Happy New Year, Welcome to Micronesia!

And Merry Christmas too, everyone! Thank you all so much for your lovely messages on my blog, and for the letters and gifts I received in the mail in Madang! They all mean so much to me, and I love getting to read notes and letters from everyone! That's all I get out here, and it means the world to me! So thank you! (Matt, I didn't get your package, so hopefully when it arrives they will forward it to China, or Japan!)
I know it's been a long time since I last updated (way too long - I'm sorry), but now I have so much to tell you! Papua New Guinea (PNG) was fantastic, although the internet availability there was just as poor as I imagined it to be, which is why I haven't been able to check my emails and post a blog in over two months! But here I am now, sitting comfortably in a private room at the "Truk Stop Hotel" in Chuuk (pronounced "Truk"), which is a group of Islands in Micronesia.
Rewind a few months: We left the Solomons in mid-November, and arrived safely in PNG, where we enjoyed a month and a half motoring around the islands, and ending in Madang on December 14th, where we spend a week shopping, working, preparing for Christmas, and then left the dock to anchor at a quiet little bay to spend Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Boxing Day, away from the "city". It was a lovely Christmas - by far the hottest one yet (it was up to 52 degrees Celsius!), but we all enjoyed swimming, snorkeling, and water sports during those days out on the water. It was very busy and tiring - all you Mothers can imagine cooking for 37 people, and such big meals for the holidays! But it was all worth it, and we had a great time, as a family on board the Pacific Grace for Christmas. There were times when some of us missed home and our families and friends, but as long as we realized where we were, and that we're all there together, we were able to encourage each other and lift eachother up. I am, however, very glad the holidays are over, and we have started a new year! We arrived back in Madang in time for Leg 4 trainees to disembark, had two wonderfully relaxing days off at the Madang Resort Hotel (in our air-conditioned room!) and then were back on the boat by December 31st to welcome on new Leg 5 trainees, and begin a new leg and a new, completely different, phase of Offshore, in the New Year 2008!
It was a great start to a new leg, with the first night being New Year's Eve, and we tried to make it as festive as we could; I made pizza for dinner, and then had snacks for everyone for a little "midnight party" (chips, pop, popcorn, nuts, and cookies). Karen and Sarah made New Year's crowns for everyone - blue, pink, and green - and each of us got noise makers, so we rang in the New Year as best as we could. We saw a little bit of "fireworks" from the other boats (they all lit off their flares), and we sounded our boat horn as a party boat motored by us. It was fun to know that we were one of the first time zones in the world to ring in the New Year, marking the end of my shortest year ever (we lost a day crossing the Date Line), and the start of my longest year to come (2008 is a leap year, plus we gain a whole day when we cross the Date Line again, on Leg 6).
We just spent a week on the open ocean, sailing to Micronesia from PNG (yes, that's right, we have actually been able to sail for the first time in over 2 months! We hadn't had any wind since Vanuatu!) It was lovely sailing weather, and although many people got seasick on the first night out on the water, everyone got over it pretty quickly, and got their "sea legs". Hopefully it won't be too much worse on our long passage to China (from Guam, through Okinawa, and then to Shanghai). I have heard that will be the worst sailing weather that we will go through, in terms of weather, so I will be relieved once we get through that. But I am mostly excited to get to China and Japan. I have been most looking forward to those two places ever since I found out about this Offshore trip, and now we are finally coming up to them! It is so amazing! Forget about digging holes - I'm sailing on a boat to China! It will be so different after 7-8 months in the South Pacific Islands, in such small communities, to be arriving on mainland China, where the culture there is so rich in comparison, and such a big city, on the biggest continent, such different people, lifestyles, etc...! I am really excited for it all, and I am reading "Red China Blues", by Jan Wong, just to get accquainted with a bit of Chinese History before we arrive. I am also hoping to learn a bit of the Chinese language from Gillian (as she was in China in the summer of 2006) and Japanese from Jordan (who lived in Japan for nearly a year on a student exchange in his grade 10 year). It is an added bonus to have their Asian knowledge and expertise on board, and I hope it will help me when I go to the markets to buy food, and shop and look around the cities! We are also planning two 1-week trips to Beijing by train, to stay in China's capital, and to climb the Great Wall! I hope that all works out. We are hoping to do it in two different groups, so half the crew and trainees can stay on the boat for one week (I will cook straight for one week), and then we switch for the second week. We are hoping to arrive in Shanghai in time for Chinese New Year (February 7th), but as our schedule is so prone to change, and our arrival depends on weather, we will just have to wait and see. We may be there for 2-3 weeks if everything goes according to plan.
As of now, we will be in Micronesia probably only for 1 or 2 more days, perhaps leave sometime on the weekend and head up North to Guam, which is a few more days' sail away. We have all been looking forward to Guam for quite some time now, as it is American, so we can use U.S. currency (which is what Micronesia deals in as well!), and we can actually find recognizable items, such as yogurt (possibly?!), normal meats, good cheese, produces, apples, oranges, etc...! Already in Chuuk, we have seen brand names such as DeGiorno (a few of the guys bought a pizza yesterday), Doritoes, Minute Maid, Cheerios, and cans bigger than 425ml!!!!! Oh, man! The things we miss when we're away from home! Maybe Gillian and I will finaly be able to open only 1 or 2 3-kg cans for dinner, instead of 15-20 miniature-sized ones! It's a tough life out here...sometimes.
So, that is all exciting, to see some things we recognize from home, but I shouldn't get used to it. After all, we are heading to China and Japan, where I won't even be able to read labels. Oh well, that's all part of the experience, and I am really looking forward to it! Apparently, according to Gillian, the food markets in China are incredible, and I have only seen the most amazing pictures of Shanghai at nighttime, so I am really looking forward to actually being there and experiencing it! So much history in that city! AND, that's where Mission: Impossible III was filmed! Alright!
There's not much else I can tell you, other than I'm doing well, I'm feeling good, I have a new focus and a fresh outlook for this year and the remainder of Offshore, I am feeling more challenged in my role as cook, and I feel even more encouraged in my job onboard the boat as a crew member and facilitator of the SALTS program, to serve others as Christ serves us, and to challenge them in their lives. I had a fabulous conversation with Skipper, just to recap the first half of Offshore, and it really renewed my vision and my purpose for why I'm out here, doing what I am doing. I feel better prepared and I have more energy and purpose for doing a great job and being there for others. Ever since that conversation, I have had the most amazing interactions with some of the trainees on board, and I am really looking forward to the remainder of this Leg - the longest Leg of Offshore, at 79 days! Also, I am counting down the days until we get to Osaka, Japan (our final destination of Leg 5), as that is where Jeff, my brother, is coming to meet us! (Karen ends her contract with SALTS then, and so Jeff is flying out to meet her there and they're going to travel around Asia together). I am so excited to see him and I am counting down the days until I get to see him! Only 68 days left! But I don't want those days to go by too quickly, because they are the last days with Karen, and it will be a sad day when she leaves. But then I get to say Hello to Jeff and some new trainees, and that is always new and exciting! Everything in it's own time...
So, until then, I will continue to enjoy myself and be challenged in my role on board. I remember why I'm here (it's not for me, this is a service for others, and I am here for them), and I feel much for confident and comfortable with that in mind! It is a great opportunity, and I feel very blessed and fortunate to be a part of such a wonderful and amazing program! Guam, Okinawa, Shanghai, Beijing, Osaka, here we come! That's it! Then it's all smooth sailing home - through Hawaii, where we've already been! Wow! A full circle of the Pacific! That's almost hard to believe! But we've done it. Well, we're doing it! And it's great. I am continuing to learn something every day, and I am always being challenged and having something added to my life in a beneficial and most enriching way! This trip is definately teaching me patience, perseverance, self-sacrifice, and time management, even more so than before! God is good, and I owe him all the credit! The people are amazing, and I honestly can say that I would not be able to do this trip without them, nor without such an amazing crew!
Thank you, everyone, for all your love, support, prayers, and thoughts! I am feeling your love out here, and I can't wait until we are all united again! Only 5 more months - less than halfway! I am so excited! I love you all soo much, and I miss you more than you know (Matt, you the most!)

Love and kisses to everyone back home! See you in June!
Love always, Sailor Katie :)