it worked!

Day Two

After sitting overnight.

Then I separated into two buckets and filled each with hot water.

And voilá…

And all for only $2.

I washed a load of towels and it worked!!  Sold.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

homemade laundry detergent

Given enough time, things that sounded crazy at first end up seeming like a good idea.  Like making your own laundry detergent.  I once thought it sounded ridiculous…but I am proud to say that I finished day one of making it for myself.

Why?  It’s only 20 cents per gallon!  And one batch makes 10 gallons so I’ll be set for a while.  And friends who have ventured into homemade detergent before me swear by its effectiveness.  My friend says it cleans beautifully and only noticed that it didn’t clean very well one time…and then she found out her husband had used a store-bought brand on that load.

So, we’ll see how it goes.

Day One was super easy.  I grated a bar of soap, melted it in some water.  Added hot water and some borax and washing soda.  Then covered it to sit overnight.  Tomorrow, I simply need to add more water and put it into containers.

I’ll report back after I’ve cleaned a load of clothes to see if it’s truly all it’s cracked up to be.

Here’s the video I used as my inspiration: 

 

from a proud teacher

I remember my first year of school in Rockford, Illinois.  I was a sophomore in high school and still trying to adjust to life in the U.S. after moving from Hong Kong.  I have a vivid memory of a debate in history class; the subject was immigration.  I listened as one fellow student went on and on about how immigrants drain our resources and take our jobs.  I was ticked.  Especially since this student had a last name that was clearly not from this side of the globe.

This morning in one of my ESL classes, the students had to write down one of their goals and describe a few of the benefits that would come from achieving that goal.  I was so proud as they went around the room and shared their hopes for the future.  One woman wants to open a hair salon.  Why?  Partly so that she could give people jobs.  Another wants to become a U.S. citizen so that she can vote.  One wants to become a social worker so that he can help other refugees.  And two students want to join the U.S. Army – one said that he just wants to help protect the people of America.

Anyone who says that immigrants (as a whole) drain our resources have obviously not met my students.

two months in

Today marks two months since I arrived back in Kansas City.  It feels like much, much longer than that!

The first five weeks were easy breezy – spending time with friends, a quick trip to Indiana for family reunions, running.  And then I got a job and then another job.  No more easy breezy summer days.

My schedule looks something like this:

Monday through Friday: teach 3 ESL classes a day at Donnelly College.  It’s a small Catholic college in Kansas City, Kansas – I knew from the first teacher’s meeting that it would be a wonderful place to work.  Great atmosphere, positive people, fun students.  My students are mainly refugees from Iraq, Burma, Cuba, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Vietnam, Sudan, Israel, Korea, and the Comoros Islands (I had to look that one up!).  They’re a joy to teach!  And my colleagues are pretty fabulous, too.

Monday and Wednesday evenings: teach two classes at Penn Valley Community College.  My students are in similar situations as the ones I teach during the day.  Refugees – hardworking people that work all day then spend 3 hours studying English at night.

Various appointments throughout the week: I still work for EuNC and meet with colleagues located throughout Europe and the US over Skype.

I feel very fortunate to have jobs in my field – back in the ESL classroom.  But I’ve found that the road to permanence and roots will take longer than I had thought.  I have joined the many like me who piece together jobs to make do.  I’m lucky to have the jobs that I do!  I’m doing my best to find stability and balance while very much still in transition.

And now that I’m on this side of the pond, here’s a list of things I miss from my European home:

the Rhein River

my stinky little compost pail

waking up to the sound of farm animals

running through the hills

the Alps

Schaffhausen

hearing German

driving a stick (who’d have thought?!)

only driving once a week

my lovely friends

And things I’m happy to have returned to in the States:

road races

coffee shops with free refills

HalfPrice Books

friends and family

texting

following a recipe and the food turning out the way I expected

Pandora

only using one currency

 

 

mediums aren’t mediums anymore

I’ve been back home for a couple of weeks now and I seem to be adjusting pretty well as I re-enter life in the States.  I think the week in Alaska really helped ease me back in.

But there are a couple things that still seem to be weird to me.

1.  24-Hour News.

I used to like it.  I used to enjoy knowing what was going on during the day.  I came back during the whole Casey Anthony drama and turned on the news after she had been released.  The helicopter that had been following her car lost sight of it and the news anchor kept repeating that they had lost sight of her and had no idea of where she was.  Why do we need to know where she is????  I don’t understand.  And I’m pretty certain that I (or anyone else for that matter) don’t need to know where this woman, whom I’ve never met, is at this very moment.  And I’m even more certain that there are other things that I should be thinking about…other stories that deserve my attention more than what Casey Anthony is doing right now.

2.  Soda/Drinks

We stopped at Wendy’s on the way home from the airport.  I ordered a medium and this is what I got:

  Since when is this a medium??

The next day I walked into Target and saw 2-litre bottles of soda for $1.  228 grams of sugar for only a dollar.  Score.

And then I saw a gas station advertising 30-ounce fountain sodas for $1.

I’m sure I’ll stop noticing after a while, but at the moment it seems like one big conspiracy to get us to ingest as much liquid sugar as possible.

But all-in-all, things are going really well.  Reconnecting with friends and family.  Getting back into the swing of things.  And if these are the biggest re-entry adjustments I have, I’ll take it!

a year of daily photos

When in Spain with the Himmelwrights, we thought it would be fun to take a picture every day that I was in Europe.  I didn’t make it every day, but most.

It’s fun for me to look at, kind of a video diary…  There are stories behind a lot of the pictures that hold good memories.

I got a lot of strange looks and people offering to take my picture for me…only to look more confused when I said “No, thank you” and continued to take a self-picture.  Ah, good times.  It was fun to do, I’m glad it’s over!

12 months, 14 countries…

 

final week

One week left in Germitzerland.  I’m happy to say that I think I will be ready when the time comes.  But thankfully, I have a few days before then.  (Which is actually 3 am next Tuesday morning, thanks to my stellar ticket-booking skills.)

On this week’s schedule:

Final dinners with friends.

Playing the “What to bring?  What to leave?” game with my suitcases.

Final chapel in the Bergkirche (1,000-year old church in the village).

Graduation.

And a few more runs along the river and through the woods.