Unsuccessful shopping day

I was so excited to sleep in this morning. I love Saturday--it is one of my favorite days of the week. I usually don't have any responsibilities and can just do whatever I want. Today I slept in late, talked to my parents on skype, and then went out on a shopping adventure to find a few new shirts.
I have not figured out the right places to shop yet in this gigantic city. There are so many shopping malls here but almost all of the stores are upscale stores and they are very very expensive. I looked in a few stores today but I just couldn't make myself buy a shirt that costs that much money. I am really looking for a store here that would be similar to Target or Old Navy in the US. Clothes that are cute but affordable. I haven't had any luck finding them. The only stores here that would sound familiar to you that they have here is Espirit, Guess, North Face, Benetton--and the clothes are so expensive!
On the other hand there is a Big C store or Tesco/Lotus store that is similar to Wal-mart. You can find cheap clothes there but they are not good quality and after a few times putting them in the washing machine you realize why they were so cheap:)
I spent about 3 hours out and about today and all I bought was lunch and a drink at Starbucks. I hope to find a good affordable store soon.

You may be wondering why would I need new shirts when I have only been here about 2 months. Let me just say that it is really hot here and I change clothes on a regular basis and go through 2 outfits a day. Almost everything must be washed after 1 wearing so all of the new things I bought before coming here have been washed a lot and are already almost worn out. It is just part of living here. I always thought it sounded funny when I heard that Thai people commonly shower 3-5 times a day and that they are clean people. The 3-5 times a day is really not all because they are clean people it is because it is necessary. I shower at least 2 times a day and sometimes 3 depending on the day.
That is all for my Saturday update. I will let you know if I find a good store.

Multi purpose umbrellas

One of the great things about living here in Bangkok is that it hasn't rained one day since my arrival:) It is so nice to wake up every day to a beautiful sunny day! My umbrella just sits in my closet until the "rainy season" arrives or at least I would have thought that a few weeks ago.

Thai people do not want to have dark skin so they do everything they can to keep the sun away like wear long sleeve shirts, pants, and carry umbrellas or something to shield their heads. Isn't that funny since most Americans want to be dark and do everything they can to be out in the sun or go to the tanning bed.

At first I didn't understand why they would want to carry umbrellas around everywhere but I am thinking about getting mine out soon. It is SO HOT HERE and especially in the sun. I don't want to be in the sun at all because the heat is unbearable. I am a little afraid of how hot it is going to get here because April is the hottest month and it is still a month away. I am not willing to wear long sleeve shirts to keep the sun away but carrying an umbrella seems like a pretty smart idea.

Just to give you an idea of how hot it is here--I looked on line and the temperatures is usually around 96-98 and next to it the words "feels like and then usually digits like 102 or 104. I am so very thankful for air conditioning in my apartment. Pray for the many many Thai people that live here that don't have air conditioning during this very hot season!

Toilets of a different culture:)

I am sure after reading my title you are eager to read my entry about "toilets". I thought it was time to write about some of the cultural differences here:)

1st- there are the toilets that are just like US toilets. They flush nicely and you can use toilet paper. (These kind of toilets are normally found at the very nice upscale malls and I am guessing the nice hotels and fancy homes/apartment buildings.) side note--the toilet paper is very very thin and not soft at all here.

2nd- there are the toilets that are regular toilets by sight and you can flush them but you can't flush toilet paper down them. My guess is that the septic system backs up too easily but I truly don't know. (These kind of toilets are found at my church, apartment, and many other places in the community.)

3rd- there are the toilets that are regular toilets by sight but there is not a flusher--you just pour water in them to flush. (These kind of toilets are found at public parks, markets, etc..)

4th- there are holes in the ground that are toilets. This is actually what most Thai people have in their homes. You will also find these in public places like parks, markets, and in the countryside.

One thing I carry with me at all times is kleenox and baby wipes. A lot of the time you won't find toilet paper in public bathrooms so you better have your own. A lot of bathrooms also do not have soap to wash your hands. They only have water. Never leave your home without the 2 things I mentioned above or you could find yourself in a not so good situation:)

Hope you enjoyed the entry today. Give thanks for the many amenities you have in America that many people in other parts of the world may never experience!

Lesson on Complaining

I have been studying about Moses in my Tuesday night Bible study. This weeks lesson was in Numbers 11&12. I encourage you to read it this week just to be reminded of how the Israelites complained a lot and forgot about how God had given them freedom from slavery in Egypt and how Moses was burdened with their many complaints. I wanted to share a few of the highlights from the lesson tonight.

1. Complaining reveals that our hearts are ungrateful/dissatisfied.

2. When we fail to give thanks we fall into complaining.

3. We must find our satisfaction in the Lord not in people and in the world!

4. As believers we are responsible to apply what we learn about God in our lives. Don't complain

****5. As believers WE ARE RESPONSIBLE to encourage our leaders (pastors) not burden them with complaints!

6. Take it to the Lord first and expect Him to take action!

7. If what you want doesn't match what God wants for you be prepared for hardships and don't complain when they arrive!

8. God provides exactly what I need when I need it so don't complain ahead of time!

9. The Lord will vindicate His servants. Just keep serving and don't complain because God is the final authority.

I wanted to share this because it really reminded me that complaining to others is not honoring to the Lord and that He wants us to share our burdens with HIM. I find myself daily trying to keep my mouth from saying things that are not honoring to HIM--it is a daily process and I am thankful that I serve a forgiving Father.

Catching Up! Language/Church/Cultures(Fun Facts)

I am so thankful to have so many friends and family members that keep up with my blog-if only I could keep up with trying to write on it. Things have gotten extremely busy here! I spend 4 hours daily in language class and another 2-4 hours studying every afternoon and evening. I am really enjoying learning another language but Thai certainly is hard! There are a few basic questions in Thai that I am confident in using like "how are you", "what is your name", what is your favorite color, do you like......... I use most of them daily and the Thai people always compliment me on how good my tones sound--I don't get too overly excited because these are the phrases that I learned first when I had my tutor so I have been using them for a while now. Practice really does help in making it--let's say close to perfect.

Along with language I am busy with several other things too. The pictures above are from the Valentine's Party that we had at Canaan Baptist Church on Sunday. We had a good turn out. It always amazes me how creative other cultures are at making things. One girl cut out watermelon pieces in the shape of hearts--that must have taken a lot of time! People also made Valentine's cards and they all looked good! I just walked around and looked at their cards and talked to people. I am the most uncreative person when it comes to making an art project--well actually I have lots of great ideas--it is just that the end product never looks the way I imagined it to look.

The last thing I will write about in my entry today relates to cultural differences also referred to as "fun facts". One of the many things that is a no, no in Thai culture is that you don't point at people with your finger, and you don't pick your teeth in public. Both of these things are considered offensive. Are you ready for this---it is totally culturally acceptable to pick your nose in public. People do it all the time here and it is no problem. Isn't that interesting???? Being an elementary school teacher I was used to kids picking their nose all the time and reminding them constantly to get a kleenox and wash their hands. I don't get to tell people that here. I will make this promise right now. That is one thing that this culture will not change about me---I will never think it is proper to pick your nose in public:)

That's all the news update for today! I bet you all learned something new today.

Love in the Park-Concert

Valentine's Day is almost over here and just beginning in the U.S. In case you forgot there is a 12 hour time difference. I slept in this morning since it is Saturday and just relaxed most of the day. Around 3:30 this afternoon I set out to find a new park where some of the students that I work with were going to be involved in a concert. I couldn't believe that I found another beautiful/amazing park!! This city is full of them!!

The concert at the park was put on by the Church of Joy here in Bangkok. I have never been to the church but I have heard some great things about it. It is a Christian church that meets in a restaurant and apparently it has some very famous people that attend the church. 2 of the singers in the concert tonight are famous singers here in Thailand. One of them was a rock-n-roll star and I am not sure about the other young lady but apparently they got saved and now they sing at church for the Lord! The band is amazing and all of the singers were great. They sang some songs in English but the majority of them were in Thai but I really enjoyed it all. There were many people there tonight and the church passed out Gospel tracts and some other things to everyone who came to the concert.

It has been really neat to see how the church is using "Valentine's Day" which is known as the holiday of "love" to teach about God's love. My church (Canaan) is having a Valentine's party tomorrow. Last week we wrote on hearts about the many ways that we know of God's love and those hearts will decorate the church wall tomorrow for our many guests to see.

Fresh Start

This morning I got up around 6 a.m. to get ready for language school. I was already feeling a bit nervous after the experience yesterday. I just kept asking the Lord to take away the memories of yesterday and to give me a heart to have a fresh start today. It worked--praise the Lord!! This morning on my walk to the sky train I passed by 2 Thai young ladies that I am friends with that were on there way to work. Their smiles and greetings this morning in passing were a great start to a new day on my way to language.
I got to class this morning and when I made eye contact with the teacher I smiled and she smiled in return. The 4 hours went by fairly quickly and it was a good day. I am sure there are going to be many more difficult days in language school-- as with anything in life it won't be easy but I must persevere!

I appreciate the many prayers that have been lifted up on my behalf with language study. Keep praying because this is only the beginning of the journey.