Another Night at the Proms

A few weeks ago, Chris played in a concert with the Ahmadi Music Group at the British Embassy in Kuwait. This is the second annual concert of its kind in Kuwait, which we were happy to be part of again. The scenery there is beautiful. Inside those militarized compound walls lie rose gardens, lush green grass, and a lily pond. The concert took place outside as before, so it was nice to see all of these things surrounding the crowd of elegantly dressed people atop chairs draped with white. This time, our good friends Mark and Christi were able to join me, which made the performance even more enjoyable. As always, I loved seeing Chris put one of his fine talents to work. We couldn't take pictures because security guidelines say no phones and no cameras, but I have some snapshots in the recesses of my mind, and there are some pictures on the website from all three nights of the concert. Chris is seated at the far left of the orchestra, second-from-left in his row. In the first picture with the flag, you can see the back of my head in the audience. Where's Waldo? time. Don't forget I'm blonde now!


 

These pictures were taken from the Ahmadi Music Group's website. You can find others from the concert there, as well.

Some of the pieces that the orchestra played were:

- Aaron Copeland's Fanfare for the Common Man, - Gloria, for Choir and Orchestra,
- Bolero,
- Irish and Scottish folk tunes, including: Drowsy Maggie, Red-haired Boy, and Harvest Home,
- Land of Hope and Glory (Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1, Op. 39),
- Rule Britannia,
- Jerusalem,

and a few other compositions written by the director's wife, Harriet Bushman.

We appreciate the opportunity to have these kinds of events thanks to H.M. Ambassador to Kuwait, H.E. Mr. Frank Baker. We are looking forward to next year's concert and the upcoming family Seasonal Concert on December 7th and 8th, where Chris will perform with a flute choir.

Check out the Ahmadi Music Group online.

The Teacher Outreach

October was a busy month, evidenced by the lack of posts here. In October, there's usually a spill-over of tasks that need to be accomplished from September, but because there are only 30 days in that month, it just all can't be done.

Let me start from...I don't know. mid-September. Everything that I normally do to "adjust" to Kuwait in September was pushed to the end of the month because of the Teacher Outreach that we helped put together.

In a previous post, I mentioned that our Jabriya church service held an outreach for teachers new to Kuwait, hoping to help get them connected to The Lighthouse Church and other like-minded people in the country. Here's basically what our awesome team did (and what took several man-hours to organize with the help of lots of volunteers!), the fruit of which being that our service attendance has been consistently double in size over the past seven weeks.

 We...
- brainstormed ideas in the spring
- set a date to have a "welcome lunch" after the usual 11:30 church service
- ordered about 300 organza drawstring bags during the summer
- PRAYED and made some phone calls
- designed and had about 300, 3x4 invitations printed

- bought 24 boxes of gum, 9 cases of Kit-Kats, 2 giant bags of mentos, (and partridge in a pear tree...)
- stuffed the bags with the candy and the invitations
- passed out the candy bags to 6 or 7 schools' teacher accommodation buldings, one to each apt.
- organized van transportation for those who RSVPed, plus some extra
- made some phone calls...
- ordered sandwiches and different kinds of Arabic "fatayer" for 120 people
- bought ice, drinks, and plastic silverware, plates, napkins, etc.
- ordered Arabic sweets
- made some phone calls...
- purchased give-away prizes
- picked up ordered food on the morning of the lunch
- set up tables, chairs, food, and drinks
- prepared salads
- made some phone calls
- had an amazing service and lunch

Afterwards, I went into hiding with my coffee French press and a bottle of Ibuprofen for about a week, but it really all was amazing. We have met a lot of new people, made new friends, and helped people get connected to a church where they can grow and be stretched. To God be the glory.

Our friend and pastor, Mark Ingram, wrote a little article for the church's monthly magazine publication (page 7).  You can read it here: Contact Magazine, September 2012 (4/13 in the file- you need Adobe Reader to see it.)

Ms. Popularity, among 7 year-olds

My new class is growing on me, but I miss my little sweethearts from last year. At dismissal time each day, I can sometimes be annoyed by lots of little girls repeatedly yelling "Ms. Stephanie!" until I look over at the Grade 2 lines and wave hello or blow them a kiss. I also secretly love it...it's like a little heart squeeze to have previous students come up and hug me or say hello throughout the day. 

from AAG's Mother's Day celebration, 2012

Another September

There ought to be a classification like "Sweet 16," "AFC champions," or "Stanley Cup Finalists" for teachers who make it through the first month of school. Or the first two weeks. It could be based on a 1-10 rating of how much sleep a person got, how unscathed s/he looks, and how many students weren't lost. Actually, lost students would probably be cause for automatic elimination, but I digress. Working through the beginning of a school year is quite a prestigious feat that deserves a lot more attention than it gets. Just saying...

We're in it- another September here in Kuwait. This is the fifth school year here for Chris and myself, and it has started out as one of the craziest for me. The events of this September were not really all that extraordinary but the NUMBER of events and tasks that I've had to organize have been significantly more than in past years. Let me explain.

First, Grades 1-3 have moved into a new addition to my school, which is adjacent to the older building. It's a great place, with spacious classrooms and state-of-the-art technology, so I'm really privileged to have my classroom in it. The only hitch was that my assistant and I basically moved the entire contents of my old classroom into my new classroom by ourselves. Three days before students started. Needless to say, we were a little busy.

At the same time, I had the opportunity to oversee an outreach to teachers that we did through our church service. Since Chris was in the States later than I was, when I got back, I had to take over most of the responsibility for organizing the event and the preparation leading up to it. Now, I don't say that to make myself sound important at all. In fact, I feel like I struggled to survive through the last few days before the outreach, which happened to be days #3, #4, and #5 of school. Thankfully, Chris arrived on day #3 of school, so he could take over some of the phone calls and catch me as I collapsed into a heap at the end of days #4 and #5.

I'll write another post on the details of the outreach, which ended up going amazingly well. I know that God used it to get lots of teachers (new to Kuwait and others) connected to our service and other Christians in the country. And really, that was the point. For now, I'll get back to my school work and tidy up at the end of another Saturday.

from Kuwait to the States 2012

Here's what happened...

Chris had been planning to teach summer classes this year for a number reasons, one of which being that he just likes to work. We had been talking about the possibility of staying in Kuwait for an extended time this summer since about March, so I also found summer employment, teaching EFL at the British Council in Kuwait. My regular school year finished with students on May 31st, and teachers were required to be at the school until June 12, packing up our rooms and getting ready for Grades 1-3 to move to the new extension building that should be finished by the end of summer. I should have had plenty of time to rest between June 12th and June 20th, the date I was supposed to start at BCK. Obviously, that did not happen.

After asking many times about teaching summer classes, Chris kept coming away with little information, though he was assured he'd be teaching. He wasn't aware or informed that the enrollment for summer classes at his university began at midnight of the first day of summer classes. That morning, Chris went in and only three students had enrolled in his section, upped to six or seven by mid-day. (Generally, summer classes are pretty light, anyway.) When he talked to his supervisor about it, she said that the students could be placed into other sections or she could have someone else teach his course, because there was a long waiting list to teach. (Summer classes compensate very well.)

French colors on International Day/Last Day

When Chris mentioned this to me on that Sunday morning, I sort of jumped to reason with him about leaving. I was looking forward to unhurried time with friends and teaching in Kuwait until the end of July, but now the chance to spend extra time in Massachusetts and/or PA was presented. After a few hours of going back and forth on the phone about it (I was at school packing, Chris at his school), considering some recent events at home, and Chris calling in the opinions of some of his friends, he decided to pass off his class and head for the States. The following day. One. Day. Later. And, he wanted me to be ready to leave with him.

cat nap in D.C.

That presented a hitch, because I didn't have my ticket info. from the school's travel agent yet, which meant I couldn't change my ticket until I got it, which generally would have resulted in failure because nothing in Kuwait is done quickly or efficiently. But, we had favor. I asked the director on Monday, June 11th if I could have my ticket information and leave that evening, because I had already packed and secured everything in my room, all of my accounts, etc. She said yes! So, I then spent the next four hours on the phone with the agent, United Airlines, and everyone in between trying to iron out my flight details. I was also trying to ready our flat for the summer dust by covering furniture, cleaning out the fridge, taping some of the windows, etc. 

My ticket was booked with an agent, but I changed it online (WARNING: never do this), so I talked to the whole staff. Even at the airport, Chris and I were at the check-in counter for at least two hours, dealing with the fact that my change of ticket and fare expenses had been paid. My newly printed itinerary had been confirmed, which I had a receipt and print-out from, but it was not reflected in their computer system. Finally, and by the grace of God, the guy said, "I don't have time to do this anymore. Here's your boarding pass. You'll have to get your onward ticket in Washington [D.C.] and take care of any fees there." From that point, we had fifteen minutes to go through security and get to the gate before they closed it. Thankfully, the Kuwait airport is relatively small, they are not too strict in security measures for Americans, and it was uncrowded because it was 12:30a.m.

ready to ship from BOS

In the 12 or 13 hours it took us to cross the Atlantic, one of our three attempts to pay the extra $$$ must have gone through, because the lovely attendant at the United counter in D.C. simply printed and presented my onward boarding pass to me. Sleep deprived and ready to be in Boston, Chris stated, "I love America," thanked her, and we waltzed over to customs. After checking our accounts later, we were in fact only charged once for the change of ticket. It was just another (harrowing) opportunity to trust God and learn a few things about the airline industry in the process.

We arrived in Boston somewhere around 10a.m., Chris like a zombie, and myself as fresh as a daisy. I really like sleeping on airplanes...don't be jealous. 

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?"

"Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!"

Psalm 8:3-4, 9 (ESV)

Whirlwind

As many are already aware, we are within the contiguous United States! I'll detail the whirlwind of events that led us to getting here later, but I'm incredibly thankful to have arrived on Tuesday, with my husband, with our luggage, and only two hours past the scheduled time. I'm also thankful to have flexible in-laws, family, and friends who can deal with our spontaneity and unconventional style of decision making. Finally and most importantly, I'm thankful for God's providential hand, his perfect timing and organization of our lives' circumstances.

"You are my God and I will give thanks to you; you are my God and I will extol you. Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!" Psalm 118:28-29 (ESV)

The Dream Team

I remember watching these guys play and hearing about them when I started playing basketball in elementary school. Who says that girls don't follow sports? And who still has Wheaties boxes with their pictures on the front? My dad probably does...either that or a Coke can in his gun cupboard... (note: There are a few curse words used by players in the video.)



video borrowed from 22 Words