SAYONARA: THE LAST GREAT BIRTHDAY PARTY

I expect the mask was mostly to blame. Well, that and the fertilizer factory. You see, some Japanese company had plopped a fertilizer plant and company compound down in the middle of the jungle there on Sumatra, not too far from our own compound. And, just like ours, their compound included a company restaurant. It was probably quite run-of-the-mill to them, but was anything but to us, so we occasionally made the trek over there to dine on special occasions. 

As you should know by now, my daughter loves any old excuse to dress up in a costume. When she received a set of Victorian party masks for Christmas, it included one that resembled a Japanese Geisha Girl, and Lex took to wearing it around the house with her pink satin Chinese gown (a bit of creative license).

So, when it came time to plan her 11th birthday party, just a few weeks after Christmas, she immediately thought "Japanese!"

I'm afraid it was one of the last, truly great birthday parties.

A CHRISTMAS CARD, AND THE PINEWOOD LESSON

Cards must be ordered rather early when you live halfway 'round the world,
so I had to use a photo from the previous year.

From our 12/93 Christmas Card:

Dear George & Theda,

Only 12 more days! If you get a mystery package delivered from Spiegel, it's from us. Lex and I made a really neat gingerbread house with see-through candy windows, that you place a candle behind. Austin and John are making a pinewood derby car for Cub Scouts. I finally finished quilting my beautiful new tree skirt, then promptly covered it up with a mound of presents! (what was I thinking?) Found a cook and decided to give it a try, just for the fun of it -- she starts tomorrow. Tuesday night is the kid's big Christmas party with Santa -- Lex finally gets to be one of the elves! School lets out Friday at noon, and we are having 16 for dinner, Poker (for the guys) and Bunco (for the gals) that night.

This very happy elf-girl is holding a somewhat faded elf doll that my family always put out each Christmas when I was a kid,
and whose outfit was almost identical to hers!

Love,
Becky

About that Pinewood Derby. Well, this was the first one we'd ever participated in, and we are firm believers in being there to answer questions and assist with the hazardous parts of our kids' projects, but never directing or outright doing it for them. So John let Austin design and paint his own car, which had a shape that resembled the modern, sleeker version of a VW bug. He was over the moon about it. John and I both started getting nervous as soon as we walked through the door, and discovered that every other car there was shaped like a simple flat wedge of cheese. If you are a parent, then you know what it was like to watch Austin being deflated like a pricked balloon, and having to work harder and harder to fight back the tears and quivering lip with each successive race. Ahhh, life's lessons can really suck sometimes!

LETTERS HOME: OUR LAST INDO-HALLOWEEN

The Coneheads/Three Stooges host a pre-carnival gathering at our place.

November 1, 1993

Dear Mom & Dad,

Can't believe it's November again already. Fall is passing so fast, with all the activities going on this year. In fact, everyone around here is about sick to death of functions and parties. I'd like to have a nice quiet weekend for once, nothing to do, nowhere to go. We leave for Perth, Australia on Nov. 12, and will be gone one week. We're really looking forward to the trip. Since it's late spring for them, we're hoping the weather will be pretty nice. Speaking of weather, it's been raining a lot here lately. We've had some real downpours this last week!

Heading down to the carnival with the coneheads and Robocop

The costume parade -- Austin used the clothes from his Headless Horseman costume of the previous year, then added a creepy mask, bandana, and earring to create a Zombie Pirate. I think this was pre-Pirates of the Caribbean, so they must've stolen the idea from him!

Looks like Lexie won a prize for her costume. Should've gone to the seamstress.

The kids had their Halloween Carnival this past weekend. Both of them brought home gold fish they had won. Sunday I went out and bought a couple of more fish along with a couple of fish bowls. Unfortunately, this morning we found one of Austin's swimming upside down. Guess that one isn't going to make it. Not really sure what happened -- if it was the rocks we bought to put in the bottom clouding up the water, or if maybe Austin overfed his. I'll probably have to go out and buy a replacement. Not too bad, as they only cost about 75 cents each.

Lex found this costume in Jane Asher's Costume Book, and pestered me for weeks to make it. I finally caved in, but vetoed the buns in the blouse.

See any resemblance between her skirt in the photo above, and this sofa? One of our lace curtain panels gave up it's life for this costume as well. She was one happy girl!

Dig that gorgeous backdrop! Probably painted by the same carpenter who did their bedroom murals. Is that pirate carrying a light saber?

Becky went off on another trip this week with the ladies. They went up to some place near Lake Toba and will be gone a week. She's been having a lot of fun on these trips. Not really sure what is up there, as far as crafts and all. Guess we'll find out when she gets back.

Hope Mike got that computer stuff sent off. If so, I'll be getting it in a few weeks. There are several people scheduled to be heading this way in November. I forgot to mention to him and to you, if you ever want to send a package over here, the best way is to send it via DHL. They are like United Parcel, etc. DHL makes deliveries in this area and, apparently, has a fairly good system of working with the Indonesian customs agents. I don't know if they have an office in the Midland/Odessa area or not, but there is a chance they do. I think you would use the same address as you would on a letter. The local DHL branch knows this place fairly well.

How are you both feeling these days? I didn't realize Mom went into the hospital. No one told us a thing. I wasn't really too clear from our conversation, but I take it the vertigo is more stress related than anything else. Is that right? I had a little bit of that several years ago, but nothing to the extent you have been suffering. How is the new help working out? I'm sure it helps a lot to have the live-in help. As Mike said, just let us know if we can pitch in towards that. It's really no problem.

How are Milton and Lucille doing these days? They weren't doing too good when we left last summer. Nub and Winona were doing fairly well -- maybe he is a little more deaf. Becky hasn't heard from Paula lately and is getting pretty concerned. She has always been good about writing in the past.

Well, guess that's about it for now. I imagine Becky will add something after she gets back from her trip.

Love,
John

WHEN THE GOING GETS ROUGH, THROW A PARTY!

The Star-Trek-themed murder mystery party we hosted

A party only the brave attended, as it was held at a restaurant in Lhok Seumawe

Miss Becky heads over the hill

Three nuns on their way to a Halloween Shanghai luncheon

LETTERS HOME: ANOTHER SIDE OF JOHN

Thursday, October 14th, 1993

Dear Gang,

Well, I knew that new red wig I bought this summer would really knock 'em dead, but I never guessed that John would be the one wearing it! Last Friday Carol Silverman had a 50th birthday party for her husband, and she got John to come "in drag" for entertainment. Coming so close on the heels of his dropping to the floor and performing the 'Gator at a recent dance, well, people are finally getting to see the real John -- the crazy, fun-loving guy that only his closest friends get to see. Guys he works with have been coming up to me all week, wanting to know what we did to "force" him into doing this. They just don't believe me when I say "not a dang thing!" I must admit, it was kind of fun dressing him up. I dug through our dress-up trunk and found an old slinky black jersey one-shouldered mini dress of mine, and he wore it with thigh high stockings and lots of jewels. Of course, his bushy red beard went great with the curly red wig!

Check out those gorgeous gams!

The kids and I have thoroughly enjoyed our batik workshop with Azziz this week, although I doubt if my "masterpiece" will ever be hung. It's such a fascinating art, but it involves so many complicated (and somewhat caustic) chemical processes, that I doubt if it would be very practical as a hobby. We were forced to take the whole week off from quilting because this was so time consuming, and I can hardly wait to get back to it. I want to get this first sampler quilt out of the way so I can start on my Christmas fabrics that I brought back from Singapore.

Alexis has been on many school trips and exchanges since moving here, but today it was finally Austin's turn. Mr. and Mrs. Zavala flew up to Medan with all the 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders for just a one day exchange with the Medan International School and the Medan Japanese School. He was so excited last night that he just couldn't get to sleep. I thought I would be dragging him out of bed by his toenails this morning (they had to be at the school by 6:15) but he had me walking down there in the dark and we arrived by 6:00! They get back this evening around 6:00, and I bet he will be one pooped puppy.

These kids look Indonesian to me, but it's the only school-visit photo of Austin I could find.

This week was probably the best in two years, as far as mail goes. The Southern Living magazine that I asked Theda for, and the three lace doilies that I asked Carolyn for, all made it here safe and sound. It's just amazing how much little things like that mean to us. I was on cloud nine all week! I enjoyed the magazine so much that I went ahead and subscribed. A full year's overseas subscription is only $26.95, and since Theda spends close to that every time she sends a little packet of magazines and computer junk, I figure that even if only half of them make it here, we'll still come out ahead. Another big hit that came in the mail was an article, from Kathy and Bud, about the recent sightings of some Blue Footed Boobies in Texas. For those of you who don't know, that is the silly secret "magic word" that I have used with the kids since they were tiny, but until they saw this article, I don't think they ever actually believed me when I told them that there really was such a bird!

Guess that's all for now, and as always, PLEASE WRITE!!!

LETTERS HOME: BACK TO SCHOOL

Lex and friends perform the candle dance at Open House

5th October, 1993

Greetings All,

Well, it's October again, my favorite month. That means the holiday season has officially begun, as far as I'm concerned. I played a few Christmas carols the other day, just to help John get into his holiday mode (as in "Bah, Humbug!"). It worked.

I am loving this quilting class I'm taking -- taught by friend Teri, who also leads our early morning water aerobics sessions down at the pool (where she taught me to add some fresh lime to my diet colas, to cut that awful metal aftertaste). The quilting is almost addictive! Of course, so far, all we have done is machine-piece a bunch of blocks to go in a sampler quilt. That goes so quickly that you really feel like you're making progress. When we get to the tedious hand sewing part, I may get bogged down. The bad part is that you tend to get compulsive about buying fabrics and my shelves are filling up fast. In fact, Teri says they have a saying -- "She who dies with the most fabric wins!" I had to take Alexis out to the orthodontist in Singapore last weekend, and without any conspiracy on our parts, three other quilters were there as well. We spent hours at a neat quilting shop, and I got some gorgeous Christmas fabrics to make either a quilted tree skirt or a table runner.

Austin is now in Mrs. Zavala's class (the wife of his teacher last year) with four of his best buddies.

I thought things would slow down once we got all of these going away parties behind us. What a joke! By the way, we had a pretty crazy one last week. The Ellisons have been transferred to Nigeria, so as their send-off to "the dark continent", their going-away party was held totally in the dark! We all had to wear black and bring flashlights. We also had to bring something to go in a "Nigerian Survival Kit". Those parties are behind us, but I'm still doing my quilting class twice a week, and co-teaching a craft class for the kids. (I volunteered before I knew it would be on Wednesdays, which means no Shanghai until Christmas. It's killing me!) I've also been asked to help with a play the K-2nd graders are putting on at the end of the month, which means I have to meet with them three mornings a week. 

Lex gets ready for school, wearing new duds brought back from the States.

Next week a wonderful batik artist from Medan is coming here to do some workshops at the school, and he's agreed to do some for the moms as well. I'm really excited about that, but I hope I don't fall in love with it. I think it could be very time consuming and expensive, and one of those kinds of hobbies is quite enough! In addition to these little projects, we're beginning to crank up on the Halloween carnival, and of course, there's my big 40th birthday bash. Luckily, that doesn't require any work on my part. John has enlisted two of my buddies to help him, and they even went so far as to book me in at the salon for "the works" on the afternoon of the party, to get me out of the way. Should be interesting!

If you will compare my second grader's size with his buddies the guards, who are full-grown men, you will understand why we had to bring all our clothes from the States!

A couple of weeks ago was Open House at the school, and we were really proud of both kids. The older ones had to learn a very intricate Indonesian dance where they hold lighted candles on the palm of each hand, and spin them all around. Alexis did really well, and looked fabulous in her elaborate costume. Austin was chosen to be narrator for a little shadow puppet play, and everyone was totally amazed. He read more smoothly in Indonesian than most kids his age can read in English!

Her only problem was keeping the headdress from sliding down and blocking her vision!

Alexis' big adventure trip to Lake Toba seems to have gone quite well. I'm not sure if she would classify it as "fun", but I know she will remember it for the rest of her life. They all kept journals, and I want to make sure that she keeps hers to show her kids someday. They are pretty funny. After they made the half day trek up to the top of the volcano, they went in some hot sulfur springs to ease their muscles. Lex didn't care much for the smell of "stinking eggs." They did a lot of shopping and the teachers all said Lex was the best "bargainer." Some of the rooms they stayed in only cost $4.00 a night, and they had to order all their own meals (lots of rice) and make sure they didn't spend over $7.50 a day for all three. It was definitely a learning experience!

Guess that's all for now. Take care, and keep those letters coming!

MAY MAYHEM

Dearest Friends,

Anyone who refers to the "merry" month of May has never been an expatriate mom. Those of us who have know that it is anything but. It was not merry, it was mayhem, bedlam, and I doubt if my hubby has any clue how close I came to edge a few times -- especially when we'd get everything worked out, only to have him come home and announce a change in plans. Here is just a sampling of what I found written in my agenda for the last few weeks of the school year in '93:

• hosted/attended at least 16 lunch, dinner, and cocktail functions, over and above the usual weekly things like Shanghai group and Girl Scout meetings
• planned and carried out the infamous Girl Scout campout
• prepared for and taught the littles in Sunday School each week
• stressed out over the care of my sons eczema, which had flared into some icky infection
• went to choir rehearsals and performed on Mother's Day
• made hotel reservations for the stops on our trip home, confirmed flights, and updated friends and family on our plans
• held a scout leaders meeting to make our plans for the following year, and to figure out what supplies needed to be purchased in the States while we were there
• prepared and sent out invitations for a special murder mystery party I was planning to host the following fall, since guests might want to gather "parts" for their costumes while home
• held a teacher appreciation luncheon
• withdrew enough money to pay our staff salaries while we were away, and took it to my next door neighbor, along with instructions
• met with the school principal to tie up loose ends, since we needed to take the kids out of school a few days early in order for John to attend a school in Cincinnatti
• bought last minute hostess gifts for all the people we would be staying with over the summer, including Marie Biscuits and cans of the coffee-flavored candy that everyone loved
• made shopping lists of everything we might possibly need in the coming year, that we couldn't get in Sumatra
• tried to figure out what to pack for a family of four, three of whom would be away all summer, and two of whom would be going off to camps and such, so that we would have everything we might need, but still have plenty of room left in which to bring back all that stuff on the above shopping lists
• left instructions for our staff, and prayed that they would take good care of our puppy dog
• Oh yeah! There was another play to help out with too!

I don't really recall what the play was about. All I know is the kids wrote the script themselves, and somehow managed to include wizards...

Kitty Kats...

Vampires...

and the cutest big red ant ever!

POOR WITTLE EASTER BUNNY

Dearest Friends,

Easter of '93 was one jam-packed, fun-filled weekend! That Friday was when we finally got to see John Lane: Vampire Hunter in Out For The Count. Afterwards our friends Tom and Teri hosted a cast party for everyone involved in the production. Saturday was a pot luck and easter egg hunt up at the pool, and Sunday was the sunrise service on the beach, followed by Easter dinner with six other families at Danny and Peggy's house. The kids thought the egg hunt at the pool was a blast, even if they did have to outrun Mr. Danny to get any eggs.

Little Miss Easter Bunny ended up getting tossed into the drink! (Who would do such a thing?)

Boy, was she ever shocked when she discovered that her pink bunny skin became transparent when wet! Poor wittle Bunny.

LETTERS HOME: THE FINAL COUNTDOWN TO KATHY

Thursday, 4th March, 1993

Hi Gang,

Well, we are all counting the days, if not minutes, until next Friday when Spring Break begins, and we leave for Singapore to go get Kathy. Things seem to have gotten really hectic around here lately, and everyone is ready for a break. John is caught up in play rehearsals and school board meetings, and I've been busy with the scouts and with trying to get costumes for the play squared away before everyone leaves on holiday. We thought John would have one of the easiest costumes because the script just called for him to wear a trenchcoat, but then Julie saw an old Dracula movie where they were all dressed in period costumes. Now we are having to come up with a three piece suit with a long, Wyatt-Earp-style jacket, in green. It's worth it, I suppose, just to have this opportunity to see him on a stage. Can't wait!

The kids seem to be inundated with after-school activities right now. Alexis has mandatory sports activities after school two days a week (right now it's bicycling) and they have family sports night once a week, where she is playing water polo. Also, she has scouts and computer club every week. Austin has Cub Scouts, Newcomb (like volleyball) and soccer, which is great fun, but probably not any kind of preparation for what kids in the states are doing, since we have to clump everyone from 3 yrs. on up together. On top of all this, we found out that there is a tennis instructor available for free, so the kids both wanted to go to tennis lessons each Friday. I hope Austin keeps his interest up in that, because that is something he could play anywhere we moved. He may not always hit the ball, but when he does, he whacks the living daylights out of it! Now if only the kids had a little free time. I think maybe the school has gone a bit overboard, for fear the kids don't have enough to do here. The good news is that I trade off with Peggy Reeh each month, as Sunday School teacher for the 4 and 5 years olds, and I just started my month off. YABBA-DABBA-DOO!!!

In addition to just being too busy, this is also the "BAD" time of year. The closer you get to Home Leave, the more frayed everyone's nerves get. I thought this wasn't supposed to happen until late April, but there are several feuds going on already (no, none involving me!). The kids are all really sad because the Freels family is leaving. Their two daughters are Alexis' best friends and make up half of her class and half of my scout troop, and their son is one of Austin's buddies. Also, one other family and one bachelor have left this month, so we're all breaking our necks trying to do farewell parties, etc. So far there is no news of any replacement families coming, and that makes us all nervous as well, since the school seems to be dwindling away before our eyes!

Of course, add to all this the fact that it's Ramadan, and you will understand why everyone feels a bit frazzled. This is the month when all the Moslems must fast from sunup until sundown -- not even a sip of water is allowed. (It makes them more empathetic to the poor and starving, which is why, unlike we Americans, they always have pockets full of change --year round, not just at Ramadan -- and would never even think about ignoring someone with their hand out!) They stay up most of the night eating and visiting, so they are absolutely exhausted during the day. Also, the loudspeakers on the mosques go off around 3:30 each morning, to remind them that it's their last chance to eat before sunrise, so there are a few tired expats as well. I don't like to eat or drink in front of our help while they are fasting, so I have to hide in the bathroom if I want a soda or something! Needless to say, we can hardly wait for Kathy to arrive and to head out for Penang.

Guess that's about all for now. Take care, and we will see you all before you know it!