Destinations

Church Life Challenges in the Dominican Republic

In 1974 I moved to the Dominican Republic to teach in a school. However, my presence there was under the guidance of the Free Methodist Church so being a part of the church was an expected part of my responsibilities there. It was in the church that I really encountered much of the cultural challenges that I had in the country. While teaching I worked mostly with American adults. At the church I was with Dominicans. I had much to…

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Multicultural Experiences Teaching in the Dominican Republic

I went to the Dominican Republic in 1974 to teach. Santiago Christian School (SCS) hired me to teach 5th and 6th grades. The school was an English speaking school that had been started to teach the children of missionaries in the area. However, over time that focus expanded, and the school admitted anyone who wanted instruction in English. It became an international school while maintaining its Christian perspective. The students at the school came from a number of different backgrounds.…

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Life Changing Experiences Living in the Dominican Republic

In 1974 I moved to the Dominican Republic. I lived there for almost four years. The journey began when I graduated from college in 1973. I had a teaching degree but so did a lot of other Baby Boomers. Finding a teaching job was tough. I ended up subbing that first year out of college. What I really wanted to do was teach overseas, but every school I looked at wanted teaching experience which I obviously didn’t have. One day…

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Family Adventures in Maui, Hawaii After Christmas

In England the day after Christmas is known as Boxing Day. In our family it’s known as Andrea’s birthday. Yes, my wonderful daughter chose to enter the world two weeks before her due date showing up the morning after Christmas. So every year we have to do something for her birthday. It hasn’t been easy. When she was younger, we would usually have a party for her before Christmas. We realized most people don’t want to think of a party…

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A Christmas Exploring Maui, Hawaii

When out kids were young, we had a fairly predictable Christmas pattern. For Christmas Eve we would go to a church service and then to my wife’s parents for dinner and presents. On Christmas Day it would usually be time to join my family for a celebration, and in the afternoon we would go see a movie. However, as the kids grew older, and family dynamics changed, Christmas became less predictable. In 2013 our kids said they wanted to have…

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Remembered Journey for an Arizona Christmas

At Christmas time many people travel to visit loved ones and friends. Some make the same Christmas journey every year. Others only travel occasionally. Today most people who travel any great distance do so by plane, but that hasn’t always been true. When I was a kid, flying was still somewhat of a novelty and certainly considered expensive. If we went anywhere, we traveled by car. At one time my mom’s parents moved to Glendale, Arizona outside of Phoenix to…

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Challenged by Korean Cultural and Social Differences

Last week I began sharing about my experience teaching English in a summer program in South Korea in 2006. The school was located near Seoul. I traveled there with some other American teachers. While we enjoyed working with our students, working with the administration had its challenges. One of the positive things for me at the school was their technology. I was teaching in a private school at that time, and our technology was not at a very high level.…

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