Archive for September, 2010

“Well, hello there, my fine, furry friends from Finland! ‘Tis just me again. My, oh my, where do I start?! Sooo much has happened this week and it’s been awesome! I am still in China enjoying the squatty potties! =P

“We had lots of crazy bus rides! =D There are people that smoke everywhere you go and also drink. =( There are lots of people that stare, and, yes, I’m grinning as I typed those items. =)

“One day, my group was on our way to find a lake and some kids our age stopped and asked where we were going. They wanted to take us there on their bikes. =D Not pedal bikes, more like little motor/dirt bike type things. So we each hopped on the back of a bike and away we went.  I am pretty sure I grinned like a peacock the whole way there! It was AWESOME! Needless to say, I probably weighed the same amount as the girl and the guy together that I was on the bike with. =) They are so skinny and small, they make us all look big! Most of the time there was only two to a bike, but later on we had up to four on a bike.  Imagine that! (Grin). We decided maybe we should bring the bike trend over to the states (LOL). Can’t you just see Sara, Brandon, and me hauling around Plain City on bikes? He,he!=D

“So the rest of the day, we chilled and hung out with those kids. They took us to one of their houses for supper. It was amazing just hanging out with friendly kids who we could barely talk to, but we still managed to communicate here and there with motions and a little phrase book. Some of them had very interesting hair colors/hairdos with tattoos and piercings. But you know what? In His eyes that doesn’t make a difference. We are here to MAKE a difference in their lives! We left the main girl a ‘gift’ that will hopefully impact her life, as well as all her friends’ lives.

“I keep ‘yarping’ for all those kids and trusting Him that He can turn their lives to Him. So, yeah, that day was definitely a highlight of the week!

“We ‘yarp’ walked to many villages this week and each day I felt like we had accomplished a lot and covered a lot of ground. Even though, we can’t see change, we can still trust.

“Another highlight of the week was sleeping in a Muslim home for the night.  We were ‘yarp’ walking and they invited us in for drinks and then made us supper. They then invited us to sleep there and so we showered and started playing ‘do-dee-ju’ with them (a card game that Andrew taught us and they know how to play, so that definitely helped with the language barrier!).

“It was a very interesting night!! Sara and I got um, welllll, ummmm…’back rubs’…if you could call it that. (LOL) Mother, I wasn’t going to tell you until we got home where I could just show you pictures without saying anything, because you would have a heart attack. If this says anything, then you can still see the effects of their ‘special kind of back rub’ all over our backs. It looks like we got a beating. =/ It actualy felt good, for the most part! But then, towards the end, it was a little much. It was a grand experience in itself. =)

“Anyway, I’m amazed and will always be amazed at the hospitality of the people here.  Everywhere we go, we get invited in for tea or food. It is something that people back home could benefit by aquiring the habit. =) They give us everything, when they have nothing. Our way of living is so different.

“Last night, we slept in a hotel that wasn’t the most fit and it didn’t smell very good. As Sara put it, ‘we slept on a rock for a pillow.’ =) But He is good and, hey, we’re not out on the street sleeping! It makes me thankful for what I have!

“We’ve been having fun eating with chopsticks, playing do-dee-ju, laughing our heads off, ‘yarp’ walking, passing out candy and balloons to village children, and giving ‘gifts’ to our hosts and others.  It feels so good to be doing something worthwhile. =) You all are missing out! =)

“Tonight we go on a sleeper bus overnight and join up with the other group tomorrow.  I can’t wait to see them again. It’s going to be a grand reunion! (Grin). Anyway, this is forever long and once I get started I don’t stop. =P I hope I didn’t bore you guys into falling asleep. Have a good one!   —Just Jill”

Jill is on a mission trip to China and several other Asian countries through Global Tribes Outreach. She will be gone the entire month of September and will return to the United States with her friends, Brandon and Sara, on September 30. In October, you can ask her all about her travels when she returns to Plain City Druggist. Please keep Jill and her friends in your prayers as they ‘yarp’ (pray) walk throughout the countries they visit. You can read all of Jill’s adventurous emails by going under “PCD Staff” in the “Categories” box on the left side of the blog.  You can also email Jill at juzjilly@gmail.com

If you try to do everything that is being offered on Saturday, September 11, you are going to need all day Sunday to recuperate from too much fun!

First off is the Shekinah Festival and Auction, which actually begins Friday, September 10, with a 7:30 pm concert by Jonny Diaz, a Dove Awards nominee for Best New Artist of the year in 2010. Admission is free to the concert and some food stands will be open during the evening.

The rest of the festival gets underway at sunrise on Saturday the 11th with hot air balloon rides and breakfast beginning at 7 am. Pancakes, sausage, coffee, and donuts will be some of the mouth watering breakfast items available. As always, there will also be lots of other food, activities for children, and many homemade items for sale. The much anticipated auction gets started at 10 am with the furniture and crafts portion. Plain City artist, Jim Converse, has donated a hand carved piece featuring bluebirds perching on an axe. The hand-quilted quilts will be auctioned at 1 pm. Many of the auction items, including the Converse bluebirds, can be viewed on the web site.

This is the 31st year for “The Biggest Little Festival in Ohio,” which is the main way Shekinah Christian School raises money to keep their tuition rates affordable. Please stop by and support them.

After you’ve had your hot air balloon ride and stuffed away a few pancakes, you might want to head to the “Game Day 5K Run and Walk” at Glacier Ridge Metro Park (if you can waddle after loading up on goodies at Shekinah). Check-in begins at 8 am with the race beginning at 9 am. This race, which is sponsored by the United Way of Union County and Jerome Village, allows every participant who finishes to enter into a raffle to win a pair of OSU FOOTBALL TICKETS. Additionally, former OSU Quarterback Craig Krenzel, 2002 National Champion, will be available to sign autographs. The walk/run will take place on the paved trails through Glacier Ridge. If you wear an outfit or costume supporting your favorite football team, you might win an award, as well, for “team spirit.” For more information and to register online, go to: United Way of Union County

After sprinting the 5K, you can then meander back to Plain City to participate in many activities associated with the Union County Covered Bridge Festival. Quilt displays, a visit with Tom McNutt, NBC 4 Garden Expert, and much more are on the agenda in Plain City for the day from 9 am to 4 pm. Additionally, in Marysville, you can take a covered bridge bus tour or visit the “FestiFair: Arts, Crafts, and Antiques” in the uptown area. You can also stop by the Marysville Public Library the whole month of September to see their Covered Bridge Exhibit. For more information, call the Union County Convention and Visitors Bureau at 937-642-6279.

As we already mentioned in an older post, The Plain City Historical Society will also be hosting a Perennial Plant Sale on the sidewalk outside the Historical Society (111 West Main Street) from 10 am to 4 pm.

If you are not exhausted by the end of the day, it won’t be from lack of things to do.

The Plain City Library has started The Plain City Writer’s Forum for amateur writers of adult and young adult fiction. There will be no meetings as everything will be done online. Submissions will be made at the first of the month, beginning in October. You submit and critique other submissions via a blog that has been set up especially for the Forum.

Space is limited to make this a more interactive group. You must register with Chris Long, the discussion moderator, at clong@plaincitylib.org if you would like to participate. You must have a current email address. Once you have registered, you will receive guidelines and access instructions for the blog.

Currently, there are only three people signed up for this group (two of which are me and Chris Long). So if you have any interest in this, please do contact Chris. We hope to not only critique and write, but to provide each other with support and information on writing, agents, publishing, and more.

Below is a list of books the library currently has pertaining to writing. If you click on the name of the book, you will be sent to the library’s catalog and you can reserve the book.

The Plain City Lions Club now has the 2011 Entertainments Books on sale for $25. These books contain hundreds of 50% off and 2-for-1 coupons for things you do every day: dining, groceries, shopping, movie tickets, travel, special attractions, and much, much more. The books contain coupons that provide over $16,000 in savings. And while you are saving, you are also helping the Lions Club with this yearly fundraiser.

Buy your books now at the Hardware Store, here at Plain City Druggist, Plain City Chiropractic, Advanced Eyecare, Miller Family Chiropractic, and Schrock Automotive. These books make excellent gifts and with Christmas less than four months away, it is never too soon to begin shopping.

Anna, our August pharmacy student, is now doing a rotation with the Ohio Pharmacist’s Association (OPA). She will return in April 2011 to Plain City Druggist and has promised Veronica Taylor that she will attend the Lion’s Club Auction during her spring rotation with us.

One way that we always knew Anna was around was by her happy whistle in the compounding lab. I told her before she left that we were going to miss hearing her lively whistled tunes. She assured me that our next student, Jimmy Byun, was even happier than she was.

When I told Jimmy what Anna had said about him on his first day, he said she had set the bar too high for him and now he would feel like he had to dance around the compounding lab. As you can see from the photos, Jimmy is so happy to be at Plain City Druggist, he is dancing (Jimmy even told Anna that he would be dancing this month).

Jimmy is a fourth year pharmacy student at The Ohio State University. He will graduate next year and soon after will be a “two-stepping” pharmacist.

Jimmy didn’t always have a future so good that it made him want to dance.

Jimmy came to the United States from South Korea in 2000 when he was only 19. His family had no money and no idea what they were going to do. Jimmy enrolled at Ohio State and ten long years later is about to embark on a career where he will not have the same worries he came to the United States with.

Please welcome Jimmy to Plain City Druggist. He will be with us the whole month of September and again next March. If his career in pharmacy gets too boring, we know there is always a job for him at Radio City Music Hall (we hear the Rockettes are looking to add a pharmacist to their line up).

By the way, how does Joe get all of these students to perform with such style? Whatever his secret is, it helped him get Preceptor of the Year!