Changes

Since coming back, we've noticed a lot of change here in the city. They're fixing the road so that traffic will flow smoother (meanwhile, making it all the more congested) and so that we have more frogger territory. The city is also in the midst of constructing a subway system, though that's not going to be done for quite some time. Downtown, they revamped the Starbucks and made a sweet underground mall with an excellent Thai restaurant nearby.

This was the traffic jam we ran into today. After not moving for 20 minutes,
 we decided to get off the bus and just walk home.

They also repainted and re-roofed our school, preparing it for the wear and tear of a new school year. And they've changed more than just the appearance of our school; there have been multiple shifts in staffing, too. Some teachers have left, and new teachers have been hired. Many of the administrative positions are different now, with people being shuffled around and given new titles with new secretaries. This is probably why we're participating in new teacher orientation this week, even though we really aren't new to this school. With all the policies and guidelines that went into effect after we left, it will be somewhat like we're teaching at a new school.

This is our school with scaffolding all over the place.

Though I suppose all of this could be slightly frustrating, we are excited that things are different. If we came back and everything was the same, we would be more likely to fall into our old pattern of living with the same ruts. Now we have the opportunity to form new friendships, new habits, and new understandings of the culture. This is good! We just hope that other people realize that we're not the same as we were before, either. God has done a lot of work in our lives over the past year, and although we may look the same on the outside, our hearts have changed for the better.