Holiday (British for Vacation) adventures

School is starting again on Monday, but I had a great holiday (in British English, "holiday" refers to vacation or time off from work or school. I hear "holiday" more often than "vacation" or "break." I also say "lift" more than "elevator" because I constantly remind my students to "be quiet in the lift." My English is becoming Britishized...it also has some heavy Thai and Filipino influences. I guess that's life in a foreign country :).

I went to Hong Kong to visit a family friend on my school break. We had a great time! We rode the tram up Victoria's Peak and we could see all of Hong Kong. It was an amazing view (as you can see from the picture). We went to Lantau Island the next day and took a cable car up the mountain. We had a beautiful view of the bay and the islands. The island is covered in trees, so you can't see much of it until you get to the top. We went back to the city that night and watched the light show from the Avenue of Stars. We even happened across Jackie Chan's hand prints, so I took a picture of course. We went to Ocean Park the next day and saw some different ocean wildlife and rode a few rides. It's a very nice theme park, but make sure you take the escalator to the top of the hill. If not, you'll have a very long walk...I know from experience. We did some shopping at the Ladies' Market that night and I got some great deals on a purse and a watch! I think my favorite part of the day was eating at California Pizza Kitchen though. It was soooo good! Hong Kong is a great city. You can go almost anywhere by train and you can use the same pass to ride the trains and the buses. It's also very clean. I really enjoyed the trip!

I got to go on a church retreat with my Filipino church the following weekend and it was also a great time. We went to a boy scout camp (all Thai students are required to be in girl scouts or boy scouts). There were lots of totem poles and statues of Native Americans. They had covered wagons and animal skulls. It was interesting how hard they tried to make it look American.

We went "trekking" one morning and I felt like I was in the jungle! We were surrounded by tropical trees and the path was muddy. I'm used to hiking in the dry mountains of Colorado. It was fun to experience something new. The only downside was prickly branches that were often protruding onto our path. I tried to move one with my arm and ended up with lots of the small "prickles" in my arm! They were acually quite harmless. They stung a little at first, but once I pulled them all out, I was fine.

I've spent the last few days preparing my new classroom (in a brand new building--Praise the Lord!) and classroom materials for the second semester. We start on Monday!

Fun cultural experiences

It's been way too long since I've posted a blog. I decided that it's time for an update. I've been having fun teaching my 3rd grade boys. They call me Teacher Emily, which is the appropriate way to address teachers here. I had to teach them about punctuation and how to use periods. One way is to put a period at the end of Mr. or Mrs. To help them understand, I used my name as an example. They'd never heard of anyone with the last name Green, so they thought that was very funny. One boy especially liked calling me Miss Green and now his whole class uses it when they greet me at the beginning of class. Who knew that my name would attract so much attention?

Lots has happened in the last few months, so I'll just try to mention the highlights. My birthday was August 27th and I couldn't believe how many people remembered and greeted me at school and church, but also on Facebook (those little reminders are great). The day ended with a dinner at my house with friends from church. My Nepali friend made burritos, which made the night! They were fabulous! I also did another Thai dance in August for our school's 157th anniversary. It was lots of fun.

I started attending a Thai church on Sunday mornings in January. I don't fully understand the services, but I'm getting a lot of practice reading and listening to Thai. We've started a children's church and we have some kids from the neighborhood attending. They're very open to the Gospel. Praise the Lord! I think they are hearing it for the first time!

There is a Lisu church that meets after the Thai church and before the international church that I'm a part of (they all use the same building). Lisu is a tribal group of people living in northern Thailand and Myanmar (formerly Burma). They asked me to speak in their service at the end of August. I had a translator, of course, and I didn't understand any part of their service except the two English songs they sang. Still, it was a very rich experience. Thank God for the opportunity to share His Word my Lisu brothers and sisters. Their written language is composed of English letters, but many of them are backwards or upside down. It's very interesting to look at.

Last weekend, the international church (mostly Filipino) I attend took a mission trip to Koh Si Chang, an island east of Bangkok. We led the activities in an English camp for middle school and early high school students on Saturday and attended a local church on Sunday. I had the privilege of bringing three Christian American friends with me who are student teaching at my school in Bangkok. It was good for them to see what life is like outside Bangkok. They were really sports as we truly "roughed it" by American standards. On Sunday morning, the four of us got to sing a song in the service. I was really stretched that day because my Filipino pastor asked me to translate his sermon from English to Thai. I would not have volunteered for that position, but I guess my Thai is better than most people who went on our trip. I didn't come close to translating it perfectly, but the Thai people understood me and said "Amen" to what the pastor was saying. Thank God for using me and allowing me find out that I can do more than I thought I could.

The end of the semester is quickly approaching. This is our exam week. We have one more week of teaching after this. I'm looking forward to my two week vacation in October.

The rest of my "summer" vacation

After staying for 3 weeks in the US, which was amazing, I spent one day in Thailand before going to the Philippines. It wasn't an ordinary day, however, because it was the end of the biggest holiday in Thailand. Songkran Festival, which is the Thai New Year and water throwing festival, is April 13-15. I went to a pottery village with some friends that day, but I got soaked coming and going when I was in the bus. As you can see from the picture, you're not really safe anywhere you go. People stand on the sides of the streets with buckets of water and Super Soakers poised to spray everyone who passes by. They also throw water in open bus windows and sometimes put a tan-colored powdery mud-like substance on people's faces. It's a really fun holiday and throwing water is very appropriate because April is the hottest month of the year, with temperatures in the 100s.

After my one day of celebration, I went to the Philippines for my friend's wedding. Her father and brother are officers in the military and they stay on a military base in Manila. I stayed on the base with their family. The wedding was beautiful. After the wedding, we went to their house in another province and then went to a beautiful mountainous area called Baguio City. I decided to take a souvenir photo in a traditional costume because the proceeds benefited a senior citizens' group in the area. Not wanting to take the picture by myself, I asked the older women (who were also dressed up) to join me in the picture. I had to pay for that too, but the total price was less than a dollar and it went to a good cause, so I decided it was a good idea. I've never seen a souvenir photo for that cheap in the US (I did use my own camera for the picture, which I think contributed to the low price:).

I spent a few more days in Manila with a different friend from my church in Thailand after that. We had a great time and visited another beautiful mountainous area outside Manila. I managed to escape eating the Filipino delicacy "balot" yet again, which I consider a big accomplishment. Balot is a fertilized egg in which the chick is about ready to hatch. They enjoy eating the baby chick. I think I'll pass. I did eat ube jam, which is made from purple sweet potatoes. Although I wouldn't usually put potatoes in jam, it was very good.

I'm back in Bangkok now and preparing for my first day of a new school year tomorrow. Back to the classroom!

A Night in Thailand (in Colorado)

 

 

 

Coloradans experienced a taste of Thailand on March 28th. We enjoyed pad thai, green papaya salad, and mango and sticky rice with coconut milk. Hopefully, people left smarter after taking part in the Thailand trivia competition. Some very smart attendees left with wooden elephant key chains in hand (some of them may not have been smart, but they know how to use their i-Phones and Blackberries:).

I am so glad I got to share about one of my passions in life, the House of Hope Orphanage. The children are beautiful, but more than that, they love Jesus. They know that He is the reason they have overcome lives of poverty in Burma and they know that He has good plans for their lives. We were able to raise funds to build them dormitories. Praise the Lord!

Last post before I come home!

Just like November and December, January and February flew by! Lizards like the one in the picture are very common in my house. I accidently stepped on one and its tail came off and started twitching violently (the tail, not the lizard). It was pretty gross. The lizard tried to get away. I thought that it might be ok because I remember learning that lizards and reptiles can regenerate their tails and lost limbs. I continued to see this tailless lizard for a day and then I came home to find its carcass being devoured by ants! Sorry for the disgusting story, but I just thought I would add a little excitement to the other things happening in my life. We also had a rat last month. I bought the sticky trap ( I think because of Thai beliefs in reincarnation they prefer to trap the rat without killing it). My roommates took the caught rat outside. I'm grateful I didn't have to do this. I'm not very brave when it comes to creatures that run and hide inside my house.

I seem to have become the token foreigner who will dress up and do Thai dance at my school. I have done this three times this school year! I actually enjoy it, but I'm surprised that they continue to ask me. There was a som tum making competition with some other Christian organizations in Bangkok. Som tum is a salad made from unripe papaya, fish sauce, peanuts, garlic, chilis, tomatoes, fresh green beans, and dried shrimp. There's another variety from Laos that people here like that substitutes fermented fish sauce and preserved crab for the regular fish sauce and dried shrimp. I really enjoy eating the first variety, but the smell of the second one usually discourages me from eating it. Nevertheless, the competition requires one som tum maker and one dancer. I was the dancer. As soon as I started dancing, all the people from my school cheered. It was really fun.

I visited House of Hope Orphanage again and my friend took lots of pictures that will be useful for fundraising. As always, the children's love for Jesus is amazing. They are very sweet kids and I want to do all I can to help them.

THe last two months have been filled with giving final exams, writing student evaluations, and English camps. I got to go out of town for a week for English camp, which was fun and was a nice break from my somewhat busy schedule.

I'm getting ready to come home for about three weeks! I'm making all of the final preparations now. I can't wait to enjoy some American food, drive a car, and just feel "normal" for a few weeks.

November and December flew by! I can't believe it's already January 4th(in Thailand--my post says the 3rd because it's on American time)! I started studying Thai twice a week in Novemeber because I want to take it more seriously and be able to go beyond basic conversation. My housemate and I are studying together and I really like our teacher.

We had Thanksgiving services in both of the churches I attend, which surprised me since Thanksgiving is an American holiday (the US had a major impact on the Philippines and the leaders in both churches are from the Philippines). I got to sing a special song in one church and had the privilege of leading worship as well. I was inspired and made Stove Top stuffing and a modified Thanksgiving meal for my church. Everyone loved it and asked how I made it ( I told them to buy the box of stuffing mix:) I was very happy to have a Thanksgiving meal with some American friends too--we even had pumpkin pie. It's the little things that make a difference.

For the last three years, Thai churches have made a big effort to help Thai people understand that Christmas is more than Christmas trees and Santa Claus. All the malls here are decorated and play Christmas music (which I love because it reminds me of home). However, many people don't know about Jesus' birth. There is a concentrated effort to sing Christmas carols and share the story of Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection in public places, such as malls and parks. My church worked with the other Church of God churches here to prepare a Christmas presentation as well. We practiced for two months and got to sing in a mall and a large presentation in a park on Christmas day. They showed part of the Jesus film and some pastors shared the gospel between different music and dance presentations.

For Christmas, I got to teach my students about Jesus's birth. They know the story in Thai, so I was mostly teaching them the English names of Mary, Joseph, Jesus, and all of the other people in the Christmas story. Additionally, we had a large faculty Christmas party on the 23rd of December. All of the English departments are asked to perform, along with some of the other departments. My department head asked me and two other teachers to dress up and lip sync a song by a popular Thai band. It was fun, and many people recognized the band we were impersonating just from our costumes.

After the party, I got to join about 100 high school students and several Christian teachers in Christmas caroling and giving gifts to homeless people(we went in small groups to approach people). We had to wake some of them up, but they were usually very happy when we gave them gifts.

I flew to the Philippines on December 26th to spend New Year's with one of my good friends from church. I attended two weddings of church friends and spent a few days in the province of Bulacan (an hour and a half outside Manila). The people there don't see foreigners very often, so people were usually surprised to see me... and it showed. Everyone in the province was very kind and the children were sweet. We played games with them and taught them several action songs. I also got to experience new forms of transportation...a jeepney (picture #3) and a tricycle (a motorcycle with a sidecar -picture #2). We ate lots of Filipino food, but the most interesting food was ube or purple yam (picture #1). It was boiled, mashed, and mixed with coconut and sugar. It was delicious.
I am glad I've finally experienced many of the things I've heard about for so long from my Filipino friends.

I'm looking forward to the new year. I believe God has new things in store for me. I thank Him for His provision, protection and guidance last year. God is so compassionate and merciful. I praise Him for who He is and for all He has done.