Travel Story pt 3
On January 9, 2021 by Keturah HaferkampInCOVID: All things New
Work life
The onboarding and learning how systems work has been challenging. Everything is new and most of the time in a different language. Having to translate makes for an even more challenging time of learning. I imagine international students and faculty feel overwhelmed by English in America for the same reasons. Brian also continued his work for his employer overnights. His employer dismissed him about 1 week into the trip however, changing his status to freelance on-call. That was a major shift that we were not prepared for and it has really caused us to rethink whether this is God’s will for our family. We keep praying. We hope you’ll join us.
Home life
Our apartment is located in International Faculty House #1. We have 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms with very large balcony windows that overlook the outdoor gym and playground of the University’s K-12 International School. We are also praying about enrolling the girls in the school.
Environment
The community is a relatively small bubble. It is a Christian university campus with a college church, several small shops including a Burger King, Pizza Parlor, restaurants, convenience stores, post office and coffee houses. The campus is situated on the side of a mountain and in a forest; it’s about 10 minutes from the sea coast.
Friends
Each day after their homeschool studies the girls have enjoyed wandering around campus with their new friends. The International Faculty have lots of daughters ranging in age from 7-14 and most of them are also homeschooled. Our girls have had a great time biking, taking walks, going to the local shops, having baking parties and just generally being FREE. It reminds us a lot of what we hear America used to be–a place where kids were free to wander safely and explore independently. That’s been a very sweet experience for them.
Brian has also become fast friends with a man named Greg. Greg and Brian were born within a few months and miles of each other and have almost the exact same life trajectory! Both are from Texas, both lived in Colorado, both have strong ties to Chicagoland. They feel and act like brothers. It’s such a blessing to see that kind of joy.
Keturah’s newest friend of note is named Sherri, a professor who was actually LEAVING the school about two weeks after we emerged from our quarantine! Can you imagine?! At Christmas Sherri gifted our family about 17 houseplants and indoor trees! And….the responsibility to take over several aspects of the HUGE community garden!!!
*plants from Sherri below*