Sorry for the gap in blogging. We finally moved into our new house on the 12th February but were unable to get internet until 25th. We have also been attending parts of the MAF Asia Pacific Orientation course. We were exempt from some sessions as we did the European one in 2006. Some of it was interesting, but on the whole it was nothing that we haven't lived in the last 8 years. Daniel also did some security training as he may still travel to 'dangerous' places. One thing I did learn was about the Holmes-Rahe life stress scale that details 54 life events with their associated stress level as a number. For example death of a spouse is 100 and live/work in a foreign country is 50. Studies performed in the USA show that 200 points in one year put a person at risk for serious physical illness or a serious psychological problem. The average overseas worker has about 600 points a year. When I worked mine out it almost came to 600. It was kind of reassuring that it is probably fairly normally for me to feel a bit stressed out and mental some of the time. In fact according to that study I am doing OK.
The new house is great, although we came home on Thursday to a big sign on our door to say there is a dengue outbreak in our neighbourhood. 'They' are coming on Monday to spray the house. Dengue is not endemic here but it is brought over from other countries and spreads in the rainy season. I keep telling myself we lived in a malarial country for years so this should not be a big deal!! More stress!
I also managed to miss Caleb's birthday on the blog. Here are a few random photos I have taken recently.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you again, hope you've all settled into the new place.
If there are particular things you would like prayer about then do blog/e-mail. That last photo is a real cutie! Love Steve & Rachel.