead when we were ready to come home-it's died twice since), we were on our way back. We are eager to spend time with one another again.

Taiwan: Rediscovered in Columbia, MO?

In 2005, on my trip to Taiwan, was a girl named Megan. Though we were on a team together, we did not really get to know one another too well at the time. Both of us returned to Taiwan in '06 & were then roommates. Sharing the same room, we spent much time together & became close friends. Megan lived in Columbia, MO & unfortunately (well, sad for those of us here that miss her) recently moved to Memphis, TN. I decided to go spend a weekend with Megan before she left & I had the time of my life. I venture to say, it was probably one of the greatest times I've had since I left Taiwan last summer. Continually asking me what I wanted to do & receiving no answers, Megan took me to the Columbia Mall. She thought of something that I would greatly appreciate & she was right, I certainly did. Before we arrived, she told me we would stop at this place that had milk tea. What is milk tea you may ask? Well, it's a concotion we had in Taiwan. I was looking forward to that but it all became much more exciting when we actually arrived at the place, I looked at the menu & saw....slushies...Passion Fruit slushies. I know, you're thinking this is no big deal. If you would have been in Taiwan, you would grasp the meaning of this. The slushies there are like no other. We would go 3-4 times a day to buy them & once back in America, our thoughts would wander back to them & long for the taste of one (they still do). I wondered how close it would be to the real deal. Though I like milk tea, I do not like it nearly as much as the slushies. I ordered my slushie, they handed it to me & it was all over. One sip & I felt like I was standing right there back in Taiwan. Identical!! What made this even better were the girls working at the place. They are from Taiwan. Megan would go there fairly frequently (when she got bored) so she'd developed a friendship with them & they were quite excited to see her & to meet me (especially when she shared with them that I too, had been to Taiwan). After visiting with them for a while, one of the girls introduced us to her sister, Amy, who was sitting there writing a paper on her laptop. Amy is in the states visiting until the end of August & will then return to Taiwan to teach at Meinung Middle School--the same school in which we taught! Meinung is a very small town in Taiwan--most of the people I've met from Taiwan are unfamiliar with it. Yet, there we were with 3 people who all knew Meinung. Megan & I laughed & talked with Amy for at least a 1/2 hour if not longer. I was able to take Megan's picture with the workers & then Amy & I had a picture taken together. She was eager to get her camera out so she'd have a copy of she & I as well. I left there on cloud nine. Questioning what to do, Megan had the perfect idea in mind when she took me in there. Continuing with our reminiscing theme, she then took me to the Hong Kong Market. As we were walking in, Megan was discussing how it stunk. However, that stinch reminded us both of a place oh so dear to our hearts, Taiwan. We roamed around for a bit looking at many of the things that we saw in the stores in Taiwan. I was delighted to find Apple Cider Soda which we drank quite a bit while in Taiwan. I didn't have to give it much consideration--I bought a 6 pack to bring home with me. One of the reasons Megan goes there is because it's covered with Asian people. We both love to be near the Asian culture.As Megan said, "This is like our Taiwan." We figured that since we weren't able to go there this year, that was as close as we could get to experiencing it all again. After church on that Sunday, we had lunch at a Mongolian Barbecue...had us some Chinese food. We shared our memories about Taiwan food...we miss the dirty, fried rice stand. No, seriously..we do. The place may have been filthy but I've never had fried rice that taste that good. Nothing in America thus far can compete with it. Upon leaving Megan's, I asked for directions back to the mall. She laughed when I told her I was going back to the drink stand. I know, it sounds crazy but once you've tried one...you can't get enough. I went back & the girls were oh so happy to see me again. We talked briefly. They guessed that I wanted the same thing I had before--the Passion Fruit Slushie. They were correct. They informed me of a closer location to St. Louis & though I'll go there sometime, I assured them that I would come visit them again. They said, "Cause we from Taiwan?!" I replied with, "Yes, because you are from Taiwan & we are friends now." They gave me an extra drink at no charge for the road as well. Megan & I got both of their e-mail addresses as well as & I hope to keep in contact with them. All of that only makes me wish to be in Taiwan again. Perhaps…someday. As for now, I’m headed to Jeff City for the weekend & visiting Columbia is a must--Lollicup, here we come!

Just squirreling around at Busch

My time at Busch Stadium lastnight proved to be a rather entertaining evening. In addition to the Redbirds playing great ball (& winning), the real star of the game was the squirrel that snuck in & became center of attention. After beginning in the Cardinal bullpen, he made his way down the first base line, behind the tarp. He remained there until someone got a hit & the crowd went wild. He came out from hiding then & decided to make his debut on the field. He pooped out about halfway & decided to take a breather in left centerfield. Once he'd stretched & then eaten a bit, he was ready to go again. The inning ended & out came someone from the grounds crew. Everyone was boo-ing him big time & cheering the squirrel on. Ernie Hayes found appropriate music to fit the situation & the chase for the squirrel was being shown on the big screen in the outfield. The squirrel finally wound up down in the opposing team's dugout. I'm guessing they finally caught the little guy. I have certainly never laughed so hard at a baseball game as I did lasnight. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me to capture the moment. I am sure that such will not soon be forgotten though.

Time To Begin

So it seems, everyone is blogging these days. I too, have decided to begin a blog for those that wish to read about my uneventful life. Hopefully, from time to time, I'll write something that encourages others or enlightens everyone to who I am. As many know, I love to write and typically, write much...and often. Of course, those who do not appreciate my lengthy writings will not have to read! I am new at this so we will see how long it takes me to sort it all out so that I can make my blog page look presentable. Anyway, enough for now...I'll play around here for a bit.