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.

Holiday adventures

I have just been on vacation (holiday as my British friends call it). Before I was officially on break, I got to teach 290 2nd and 3rd grade boys (in groups of 10) to make banoffee pie (a pie that has bananas and toffee). Our school had 2 English camps that ran for a total of 6 days. I was "Chef Emily" (complete with a chef outfit). The students went to different places in "English Town," such as the cafe, post office, TV station, hospital, school, etc. and learned English through various activities. We also took them to Safari World, which is a mix of Sea World, a safari park, and a zoo. It's a great place for kids.

Once school was out, I went to visit friends in Vietnam and Cambodia. I highly recommend going to visit locals in a foreign country because they know where all the best food is. My Vietnamese friends were so hospitable and wanted me to try so many different kinds of food. I thought that liver pate was only for the hi-so (high society), but everyone in Vietnam eats it. We had it on sandwiches and I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted pretty good. I also tried century eggs (you can look that one up). They eat several kinds of noodles and fresh "wrap your own" spring rolls (not fried). They use lots of fresh vegetables and green herbs, especially sweet basil, which is my favorite.

In Vietnam, I rode all over Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) on the backs of my friends' motorbikes (most people don't have cars). However, the laws requiring helmets and a maximum of 2 people on a motorbike are strictly enforced. I got to go swimming near a waterfall and tour the Mekong Delta region as well. We rode in small boats up and down the canals and learned about how local food, such as rice paper and coconut candy, is made. My favorite things about being in Vietnam were reconnecting with my friends there and speaking in their church young adults group.

In Cambodia, I got to visit my friend Sarah from Lee. She is teaching in a village one hour from Siem Reap (home to Angkor Wat). We visited Tonle Sap, which is a lake that is home to many Vietnamese refugees who cannot live in Cambodia or Vietnam. I really enjoyed staying with her host family in the village and visiting her school.
My favorite food was banchaiyo, a Vietnamese style pancake with pork and lots of vegetables. The only resemblance it has to a pancake is that it is made of some type of flour. It may not sound good to a Westerner, but it is very delicious.

Next week will be the beginning of our second semester. I'll teach until the end of February and be free to travel home for a few weeks at the end of March. The first half of the school year has gone very fast.

A Celebrity?

I felt like a celebrity. I must have had 30 people lined up to get my autograph. Ok, this did happen, but let me put this statement into context. As a requirement for Thai social studies classes, students must learn how to "wai" properly. A wai is putting one's palms together and bowing one's head out of respect to an elder or authority (you've probably seen it in Asian movies). Students have to "wai" twenty teachers/school staff persons and get their signatures to prove that the students really did what they were supposed to do. More than 30 2nd and 3rd graders were lined up to get my friend's signature. I thought I would help her out and start signing the students' books, but it turned out that they all lined up for both of us and the lines continued to grow. I think I signed my name for 10-15 minutes. Oh, the joy and humor of living in another country:)

This month was filled with cultural experiences because I got to do another Thai dance this year for our school's 156th anniversary (as you can see from the pictures at the top of this post). The first picture is from last year. I liked this costume much better than my costume this year. However, the dance we learned this year was more complicated than last year's dance and I feel proud of our group for working so hard to learn it. The men in the pictures are co-teachers from my department.

I also celebrated my birthday this month. My students sang "Happy Birthday" to me two times and many people at work wished me a happy birthday. I got to go to Sizzler with my friends (Sizzler here is really good--especially the unlimited salad bar) on my birthday and I got to celebrate at home with my church friends the next day. I cooked Mexican food for the party at my house and I ended up showing everyone all the different ways you can melt cheese. We had nachos, quesadillas, and tacos. It was great. The top picture is of my roommates and other friends on my birthday. (Aren't you proud of me for finally putting pictures on my blog? Just kidding)

Finally, I am so grateful to God for opening new doors for me to serve in the churches that I attend. I have gotten to facilite or "MC" twice in the church that I attend in the afternoon and I got to speak in the Thai/English service that I attend in the morning. I've also gotten to share some American dishes with my Filipino friends because we eat dinner together every Sunday after church. I've made Texas chili and beef stew. Both went over very well, praise the Lord!

Summer (sort of)

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.

A couple of weeks ago, my former professor from Lee University came to visit some students who are doing an internship in Cambodia. We all met for dinner, and my professor asked me which aspects of Thai culture I have bought into and which ones I haven't. I had a hard time answering him right there because I don't always think quickly on my feet. I've thought more about that and realized that I probably have a pretty substantial answer.

1.Food
Sometimes, I eat rice 3 times a day! The other day, I was eating Hong Kong noodles for breakfast in my office with chopsticks and my co-worker asked me "If someone would have told you five years ago that you'd be eating noodles with chopsticks for breakfast, would you have believed them?" I said "absolutely not." Even last year, I didn't eat Thai food for breakfast. At this point, I realize that I don't have time to cook a substantial American-style breakfast, so it's better to buy Thai food and eat breakfast in my office.
However, I have not bought into everything. I ordered food the other night to take home and I thought I was getting pork (sometimes that's the only option if you want meat--I'll explain in a second). I got home, and realized that along with my pork (and vegetables, mint leaves, chili, etc.), I got pig intestines. After picking out all of the intestines and taking the large amounts of fat off the meat, I probably ate ten baht worth of the thirty baht I paid for my "nam tok moo."

2. Market Shopping
Every time I ride the bus past Khlong Toei Market, I think, "I really don't want to go there because it smells horrible." It's a "wet market," which means that they have fresh meat and seafood, along with produce and lots of other things. The prices are really good though. I was cooking for my church, and I was on a budget, so I decided to brave the market. After buying everything I needed and finding that people were generally helpful, I decided that I need to go to the wet market more often. I had a really good experience.
Average Thai people buy their clothes in flea market type settings. Some markets are huge with hundreds of stalls to choose from, and some are relatively small as they are set up along busy streets. While it's a little bit hard to find clothes big enough to fit well, I've become like the Thais and I would rather shop in a market than in a department store because I can save a lot of money. I think I might have to give in and buy shoes in department stores, however, because it's rare to find shoes that fit me well in the markets.

3. Transportation
I take buses, song taos (pick-up trucks with seats in the back), the Sky Train, the subway, taxis and motorcycle taxis everywhere I go. (I don't have a car and I'm not very excited about Bangkok traffic or driving on the left side of the road. I guess I haven't bought into that one) I'm trying not to take motorcycle taxis very often because I generally feel like I could die at any moment (but they're so convenient that sometimes I forget the danger when I'm in a hurry). After riding on the sidewalk on a motorcycle two times recently, I've realized that I have to use a different method of transportation on that route.

4. Language
When I'm with Thai people I don't know, I try really hard to speak Thai and listen to what they're saying. I don't catch everything, but I usually understand enough to continue the conversation. When I'm with people that speak English well, I'm kind of lazy. I don't usually practice Thai with them because I know that we will save time if we speak English. My Thai lessons are on hold for the moment because my teacher had to go back to her province. Hopefully we'll start again soon.

I think that's more than enough for now. I'm really enjoying teaching 3rd grade. I think this year is going better than last year because I actually know what I'm doing and because my students are more respectful and interested in learning than my 5th grade students were last year.

This week is Spiritual Revival Week for the students and teachers in our school. I'm leading praise and worship with the elementary native English-speaking teachers. Pray for me to show the love of God and be confident, no matter what the attitudes of my co-workers are.

I'm back!

After a wonderful visit to the States, it was a little bit difficult to readjust to life in Thailand again. I had forgotten how different it is here. Thank God for grace! I had to say goodbye to some of my best friends here on the day I got back. Brittany and Witt are already back in the US and will get married in June and then go to seminary. I also said goodbye to Saichol, as I had realized that we are going in different directions. Thank God for revealing the truth to me.

Chiang Rai, Thailand is a beautiful city. It is surrounded by mountains and lush greenery. It is near the northern border with Laos and Myanmar. I got to visit two different missionary families there this week. The first missionary family is an American woman married to a hilltribe man; they have two boys. They minister to the tribe that the man is from. Most of the people in this tribe live every day only thinking about how they will survive. He is very different, however, because he is very well-educated and has an earned Ph.D. His Ph.D. program was in English and he speaks five languages. His mother lives with their family and she is a sweet older lady who has Alzheimer's disease.

I had to laugh when I heard this story about her. She lived most of her life in a village, washing clothes by hand and cooking over an open fire. As you can imagine, moving into a house with lots of electric appliances was quite a shock to her. She truly believed that the people on TV could see and hear her. One day, she saw a man speaking her dialect on TV. She kept asking him where he was from. She didn't understand why he didn't answer her. She started to learn the truth when her family showed her a video of herself from her son's wedding. They asked her how she could be in the TV and outside it at the same time. She was partly convinced when her "TV self" could not answer questions, but she never fully believed that people don't sneak into the TV through a secret door in the back of the TV set.

She had just been to the village when I arrived, and she brought several tasty treats back with her. Some examples were miniature plums (arroy mach... I mean very delicious) and plump brown beetles (cooked of course). The name for the beetles in the tribal language means "What is it?" I think everyone was asking that question because I didn't see anyone eat any of the beetles while I was there.

I also visited a missionary family that recently moved to Chiang Rai from the Philippines. I met them while they were staying in Cleveland, Tennessee. Dr. Quinley taught one of my classes and it was incredible. I really enjoyed visiting with the Quinleys.

Tuesday is the big day! I'm starting work again and I'm very excited about what the Lord has in store for my students and for me this year. I'll keep you posted!