New Year's in New Zealand

Wow! Here it is New Year’s Day 2009 in Queenstown, New Zealand, and we’re halfway through our South Island adventure already. Time has really flown-by. We arrived here in Queenstown in the afternoon on New Year’s Eve in a light rain and checked-into a very nice two bedroom unit at the Blue Peaks Apartments in plenty of time for our 6:00 p.m. cruise across the lake on the TSS Earnslaw for a fabulous buffet dinner at the Walter Peak Farm. After dinner we were even treated to a sheep-shearing demonstration prior to arriving back “home” at the dock at 10 p.m. From our apartment we had a great view of the Queenstown fireworks display at Midnight!

Our 2008 Toyota Camry rented from Budget has served us exceptionally well, with plenty of room for the four of us and lots of luggage space in the trunk. From Christchurch we drove to Kaikoura on Christmas Day but were disappointed when our 12/26 dolphin-watching trip was cancelled due to rough surf. Fortunately we were able to book a similar trip out of Picton where we spent some time watching a pod of Dusky Dolphins (a smaller variety) cavort around the boat. Our main event the next day at Abel Tasman National Park was a sea kayak trip (double kayaks) which turned out to be a lot more work than we’d bargained-for, especially in paddling against the wind. Weather, however, was clear and the scenery spectacular.











Rugged coastline scenery—not too different from the Oregon Coast—was the order-of-the-day along the west coast when we stayed overnight at Hokitika and Haast, visiting the famous “Pancake Rocks” at Punakaiki and both the Franz Josef and the Fox Glaciers.


Even though it was partially cloudy, weather was clear enough at all points for good photos. While the glaciers are retreating rapidly due to global warming, it’s really impressive to see massive glaciers so close to sea level. (By the way, since New Zealand is 18 hours ahead of EST, we were able to watch the ball drop in Times Square at 6 p.m. on New Year’s Day!) - rw

Christmas Eve in Christchurch

It was great to meet Gary and Susan Fawver at the airport in Christchurch early on Christmas Eve, check-into our B&B for the evening, have dinner and then walk to Victoria Square to take-in the annual YMCA outdoor "Christmas Carol Sing."
It was an inspiring experience to join with thousands of others in a beautiful outdoor setting to sing the familiar carols of Christmas. - rw

In route to New Zealand

On Saturday, December 20th, we took the bus to Singapore and spent three delightful days with Mario and Beth Saez, Felipe and Sofia. Downtown Singapore -- especially Orchard Rd. -- was decorated lavishly with Christmas lights, so we both took a free tourist bus down Orchard Rd. to see the sights. Also, we couldn't pass-up walking into the lobby of the famous Raffles Hotel in order to capture a picture of Nsncy in front of their Christmas tree.

One "adventure" while in Singapore was riding on the famous "Singapore Flyer" which is pictured above. Our ride was uneventful but we learned the next day that a glitch in the system had caused the ride to shut-down with all passengers trapped for six hours in the glass-enclosed cars, requiring some to be lowered to the ground by rappelling!

In just a few days we packed-in quite a bit of sightseeing including a visit to the famous Singapore Botanical Garden and Orchid Garden. The hybrid orchid pictured is called "The Nelson Mandela Orchid" as a remembrance of a visit of his to Singapore.
We owe a great debt of thanks to Mario and Beth Saez for their wonderful hospitality. - rw

An Early KL Christmas

On Christmas Eve both of us expect to be standing outside in Victoria Square, Christchurch, New Zealand to take-in the annual YMCA "Christmas carol-sing." All hopes of a white Christmas are gone, however, since it will be summertime down under in New Zealand. (But, we're sure looking forward to the trip!) Meanwhile, here in Kuala Lumpur we celebrated Christmas early with Doug, Tracy, Reeve, Gabi and Rania on Thursday, Dec. 11th which happened to be a Malaysian holiday. "Christmas Dinner" featured Nancy's traditional menu with ham, twice-baked potatoes, frozen fruit salad and frozen ice cream/oreo dessert.

The day before our family Christmas gathering, December 10th, was Gabi's 5th birthday which we duly celebrated with birthday cake and presents.

On Sunday afternoon the 14th, Doug's family was able to "re-locate" back at their home in Bukit Antarabangsa since the temporary access road to bypass the landslide had been considerably improved. - rw

Yes, Christmas is approaching!

Here it is the 7th of December, so it must be time to get ready for Christmas! Thanks to Nancy's careful preparations, the entry way is decorated (pix above), the artificial tree is up, having been purchased for "a song" from the previous resident of our condo apartment, and most of our '08 Christmas letters have been dispatched via Malaysian airmail. Nancy was able to purchase the skirt for the Christmas tree from an ISKL Christmas bazaar that offered quilted products made by women in Indonesia working for Agape, a Christian organization that channels all the sale income back to the quilters.

On this first Sunday in December we are hosting Doug and Tracy, Reeve, Gabi and Rania at our place for a few days after a disastrous landslide up in their neighborhood (Bukit Antarabangsa) that knocked out electricity and blocked the only access road to their house. At about 5:00 p.m. yesterday I picked them up -- all of them muddy after walking out on a jungle path with only what they could carry on their backs. With borrowed clothes from the kids of fellow teachers and with the help of our washing machine, things are okay for now. Providentially, they were in the process of selling their Jeep and were able last night to reclaim it temporarily. Otherwise, they would be down here without a car. As I am making this posting on our blog, the other Woodwards are still down at KLCC after all of us attended the children's Christmas program at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. (Notice Gabi and Rania as "sheep"! Mary and Joseph are in the back.)

Thanksgiving '08 in KL

Yours truly was caught with a mouthful of food when Nancy snapped the picture at ISKL on the evening of Thanksgiving Day as we joined others from the Middle School teaching staff at an end-of-the-day pot-luck Thanksgiving feast. (Thurs. was a regular school day at ISKL, but turkeys were cooked at school and all of us brought an abundance of salads, vegetables and dessert to complete the meal.)

We had gone to the same event last year when Levi & Ramona Willits were with us. At that time Ramona used her famous recipe for tasty mashed potatoes which we managed to duplicate this year. It was a fun event, and needless to say there was plenty of food.

Our second celebration of Thanksgiving was two days later on Saturday afternoon when Nancy had invited a gathering of 19 (!) including 14 of us adults and 5 kids. Reeve, Gabi, Rania and Rex Inskeep had their own table, with Phoenix Inskeep situated right by his Mom.

Again, it was an occasion with no shortage of food. I cooked the turkey and Nancy prepared the mashed potatoes, but for the most part others contributed the rest of the meal including pumpkin, apple and pecan pies. Everyone seemed to thoroughly enjoy the event and our hosting role was made much easier with the help of Mary, our part-time household helper for the month of November. Unfortunately, Nancy is not pictured anywhere since she took on the role of "staff photographer."

With Thanksgiving celebrations behind us, we had an interesting experience with modern technology late on Sunday morning after we had returned from church. In talking to Mark and Tasha in Maryland on Skype we discovered that they were watching the Oregon "Civil War Game" on TV (U. of Oregon vs. Oregon State). Mark focused his laptop computer (& Skype camera) onto the TV screen so that we could watch the game as well! Sound transmission was poor but the picture was fine! Sadly, OSU was soundly defeated, ruining their chance, in all likelihood, of representing the Pac-10 in the Rose Bowl on January 1. - rw

Teaching Perks

Resort in the Rainforest

One of the joys of working at ISKL is getting the opportunity to go as a chaperone on student trips. This weekend I went on the IB Anthropology Field Trip. Thirty-one students and four teachers went to Terak Besa for the students to learn about the Semelai people. They are indigenous people who live along the banks and surrounding forest of a wetlands called Tesak Bera. ISKL students visited the local school and interviewed students. They explored the rainforest and village.-- Nancy
We took a boat ride through the wetlands, did the traditional dances, tried weaving, saw rubber being harvested, and the students had to study some. The students also acted out myths of the Semelai People which made for lots of laughs.

The Election here in Kuala Lumpur

Since we're now 13 hours ahead of EST in Malaysia, the election returns started coming in right at about 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday morning. As a result, the American Embassy had booked a large ballroom right downtown at the classy Renaissance Hotel to host a "U.S. Election Party" especially for other embassies as well as business leaders in Kuala Lumpur. A large-screen TV was high above the stage, and a smaller TV had a row of chairs in front of it for the more dedicated. Both were tuned-in to CNN International. A select group of Americans were invited to the event, the ISKL advanced placement U.S. History classes were there, and I had volunteered with the American Assn. of Malaysia to be on site to answer questions about U.S. politics. So, when I arrived, I was outfitted with a crazy "Uncle Sam hat" that would designate me as someone who might be able to answer questions! It was fascinating talking to people from many different nationalities and fielding questions about U.S. politics. Not long after 9:00 a.m. Pennsylvania was announced for Obama and sometime later, Ohio. So, by that time the election was pretty-well over.

U.S. Ambas-sador Keith was present from 9:00 a.m. until Noon and spoke briefly to the group. Catered food was in abundance, along with tea and coffee. The whole ballroom was elaborately decorated with red-white-and-blue. A "mock election" was even held, with the only rule being that no Americans could vote! Out of 200+ votes cast, 88% went to Obama! - rw

And then there's Halloween!

But, how in the world do you sort-out the candy and see what prize items you actually have?

We had exactly one group of trick-or-treaters knock on our 3rd floor door on Halloween here at Hampstead Rise. It just happened to be three dear kids we know quite well -- Reeve, Gabi and Rania. Ours was the last stop before bedtime for them after they collected quite a bit of loot from the homes of other ISKL teachers out by the school.



Alas, by the time Reeve got to our place his pirate hat had been relegated to to the car, meaning that "Grandpa the Photographer" (no relation to "Joe the Plumber") was not able to get the full effect. It was great having them stop-by, however. (Grandma Nancy missed the occasion since she had volunteered to chaperone students at a Habitat for Humanity "40-hour fast" down at the ISKL library.) - rw

St. Andrews Church Retreat

Last spring Nancy and I were the first ones to sign-up and pay our deposit for the church retreat at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, held over the long week-end of October 25-27 at the Swiss Garden Beach Resort just north of Kuantan on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
Under the general theme of "Living Out God's Purpose," the speaker, Pastor Ooi Chin Aik, spoke on six different occasions from the book of Acts. Food was very good and the worship singing was enthusiastic. The meeting room (pictured at the bottom) was very well appointed, and the use of Powerpoint facilitated both the singing and the main messages.

One of the more humorous elements in the week-end was that Nancy and I had decided long ago to ride the chartered church bus up to the resort rather than drive our car. So, we arrived at the church shortly before the appointed time, Saturday, 8:30 a.m. (The bus was scheduled to leave at 9:00.) Everything went well until the bus got off the east-west toll road near Kuantan. From there we proceeded a while until it became apparent that the bus driver didn't really know how to get to the resort! After turning around twice and using a cell phone, we managed to stretch the estimated travel time from 4 hours to almost 6.
One fascinating sidelight of the retreat was that many different Malaysians (mostly of Chinese ethnic back-ground) asked us about whether we had voted in the U.S. election coming-up next week. As a result we had the opportunity to explain how absentee ballots work in Marion Co., Oregon! (One guy at the retreat told Nancy that he thought everyone in the world ought to have one vote for the U.S. president since he is obviously the most powerful figure in the world!)

All in all, it was a very interesting experience. It was our opinion that the speaker took way to much time to cover his material; however, the content was solidly biblical, with a strong emphasis on prayer and mission. - rw
P.S. - The black golf shirts in evidence everywere were part of our registration material and had the church logo and "St. Andrews Presbyterian Church" on the front, with the retreat theme on one sleeve and "Kuantan 2008" on the other.