A Story about a Monkey

I'm glad you're stopping in to see what my little corner of the world looks like! I am in Southaven, MS right now, preparing to leave to go to Indonesia to teach at an international school. As you think, stop in for a few entertaining stories and to get a look at the "Krystle-spin" on the world:)

I am at "PFO"- pre-field orientation- for two weeks and am learning some neat stuff! I am going to share a story that one of the presenters told us, basically explaining why we should be at training and the frame of mind to enter into while here.

"In the jungle lived a monkey- he was a very nice and caring monkey. He liked to have fun, and also really cared about everything around him. One day, it began to rain- it rained and rained for days. Because of the rain, he had to move to another area of the jungle. It didn't matter though that he had to move- there were still trees, still food, still things to climb on. In the new area he went to, the jungle floor was flooded. He climbed to the top of the tallest tree and sat there for a while. The monkey sat there through the rain and stayed there watching the land dry up from the floods. One day he noticed there was a fish that was struggling- the water level was so low that the fish was flopping crazily around in the little water it was in. Quickly the monkey sped down the tree, grabbed the fish, and carried it over to the dry land. He put the fish on the ground and since he saw that the fish was flopping around even faster, he assumed that the fish was thankful! Eventually, the fish calmed down and stopped moving. Content with himself for helping the fish out of the water, he left. He was glad to have helped the fish."

I think that is a neat story because it makes me think so much about intentions. I can go somewhere with the best of intentions, but if I am not knowledgeable about others around me or situations they may be in, I may end up hurting them more than helping them! By participating in training, I hope that I learn great ways to help my students and guide them to thrive in the culture that they are in.