I love these people! I have seriously never encountered so many amazing, loving, friendly, Christian people in such a concentration. The thing is, there isn't anyone here I don't like. There isn't a single person here that I wouldn't feel safe confiding in or asking to pray for me. It's kind of weird, but amazing. Even the people that I didn't immediately click with turned out to be wonderful. I'm already upset that we're going to be scattering at the end of training... I will probably get to see the Kyrgyzstan girls again, at Thanksgiving, and maybe over longer breaks. But the people going to Russia are going to be a 4-day train ride (or a very expensive plane trip) away.
But I am so grateful for this time we have now... if I'm going to be going through a spiritual boot camp like this one, I'm glad it's with them. I'm making some life-long friends here.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Boot Camp- Week 1
Now for the first entry that isn't purely informational. Yay!
I have reached the end of my first week of training, and it has been rough... probably the most emotionally and spiritually exhausting week of my entire life. When we jokingly compared it to the army, someone pointed out that we really are training for an army, just of a different sort.
I guess I'll try to give you an idea of how it works:
There are over two-hundred of us here, and there are about 4 different kinds of groups that we are in throughout the day. There are the large group sessions, with everyone. Then there are split sessions, with only those from our region (mine, the CIS, includes those going to Kazakhstan, Krygystan, and Russia). Discovery groups are anywhere from 4 to 7 people from our region, and they change daily. Then there are teammates, which are just people who will be living together. So even though there are 8 people going to Karaganda, only Catherine and I are teammates.
Breakfast is at 7:00 every morning (not that I ever make it to breakfast, except maybe the tail-end of it) and then we meet with our discovery (or 'disco') groups at 8. They change every day, but Catherine and I are always together, and we are always with people from our region. There are sheets of questions each morning that we go through with the group, and they generally lead to really probing conversations. We are all getting used to taking everything as an opportunity for self-discovery and analysis. And we are getting to know each other pretty well in the process.
At 9 am, we have a large group session for TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) lectures. Then split sessions with our regions at 10:30 for more of the same, and lectures about the cultures we are going to encounter. We have lunch at noon, and then two afternoon sessions (topics vary- ex. "Culture Shock", "Dealing with Anger, Depression, and Grief", and "Who Am I?"). At 3:45 we find out if we are going to be teaching that night, and then we have practicum prep, in which we have an hour to plan our lesson. Then dinner, and we leave for practicum at 6. Even those who aren't teaching go to observe and fill out evaluations. We generally get back around 9 pm, and then we have a de-briefing session with our discovery group from that morning. We answer questions like "What did you learn about TEFL today that will help you overseas?" "What was hard about today?" "What is something you are thankful for?" and "What did you learn about yourself?"
We begin and end every session with prayer, and we will often stop to pray in the middle of things, when it is necessary. Almost every session includes time to discuss things with your teammate and ask how this is going to affect you, and how you will handle it, etc. At any given time people are sitting in corners talking about spiritual matters, praying with each other, sharing testimonies, asking for help and prayer and accountability, and supporting one another as we deal with everything.
Everything is so intense here, it's hard to explain. I've known these people for only a week, but I know them as well as I would after a month or two under normal circumstances. Everyone has moments of intense personal realization occasionally, but here we are having at least one per day, sometimes more. I have cried 5 times since I've been here, once this morning after the service. It is so hard, but it's good hard. It's like everyone is walking up a mountain... the path zigzags up the side, so that the trail is tough but manageable. But, just for these five weeks, God has given us the opportunity to climb straight up. It is so much harder, but so worth it. Even as I struggle, I am so grateful... it is simply amazing.
I miss everyone at home so much. I especially miss First Baptist. All of the worship here is done in the contemporary fashion, which is not something I'm really familiar or particularly comfortable with. But I'm praying to God to open my heart and help me to learn to recieve my spiritual bread in this new form. It is already better. I would appreciate your prayers as well.
Anyway, I'm going to go do laundry, write in my journal, and practice on the (horribly old, slightly out of tune) piano downstairs. If you would like to leave me comments, simply click the link at the bottom of the entry, select "Other" where it askes for a user name, and type your name.
I love and miss you all!
Love,
Molly
I have reached the end of my first week of training, and it has been rough... probably the most emotionally and spiritually exhausting week of my entire life. When we jokingly compared it to the army, someone pointed out that we really are training for an army, just of a different sort.
I guess I'll try to give you an idea of how it works:
There are over two-hundred of us here, and there are about 4 different kinds of groups that we are in throughout the day. There are the large group sessions, with everyone. Then there are split sessions, with only those from our region (mine, the CIS, includes those going to Kazakhstan, Krygystan, and Russia). Discovery groups are anywhere from 4 to 7 people from our region, and they change daily. Then there are teammates, which are just people who will be living together. So even though there are 8 people going to Karaganda, only Catherine and I are teammates.
Breakfast is at 7:00 every morning (not that I ever make it to breakfast, except maybe the tail-end of it) and then we meet with our discovery (or 'disco') groups at 8. They change every day, but Catherine and I are always together, and we are always with people from our region. There are sheets of questions each morning that we go through with the group, and they generally lead to really probing conversations. We are all getting used to taking everything as an opportunity for self-discovery and analysis. And we are getting to know each other pretty well in the process.
At 9 am, we have a large group session for TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) lectures. Then split sessions with our regions at 10:30 for more of the same, and lectures about the cultures we are going to encounter. We have lunch at noon, and then two afternoon sessions (topics vary- ex. "Culture Shock", "Dealing with Anger, Depression, and Grief", and "Who Am I?"). At 3:45 we find out if we are going to be teaching that night, and then we have practicum prep, in which we have an hour to plan our lesson. Then dinner, and we leave for practicum at 6. Even those who aren't teaching go to observe and fill out evaluations. We generally get back around 9 pm, and then we have a de-briefing session with our discovery group from that morning. We answer questions like "What did you learn about TEFL today that will help you overseas?" "What was hard about today?" "What is something you are thankful for?" and "What did you learn about yourself?"
We begin and end every session with prayer, and we will often stop to pray in the middle of things, when it is necessary. Almost every session includes time to discuss things with your teammate and ask how this is going to affect you, and how you will handle it, etc. At any given time people are sitting in corners talking about spiritual matters, praying with each other, sharing testimonies, asking for help and prayer and accountability, and supporting one another as we deal with everything.
Everything is so intense here, it's hard to explain. I've known these people for only a week, but I know them as well as I would after a month or two under normal circumstances. Everyone has moments of intense personal realization occasionally, but here we are having at least one per day, sometimes more. I have cried 5 times since I've been here, once this morning after the service. It is so hard, but it's good hard. It's like everyone is walking up a mountain... the path zigzags up the side, so that the trail is tough but manageable. But, just for these five weeks, God has given us the opportunity to climb straight up. It is so much harder, but so worth it. Even as I struggle, I am so grateful... it is simply amazing.
I miss everyone at home so much. I especially miss First Baptist. All of the worship here is done in the contemporary fashion, which is not something I'm really familiar or particularly comfortable with. But I'm praying to God to open my heart and help me to learn to recieve my spiritual bread in this new form. It is already better. I would appreciate your prayers as well.
Anyway, I'm going to go do laundry, write in my journal, and practice on the (horribly old, slightly out of tune) piano downstairs. If you would like to leave me comments, simply click the link at the bottom of the entry, select "Other" where it askes for a user name, and type your name.
I love and miss you all!
Love,
Molly
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Schedule
For those of you who have been wondering about my schedule, here it is:
- Friday, June 30- moving out of my apartment
- Monday, July 3- flying to Las Vegas
- Saturday, July 15- driving to Pasadena, CA for training
- Thursday, August 17- flying to Kazakhstan
I should have my cell phone with me up until we fly overseas and I will check my email regularly, if you need (or just want) to talk to me.
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Where is Kazakhstan, anyway?
Since most people don't know where Kazakhstan is, here is a map I found online. It shares it's northern border with Russia and it's eastern border with China. I will be in Karaganda (or Qaraghandy), which is towards the center of the country, south of the capital.
(Click on the map to see a larger version)
(Click on the map to see a larger version)
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Introduction
Dear Family and Friends,
As you know, I will be spending the next academic year in Kazakhstan, teaching English. I know that most of you lead very busy lives, so keeping up a correspondence through letters or email may not always be practical. This blog should be an easy way to keep you updated and allow you to leave me messages.
Okay, this is what I know so far.
As you know, I will be spending the next academic year in Kazakhstan, teaching English. I know that most of you lead very busy lives, so keeping up a correspondence through letters or email may not always be practical. This blog should be an easy way to keep you updated and allow you to leave me messages.
Okay, this is what I know so far.
- I'll be in Karaganda, Kazakhstan
- The principle language is Russian
- I will be teaching conversational English to high school and university stuents
- The school we're working for will provide a small, two bedroom apartment
- We will not always have hot water (even running water is doubtful at times, I understand)
- But there is a shower in our apartment (yay!) for whenever there is water
- My roommate for the year will be Catherine, who is also 23
- We will be part of a team of 7 people in Karaganda, inlcuding 3 who spent last year there.
- I should have pretty regular access to the internet, through internet cafes and such
- It's going to be really, really, really cold.
Yeah, that's pretty much it. It should be an adventure.
Love, Molly
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