A word from the Willies

Above: Derek, dancing to "Stayin' Alive," per request of his students during a game at a gathering in our apartment. (SE Asia)

Above: Who would've thought 4:45 a.m. could be this much fun? A jet lagged toddler who thinks it's 8:15 a.m., that's who! (Bulgaria, at the company conference we just returned from)

Above: Stacey enjoys sweet fellowship with some good, good friends. (Bulgaria, same conference as above)

We've been living in SE Asia since early June 2008. For those of you who've been checking up on us thru the blog, sorry to disappoint you!!! Our time at the internet cafe has been limited; but we are still optimistic that we can occasionally add posts that can keep you involved in our lives!



Here's a brief synopsis of what life's been like and what we're anticipating:

Derek is an English language consultant at a private center. He's only with his class part time, but due to the location of the school and the timing of his two classes, he was gone 10 hrs a day M-W-F during his first term. T and Th were days off, so that's when we did language study and other things to try and settle into our new home. This next term his two classes are closer together in the day, so HM and I will be very happy to be seeing more of him.



We've learned to readjust our expectations of how quickly "settling in" happens in a new country. It's a whole new system of transportation, shopping, and communication. Since we can't hop in our car and drive to the mall to pick up most of what we need, we've learned to expect the process to move slowly. If we work all day to accomplish one thing on an unending list of things we need to do, buy, or find out about, then we can consider it a successful day. And, even if we don't accomplish that one thing, if we've learned something about how the new (to us) system works in the process of not accomplishing anything... well, then we've accomplished something! This is easier to say than it is to live, but we're learning.



HM has done extremely well and settled in marvelously. She's picked up some Burmese mannerisms and has even taught us a few Burmese words in the midst of her ever expanding English vocab. This is definitely her home, and we are thrilled to see her thriving. We are so blessed by how well people love her.



Finally, the big news... we're expecting our second baby to be born in mid April! I'm feeling better and am hoping that this pregancy will follow the textbook and offer me complete relief from morning sickness during this 2nd trimester.



Hope to post more soon. Check out more pics: www.picasaweb.google.com/dshwilliams