The last three months

I think my blog has become more of a newsletter. I used to post often because everything in Thailand seemed so new. Lots of the foreign-ness of Thailand has worn off for me, but there are days when it's abundantly clear that I'm still a foreigner. For example, I got caught in a heavy rain storm on my way home one night. The street my friend and I were walking on was flooded up to our ankles and there were no taxis or song taos (pick up trucks with 2 rows of seats in the back and a roof covering the seats) available. We decided to keep walking, but we got a little lost in the process. We asked a man how to get to the main road and he said to follow him. We arrived at his motorcycle and he offered to give us a ride. Under normal circumstances it wouldn't be a problem for two of us to straddle the back of his motorcycle and go with him. However, we were both wearing pencil skirts and didn't think we could both fit sitting sideways. He said it was still a long way to the main road and we should go with him, so we did. I believe it was God who kept us glued to the seat because we were both afraid we would slip off any minute. I arrived at the sky train station bedraggled because we couldn't use our umbrella on the motorcycle. Everyone else in the train looked neat and well put together, as Thai people always do. When I told my Filipino roommate about what happened, she just said "oh." My Thai friend at work said the same thing. Apparently monsoon rain storms and flooded streets are an everyday occurence in Asia and no cause for alarm. So what's the point of the story: I'm still a foreigner, no matter how good my Thai is or how adjusted I feel to Thai life.

My dad came to visit at the beginning of the month, which was great. We went to House of Hope orphanage for the dedication of their new house. The house is very humble by American standards, but they are so grateful to have it. There are two rooms for the girls and one or two for the boys and now they have separate boys and girls bathrooms. I guess they took turns before. The kids sang many songs and performed some human videos. I've said it many times, but I love worshipping with them because they're so sincere as they sing and lift their hands and hearts to the Lord.

My dad got to enjoy the finer things in life here, like inexpensive massages and good food. My friend took us sightseeing in Bangkok, which was fun. I had never been to the Vivanmek Mansion, the largest golden teakwood building in the world (I think). I've seen my dad twice this year, which is a record since I've moved to Thailand. I'm grateful that I could spend quality time with him.


To give you an update on Bangkok since my last blog...

Life in Bangkok is back to normal. We started school on May 24th. I like my students. I teach one class of 2nd grade this year and they are so cute (they are the smartest kids in all of 2nd grade at our school, so they're fun to teach). Bangkok is getting cleaned up quickly as there are lots of people volunteering to repaint and clean up the affected areas.

I just came back from northeastern Thailand because we had a 4 day weekend. Thank God for an opportunity to get out of Bangkok and to visit friends. That's all for now.

The end of the red shirt protests

It appears that the height of the drama and violence surrounding the red shirt protests has passed. The protesters were bused home yesterday with 200 baht in their pockets (from the government I might add) to buy food on the trip home.

It will be nice to get back to life as usual. My school was scheduled to start the new school year on May 11, which was pushed back to the 17th and then the 24th. I've been told that it may be pushed back to June now. This last week was declared a holiday by the government and I went to the beach with a couple of friends to get away from the craziness in Bangkok. We had a good time, but chose a bad day to come back. We came back last Wednesday, which was the day that red shirt leaders surrendered to the government and the protesters evacuated the protest sights. That sounds ok, right? The problem is that some of the protesters disagreed with their leaders and started burning buildings in Bangkok, 36 to be exact, and violence continued. 52 people have died in the last 6 days and 407 have been injured.

At this point, the government and the red shirts have not come to an agreement. The prime minister has proposed a 5 point plan for reconciliation that he intends to push through. A special task force has been assigned to rebuild the city and offer assistance to businesses that were adversely affected. Two major malls were destroyed by fire and many other businesses in the commercial district have been closed for weeks now.

All I can say is praise the Lord for bringing an end to the protest. I am grateful for the Lord's protection throughout the entire ordeal. I am praying now for unity and reconciliation for the people of Thailand. They are very divided politically. I am also praying that Christians in Thailand step up and share God's love during the rebuilding and restructuring process. I pray that Thai people will be more receptive to the light and truth of Jesus Christ.

The area surrounding my church became a late protest sight and was ravaged by fire and violence. I haven't been there in the last week, but from the pictures I've seen, I think it will be quite shocking. I've included one picture of a burned mall and two from the area near my church.

Going (and leaving) home

I guess I have 2 homes now. I have spent the last month at home in Colorado with my dad and have been reconnecting with people. I am so blessed to have so many people to call my friends and family. I am forever connected to this place and these people, but I can't shake the feeling that I'm putting down roots in Thailand too. As I leave one home, I know that I'm going home at the same time. Thailand is a part of me now. Many times my Thai friends ask me if I can eat a certain kind of Thai food or if I have a certain habit that many Thai people have. When I say yes, they usually say "bpen khon Thai laaow." That means I'm Thai already. I know I will never look Thai on the outside, but I believe that in some ways I am Thai on the inside.

However, I will not trade the time I get to spend in the US. I love driving and going anywhere I want, usually without crazy amounts of traffic. I love eating cereal and milk--milk that tastes normal. I love eating as much cheese as I want to without feeling guilty about how much money I'm spending. I also love that I can easily buy clothes and shoes that fit me. And while I am fascinated by listening to and learning Thai, it's nice to go to church and understand every word of the sermon and every word of every song. The best thing is reconnecting with friends and family members. We may not talk for a long time, but when we do, it's natural and we can always pick up where we left off. They know my "history," so lengthy explanations are not necessary.

I am so grateful for people's hospitality. It means a lot when people take me into their homes or take time to stop whatever's going on in their lives to spend some quality time with me. Time is the best gift anyone could give me.

Time with my cousins, going to the ladies' retreat, visiting friends in Colorado and Cleveland and Nashville, Tennesee, and staying with my dad are priceless experiences I won't quickly forget. I thank God for all He has given me and pray that I will never take them for granted.

I added some pictures of the beautiful scenery in Tennessee and Colorado. I love the waterfalls (big and small) in the US amd I love nature in Thailand and almost everywhere I've been. God is so creative!

First post of 2010!

About a week after my last post, I slipped and fell at home and fractured my ankle (November 2009). Needless to say, I missed my first week of teaching in the second semester and went back to school the next week. After 6 weeks of wearing a cast (one was green and one was pink:), too many taxi rides to count, lunches brought to my classroom, 3 weeks of using crutches without a cast, and one month of walking with one crutch, I'm finally free! I thank God for all the friends who helped me along the way. It was quite an ordeal, but I believe the Lord used it to literally slow me down and remind me that fellowship with Him is the most important thing in my life. Everything I do has to be an overflow of God's grace and presence in my life--otherwise there's very little meaning or purpose for what I do.

Christmas was full of celebrations with friends and sharing the real meaning of Christmas with Thai people. I had the opportunity to help my missionary friend with her Christmas program in the public school where she teaches English. We had a small Christmas program with a Nativity drama and Christmas songs and then divided the kids into groups to make Christmas cards, sing Christmas songs, and listen to the story of Jesus' birth.

My new Thai language teachers are the students in my Sunday school class at church. They help me when I don't know the correct word to use and they correct my pronunciation. Our kids' church team prepared a small Christmas presentation for them to perform. They dressed up in makeshift costumes, performed the nativity story and sang 2 Christmas songs. I thank God for the relationships He is allowing us to build with some of the children in our community.

On December 26th, I went to northeastern Thailand with some teachers from my school for a short missions trip. There was lots of delicious food because we went to our friend's parents home. We ate sticky rice for every meal, drank homegrown passion fruit juice and homemade soy milk, and ate homegrown tamarind. However, we didn't go for the food. We held a Christmas party for the children in the community and over 85 children came. We had a large dinner and then lots of games and songs. After those activities, I got to tell the story of Jesus' birth (through a translator and with pictures projected on a screen) and then we gave gifts to all the children. Some of the kids came from the small church there, but most did not. It was a great opportunity to share the love and truth of Jesus with them. The next day we went to two small provincial schools and had a similar Christmas program for them. The children enjoyed all the activities, but I pray that the seed of Jesus' love fell on good soil.

I had the opportunity to sing in 2 weddings in January. One was a Thai wedding and one was for my Filipino pastor. In February, we started preparing our students for their final exams and gave their exams. I finished all of my grades and written reports last week. Thank God that's over! I will work for 3 more weeks at school and then come home to the US for "summer" vacation. I'm looking forward to seeing snow in Colorado and of course, spending time with my family and friends there.

I heard an interesting language story this week. In our most recent round of final exams, the first grade students were asked to memorize their telephone numbers for their English speaking exam. One boy was very confident and said "My telephone number is circle, circle, circle, eight, two...
He may not have used the right words, but he certainly spoke English!

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!