Maligayang Pasko or Merry Christmas,
We are back in Minnesota for the holidays after almost a full year in the Philippines. We have all enjoyed the experience, but at the same time, it makes one appreciate the country and life that we have here in the USA!
The experiences the family have embraced and endured range from good food to strange food; good weather to bad weather: friendship to loneliness, security to fear; beauty to dilapidation.We have experienced may new foods, and although the preparation and presentation may not be what we are used to, we have found some new favorites. At our company picnic this year the main course was lechon, which a spit barbecued whole pig. It is presented whole and then cut and chopped up as you eat it. The heads are saved for a later delicacy. We have become big fans
of lumpia (local egg rolls). The seafood is very good and fresh there, although we are not big seafood eaters. The fish is served whole, (as opposed to filleted), so that takes some getting used to. The local wet markets are where you can go to get fresh meat and fish, all displayed in raw form. It is an olfactory and visual experience to go to these markets. We also are able to get a taste of the imported goodies from IA (Blue Bunny ice cream) and WI (Johnsonville brat at the local warehouse club.We have lived through a couple of new natural experiences, in the form of earthquakes and typhoons (or hurricanes as we know them). We had 2 large (5+ on the Richter scale) that could be felt in our area, although we only felt one of them.
As you may have seen or read, the Philippines were hit with some serious typhoons in November and December. Four storms passed through within about 3 weeks, and the cumulative affects became disastrous due to the build up of moisture in the ground. Landslides on the hillsides swept away trees and mud wiping out entire villages. The most severe storms passed about 100 miles from the house, and we lost power for 8 hours one night, so we played games by candlelight.
In general though, the weather there is very nice and very consistent. Our range of temperatures have been lows in the mid-70’s to highs in the mid-90’s. The monsoon (rainy) season provided consistent patterns of daily rains, but not all day rains. It has been quite a shock back here with the below zero morning we had today. As opposed to the 2 seasons of winter and road construction we have here, they have the wet season and the dry season.
We have met a lot of great people, literally from all over the world. So many people are in the same situation, here for a short period of time and then gone. It is nice to have someone to share the local experiences and frustrations. Being so far from the friends and family at home is difficult for everyone. We miss the get-togethers, annual events, birthdays, graduations etc. That is when it is most difficult to be so far from home. Thank goodness for the Internet, email and instant messaging. We can still be connected to the US in so many ways. The time difference can make it tough to communicate directly, so email works nicely.
We have done some traveling locally, but prefer to have some of the locals with us when we go to new places. Even though we feel generally comfortable, we are always aware of the surrounds and levels of security that exists in the Philippines. It can be unnerving seeing a guard at the local convenience store greeting you at the door with his sawed off shotgun at his side. The village we live in has 24 hour security and access control. Shopping malls generally have guarded entrances with full bag checks and frisking as you enter.
The Philippines has much natural beauty to enjoy. About 20 miles from the house is the Tagaytay area. It is a volcanic crater that has a lake (Lake Taal) in the middle. Then there is a volcanic cone in the center of the lake that also has a smaller lake in the middle of it. It is considered an active volcano, although it has been centuries since it flowed. They have recently issued warning about hiking in the area as there has been some increase in seismic activity, as a hike up the inner cone is a popular day trip. 
Being an island, there are many beautiful beaches. The closest to us is about 2-3 hours away by car. We flew on an 1 8 seat turboprop) to another island (Boracay) in October with LeAnn’s mother Lois, sister Sue and brother-in-law John. It has a 1 .5 mile long fine white sand beach. We took a banca (outrigger) boat ride around the island, tricycle (motor bike with side car) inner island tour, snorkeled, relaxed, and greatly enjoyed ourselves. There are over 80 million people in the Philippines and a high unemployment rate. You see a lot of poverty as people eek out a living. There is a lot of areas that are very run down, and there is very little money to improve conditions. Despite the living conditions, Filipinos are generally a very happy and giving people. Seeing the conditions makes us appreciate the life we have in the US.
Our summer vacation brought us to Phuket island in Thailand. It is an island off the west coast of the main land mass. Our photo was taken on an elephant ride during an island tour that also included a visit to a rubber plantation and a river canoe ride. We spent a day at the beach playing in the high surf. We then went back to the US, with LeAnn and the kids home for about 6 weeks this summer. 
As for the family, we are all fine. Mariah is now a teenager, enjoying 8th grade in middle school and testing her independence as often as she can. She is still involved with soccer, trumpet in the band, and has become very active in the local youth group at church there. She has made some good friends there, many of them local Filipinos, so she has picked up some of the language, but especially a local accent.
Kara (10) is in 5th grade. She has taken up the clarinet in band. She is also playing soccer and joined the computer club at school. At home she is still a voracious reader, and likes jumping on the trampoline and swimming. 
Hailey (8) is in 3rd grade. She is a night owl and keeps us on our toes all the time. She has continued soccer and has played in some local tournaments as part of the boys team. She likes to keep busy with a couple of friends in the neighborhood playing games and having sleepovers. 
The kids attend Brent, an international school with about 700 kids in Pre-K through 12. It is about 20 minutes away. They have bus service to and from school, with activity buses an hour and 2 hours after school. With only having a single vehicle, that has been a great advantage for all of us. LeAnn does a lot of volunteer work at Brent School. Besides running the house, she is also taking water aerobics, and golfing. There is a large community of foreign wives who get together often for various activities, both social and service oriented.
Ray is kept busy with work both locally and with teleconferences back to MN in the evening. He still has found time to golf 2 times a month (all year long!)
Ray’s parents are doing well. It is a little quieter for John and Karren without 3 of their grandchildren close by, hut we are able to keep in touch. After celebrating her 100th birthday last January, Ray’s grandma broke her hip this summer and is recovering. Because of that, Nanny has moved out of her house and into a nursing home. LeAnn’s mom is once again making her annual trip to AZ to enjoy the nice winter weather. Lois got a late start this year after her trip to visit us. She is still golfing on the local course down there a few times a week. We hope that all of you have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.