Quick Update of my crazy life!!!

**Tomorrow I am moving into another apartment that is in the same building where I live now but on the 1st floor. I was told that they needed my apartment for someone else. I just do whatever they tell me to do:)

**This Saturday I am having about 10-20 young ladies over for an "American lunch". I say 10-20 because you can never be sure if they will come or not or if they might even bring a friend:) I am looking forward to it!

**I will finish Module 2 this Friday. Thursday is our field trip out and about to talk to people for the oral part and Friday is the written exam!!!!!!!! There are so many vocabulary words for Module 2 that I couldn't memorize them all if I studied 8 hours a day! My teacher actually already signed my sheet that I passed and will go to Module 3 but I still want to do well on my exam.

**I have been sick quite a bit this month. I had a cold last week and now I have some flu like virus. I need more energy to keep up with my life so please pray!

That's all for now on the update of my crazy life:)

Karaoke night

The weeks seem to pass by way too quickly and then I realize I haven't written in my blog all week-sorry! I thought I would post a few pictures from a get together on Thursday night with students from my language class and 2 of the teachers. Mauri (an italian man) had 11 of us from school over for dinner. He made 3 different kinds of pastas and they were all delicious! While we were waiting for him to make each dish we had a lot of free time so we sang:) He had a system through his stereo and tv and had a few english cd's and a few thai cd's. One of the teachers put all of our names in a cup and as a name got drawn they had to sing. I am thankful that my name didn't get drawn until about the 5th person! I warned them all ahead of time that I really don't sing well and that most of the songs were from before my time and that I really don't know them:) Don't worry I held the microphone far away from my mouth so really no one could hear me over the real singer:) We did have a lot of laughs as each person sang and it was a lot of fun.

I have really enjoyed being in language school for many reasons. It has become my "little" mission field for the past 2 months mainly with the students that are studying with me. However, the other night opened even more doors as I got to know the 2 teachers that came that are not believers. I haven't had either of these teachers in class but they already knew my name and I tried to talk in Thai as much as I could with them. When one of them saw me at school today during break time she came up to me and talked to me for a few minutes (in Thai of course).

Isn't God amazing how HE opens doors with people in so many different ways?? I would sing karaoke for hours if it meant that I would get a chance to build relationships with these Thai teachers who are not believers. Let's hope we find other things to do together besides sing because I really am not good at it:)

Another week begins

It is hard to believe that this is the last full week in March! This week begins week 3 of Module 2. Each module is only 4 weeks long. I am considering whether or not I should re-do Module 2 and work more on my conversation or if I should go on to Module 3 and begin learning how to write in Thai. My brain can hardly hold all of these vocabulary words that I am not sure if it can try to learn how to write Thai letters. I'll let you know in a few weeks what I decide to do.

I feel like I could really get this language if I had about 6-8 months to study but since I only have 3 months I am going to make the best of it! Learning a new language is fun even if it is difficult:)

Another week-end comes to an end and Monday is back again!!!

A true Thai movie

Today I went to the movies with a girl that I meet with on Thursdays at Sripatum University (Guitar). We decided to see a "Thai" movie that looked really cute. It was a love story. The movie was in Thai but it had English sub-titles. I got to experience the movie the way almost all people in the world experience it since almost all movies are shown in English with whatever language written in sub-titles. I had to read throughout the whole movie which makes it a little harder to watch what is happening at times. Sometimes I was watching the people and missed the script written below. I was able to pick up on many Thai words throughout the movie which was fun.

The movie was really cute. I was very impressed. Most of the movie took place here in Bangkok so lots of the scenes were familiar places to me. Other parts of the movie were filmed in the countryside and I can't wait to see that part of Thailand also because it was beautiful in the movie.

Just in case you forgot the movies are really cheap here. It cost 120 baat which is about $3.40. It was a good movie and a great opportunity for me to continue to build relationships with these university students!

Difficulties-do they make you bitter or better?

I have been so blessed since arriving here a little over 2 months ago and love being here more and more each day. What is not to love? This city is huge with great malls, amazing cinemas that are cheap, restaurants galore, and wonderfully kind Thai people. I have a pretty full schedule with language, Bible studies, university work, church, and spending time building relationships. I see the Lord at work daily in my life and in the lives of unbelievers around me that He is drawing to Himself. It is all truly amazing!!

However, we all know that along with the blessings do come some difficulties. This past week in one of my Bible studies the focus was on Numbers 20 and we discussed how difficulties either bring out the best or worst in people. I thought afterwards about things that are difficult for me here and how I deal with them.

One of the difficulties for me is language!!!! Thai is a very difficult language. I love going to school daily but sometimes I feel like the "kid" who just doesn't get it and everyone else does and is annoyed with me:) I hear it being spoken all around and sometimes I pick up a few words here or there but overall I have no clue. Sometimes I wonder if I am ever going to really understand it and be able to speak fairly fluently????? Then I have the moments where I tell myself I have only been here 2 months and I can speak some and understand some so progress has been made.

Another difficulty is the temperature here. I love taking public transportation because you avoid the traffic jams --but you have to walk to get to the public transportation. I also like to walk because it means exercise but I don't really like arriving at my destination sweaty, terrible hair, and extremely overheated. There really is no solution to this problem unless you stay inside all day long in the air conditioning which is not an option. I try to walk a little slower which helps some but you still sweat no matter what!

The last difficulty I will include in this post is being far away from family and friends. I have made some wonderful friends since arriving here and feel very blessed--but most of these people don't know me deeply yet. Part of that reason is the language barrier and also the fact that I haven't known them that long. They don't know what makes me laugh, cry, and what I am passionate about. I am so thankful for technology which allows me to communicate with family and friends often but it is never the same as seeing them in person and being with them.

I know the Lord brought me to this wonderful country and I am so excited to see what He has in store for me for the next 2 years. Let me list below a few things that I took away from the Bible study and my personal reflection:

*God's grace enables God's people to move forward (don't get stuck in a rut)
*Every sin causes us to lose our influence to reach the lost (my heart needs to remain focused on the task God called me here to do)
*Stand in humility and learn from it!!!
*Everything God gives us is by grace we don't deserve it!!
*Failure and grief are expected but quitting is not an option!
*God's work always goes forward--do I want to join HIM????

Who would have thought 80 degrees Farenheit would feel cool:)

The weather has cooled down a little for the past 3 days and it has been a great blessing. I went out on Saturday afternoon to do a little shopping and with the breeze and overcast I almost felt like I needed a sweater and the temp. was low 80's. Yesterday and today have also been in the mid-high 80's and it feels good. Isn't it funny how perspective changes when you live in a different country? I know most of you in the US are hoping for a warm day and would consider 60-70 warm. I think that would be close to freezing here:) Just so you know not all of Thailand is this warm. It is hotter here because it is the big city. Other parts of Thailand cool down in the evening and are not as hot during the day.

I am very thankful for the cooler weather and will enjoy it while it last because the hottest month of the year (APRIL) is almost here!!! I have a feeling I will have a new definition of hot weather.

Rest & Relaxation

I love Saturday's! I slept in til after 10:00 am and just relaxed most of the day. I took one trip to the Tesco/Lotus (like Wal-mart) to get a few things and other than that I just stayed home and rested. I also got to talk to my friend Dana on skype, which it was the first time since I arrived here that I got to talk to her and see her face. I am so thankful for technology! It was so great to talk to her and catch up on her wedding plans and life. I am always amazed at how distance doesn't affect the closeness of friendships and family. Although they may be physically thousands of miles away they are always close to my heart.

You probably feel like you have heard me say this a million times but I truly feel so blessed to be here in Bangkok for such a time as this. I took some time today to write down the different opportunities of ministry and relationships with people that have been built since I arrived 2 months ago and am in awe of all of it. I am watching unbelievers being drawn to God's Word and seeing believers grow all around me. What a mighty God we serve!! He deserves all the praise and glory.

No speaking English! may phuut phaasaa angrit

It is hard to believe that 3 days of class have already passed by in Module 2. I really like this class but I am confused a lot of the time. The teacher is really nice and she does not let us speak English in class . She told us that we are not allowed to ask her questions in English and we are not allowed to talk to one another in English. The teacher does a lot of acting and shows a lot of pictures which is great.

I enjoy going to class every day and usually the 4 hours fly by really quickly. I do wish though that I could follow what the teacher is saying more because sometimes I am clueless and it shows by the look on my face and the teacher will look at me and say "khaw jai"-which means do you understand and I usually have to say "may khaw jai" which means I don't understand. Other times I pretend like I know what she is saying and try to figure it out later:)

Every day is an adventure in Thai class! Don't forget that all of these words that I have written above all have different tones and it is important that you use the right one. One day I will speak good Thai and we will all be amazed:)

Module 2 begins

I finished Module 1 this past Thursday with my written exam. The first page was pretty easy and I could answer all of them. The 2nd page was a different story. one of the questions was what day is today. Of course I could not remember at all the day for Thursday in Thai. I could remember Monday, Tues., Wed. but it was Thursday and I needed that for my answer. I knew how to write today is (wannii wan __________ kha) but I couldn't remember the day for Thursday. I wrote down something like wantharuhan and the actual answer is "wanpharuhat". I can't type in the symbol for the tone above the letters but those had to be there too. This has to be one of the hardest languages! I also know that I made a mistake on the time part of the test. one question asked what time I went to sleep and what time I woke up. I wrote that I woke up at 6:00 a.m. which is correct (wannii dichan tuun hok moong chaaw kha). The problem came when I wrote what time I went to sleep. I accidently wrote that I went to sleep at 5:30 a.m. (muakhuunnii dichan nawn tii haa krung kha) instead of tii haa i was supposed to write "haa thum". Even time is not easy here. Well at least I passed the class and am on to Module 2 tomorrow:)

I am keeping pretty busy so I haven't been the best at updating my blog-sorry. By the way with the weather here--the oven got turned up a few degrees:) It is very very hot here and continuing to rise each week.

It's Exam Time!!!!

It is hard to believe but Module 1 (beginning Thai class) is almost finished. I have 2 more days left. Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the oral exam! As a class we will be going to one of the city markets and have to talk to a vendor and bargain for some fruit or vegetables. I am a little nervous about it because you tend to forget everything when you are in the situation and the rest of the class is watching you. I will need lots of prayers!

Thursday is the written exam. We have been taught so much information that I am nervous about whether or not I will remember it. I know I don't have all of it in memory because it is too much but hopefully I can follow the questioning enough to write an answer. I have been told that it is 20 questions written in phonetic Thai and we write the answer in phonetic Thai (formal answer). Most of the time you repeat almost all of the question and omit and add a few words--let's hope I know which words to take away and which words to add. By the way in case you don't understand I have only learned how to identify words in phonetic form. I don't get to the actual Thai writing (symbols and such) until Module 3.

I will then have a 3 day week-end and then back to school on Monday to begin Module 2. I will have a different teacher for Module 2 and will be adding more vocabulary to use in conversation. I like to use the word exposure a lot. I am being exposed to a ton of Thai vocabulary and am trying to keep as much of it in memory as possible. I can already tell that even when I am done with "formal language" school in a few months that I will be constantly learning during my 2 years here--this is a very difficult language!

Surprise--Rain! Rain! Rain!

Some of you are going to think this is quite funny. Just a few days ago I wrote about how umbrellas came in handy for the sun and that I was thinking about carrying one around just for that purpose since the rainy season is many months away. Well tonight I decided to get on the sky train and go to the end of the line to the TESCO/Lotus store (a store like wal-mart). I left my apartment a little after 6 and headed to the sky train. The night was beautiful and I got on the train. It was about a 20 minute ride on the sky train to get to the end of the line. I got off and all of a sudden this terrible wind/rain storm came. We were under a sheltered area but the wind was blowing so hard that the rain was coming at an angle and we were all trying to get out of it and within 1-2 minutes I was soaked from head to toe. I tried to get in the store as fast as I could and once I got in the store the people inside were staring at all of us coming inside because we were all so wet.

Honestly, an umbrella would not have helped me tonight. The wind was blowing so hard and the rain was coming down so hard at an angle that nothing would have helped except boots to your knees and a major rain coat. I learned a lesson tonight. I guess it doesn't wait to rain until the rainy season. It was my first introduction to chaos when a major rain storm hits. I have heard that during the rainy season the storms are bad and the streets flood all over. I will write about that when it comes. Tonight I am going to call it a night and hope for a sunny day tomorrow.