Johnny's Introduction

Hello! Muli Bwanji! Ça va! ¡Hola! Guten Tag! Confused by all these greetings? From left to right the languages are English, Chichewa, French, Spanish, and German. What do all of those languages have in common? Every single one of them I use daily. My use of English should be pretty obvious, since that’s my native language. Chichewa is the language spoken here in Malawi, so knowing the basics is pretty important. French, Spanish, and German are all languages I’m learning, and they all have some importance to me. Sadly, I’m only completely fluent in English, but my hope is that in time my knowledge of the rest will come. To back up a little my name is Jonathan Babcock, I’m 15, and I live in Malawi, Africa. For the past 6 years our family has been here as missionaries to the locals. Its a life full of crazy adventures, and the purpose of this blog is to share those adventures with you! We have a family of six people. Besides my parents, I have two younger sisters and an older brother, Chris, who is co-author of this blog. I was born in a small town in Ontario, Canada and I lived there until we came here to Malawi. A lot of people ask me what conveniences I miss most about living in Canada and the answer to that would probably be access to easily cooked meals and fast food. It can make life a lot simpler, but the good news is that cooking is one of my hobbies, so when I have time I’m often in the kitchen. A few of my other hobbies are traveling, reading, running, music, and spending time in the great outdoors! Travelling is something that I’ve done a lot of, having been to 21 countries on 4 different continents! Its certainly a big relief that I enjoy it. As for reading, I’m a chronic book addict. My favorite genres are Fantasy, Dystopian, and historical fiction. I love running! Partially just because of how healthy it is, partially because I enjoy testing my limits. My running partner is almost always Chris, and together we’ve gone pretty far, even completing a half marathon recently. Music is something I really enjoy as well. Sure, I’m no musician, but I love listening to Christian Contemporary Music, and little by little I am improving my guitar skills. My final big hobby is being outdoors. That can mean anything from sitting by a gentle stream to climbing a mountain, but I’ll still enjoy it. I’m often asked what my plans for the future are, and I really don’t know. Beyond high school my plans are a bit dim, but I do know this: I’ll follow wherever God leads me! I’m currently planning to do a gap year after high school and then proceed to university. Where will I go to university? Well, first I’ll have to pick which continent I want to study on, and that in itself will be a challenge. I’m thinking I’ll likely try to find a university somewhere in Canada, but like I’ve said: I really don’t know what the future holds! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this post and we look forward to seeing you here again! Goodbye. Tionana. Au revoir. Adios. Auf Wiedersehen.

Johnny Contemplating Life in Dubai