The Way Back

— A journal entry —

Saturday, May 25 2013

I’m in the Chiang Mai airport. I already feel worlds away from Thailand. I wasn’t expecting to become so attached; I love the people, the culture, and the way of life. I cannot forget these experiences and faces and this country I have fallen in love with. 

..

The world looked like a sepia photograph through my sunglasses as I walked down Huay Kaew road dragging my luggage behind me. I was decked in Thai attire—my favorite baggy shorts and blue tribal-patterned tank. I hailed my last songthaew and threw my suitcase into the back. I wasn’t in a good mood. I didn’t want to leave.

As I looked out the back of the songthaew, memories of Thailand came and went like the shops lining the street. I remembered meeting my classmates on the first day of the course and having lunch in a Chinese restaurant. I remembered the Thai barista at her little coffee stand. She always put too much ice and not enough coffee, but for some reason I kept going back.

The songthaew passed my favorite noodle restaurant where I went almost everyday for soup or Pad Thai. I'd miss that place. My eyes eventually wondered up the mountain; I remembered all the times I ran there. I never wanted to go at first, so ungodly early in the morning on an empty stomach, but when I started I didn’t want to turn around. On the mountain, I felt so strong and free and hardcore. 

Yet, it wasn’t the mountain that had won me over to this place. Most of all, I knew I would miss the children. This realization caught me by surprised. I had never considered myself good with kids, I usually politely tried to avoid them. Still, the children in Thailand were different. I remembered their innocent faces. I loved teaching them. They were endearing; their eyes lit up when they knew the right answers to my questions. They wanted to learn. Teaching them was fulfilling. 

As I sat in the back of that truck, watching the familiar streets pass by and disappear forever, I told myself over and over that I was coming back, I needed to come back. I knew I would have options after college, but this was what I wanted to do. I wanted to teach English. 

Despite my gloomy mood, I had to smile when I remembered the last words of advice Kristina, a fellow classmate, gave me before we parted ways: “No matter what they tell you, don’t get married or knocked up. There’s too many places to see and experience for that.” It was heartfelt advice. I knew marriage and children were adventures in themselves, yet perhaps her words were true for me. 

When the songthaew finally pulled into the airport, more memories flooded into me. The first day I arrived in Chiang Mai at this exact location I was so overwhelmed. There were so many unknowns—and I was completely alone. I had grown in the past month, I realized.

The world was a different place. 

View of Chiang Mai from the Mountain

..

{dm}

Celebrating the Season

Finally! 

It snowed last night! We took the Texas kids outside to experience Michigan's wonder. I enjoyed the excuse to take pictures. :) 

We love snow!

The children's faithful mother, documenting their lives... 

No day in the snow is complete without a cup of hot chocolate. 

All too soon these kidos will be flying back home to Texas. I'm not going to see their faces for a while...I think I'll miss that. It's been nice having them around. :) 

Sincerely, 

{dm}

Celebrating a Bride-to-Be

Last weekend I had the honor of attending a lovely bridal shower/bachelorette party in tribute to my friend, Heather, celebrating the marriage of her and her husband-to-be, Rico.

A close friend, Amanda, hosted the event. She went with a picnic theme. The decorations looked great!

Loved the centerpieces.

The party favors were homemade bath salts Heather's good friend from home brought for each of the guests.

Well done Amanda.

I was excited when the food came out: fresh fruit, sandwiches, pasta, and spinach salad. It couldn't get much better than that. 

A delicate feast!

This was a fun idea: Sharpie pens + popsicle sticks + a jar. Each guest wrote down a date idea and put it in the jar. Later, the married couple can draw from the jar and go on whatever date the popsicle stick suggests.

Another activity: Amanda made little envelopes. Each envelope had a picture of a random (mostly very good-looking) man inside. One of the envelopes had the groom. Whoever opened his photo won a prize.  

Heather's envelope had the groom. What are the odds...

There were lots of laughs all around.

But then...

What is this? Not what you think. No, not strippers. Well...sort of, but not really. We are much too sophisticated for that. They actually put on more clothes at the end of the dance than they had at the beginning. Haha.

It was still highly amusing. Heather liked it. ;)

--

I was so glad to be a part of her celebration. I'm looking forward to their wedding this weekend!

Congratulations are in order for the happy couple!!!

Sincerely,
{dm}

Before You Knew Her....

This week Danae is at cross country camp.  Literally 5 minutes before she ran out the door to leave for Spring Arbor, she handed me a Post it note with her blog login and password and told me to write an entry on her blog this week for you faithful readers.  Inwardly I panicked because my writing does not compare to hers.  For the past several days I have pondered what to write about…… even thinking about it long after I should have been asleep at night.  So to lift my conscience I’m finally making time to sit down and write.  What better topic to share about than this blog’s writer, Danae Marie....... 

The world became a better place July 9, 1992 when at 11:08am Danae Marie Dracht was born.  When my Mom was pregnant with Danae we didn't know she would be a girl.  Back then it wasn’t common for a mother to get an ultrasound midway through her pregnancy like this era.  Everyone had to wait 9 months to find out the gender of a baby.  After Danae’s birth when I was told I had a baby sister, I was thrilled!  I was 5 years and 9 months old at the time.

Danae was “the easiest child to raise” in my Mom’s words…… and she truly was and still is an easy going person.  Even as a baby, Danae was a determined person.  She would constantly spit out her pacifier only to cry for it a second later.

Our Dad got smart and rigged up a way to keep the paci in her mouth by propping a roll of wallpaper against a chair which kept her from spitting the paci out. 

Danae could have been the Shirley Temple of her time with her bouncing brown curls and sweet demeanor.  Ironically, Danae was a natural born tomboy and mostly preferred dressing like a boy and doing whatever her big brother Nate was doing. The two of them were inseparable.  You couldn’t find one without the other as they would play for hours together. 

On occasion Danae would humor me and play with baby dolls or have a tea party for our teddy bears, but Nate was her best bud.  One time when Nate and Danae were painting at the kitchen counter, Nate spilled red paint on the carpet.  He told Danae to claim that she spilled it when Mom asked…… so she did.  Our Mom wasn’t mad at Danae because she was young enough to have such an accident with paint.  It wasn’t until years later that the truth came out about that story.

I would be missing a huge chunk of who Danae is if I left out that she is a unique individual and always has been.  As a child, she was notorious for dressing rather oddly.  She once wore 5 layers of shirts in the summer.  Only God knows why.  She also put on all of the random gear that was in our garage like a jump rope, garden gloves, bike helmet, and Dad’s work goggles, and waved at every passing car on our street.

Once after watching Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, she was inspired to mine for diamonds like the dwarfs did.  So she pounded a hammer to the drywall in the entry hallway and left 5 feet of dents in the wall.  Only wallpaper was able to cover up those deep marks.

Another time after Mom took Danae to get her hair cut, Danae felt like her bangs were still too long so she hacked them off with a pair of scissors herself.  It took a few months for her hair to grow back right after that.    She was also incredibly imaginative and dressed up in one our Dad’s t-shirts, rigged up a turban for her head, then proceeded to walk down the road with her “sheep” who was really the family dog, stating she was "David" from the Bible.  Growing up with Danae was never dull to say the least.

 

Eventually in the midst of everyday life and the passing of years, Danae grew up.  Danae is beautiful, intelligent, and has large aspirations for her life with Christ at the center.  I feel blessed by having Danae for my sister.  She inspires me to branch out of my comfort zone and to live life to the fullest.  Love you Nae!

The Day of Water and Sand

Summer is closing in all too soon! As natives to the west side of Michigan, our family decided to soak up the sunshine and relish the sandy beaches of Lake Michigan before it is all too late! And what a day we had! 

My older sister, Corrine, is back from Texas for a visit with her two kids, Brayden and Maelyn. They couldn't get enough of the water. 

A quote by Margaret Atwood:

Water does not resist. Water flows. 

When you plunge your hand into it, all you feel is a caress. 

Water is not a solid wall, it will not stop you. 

But water always goes where it wants to go, and nothing in the end can stand against it.  

Water is patient.  

Dripping water wears away a stone. 

Remember that, my child. 

Remember you are half water. 

If you can't go through an obstacle, go around it. Water does.

― Margaret Atwood 

I am so thankful for my beautiful family and the memories we share together. I'm learning it's the little things in life, the small, seemingly insignificant experiences we go through, that are truly the most memorable in the end.

I do not know how long I will be able to enjoy such days with my family. Two years from now I could be living on the other side of the world! I will soak up the time with them like one soaks up the sun! Memories will last a lifetime. An abundant means of support, love, and connection lie within the family.

Until next time,
{dm}

Belated Birthday Surprise

I met my dear friend, Jenissa, for coffee the other day. She and I have been best friends for almost as long as I can remember (we met when I was three or four). We were neighbors, we grew up together. I hadn't seen her since before my birthday, she surprised me with a gift. A beautifully handmade journal!

She made everything herself from scratch: added the stamp, the lace, even the binding! Isn't it lovely? The wrapping paper was handmade as well. I love homemade gifts! I spent several minutes just admiring its beauty. 

This is us when we were about seven and nine, with matching dresses of course! Ah, so many years ago! We have shared several tears, smiles, dreams, and laughter over the years. How grateful I am to still hold a close friendship with her! She has had a monumental impact on my life. I would definitely not be the person I am today without her influence. 

“You can go through life and make new friends every year - every month practically - but there was never any substitute for those friendships of childhood that survive into adult years. Those are the ones in which we are bound to one another with hoops of steel.”
― Alexander McCall Smith, The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency

“The best mirror is an old friend.”
― George Herbert

Tis the privilege of friendship to talk nonsense, and to have her nonsense respected.”
― Charles Lamb, The Life, Letters and Writings of Charles Lamb

“A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.”

― William Shakespeare

“The glory of friendship is not the outstretched hand, not the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when you discover that someone else believes in you and is willing to trust you with a friendship.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

All for now, 

{dm}

More Than Provincial Living

The City of Xiamen

I. LOVE. TRAVELING. Familiar is good, nostalgic, but there is so much value in experiencing new things. I love the obscurity of the unknown and being completely out of my comfort zone. I am probably romanticizing it a little, there's a lot of culture shock and homesickness that comes with traveling, yet, being stripped of all comforts has a life-changing, eye-opening, irreversible impact on a person. You can't walk away from such an experience and ever be the same again. Different cultures fascinate me. I like tasting new food, meeting strange people, and doing things that scare me a little. Maybe I'm a daredevil. Different is terrifying, it's not always enjoyable, but I try to embrace my fear. 

It's like public speaking (I know...just work with me here). I'm terrified of getting up in front of people and talking. I get shaky, my heart races. But that's why I love it! I love the adrenaline rush, the pressure. It invigorates me. Haha. Maybe I am a little crazy. Yet, I feel like the risk is worth it. If I have something that I can share with other people, why would I keep it to myself just because I'm scared of putting myself out on a limb? 

I think in general, people in the West need to get away from their comforts, to open their eyes to what's going on in the rest of the world.  

http://www.bestsemester.com

Next spring (January 11-April 26) I will be studying at Xiamen University in the Fujin province of China. I am seriously pumped! I just got accepted. There's going to be ridiculous amounts of paperwork to figure out, but I'll get through it. Here's and overview of the program I'll be going through: 

{Information taken from this link}

After spending the first eight days of CSP in Hong Kong, students are then hosted by Xiamen University for ten weeks throughout the semester. Xiamen University is located by the South China Sea in sub-tropical southeastern China. CSP also spends two weeks in the ancient capital city of Xi'an (as part of the History module), a week in rural China for a service project, and a week touring sites in Beijing (the Great Wall, the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, Tian'anmen Square, the Forbidden City) and Shanghai. Overall, you'll spend time in the northwest, northeast and southern regions of China — a wide sampling of a huge and diverse country. 

Here she is, the beautiful university of Xiamen. Yes, there is blue sky and grass in China. 

Your eyes do not deceive you, there is also a track! See it? The odd, redish-orange rectangle in the back? 

I can't express how much I am looking forward to this trip. I've wanted to go to China since I was ten. China has a unique place in my heart. Nine years ago, my parents went through the adoption process to bring home my little sister, Brielle, from China. She is now a beautiful ten year old little girl. I often forget she is adopted. She is my sister, "wo mei mei" the Chinese would say.

I was too young to go with my parents at the time, but since my sister's adoption, I've wanted to go to China myself. Also, I want to take Brielle back. I want her to see her heritage, the place she was born. Although she is an American citizen, I want her to appreciate Chinese culture as well.

To be perfectly honest, I want to live in China and teach English. When I tell people this, I admit I've never been there before. I guess I'm glad I'll be able to experience it for a semester first. It will give me a lot of perspective.

But why China? I ask myself this question. There's the obvious connection within my family, but why else? I don't know. I honestly can't say. I've come to this conclusion:

I don't want to live a safe, comfortable life.
I don't want to hoard the years I have on this earth in the safe compounds of my familiar surroundings.
I want to know more about life, the way others live it.
I want to share my faith; to give an opportunity for others to understand--not just hear the gospel, but see it lived out.
I want to make friends with people unlike myself.
And ok, I'll be honest...I want an adventure.

I realize I can do this anywhere in the world, but I feel God has directed me to China. Until he calls me elsewhere, this is where I'm headed.

{dm}