Shock to the Senses

I am in the good ol' U.S.A.!!! I landed on U.S. soil in Chicago to strains of the Nutcracker Suite and snow. It disoriented me a bit. I thought that I had been coming home just in time to begin summer, but it felt more like I was coming home for Christmas vacation. Winter wonderland! From a Bangkok summer to U.S. winter, what a shock to the senses!

Everything else has been strangely normal. I thought everything would be odd, that I would have culture shock like I have every other time I have returned to the U.S., but I haven't really. I didn't even experience much jet-lag. Maybe the strangeness just hasn't hit me yet. I don't know. Whatever the case, I am really happy to be home, and to be with my friends and family. I can't wait to see everybody.

Goodbye Thailand Movies

So the movie people are getting annoying. I don't like to have an audience. You would think that I was the one making a movie the way they crowd around the window while I am teaching. Stress.

My evening students took me out to dinner to say goodbye last night. We had so much fun. Sometimes being the only foreigner in a group can be a blast. They are such precious people. I am really going to miss them. At the end of the evening they gave me gifts and the waterworks began. Saying goodbye really sucks! I just keep doing it though. Sigh. And tonight is the final goodbye. That will be rough. At least I'll be able to leave behind those annoying movie makers!

Movie Making

I guess that Bangkok is the LA of Thailand, and that's where I live. Today I walked into the staff room at school and was informed that I will have to change classrooms for the day because a Thai movie company is filming on the school property and they were using my classroom as a makeup room. So odd. The people, equipment, etc. was all out there when I headed to my classroom. I made the mistake of letting my students out for lunch when the lunch bell rang. Apparently they hadn't finished filming a clip, so my poor little grade one and grade two students unknowingly cased quite the ruckus on the set. They were quickly hushed and corralled into a waiting area until the scene was finished. During lunch hour it poured. I have no idea if that disrupted the filming, but the cast hung out all day. So weird.

Cold Wata' and Cold Weatha'

Ok, so the hot water that I was so excited about a couple of posts ago is gone. Sigh. Well it was nice for one day. Only two more days of cold showers and then I get hit with cold weather! We'll see if I can handle it. Don't forget that ice pick!!!

Evening ESL

I love my evening ESL class. I like teaching adults. I love teaching those adults. I always leave that class happy. I always anjoy teaching them. Even when my teaching day at the school has been really long and trying, and I come into the class dreading another hour of teaching, I always leave glad to have come. Tonight we tackled some confusing stuff. They worked so hard at understanding the concepts that I was teaching. I'm glad that English is my first language. I don't envy anyone trying to learn it as an adult. The adults in my class do really well though. I teach Basic I and Basic II, so sometimes communication within the classroom can be challenging. I often resort to my Grade 1 tricks to get a concept across. Sometimes I feel really stupid doing this, but they are great. They laugh at me, but they never make me feel stupid. I like teaching my little ones, but I think I prefer the adults. I love the little ones, but I'd rather babysit them than teach them. Teaching adults is so different. It just works better for me. I am really going to miss that class.

Tonight after my evening class I went bowling with my friends. I bowled a 179. I never do that. I break 100 only on the very best of days. I don't know what was going on today, but it was sure fun!

Hot Wata'

My bathroom has hot water!!! I know that I live in a tropical environment, and that cold water is usually a relief from Bangkok's heat, but sometimes taking a cold shower first thing when you get up in the morning is not a ton of fun. I am quite happy to have a heater for my shower water. I'll enjoy it thouroughly for the next three days. After that it's home to the U.S., land of hot showers and the home of the brave (or something like that).

Things The Teacher Is Still Learning

Disclaimer:
This post has been inspired by Alyssa (who I have never met in my life) and Tom (who I have known for about half of my life).

I am not about to finish my first year of college like the previously mentioned parties. I am, however, less than a week away from boarding a plane that will take me half a world away from Thailand which has been my home this past year, where I held my first "real adult" job, where I have been stretched and stressed, where I have made incredible memories, spent time with amazing people, and learned a lot about myself and about God. So, to follow in Tom and Alyssa's pattern, here are some of the things that I have learned this year, and am still learning, in no particular order:

1.) I have learned that a lot of people hate America, but I am still proud to be an American. I hope to represent it well and maybe I'll alter their view a little.

2.) I will probably never achieve the epitemy of adulthood that I had in my mind, but that's ok. I don't think anybody does.

3.) Not everything in life that is good is fun. Often experiences that are worth the most are not fun at all.

4.) I can handle more than I thought I could, but just because it's possible doesn't mean it's pleasant.

5.) Understanding a person's culture goes a long way toward understanding a person.

6.) God does not place you somewhere. He takes you there and stays with you. He never gives you a situation that He will not give you the strength to handle. He never abandons.

7.) The future will always be uncertain. Even when things seem stable and planned, nothing is sure, but God will always be there.

8.) You're not going to find a job that you love all the time. Even in the best situation life brings moments of unhappiness, that's where perserverence kicks in.

9.) All people are amazing. Even the ones who drive you crazy, there is something amazing about them.

10.) On my own I am nothing.

Week of Lasts

I am beginning my week of lasts. I hate those lasts. Today I went to the weekend market for the last time. I rode the skytrain for what was probably the last time. This week I'll do all of those things that I do on a daily basis here, and it will all be profound because it will be my last time. So sad. I will be sad to leave Thailand, to leave my lifestyle here in Bangkok. I will be sad to leave the markets, the street venders, my favorite food stands, the tuk-tuks, the elephants, the river taxi, the temples on every street corner, the people. I am excited to go home. I know it will be good, but I'm not there yet. Right now I am in the goodbye process, and I'm a little melancholy.

The Night Bus

Well. I'm back in Bangkok. Deona and I caught a night bus last night and headed back. Of course the bus left over an hour late (typical). It also ran out of gas on the side of a hill some where. When it finally started moving again the air conditioning vent above me dripped cold water consistantly everytime I started to fall asleep. I was pretty sure that I had had enough of Songkran, but apparently my air conditioning vent wanted to give me one last taste of the holiday. Oh the joys of bussing across Thailand!

Chillin' Thai Style

I have been wet all day and I am really cold (it's probably well over a hundred out there), but it's been a fun day. A bunch of the teachers that I know stayed at my friends house with me last night. This morning we were walking out of the neighborhood to catch the bus into town when a bunch of Thai people in a pick-up truck pulled up alongside of us and asked if we wanted to hop in. We figured "why not?" and hopped in. They drove us all over town where we got soaked and slimed by a million random people. Other pick-ups full of people drove past us and heaved buckets of water at us, little kids shot us with their squirt guns from their front doors, tourists attacked from every angle. It was soo much fun, and sooo wet! They finally let us off in the Night Bazaar area where we split up to wander around. Elly and I spent to day in this part of the city dodging water and sipping coffee the local Starbucks, and hanging out at a local sidewalk cafe. We chatted with other foreigners, took pictures of the chaos, read, wrote, etc. It was a pretty chilled out mellow kind of chaotic day. Chiiled out in a literal sense as well as a metaphoric sense. This evening Deona and I are going to meet up with some of our Thai friends to hang out. Should be fun. Everyone else is heading back to Bangkok where we'll be heading tomorrow night. Yuk.

Climatization

I think I must have finally climatized (or whatever the term is). This morning I found myself sitting on my friend's porch sipping my hot coffee and thinking "my, it's comfortably cool this morning." Well, then I looked at their thermometer which is in the shade, and it read 90 degrees. It was only maybe ten in the morning, so it hadn't gotten over a hundred yet, but it was still 90 and I thought that was cool!!! What am I going to do when I have to adjust to North American weather? Somebody bring an icepick to the airport to chip away at me.

Dripping in the Net Cafe

I said my tearful goodbyes to the friends whose house I am staying at today. They left for a family holiday, and I am staying at their house. I didn't realize that saying goodbye was going to be so difficult. I have been through a lot with that family though, everything from our very trying work situation, to First Christmas in Thailand, to Fields of dead bodies after the tsunami. I don't think I would have made it through this year with out that family, and I am really going to miss them.

Now I am dripping in a net cafe in town. Let me tell you how difficult a simple tast like catching a bus to Starbucks can become in the midst of a nation-wide water war! Chiang Mai is chaos right now. It's so funny! Don't step out your front door unless you are ready to participate. Nobody's shy about it either. Pick-up trucks with huge barrels of water and tons of people are driving around everywhere just nailing people with water. Parents have their children armed with super-soakers in the front yard ready to blast any passers-by. People are hanging off of the backs of songtaus with huge water guns strapped to themsleves as if they are part of a special songtau military. Tuk-tuk and motorcycle taxi rides are a bit dangerous right now with the amount of water flying through the air from any given direction at any given time. And of course everyone want a chance to get the farong. Sometimes standing out in the crowd is not an asset, but I guess it does make things interesting -- and a lot of fun!

Let the Water Wars Begin

I don't know if I've ever mentioned it or not, but I love Chiang Mai! I guess it may be evident in the fact that I come here everytime I have a break, and I rave about it to all of my friends. I love this city!!! It is beautiful, Thai, and smaller than Bangkok, but it still has all the comforts of home. It's a great place and if I ever move back to Thailand, I am moving to this area. So far my time here has been totally relaxing.

Yesterday I got to hang out with some of my Thai friends and a few of my farong friends as well. I went to church twice (once in English, and once in Thai), and I did some shopping at the famous Chiang Mai Night Bazaar. Why doesn't the U.S. have markets? Man am I gonna miss those!

Today I have been roaming around, being lazy, shopping a little, stopping at little cafe's, talking to people, and just enjoying the city - oh yeah, and dodging the occaissional onslaught of water. The festivities haven't gotten into full swing yet, but they have begun, my very damp shirt testifies to that fact. Mostly little kids have gotten me. So Much Fun! I hear them plotting against me as soon I am in sight. They chatter away in Thai. "Hey, look, it's a foreigner. Let's get her wet." With my very elementary understanding of the Thai language, I can still understand this much. So I know what's coming, and of course I appear to be absolutely horrified as adorable little Thai children come running at me from their hiding places with buckets of water and squirt guns. I act like I am trying to out run them as they giggle and chase me, squirting away. Eventually I decide that I really am wet enough and I do out run them effectively, leaving them giggling amongst themselves proudly with a "We got her!" attitude. I am sure that halfway through the week this will get annoying, but right now it's so cute. So fun.

Songkran Here I Come!

Tonight I am off for Chiang Mai. I am hoping to spend the week visiting with all of my friends from the north and several from Bangkok who will be in the north. I'll probably spend most of the week dripping, because this week is the Songkran Festival, a week-long, nationwide water fight from which no one escapes unscathed, or should I say unbathed. I have heard that it's pretty crazy, and I can foresee it getting a little annoying at times, but hopefully I'll have a good week anyway. Relaxation is what I'm aiming at, but in order to do that I may have to hide in my friends' house. We shall see how it goes!

Breakfast Guest

I didn't sleep well last night, so I got up a little early and went upstairs to make my morning coffee. While I was preparing my coffee I heard some scratching noises coming from under one of the cupboards. I figured it was just one of the friendly neighborhood lizards. They run around in all shapes and sizes and never bother anything so I ignored it and forgot about it. I forgot about it, that is, until I absent-mindedly walked toward that cupboard and frightened a mid-sized rat-type creature out of it's hiding place. I was caught off guard, so (brain child that I am) I walked toward it's alternate place of refuge to make sure I had really seen a rat. Of course the gray creature with an ugly tail was a little nervous that a frighteningly large giant was following it. It broke free of it's second hiding place and went zig-zagging all around the kitchen bouncing off of things in the process. As it was panicking all over the kitchen I came to my senses and panicked a bit with it. Basically I just jumped on a chair and watched it blaze it's little trail until it disappeared. After it was gone I climbed off of my chair and thought how nice was is to have company at breakfast in the morning.

Culture Shock Prequel

Today was a random holiday in the middle of the week. It was kind of nice though because it fell right when my roommate was back in town for the day. We got to hang out together and just chill. Tonight we went to a movie with some of our Thai friends. One of them drove. It was so nice to be in a person's car rather than a taxi, tuk-tuk, bus, boat, songtau, skytrain, subway, or any of the other random modes of transportation that I take to get around this city. Those are all cool, I don't mind them. They're can sometimes be quite an experience, but I found myself sitting in TDum's car this evening thinking "oh yeah, this is what it feels like." We had control of the radio. We had control of where we wanted to go. It was just our group of friends and nobody who we didn't know. It sounds weird, but I had forgotten what that feels like.

I go home in two and a half weeks, and I think that I am going to discover a lot of things that I had forgotten. Bangkok is no longer foreign to me. It doesn't have hometown familiarity, but I am used to it. It's still an adventure everyday, but it's an adventure that doesn't throw me off quite as often as it did when I first got here. When I get home I'll realize how many things I've gotten used to here. What a weird though. Culture shock here I come!

Thai Massage

So I finally went for a massage here. Thailand is known for their massages, but I've always been a little afraid of them. I went last night with two of my friends to a place on my friend's soi. What I thought would be a nice time of quiet relaxation ended up being neighborhood gossip time in the buff with all of the ladies on the soi. Funny stuff. And all of that chatter was in Thai, so once again I had an opportunity to work on my language skills.

Clouds and Contemplation

It stormed today. The thunder cracked louder than I have heard in months and it poured. The weather matched my mood. I said goodbye to so many people today. I was a little depressed, a little lonely. This place is far too quiet now. I don't know how to handle it. I'm sure my class full of rambunctious six and seven-year-olds will snap me out of my cloud of gloom first thing tomorrow morning. I am starting back to my evening classes as well. At least I'll be really busy for my last three weeks here. I'm sure it will be good.

In his prayer at the beginning of today's sermon, my pastor said, "Lord thank You that the whole earth is yours and all that is in it, and that when our eyes are closed in prayer, that is when we see all that we truly possess." What a true statement. Everything in this world that we consider ours can be taken from us in an instant. Nothing tangible is eternal. Only the sacred hope that we have in Christ is lasting. It's a good reminder to hold lightly to what we have on earth, and to set our priorities on the eternal. Something that I certainly struggle with. Something to ponder and work on.

Starbucks

Yesterday Starbucks taught me how to use thier equiptment and offered me a job. Unfortunately I will soon be moving and will not be able to take it. If the job had been offered in August I probably would have taken it simply to be surrounded by coffee on a regular basis. Good thing it wasn't. I was a pretty neurotic mess this year with only one job. Could you imagine adding another job to that and then pumping me with more caffine than I already have in my body on a daily basis? Yeesh. Not a very good thought. I made a pretty darn good latte though!

Today I went to the market with my friends. Man did I spend the baht! I got wedding presents and miscellaneuos other things. It was a productive trip, and fun, but man was it hot! The heat index today is up above 120 again. I am really looking forward to getting back to the States for spring weather!