It's hard to believe that only a year ago I was in Thailand. A year ago at this time we were gearing up for summer choir.

I've experienced some nostalgia lately as I've lightly reminisced on my time in Thailand. I have pictures hanging up on my apartment walls of an afternoon in the city, the kids I met at the English camp, and various exotic dishes I was able to try--and, surprisingly, enjoy. Never in my life would I thought I would eat tripe, but I did! And... it wasn't all that bad...

That's one of the ways I've been affected by my time overseas. I'm much more confident in stepping out to try new things, and not just in terms of food.

After I came back, I spent a tough summer applying for jobs. Door after door after door shut in my face, and I was in a slump. Interview after interview... they all went really well, and most of the prospective employers thought I was a really strong candidate, but none of those opportunities worked out.

One opportunity stuck out, though. The recruitment program for Memphis City Schools contacted me after seeing my resume on a teaching jobs website. I, somehow, progressed through their rigorous hiring program, and I had a sense somewhere deep inside that this was where God would send me next, a feeling that only grew stronger after a week of interviews and touring the city. None of those positions worked out, of course...

I had one last interview on a Monday afternoon about an hour away from my parents' house. About an hour after I arrived home, feeling confident about the position, I received a call from the school saying that... yep, they decided to go with another candidate, even though I had a really strong interview. I called my mentor to break the news to him. "Hang in there, kid," he encouraged.

Not five minutes after I got off the phone with him, I received a call from the elementary music supervisor in Memphis. "Okay," he said, "we have a placement for you." After a quick interview, I threw about three weeks' worth of clothes and some books into a suitcase, drove three-and-a-half hours to Terre Haute, and finished the drive to Memphis on Tuesday. After securing a hotel room for about two weeks, I drove all over Memphis to find the district's main office and my school on Wednesday.

It was a whirlwind of events, and I was thrown into something, having NO CLUE what I was supposed to do or where I was supposed to go or how I was going to be able to start teaching so soon. I cried many times out of frustration. I had to live in the hotel for longer than expected due to a housing situation with my apartment complex of choice.

Since then, it's been a huuuuuuge learning experience, all process and very messy. I've had some awful days in the classroom, and some days where I've questioned why I'm doing this.

But it's all starting to level out. The good days are starting to outnumber the bad, as I'm learning more about how to teach and how to manage a classroom. I love my students--they are a trip-and-a-half and a blast to teach. The wonderful administrative assistant at my school (who is now one of my new "Memphis moms") invited me to her church to meet her daughter in their young adults group, and now I have the best group of friends anyone could ever ask for, and through that, God is making Himself real to me, more and more from one day to the next. It was totally a God-thing, as I'm not sure I would have gone looking for a church otherwise. Really, this is where God has me, and He has been so good to me--even on the bad days. :)

At any rate, that's just a small glimpse of what's gone on since Thailand. It's because of that time spent overseas that I have done as well as I have. If I can survive in a big city across the world, adjusting to a new place here in the US is no big thing.

Will I ever go back to Thailand? I sure hope so. At least to visit. The sights and the smells and the tastes and the people are still fresh in my mind. I'm content in Memphis for the time being, so I don't think it will be anytime soon, and I am okay with that.

By the way... the movie theater where I saw Alice with my friend Ashley was burned down in the riots of the Red Shirts. They also burned down another mall (one that I did not visit), and other buildings in Bangkok and in various cities around the country. The riots heated up shortly after I returned to the states. I was truly blessed to get out of there when I did!

Here's a video of my trip to Mahasarakham. :)

Check out the videos that I just posted. I still have a few more I'd like to put up--a video from Mahasarakham, Marcia and Kayla's visit, and videos from the concerts.

In other news, I just found the iDVD program on my MacBook. Well, I knew it was there, but I never really worked with it. But, with it, you can create a really cool DVD. I am going to create a DVD with all of the videos from the trip. I'm very excited about it--a new toy to play with!

One of my very best friends from college came to visit me. She is also in Southeast Asia, and needed a vacation. We had a great time, as you can see from the videos.

I forgot to post these here! These were the final performances for the small ensembles class. You can tell that they really enjoy performing like this! And there's a special performance from me. We put together an ensemble on the fly. I really enjoyed singing with them! The guitarists are Kajohn (head of the Dep't of Music) and his friend, whose name escapes me at the moment. He - the friend - also plays drums, and he and Kajohn play in a band together every evening in a restaurant. Enjoy!

So, I have been back for a few weeks now. I stayed at home for a week, and then I made a trip to Plainfield High School and a stint out to Missouri to look at Northwest Missouri State U for their grad program. And now, I am hanging out at ISU for the week.

ISU gave a concert in Indianapolis on the Friday I was at Plainfield. It was the first time I'd seen anyone from ISU. I was very happy to be reunited with my ISU family, but felt very overwhelmed. I still have some processing I need to do, and it was made clear to me that evening.

I have talked with Kurt Baer several times, former Thai traveler and fellow ISU student. We have reminisced about the food. Oh, how I miss it. I'm having a harder time adjusting to eating American food, which I have eaten my whole life, that I had adjusting to Thai food, which I only started consuming when I arrived there. Bleck. American food. :)

Incidentally enough, a group of high school students and teachers from the demonstration school at SSRU are visiting the States for two weeks, and are at ISU for this week. I have been with them a couple of times now. I can only imagine how they feel right about now. They still have jet lag, and they have been whisked around for two days now, overloaded with tons of information. I'm sure they are ready to go home now, but no relief is in sight for quite some time. One of the students told me that the plane ride was so long and he watched the same movie four times.

On the upside, I'm told that it's 41 degrees Celcius right now. SO hot! I guess I left at a good time!

I hear also that the situation with the Red Shirts is growing more dire. The Yellow Shirts are threatening to come out if the government doesn't dissipate the Red Shirt movement. I hope my friends in Bangkok are okay.

I have watched the DVD of the choir concert several times since I have returned, and I am so proud of the music we made. The students worked really hard. The "Danny Boy" piece was no obstacle for them, but "Daniel, Daniel" (Urstein's arrangement) was a stretch for them, which is great. I really pushed the boys in their unaccompanied "Blow the Man Down," but they truly rose to the occasion to accept the challenge. For them, it was about applying what they've learned in theory and skills classes to reading music. And for the ladies, their final performance of "The Water is Wide" was their best. Some of them were new to choral singing, but they did a wonderful job. And, more importantly, I think they will continue the chorus. I sincerely hope they do!

For me, I had the chance to apply all of the neat choral tricks that I've learned, like voice matching. Voice matching is fun. I've probably said that before in a previous post, so I won't go into great detail about it--but all I can say is, "Rober Shaw WHO?" I'm totally just kidding about that. But I'm not too shabby at it!

I miss Thailand very much and I wish I could go back. I think I will eventually. Maybe not in the near future, but someday I will go back.

In the mean time, I have been applying for jobs. WOO! Tons of fun. :) As much as I'd like to do... well, nothing, for a while, I realize that jobs don't wait for people to decompress. Being at ISU and back in a familiar environment has helped some. I'd like to go camping for a week, just by myself, with only a journal and some way to listen to music, but, alas... I don't think that will happen anytime soon.

And, in the mean time, I will compile several photo videos, and I may post the videos from the concerts at SSRU and Thammasat.