Monday, July 23, 2007

The not-so-Thai side of life

Ok, so about half of my foreign co-workers are British or Australian and Thailand largely uses British English. This being the case, I learn new vocabulary quite frequently. Did you know that it is correct to say "do maths" rather than "do math"? They say "maths" because it is short for "mathematics." I no longer ride the elevator. Instead, I take the "lift." Oh, and for my students to understand me, I have to tell them to put their "rubbish" in the "bin" (not trash in the trash can).

My latest crazy food experience was Cambodian escargot, as a Thai teacher called it. It was so spicy that I could not taste anything and I tried not to think about the texture or the fact that I was actually eating snails:) Not too bad for a one-time experience, but it's not something I plan to repeat soon.

The highlight of the week was seeing friends from Lee University. Three girls from my major, Intercultural Studies, were on their way back from their internship in Siem Reap, Cambodia. They had a couple of days in Thailand and my friend Eric and I got to spend an evening with them. It was nice to talk about Lee and the ups and downs of living in another country.

For my dad's sake (for those of you who don't know, he's in the cattle business), I'll mention that I got to eat steak last weekend. One of the Christian teachers invited me to her home for a gathering of friends from her church. All of them have students at BCC and several of the guests spoke English. We had a mix of Thai and American food and I got to make the kanompang gratiem (garlic bread). Lots of fun!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

The Yellow People

I have officially joined the yellow people. Every Monday, the majority of people in Bangkok wear yellow polo shirts with the royal insignia on them. Ever since the 60th anniversary of King Bhumibol's coronation in 2006, Thai people have worn yellow shirts every Monday because he was born on a Monday. If the yellow shirts don't convince you of the Thai people's love for their king, then the life-size pictures along the highway and the pre-movie king video at every movie theater should do the trick. I wore my yellow shirt for the first time on Monday of this week. My school was giving us yellow shirts for free, so I did not want to spend money to buy one. The other perk to wearing a yellow shirt is that female teachers are allowed to wear pants if they wear a yellow shirt. Woohoo!

I recently found out that it is indeed against the law for motorcycles to drive on the sidewalks in Bangkok. I used to think it was legal because it happened so frequently. When walking on the sidewalk, you have to keep your eyes and ears open. You have to be very vigilant because you may only have a moment's notice to dart out of the path of an oncoming motorcycle (slight dramatization added for effect). The worst are those that approach from behind. I finally asked a Thai friend about the motorcycles and he said it is illegal to drive on the sidewalk. Who knew?

The highlight of this week was a day of prayer called "Hunger for Purity." Approximately 200 people from many Thai churches came together to pray for Thailand. About half of those who attended were youth and young adults. It was amazing to see them passionately worshipping and crying out to God. They are not afraid to express themselves through dance (both spontaneous and choreographed) to the Lord. The powerpoint had the song lyrics in Thai and English and my friend translated the prayer topics and messages for me. It was very refreshing to spend the day with other believers in prayer for cleansing and revival in Thailand.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Song Taos and Thai daily life

My Thai word for the week is "song tao," which literally means "two rows," but is actually a noun. It is a small pick up truck with two rows of seats along the sides for people to sit on. I like to ride song taos to and from the sky train station every day because they move very quickly and take alternate routes to avoid heavy traffic. Any type of transportation on the streets of Bangkok provides opportunities for your life to flash before your eyes, so every day is an adventure. I try not to take motorbikes as they are the most risky, but there is no foolproof way to get around. Oh well, such is life!

I've realized that I only remember the Thai words people tell me when they are words I was wanting to learn. Sometimes people tell me many words at one time, and I usually forget them all. I've learned the days of the week and some other basic vocabulary words, which is encouraging.

I'm doing the culture shock thing a little bit (not because I want to). I miss being able to jump into my car and go somewhere close by to buy food, clothes, toiletries, or whatever I need. Here, I have to find out where I can find the thing I need and then how to get there, i.e. which bus, train, etc. to take. It is a long process that can be very exhausting. Still, I am way too afraid to drive here, so I will not be learning to drive British-style any time soon.

I got to share my testimony with the foreign elementary school teachers at my school two weeks ago. It was really amazing how God used it to challenge another Christian teacher to share a testimony of what the Lord has done in his life as well. He was previously not very vocal about his faith with the other teachers, but now he is opening up more, which is very good because he has been at BCC longer than I have. He wanted to start a prayer group with other foreign Christian teachers, which we have had for two weeks now. I got to speak today in our meeting.

I will close with something I heard recently from a Thai minister. He was addressing the foreign teachers at BCC. He mentioned many reasons that people could come to Thailand. Some were things like experiencing a new culture, helping a developing nation, or running away from something (namely God) in one's own country. He told us that he was sure that the reason we came to Thailand is because of the free sauna we experience every time we step outside. He is not kidding. It happens every day.