Author Archives: connieinasia

After over 32 hours, from a 4 a.m. flight out of Indianapolis to Atlanta to Incheon, Korea to Vientiane Laos, I am finally here!! What a relief to have my luggage arrive (100 pounds full of gifts, clothes and personal … Continue reading →

5) Decorating the House My mom and I hunkered down to decorate the house for Christmas. We started by digging through the carefully labeled bins in the garage. 6) The Christmas tree hunt at Danke’s, our nearby tree farm. 7) … Continue reading →

The countdown begins: I have less than 24 hours before my new life in Laos begins. What have I been doing to prepare? Let me give you the updates! Marking off my “To Do” List 1) The first has been … Continue reading →

To all those who made my mom’s birthday special, thank you so much! She received 41 cards in total. I had hoped for 25 so 41 is a bonus — definitely a well-deserved haul! We started out taking Bridget for … Continue reading →

(This article has been published in area newspapers. Connie Wieck is a Marshall, Illinois native who will soon be leaving for Vientiane, Laos.   She will be assuming duties as Coordinator of the Sunbeam Vocational and Language Center, which serves … Continue reading →

Retracing the footsteps of Charles and Louise Killie brought about my recollection of more China stories from years past. These happened to be from the Canadian Methodist missionaries who founded the church I attended in Luzhou. Those missionary founders were … Continue reading →

The voicemail from one of the Clark County Historical Society members was a surprising one. “Connie, this is Edie. I’m putting together a cemetery walk as a historical society fundraiser. Different people will portray a Marshall person of interest who … Continue reading →

So let me give you the updates from here and what is happening with poor, yet highly determined, Connie.   My Halloween Night passing out candy to over 200 Trick-or-Treaters was to be my send-off to the neighborhood, the last … Continue reading →

“Connie, you’ve been approved to go to Laos. Do you accept?” My reply? “I do!” That email came 5 months ago, leaving me excitedly hopping about the back room (my tiny living space in my mom’s house) in anticipation of … Continue reading →

That welcoming phrase, in both Chinese and English, has been a constant “ding” on my cell phone. After almost 4 years, I finally announced my return to Luzhou in my China WeChat moments, a platform somewhat similar to Facebook and … Continue reading →