Church in Cambodia

I'm currently in port in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. One of my fellow officers mentioned he had found a Cambodia church online, and was interested in attending a service. It sounded really interesting to me, and E've been missing attending a church, so I joined him. It was quite an adventure. First, we aren’t allowed to take taxis, so we had to walk to the church. We had some rough directions that we printed off the website (http://www.c3sihanoukville.com/), but they weren’t very clear. We ended up walking for almost 3 miles before we finally found it! I should not have worn flip flops. . . The service was nice; it was a very similar set up to Life Chapel (our church in Japan) – the pastor preached in English (he’s Australian) and then it was translated into Khmer. He spoke on money, and being wise with what’s been given to you. It was a good message, but the real incredible thing about the night was when we talked with him and some other Australians after the service. The church was started a couple years ago by the Australian couple: Ben and Cherie. They initially came to Cambodia several years ago and ministered directly to the villages in the area; not by starting a church, but living with them and building up a program to help children get jobs picking up trash, so they don’t get kidnapped and sold into sex slavery. I am amazed that they just picked up and moved out here, living in the villages with the locals. They even have two small children! That’s so scary! They had so many cool stories of God providing for them, and some of the congregation shared testimonies of miracles that God had done in their lives. The pastor was really likeable – he confessed that he initially didn’t want to go be a pastor (his wife really felt like God was calling them to South East Asia), but God worked to change his heart. He was really high energy – I guess he loves to skydive and snowboard and do extreme sports. Apparently the church has a location in Tokyo as well! Ben is actually coming to Tokyo in a couple months to speak. If you want to read more about what Ben and Cherie are doing in Cambodia, this is their website: https://www.benandcherie.com/

Helicopter Aircraft Commander!

I'm finally finished! I passed my HAC Board (with the CO, XO, 3 department heads, and the NATOPS officer) on Monday, passed my HAC check flight with the CO this afternoon, and now I'm officially a Helicopter Aircraft Commander.

Bathing in Coffee (and Red Wine, Green Tea, and Sake)

There are many things in Japan that are commonplace and totally normal to the Japanese that would turn heads in the U.S. of A. One of the strangest-seeming customs is the Onsen (pronounced own-sen). It's a public spa, separated by gender, where you bathe totally nude. Picture a stone jacuzzi. I can say from experience that they are really relaxing, especially if you've spent a day snowboarding/outside and then get warmed up and cleaned up in a giant spa. My sister (Lisa) who lived in Korea for a time, said that the Koreans also have similar public baths, so this is not merely a Japanese custom. This past Saturday, Kylee and I were able to go to a different kind of onsen, the Yunessun. This is a family-friendly onsen, where you can bring children, and is not separated by gender (don't worry, everyone wears swim suits). It's a perfect way for a westerner to ease into the idea of an onsen. It also offers a traditional Japanese onsen, with the standard gender-separated rooms. There was an indoor area, with kid play pools and fountains, and several different themed rooms. There were Roman columns, an aroma-therapy room, and a special Valentine's Day pool (complete with rose petals on the water). There was also a special pool filled with the "fish-doctor". You sit on the edge of the pool, dip your feet into the water, and small (1-2 in) fish will swim up and start nibbling away at your toes and feet! I guess they clean off all the dead skin and anything else that might be clinging to your feet. Kylee screamed. My favorite part was the outdoor area, Yu-topia. Although the weather was quite cold, the water was hot, so you'd have a nice contrast of cold air on your face while your core was warm. Additionally, Yu-topia offered pools filled with liquids other than water! They had coffee, red wine, green tea, sake, a natural rock pool, a charcoal heated pool, and a cold water pool (not sure who would go in that one). Every couple of hours they would have a demonstration of pouring the above mentioned liquids in their respective pools. I'm sure it's still mostly filled colored water, but still a cool idea! Website here: http://www.yunessun.com/english/