CLA Classroom: Brake for Chickens

July 23, 2017

Welcome to the CLA Classroom! These posts are designed to give an insider’s perspective on CLA (Culture and Language Acquisition) in Asia-Pacific. What does it feel like to be a foreigner in this country? What new sights and sounds assail us every day? How do people view us? How do we react to cultural differences? […]

CLA Classroom: Greetings

July 6, 2017

Business First

July 5, 2017

This post is a little late in coming, but business first: New Tribes Mission has officially changed its name to Ethnos360. The decision for such a significant change was years in the making, and the reason for it is to expand the reach of this organization, rather than allowing a thing as simple as a […]

Count Your Many Blessings

February 27, 2017

This collage tells a story that tweaks at our heartstrings as we remember the journey we have traveled over the past year. The picture in the top right was taken in March 2016 during our aviation training in Arizona. I (Carol) was four weeks pregnant, and we had just been told by our leadership at NTMA that […]

Toilet Paper and Traffic Patterns

November 2, 2016

It’s been almost three months now. Looking back, it’s hard to remember the first few weeks and our general state of overwhelm with a new culture, new surroundings, and new language. Not that it’s over–not by a long shot! But we’re getting more comfortable and beginning to figure out the flow of life in this segment […]

New Home, New Eyes

September 8, 2016

Yesterday marked exactly one month since we arrived in Asia Pacific. In that time, our vision has expanded significantly. During the first few days, we could only grasp information about three feet in front of us. We noticed things like shiny tile floors, dirty gutters, and flags decorating every street (we arrived around Independence Day). […]

Have You Ever Memorized a Tracking Number?

July 26, 2016

A typical USPS tracking number contains 22 numbers. I now have a string of those numbers permanently lodged in my memory, since we chose to purchase airline tickets to Asia-Pacific before receiving our passports and visas back in the mail from the embassy. Call it the newbie jitters, but we were on the edge of our seats for […]

New Territory (And Why We’re Not Excited)

July 7, 2016

As we near our departure date for Asia-Pacific, we are often asked, “Are you excited to move overseas?” We usually answer, “Yeah, we’re really looking forward to it! Can’t wait!” Truth be told, we’re not. We’ve both experienced our fair share of excitement over trips in the past. I remember high school missions trips and […]

Blood, Sweat, and Suitcases

June 13, 2016

It’s that time of year for us again…moving. Seems like a monumental task that happens at least twice a year in our lives. Sometimes we wonder why we even bother unpacking. Hanging pictures on the wall feels as futile as trying to turn a hotel room into a home for a few days. Living this way reminds […]

Geronimo!

March 25, 2016

Remember the old Disney movie The Rescuers: Down Under? There’s a part where the albatross, Wilbur, launches off a high-rise as he takes flight with the two mouse delegates. During the final stage of Jared’s flight training at NTM Aviation, he had to take off and land on a 900-ft. airstrip (small aircraft typically land on strips from […]