I have conquered the chopstick.
Okay, enough excitement for one post.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Define "Hang Out," Please
So you may have noticed that I have changed the name of my blog. It is now more alliterative and interesting. It is also more cheesy, but I don’t care. So welcome to the new and improved summer blog. Happy reading.
You also may have noticed that we seem to be doing very little “work” here in Thailand. That’s the impression I get when skimming back through my blog posts and scrolling through the pictures I’ve posted to Facebook. You may be wondering what we’re doing out here besides teaching a few English classes, eating, hanging out, and climbing waterfalls (see picture at right).
Okay fine, so we’re pretty much just eating, hanging out, and climbing waterfalls. And teaching some English. But that's exactly what we should be doing, and I promise I won't just be using subtle rhetorical tricks and clever word choices to make a summer of having fun seem like “ministry.”
When we eat all the delectable Thai food I’ve talked about, we’re usually eating with Thai and Chinese students we’ve met at Payap University or with members of the Payap Church. Many of
them also join us for dinner on Thursday nights when all the church members get together for Cell Group (picture at left). When we spend entire afternoons hanging out and playing games and going to local coffee shops, then evenings wandering the city and seeing movies, we’re with these same students and church members. Many of these students start coming around because they want to get to know a bunch of “farongs” and practice their English; then, we try to encourage them to continue coming and get to know the church members so that when we leave they won’t leave too.
We’re here to have relationships with the Thais. Most of them are college-aged students, so these relationships look a lot like “just hanging out.” Everyone who works here long-term says that without us being here, very few new people would ever end up coming around to begin with. We try to welcome them and invite them to be a part of the community here, so we take group trips to spend a day at a waterfall or have dinner downtown. The rest can develop from there if they want it to. Just look at how youth ministers spend their summers; I rest my case.
And now for the cast of characters:
Tum (“Tuhm”) is studying linguistics at Payap, and he and I study advanced English from a TOEFL book three times a week. I also get a ten-minute mini-linguistics lesson because I find it fascinating and because Tum is incredibly intelligent, even if a tad awkward. He’s studying linguistics so that he can develop a written language for the hill tribe he comes from. Which is suutnyaaht, awesome.
Palm (“Pahm”) is a Payap student who wants to learn English, graduate, and one day start his own business modeled after philanthropic ones like TOMS Shoes because he grew up poor, is paying his own way through college, and wants to help other people like himself. He doesn’t have many friends, at least that we can tell, and he’s already become a regular part of our group and comes around nearly every day. He also really likes rabbits and brought his pet rabbit, Moo Grawbp (Crispy Pork) to visit us one day.
That’s (mostly) why he wears Playboy glasses, he says—they have a rabbit on them. Right...
Sea Game (by the way, these are all nicknames because their given names are all exceptionally long; but don’t ask me how they come up with ones like this one) is a high school student who wants to learn English so that he can pass the TOEFL test and study in America. He’s a great teacher when it comes to learning Thai.
Iris, Ivy, Faith, Michelle, and Piiyao are Chinese students studying abroad in Thailand for the year (picture below). Remember the little aliens from Toy Story who all look similar and respond to things in unison? Well, just envision them as 19-year-old Chinese girls, and you’ve met this group. I study English with them, and Fish is continuing some Bible studies that they’d already started, and they teach us some Chinese. Ivy wants to be a tour guide, so we let her practice by showing us around, and Piiyao wants to become a professor in China. They’re all going back to China in a few weeks, and we’ll miss them.
We also spend a lot of time getting to know the church members. Ball (“Bon,” don’t ask), the other intern here, is a self-proclaimed soccer “superstar” and likes to teach us various slang Thai phrases. Berm (“Bum”) was the first member of the church here and is now an art teacher who breeds chihuahuas on the side. Then there’s Ying and Ahn and Ohn and Uhn and several others whose names sound the same except for a slight difference in vowel sound or intonation. And they’re all wonderful, even when you call them the wrong name.
Hope that gives a somewhat better idea of what we're up to all summer. Miss you all and love you all! Now off to coffee...
You also may have noticed that we seem to be doing very little “work” here in Thailand. That’s the impression I get when skimming back through my blog posts and scrolling through the pictures I’ve posted to Facebook. You may be wondering what we’re doing out here besides teaching a few English classes, eating, hanging out, and climbing waterfalls (see picture at right).
Okay fine, so we’re pretty much just eating, hanging out, and climbing waterfalls. And teaching some English. But that's exactly what we should be doing, and I promise I won't just be using subtle rhetorical tricks and clever word choices to make a summer of having fun seem like “ministry.”
When we eat all the delectable Thai food I’ve talked about, we’re usually eating with Thai and Chinese students we’ve met at Payap University or with members of the Payap Church. Many of
them also join us for dinner on Thursday nights when all the church members get together for Cell Group (picture at left). When we spend entire afternoons hanging out and playing games and going to local coffee shops, then evenings wandering the city and seeing movies, we’re with these same students and church members. Many of these students start coming around because they want to get to know a bunch of “farongs” and practice their English; then, we try to encourage them to continue coming and get to know the church members so that when we leave they won’t leave too.We’re here to have relationships with the Thais. Most of them are college-aged students, so these relationships look a lot like “just hanging out.” Everyone who works here long-term says that without us being here, very few new people would ever end up coming around to begin with. We try to welcome them and invite them to be a part of the community here, so we take group trips to spend a day at a waterfall or have dinner downtown. The rest can develop from there if they want it to. Just look at how youth ministers spend their summers; I rest my case.
And now for the cast of characters:
Tum (“Tuhm”) is studying linguistics at Payap, and he and I study advanced English from a TOEFL book three times a week. I also get a ten-minute mini-linguistics lesson because I find it fascinating and because Tum is incredibly intelligent, even if a tad awkward. He’s studying linguistics so that he can develop a written language for the hill tribe he comes from. Which is suutnyaaht, awesome.
Palm (“Pahm”) is a Payap student who wants to learn English, graduate, and one day start his own business modeled after philanthropic ones like TOMS Shoes because he grew up poor, is paying his own way through college, and wants to help other people like himself. He doesn’t have many friends, at least that we can tell, and he’s already become a regular part of our group and comes around nearly every day. He also really likes rabbits and brought his pet rabbit, Moo Grawbp (Crispy Pork) to visit us one day.
That’s (mostly) why he wears Playboy glasses, he says—they have a rabbit on them. Right...Sea Game (by the way, these are all nicknames because their given names are all exceptionally long; but don’t ask me how they come up with ones like this one) is a high school student who wants to learn English so that he can pass the TOEFL test and study in America. He’s a great teacher when it comes to learning Thai.
Iris, Ivy, Faith, Michelle, and Piiyao are Chinese students studying abroad in Thailand for the year (picture below). Remember the little aliens from Toy Story who all look similar and respond to things in unison? Well, just envision them as 19-year-old Chinese girls, and you’ve met this group. I study English with them, and Fish is continuing some Bible studies that they’d already started, and they teach us some Chinese. Ivy wants to be a tour guide, so we let her practice by showing us around, and Piiyao wants to become a professor in China. They’re all going back to China in a few weeks, and we’ll miss them.
We also spend a lot of time getting to know the church members. Ball (“Bon,” don’t ask), the other intern here, is a self-proclaimed soccer “superstar” and likes to teach us various slang Thai phrases. Berm (“Bum”) was the first member of the church here and is now an art teacher who breeds chihuahuas on the side. Then there’s Ying and Ahn and Ohn and Uhn and several others whose names sound the same except for a slight difference in vowel sound or intonation. And they’re all wonderful, even when you call them the wrong name.
Hope that gives a somewhat better idea of what we're up to all summer. Miss you all and love you all! Now off to coffee...
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Eight Weeks and...Not Really Counting
Well, I landed in Chiang Mai two weeks ago today. This is causing the weird feeling you sometimes get when traveling that you’ve been in a place forever and not just 14 days. But I also realized, while waiting out the afternoon rain at a local coffee shop and making new friends with a little Pomeranian who apparently lives there, that already we only have about eight weeks left in Thailand. Which really isn't very long. Coincidentally, maybe, today I also finally noticed that other feeling you get when moving somewhere new: you're actually kind of living there and not just visiting.
A few reasons for that feeling (this will be another long post):
Yesterday I gave my first real “English lesson,” informal though it was. A group of five Chinese students who study at Payap University have been visiting the Zone for several months now and have worked very hard on their English (two of them are in the picture on the left). They came to Thailand with six years of practice reading and writing English—and no practice whatsoever with speaking. I helped one of them with a fairly difficult vocabulary and sentence-writing homework assignment, and I was very impressed with her near-perfect grammar. But it’s still difficult for us to understand one another, which is a large part of our purpose in being here as interns: give anyone who’s interested a place to practice their English just by hanging out with native English-speakers.
So far, it’s actually been pretty easy building some of these relationships with Thai and Chinese students: they want to be friends with foreigners and practice their English in hopes of finding better jobs in the future, and as clueless “farongs” learning about Thailand we need all the help we can get.
Speaking of teaching English, it looks like I’ll be able to teach some sort of weekly, casual “advanced English” class each to students who are already fairly fluent in English and want to improve their vocabulary, knowledge of idioms, and so on. I have a TOEFL book we’ll work through at their own pace, and I doubt there will be many people coming. Both those things, I think, will work well. By the way, flipping through the TOEFL workbook I’m amazed that anyone learns English and that so many people work so hard to do so. I was having trouble with some of the exercises, like:
Rearrange the letters in bold at the end of the sentence to make a word with the same meaning as the italicized word: "The transformation is accelerated by adding salt to the solution." satheden.
Difficult, no? So my sincere admiration and applause to all ESL students.
Speaking of language, I am bound and determined to leave this country knowing how to say more than just “hello,” “how are you?” “thank you,” “nice to meet you,” "pineapple," and "sticky rice." And "pad thai," which doesn't even count. I figure if I’m here teaching English, then it’s only fair that I try my best to learn some Thai. So, today I spent an hour drinking my iced mocha and listening to audio lessons in Thai, writing down the words and pronunciations of the native Thai speaker as best I could. I felt quite accomplished. And of course when I went back to hang out with our Thai friends at the Zone, I remembered close to nothing. But if they can learn English, I can learn Thai. Mark, the long-term intern here, also tried teaching me a few letters and words in the Thai alphabet. Ideally, this will help me order at restaurants and get a somewhat better bearing while living here. Realistically, I’ll probably leave Thailand able to spell my name and “pad thai.”
Speaking of leaving here, I would kind of rather not. It’s been wonderful meeting so many friendly, hospitable Thais and getting to know them better. I've said it before, but the food is delicious. Even the fish balls, which contrary to what it might sound like are actually just meatballs made of fish meat. I’m still mustering the courage to pop a few fried insects. In the meantime, I’ll eat my weight in pad thai.
Speaking of eating my weight, I decided it was time to start running again, so I took an evening jog around Payap’s campus. I toured the campus for the first time just yesterday (finally, I know), and it’s beautiful. Flowers and trees are everywhere--it kind of feels like being in a jungle--and the campus is linked by half-grown-over bridges crossing the ponds where the lily pads are blooming. In the evening, crickets and cicadas and frogs and a million other creatures buzz and chirp and make a thousand other noises that provided a much better rhythm for running than songs on an iPod.
Speaking of...well it's off topic but here's a picture of our group:
But I could go on for a long time about all this; in fact, I already have. So until next time, I miss you all and love you more!
A few reasons for that feeling (this will be another long post):
Yesterday I gave my first real “English lesson,” informal though it was. A group of five Chinese students who study at Payap University have been visiting the Zone for several months now and have worked very hard on their English (two of them are in the picture on the left). They came to Thailand with six years of practice reading and writing English—and no practice whatsoever with speaking. I helped one of them with a fairly difficult vocabulary and sentence-writing homework assignment, and I was very impressed with her near-perfect grammar. But it’s still difficult for us to understand one another, which is a large part of our purpose in being here as interns: give anyone who’s interested a place to practice their English just by hanging out with native English-speakers.
So far, it’s actually been pretty easy building some of these relationships with Thai and Chinese students: they want to be friends with foreigners and practice their English in hopes of finding better jobs in the future, and as clueless “farongs” learning about Thailand we need all the help we can get.
Speaking of teaching English, it looks like I’ll be able to teach some sort of weekly, casual “advanced English” class each to students who are already fairly fluent in English and want to improve their vocabulary, knowledge of idioms, and so on. I have a TOEFL book we’ll work through at their own pace, and I doubt there will be many people coming. Both those things, I think, will work well. By the way, flipping through the TOEFL workbook I’m amazed that anyone learns English and that so many people work so hard to do so. I was having trouble with some of the exercises, like:
Rearrange the letters in bold at the end of the sentence to make a word with the same meaning as the italicized word: "The transformation is accelerated by adding salt to the solution." satheden.
Difficult, no? So my sincere admiration and applause to all ESL students.
Speaking of language, I am bound and determined to leave this country knowing how to say more than just “hello,” “how are you?” “thank you,” “nice to meet you,” "pineapple," and "sticky rice." And "pad thai," which doesn't even count. I figure if I’m here teaching English, then it’s only fair that I try my best to learn some Thai. So, today I spent an hour drinking my iced mocha and listening to audio lessons in Thai, writing down the words and pronunciations of the native Thai speaker as best I could. I felt quite accomplished. And of course when I went back to hang out with our Thai friends at the Zone, I remembered close to nothing. But if they can learn English, I can learn Thai. Mark, the long-term intern here, also tried teaching me a few letters and words in the Thai alphabet. Ideally, this will help me order at restaurants and get a somewhat better bearing while living here. Realistically, I’ll probably leave Thailand able to spell my name and “pad thai.”Speaking of leaving here, I would kind of rather not. It’s been wonderful meeting so many friendly, hospitable Thais and getting to know them better. I've said it before, but the food is delicious. Even the fish balls, which contrary to what it might sound like are actually just meatballs made of fish meat. I’m still mustering the courage to pop a few fried insects. In the meantime, I’ll eat my weight in pad thai.
Speaking of eating my weight, I decided it was time to start running again, so I took an evening jog around Payap’s campus. I toured the campus for the first time just yesterday (finally, I know), and it’s beautiful. Flowers and trees are everywhere--it kind of feels like being in a jungle--and the campus is linked by half-grown-over bridges crossing the ponds where the lily pads are blooming. In the evening, crickets and cicadas and frogs and a million other creatures buzz and chirp and make a thousand other noises that provided a much better rhythm for running than songs on an iPod.
Speaking of...well it's off topic but here's a picture of our group:
But I could go on for a long time about all this; in fact, I already have. So until next time, I miss you all and love you more!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Mai Pen Lai: Life in Thailand
After talking with my mom on the phone last night, I realized that even hundreds of pictures on Facebook can’t really capture Thailand and all we’ve been up to here so far. So, I’d like to attempt a description based on my first ten days in Thailand. Warning: this will be a long post.
I’ve mentioned already that I understand essentially no Thai. One phrase I do understand, though, is “mai pen lai,” and I would say it describes most of Thailand well. Translated, it can mean “you’re welcome,” “no worries,” “never mind,” or “take it easy.” People here must take that to heart because they’re easy-going, carefree, and entirely unhurried. They’re also friendly, polite, and seem to smile about everything. One woman who comes to our church is shy and speaks little English, but instead of just keeping quiet when people try to talk to her, she breaks out giggling. It works out well for her--everyone, American of Thai, starts laughing along with her. Another woman who runs a small fruit stand near the Zone (Payap Christian Zone, where we live and work) speaks as much English as I speak Thai, but she greets me every afternoon with a big smile and fresh saparoht (pineapple) already cut for me. I return the smile and give her 10 baht. I’d say we have a very good relationship.
Friendly though they may be, Thais are also crazy drivers. There are essentially no street laws beyond stopping at traffic lights, and I’m surprised more motorcyclists don’t die each day. But mai pen lai: most people ride these tiny motorbikes and don’t seem at all concerned with the size of the cars they consistently cut off and weave in and out between. This free-for-all mentality is kind of how most things seem to work in Thailand. You want plastic surgery, stop in a clinic at the spanking new mall, assuming whatever risk there might be. I haven’t seen anyone yet with a disfigured face, so apparently this approach is working well enough.
So we’re all learning to chill out, having found there isn’t much you can do about finding a giant insect cooked into your pad thai, driving through four feet of flood water to get home, or sleeping with no sheets and minimal clothing with the AC cranked way up and still waking up sweaty before you've even started another sticky day. Mai pen lai.
Tuesday through Friday, those sticky days generally consist of:
7:30 — Roll out of bed at 7:30, dress in the coolest clothes I can find, and patter barefoot downstairs to put on my shoes (always left outside, so our floors are spotlessly clean) and walk down the street to buy breakfast either at our corner 7-11 or one of the street vendors.
8:30 — Begin nearly four hours of “spiritual equipping time,” where we read through a book about spiritual disciplines, spend 45 minutes in quiet time, then come back together a read a chapter of John. For me, these four hours generally consist of pondering what new Thai dish to try for lunch and injecting myself with coffee to stay awake. Don’t tell anyone, but “quiet time” often is very quiet—dreamily so, if you know what I mean.
12:30 — Eat lunch somewhere, then enjoy a couple hours of free time where I generally sit outside on our patio drinking Thai iced tea, reading or writing, listening to the birds and the trickle of water in the gutter running behind the Zone, and watching the trees rustle like the clothes we've hung outside to dry while the afternoon clouds roll in. Or I might walk over to one of the coffee shops near us or explore the winding market streets in the neighborhood.
3:00 — Return to the Zone and hang out with anyone who might happen to stop in and want to hang out. Most of these people are regulars who either go to church here or have been hanging around for months, although we’ve had several new people drop in this last week since the school semester has started up again. There’s a group of Chinese girls and several Thais who come in and out, and we hang out and play games and enjoy the AC and talk, helping them practice English while they teach us a little Thai.
6:00 — Eat dinner somewhere (we eat a lot) and start finding things to do all evening . This might mean grabbing pizza at the mall and going to see a movie at the big theater (before every movie they play a song written by the king, Bhumibol, during which everyone stands), cooking with everyone and having our Cell Group meeting if it’s Thursday, or grabbing dinner at a nearby hole-in-the-wall restaurant and coming back to play volleyball or cheer our Thai friends on at a soccer game or put in a movie, etc.
Mondays are our days off, so some of our new Thai friends have shown us around the city, taken us shopping at local markets, or gone hiking with us up in the nearby mountains. By the way, the mountains here are wonderful; it’s like being in the jungle.
Sundays we have church in the morning, a big lunch in the afternoon (sounds like Sundays at home, no?), and then walk around the night market in the evening or gather at a local coffee shop.
Of course there’s quite a bit more going on besides this, but hopefully that gives you somewhat of an idea what we’re up to here. If you’re asking how this is “mission” work, we’re building relationships where we can learn from the Thais and they can learn from us—all very casual, mutual, and friendly. Mai pen lai. I think we’ve all learned quite a bit already.
I’ve mentioned already that I understand essentially no Thai. One phrase I do understand, though, is “mai pen lai,” and I would say it describes most of Thailand well. Translated, it can mean “you’re welcome,” “no worries,” “never mind,” or “take it easy.” People here must take that to heart because they’re easy-going, carefree, and entirely unhurried. They’re also friendly, polite, and seem to smile about everything. One woman who comes to our church is shy and speaks little English, but instead of just keeping quiet when people try to talk to her, she breaks out giggling. It works out well for her--everyone, American of Thai, starts laughing along with her. Another woman who runs a small fruit stand near the Zone (Payap Christian Zone, where we live and work) speaks as much English as I speak Thai, but she greets me every afternoon with a big smile and fresh saparoht (pineapple) already cut for me. I return the smile and give her 10 baht. I’d say we have a very good relationship.
Friendly though they may be, Thais are also crazy drivers. There are essentially no street laws beyond stopping at traffic lights, and I’m surprised more motorcyclists don’t die each day. But mai pen lai: most people ride these tiny motorbikes and don’t seem at all concerned with the size of the cars they consistently cut off and weave in and out between. This free-for-all mentality is kind of how most things seem to work in Thailand. You want plastic surgery, stop in a clinic at the spanking new mall, assuming whatever risk there might be. I haven’t seen anyone yet with a disfigured face, so apparently this approach is working well enough.
So we’re all learning to chill out, having found there isn’t much you can do about finding a giant insect cooked into your pad thai, driving through four feet of flood water to get home, or sleeping with no sheets and minimal clothing with the AC cranked way up and still waking up sweaty before you've even started another sticky day. Mai pen lai.
Tuesday through Friday, those sticky days generally consist of:
7:30 — Roll out of bed at 7:30, dress in the coolest clothes I can find, and patter barefoot downstairs to put on my shoes (always left outside, so our floors are spotlessly clean) and walk down the street to buy breakfast either at our corner 7-11 or one of the street vendors.
8:30 — Begin nearly four hours of “spiritual equipping time,” where we read through a book about spiritual disciplines, spend 45 minutes in quiet time, then come back together a read a chapter of John. For me, these four hours generally consist of pondering what new Thai dish to try for lunch and injecting myself with coffee to stay awake. Don’t tell anyone, but “quiet time” often is very quiet—dreamily so, if you know what I mean.
12:30 — Eat lunch somewhere, then enjoy a couple hours of free time where I generally sit outside on our patio drinking Thai iced tea, reading or writing, listening to the birds and the trickle of water in the gutter running behind the Zone, and watching the trees rustle like the clothes we've hung outside to dry while the afternoon clouds roll in. Or I might walk over to one of the coffee shops near us or explore the winding market streets in the neighborhood.
3:00 — Return to the Zone and hang out with anyone who might happen to stop in and want to hang out. Most of these people are regulars who either go to church here or have been hanging around for months, although we’ve had several new people drop in this last week since the school semester has started up again. There’s a group of Chinese girls and several Thais who come in and out, and we hang out and play games and enjoy the AC and talk, helping them practice English while they teach us a little Thai.
6:00 — Eat dinner somewhere (we eat a lot) and start finding things to do all evening . This might mean grabbing pizza at the mall and going to see a movie at the big theater (before every movie they play a song written by the king, Bhumibol, during which everyone stands), cooking with everyone and having our Cell Group meeting if it’s Thursday, or grabbing dinner at a nearby hole-in-the-wall restaurant and coming back to play volleyball or cheer our Thai friends on at a soccer game or put in a movie, etc.
Mondays are our days off, so some of our new Thai friends have shown us around the city, taken us shopping at local markets, or gone hiking with us up in the nearby mountains. By the way, the mountains here are wonderful; it’s like being in the jungle.
Sundays we have church in the morning, a big lunch in the afternoon (sounds like Sundays at home, no?), and then walk around the night market in the evening or gather at a local coffee shop.
Of course there’s quite a bit more going on besides this, but hopefully that gives you somewhat of an idea what we’re up to here. If you’re asking how this is “mission” work, we’re building relationships where we can learn from the Thais and they can learn from us—all very casual, mutual, and friendly. Mai pen lai. I think we’ve all learned quite a bit already.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
First-Week Highlights
Sawadee ka! So I’ve been in Thailand less than a week, and already way too much has happened to fit in a single blog post. I apologize for falling behind. We’re just having too much fun, I guess. So to summarize:
1. Major events and memorable happenings
a. Stumbled onto a major Buddhist festival at the largest and oldest temple (“wat”) in the old part of Chiang Mai
b. Played volleyball at 11 p.m. when it was still 85 degrees and humid enough to soak our clothes before even getting to the court
c. Visited the Agape Home orphanage outside the city where three of our friends from ACU are spending the summer working with AIDS orphans
d. Swam in a huge mountain lake in Sri Lanna National Park, where we also spent a night and morning on house boats on the lake
e. Consumed two full helpings of homemade Mexican stack--aroi! (delicious)
f. Drove through a legitimate flood: the water was covering the hood of the car and pooling at our feet. Rainy season has begun in Thailand.
g. Attended my first church service in Thai and English
h. Almost fell asleep during a Thai massage while the masseuses laughed at us farongs (white people)
2. Important lessons and interesting or otherwise significant observations
a. Sticky rice and mango is the second best thing after pad thai. The end.
b. Well, not really the end. When eating pad thai, watch out for full-sized insects, cooked unintentionally (I assume) into the dish, who are missing one or both of their wings. Then, don’t think about where the other wing might have gone.
c. Accenting a word even somewhat incorrectly changes what you’re saying. Thais find this phenomenon quite amusing.
d. Texans have nothing on the Thais when it comes to friendliness and hospitality. (And, yes, even when it comes to pad thai versus TexMex.)
e. There are mosquitoes, and lots of them. And they will bite you. And because Asians are apparently not attractive to mosquitoes, the damned insects will bite you even more to compensate.
f. Thailand might be the most beautiful country on earth, hands down.
g. Curly hair gets curlier in humidity, and what we consider cool clothing in the states may as well be winter bundling here.
h. The Arabica coffee grown just outside Chiang Mai in the hills is way better than Starbucks. Aroi.
i. If mission work means hanging out with fun people and meeting even more each day, then no wonder the Bible department is so big at ACU.
For pictures, look at my Facebook. If you’re not my friend, ask and it shall be given unto you. Miss you all and love you even more.
1. Major events and memorable happenings
a. Stumbled onto a major Buddhist festival at the largest and oldest temple (“wat”) in the old part of Chiang Mai
b. Played volleyball at 11 p.m. when it was still 85 degrees and humid enough to soak our clothes before even getting to the court
c. Visited the Agape Home orphanage outside the city where three of our friends from ACU are spending the summer working with AIDS orphans
d. Swam in a huge mountain lake in Sri Lanna National Park, where we also spent a night and morning on house boats on the lake
e. Consumed two full helpings of homemade Mexican stack--aroi! (delicious)
f. Drove through a legitimate flood: the water was covering the hood of the car and pooling at our feet. Rainy season has begun in Thailand.
g. Attended my first church service in Thai and English
h. Almost fell asleep during a Thai massage while the masseuses laughed at us farongs (white people)
2. Important lessons and interesting or otherwise significant observations
a. Sticky rice and mango is the second best thing after pad thai. The end.
b. Well, not really the end. When eating pad thai, watch out for full-sized insects, cooked unintentionally (I assume) into the dish, who are missing one or both of their wings. Then, don’t think about where the other wing might have gone.
c. Accenting a word even somewhat incorrectly changes what you’re saying. Thais find this phenomenon quite amusing.
d. Texans have nothing on the Thais when it comes to friendliness and hospitality. (And, yes, even when it comes to pad thai versus TexMex.)
e. There are mosquitoes, and lots of them. And they will bite you. And because Asians are apparently not attractive to mosquitoes, the damned insects will bite you even more to compensate.
f. Thailand might be the most beautiful country on earth, hands down.
g. Curly hair gets curlier in humidity, and what we consider cool clothing in the states may as well be winter bundling here.
h. The Arabica coffee grown just outside Chiang Mai in the hills is way better than Starbucks. Aroi.
i. If mission work means hanging out with fun people and meeting even more each day, then no wonder the Bible department is so big at ACU.
For pictures, look at my Facebook. If you’re not my friend, ask and it shall be given unto you. Miss you all and love you even more.
Monday, May 30, 2011
One Night in Bangkok
I’m not sure what day it is. I believe it’s very early morning on Tuesday in Bangkok. That makes it about 2 p.m. in Denver, which probably explains why I’m wide awake even after sleeping only about six hours in the last 45.
So now, having taken perhaps the most needed shower of my life, I'm sitting crossed-legged on the tiny, tiled patio in the room where I’m spending the night in Bangkok until my flight leaves tomorrow. Earlier, when I stepped outside the impressive new terminal of the Suvarnabmuni ("Su-van-a-pum," go figure) airport, the heavy tropical air met me at the doorway and hung in my hair and recurled my unwashed curls all the way to the hotel. The air condition in the van and the room was welcome.
Now, I don’t want to go back inside. The air condition feels so sterile and, in a very cool, refreshing way, strangely stuffy. Outside, I’ve never smelled air like this before. I suppose it could just be the smell of pollution, but the tropical air is heavy and muggy; the crickets are chirping, just audible above the hum of the air conditioner; the occasional insect buzzes between the palm trees while they rock back and forth in the breeze; and the city lights make the clouds glow like giant rolling sheets of mist. Motorcycles are passing by in the street just beyond where the hotel is tucked away from the highway, and Thai music is pulsing from one of the neighboring apartment rooms. It's almost a drugging effect, all of this. I would like to sit here for a very long time.
But about the trip. The Pacific Ocean, as it turns out, is rather expansive. That translates into a very long flight. But I did sit next to two very friendly girls from Singapore on the way from LA to Tokyo--they’d just spent a few weeks studying in Oklahoma City. A thrilling study abroad experience, I guess.
We landed in Tokyo, and the Narita airport is either nothing too exciting or I was half asleep. Our flight left in the evening for Bangkok, and I watched from my window seat as twilight fell over Japan, the cities lighting up all along the islands that are surrounded by this great wall of ocean on both sides. The water literally looked like it was having to be held back.
On the way to Bangkok, I sat next to a woman from Thailand who has lived in Oklahoma for years. Apparently Oklahoma is a popular place nowadays...who knew. She was telling me all about Thailand and teaching me a few Thai phrases. But since landing in Bangkok, people’s faces seem to get this amused smile each time I say hello or thank you, so I wonder what I’m actually saying.
Strange feeling #1: landing in the airport, tired, taller than just about everyone, and clearly a tourist with a confused, half-awake stare that, I assume, had a lot to do with why everyone was being so overly helpful.
Strange feeling #2: actually considering asking the three-year-old Thai children for help when I overheard them speaking Thai fluently.
Strange feeling #3: chasing down the terminal after a well-intentioned shuttle driver from another hotel very quickly whisked my suitcase away. He was smiling and apologetic every time he walked by while I waited for the right shuttle. I assured him it was quite all right.
Oh, and it's started thundering now--long, rolling swells through the sky like a soundtrack to the lightning show in the distance. Yes, I think I love this.
So now, having taken perhaps the most needed shower of my life, I'm sitting crossed-legged on the tiny, tiled patio in the room where I’m spending the night in Bangkok until my flight leaves tomorrow. Earlier, when I stepped outside the impressive new terminal of the Suvarnabmuni ("Su-van-a-pum," go figure) airport, the heavy tropical air met me at the doorway and hung in my hair and recurled my unwashed curls all the way to the hotel. The air condition in the van and the room was welcome.
Now, I don’t want to go back inside. The air condition feels so sterile and, in a very cool, refreshing way, strangely stuffy. Outside, I’ve never smelled air like this before. I suppose it could just be the smell of pollution, but the tropical air is heavy and muggy; the crickets are chirping, just audible above the hum of the air conditioner; the occasional insect buzzes between the palm trees while they rock back and forth in the breeze; and the city lights make the clouds glow like giant rolling sheets of mist. Motorcycles are passing by in the street just beyond where the hotel is tucked away from the highway, and Thai music is pulsing from one of the neighboring apartment rooms. It's almost a drugging effect, all of this. I would like to sit here for a very long time.
But about the trip. The Pacific Ocean, as it turns out, is rather expansive. That translates into a very long flight. But I did sit next to two very friendly girls from Singapore on the way from LA to Tokyo--they’d just spent a few weeks studying in Oklahoma City. A thrilling study abroad experience, I guess.
We landed in Tokyo, and the Narita airport is either nothing too exciting or I was half asleep. Our flight left in the evening for Bangkok, and I watched from my window seat as twilight fell over Japan, the cities lighting up all along the islands that are surrounded by this great wall of ocean on both sides. The water literally looked like it was having to be held back.
On the way to Bangkok, I sat next to a woman from Thailand who has lived in Oklahoma for years. Apparently Oklahoma is a popular place nowadays...who knew. She was telling me all about Thailand and teaching me a few Thai phrases. But since landing in Bangkok, people’s faces seem to get this amused smile each time I say hello or thank you, so I wonder what I’m actually saying.
Strange feeling #1: landing in the airport, tired, taller than just about everyone, and clearly a tourist with a confused, half-awake stare that, I assume, had a lot to do with why everyone was being so overly helpful.
Strange feeling #2: actually considering asking the three-year-old Thai children for help when I overheard them speaking Thai fluently.
Strange feeling #3: chasing down the terminal after a well-intentioned shuttle driver from another hotel very quickly whisked my suitcase away. He was smiling and apologetic every time he walked by while I waited for the right shuttle. I assured him it was quite all right.
Oh, and it's started thundering now--long, rolling swells through the sky like a soundtrack to the lightning show in the distance. Yes, I think I love this.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
And Away We Go
Before I say anything about Thailand, today is my sister's 15th birthday, and I would like to wish her a wonderful day. I would also offer a word of warning to all registered drivers planning to commute anywhere in the Denver area this summer.
That being said, Facebook has just informed me that three of the interns who I'll be traveling with this summer have already made it to Chiang Mai, and another is set to leave tomorrow. Facebook will also inform you that I'm leaving on Sunday--in about 31 hours, actually. Next time you hear from me, I'll be about 14 hours ahead of you and probably a bit jet lagged, but hopefully doing fine otherwise and ready to spend the summer in Thailand.
I've had no idea what to expect or how to prepare for ten weeks in Chiang Mai. Apparently we're in the tropics, so after much prompting from individuals concerned with my well-being this summer, I'm stocked with enough bug spray to ward off a jungle, enough medicine to ward off the most irksome of intestinal concerns and general health issues, and the most lightweight clothes I've been able to find. So the challenge really is packing these "necessary" supplies into a suitcase and backpack. Which is, of course, a more fitting activity for more like 8 hours before I leave.
But prepared or not, I would mostly like to thank everyone again for all the support you've already given us. I can't begin to thank all of you who encouraged us in this process, donated money to fund our trip, and prayed so sincerely. I was asked the other day how it made me feel that so many people have given so generously and been so supportive, and quite honestly I'm not entirely sure. The word that comes to mind is humbling. I suppose there is a sense of responsibility as well. Really, though, all I know to say is thank you. Khop kun mak ka.
And thank you to my family who is 1) letting me spend the summer away from home and 2) trying not to worry too much, or at least not showing it. I love you, and I promise to be very careful.
I'll be posting more as soon as I recover from jet lag--and excitement--and gain a basic orientation with the places and people in Chiang Mai. These posts will, I hope, become substantially more interesting in just a few days.
Until then, blessings.
Juliana
That being said, Facebook has just informed me that three of the interns who I'll be traveling with this summer have already made it to Chiang Mai, and another is set to leave tomorrow. Facebook will also inform you that I'm leaving on Sunday--in about 31 hours, actually. Next time you hear from me, I'll be about 14 hours ahead of you and probably a bit jet lagged, but hopefully doing fine otherwise and ready to spend the summer in Thailand.
I've had no idea what to expect or how to prepare for ten weeks in Chiang Mai. Apparently we're in the tropics, so after much prompting from individuals concerned with my well-being this summer, I'm stocked with enough bug spray to ward off a jungle, enough medicine to ward off the most irksome of intestinal concerns and general health issues, and the most lightweight clothes I've been able to find. So the challenge really is packing these "necessary" supplies into a suitcase and backpack. Which is, of course, a more fitting activity for more like 8 hours before I leave.
But prepared or not, I would mostly like to thank everyone again for all the support you've already given us. I can't begin to thank all of you who encouraged us in this process, donated money to fund our trip, and prayed so sincerely. I was asked the other day how it made me feel that so many people have given so generously and been so supportive, and quite honestly I'm not entirely sure. The word that comes to mind is humbling. I suppose there is a sense of responsibility as well. Really, though, all I know to say is thank you. Khop kun mak ka.
And thank you to my family who is 1) letting me spend the summer away from home and 2) trying not to worry too much, or at least not showing it. I love you, and I promise to be very careful.
I'll be posting more as soon as I recover from jet lag--and excitement--and gain a basic orientation with the places and people in Chiang Mai. These posts will, I hope, become substantially more interesting in just a few days.
Until then, blessings.
Juliana
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