Christmas greetings from the sunny southern hemisphere. I am looking out my study window to lush green grass, bushes and coconut trees. We are close to the longest day of the year, the birds start singing around 4:30 a.m. However, this near the equator there is not as much of a swing of temperatures or day length as in Wisconsin or other northern states in the U.S.
I am ending up staying here on campus through Christmas. My going out to stay at a village has been postponed until early January. I will spend Christmas Day with Damaris, another single missionary, who is a doctor at a nearby hospital (Braun Memorial). The other guests will all be German speakers, but will default to English while I am around. I am glad they are including me.
I am trying to make use of this quieter time. I have been working on my Pigin and walking more. I try to combine this by walking around the seminary housing and chatting with people. I feel like I am making progress, especially in understanding what others are saying. It is still hard for me to initiate conversation.
The local post office has been closed for several months. Apparently it was robbed several times, so they are hoping to reopen in a new location that has better security (same building as other government offices). This means that the seminary mail is held in the main post office in Lae until someone stops in and picks it up. This person need to have access to a car, so this means that only us international staff get the mail. I know several people have sent me packages, so it will be a real windfall of items when the mail arrives.
Organization and doing things by the clock are generally low priority here in PNG. Fortunately it is less of an issue here at the seminary as we have bells that ring at the start and end of classes. Other events, such as start of Sunday worship, are more flexible.
I had a chance to send some mail to the U.S. via Rod and Nancy, two other American missionaries. My mail included a flash drive of a few pictures of the area. Niel (my brother-in-law) has agreed to upload them here onto my bog. Hope you enjoy them
I am ending up staying here on campus through Christmas. My going out to stay at a village has been postponed until early January. I will spend Christmas Day with Damaris, another single missionary, who is a doctor at a nearby hospital (Braun Memorial). The other guests will all be German speakers, but will default to English while I am around. I am glad they are including me.
I am trying to make use of this quieter time. I have been working on my Pigin and walking more. I try to combine this by walking around the seminary housing and chatting with people. I feel like I am making progress, especially in understanding what others are saying. It is still hard for me to initiate conversation.
The local post office has been closed for several months. Apparently it was robbed several times, so they are hoping to reopen in a new location that has better security (same building as other government offices). This means that the seminary mail is held in the main post office in Lae until someone stops in and picks it up. This person need to have access to a car, so this means that only us international staff get the mail. I know several people have sent me packages, so it will be a real windfall of items when the mail arrives.
Organization and doing things by the clock are generally low priority here in PNG. Fortunately it is less of an issue here at the seminary as we have bells that ring at the start and end of classes. Other events, such as start of Sunday worship, are more flexible.
I had a chance to send some mail to the U.S. via Rod and Nancy, two other American missionaries. My mail included a flash drive of a few pictures of the area. Niel (my brother-in-law) has agreed to upload them here onto my bog. Hope you enjoy them
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