“Life is unbelievably insane right now. I don’t think I knew what it meant to be busy until classes started two weeks ago.” — Ellie J., an ELIC teacher in Laos

It’s not uncommon to feel this way at the beginning of a school term. We always seem to anticipate that it’s going to be crazy, but as school starts, the busyness seems to come like an unexpected tidal wave.

One of the beautiful things about the EQUIP program is that it prepares recent grads for what’s next in life; whether that is long-term overseas, or working as a professional in your home culture. 

The ability to engage in the busyness while enjoying the present is truly a life skill. As Ellie teaches in this busy season, she's also reflecting and finding things to be thankful for. She has sent us her top five favorite things about Laos in no particular order.

"I could write a much longer list about Laos,” she told us, but we’ll have to wait for another time and place for that.

“Hello, Jon-a-sin!” Cia Nan greets me with a large smile and a friendly wave.

“What do you want?” she asks. Her husband looks up from his wok and also smiles and nods.

Dear Cambodia,

Today I’m traveling back to Asia. After a sleepless night, I woke up this morning with a paralyzing thought… “Who does this?” Who in their right mind flies halfway around the world for a job? Who crams their life’s possessions into two suitcases like some kind of high-stakes puzzle game? The answer: me. I do this. And I think I might be a little crazy.

One of the great joys of living and working overseas is the opportunity to build friendships and interact with the local culture. This creates many opportunities to learn and expand your thinking. This is especially important as a foreign English teacher. But what do you do when these friendships are hard to come by because of uncontrollable circumstances? This was the case for one of our teams in Cambodia. Here’s their story:

Her name is Lin.

We know because we asked.

We asked because she walks by our house nearly every day.

She walks by our house every day to collect trash.

Sometimes she’s alone.