Sat. Evening Post, 12/31

Special New Year's Eve Edition

The last week of 2011 has been quite lovely, overall. I had a whole list of business type things I needed to get done first and finally managed to work my way through all the things I'd been procrastinating on(expense reports from 5 different countries is not my idea of fun). Christmas day was a great day of family, friends and church. I've enjoyed spending a lot of time with various friends- lots of dinners, movies, games- fun times, in general. My best friend and her husband and baby have been in town and are leaving tomorrow, so I've been trying to spend as much time as possible with them. I finally got to meet baby Caden in person, and not just over Skype!

With family and friends on Christmas day

With sweet baby Caden...

And his mom.....

And then all three of us

Jennifer is a Party Pooper

-party pooper
-movie marathon
-hold off
-that takes the cake
-lend a hand
-sit up
-lose touch
-hit the books
-hang a right
-make a louie
-deadend

Have you ever thought about how nonsensical our language is? If you spend much time with foreigners you would very quickly realize that though our language is not one of the most difficult in the world, it's quite confusing in its own way. What is a movie marathon- a race where you run along watching movies? And hold off? To hold is to have something in your hands. Where does the off part come into play? What takes a cake and why does it need the cake? How can I possibly give someone one of my hands? Why do I do physical harm to books and what good could possibly come from hitting them? How can I possibly hang up something that is not a physical object? Do I hang up my right hand? How to make a Louie? Is that a person and why do I need to make him? Why is the end dead? And finally, why, oh why, would someone poop at a party??

Sat. Evening Post, 12/24

Just one photo from this past week, with my friend Robyn, who I haven't seen in probably 3 years! It was so great to see her, spend time with her and talk about our shared interest in things to do with Russia. She's now Dr. Angley, working at Harvard at the Russian Studies Center(I'm sure I said that wrong), and I have the suspicion that her language skills are WAY better than mine. But I won't hold that against her, as she probably worked much harder to gain her skills than I did. =-D

I'm adjusting bit by bit to being back in the States. Last Sunday was a rough day for me at church and I can't even say exactly why. I started my presentation in front of the church by crying, pulled myself together, sat down and then cried the rest of the service. Could I have explained to anyone why I was crying? Nope. I was just crying. I think the thing is that this isn't just readjustment to being back in the States.This is grieving the place where I was for two and a half years, the people I was with, things that happened for both the good and the bad while there, the language, my family, and the person that I became during that time. And though I was and still am positive that it was time to move on, I still have to come to terms with what I left behind. I find myself on a roller coaster of emotions and am hoping that with time the highs won't be so high nor the lows so low. In the meantime, I cry at random times when triggered by random things. It's a daily adventure of readjusting back to this culture and this people- trying to reaquaint myself with thought patterns and way of life here. Mercifully, of course, God is so good to surround me with people who are probably wondering why I'm so emotional, but care for me nonetheless. =-)

Sat. Evening Post, 12/17

Just a few photos from this week. This was a good week, mixed with time with family and friends. It was really, really great for me to spend some time with one of my roommates from Odessa, who has been going through language school in SC. It was great to talk with her and hear how her transition back to life in the States has gone and that what I'm experiencing is totally normal.

Dog in repose. Georgie is once again returning to the good life. =-D

With Laura, my former roommate in Odessa

A bit of Christmas cheer for you- 4 year old Anna. =-)

At the annual family Christmas party tonight- Mom, Abby, Gram, me and Dad. It was a lot of fun to be with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, 2nd and 3rd cousins, great aunts and uncles, etc., especially since we so rarely all see each other.

Mashed up Playdough- that's what I am

One of my roommates from Ukraine has been in language school in SC this semester and came up to spend the night last night before flying home today. We were talking about the debriefing week that I'll be going to in CO in Feb. and some of the things that were helpful to her in her transition back to life in the US. One of the things that she said sounds a bit silly, but makes perfect sense to me. Before you leave for another country, you are just regular old you. You are yellow playdough. But then you move to another country. You learn a new language, new culture, new habits- all to fit in. And you change. You are now blue playdough. But when you move back to your home culture,worlds collide. Now you are mashed up yellow, blue and green playdough. The colors are all there and can't be separated, because you have changed and they're all a part of you now.Yellow playdough doesn't understand you completely, nor does blue playdough. You're kind of in a special little niche with all the other mixed-up colors out there. That's me- just a ball of mashed up multi-color playdough, working my way back into assimilation in a yellow playdough world.

Calling India

Several weeks ago I received an e-mail notification from my credit card company informing me of suspicious activity on my account. I only use my credit card when traveling and having just returned from Romania, I knew that my card number must have been stolen there. My account was immediately deactivated and some of the charges were returned. But there was one last company that my credit card company said I needed to call myself. So this morning I made the call. Note: Please read with an Indian accent, as it will be much more enterntaining.

Operator:"Hello. Good morning. How I can help you?"
Me:"Hi. My credit card number was stolen and used on your website. The account has been deactivated and I'd like to get that money returned to my credit card company."
Operator:"Ok, Maam. Can you please verify the name on the account?"
Me:"I don't have an account. My credit card number was stolen. I didn't make a purchase from you."
Operator:"Ok, maam. Well then, can you please verify your shipping address for me?"
Me:"Um, it's not going to help you if I give you my address, because I do not have an account with you."
Operator:"Ok, maam. Please. I need your name and address."
Me:Big sigh. "Anna Hunsucker. 1627 etc., etc."
Operator:"I'm sorry, maam. This does not agree with what I have on record."
Me:"I know!! That is because I do NOT have an account with you. I don't even know what your company sells!!"
Operator:"It is an adult entertainment company, maam."
Me:"Please, can you just get the charges reversed?"
Operator:"Maam, I cannot help you. You will need to call your credit card company about this. Thank you and have a nice day."

So, what I have learned is this:1)My credit card seems to have purchased $100 of porn. Quite embarrassing. 2)I think that woman had a talk button but not a listen one. 3)I sadly think that I am going to be stuck paying for $40 of porn. Ridiculous.

Culture Shocking/Shocking Culture

Reverse culture shock. Are you familiar with it? It's what happens when you leave your own culture and begin to assimilate into another. You will probably never fully assimilate, but you will do your best because it's an issue of survival(and no, I'm not exaggerating). Your mental and emotional health depend on your assimilation into your adopted culture. You may never fully understand your adopted culture but you work to blend in, in as many ways as are possible.

And then you return to your own home culture. And you think, "Do I really belong here?" Because you've changed. And unless people have gone through that change themselves, they just don't get it.

Please understand: I don't expect you to get it. I guess what I'd like to ask for is some patience as I make a reverse assimilation. If I seem quiet or withdrawn, it's probably because everyone and everything seems very loud....and I'm a bit overwhelmed. There are a lot of thoughts going through my head right now. Just as I have plenty of negative thoughts towards Ukraine and Ukrainians, I also have some towards America and Americans. So, though I don't expect you to understand what I am beginning to work through, I will ask for your patience as I attempt to wade my way through a mess of emotions of: leaving Ukraine, leaving people I care for, culture shock, and the uncertainty of my home base. I so appreciate your love, care and support!

Saying Goodbye

I'm writing to you from the States this week, after an uneventful flight home- Praise God! The goodbyes were said and it felt so strange leaving, knowing that I won't be flying back in a couple of months. What an odd feeling. I know that it was the right time to leave, but it didn't make some of the emotions any less emotional. Some goodbyes were quite easy and others brought me to tears. How do you say goodbye to a friend of six and a half years, where your friendship has had ups and downs, but you've weathered them and trust and care for each other? How do you say goodbye to a roommate who's young and only been in the country a few months and needs someone there for her? How do you say goodbye to girls you've discipled, prayed with, shared your heart with? How do you say goodbye to friends who've encouraged and cheered you on in difficult times? And the most heart wrenching- how do you say goodbye to orphans who've had so many people say goodbye to them?? Goodbye, my friends. I'm so thankful that God placed you in my life.

With Sergei, one of the guys I met at camp three years ago, who went on to go through our mission training center and joined one of the Odessa teams

With Marina, one of the girls I discipled

With Godwin, a medical student from Nigeria who become a good friend over the last couple of years

With Zhenya, a friend I met in Russia six years ago, who introduced me to IM and serves with my former team.

With Andrei and Igor. Please pray for these two boys! Andrei is in the adoption process and things go from being hopeful to hopeless quite often. Please pray that the adoption will go through and that this young Christian will trust that God really holds him in His hands. Please also pray for Igor, as he is now too old to adopt. He's living in a Christian home for graduates from the orphanage and struggling with the adjustment. Please pray for his salvation and for hope in his life.

With my roommate, Lindsey, saying goodbye at the airport

And just for fun: at the airport- a ladder on two boxes on the stairs. Ah, who worries about safety?

Sat. Evening Post, 12/3

My last full week here in Odessa has truly been full. It included: hosting all of the Odessa staff here for a mtg. with the IM Pres., Thanksgiving lunch at church, a Ladies' Tea with the IM President's wife, final meetings with friends, the training center graduation, seeing students off at the train station, my personal mtg. with the pres. and his wife, taking her shopping, getting them back and forth to several different places, plus all of the normal weekly activities. Really, it's been a tremendous way to keep my mind focused on here, so that I don't "check out" mentally ahead of time. I fly out of here Wed. afternoon and will arrive in Charlotte late Thurs. morning. Unless something interesting comes up, the next time I write, it will be from the States! =-)

International Messengers Odessa Staff(minus two wives and one family that is in the States)

Ladies' Tea for the Odessa Staff and training center students

Seaside Missionary Training Center graduation. The students are headed out for six month internships to: India, Uganda, and Ukraine

With Lesya and Anya, dear colleagues and friends from the other Odessa team

With Darwin & Darlis(heads of my sending agency)

Sat. Evening Post, 11/26

Just a couple of quick pictures from this week before I fall into my bed:

My final Thanksgiving in Odessa. For the 3rd year, the SMTC students came over and experienced a traditional Thanksgiving meal. It was a lot of work(I cooked for two days), but as usual, lots of fun!

Dinner with the Pres. of IM and his wife, plus another colleague. It was planned to be a post-Thanksgiving dinner with my former team and the Pres. and his wife, but everyone ended up canceling. So, it was small, but quite enjoyable.

This isn't from this week, but I just found it on my roommate's camera and liked it. This is from early October in the city center.

A Week of Thanksgiving, Day 8

A Week of Thankfulness: Day 8. Today is Thanksgiving and it's been a full week now since I started this. It's been a really great way for me to process a lot of God's blessings over my last two and a half years of living in Ukraine. So, today, on my final day, I am thankful for: my time in Ukraine. I'm thankful for the beauty of this country. I'm thankful for the ministries with which I've been involved. I'm thankful for the many, many things that God has taught me through my former teammates. I'm thankful for the people that God has brought into my life. I'm thankful for the many things and people that have made me laugh and have brought me great joy. I'm thankful for many small things that I used to take for granted. I'm thankful for the work that God has done in my life since bringing me here.

I'm thankful for Living Hope Church, the leadership there and the lives that I've seen changed.

I'm thankful for the many unusual things that still take me by surprise- like a goat at the Sea.

I'm thankful for really funny signs and bad English all over the place that still brings a smile to my face

I'm thankful for getting to experience Ukrainian Christmas caroling

I'm thankful for trains- a really efficient & cheap mode of travel here

I'm thankful for getting to live by the Black Sea and the beauty of the Sea in winter

I'm thankful for getting back in touch with my friend, Valya, with whom I did camps in Russia

I'm thankful for experiencing a traditional Ukrainian New Year and actually understanding things this time around(the 1st one was in 2005 & I had no clue what was going on most of the time)

I'm thankful for English camps & the lives that have been reached for Christ

I'm thankful for Ukrainian markets, b/c I just love them. Seriously. I'm really going to miss them a lot.

Thanks for sharing my Thanksgiving week with me!!

A Week of Thanksgiving, Day 7

A Week of Thankfulness, Day 7. Today I am thankful for family- in Ukraine. And while I have been thankful for the other things from the last six days, I must tell you that I've been waiting all week for this day. I'm not really sure why I made myself wait this long, but on my list family was Day 7, so I have waited and anticipated. Gosh, I don't even know where to start with pictures. I'm so super thankful that I've been in the same country for the last two and a half years as my brother and his family. I'm thankful that one of their visa trips(to Poland) coincided with one of my staff conferences. I'm super thankful that my parents have visited twice since I've been here. I was a totally stressed out, super-grouch the last time they were here(due to life-changing decisions occuring right before they arrived), but was still so glad that they were here. I have been such a thankful sister, sister-in-law and aunt, to have been able to spend time with Will's family twice in Odessa, once in Poland and three times in Dneprorudni. What a blessing it has been for me to see Will and Phyllis and to get to be a small part of my nephews and nieces' lives. For all of this, I'm SOOO thankful!!!

Mom & Dad's first trip to Ukraine, 2009- overlooking Odessa Sea Port

With Raia on an electrichka in Odessa, Thanksgiving 2009

Will and Phyllis, at my first apt., Thanksgiving 2009

In Dneprorudni for Orthodox Christmas, with Jaan, Asya and Raia- Jan. 2010

Together in Krakow, Poland, April 2010

At the Odessa Sea Port, Thanksgiving 2010. They had just told me about Bogdan, so he's in that picture, also. =-D

With Jaan, Raia and Asya in Odessa, 2010

In May, 2011, I visited them in Dneprorudni and got to meet Bogdan

Mom & Dad's 2nd trip to Ukraine. This time I went along with them to visit Will, Phyllis and the kids- Oct. 2011

Oct., 2011, with all four kiddos. My heart already aches, knowing that it most likely was the last time that I will see them for a long time. But I am so thankful for all the great times that I did have with them. Thank you, God, for this wonderful gift that you gave me!

A Week of Thanksgiving, Day 6

A Week of Thankfulness, Day 6. Today I am thankful for visitors from the States! Family will be tomorrow's post, so I will leave them out of this one. I am so thankful for my friend, Julia, who came two summers in a row to do English camps with me- one in Ukraine and one in Poland. It's just so wonderful to have someone from home with whom to share that experience. I'm also very thankful for my best friend, Tapley, who came to spend a week with me last year. It was great to show her around Odessa and have her see some of what I've done here and a bit of what life is like on this side of the world. Of course I'm super thankful for all of my friends back home, but it was so encouraging to have these two come visit. I'm so thankful for you two!

Julia gave me a "black eye" during our small group skit at camp in Ukraine, 2010

With Julia at the Odessa Opera House- 2010

Saying goodbye at the airport

In Krakow, Poland, 2011

With Tapley at the tire garden in front of my old apt. bldg.,April 2010

Taps and I at the Odessa Train Station, 2010

Getting ready to go to the monastery- probably a little more colorful than is appropriate. =-D

So thankful for my best friend!!