DEATH, TAXES, AND A NEVERENDING STORY

Dearest Friends,

I guess I've been dragging my feet when it comes to winding up this tale. Perhaps you noticed? It's partially because I have so enjoyed reliving these experiences through your eyes, that I hate for the fun to end, but there's a lot more to it than that. Here's the thing. How do you end the never-ending story?

You may think this story ended as soon as we packed up our belongings and boarded the plane, but that's just not true. These stories came home with us -- became a part of who we are, and who our children grew up to be. They reshaped our beliefs, our ethics, our politics, our philosophy, our world view...broadened our tolerance for some things, but narrowed it for others. They made it impossible for our kids to fit back into their old roles in their old cliques when we moved back to the town where they grew up, but they opened the door to many new friends and new experiences. It affected not only their food preferences and love of travel, but also their learning styles, their creativity, and their open mindedness. In fact, those three year's worth of stories have probably colored most every important decision they have made, and always will.

That being said, we still have to put this baby to bed at some point. So, I thought I would give you  John's last letter home today, share a couple of more stories over the next week, and then I suppose, we will call it a day.

April 13, 1994

Dear Mom & Dad,

This has been a pretty rough week. Saturday morning Mike called and informed me about Nub's cancer. Then shortly after that I got a call that John Tankersley was killed in Qatar in a boating accident. I've know John and worked with him since I came to work with Mobil. He was my counterpart at Mobil's field operations here. They had just moved back to Dallas last year. It had everyone pretty much in a state of shock the whole weekend. Then Alan Silverman's dad died before he could get home Saturday. Plus his secretary's father died this past weekend also. I tell you, it just seems to come in bunches.

I finally received Mike's last letter. He was talking about going to the family reunion and was wanting to hear about our plans. I doubt we will have time this year to attend. If we do, it will have to be a last minute thing. I won't have quite as much time at home as I did last year. I'll be saving a week's worth of vacation in case I need it during the fall.

Report cards for our kids came out this past week. Alexis' teacher seems to be real pleased with the effort she is putting out now. She seems to be focusing a little better on the task at hand. She was doing a great job on her science project until she lost her display posters. Can't find them at school anywhere and she insists she brought them home, but we can't find them around here either. Austin seems to be breezing along. He needs some more kids to give him some competition.

Becky is finally getting close to finishing her quilt. In fact, she has to be done by next weekend. Everyone is going to display their quilts at a fair. She has really done a good job, but I doubt she'll ever do another, particularly when we move home. Putting one of those things together takes a lot of time and she probably won't have much of that back home.

P.T. Arun has just undergone a reorganization and things around here are more confusing than usual. About half of the engineers in my group are going out to another section. Still remains to be seen exactly what I will be doing. Probably pretty much the same thing. It will be a little harder for me to keep in touch with the engineers in a different group, but that's what I will have to do.

Well, guess that's about it for now. Thanks for taking care of my IRS stuff. It's just real iffy trying to mail that kind of thing from here. But from what I saw on CNN, doesn't look like the US mail system is any safer. Give everyone our regards.

Love,
John

A LETTER FROM JOHN: WELCOME TO MAGGOTVILLE

December 1, 1993

Dear Mom & Dad,

Well, Merry Christmas Holidays. Becky officially has begun the Christmas season. The tree went up last weekend and the lights are out in front. Unfortunately, all the wooden yard decorations she had made have been eaten up by termites (Inserted by Author: writhing heaps of disgusting maggot-like creatures, possibly Formosa termites?). Santa was half gone, as were the candy canes. Owel.

I'll mention to my boss about the problems you've been having calling in. Apparently several other people have reported similar incidents. In the future, you might try giving the phone extension number in both English and Indonesian:

Phone Number 1246

Phone Nomor Satu (saw-too), Dua (doo-ah), Empat (im-pot), Enam (e's are short, like in "pet")

Maybe this will help.

What has Mike got to be upset about, with Geoffrey shaving his head? As I recall, Mike doesn't have any hair up there either, right? I take it Geoffrey's school  has some liberal dress codes. A lot of schools won't allow students in class with "disruptive" styles of dress, including hair styles. I guess he's just flexing his wings a bit.

Panning for Gold!

I think everyone enjoyed Australia. It was nice. In some ways, they are a few years behind the States in things. Apparently many products, such as electrical items and so forth, are tightly controlled. One store owner told me that you can't import electronic items, like games, into the country yourself. Everything has to come through a government-controlled import agency, which controls pricing. Sounds fairly bureaucratic to me. The Perth landscape is not too unlike west Texas, fairly sandy and not a lot of vegetation. The people seemed real friendly and pleasant. The funny thing was that while we were there, they started opening stores on Friday night for shopping. Up until now it was like the States back in the 50's, with stores only open late on Thursday evenings. The rest of the time they closed around 5:30 or 6:00. I don't think much was open on Sundays, as a rule. The restaurant owners are upset about the Friday night openings, thinking it will decrease the Friday night food trade. 

On the catalogs, you might try sending some via the book surface rate. Just stuff as many as you can into the standard mailer for that rate. It will take a while to get here, but that's ok. Any letters regarding upgrades or offers, though, go ahead and send regular mail.

Was her name Mimsy? Can't remember.

Alexis brought home a baby kitten the other day. So I guess we have another animal around the house. The goldfish haven't fared too well. Austin has lost several, plus his tank leaks, and when we returned from Australia, one of Alexis' three had died. I think the cat will be easier to take care of.

Well, UT cost me another case of beer to Dan Reeh this year. I sure wish they'd be able to beat A&M for once. Saw the ending of the Dallas/Miami game on the news. Looked like the snow was pretty deep. That must have been some game.

Not much else to tell now. I'll see if Becky wants to add anything before finding someone who is heading out to mail this for us.  Take care.

Your Son,

John

OUR POOR, DEPRIVED KIDS

 Dearest Friends,

In case you are worried that our kids were missing out on too much -- being torn from the wonderful U.S. schools, with all the enrichment and socialization they had to offer, and hauled off to this tiny little school out in the middle of a jungle -- here is just a sampling of what was going on in their lives those first few weeks of fall:

• there was the annual family beach party, where letting your friends bury you was a favorite activity
• Austin had after-school-sports Mon. and Wed., and both had swimming class every Friday
• there was family sports night every Wed. evening
• Lex had craft club on Wed. afternoons, which I taught

• they had an all school skating party, and a trip out to the elephant farm

• Austin had baking club
• they had Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts
• there were school trips to a rice mill and a coffee mill
• Lex had her school trip to Lake Toba, and Austin had his trip to Medan
• there was Batik Week, with its guest artist, a bake sale, and an art show

• we celebrated Austin's eighth birthday, and they both attended friend's parties
• they both hosted and attended numerous sleepovers
• Austin and I made costumes, attended play rehearsals, and practiced lines

Meanwhile, in the background, Mom and Dad had also joined the school carnival committee, Dad was on the school board, and Mom was teaching Sunday School again. And all of this was just in the first quarter -- a mere six weeks or so!

Were they deprived in any way? Not hardly. I think they were just about the luckiest kids in the world!

BOTH THE BEST, AND THE WORST, OF GROWING UP OVERSEAS

Back to School Open House

Dearest Friends,

Know what I love about this picture? Check out the two boys center front. Look at the way little Travis, one of the youngest kids in the school, has his arm draped over older boy Jamie's, as if they were brothers. In a community this small, our kids made friends with everyone, and they soon learned that friends were not a disposable commodity. If you ditched your friends whenever they pissed you off, you'd end up very, very lonely, so they learned how to compromise. They learned that they could have friends of all ages and nationalities, and of both sexes -- kids whose interests and beliefs weren't necessarily the same as theirs, and who wouldn't always agree with them on every little thing. They learned that people could like them just as they were, even if they didn't have the "in" toys and clothes. Heck, they no longer had any way of knowing what was in! They learned that it's actually far better to have a teacher who makes you work hard, but stimulates your imagination, than it is to coast along in utter boredom. They also learned that it was important to balance that hard work with plenty of physical activity and creative opportunities. They thrived on being able to move about the classroom, and interact with the other students, including those in different grades. Most importantly, they learned that the universe was a very, very big place, and they were not the center of it -- that our way of doing things was not the only way, or even necessarily the right way. All this was the best thing about growing up overseas -- and it was the worst thing too, for it was going to make it very, very difficult to go back to the old way of doing things, and all but impossible to go back to the old way of seeing things!

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!

THE BIG BLOW-UP

Dearest Friends,

In some ways my hubby and I are a lot alike. For one thing, we are both extremely non-confrontational. We'd do just about anything to avoid an argument -- our own, or anyone else's. In my case it was so extreme that just watching things like the Three Stooges or Abbot and Costello could make me twitchy. Part of this, I'm sure, is that neither of us has a glib tongue. John is a good listener, a great audience. I'm the one who thinks of brilliant rejoinders -- hours after the fact when it's too late to do me any good! Hence, we would surely lose in a battle of words, especially with someone who could think on the fly. Anyhoo, since we both hated arguing, and had not yet been taught how to handle disagreements productively, a lot of stuff was still getting swept under the rug in those days.

In other ways we were polar opposites. It was that classic half-empty/half-full scenario. No matter how bad things got, I usually managed to stay fairly cheerful. No matter how good things got, John still managed to stay fairly glum -- which created a nice balance, for the most part. While living the ex-pat life, however, it actually led to one of our biggest fights.

Miss Becky's nest in the Indo-house, where she did her thinking and writing.

You see, I did such a good job of making the best of things that, eventually, John would always forget that there was any down-side to my situation -- that I had given anything up, or made any trade-offs to be there. All he saw was that he had to go to work every day, while I stayed home with a maid and a driver. As if that weren't bad enough, I had the nerve to be all chipper when he got home each day, wanting to tell him about all the fun things the kids and I did while he was at work! Anyway, things finally came to a head one weekend when John went to make a peanut butter sandwich, and discovered we were out of bread. He blurted out something rather hurtful, on the order of "You'd think a woman who didn't have a damn thing to do all day could at least manage to keep bread in the house!", then grabbed the kids and headed off to the snack bar, leaving me standing there with my mouth agape.

Ten or fifteen minutes later, words finally came to me, but of course, I had no one to say them to. They didn't come in a gentle way, either. It was more of an eruption. I had no choice but to grab a pen and start writing a letter to my hubby. I don't remember exactly what was in that one, but I do recall it as one of my better letters -- one where I was able to open his eyes to a few truths, but in a humorous way. I think I started out apologizing for the error of my ways, and telling him he deserved much better. Perhaps he deserved one of the wives we knew who stayed drunk all day long, because it was the only way they could deal with the tedious monotony of their lives here. Or perhaps he should be with the one who was sneaking off to sleep with her hubby's best friend while he was at work. Then again, maybe he would prefer one of those who seemed to be back in the states or away on trips more than they were ever here on the compound, or, better yet, one who refused to come to Indonesia in the first place, even if it meant death to her hubby's career. Oh wait, here's an idea! Maybe I should trade in my part-time maid and the ordeal of fixing my whole family three meals a day, from scratch, almost every darn day, and get not only a live-in maid and a cook, like most everyone we knew, but also a nanny for the kids, like a few others had. That way I could devote every waking minute to his needs.

OK, maybe I didn't really say all that. I think I got a bit carried away there towards the end. Skip that last part and jump ahead to where I closed by saying something like "Silly me! I never knew I actually had a choice in any of this. I thought I had to quit my job at Chez Vous, say goodbye to my friends and family, and a home and a church I adored, to follow you to the ends of the earth. I thought it was my duty to make the most of the situation, and to stay as busy and cheerful as possible. I thought that was what you wanted! Was I wrong? If so, there is a simple solution. Book those tickets and we can be on the next plane outta here!"

His reply? "Damn, Becky! Did you have to go and make me laugh? Couldn't you let me enjoy my righteous indignation a little bit longer,  just this once?"

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!

THE HELP

Dearest Friends,

After more than a year in Sumatra, I still wasn't crazy about having staff, but I had learned to live with it. And, if I had to have a housekeeper, there could have been none better than our Asnah. What a jewel she was! My kids adored her, and I think she was pretty crazy about them, too. Because I didn't want them turning into spoiled brats who expected to be waited upon, the rule at our house had always been that Asnah could dust and mop in their bedrooms, but she was not to pick up after them or make their beds. That was their job. It wasn't until years later that one of them admitted to her picking up their toys all the time, and keeping it their little secret!

Asnah, Mrs., and Fatima

Another special person, who came into our lives that second year, was Fatima -- the baking lady! I still hadn't hired a cook, like most everyone else had, but when I heard about Fatima (that was her name wasn't it?) I just couldn't resist. You see, so much of what we take for granted in our supermarkets here just wasn't available over there, and therefore had to be made from scratch. Not just cakes, cookies, and pastries, but also pizza crusts, tortillas, even dinner rolls. Fatima could make all of these, and more!  I think she had a pretty long waiting list of prospective clients, but she happened to be best buds with our Asnah, who must have told her I was easy to work for (a patsy, in fact) so she squeezed me into her schedule. She came to our house every other Friday, if I remember correctly -- the very best days of the whole month, for not only were the aromas emanating from our kitchen beyond delicious, her presence always meant getting pizza for dinner that evening (a night off from cooking for mom!) and waking up to her sumptuous cinnamon rolls the next morning. Oh my my. Those cinnamon rolls.

One day that fall, Asnah came to me in tears, mumbling something about a terrible accident. A car accident? Had someone been hurt? Killed! "Oh no Mrs., a laundry accident!" As I mentioned before, our washing machine was a piece of crap, and it must not have dispensed all the bleach properly when she did a load of whites, for the color load that went in afterwards came out covered in white splotches. Compared to the horror I had been envisioning, this was not a big deal, but poor Asnah was so distraught, I thought I'd never get her calmed down!

After supper that evening, we were supposed to go up to the school yard to play volleyball with the older kids. John and I both decided it would be rather humorous if our whole family showed up clad in our polka-dotted clothes. We did get some good laughs out of it, but one woman actually said,"If she were my maid, she'd be out on her ass right now." I felt like telling her,"Well, if I were your maid, I'd probably bleach your clothes on purpose!" Jeez, people. Sometimes, you just gotta know when to laugh!

LETTERS FROM SUMATRA: SPRING BREAK

8th April, 1992

Greetings Friends and Relatives,

What's cookin'? I'm sure you will all feel sorry for me when I tell you that I have been without a maid or a driver for an entire week now (it's Lebaran -- the holiday at the end of Ramadan, when they finally get to quit fasting). I know you think I lead a disgustingly lazy life, and you're probably right, but the occasional week without staff keeps it all in the proper perspective -- i.e. no dishwasher, a clothes washer that doesn't work unless you stand right there the whole time and lift the lid every five minutes, no fresh fruit or vegetables unless you go to the deepest part of the market in Lhok Seumawe, where the smell of ripe durian is liable to have you tossing your cookies, and where we are not really supposed to go without our driver. Also, no frozen convenience foods, or even packaged mixes for that matter.  In fact, John and I were standing in the commissary the other day, and decided that there was not one single thing we could buy to make a quick, easy dinner with. It all has to be done from scratch, and that's providing you can even find all the ingredients you need. Right now one of our company planes is out of service, so they have cut out the weekly flights to Jakarta, and apparently that's where a lot of our groceries come from. So, the shelves are pretty bare right now. On top of all that, the kids have been on spring break this week, and it's been raining a lot, and most of their friends are away on trips. The moral of this story is, never stay home over spring break/Lebaran. Next year we are thinking New Zealand!

Mom, I got the packet of camp information you sent. Thanks so much. I think we will send Alexis for a week at Camp Betty Perot in mid-July. One of her buddies from here will probably go as well. The Hockaday and St. Marks day camps are just to #### expensive! Surely we will find something fun for Austin to do, there in town. I got a real nice letter from Prisi's parents this week. Alma included a little cookbook that some group there in Lafayette had done as a fundraiser, and it was called Tea Time Tasties. Looks like it's just our cup of tea! No kidding, the recipes really look great. It was sort of a neat coincidence too, because I had already decided to host a mother/daughter Christmas tea this year. It's still looking like John won't be able to go to Disney World with us, so we were very thankful when Kathy called and said she was game to take his place. I think we will all have a great time, except for poor John. Hopefully he will get to see Mike and Prisi though. I think he will arrive in Dallas on the 12th or 13th, and if I'm not mistaken, they will be there the week of the 14th.

Not much else to tell on this end. John needs to see a dermatologist in Singapore this weekend, to get another spot frozen, and we were quite thrilled for an excuse to go there on the company's dime (isn't that terrible, to get excited over your hubby's possibly cancerous spot?)! Some friends have offered to keep the kids for us, and I think John is really looking forward to getting away by ourselves for the first time.  In closing, I would like to share with you another tidbit from the never dull "Life with Austin" saga. We were sitting at the dinner table this week when, out of the blue, our six year old son asked "Do I have any anbrothers?" "I don't know," John replies. "What's an anbrother?" "Well, you know how Mom and Granny are always talking about their ansisters?  I just wondered, since I'm a boy, does that mean I have anbrothers?"

Well, take care, and write lots of letters!

A CHRISTMAS LETTER FROM SUMATRA

Sunday, December 1st, 1991

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from beautiful Lhok Seumawe!  Christmas came early for the Lane family this year -- on November 25th to be precise.  That's when our shipment from the States finally arrived.  If you can picture your whole family living out of a few suitcases for over three months, you can imagine our ecstasy at finally having all our "stuff"! (Becky was lost without her microwave, while John pined for his computer.)  It was difficult to decide whether it was more important for her to get the kitchen unpacked and organized, or to get the Christmas decorations out and the tree set up.  The Christmas tree won!

There is so much to tell, it's hard to know where to start.  There are thousands of things we miss about the States (El Chicos, Whataburger, the malls, movies...), and many things that are strange to us here (the public toilets, the language, the way people want to grab the children), but there are also many things that are wonderful.  On the whole, we think the move to Indonesia has been a good one for us all.

The school is fantastic, and with only 5 or 6 kids in each class, you certainly get your share of individual attention. (Alexis thinks she's getting more than her share, and is having to work twice as hard just to keep up!)  Another big plus is that John rarely has to travel on business now, and because everyone has household help here, we are able to be much more involved with the kids and at school. (John might even say "too much!")  In the three short months that we've been here, we have already had to do costumes and make-up for the school play, do the spook house for the carnival, teach cooking to pre-schoolers, teach Sunday school, coach t-ball, and plan the kid's Christmas program.  It's not that we are particularly dedicated either, it's just that with such a small community, everyone has to help out!

Living here is not without its hazards though.  While trying out the new pool floats that came in our shipment, John did get a bit of a sunburn last weekend.  He later talked to his Dad and found out that it was in the mid 20's back in Odessa.  Ah well, we all have our burdens to bear, I suppose.

We really would like to hear from everyone.  Becky promises to personally respond to anyone who writes to her, and not send one of these form letters.  John promises that Becky will answer all his letters also.

Well, we want to wish everyone a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

LETTERS FROM SUMATRA: 10/30/91

Wednesday, October 30

Dear George & Theda,

Thanks so much for the birthday card.  It got here in plenty of time.  I had a lovely birthday.  I happened to invite a bunch of ladies over to play Bunco that day.  One ended up bringing a cake, and several others brought gifts.  I guess Peggy Reeh had spread the word that it was my birthday!  

We had a blast at the kid's Halloween carnival Saturday.  I couldn't believe how elaborate it was, for such a small school.  John and I worked in the spook house, but our own kids wouldn't even come in!  The best thing about it was that everything was free, even the food!  Apparently they go all out on anything involving the kids here.

I took an all-day cake decorating class a couple of Saturdays ago.  It was really interesting.  I just wish I had done it about eight years ago, so I could have been making all the kid's birthday cakes myself!  John and I finally started taking Indonesian lessons together -- twice a week out at his office.  I think it's kind of fun, but as for your son?  Sheer torture!

They say our shipment should be on the next barge.  Yippee!  I'm a little worried, though, 'cause John is going to be at a school in Medan all next week.  Sure hope I don't have to deal with customs all by myself!  The following week the kids are out of school, so we are going to take a little R&R trip to Penang.  It's an island resort in Malaysia that's supposed to have great beaches and shopping.  Should be fun!

Well, take care.  Oh yeah, Theda, regarding your questions.  I don't remember ordering "Spark" magazine, but who knows?  Also, no, Chef D. was not in love with a man.  He was having an affair with another girl we worked with, even though they were both married and she has three children.  It's just so sad and stupid.

That's all for now.  Write soon.

MOVING TO MAYBERRY

Dearest Friends,

The area we now lived in was Aceh Province, reputed to be the most fanatically Muslim area in all of Indonesia. There had been more than a few periods of unrest here, over the years -- periods when the military took over and got out of hand, or when many Indonesians of Chinese descent had just been wiped out.  We, however, felt perfectly safe the entire time we lived here.  In fact, it was almost idyllic -- like being on the set of Mayberry R.F.D.!

Things had grown crazier and crazier back in the states, to the point where I was afraid to let the kids play out in our own front yard without me being right there beside them.  John used to get upset when he found them inside on the computer, instead of playing outside, on a pretty day.  He'd say, "When I was their age, I took off on my bike in the morning, and didn't come back until dinner time!"  I grew weary of having to remind him that our kids weren't living in the small-town Texas of the 50's!

Living on this company compound changed all that.  Suddenly we were able to turn the clock back.  Not only could the kids walk to school and to their friends houses, I could even turn them loose on their bikes, and let them go exploring!

Of course, events were to take a drastic turn for the worse a year or two after we left here, but that's a story for another time -- one that I will have to let Miss Peggy, and other friends who experienced it first hand, tell for me.