Cambodia 2014

If one word could be used to describe the entire trip it would be growth. Although we didn’t return to some of our previous destinations, the team and I had an amazing time growing in the Spirit, growing in our teaching abilities and growing closer with the team. Growth is clearly visible in the country from the new infrastructure being built to the elementary kids’ English skills. Even though over half the team had gone before, we were exposed to new things and hit the ground running.

After a long set of flights going through two American cities and one international destination, we arrived at Phnom Penh. Immediately I was thrown back into the slightly organized chaos that is a constant in the capital. After a slow drive of avoiding mopeds, stopping for school kids and constant honking we arrived at our hotel. From then until the next day we were preparing for the wedding that was to take place the entire following day. It started at eight in the morning and continued until seven at night. It was an amazing day with weird foods being served and catching up with old Cambodian friends. Many of you know that we did not go to the orphanage this year but with the wedding we were able to see some of the older highschoolers that made the trip up. It was rewarding finally having solid relationships with the Cambodians to where I could laugh with them and enjoy their company. That was a highlight of my third year in Cambodia.

            The next day we drove out to the second largest city, but nearly as chaotic, Battambang. It’s about 180 miles north west of Phnom Penh but takes over 5 hours because of the road condition. When the team went to teach on the first day the kids were a bit aloof but as the week continued they warmed up to us. I was tasked with teaching Chemistry this year, very different from teaching English in previous years. It was hard teaching a different subject for the first time and being labeled as “experienced”. My lesson plans went well with lots of explosives and corrosive chemicals but I didn't enjoy it. During my daily prayers I would ask God why His plan was for me to teach Chemistry. Part of the answer came to me on our fourth day of teaching.

            I was on break and the high school principle walked over and started talking with me and Heather, my science partner. After a while Heather had to go and prep her biology lesson so the principle, Sophal, and I talked for about 40 minutes. We discussed the history of Cambodia and the deep need for Christ and education in the growing country. The conversation really helped me understand the work of God and His plan for every person that has lived. When I was at the school in Battambang he also taught me and the team to continue our work as Christ did on earth and to pick up our crosses with Him daily. During devotions we discussed this and I came away understanding that our work here on earth is planned exactly how God has said although it may not be easy. When it becomes hard we are supposed to take up or crosses, whether it is daily work or a hard task, and to complete it just as Christ did.

            After teaching and bonding with the kids at Battambang we traveled to Siem Reap, about three hours on the other side of the lake that is in the middle of the country. Our main focus there was the floating village on the lake, Tonle Sap. The village is basically a bunch of houses built on bamboo rafts and floats with the water. When we visit the village we teach at the school that was built by a missionary there for elementary students. In previous years the kids there were very apprehensive and slow to warm up. Not this year! As the fist of two boats pulled up to the school the kids were lined up on the railings, waiting for us to come on board the school. They were yelling and laughing when we walked onto the school. It was amazing to finally see an investment pay off and see the kids excited to see us again. Teaching there is very fun but unnaturally hot. It was probably 110+ when we were there and the school has one cooling system, the slight breeze that wanders lethargically around the lake. As I was working sweat beaded and rolled off my nose, chin, ears; basically anywhere that could sweat did. I was so into teaching that I forgot to drink water and had only two bottles during the four hours we were there. I was feeling fine with a slight headache on the boat ride back but when we got into the air-conditioned bus to drive back to Phnom Penh I continued to sweat and could not cool off. I became super light headed and my vision started to go dark. When we arrived back at the hotel I could barely stand and it took me about 6 minutes to walk 70 feet and up a flight of stairs. Fortunately one of our leaders is a nurse and she gave me some electrolytes and told me to take an hour nap with my feet up to cool off. I had gotten heat stroked and it was the hottest I have ever been. Talk about being crucified with Christ.

After exploring Angkor Wat for the fourth time we headed down through Phnom Penh to Takeo close to the Vietnamese border. There we taught at a small government school that is kept running by the Church down there. I taught elementary English with four other teammates for two days. Probably the highlight of teaching this year happened in Takeo.

It was the first day teaching and our first class was fourth grade. I thought it would be good for the kids to learn practical English and not just the alphabet and colors. When it was my turn to teach I decided that I wanted to teach them “Hello, how are you” and “I am good, thank you.” (We try to incorporate modern American English so that it doesn't seem like there are speaking textbook English). After ten minutes of repeating and conversation I could see their little minds trying to grasp a new language. The next day we came back having low expectations and doubting that the kids grasped the sentences. But I decided to ask, “Hello, how are you?” One kid stood up and said, “I am good, tha…” and stopped because no one else had followed him. I jumped off the ground with excitement and gave the kid a huge high-five and about four pieces of candy. I was thrilled that they had actually remembered the sentences form the previous day. After I congratulated him the other kids got the memo and remembered the phrases! The most rewarding part of teaching is when your students remember the material that you taught them and you know that you have made an impact of them as well.

            Along with growth this year we were also able to see the impact that we made. The head of all missionaries in Cambodia told us in Takeo that we may be the highlight of their school year. It is hard to grasp the impact one can make whether it be words or actions but in both cases you may never know this side of Heaven. To impact someone doesn’t require tons of preparation or education, quite the opposite, to impact someone may simply come at a time least expected and after that one can watch the growth take place. God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.

Cambodia Missions Trip

For a long time now I have felt God calling me to Asia.  I was able to answer the call recently by going to Cambodia.  As most of you know my family and I traveled there in 2010. This second trip to Cambodia with the Grace Christian mission team changed my life.

           We landed in Cambodia after fifteen hours of flying pan-pacific.  As I looked out the window on our final approach I had a surge of adrenaline and excitement. I was back in Cambodia.  I couldn’t believe that I was back in one of my favorite places in the entire world.  We stayed in Phnom Penh for a few days to acclimate to the culture and time change.  While there, the team and I toured the city and visited some temples.  At the central temple, Wat Phnom, two Buddhists monks came over to us and wanted to practice English.  Mrs. Bouman and I were amazed that the monks approached us and started to talk to us. We were amazed because monks rarely talk to foreigners.  I thought that was a cool way of God introducing the team to Cambodia.

            After spending time in Phnom Penh we drove south to Sihanoukville and the orphanage where we would be teaching.  I had no idea what to expect, mostly because I had never really been around orphans or been in that kind of environment.  As we stepped out of the bus, little Khmer kids came running towards us.  I was immediately engulfed with kids pulling on my arms and screaming in Khmer.  After things settled down we had a little futbol (soccer) match. It was team Alaska versus team Cambodia. We thought it was going to be a fair matched game but the Cambodians basically destroyed us. It was still a lot of fun.

On Sunday, we went to Church in Sihanoukville.  All of the songs were in Khmer but I could still feel the presence of God there.  When the preacher started to speak a huge monsoon storm blew out the power.  Still the pastor continued with his sermon while God showed his power outside, pouring down sheets of rain onto the little church.

When the school week started the team and I went to our designated classrooms to teach. I thought teaching English would always be easy, just sit down and start talking.  Oh no.  Since they know hardly any English you have to talk about .01 mph, it’s slow and very testing.  I explained the game to the kids but all I got was a bunch of blank faces.  At some point patience is rewarding and after three days the kids started to understand what I was saying. After school was over I would hang out with the kids at the orphanage. It’s amazing how joyful they are.  A lot of these kids come from horrible backgrounds yet they still have an ever-present joy radiating from them. Sadly the week came to a close. I was surprised how hard it was to say goodbye to the kids I befriended. I didn’t expect to become so close to them as I did in just a week. Two of them wrote me cards and about a half dozen more gave me bracelets they made. I can’t remember how many hugs I received or the number sad faces I saw.  As we loaded up into our shuttles all of the kids ran alongside us to the end of the drive way and then waved a last goodbye.

            From Sihanoukville we flew to Siem Reap. We went to Angkor Wat, Tonle Sap, and a boarding house for kids who come into Siem Reap for school. I have been to Siem Reap before but it was still amazing to see everything for a second time.  After Siem Reap everything was a whirlwind.  One and a half days back in Phnom Penh, three days in Takeo and then back to Phnom Penh to catch our flight.  Our last stop was Takeo, a small town about 25 miles from the Vietnamese border.  There we taught English at a Church and a village school a half hour outside of Takeo.  By the time I was done teaching, I was so exhausted I didn’t even want to say, “Hello my name is Taylor, what’s yours?” to a single soul. At the same time I was sad that we were leaving Cambodia and all of my new friends.

            As I stepped up to the customs counter, in Seattle, I had a flashback of everything that happened half a world away. It was bittersweet, bitter that I had to leave, but sweet that I was home. I’m already excited to go back next year.

Colorado Trip

Harvard, Massachusetts

Breakfast by Sean McLaughlin

For breakfast Mr. McLaughlin made french toast along with warmed up left over steak tips and mashed potato's with onions. Home made whipped cream, strawberry jam, pineapples, pineapple sauce, and maple syrup which Mr. McLaughlin's Dad made were all available to put on top of the french toast. My personal favorite was the whipped cream because it was the perfect consistency. The breakfast hit the spot and gave me enery for day of work on the farm.

Farm Work:
Mr. McLaughlin had too much mulch for the boarder of his patio. Our job was to remove some of the mulch, load it onto the John Deer Gator and make a pile in the woods in case it was needed later for another project. The John Deer Gator is a machine similar to the Kawasaki Mule we have in Talkeetna but has no top seats and no cover to protect the driver from rain. It does has the capability to dump it's load like a dump truck. This was helpfully with the mulch job. We worked for about three hours then took a break for lunch. Some may consider farm work boring but personally I thought it was fun loading the Gator and dumping the mulch. Loading the mulch was a little hard but since I have never used a pitch fork before I thought it was cool.

Lunch time:
I was very hungry for lunch because of all that work I did. For lunch we ate delicious quesadilla with cheese and ham. That's the perfect combination in my opinion. There were also fresh steamed muscles but I didn't try any. We also had some strawberry juice that tasted good on that hot summer day after farm work.

Pool Time:
Finally we got to the pool. It was nice to go in the pool on a hot day, with squirt guns, playing with your friend. We played for about an hour and a half. I got tired of the pool quickly so I decided to leave.

Once we were all dried off and changed Catherine and I rode around the farm on the ATV's. That was fun. I learned that when you are driving the ATVs you shouldn't go through the tall grass because ticks and other nasty insects could bite you. We drove all over for about an hour.

Dinner:
For dinner we had more steak tips, mashed potatoes, and salad. While eating dinner I told Jack and his family stories from my adventures.

Movie:
After dinner we decided to watch a Harry Potter 5. Before we could watch the movie we had to clean up. Jack and I volunteered. I loaded up the food cart with plates, rinsed them off, and handed them to Jack to put in the dish washer. Since they have such a big family and lots of extended family in the Boston area their kitchen is designed like a commerical kitchen. First, you roll the cart to the table. Second, load all the dirty dishes on the cart. Third, roll the cart back to the kitchen. Then rinse them all with the powerful commercial grade sprayer. Next, load the dishes into the special trays that go into the dishwasher. Start the dishwasher, wait 2 minutes, unload that tray and load up the next. I have to say doing dishes this was is totally fun.


It was a treat to see Jack again and it was even better to stay with him at his farm. I hope I can go back there again some time. The farm work was very fun and more fun with the Gator. Massachusetts is a good place to visit on the east coast. Not only did I see Harvard but I also saw Essex and Boston.

O'Learys' in Essex

After five days in Washington D.C. we went to Essex, Massachusetts and stayed with our friends the O'Learys'. Essex, Massachusetts is about an hour northeast of Boston on the coast. We know the O'Leary's because my Dad grew up with Mrs. O'Leary in Talkeetna. They also have two boys, Bennett is 10 and Vaughn is 7 years old.

Playing at Patton Park. General Patton lived in Exxex, MA.

Down at the beach with Bennett and Vaughn.

Every day we would play sports with them at their house. We played wiffle ball in the back yard and basketball and street hockey on the driveway. My favorite was home run derby wiffle ball. I liked it way better than street hockey because I didn't have hockey sticks wacked at my legs and feet. My brothers favorite was street hockey. 

Bennett and I going head to head with the puck.

Bennett shotting hoops

Vaughn and I racing for the ball

The boys showed us their collection of Japanese erasers. They are mini erasers in the shape of animals, vehicles, sports equipemnt and food. We bought some erasers at the Silly Goose toy store. I got an elephant, penguin, seal, robot, soccer ball and a hamster. I regret not getting the dolphin. Later I traded the hamster for a puffer fish with Vaughn.

It was a blast staying with the O'Leary's. Plus, it was awesome seeing friends after being gone for 10 months. The O'Leary's usually come to Alaska in the summer but this time we visited them at their home.

We also made smores in their backyard fire pit.

Back in the USA

I was giddy boarding the plane in Paris bound for NYC. Standing in line on the jet way I struck up a brief conversation with a lovely NYC couple returning from their honeymoon in Paris. I was talking to a real American citizen, speaking real English, agreeing on how thrilling it is to travel internationally but so thankful we are to be heading home - back to the USA.

My feelings surprised me as days prior I was questioning if I even wanted to be back in the USA. I am fiercly patriotic and in love with my country but our adventure opened my eyes to the world, seeing new ways of life, new ways of thinking and that made me want to continue, explore more. From that aspect I was not entirely sure I was ready to come home. However, my feelings betrayed my thoughts as they usually do. I was excited!

The boys were equally excited. As we were disembarking the plane, on US soil, they were jockeying for who would be the "first one back in the US. The first one 'home." We left the plane saying thank you and goodbye in French never looking back.

We turned the corner into US Immigrations and saw a huge Stars and Stripes hanging proudly and we all squeeeled with delight! Full of American pride we marched past the long, long, long, que for "visitors" to enter my country then past the line for legal alien residents and went straight to the, shortest line of all, the que for U.S. Citizens!

Post number 37 opened and as we appoached the counter the immigration agent, a big black man with a wicked New York accent, was complaining to his fellow agent in post 36 how much he hates the new passport machines and thinks its absurd our government wasting so much money on new equipment when the old ones worked better, processed faster and didn't breakdown as often. We stood quietly in front of him while he finished his rant. When he was done he asked for our passports and processed us through. Listening to him made me smile, chuckle actually.

You see this is one aspect that makes our country the greatest on the planet. Here is a government employee sharing his disgust on wasteful spending which he is FREE TO DO. NO WHERE did we see a scene like this. EVERYWHERE else immigration agents sat quietly in their cubicles motioning the next traveler through doing their job with no conversation to their fellow worker, or to the passing traveler. Sometimes I would try to engage the agent in conversation but was usually unsuccessful.

We've been around the world visited 22 countries on 6 continents and we all agree that the United States of America is still the best country on the face of the earth; even with all our problems.

Our immigration agent as post number 37 turned out to be a friendly man who we had a lively conversation with as he processed us through with a "welcome home".

I took the opportunity give the boys some insight as to what they just experienced and it started a wonderful, thought provoking, how governments work conversation that I love having with my boys. God bless America, Land that I love!

Baguettes, Brassieres and Cigarettes

Four nights/five days in Avignon, four nights/five days in Normandy and five nights/six days in Paris has left me a bit bewildered at daily life of the French. How can a country consume so many baguettes, smoke so many cigarettes and drink coffee all day long yet remain healthy and beautiful? And our country? Well...


Baguettes
In France you can find a boulangerie or practically every street corner. Combine that with patisseries and you get an intoxicating fresh baked goodness smell wafting from their doors. One morning we could not resist and stopped in for breakfast. After ordering quiche, sweet pastires and coffee we sat down and watched what we dubbed "the great baguette frenzy." We witnessed a steady stream of people coming in empty handed and walking out with one, two or three baguettes passing up the plethora of delectable that we would have chosen. There were old men, young ladies, mom's with kids, husbands with their "list", old ladies, young men and every one in between buying baguettes. We figured the baguette frenzy happened everyday since we all know that baguettes are hard as rocks the second day and not worthy of eating. The boys and I were highly entertained watching this intriguing phenomenon and speculating what they did with all the baguettes.

Two baguettes in hand

Brassieres
Yes, Starbucks exists in France but the authentic choice is a brassiere. This is a cafe sort of place that serves espresso, cocktails, cigarettes and very, very light snacks that makes our American snacks look like a meal. Brassieres are teaming with people in the morning sipping demi-tasse cups of espresso, smoking cigarettes and munching on a piece of a baguette. Mid-day and afternoon it's the same scene. By early evening and beyond they are still smoking, munching and drinking but for some the espresso has been replaced with a beer or cocktail. Brassieres act as a sort of before work, at lunch, afternoon cafe break, after work/before dinner gathering spot. The "hey let's meet for drinks and a smoke" place. The coveted seats are the ones outside on the sidewalk. And when seated around the small round tables, everyone, no matter how many are in one group, sit facing the street not each other as if watching the stage performance of Life and People.

Smoking
Cigarettes are everywhere, and almost everyone in France smokes. Non-smoking is not part of their vocabulary. I think the only place in France smoking has been officially banned is on the Metro, TGV and busses. As soon as French folks in transit disembark from their journey they are lighting up. The brassieres sell cigs, as do tabac shops. The tabac shops are nothing more than a small stand on the street selling cigarettes, newspapers and a few other sundries. All the smoking became quickly annoying since as Americans, where non-smoking is en vogue, we are not used to breathing cigarette smoke in lieu of air. Our day at Disneyland was spent breathing more second-hand smoke than real Parisian air. And, a friend once commented that she knew she was back in Paris by the smell of smoke lingering in the air. I recently read an article about France's new smoking ban in cafes and restaurants but I am not to sure who is enforcing this and how because we saw no smoking ban in effect.

As to my original question of how French stay beautiful with this style of living, here's my theory how. Walk to metro/bus station smoking a morning cig, munch on your baguette on the ride, meet friends at the brassiere for a quick espresso and another smoke. Head to the office, work the morning, walk to lunch at another brassiere for an espresso, smoke and baguette. Walk back to work. Leave work and walk to a brassiere to meet friends for a beer, smoke and baguette. Hang out have more cigs and drinks. Maybe walk to a restaurant for dinner at 10:00pm or just stay and have another smoke, drink and baguette.

All of the above has a 0 caloric net effect since the walking and the caffeine jolt from the espresso speeds the metabolism to burn off the baguette. And the cigarettes have a negative calorie effect acting as an appitite suppressent. So by the end of the day, if they even choose to eat dinner, the French are in a perfect position to enjoy a small three course meal late in the evening with minimal effect on their waist line. Viola! C'est bon!