Christmas in Thailand

I have spent quite a few Christmas holidays in other countries around the world but this year was definitely a unique Christmas. It is hard to get into the Christmas spirit and mindset when the weather is in the 90's every day. I am also living in a Buddhist country so Christmas is not an observed holiday here. Bangkok does decorate for Christmas a lot though for the tourists so I did get to enjoy all of the great decorations!

For Christmas I went on a 3 day trip with 9 other Thai people to Khao Yai. It is a province about 2 hours outside of Bangkok. It was so beautiful and the weather was wonderful! On Christmas day we all piled into the back of a truck and went to Khao Yai National park for the day. It is a huge park that includes 3 provinces. We hiked all day through the mountains and saw some beautiful things including wildlife. It was a day filled with lots of fun, laughter, exercise, and many great memories.

I didn't open any presents, eat any special food, or see any family on Christmas Day but it was still a wonderful day.

Looking forward to 2010 and seeing what the Lord has in store!

Christmas in Thailand

Sripatum Univ. girls (Puy, Ann, Nice, Ham) and me

Christmas Service at Canaan Baptist Church

Everything skit group

Just hanging out before church starts

It is my first Christmas in Thailand and hard to believe that I have been here almost 1 year. Where did the time go?? It is hard to imagine that it is Christmas time because it is about 90 degrees out every day while America is getting hit with snow storms. I love looking at all of the pictures on facebook of snow/sledding/building snowmen/ and just having lots of fun.

We had our Christmas service this past Sunday (20th). It was a fun filled day and there were about 60 or more people.

I'm getting ready to go on a trip with some of my Thai friends from the 24th-26th. We will go to the mountains (about 2 hours outside of Bangkok). It might be a little bit cooler there. I would love to wear a long sleeve shirt just one time. 7 of us are going on the trip (4 students from Sripatum and 2 of my friends and me. I am looking forward to getting out of Bangkok for a few days and to enjoy nature.

I am also trying to pack because when I return I will get ready to move into my new place. Lot's to do this Christmas season. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Will I ever see it again? cultural question

O.k. so here is a question that I ask myself often when I lend out something and would like some feedback from my "American readers". Daily I try to figure out "Thai culture". Overall they are the kindest people I know and they will do anything for you. Here is something interesting though. I have let people borrow clothes for various situations/reasons and I never see them again. Seriously! I finally asked an American who has lived in Thailand for about 22 years if that was normal and she said "yes". She told me when you let someone borrow something think about it as giving it to them and be happy if you see it again. Wow- I was really surprised. If you lend someone money they pay you back immediately but if you give them some clothes you may never see them again.

Don't worry I haven't lost anything too important but it is just funny to me. In American culture it is polite to return it and as soon as possible. Some days I struggle to understand the culture and what is considered polite and not polite. I have learned a lesson though. I won't lend out anything nice :)

Who would have thought I would never see it again???

Life is full of changes (some sad, some happy, some good, and some bad)

Monday night cell group at my house in November. Wednesday night cell group in the summer with the summer team.

My house where lots of minsitry took place. Praise God!

My precious friend Jai and me last month at Canaan.

Jai and me on Valentine's Day at Canaan. One of the first Thai people I met and became friends with here.

Change is just part of life and most of the time I do my best to embrace it and learn from it. I am getting ready to say "good-bye" to a dear Thai friend (Jai) that I met when I first arrived here. She is a very active member at my church here (Canaan Baptist Church). She will be moving to the southern part of Thailand at the beginning of January to start her new job. I have spent a lot of time with Jai since arriving here almost 1 year ago and am amazed at how much her English has improved (my Thai not so much). She has become a very dear friend to me and I can't imagine one week passing by without seeing her. I am excited though to see what God has in store for her in her new home and job.

Speaking of new homes that is another change that will happen soon for me also. It is bittersweet but mainly I am really excited. I will be moving at the beginning of January from my house to a small condo back into the heart of the city (along the sky train line). There are many reasons for this move and I really feel that overall it is going to be a great blessing and change. There is always a little sadness though in leaving a place I have lived for about 7 months. I have a lot of great memories with students coming to this home every week and will always treasure those times.

Those are the 2 biggest changes that I am getting ready to face. I think things change though in my life here weekly and sometimes daily and I just learn to adapt and search for God's purpose in it all.

I am going to include a few pictures that go with change and for some reason they always post before what I write. I can't figure out how to fix that yet (I need my best friend Dana for this problem)

December Winter Wonderland

Christmas in Thailand photos

O.k. so the title is a little deceiving. It is December and it is considered the "cold season" but it is not really a winter wonderland. I think the coldest it has been here is in the 80's and believe it or not it feels a little chilly since I am used to it being in the high 90's almost every day.

The great thing about living in a big city though is that many places have gone all out to decorate for Christmas. They don't even celebrate Christmas here because Thailand is a Buddhist country but they decorate for the tourists because those are the people that shop at the stores. I have seen some of the most amazing Christmas trees and decorations here but with the hot weather it is hard to think about Christmas being near.

Here are some pictures of the great decorations--enjoy :)

Some recent fun events here!

We celebrated my friend Jai's birthday at Pizza Hut :) I like pizza!!

O, me, and Fon at Sripatum University

Puy, me, and ann eating corn while watching the elephant show in Ayutthaya:)

Jib, Nice, Kayla, Ham, and me on dress day at the bicycle park. We all wore dresses that we bought on the street to church on Sunday and took lots of pictures at church and then at the park after church. Fun times with University students.

Ann, Me, and P'Pom at church

I am still here :)

I am not even sure if anyone still reads my blog or not. I haven't been good at updating it very often. Lots is happening here and I am keeping pretty busy. I am spending most of my time now at Sripatum University. It is about a 15 minute walk from my house or on the hot days (which is every day) when I ride the bus it is 3 bus stops away. I usually ride the bus in the morning and walk home in the afternoon. I am having lots of fun just hanging out with the students and helping them with their English.

In the past few months 12 people have been baptized from my church!! We went to the beach both times to baptize in the ocean. Both of them were amazing experiences and were at 2 different beaches. If you have facebook there is a video of the most recent baptism.

I hope there are still some readers out there :)

Do I really understand what they are saying?

O.k. my title can mean many things. The obvious being that everyone here speaks Thai and I struggle to understand them. However, my language is getting better (not good but better). I understand a lot more Thai and now I am not sure that it is a good thing. Sometimes I hear my Thai friends talking about me or a situation and I wonder if I understood correctly what they said and if I did my feelings might be hurt a little. Now here is the tricky part--enter in cultural differences.

Example #1--Last Friday I went to ULS (Union Language School) to visit and have lunch with some of the Thai teachers and an American friend. One of the first things the Thai teacher said to me in Thai was how I was skinnier now but I used to be fat. I hadn't seen them since May when I finished language school. I guess it is better than the other way around. The Cultural thing is that Thai people call each other fat all the time and there definition of fat is not quite the same as the American definition. I am glad to look skinnier but I would like to think that I have never been fat.

I don't know if I will ever be able to understand the language fully but I am pretty sure that I will never be able to totally understand the culture. I have learned a lot of things and know most of the do's and don'ts in Thai culture which helps a lot. Will I ever really understand what people are saying to me?? The first step is to understand Thai but then the next step is to understand culture.

All in a days work!

Goals+Accountability=Success

Just a few weeks ago I attended a 3 day conference about how to reach the lost and help church multiplication to occur in the country that you are serving. It was an intense 3 days as we met from 8-5 daily. We were given some sheets to set some concrete goals for the future work and it didn't take me long to write some down.

One of my first goals was to spend at least 1 hour of my day while I am at Sripatum to meet new students. It is not difficult for me to connect with students that I already know but I knew it would be a challenge for me to go out and meet new students. I am still working on this goal but the Lord has been very gracious to me this week. I have already met 7 new students and it has only been a 3 day week so far. Isn't God so good?? Most of these students are friends of students that I know so I actually didn't have to go out and find them but they came to me. I love when God answers prayers in His own way.

One of my personal goals is that I will get up earlier each day and exercise and have my quiet time before heading to Sripatum. I just started this week so I will see by the end of this month how well I do with it :)

Things are busy but great here. I will post pictures soon! Stay tuned :)

10 Things I LOVE about THAILAND

1. I love Thai people! I feel very blessed to have such wonderful Thai friends.

2. I love all of the wonderful parks! My church goes almost every Sunday afternoon to the bicycle park. You can rent a bicycle for about $1.00 for the entire day and most of them have 2 seats so it is just fun to ride with a friend.

3. I love that a lot of Thai people speak English since my Thai is not very good :)

4. I love that almost everything in this big city is written in English too. I definitely don't know how to read Thai.

5. I love that God called me here and gives me a peace about it daily!

6. I love public transportation. Driving in Bangkok would be a nightmare but sitting on the bus with my IPOD is no problem. It is even better if you can ride the sky train or Metro here.

7. I love that there are so many things to do here! I should never be bored because there are always places to go and many of them free of charge:)

8. I love my Thai church here (Canaan Baptist Church). Everything is done in Thai so I don't understand a lot of it but I love the people/fellowship and music.

9. I love eating out here! It is so cheap to eat out that I hardly ever (pretty much never) cook at home. You can eat on the street for about $1-2.00 or you can even go to a fairly upscale restaurant for $7-10.00.

10. I love walking everywhere. I don't always get to exercise (run) like I would like to do but am glad that I get a lot of miles in daily just walking my every day life!

Blessings, Blessings, Blessings!

Iew, me, and Nice sitting in the back seat of a friends car in a traffic jam for about 2-3 hours.

Wi, Ning, P'Pom, Me, and Jai after my birthday dinner. One friend (Sem)is taking the picture.

Nan, Ning, Me, P'Pom, Jai, and Wi karoaking after celebrating P'Poms birthday!

One of my best Thai friends Ning

Nice, me, Iew, and Yen. Students at Sripatum University.

I know it has been a few weeks since my last post. I read my last few posts and think I should have waited to write something because it sounded so discouraging. I really do love it here and see God's hand at work daily. I feel very very very blessed.

I just recently got a new red couch and 2 chairs for my living room. I found some for a really good price and they delivered for free :) When I am finished decorating I will post pictures of my house. I also just got a new fridge :)!!!! Now I can make my very own ice!!!!!

The biggest blessing has been watching these University students who are believers grow and then share their faith with friends who aren't believers yet. Just this week 1 girl (Nice-who just became a believer this summer) did a Bible study with another student/friend (Jib) who is a seeker but hasn't accepted Christ yet. Nice was so excited to share her faith and she will also be leading our Monday night Bible study this week!

I have also been blessed with some wonderful close Thai friends! I got to celebrate my b-day Thai style---Thai style means you take your friends out to dinner and you get to pay :) A little different than the American way--ha ha! I took just 5 close friends to dinner since I was paying :) It was a lot of fun. I will include some pictures with this post for those of you who don't have facebook (you should really get it).

Thank you for being faithful to follow my journey in Thailand. It has been a great blessing!

Update

The story of my life continues. For some wonderful reason my other account receives e-mail but doesn't send any e-mails--don't ask me???? Today I created a new yahoo account. You can e-mail me at annbosha@yahoo.com If you would like to get my monthly updates you will need to send me an e-mail at this new account so I have your e-mail address. THANKS :)

Story of My Life!!

Where do I begin?? I now have a bank card that doesn't work, a shower that can not mix hot and cold water together to make warm water, a freezer that doesn't work, and the latest is an e-mail account! What is next??? If anyone still reads my blog you can no longer get in touch with me on annbnagy@hotmail.com. It is a long story but basically I can not change my password and have been blocked from the account. If you want to send me an e-mail please send it to anagy@mymailworld.com I am sad about my hotmail account because that is where all of my contacts are located! I am going to try to get it reinstated but I don't know how well that is going to work!

Sorry this is a feel sorry for me blog update! Today was a great day with students though. I ate lunch with some students at Sripatum today and then did a Bible study with 1 young lady who has not accepted Christ yet but is reading the Bible and wants to know more. God is good!

Welcome Back to the world of technology!!!

Yes- I finally have internet in my home!!! I got it on Friday and have been on the computer every night just trying to catch up. I have been up really late talking to friends and family on skype. It is so wonderful to re-connect with everyone!! I have really missed it! If you have skype and want to chat sometime my skype name is anninthailand

Things continue to be very busy! I am still teaching at Rangsit University on Monday and Tuesday and on Wed. and Thurs. I go to Sripatum University and tutor students or just eat lunch with them and hang out. I am also still having students over one time a week for "cell group". We changed our meeting day from Wed. nights to Monday nights and this past Monday there were 25 students here!

Now that the busy summer is over with I am going to go back to studying Thai once again. I will have a tutor on Friday morning from 8:30-10:00. I am looking forward to getting back into learning how to read and write Thai and also practicing conversational Thai. I am getting better at understanding what people are saying but I am still shy to speak because I think I won't say it correctly. I will need a lot of prayer as THAI is a VERY DIFFICULT LANGUAGE :)!

Well I think that is enough of an update for one post! i hope you are still reading! More exciting news to come :)

Fresh Starts

I have a bit of writer's block these days. I feel like I haven't written on this blog in so long that I don't even know what to write about. I hope that most of you have facebook and are able to see the pictures because it takes a lot of time to put them on my blog. I will put a few on here from this summer for those of you who don't have facebook and to give a quick look back at the summer work here.

Hopefully the pictures will speak for themselves.....

Guests of a different culture

I have been living in my new house for a little over 2 months now. It has been a great blessing in many many ways. Every Wed. there are about 15-30 Thai students that come for "cell group" and almost every week-end 1 or more of my Thai friends come and stay the night. It has been a busy place. I even had some American friends come and stay for a few days. All of these guests are welcome and I love having them!

Unfortunately my house also has some unwelcomed guests. If I have never written this before can I just say that everything seems to come in much larger forms here in Thailand. For examples--roaches. The roaches are huge in this country. I have one that has decided to move into my home and I am scared to kill him because he is so big! The most recent unwelcomed guest is a rat (or maybe 2 or 3). I have actually only seen him 3 times but I know he is around because he leaves evidence. I have been trying to figure out how I am going to kill him. I have been given many suggestions but most of them I just can't do. The most ideal way would be for me to put out poison and he eats it and then he goes outside and dies. Doesn't that sound like the perfect plan??? I am afraid it won't be that easy.

If anyone has a great "American" way to kill a rat please let me know. I am up for any suggestions. I do have some workers coming tomorrow to close holes and such and maybe that will solve the problem and I won't have to kill him at all--we will see.

Living in a different culture has many surprises--some good and some not so good but it is just life!

I am alive :)

I hope that people are still reading my blog and haven't given up on me yet. It has been a very very busy summer!! I am currently writing this blog entry from Chiang Mai ( a city about 9 hours north of Bangkok). I will give a quick summary of the summer.

The Univ. students from America arrived in early June and then we immediately began work on 3 univ. campuses in Bangkok. At first I was busy taking all the American students around and spending days on the 2 different univ. campuses. I teach English 2 days a week at Rangsit University to chemistry students. It has been a lot of fun. I have a freshman class on Monday which has around 50 students and sophomores on Tuesday with only about 20 students. Tuesday is a much easier day but I enjoy both of the days. The rest of the week I spend at Sripatum Univ. tutoring students and just working to build relationships.

The first week-end in July we had an English camp in Pattaya. We had over 200 univ. students from the different campuses. It went really well. We had some students make decisions and many who are seeking to know more. I will be busy doing a lot of follow up in the month of August.

I came to Chiang Mai for 2 weeks of meetings the day after camp finished. I have enjoyed seeing a different part of the beautiful country of Thailand. The other day I went with some friends on an elephant trek through the countryside and also went white water rafting. It was a lot of fun! I am ready though to get back to Bangkok! Only a few more days of meetings left and then I return home!

I still don't have internet at my house yet but hope to have it up and running in August. I will try to be better at updating my blog so please keep reading. Pictures to come in the future!!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I have not updated my blog in a few weeks for many reasons. one of the reasons is because I do not have internet at my new house. I have been working hard to get it but everything is a process here and sometimes a long process. I am hoping to have it soon.

June has arrived which means the summer teams are arriving. We have 14 univ. students from America coming to work with us for June and July. It will be an exciting but very busy summer. I will have 9 of the American students working with me at 2 of the Thai universities. We will be teaching English, tutoring, and doing lots of programs at the universities and also off campus. I will be working 7 days a week and putting in long hours each day but am so excited about it. This is what I came here to do and it is finally time to get started doing it!!!

I will try to update from time to time when it is possible. I will also try to get some pictures of my new house up soon. I haven't taken any pictures inside yet. I am still working on the decorating part. The house is going to be great for ministry but it isn't fun to clean:) I will try to update again soon so keep reading:)!

Module 3 Complete & Moving Day :)

Today was the last day of Module 3. I am now finished with language school and the work begins! I am really excited about the summer work at the university but am a little sad that I won't be returning to language school. I have really enjoyed attempting to learn Thai for the past 3 months at school. I still have so much to learn but am hoping that my speaking will improve as I am around lots of students this summer. I will also miss all of the great friends that I have made with the students and teachers at school. (The pictures above are of my module 3 class and my teacher "khruu Wanthanee".

Tomorrow (actually today because I am writing this past midnight) is my moving day! I am so excited to move into my new house. I am a little sad though that I will no longer be living on the sky train route. I will be riding the bus now and taking taxi's once in a while. I will be finding new places to shop, eat, and hang out. All of the changes bring about all new adventures so get ready to hear about a whole different part of Bangkok that you haven't met yet.

My first house!

I never would have thought in a million years that my first house would be in a foreign country! The first house that I can actually call just "my house"! I am so excited! I found the cutest little pink house (yes I did say pink) that is in a great neighborhood near the university that I will be working at this summer.

It was really nice and spacious on the inside also. I only have pictures of the outside for now but I move in next week so more pictures will be coming soon! thanks to many of you who prayed for me! It was a perfect fit. I saw it today and it is move in ready and I have the keys in hand right now.

By the way--it is a 3 bedroom house so all visitors are welcome!!

Lessons of the Week

Do you ever feel like you have heard things before but this time you are hearing/seeing/learning it differently? Maybe you are seeing it differently because of experiences in your life or maybe your perspective is different? This past week was one of those weeks for me. I hope you don't mind me sharing:)

Compassion--this word received a whole new definition for me this week. I always thought about how God has compassion on us and how He loves us no matter what. Even when we disappoint Him by making the wrong decisions in life, irritate Him by committing the same sin for the 100th time, and sometimes even turn away from Him but He is still there. This week I was challenged in my Tuesday night Bible study when my teaching leader asked the question "God has compassion on us even when we disappoint and irritate Him-do you have compassion on other people when they disappoint or irritate you.?" That question hurt a little! I really had to think about it--do I have compassion on other people when they disappoint or irritate me?? I am really going to work hard to be more compassionate towards others. I am so thankful that God never gives up on me when I disappoint or irritate Him and I need to show the same compassion towards others! What a challenge!!

Perspective- this word has really been heavy on my heart since arriving in Thailand. You can see the things around you in so many different ways and either find the positive or the negative in them. This week I was challenged when I heard a story about a Marine General in World War II who was surrounded on all sides by the enemy and had just heard word that no help would be coming. What he told his men was this "All right-the enemy is on our left, on our right, in front of us, and behind us, and they can't get away this time!" We have the opportunity to shoot at them from every direction." Life is full of challenges/hardships (the enemy). How are you going to face them? Are you going to feel defeat and surrender or are you going to see things from a different perspective and fight with the right attitude?

Along with learning Thai culture and the difficult Thai language I am learning many other great life lessons!

Is it May already?????

Ever since arriving in Thailand 4 months ago the one thing that has never changed is that the time passes by really quickly! I feel like a month is just beginning and the next thing I know it is over and the next month is here. A lot has been accomplished in the past 4 months but in some ways the time has gone by a little too fast! Time passing by also brings about changes. It means that some things that you have grown to love and have done routinely are coming to an end but the exciting part is that it means new things are beginning!

I only have 2 more weeks of language and I will be finished with school. I am actually really sad because I like going to school and learning Thai and there is so much that I need to learn. I have really developed some great relationships with the teachers and some of my classmates that it will be really hard for me to say "good-bye". Hopefully in the future I will either be able to go back to school or get a tutor because I still need a lot of help with my Thai!

The new beginning though is that my summer work with university students will start in June and I am really excited. There are univ. students coming from America to work with the Univ. students here in Bangkok for 8 weeks. It will be a very busy but fun summer. Hopefully being around Thai students all summer will help my speaking to improve since I won't be in school.

I keep reminding myself that change is good and as time passes by lots of changes will continue to happen. I look forward to seeing what changes God has in store for me here!

SUCCESS!

I finally have something in language school that I can brag a little about:) In Module 3 I am learning how to read and write in Thai along with speaking. Most of the time I feel pretty lost. At this time I have learned how to write 9 long vowel symbols and 24 consonant symbols. On Tuesday the teacher (Khruu Wanthanee) gave us 19 different word dictations and we had to write them in Thai. Guess what??? I was the only one in class who wrote all 19 correctly in THAI!!!! I was so excited!! Khruu Wanthanee even showed the whole class my notebook:) She really tries hard to encourage me because she knows I am struggling. She is a tough teacher but I know she is just what I need. I prayed during my 2 week break that the Lord would give me the teacher that I needed for Module 3 and she is definitely an answer to prayer.

Thanks for reading my blog and rejoicing with me over the small triumphs! I may have set the standard too high for myself--I am not sure that I can do it again but I will sure try!

I had my umbrella today but wasn't prepared for the flood!

After getting caught in the rain 3 times without an umbrella I finally decided that my umbrella goes everywhere with me no matter what the weather looks like when I leave. It is the "hot" season right now but there have been some storms every now and then because of the intense heat. Today was no exception.

When I left language school around 1:00 today the storm was moving in but it had not started to rain yet. I was hoping to make it home before the intense storm started but I only made it to the end of my street and decided to go in the shopping center and eat and just wait for the rain to pass. It was raining really hard that really an umbrella didn't help anyways so I went to Mc'Donalds and ate and did my homework for language school. I stayed there for a little over an hour and the rain had stopped so I decided I would walk home.

I had a big surprise when I walked out of the shopping center and realized my whole road was flooded. The sidewalk was still o.k. but when a car passed on the road the water splashed on the sidewalk. Just remember this water is really dirty. I was wishing that i had my boots but who would have known. The water was almost knee deep in places. I got to a place where I would have to cross a little road and the water was so deep that I wasn't going to do it. One police officer offered to give me a piggy back ride. I laughed and declined the offer. One officer helped me across by me climbing on this rolling thing that I stood on and he pulled across (he had boots to protect his legs:) I was on dry sidewalk again but realized I couldn't make it down the road. A guy who worked at one of the street vendors told me he would take me on his motorcycle so I took him up on the offer.

I made it home without getting too wet. I really don't mind getting wet and would have walked through the water but---it is really dirty water and they do have some really yucky snakes and rats here! Here are a few pictures. Enjoy! Every day is an adventure in Bangkok!

I survived week 1 of Module 3---that is an accomplishment!

I made it through my first week of Module 3 and I didn't cry all week! That is an accomplishment for me! I have a really strict teacher that I am a little scared of at times. She is funny though. She knows I am scared of her and actually keeps telling me in Thai don't be scared of me. She gives me a little "pep" talk in Thai every day about how I just need to ask more questions and be more confident:) It is kind of funny. I have gotten caught a few times asking another American guy in my class a question because I was confused and she looked at me and said in Thai- don't ask your friend ask me.

Every day is an adventure in language school. I have learned how to write 9 long vowels and 14 consonants in Thai this week. It is a difficult process. They do not have any letters so it is almost like drawing a symbol. The hardest thing so far has been remembering where to put the vowels. The vowels are written either above, below, to the right, or to the left of the consonant. It has been a bit of a challenge this week memorizing how to write the symbol, what sound it makes and then where to put the vowel. The teacher gave us a dictation test today and we were not allowed to use our books so we had to do it all from memory. She did them all fairly quickly so I will have to wait until Monday to see how I did.

Speaking Thai is also a great adventure each week. Half of the time I am clueless and it is usually written all over my face. I haven't cried this week yet--and this is really a great accomplishment! I often feel like the "special kid" in class who just doesn't get it. I keep trying though so that counts for something! I will share 1 funny story from class this week and then end because this is getting too long.

We were practicing a sentence pattern in Thai this week where you had to ask the teacher when she finished ______ then please do _____ for me. One of the guys said in thai--when you finish taking a shower will you please wash my clothes. The problem was that for this sentence pattern both of the blanks were things that she was doing for you---so in other words the guy asked the teacher. when you finish giving me a shower will you please wash my clothes--we all laughed for a while on this one.

Lesson of the day--do not try to directly translate from one language to another because it doesn't work!! Sorry for the long post--I am averaging about one a week these days:)

Back on Schedule---I like routine!!

I enjoyed the 2 week vacation from language school but am thankful to be back on schedule! Today I began Module 3--yeah!!! There are different teachers for each module and this time I have a lady (Wathanee) who has taught for 33 years. She definitely has experience. She speaks a little fast but I actually understood a few of her jokes today and followed most of what she was saying. There are always moments when I have no idea what is going on but I still love being in school.

Today was also my first introduction to learning how to write Thai letters! There are 44 consonant symbols and the vowels go in weird places in the words. Sometimes the vowel goes above, below, or beside the consonant--yikes! I learned how to write 4 vowels today and I feel like I am in art class. There is an art to making these letters and art was never my strong subject in school. I had to write the 4 vowels over and over on one whole page for homework.

I hope I survive Module 3:) I need my brain to keep storing information even if it is full.

on a side note--I also started learning how to play the guitar. I have always wanted to learn so one of my friends from church started teaching me on Sunday afternoon. My poor fingers were so red and irratated from the strings but it is lots of fun. I learned a few chords and hope to be able to play a few songs soon. I will let you know how it progresses.

I am glad to be back on a schedule even if it does mean I have to get up at 6 a.m.

My first field trip out of Bangkok!

I finally had a chance to do a few "touristy" things outside of Bangkok today. I went with some American friends and we did it with a travel company. Of course it meant that I had to get up at 5 a.m. in order to be at the hotel and ready to go by 6:30 a.m. but it was a really fun day!

The all day tour included going to the floating market, wood carving place, elephant park, and rose garden. We went in a van and had our very own tour guide. It was quite funny though because our tour guide did not speak good English so I really didn't understand him at all.

I am going to include some pictures from the day. I bought a very Asian looking hat--try not to laugh. I did wear it today to keep the sun out because it was an extremly hot day!! However, the hat will now be used as a cool wall ornament hanging in my apartment. Enjoy the pictures--it was fun to be a "tourist" for the day and to journey out to see some of the countryside!

Life is just sometimes hard!

I am sure many of you would say "amen" to my title. Lately things just seem hard. I moved into a new apartment a little over a week ago and my new friends here are ants. It could definitely be worse but I have to admit I am tired of seeing ants everywhere!! I bought spray but it only kills them for the moment and others always come back. It is a minor inconvenience but sometimes it just gets overwhelming and i'm ready to give up fighting the battle!

Another lesson I am learning is a cultural thing that I am having a hard time adjusting to lately. One thing in Thai culture is that they never want to offend anyone so they never say "no". The problem is that they tell you "yes" but then they don't show up. Later they will apologize for not coming but they knew all along they weren't coming. It is really hard for me because when I make plans with someone I keep them. If something changes I call them and let them know but that is not the way things work here. I keep reminding myself I am in their culture so I have to adapt but some things just aren't easy.

I am thankful though that I serve a Lord who never changes!! He is the same and is always there right on time:)!! He is there when ants are climbing across my computer screen and when friends don't show up reminding me to put all my trust in Him!

Praying for Peace

Many of you already know of the current situation here in Bangkok. About a week ago some protestors arrived here but within the past few days it has turned into a more serious situation. Military tanks moved in here Sunday afternoon to try to regain control.

Tomorrow I was supposed to go with some friends to the beach for the Thai New Year but we had to cancel our plans because it is not safe. All of the Songkran (Thai New Year) festivities have been cancelled.

I am safe and sound in my apartment reading all of the latest updates on-line. One of the best sources is the Bangkok Post. It is in English and keeps things updated almost every hour.

Please pray for peace quickly here.

Easter Sunday in Bangkok

Today didn't quite feel like Easter here in Bangkok for many reasons. One reason is because there were very few people at church this morning because most of them have left to be with their family for the Thai New Year (Songkran). We celebrated it as a church last Sunday.

The second reason is because around 3:00 this afternoon I was told that Bangkok was now in a state of emergency and that military tanks were situated in several places and were ready to act on the protestors if necessary. I had to take the subway home in order to avoid all of the action. This is not a time to want to be in on or see the action. I live only a few miles from where most of it is taking place so I will be staying home tomorrow.

When I arrived home this evening I took some time to read in the Gospels the story of Jesus death and resurrection. I was reminded of the sacrifice that He made for each of us and that He wants us to tell others about His great love!

I hope that everyone had a very wonderful Easter!

Easter Celebration at Canaan

We celebrated Easter a little early here in Thailand. There is a big Thai holiday coming up called "Songkran" and many people go home to be with their families so we had our Easter service a week early. We had special music using the chimes and some special singing. We also had some visitors!! One of the college students that I met at BSC on Friday nights came to the Easter service. Canaan (my church) was pretty full for the special service! After the service we had a special lunch and then just spent time hanging out. Around 3:00 a terrible storm came through which seems to be the norm these days. We had to wait for it to stop pouring down rain before we could go to the Easter concert at Lumphini park.

The Easter Concert was put on by the Church of Joy--the same church that did the Valentine's Day concert. There were lots of people at the park for the concert! The concert went from 5-9 and many of the singers are famous Thai singers who became believers. One of the guys that sang is from my church. It was a lot of fun! I love listening to praise and worship music in any language!

Now I have a 2 week holiday from language school and am going to spend most of it resting, studying Thai, and hanging out with friends. I am sure it will all go by quickly!