Courtney visits Asia: Thai and Myanmar Adventures

Spring Break 2012

It is that time of year, where the water is thrown and the toys are dug out. The largest water fight in the world takes place and all people take part in the celebration of New Year in Southeast Asia! I was blessed with having a two week holiday, where I met up with my dear friend, Courtney, who traveled all the way from Buffalo, NY! We ventured out to Phuket, Thailand, where she was able to meet some of my friends from Yangon and then we had a quick stop in Bangkok before heading to Yangon for a week. It was a BLAST! where Courtney was able to see many different colors of Asia and we could all celebrate such a fun holiday! 

(Photo below: ISM kids celebrating water festival by throwing water anywhere it will land)

Court and I headed to Phuket- awaiting our fantastic adventures that lay ahead!

Bella, my friend- Toon's daughter, is a lovely little lady to hang out with! She loves to draw and sing Taylor Swift, which we were lucky enough to listen to for a week straight :) "Love Story" never sounded so good...

Songkran- water festival in Thailand- was fairly mellow in comparison to the crazies in Myanmar. We walked through the streets and had colored clay smeared on our faces while being asked if we were happy and having a good time. Who would say no to that? 

A few days into the trip, Riff, my trusty travel partner and Ben, our new French friend, met us at Toon's house in Phuket. We ate our way through the city! I swear, I have never had more seafood in my entire life- but man, was it amazing and totally worth it! This would be the moment that Court found out that she will be attending Duke's PA school in the fall! Yay!!! Behind Riff in this incredible photo of his appreciation for delicious food, is apparently a Thai actor! Toon was going a little nutty with having him so close by, but all we noticed was that he has a  blackberry and likes to eat fried fish... :) 

Here is just an idea of what kind of beaches exist in Thailand. Only pretty ones.

As you can see here, Riff and I really love momma Toon! Can! Is phrase that I have managed to pick up from her and I can't help but think "cannnnn" when I see this picture of our love.

We had heat. We had beaches. We have storms. In fact. before we set foot in Phuket, there had been a 8.9  magnitutude earthquake in the Andaman sea and there was a large fear that a tsunami was on the horizon. Thankfully though, we were graced without having any tragic events and all countries surrounding the sea were spared! Talk about a scary moment though, to WAIT and not know what kind of disaster lay ahead. Not a fan.

We went to Toon's homeland! It was so much fun! There, we had a wonderful time meeting her friends and family, as well and attempt to karaoke, but quickly discovered that there were no English songs... oh well! Courtney and I entertained ourselves with a "hotel room workout." If you ever are feeling the need to exercise in a hotel that has no gym- have no fear- we are here! It was pretty funny until I smacked my elbow on the wall and then a random foreigner walked out his door as we were doing a grapevine down the hallway.

Next stop: a resort! We spent a few days at a beautiful resort right on the water and a great deal, due to Toon's fantastic connections! One day Court and I rented motor bikes and went on a hike to discover this beautiful waterfall! No more than 7 min of hopping on our bikes and heading to the sea, I look down and found a LEECH on my foot and about had a heart attack. Good thing Court was EMT trained and also just awesome- for she saved the day!

After finding an incredible cove, playing checkers with Thai and American currency (guess who won that!) and rescuing 5 fly-infested puppies, we headed back to our hotel in time to catch this gorgeous sunset. Life doesn't get better than this :)

The next day we headed out and after a pit stop in Bangkok, we flew to Yangon, where the pace of life was quite different than Thailand had been. We hopped on a train with my friend Kate and rode around Yangon- where one could really get a vibe for the culture of Myanmar. 

The next day we took a bus and headed out to my Myanmar teacher, Winma's village. We then proceeded to go to a floating pagoda! It was quite the trip, where We hopped on a boat and snapped a few shots of the temple before going back to shore all in the matter of 30 mere minutes! My favorite part? Probably seeing that not Christians fall asleep in church... people were passed out at these temples and had absolutely no shame!

We did venture out to a few other places, one of which was Shwedagon, the infamous temple of Yangon. Here, we managed to catch a parade of people sweep the entire temple... it was more interesting than you could ever imagine. It was like scene from Snow White!

Overall, it was definitely a successful trip and I had wonderful time hanging out with Courtney! She is a great friend and I am honored to have had her as my first visitor to Yangon! Now that she has paved the way, I will wait for you to email me when you will be visiting and I can be sure to pencil you in :)

Balcony People

I just got back from a conference in Bangkok where over 1500 international teachers got together and shared some fantastic ideas, learned how to be a better teacher and heard some incredible teachers about people that have been encouraged by their teachers. The concept of "balcony people" came up and it definitely struck a chord with me.

Balcony people are those that sit along the sidelines of your life and cheer you on- telling you that you are capable of anything that you put your mind to. They watch from above and let you know that they are there for you, to encourage you to be whoever you want to be and not let anything get in your way. Who are your balcony people? Maybe they are your family, best friend, soul mate, partner in crime, mailman, 78 year old babysitter or local barista. I will put money on the fact that there is definitely a teacher somewhere in your balcony. Maybe you have a whole row of them... maybe you didn't even know that they were there because they were hiding behind the curtain or they have stepped out to grab some popcorn. Regardless, it made me think about how teachers effect their students. 

I'm curious, who are your "balcony people?" Have you let them know that you appreciate them? I can promise you this, they would be PUMPED to know that they have effected you and I encourage you to thank them!

What's next? Thoughts on the future

Proverbs 3:5,6

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Life has been wonderful here, as it has always been. I am thoroughly enjoying what I am doing In Yangon and the role that I play as "Miss Lynsey." It has been a very thought-provoking last few weeks though, as I am already trying to decide what step I should take next. I know that you may be thinking why is that I am thinking about what to do next, when I have still another year and a half to go, but decisions are already coming up fast and I am trying to decide how to best handle them! I have the opportunity to get a Masters in teaching here and it would allow me to stay an extra year in Myanmar, which I have no problem doing, but  I am not sure if I want to continue with teaching. I love my job, my kids and purpose right now in life, but have always wondered (for years now) if teaching was what I wanted to make as a career. I keep thinking about going back to school to pursue a counseling degree, where I can take it in a million directions and help people figure out what they want to do with their one wild and precious life. Perhaps I am being called to work at an NGO (non-profit) and learn some skills that will help better the organization that I decide to invest my time into. To think that I am always wondering what else is out there is exciting, but also exhausting, I wish that I just knew what to do and what path to go down, without having to think about the millions of alternatives that are in the way. 


What is going through my head:
-Do I stay in Myanmar an extra year and walk away with a masters degree in Education?
-Do I finish up my two years here and venture to another part of the world for another two years and "get my fill" of teaching?
-Do I take a gap year after Myanmar and work at a volunteer corp. such as LVC or Americorp and spend a year in service work?
-Do I go back to grad school right away and get a degree in counseling, where I can use it at a university or perhaps even take it back to the International Schools and mentor the kids going in to college?
-Do I try to find a job at a non-profit that involves education and get my foot in the door to where I can attempt to try the development line of work?


These are questions that are swimming in my head and constantly causing me to wonder what is that the I am crafted to do?

Indo Adventure

Hello! This is the first picture that I would like for you to see in regards to how our trip in Indonesia started off. We had just gotten off a long train ride, that had  followed a crazy bus ride (where one of the passengers had a bunch of live parrots in water bottles- who were very unhappy) which had actually followed an extended flight to Jakarta. I was quite dazed and confused as to where I was and probably in the middle of trying to figure out the exchange rate, which took approximately three days for us to figure out. Anyways, as you can see- we made it to our first stop, Bandung, Indonesia!

Day one of Bandung involved a beautiful hike to a waterfall!  We were so excited to go and see it, but once we were closer, we realized how dirty the fall was... what you don't see is the trash and junk floating down stream. We found the little red house to be funny too, as it is where the king of Thailand came and signed a boulder. Then he came back a few years later and had the Indonesians put a house over it. Strange, if you ask me. 

This is the first ever crater that I have lay eyes on: the Kawah Puitah Crater! It smells of sweet sulfur and clouds. I almost wanted to fry an egg in honor of the scents! Yum! Betsy and I met a guy who was trying to get us to go on a tour with him and he introduced himself as "Risky, but not like your American English kind of risky." Exactly why we didn't go on a tour.

Following the tour, we went to some hot springs! Now for a second, I would like for you imagine hot springs. Are they in nature? Where you throw the towel and jump into the warm bubbly springs of the earth? Well, that is what Betsy and I had anticipated before stepping foot into a makeshift amusement park. Yes, this picture below is exactly what the hot springs of Bandung were, a place for families to dive in, fully clothed and  surrounded with street vendors and students on a field trips! We sat down and put our feet into some lovely warm water and within a few minutes, people came by and asked to take photos with us! WE were the main attraction! Just kidding! It was very fascinating to do some people watching though,I have to admit!

As many of you know, I am sort of borderline obsessed with TEA. Well, on December 19, 2011, I was able to visit the very place where tea is grown, processed and packaged to fit into your very own teacup. Yes, I went to a tea plantation! It was AMAZING! Due to the fact that it was a holiday and we were not supposed  to go on a tour, we lucked out and had a gentleman that didn't speak a lick of English take us around. All of the crazy studying and reading that I have done with tea paid off, as I was able to explain how it was made to Betsy! As you can see, there are just  Camellia sinensis bushes planted for miles... and the view was quite spectacular.

After spending time in Bandung, we headed out to Jogjakarta, where our friend Riff, is from. He took us all over the place... showing us the Buddhist temple, Borobuder. In order to climb to the top, you had to walk around each level before ascending to the next level. It took a while, but it was quite incredible once we were at the top! Here is where we started (Sabrina- french teacher, Betsy and I were talked into posing for a pic while Riff snapped away).

Riff's family lives very close to the beach, so they took us to the coast to experience a true seafood feast. I took in the black sands, violent waves and warm sunshine with a smile on my face, all before eating the amazing food. It is kind of a neat ordeal as far as eating goes: you pick out the fresh seafood and then pick out a spot along the beach. Then you take your food to some chefs who cook it up for you and bring it to your on platters... where you then dig in! Best part? No silverware!

To end our feast, we drove up to a beautiful view of the coast, where we saw hang gliders! It was  lovely, to say the very least. 

December 24- Christmas Eve. We took a 14 hour bus ride (that was supposed to be only 7 hours!) and headed to Mt. Bromo. Here is just a shot of what we looked like on the bus... tired, sweaty and wondering if we were going to pick up Russian and Indonesian since we were in the car with other foreigners as well. It was a great way to get to know each other! 

Merry Christmas! This was the gorgeous sunrise that I was able to see after getting up at 3:30am on Christmas Day. Was it worth it? You tell me. God is an artist, blowing all of the Picasos out of the water.

Nothing. Just the center of a volcano that had apparently erupted 4 months prior. No one bothered to tell us. Ha! It was fun though! As I was hopping off the bike though, I received my first Southeast Asian tattoo... a motorbike burn. Its healing nicely now, but I learned quickly and will always be aware of where the muffler is on a motorbike!

After taking another 14 hour commute, Betsy and I said our goodbyes to Sabrina and Riff and went to Lovina, BALI! It was a quaint little town, where there is a black sand beach and lots of opportunity to sunbathe. Unfortunately though, it was the rainy season! So we decided to go and take a cooking class instead, It was delicious! All of you vegetarians out there, I can now make some mean tahu (tofu) and Tempe!  

View of Lovina beach

Betsy and I took a taxi from Lovina to Ubud, Bali. Along the way, we stopped and saw some waterfalls, temples and botanical gardens. We did meet some pretty awesome kids too- who were willing to climb up trees to get us durian/jackfruit/cacao if we so requested. Then they asked if we wanted to go swimming and I said "Sure!" Well little did I know that it meant stripping down and splashing in the freezing water... so my answer quickly changed to a "No, thanks" and I watched at how innocent and shameless these kids were. I was also inspired by the little boy on the far right... should I cut my hair like his? (his inspiration was the rooster in his front yard)

This is Ubud. Or our home in Ubud. As you can see, we had our own little porch, with a dog that would come and hang out with us, as well as a bird that woke us up every day and fish that would stare at us as we ate our breakfast. The people we stayed with were incredible, it was like living with a family. If I were to go back to any place in Bali, Ubud would be my number one stop!

While we were in Ubud, we went to the monkey sacred forest! All you need to do is buy some bananas and ta-da! you have a new furry friend! It was cool to see all of the monkeys chasing people around and playing with each other! 

On my 23rd birthday, we went and saw some Balinese Art at the Akam Art Museum. It was beautiful! Destination wedding anyone? Mix talented art work and a beautiful resort and do I have the place for you!

The last stop on our trip was Sanur, Bali. We were within a few min walk to the beach! It was a beautiful area and very relaxing! I was quite surprised by all of the tourism though, as I had not expected to see so many Aussies!

Alright friends, that is going to be the end of my post for today. If you would like to see more pictures, feel free and check out my facebook! I highly recommend that you all come and see Indonesia and give yourself at least three weeks. We traveled for less than that and were busy, running around and seeing as much as we could! There are so many incredible cultures and aspects of the Indonesian lifestyle... its hard to explain unless you come yourself! I will definitely be going back, so let me know when you have your flights booked :)

The most lovely month of the year!

 Hello, hello friends and foe! I would like to give you a snapshot of what my favorite month of December has been like thus far! I have been busy with teaching my 5th graders, prepping for the end of the quarter, and battling the bugs that tend to crawl through the cracks! Life continues to be wonderful in Myanmar and I must admit that I have been enjoying the time off from the crazy Christmas marketing that we see in the states.

As of late, I have decorated a tree, had some holiday chili, sung a few songs and supported my kids in all that they do! Merry Christmas everybody... to you and you and YOU!

RThis is San San, my little helper! She makes the BEST food and teaches me about the Myanmar culture day in and day out!

Here are my kids! The 5th grade team has been doing a fundraiser where we have been buying and donating books to go to a local library that is being started up in our neighborhood! Here are the 700+ books that we gave them to  get started! It was cool to see the assembly line and how they blessed the books when we passed them off!

Here are some of my friends, Jacob and Saint! I decided to have some friends over for Christmas chili night and Jacob got a hold of my camera...

We had our Christmas concert at school and of course I took advantage of the opportunity to take a picture of my kids when they were not in their uniform! It was a fun night and a great way to see all of the talent in the Elementary school!

I had a traditional Myanmar dress made and Ms. Theingi constantly calls me "the lady in red," whenever I wear it. It takes some getting used to when wearing it, but I feel more Myanmar when I do!

This was the last day of Hip-Hop! I had a blast learning the art of dancing, from my fabulous friend, Jess! She is an incredible teacher and we had a fun time working with the kids! If there was anything that the kids learned, it was having an attitude and knowing how to sick "Party in the USA" by Miley Cirus!

Riff Surjawan, the Migrant!

I am doing a project with my kids about migration in the world. My kids have been assigned the task to interview someone who has migrated and to go and tell their story. I have chosen my friend, Riff, to be an example for what it is that I expect from my students. Here is his story!

                 There are some people in the world who have traveled far and wide, to see what it is that expands over all of the earth. Riff Surjawan is an excellent example of someone who has taken advantage of the opportunity to see the world. He has travelled to three continents, twelve countries and lived in four nations. Riff is originally from Indonesia, where he was born and raised for the first 19 years of his life.  

                As for Riff, he is a bachelor that had a major career change and moved over here to Myanmar in hopes of “turning over a new leaf.” After living in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, for the first half of his life, he migrated to the United States to learn English. There, he went to school to ultimately become an architect and live in Portland, Oregon. During those twenty years, Riff studied Italian, where he learned  the language of love in Sicilla, Italy. Riff moved the urban city of Portland because it was where he was able to find work. When he decided that he no longer wanted to be an architect and try a different career, he went back to school to become a teacher. Riff knew that he was getting restless and applied for jobs overseas. Once Myanmar became an option, he knew that it was where he wanted to go kick off his new career as a teacher.

                Riff moved to Yangon, Myanmar at the end of July this year. It is an urban area, where he voluntarily decided to move here and pursue teaching 7^th grade Math at the International School of Myanmar. After talking to Riff, he talked about how he decided to move to Yangon because it was close to Indonesia, where he would be closer to his family and be able to get in touch with his “Asian roots.” Riff found the move to be easy, where he was able to adjust to the warm climate and kind people of Myanmar in no time at all.

                It has not been as easy as Riff thought as far as communication goes. He has had a tough time adjusting to the lack of internet and wishes that it was not as difficult to get a good internet connection. He had expected Myanmar to be a different pace of life, but still is surprised at how slow the connection to the internet is. If that is the only thing that Riff would like to change though, he clearly is enjoying himself here! In fact, Riff talks about staying here in Yangon longer than he had expected.

                Since Riff only arrived in Myanmar less than six months ago, he has not had the time to go back to the USA to visit. He will be going to Indonesia for the Christmas holiday though and is excited to see his family. While Riff was away in the USA, he has noticed some changes in Indonesia with the government, economy (which is becoming more open), the Chinese are less oppressed and the cities are becoming more developed with people being able to afford houses (residential housing). Because of the changes, the people need stores and supermarkets to provide for of the new communities that are being built. Every time that Riff went back to Indonesia, he grew happier and happier that things were becoming more available for people.         

                There are a few things that Riff misses from the USA: technology, familiarity and his friends. He misses the easiness of the technology, where it is not even a second thought as to where you can access it. The familiarity of where he can go to get Pho (a favorite soup) or perhaps head on down to the local swing dancing club. Above all, Riff misses his friends and the family that he established back in the states. In order to comfort himself when he misses the USA, Riff just flips through his journal, where he has recorded all of the memories that he wants to look back on.

                Riff is happy wherever he is and makes the most of any and everything. Riff looks back at his migrating across the world with a smile on his face, and looks at the future with hopes of exciting and new adventures!

Many Nations Celebration!

Hola! Guten Tag! Mingalaba! Here are some photos from International Day! I want to start off with showing you the video of my kids' hip hop performance!! I am so proud of them!

 Here is a photo of them doing their dance, Party in the USA! They brought their attitudes and all :)

This is my friend Htut Bui, who is originally from the northern part of Myanmar!

Riff, Toon and I are all smiles!

The beginning of the parade had all of the kids in their Myanmar traditional dress... 

This is what the men wear for weddings! All the boys were proudly wearing their headgear!

There are the clothes for the traditional women;s dress!

Group shot of Myanmar outfits!

China represents! We have quite a bit of Chinese students at our school, as you can see.

This is one of my students, who wore her Myanmar dress, bright lipstick and tanika (tree paste) on her face.

AMERICA! The last kids to go on stage represented America, wearing business suits...

Here are a few of my students in their traditional clothes... they were going to be doing a performance later, so they looked extra sparkly!

Some more performers for the International Stage!

Beauty brought her attitude and was showing me how it is done before heading out to the big stage!

Grade 5-L Came to International Day! Here are the kids that I was able to snag before they ran off :)

Lady Liberty!!