A New Blog...

Well my adventure to India has been over for awhile. It's a new year and I'm a new age so for those of you who still bother to check this page out for updates you can now come here for news on what's happening in my life. (www.nadine-janzen.blogspot.com) this way i won't have to keep making new blogs. i think i'll stick with one with my name for awhile. not sure how often i'll get to blogging. hopefully enough to at least keep you all informed.
love,
nadine

Home Sweet Home

The traditional pic in pjs in front of the tree..we have lots of pics like this from when we were kids and Dad made us take another one for old times sake

Steven, Mark, Calvin and I (notice how I am the shortest...they're my friendly giants)..i think everyone shot up when i was gone and so they think i have shrunk and everyone likes to make comments about how short i am...thank goodness for my friend Orisha whose comment was you are the perfect size to hug..helps make up for all the other comments about it.

at the Janzen christmas gathering with my dad and grandparents

Well I got home almost a week ago. Actually it will be a week in a couple of hours. How time flies even in this freezing cold Canadian winter weather. But I've been in Alberta for a couple days which even though it's cold it isn't quite as bad as the crazy Saskatchewan cold. But enough about the cold. I survived about 40 hours of travelling from Guwahati to Saskatoon including an unexpected delay in Denver. Another reminder that God still has me around for a reason was the fact that the airplane in front of us went off the runway on takeoff and injured 30 people. Anyways it's really great to be back and be able to spend time with family and friends at Christmas. I'm not sure where I'll be after January 10th. God knows I guess cause I sure don't. So far some of my options are living and working in Lethbridge, living and working in Steinbach, living and working in Saskatoon or Regina, living and working in just about any Canadian city, nannying somewhere, hawaii? southern usa? canada? who knows? anyways take care til my next adventure decides to report itself on this blog.

Love, Nadine

Siliguri, West Bengal/Nepal

Singing songs with the kids at a school we visited in West Bengal on our way to Nepal. Ray used to teach the guy who runs the school now. We sang "My God is so big" for those of you who don't know this song it goes...My God is so big so strong and so mighty there's nothing my God cannot do. So for the actions to so strong I decided to have fun with them and did like a really exaggerated muscleman pose and the kids all loved it, they were laughing so hard it was pretty cute :) and then they were trying to do it after and it was just adorable and really funny.

Autumn, Andrew, Laura, Me and Ellen waiting for the youth program to start

This picture was at the zoo a couple days before we left for Siliguri.

Hello there,

Well it's been awhile I guess. We went to Siliguri, West Bengal and Nepal (for about an hour or so) I rode a train. Everyone I know who has been to India always told me I had to ride a train there to have really experienced India and now I definately believe them. It was alot of fun. I bought some sweet Puma flip flops for about 7 bucks in Nepal. We met lots of people and got to do a kids program at a leprosy colony which was neat. We went to the West Bengal Handicrafts Expo in Siliguri and to a mall. At the mall I was freaking out to Autumn about how clean it was. I was just saying it over and over again, she thought I was strange. I'm definately in for some culture shock when I get back to Canada. Wilf & Laura Olson leave today to go to Delhi to fly to Canada tomorrow. It will be sad to see them go as we have all had a wonderful time with them. Becky went to Mizoram for Christmas with her friend on Monday so it's back to just the five of us. It will definately be different as Wilf & Laura have been with us for a month so we'e gotten used to being a family of 8 but with Autumn and Andrew around it is never boring. Some pictures uploaded! Isn't that cool! (I have to get excited about it cause it rarely works for some reason.). Anyways that's it for now and I probably won't post again for awhile so if I don't get around to it before Christmas, Have a very Merry Christmas!

Love,

Nadine :)

The Zoo, Tandoori Chicken and getting ready for Christmas

Well Ray, Wilf & Andrew left for Siliguri early this morning and the rest of us will join them on Thursday. It's been kind of fun to have some girls only time around here. Yesterday was a pretty full day, We went to the zoo and saw lots of animals. I really like the zoo in Guwahati because most of the animals are native to India so even though they are in captivity at least they aren't in captivity across the world from their home. I don't know if that makes any sense but that's the way my thoughts on that work. When we got to the hippos Autumn and I started singing Hip-Hip-Hip-hipipotomus(spelling?) remember that kids song we all used to sing. then we sang U-G-L-Y cause they definately aren't one of the most outwardly beautiful creatures that God has ever made. Yesterday night we set up our Christmas tree, drank apple cider, listened to christmas music and played cards. It definately helped get us all in the Christmas mood until you wake up in the morning and look outside with the sun shining and all the green trees and it's like +25 but the christmas tree now serves as a friendly reminder that the season for celebrating the Birth of our Savior is right around the corner. A few days ago we were all shopping at the Hub (a mall here) and I bought a cookbook. My conversation with the cashier went something like this:

Guy: You like Indian food

Me: yep

Guy: Do you know how to cook?

Me: No, do you?

Guy: yep...(flips through the book I'm buying) you should go try the Tandoori Chicken at..names restaurant a few blocks away...

Me: ok...will you write it down for me

Guy: sure

So today Autumn and I went and tried it. It was really good but a bit too spicy for my taste. my eyes were even watering :) but it was fun to go to a random restaurant and try a random food on a random guy's recommendation. I'm all about the thrill of ordinary adventures. So that's the latest happenings around here. I heard Western Canada finally got snow. Well I hope it lasts for Christmas you guys. Have a great day and look back next week for an update of our trip to West Bengal & Nepal since I probably won't blog before that unless something really exciting and out of the blue happens.

Love,

Nadine

P.S. Sorry my pictures never seem to want to upload so all you are left is with lots of words to read. I know it's not nearly as exciting and pictures tell stories alot better than I do. Sometimes Facebook works better so I guess those of you who don't have Facebook will just have to deal with reading these posts without pictures

hello there,
i climbed the mountain again today. it was a good time...sarat left today though so now autumn and i are depressed because it is the start of everyone leaving for a month. tomorrow is the last day of classes for the fall semester of the bread of life institute. autumn and i are going to get very lonely for all the students out there. we are learning an english song translated into japanese...it's pretty wonderful...not too much happening this weekend but next week we head out to west bengal/nepal for about a week so that should be a good time.
love,
nadine

Goodbye November, Hello Christmas (aka December)

2nd time up the mountain.

Mawia with the bird we cooked and ate...When they first started roasting it I thought they were just joking but we actually ate it..and it was really good.

It's beginning to feel alot like Christmas....well not really but it's the right month for it. Kalito wished me a Merry Christmas today so whether it feels like it or not the season to celebrate the birth of our Saviour is upon us and what better way to usher it in than with a sleepover at Kalipani :) Well I climbed a mountain again, did quite a bit of hiking, sat around a fire and listened to some guys tell love stories, ate lots of rice, played ball with some kids, sang songs, looked up at the stars, and made a bunch of good memories with the Bible students who are leaving on Friday for the break, some of whom won't be coming back :(. It's sad to say goodbye but there is youth camp in January which will be a great time to say hello to a bunch of new people. All in all a great time was had......love y'all...if you want to see more pics facebook is the place to be cause they aren't loading..and don't worry mom you don't have to get your own profile just ask your son to log you into his and you can get to my pictures from there...oh and you did figure out how to work the comments thing

End of November Fun

Hello there,

Well life's pretty great. I'm breathing and the sun is shining so it's a great day to be alive. Today Autumn and I and Kuldip went for a ride on Sarbanadah's motorbike. It was fun. Then Autumn drove Becky and me around in a rickshaw (with the help of a few Indian men pushing from behind :) Tomorrow I get to go stay night at Kalipani. I'm really looking forward to making a few more good memories with the Bible school students before they head home for Christmas holidays. (A couple of the ones I got close to will not be coming back) I played a "you don't know english and i don't know assamese" version of "run around tickling/tagging little children who will laugh and run away screaming and smiling" if you understood that you've probably been involved in such a game...if not you are definately missing out on one of life's most satisfying experiences. Yesterday we went to the science center and pizza hut...man life looks so much better from a non cooped up in the house standpoint...it's so much fun being able to go and do things and live again...it's so great! anyways i miss you all - let me put it into a perspective so maybe you can understand how much i miss you.

in the past just about 3 months I have spent about 7ish days with 1person between the ages of 14-35 and whose first language is english...does that help? don't get me wrong...i love india alot and Ray, Ellen, Autumn, Andrew, Becky and all the visitors we've had are wonderful and i enjoy their company a whole lot and I love all the Kalipani people but there's just something about people who share a language and a peer group with ya...so now that you know how much i miss you...i hope you have a wonderful day appreciating your friends and family that you get to see on a regular basis. oh and if you're on facebook i posted some new pics so go check em out

Love always,

Nadine

ya all the babies here tend to have that reaction to me :(
pineapples from our lovely pineapple lady
tea with wonderful friends!
new friends!
i can fully endorse this billboard :)

Manipur

I got sick, I ate pineapples, I met lots of people, I went to a WW II cemetary, a church, a monkey temple, saw lots of the rice harvest, went to one of uncle shyam's schools, watched a funny t.v. show a few times and sat in the imphal airport for a couple hours...it was a pretty wonderful trip. if you want to know more you better comment me :) maybe i'll tell you more later if you're real nice and i'm over my headache...

sorry no pictures..computer is being uncooperative...i've tried 3 times...so maybe next time..until then. take care and have a good day!

Here's hoping...

my life will one day become more exciting. i wrote a nice little post but it all disappeared...just goes to show it really didn't mean anything to anyone..i'm going to manipur in a few days..hopefully i will come back with more exciting stories than the ones i don't have right now...i'm going to the eye doctor tomorrow, we're getting company tonight, we're waking up early on sunday morning to go to manipur...yep...that's about it...i'll report back later. just a post to let you know if you don't hear from me for a week i probably haven't died, i just went to manipur

until then,
love from
nadine