"Teacher, Teacher!"
That is one adjective I NEVER thought would describe my occupation or me. However, that seems to be my name a lot lately over here in Asia. I have worked with children every month, but last month was a little bit different (especially since we were not allowed to talk about God or faith as it would jeopardize our contact’s business, because it is looked down upon). In Malaysia, we taught English to kindergartners and 8-12 year olds in the home of an amazing family full of God’s love <3. Every day we would get up and greet the “kindy” kids followed by my favorite part…."A (aya), B (buron), C (cawan) " their adorable miniature voices will forever ring in my ears to the tune of ABCDEFG…. Then two nights a week we would teach English class to the older children, which proved to be quite a challenge! Who knew Americans actually cannot spell and suck at playing hang man (ok I will speak only for myself, I suck at spelling and hangman!) There were several times where words were spelt wrong and letters missed above the dashed lines in the familiar game of hang man. Which provided many laughs and wonderings of how they every thought we were qualified to teach such a class! Thankfully our contact family loved us through our misspelled words and terrible singing voices. They really did show us so much love last month…a love that I can only hope to have in my family someday. So if you are reading…"THANK YOU" 🙂
My second favorite part of the month were the mornings….every morning we would get up extra early to read Praise Habit by David Crowder as a team and make…OATMEAL. Now, I know what you are thinking…WOW OOOO Oatmeal…big deal! Isn’t that the gross stuff that comes in packets and tastes like hot steamy apple cinnamon cardboard?? HOWEVER, my team made it a PRIORITY to make the most rockin’ oatmeal I have EVER tasted. Being on the race makes you truly appreciate any sort of “normal/American” food you can have and apparently oatmeal has now become our comfort food on the race. It might have also been the fact that all we had to cook with was a water boiler. So I took the liberty of getting all of my team’s TOP SECRET oatmeal recipes to list for you! Just in case you ever find yourself in the predicament of A. only having a water boiler and cardboard to cook with while on the race or in the woods or in a foreign country or B. are looking to spice up your boring old poptart/cornflakes breakfast! (and it's healthy!) So here they are! I know they may seem very similar, but I suggest you read closer as they are different and almost reflect my teammates personalities…
Jaime:
Oats, banana, half an apple cut up (she gives the other half to me!), raisins, dried cranberries, spoonful of brown sugar, cinnamon, spoonful of crunchy peanut butter
Thicker and a little more chunky, yet sweet.
Amanda:
Half an apple, two bananas, oats, a little bit of raisins, more cranberries than raisins, part water, part soy milk, brown sugar, cinnamon,
*Dips her spoon in PB before every bite
Not runny not dry
Stephanie:
Small amount of oats, 3 bananas, 1 apple, sprinkle of raisins (yellow and brown), cinnamon and sugar, sprinkle of nuts or chunky peanut butter
*I like mine with hardly any oats mostly fruit
Topped off with a cup of three-in-one Nestle coffee
Derek:
Some oats, boiling water, some banana, some raisins, almonds, apple, PB, some cinnamon/brown sugar, soy milk, that’s all…
A little runny, but the “perfect texture and taste”
Brody:
Cinnamon, bananas or apples, and some oats
Pretty basic…
Christina:
1 half of an apple, generous handful of raisins, 10 almonds bitten in half, 2 spoonfuls of PB, half a handful of granola, 1 large banana sliced, generous amount of oats
Oatmeal and ABC’s
A little bit thicker and creamier
Oats, banana, half an apple cut up (she gives the other half to me!), raisins, dried cranberries, spoonful of brown sugar, cinnamon, spoonful of crunchy peanut butter
Thicker and a little more chunky, yet sweet.
Amanda:
Half an apple, two bananas, oats, a little bit of raisins, more cranberries than raisins, part water, part soy milk, brown sugar, cinnamon,
*Dips her spoon in PB before every bite
Not runny not dry
Stephanie:
Small amount of oats, 3 bananas, 1 apple, sprinkle of raisins (yellow and brown), cinnamon and sugar, sprinkle of nuts or chunky peanut butter
*I like mine with hardly any oats mostly fruit
Topped off with a cup of three-in-one Nestle coffee
Derek:
Some oats, boiling water, some banana, some raisins, almonds, apple, PB, some cinnamon/brown sugar, soy milk, that’s all…
A little runny, but the “perfect texture and taste”
Brody:
Cinnamon, bananas or apples, and some oats
Pretty basic…
Christina:
1 half of an apple, generous handful of raisins, 10 almonds bitten in half, 2 spoonfuls of PB, half a handful of granola, 1 large banana sliced, generous amount of oats
Oatmeal and ABC’s
A little bit thicker and creamier
**Another helpful list for future racers: non-faith related Kid’s songs!**
-Old McDonald
-Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
-Twinkle, Twinkle
-London Bridges
-Hokey Pokey
-Tutti Tot
-Itsy Bitsy Spider
-ABC’s
-Ba Ba Black sheep
-Are you sleeping (brother John)
-Old McDonald
-Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
-Twinkle, Twinkle
-London Bridges
-Hokey Pokey
-Tutti Tot
-Itsy Bitsy Spider
-ABC’s
-Ba Ba Black sheep
-Are you sleeping (brother John)
HERE ARE SOME VIDEOS MY TEAMMATE BRODY MADE OF OUR MONTH! Check them out:
