Distance Education

Last semester Brad worked very hard in editing and submitting a grant which would allow us to get the equiptment we need to enhance our distance learning capabilities at PIBC. It seemingly took forever to get it approved. But finally in the beginning of April, the first portion of money for the grant was received and in almost lightning fast speed, especially for Guam, the 88 computers were ordered and they arrived yesterday. Brad will be working with our part time IT guy this summer configuring these machines correctly for our use. This is great blessing for our school.

Where's Melissa?

The other week the prayer meeting was at the Boydstons. Brad's favorite color is "Shrek" green. Not thinking, I wore my "Shrek" green pants (A bargin from Ross that are very comfortable) that day and I blended into to the walls in their apartment.

You Never Know

Living at work is a different experience. The students really have access to you 24 hours a day. Seven days a week. You never know who is going to be at your door and what they will want or need. Even though the students have learned for the most part I am not an early morning person - Especially on Saturdays - This last Saturday morning, there was a loud knock on my door. One of the students was "bushcutting" the lawn (They don't mow on Guam.... not sure why.) and he found a kitten. He wanted me to take care of it. Since I adopted the stray puppy, maybe he thought I was interested in starting my own animal house???? Anyway the kitten was adorable so I took it to meet my neighbors kids. (Ned took the picture.) Since I just didn't think I could handle another animal - especially one with fleas..... I drove it to the animal shelter - GAIN (Guam Aninmals in Need) where hopefully they will get rid of the fleas and find it a nice loving family. Stray animals are a HUGE problem on Guam, especially Dogs. Stray Dogs are referred to as "Boonie Dogs" and they roam the island looking very nasty and some of them being quite mean. Several of our staff members were bitten by Boonie dogs this year.

PIBC 2 minutes of Fame

Copied from Brad's Blog. Not sure why of all the things on Guam, they decided to single out PIBC but they actually found and used our actual Logo in the TV spot.

As seen on TV

PIBC was prominently featured in an unexpected place the other night -- Comedy Central's the Colbert Report. It provided a chuckle or two.

We came out looking a lot better than Guam's Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo. Apparently, no one bothered to tell her about Stephen Colbert (who thinks that Guam is in the South Pacific) and the Colbert Report. It appears that she thought that she was being interviewed by a television journalist.

Happy Days Are Here Again

Today I was able to pick up my computer...... not only were they able to save my data after my computer crashed but they actually saved the computer some how for a mere $68. Of course it is $68 AND I have to reload much of my software. However the price for saving my grades and my pictures and not having to buy a new computer was well worth it.

Thank you all who were praying.

Good Neighbors

Here is Guam I have very good neighbors. The Farnsworths. Ned, Marisol, Joel (3) and Amelia (1). We share stuff. They invite me for meals sometimes and vice versa. We play games together and watch movies. We share holiday traditions like at Easter we made Resurrection rolls together..... And now after six months of promising I finally helped Ned to set up his own blog.

Farnsworth Forum

You will see a picture of me and PeeVee taken by Joel. After being gone six hours, PeeVee has come back to campus. He does not seem to know that this is not his home. I am thinking that the kids that took him were not the original owners but were the reason that he was missing from school for the first time he disappeared.

I am thinking of renaming the dog Boomerang because every time he disappears he seems to find his way back to campus.

Loss

This is not my week. On Monday evening I came home and was checking my email. My computer was going very slow. Finally the "blue screen of death" appeared. Something you can reboot and then everything is fine. But not this time. I have had my share of computer problems and tried at least 5 methods of restarting my machine but it would not start up again. The last message stated that it did not find a hard drive. For those of you who are not technical - this is a very bad thing when you are positive that there is a hard drive. The really bad thing is that I have not taken back ups well since I have been here. There always seemed to be something more important. Just the other day I thought.... "I better take back ups." I planned to do it this week. Unfortunately not before my machine crashed. I took the machine in to the professionals to see if they can retrieve any of the data. Much data for my class and most of my pictures are just now gone unless a miracle happens. A bit sad but at this point there is nothing I can do.

Another loss is PeeVee (The Dog). Once again he is gone. This time some neighborhood kids were walking by and said - "Hey that's our dog." He seemed to know them and willing went with them without a leash. So off he went. I was sad to see him go - this time permanantly. But I was concerned since Amelia (my neighbor) - was getting bitten by fleas since PeeVee arrived and nothing seemed to control them. So I actually was on the verge of trying to find him another place to live any way.

Hopefully the next thing I lose will not be my sanity..... oh wait..... I think I lost that awhile back.... Oh well....

Interestingly, the pastor at the church I attended preached on 2 Corinthians 12 which Paul talks about how we go through trials of many kinds but God's grace is sufficient for us. I am thankful for God's grace in all things.

Leaving on a Jet Plane!

Something else that happened in the last week is that I finally picked and arranged my flight home. I will be flying home on Thursday May 31st. I will be looking forward to see all of you and visiting with you. I be back in the "States" until the end of the first week of August and then at this point I plan to return for another year..... Lord willing of course since I have to raise support again to continue.

I hope next semester to find a place on Island to get my feet wet with a little more counseling since I can't really do much on campus since being the Disciplinarian and the Counselor is a conflict since people will not be able to be open with you if you can also discipline them. Of course I don't want to put in too many hours since my job as Dean requires a lot of my time.

I will be staying in Reading with most of my time home but I will be coming down to Philly for visits on a regular basis throughout the summer.

It's Amazing.....

How quickly time is going. Less than a month to graduation. I have 2 more classes to teach and the final.

This week was extremely busy. I had 2 homeworks to grade and a five page paper. Then I had to prepare for class.

In some ways I really enjoyed class. Of course I enjoy working with the students. However I have the opportunity to do that as Dean as well. I love when I read their assignments and I get to know them better or I see that they understand things. This last batch of papers was on the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. They were to report on their temperament (or personality) type according to the book. Artisans, Idealists, Guardians or Rationals. Then they were to give me insight into their lives to show me how the test either accurately portrayed them or ways that the test seemed to not quite fit them. Some of the papers were excellent and I was very excited.

Unfortunately being and Dean and trying to teach - I feel that both jobs were not done as well as I would have liked. There was never enough time in the day - and even on my "day off" I was often found preparing for class or grading. I am so ready to be done and to get some rest. I am glad the end is in sight. Next semester I will not be teaching - I will be glad just to have time to hang out with the students more.

He's Back!

On Monday afternoon I was sitting in my apartment and I heard a noise outside which sounded like a dog crying. It was a dog crying. It was PeeVee. He had a rope on him. Someone had tied him up. But he came back to see me. Unfortunately I was on my way to take the students shopping so I didn't do anything about it and he was gone by the time I got back.

The next day around lunch there was a knock at my door. One of the students was there and PeeVee was with him. I decided to tie him up so he would stay and we could take care of him.

The last couple of nights I let him sleep in my apartment so he would not keep barking all night. Turns out that he was house broken. However he keeps waking me up in the middle of the night to either go out or to play since he often sleeps a lot during the day because of the heat. It is a bit like having a baby. Last night after the third night I just put him outside after we walked the campus at 4am.

A lot of the students and some of the faculty and staff were also glad to see him back. One of the guys came over with Peter when he heard that the dog was back. He told me that the guys were praying that God would send the dog back because they saw how sad I was when he was gone. I was really touched that they could pick that up and that they wanted me to have the dog.

We are not sure how old he is but I am a bit afraid that he might look like Marmaduke when he is full grown. Seems like he has grown quite a bit in the last couple of weeks already.

Homework Reading Links

This week we are learning a bit about Personality Disorders. You can read along with us if you like. Follow the following links.

Homework Reading 1

Homework Reading 2

Homework Reading 3

Dog gone Crazy week.

PeeVee the Puppy has disappeared. He spent most of yesterday afternoon sleeping in my apartment with me. But he went out in the evening and no one has seen him since. My neighbors said when they saw him it looked like he was limping and bleeding. Although they said he didn't look too bad. Either way he was not here in the morning at my door. He did not follow Ethel around when she fed the other dogs. Their were no additional missing slippers (AKA FlipFlops). All things which are not normal since PeeVee has showed up and decided he lived here. Hopefully he will still return but so far there is no sign of him. Of course he did have a collar when he arrived here so there is always the chance that the original owners found him again.

I am still fighting a virus and this week I ended up with back spasms. I never had them before but I have to say that the term is very descriptive. It made it extremely hard to get almost anything done. Today I do feel a little better. My back is no longer in spasms but a little sore. I am a bit afraid to move. I put heat on it and stretch it out a bit when I can. And I have to say an Apple a day does nothing for me.

Only 4 more weeks left in the semester. There is a lot of work to do before then. Especially for class. This week I have to grade a couple of assignments in addition to preparing for class.

Can you believe it?

Break is almost over! I can't believe it. It seems to have been very busy. Besides being sick, I was involved in transporting students - especially the Chuukese students to church activities/services almost every evening.

I also still had my regular responsibilities of getting groceries for weekend food and food for the break.

I did accomplish the ominous task of getting done my taxes, but I didn't get anything done for my class. So now instead of getting ahead as I had hoped, I am behind. Sheesh.

Last night I helped my neighbors dye eggs, make resurrection rolls, and watch the old movie, "Easter Parade". A fun way to celebrate the holiday.

Today is Easter..... besides church - nothing much going on here which seems a little weird but I am not feeling all that well with an extremely bad sinus headache. So it is no big deal.

Appropriately enough "Ginger", the campus chicken seems to have hatched babies. It is fun to see the little chicks. PeeVee, the puppy who has somewhat adopted me, wants to play with them but I am not sure they really grasp that concept when he is chasing them.

Anyway I ruined yet another memory card for my camera. I bought software to try and recover the pictures. If I get some - I will post them later.

I wish you and your family the happiest of Easters.

He is Risen!

Break Down

Last night Peter and I were dropping students off at a Church service about 45 minutes from Campus. Hiob arranged that only one van was needed for pick up and the church would transport the other students back. Since it was Ned's birthday and I was supposed to be having cake with the Farnsworths - I was going to drop and leave. Peter thought he might stay. So I took off right away after dropping. One student who just went for the ride noticed that the van seemed to be shaking. We stopped and looked at the tires. I couldn't see anything. So I decided I could go to a gas station or go back and find Peter whose cell phone has died. So I turned around to head back when shortly he passed me going the other direction. Fortunately we both saw each other and pulled over. I only noticed because the new Van which had been plain white until yesterday had Pacific Island Bible College on the side. Peter looked at the Van and he didn't notice anything either so he agreed to follow me. We were driving along and the shaking actually stopped. I thought hey we are in the clear. We stopped at a Red light and all of a sudden I noticed that the Van had no power. I was able to turn onto the side road but could not quite make it into the Mobile station. Orginally it looked like I was out of gas but that didn't make sense since it was full. Peter pushed the van into the Mobil station with the other van because even in neutral and 3 guys from the mobil station the van would not move. It appears it is a problem with the alternater. Peter took Percia and I back to campus and planned to pick up the van today. Fortunately that van was not needed to pick up the students.

Flat Stanley Returns to PA

On Flat Stanley's last day here, we did a little sight seeing.

Picture 1 - Flat Stanley looking at Tumon Bay

Picture 2 - Flat Stanley at Latte Stone Park - Stone only found in the Marianas Islands thought to hold some type of shelter.

Picture 3 - Flat Stanely & the Pope. This statue was resurrected in commemoration of the Pope's visit in 1981 - the first and only visit by a Pope to Guam. It rotates once in a twleve hour period. 85% of the Island's population is Catholic.

Picture 4 - Flat Stanley in a Spanish Canon left over from the Spanish occupation of Guam

Picture 5 - The Chocolate House. This is part of a Spanish Governer's Palace. Apparently Hot Chocolate was served here in the afternoons.

Spared Once Again

Typhoon Kong-Rey changed directions and pretty much completely missed Guam. We had a little rain and some light winds but really nothing of Typhoon proportions.

Also apparently we were under a Tsunami watch again. This also again proved to be a miss. Although because of the geography around Guam (i.e. Coral Reefs and the Mariana's trench) - it is my understanding that a Tsunami of huge proportions is highly unlikely.

So at least for now all is well.

Typhoon Kong-Rey

Although not a Typhoon yet, Tropical Storm Kong-Rey is expected to reach Typhoon strength sometime tomorrow. The current computer model has the eye of the storm missing Guam but we have already started to experience some winds.

Either way it is expected to be more of a "banana typhoon" which only causes minor damage (Knocking banana trees down) and windows don't necessarily have to be boarded up.

Tomorrow morning we will meet and determine what action plan we will put in place for the storm.

For those of you on the east cost - A Typhoon is basically a Hurricane in the pacific.

Heges here!

This morning we had a Palm Sunday Service on Campus. Our friend and former boss George Hege gave the message. This morning his son, Nate also arrived from Korea where he serves as a helicopter pilot in our Army. It is good to see people from "home".

PeeVee

This puppy seems to have adopted us at PIBC. He had a collar when he first came to us so he must have been someone's dog but so far no one has claimed him. He is very friendly and cute. I decided his name should be PeeVee which are the intials of our maintenance supervisor who is leaving after he graduates this year. I am not sure why Peter is not flattered??? At least he is a cute and friendly dog. :o)

PIBC Days

Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow are PIBC Days here at the school. Yesterday all the pictures I took were lost when I accidently destroyed my memory card. So here are pictures from today's activities and fellowship time which was lead by the team of which I am a part. I have to say I have had great fun over these last couple of days. They remind me of my old youth group days quite a bit. As you can see from the pictures Flat Stanley is having a good time too. He helped cheer and keep score during some of the games. Today's games were just basketball and volleyball. Yesterday was mostly races and relays (some of them quite silly such as spinning around with your head down on a stick) I don't think any one made it back to the starting line without falling down at least once.

Flat Stanley's Adventures in Guam

Today "Flat Stanley" arrived for a visit from Pennsylvania. He has arrived to visit Guam so he can tell his friend, Bethany Pierce, all about it. It is part of a school project that Bethany is doing. Today I introduced him to some of my friends at the bible college. Then I took him to the biggest Kmart in the world. Of course it doesn't look much bigger, but I explained to Stanley that it has a basement the same size as the store above so they can store plenty of merchandise since everything has to be shipped in from the states.

Special Chapel

This past week on Wednesday was the beginning of the board meeting which ended today. To start of the meeting there was a "special" chapel. The Men and The Women each did a special number. The Board members were welcome. And Peter preached. Then all the faculty, staff, and the board enjoyed a nice lunch of Hot Dog Goulosh. A very interesting choice. But it wasn't actually as bad as it sounds.

It was especially very good to see my friend and old boss George Hege. I even volunteered to pick him up at 1am.

Spring Break

Less than a week to Spring break!!!! Wahoo!!!!!

Afterward only 5 weeks left in the semester..... Can you believe it?

Me either. Lots to do before the end, but I am looking forward to the break and the opportunity to catch up on my work for class.

Board Meeting

This week is the last week before Spring break. It is also the PIBC Board Meeting. Board Members from around the world will meet to talk about the future and direction of the school. I am looking forward to it.... Not just because we are having a special chapel and Peter is preaching (which I have heard he is good but I have not heard him preach before) And we will have a nice lunch with the board members. But I am excited to see one of my friends, George Hege who is a friend and the previous director of Liebenzell USA global missions who will perform his last official act from his prior role which he resigned in August 2006. The only thing that would make it better would be if his wife Linda were coming along for the ride.... but I will be excited to see someone from "home". So excited in fact that I promised to pick him up from the Airport at 1am.

Class Update

Midterms did not go as well as I would liked but I realized as I was making the test that I had covered much more material than I realized. Of course this being the first time I taught I am learning many things in hindsite. So in the end I had to curve the scores so that the range of grades were more reasonable.

This week the students are presenting on their temperament type as per the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. A personality test based on the Myers Briggs Indicator test. It groups the 16 personality types into 4 Temperament. Very similar to the DISC personality inventory and a few others that I have taken.

Unfortunately there are no students who ended up in the "Rational" -Very Intellectual/ Logical and Non-Emotional personality type. This does not surprise me too much since Micronesians are very relational and the those with a Rational personality type tend to be more of a loner. Of course I am sure there are probably some of that type that exist but not in the 24 students in my class.

However what this does mean is that I am not off the teaching hook for this week completely. I will have to present on the last temperament type. Although hopefully this week I will spend my time preparing at the pool. :o)

South Pacific

Last Saturday I went to see the Musical South Pacific. It was put on by the high school GATE program. This is an Arts program which brings together the Youth from all the high schools on Guam. Over all the musical was entertaining. In general South Pacific is not my favorite musical but it was well done for High school. Some parts - like the part of Bloody Mary was just well done period. However it was a bit weird to see Asian, and Islanders play the parts of the American Soldiers and the French man. There were a few Howlies (The local word for White people :o) in the play but most were in minor roles or the chorus.

Since there is not much in the way of the Arts here on Island - even High School productions draw a pretty decent crowd.

Oh Yes.... Some of you may remember me talking about Betelnut.... for those of you who also remember South Pacific - there is a Song about "Bloody Mary is the girl I love".....there is another line in the song that states that Bloody Mary chews Betelnut.

Vog

Today I learned a new word. And you guessed it! It is Vog. This is when Volcanic emissions combine with Fog. I have never had a use for this word before but this is the second time in less than 2 weeks that we have had Voggy conditions on the Island due to a volcano on some island near Saipan. It smells somewhat like rotten eggs. I am told there is also smoke due to some fires some place in Asia. Either way it just stank around here today and people were advised to stay indoors.

Leaping Lizards

This week as a group of guys were trying to eliminate a "Burn pit" outside of my apartment since it is now illegal to burn - they found this monitor lizard. He was pretty neat looking but I was not so anxious for him to stay were he was.

Friday Afternoon Shopping

Starting at about 1pm on Friday afternoon until about 7pm. I start shuttling students around shopping. From 1pm to almost 4pm, we go grocery shopping for weekend food for the students in the dorms. At 4:30pm we head to one of the two main shopping centers. This week we went to Guam Premiere Outlets. Here are some of the students who went with me.

Weekend Hangout

This little video store is about 4 miles from the school. On weekend nights often a van full of students will go with Peter to rent and return movies. I will also go on occassion, although this semester preparing for class often keeps me too busy to rent too much. Plus I get free rentals from Blockbuster when I drink Diet Coke. :o) The mystery is what will happen in the Fall when Peter goes back to Holland. Will the students still be able to get there and rent videos? Will U.A. go out of business without Peter? Hmmm.... I suppose only time will tell.

Tourist for a couple hours

On Wednesday, my "off", I decided to go to Tumon, the one area on island really made especially for the tourists. There are a bunch of high end stores including Cartier, Rolex, Fendi, Birkenstock, etc..... We even have a Planet Hollywood and a Hard Rock Cafe. For the most part I just took a stroll. But I did treat myself to a visit to "Underwater World". It is not as big as the Baltimore or Camden aquarium but it is quite delightful. You actually walk through a tunnel built through the aquarium. I also happened to see divers in the tank feeding the sharks and the MantaRays so they did not eat the exhibit. It was fun. I wanted to go for a swim but it was a bit too chilly. The woahs of winter on a tropical island. :o)

Suppose you were taking my midterm

Here are some things you would definately want to know......

When I passed out chocolate in class I was demonstrating or illustrating a behavioral concept from B.F. Skinner...... what was it?

In class I poured water from a full glass glass to another glass which was not full. You might want to know what cognitive (piaget) concept that illustrated.

You also might want to know what 4 factors effect observational learning.

Of course there are other things you will have to know....... but well these might be something you might want to know.

What's Wrong with this Picture?

You are probably wondering what is that big black object in the photo. It is not something magically floating in air. One thing I have learned is that Micronesians love to laugh and so they are always being silly and playing jokes. As I took this picture when we were waiting at the airport - another student told me to count to 3. So on three when I snapped the picture, he threw his "slipper" or flip flop to all you state siders into the picture.

Happy Birthday Sharon!

Today is Sharon's birthday. A number of her friends threw her a party and were nice enough to invite me. It was very nice.

Sharon is the leader of the student discipleship group that I attend. She is very sweet and smart. It is always a joy to spend time with her. She is always very encouraging to me.

So once again sweet Sharon, Happy Birthday! Apparently Ektor (one of our male students also had his birthday today. - Unfortunately I didn't know this until almost curfew and I didn't get to wish him a happy birthday - So Happy Birthday to you too Ektor.

Crystaleen's Vacation

Crystaleen left this week for a two week visit to her home island in Chuuk. I took her to the airport on Sunday. Chrystaleen always makes me laugh and is a huge help to me understanding the different cultures and the students. I miss her already. :o(

PIBC Travelling Ambassadors

Every Sunday there is a small team of students which travel from church to church and really are ambassadors for PIBC. They usually lead most of the service with music, testimonies, skits, and a short lesson. They are really quite gifted students. I am most regularly their driver - although sometimes I just drop them off and go to my church (especially when the service is not in English) and pick them up when they are finished. This last Sunday they went to Tamuning Christian Fellowship. As always they did a great job and were well received.

PIBC Clean Up

During the end of March and the beginning of April there is a big competition on campus to celebrate the founding of the school. Apparently there are sport's competitions, and times of spiritual renewal. There will aslo be food and all kinds of other fun activities planned for that time right before spring break. Or so I am told never having experienced a "PIBC Days" in the past. This year there is also a new competition. The campus has been split into 3 section and each team of students (There are 3 teams) have been assigned an area. They each are supposed to do work on a section of campus and "Beautify it"..... And during PIBC days the different areas will be judged. The students have been taking it very seriously and have been working pretty hard. These pictures are of Team "B"..... I will be part of Team "A". But I have stolen these pictures from Peter's blog. :o) I have no idea what he might have said about them since his blog is in Dutch.

Time for Midterms

Although some classes have already had their midterms, I take my midterm literally and have scheduled it for next Thursday March 15th which I calculated as the exact middle of the semester. Although those of you who are familiar with my math skills realize that it is not necessarily the case.....but regardless March 15th it is.

This week I am trying to prepare a study guide and plan to spend some time in review for the midterm during class.

Pray for my students that they might be diligent in their studies that they might be able to understand what they need to know for the midterm.

Discovery Day

I was listening to the Radio this afternoon while driving the students around and the DJ was talking about a 3 day weekend. I didn't have any idea what he could possibly be talking about. But Lo and Behold there is a Guam Holiday called Discovery Day on Monday.

Discovery Day symbolizes the landing of the Portuguese captain-general Ferdinand Magellan at Umatac bay on March 6, 1521. Sailing for the Spanish crown, Magellan stayed for three days on Guam before resuming his quest to circumnavigate the globe. A re-enactment and mini-carnival is held every year in Umatac around March 6, much to the delight of young and old. This year it is Sunday but the 1st Monday is the official government holiday.

We don't get the day off of school but aparently the DJ gets the day off. I will be curious to find out who else will be closed.