Not-So-Lazy Sunday Afternoons by the Pool

Today was an eventful day of swimming at the 100-meter pool (for all my American readers- that is long) that is nestled under the backdrop of CCC (Changwattan Community Church), which is quite conveniently my church. We put in 10 laps, so I am feeling both spent and absolutely marvelous all at the same time. I am swimming not because I necessarily enjoy it, but because weekly swimming is one of the many aspects of mine and Craig’s pre-Bali surfing trip training. Yes, I do like finding excuses to mention this stellar trip on my blog. Other aspects of this training are salivating over wave ratings at Medewe Beach (where we will be mainly surfing) on www.magicseaweed.com, and saying “Dude, that’s epic!” while gazing in a dreamlike trance at clips of “Endless Summer” I&II.

So pretty much, swimming is the most strenuous part of our training.

I have finally realized why I have hated swimming so much. I was the kid who would swim the length of the pool, furiously churning cascades of white water with every stroke, and realize all the other swimmers had breezed by me and were already taking turns at the diving board. Basically, I was all power and no performance. My breast-stroke looked more like rodatiller attacking a sun-baked field rather than a conventional swim form.

Fortunately, Craig is a seasoned man of the waves and has taught me several key modifications necessary to improve my strokes; such as 1) extend my hands all the way out and rotate them completely 2) Break the water’s surface at an angle to reduce drag with every stroke, and 3) cup your hands, for all that is good and holy!

Life continues to remain constant and busy. Recently, I have recognized that I have found myself running on a scheduled, predictable, time wheel. Monday is gym. Tuesday is Men’s Bible Study. Wednesday is Life Groups. Thursday is teaching middle schoolers for House Groups. Friday is out on the town. Saturday is Eating, sleeping, teaching, and lesson planning is everything in between. However, the wheel is comfortable and allows me the opportunities and resources that would not have been possible several months ago, such as going to Bali for a surfing vacation.

Thus, I am loving the wheel at this moment, though things change with me fairly quickly.

Outside of that, life is good, I recently purchased what is called an “entertainment center”, so now I will be able to have friends over to my room to watch movies and chill, after several necessary games of Scrabble, ofcourse!

Hope all of you are well, I am still trying to put photos up on this blog, but so far, no luck. Stay tuned!

When Rope Squirms, It Probably Isn’t Rope.

Its official in a semi-sort-of-way. October break will find me heading to Bali, Indonesia, for a week of surfing with my comrade in spur of the moment endeavors, Craig. Sadly, it comes at the announcement that a good friend of mine cannot possibly visit me in Thailand during this break so this will be consolation trip to salve my morose spirit.

But Bali will be quite nice, in fact.

I almost stepped on a snake the other week, and I think it might actually have been a baby cobra (I apologize for the blaring lack of any attempt of a transition as a segue to merge into this story, but its rather late and my creativity is laying in a docile lump in the corner of my room). Anyhow, I was walking back to my room after a late night of lesson planning and noticed a small heap of rope laying about two yards in front of me. The rope squirmed. I froze, the hairs of my arm immediately shoot up and are at attention. An unusually wide, flat head (hence my reference to cobras) poked out of the heap, which transformed into an almost unnatural writhing strip of black scales, and slithered across the path and behind the protection of a tall, rusted fence. I count it good fortune and the Grace of God not to have stepped onto the rope like I had first planned- before I knew it was a snake, ofcourse!

Life is as busy as ever- currently, I am amidst grading 66 poetry books I had my students compile with the use of their own prose composed during the poetry unit. Some are fantastic. Others are either unacceptably mediocre or simply bad, which ofcourse makes me doubt if I did the best I could to teach the lesson although I know its not me that has caused the lack of quality in the work; and around it goes, the circular observations of the young, earnest teacher. Oh, and the gym is great these days; I watched the Liverpool vs. Manchester United Premiership Game on the widescreen while doing cardio- A tasteful combination.

Outside of that, I am staying busy playing worship for the school and for church. I enjoy it, but definitely saps time out of the day. I have also begun to teach the middle schoolers at our church as a volunteer youth pastor and I’ve really enjoyed the experience; they are definitely awesome kids, most of them from families working for the Chevron oil company, and I’m excited to see how the Lord will work through me to help them develop a deeper understanding of who Christ is and how He is actually lived out in people’s lives.

Things are going well, although I am beginning to wonder I am not up to my old habits of saying yes to many things before I am aware of what I can handle without undermining my desire to do things well, rather than many things at only a satisfactory level. Please remember me in this.