The second term at KISC is officially over and I’m halfway done with my school year at KISC. It’s hard to believe how quickly time flies! It seems like just yesterday I was fresh off the plane. Now I’ve got a nice Christmas break to look forward to before I jump head-first into part 2 of my time here in Nepal.
KISC Excitement
The past few weeks at KISC have been action packed! We’ve had so many fun events and Christmas festivities. First was the annual KISC football tournament. We took half of a day and went down to the local football (aka: soccer) pitch, divided into teams, and had a blast cheering on the kids as they competed. This was especially fun for me because my team won (woot woot)!!
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| One team of players: Eunji, Steven, Seong-Hyeon, and Sebin. Eunji, Seong-Hyeon, and Sebin are three of my ESL students. |
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| Between games, Yedo and Seong-Hyeon discovered how to stick gummy worms to their faces :). |
It’s been so much fun anticipating Christmas at school, too! There seemed to be different Christmas parties, songs, crafts, and activities happening every day. During this past week all of my ESL classes were Christmas themed as we played language games surrounding the Nativity story and shared about our families’ Christmas traditions. The term finished with all the primary students playing Christmas games together, singing Christmas songs, and watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (the classic version).
A Nepali Nativity
The greatest KISC Christmas event, however, was the Christmas play. The entire school pulled together and put on one of the greatest Christmas productions I have ever seen. It was titled “A Nepali Nativity” and depicted what it might have been like if Christ were born in Nepal. The sets and costumes were all Nepali, Christ was born to Maya and Jiwan (Mary and Joseph) in a town called Besi Sahar, and we sang Nepali Christmas carols. The Year 4 students were adorable as they performed a Nepali folk dance and the Year K, 1, 2, and 3 students finished the program singing “Dhanyabad Yesu!” (Thank You, Jesus). The play was also a great mix of traditional and contemporary culture. The shepherds worshiped Jesus with some amazing hip-hop and break dancing moves and the Wise Men followed the star in true Bollywood fashion. It was an incredible way of showing how Christ came for ALL cultures and ALL people and is relevant for all times and generations.
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| Some of the main characters of the Nepali Nativity. |
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| The Year 4 students stealing the show with their Nepali folk dance. |
Now that school had ended…
Now that the term is over, however, everyone is dispersing very quickly. I’ve had to say goodbye to many friends who are off to different parts of the world for Christmas break. These are the easy goodbyes. I am also saying goodbye to a few people who I will likely not being seeing again. The hardest one coming up will be my friend, Amanda, who will be going back home to Australia.
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| Amanda - I'll be sad to see her go! |
Because most of my house-mates will be away for the next few weeks I’m going to live with my friend Stephanie in her flat for the Christmas season, which should be a really great time. We’re planning on listening to a lot of Christmas music, watching Christmas movies, and doing plenty of Christmas baking :). Stephanie tells me that Christmas in Nepal is actually really nice and almost a breath of fresh air. Because there will be none of the consumerist push that is always so prevalent in an American Christmas, the focus is purely on the gift of Jesus Christ.
May God RICHLY bless you this Christmas and may the focus for ALL of us be on Christ – the greatest gift :).
