While everyone in the US has been enjoying the summer, I've been teaching because I already had my summer. However, it's still felt like summer because I've gotten to go to two camps and travel a little bit.
For two months each year, a flower called "dtaa grajiow" blooms in Thailand. I went to see it with a group of Thai teachers one weekend. We also saw the "Stonehenge" of Thailand (yes, they stole the name from the original) and went to a Thai silk outlet (I have a dress being made right now:). The trip was fun until our van broke down and we were late getting home. It turned out ok though, because we arrived in Bangkok at 11:45 p.m., right before the Sky Train closed and I was still able to go home that night.
On the 4th of July, I went to an English camp at the beach in Pattaya with 40 American high school and university students and over 100 Thai university students. We had McDonald's cheeseburgers, apple strudel, and watermelon for dinner. We had sparklers, but they said it was too late at night to organize everyone and use them. Nonetheless, it was fun to be with other Americans for the weekend. I made a lot of new American and Thai friends (Facebook is great for friends you can't see often). We had "cultural" nights in the evenings, including a drama and small group discussion with the Thai students. We talked about true satisfaction and what we often do to attain it. The highlight of the weekend was 8 Thai students choosing to accept Jesus as their Savior. It was especially good because they had been considering it for some time as they talked with Thai Christians. I pray that they get plugged into the church and grow in their faith.
The other camp I attended was with my church. It was very small, but I had many opportunities to get to know people in my church better. Within the last few months, I have really felt like I'm 'in' at my church more than I was before. It's been a little bit difficult because I'm a.)not from the Philippines and b.) not able to speak Tagalog. Several of my friends have told me that they did not talk to me much at first because they were afraid I would be critical of their English or they just didn't feel comfortable speaking only English because they were afraid they couldn't think of all the words they want to say. People seem to be a lot more comfortable with me now, which is good.
I'm off to my Thai lesson (I have a new teacher), so I have to stop here.
