Goodbyes stink!

So I just said goodbye tonight to my students.  It was one of the hardest things I've had to do in my life.  I got really emotional.  The thing that triggered my emotions was one student in particular.  He was telling me that I was a really good teacher and that he was happy I was his teacher.  It was so sweet of him!  I would teach a set of brothers, only two in a class, and they were some of the funniest students I've had here.  They reminded me so much of my brothers, especially Bradley, and it was a blast to teach them every time.   It was so sweet of them to tell me I'm good, when really I don't think so!!  I mean, I have no experience, and most of the time it was discussion or me talking a lot and wondering if they'd understand me!! But, I guess they did!  

My point is that this place has been amazing.  I've had my ups and downs, that's for sure, but all in all, this has been such a blessing to be here. I hope and pray this is not the last time I will see these people again, but you know how that works.  The only guaranteed place where we can say we'll see each other next is heaven.  I hope I will see my students there.  I pray!!  

Lastly, this will be my last time writing in this blog while I'm in Ubon.  I leave tomorrow morning at 6 am to travel to Bangkok, then to Phuket Saturday night.  Who's to say if I'll have internet for the rest of the time that I'm here.  So, the next time I blog just might be while I'm home, describing my reverse culture shock.  Here it is, my final goodbye:  GOODBYE UBON! I WILL MISS YOU VERY MUCH.

Last Sunday

Today was my last day of teaching on Sunday.  The closer my time here nears to an end, the more I'm realizing that going home isn't going to be as dreamy and heavenly as I thought it was.  Thailand has been my home for the past 9 months of my life.  There are things I've become accustomed to, things that I've taken for granted all year that I haven't even realized I'm leaving.  I have been dreaming of the day that Dr. Pepper and I will meet again, but is it really that great?   Will it be all that I hoped it to be?  As the end of my time here approaches me more and more quickly, I fear what I will be leaving behind me, both the good and the bad:

- eating mangos on a daily basis

- enjoying spicy Thai food

- speaking Thai to people on the streets

- sleeping with fear of bugs crawling on me at night

- killing creepy crawlers in my house on a regular basis

- teaching my students

- witnessing elephants walking in the middle of the street

- being able to live for less than $200 a month

- bargaining over clothing prices

- walking in this compound that has become my home away from home

- living in buddha land where everywhere i turn is a buddha

- sweating all day, every day, even while I'm sleeping

 

There is so much more that I will be leaving behind, like the people.  The people have had an impact on my life like no other.  It has truly been a blessing to be here, and I hope that my reverse culture shock won't be like a slap in the face, throwing me to the ground, not being able to catch my breathe.  I hope it'll be okay, in fact, I know it will be, because God will help me get through the rough times ahead of me.

English Camp, once more!

Friday was our one day off and we choose to spend our time at an english camp.  Even though Leah and I have been to almost ten, if not more, english camps this year, every one has been different, not one is the same as the last.  Organization is always different, number of students is never the same, and the location has always changed.  

Even though Friday's english camp was the smallest in number of students attending, I would say it was the best experience I've had during a camp thus far.  It was so much fun!  Since there was a smaller number of kids, there were only three teachers leading out.  It was divided into three groups, kindies, primary, and then the older ones... it was really great working with a smaller number of kids because I could connect with them more one on one.  I got to know them so much better, and I could remember their names and tease them!

The morning was filled with three rotations.  I first visited the Kindies, the youngest ones.  They were so much fun, we sang the ABCs, other songs, did some activities involving learning the colors, and played games.  Next, I moved to the big kids where we could talk a lot and laugh, they knew pretty good english!  It was great.  My last rotation was with the middle aged kids, and they were the most fun.  They were so loud and eager to learn!  We played an animal game involving animal noises and it was great times.  

English camp was great, I only have one more, and that's this Tuesday.  It hope it will be good as well.

Overwhelmed

With less than two weeks left of school I feel like my time here is rushed.  I only have 8 more days of teaching, and planned two all day english camps.  How am I supposed to feel a complete sense of closure from this place when every day I have left here is full?! I feel utterly overwhelmed.  I hope that I'll be able to feel good about my accomplishments here when I leave.  It'll be difficult, no doubt.  Saying goodbye to my neighbors and those that have become my second family will feel be a heartbreak.  Who's to say if I'll ever see these people again?  Maybe it's good that I'm busy till the morning I leave, maybe the time will go by really fast as opposed to inching by at a snails pace.  I guess I'd prefer it this way, but I still feel really overwhelmed by the amount of activity in my life!

Bus ride=Disco ride

All of Thailand's transportations have scared me at some point.  Buses have been the most frightening, let's not forget the awful blue and green buses of Bangkok that don't stop to let you get on and just keep rolling on as if they expect to you run and jump in...  The river taxi was also scary.  The most frightening time was with my parents at Christmas when there were so many people inside that I could have sworn the boat was going to pop open or sink to the bottom of the river.  Tuk-tuks are never safe, always speeding through traffic on three wheels expecting the other giant vehicles passing by to stop for them, I'm always amazed nothing happens to me on my journeys to places here.

Taxis, well these are crazy everywhere, but I'd have to say Bangkok holds the craziest ones I've ever seen or met.  Half the time the identification picture at the front of the taxi isn't of the same face you see driving you.  Some speak in rapid Thai thinking you understand, and somehow manage to keep you alive as they dodge wild buses and miraculously miss hitting pedestrians as they are crossing the street. 

Last night was the same story.  We were coming back from the Mission College and had a long ride ahead of us, 10 hours on a high bus.  We knew the trip wouldn't be easy.  What we didn't realize was that there was no air conditioning!  Not twenty minutes into the trip, every part of my body that was touching the seat I was sitting on was covered in sweat.  Ew!  It remained drenched for most of the ride back.  Things started getting really crazy when suddenly there came loud disco dancing music from the speakers.  I was really trying not to be peeved at this point: I was hot, sweaty and tired.  All I wanted to do was sleep, but how can one when music is blasting?!

As I was looking at around, a little annoyed at my situation, I realized something awful was going on.  There was a tiny TV at the front of the bus, revealing girls dancing in bikinis... and it was stationed right in front of the bus driver!  I was so shocked.  How can he drive and watch this at the same time? I was utterly confused and started praying right away for my safety.  Seriously?  Was he serious?  

Well good news is that I'm safe and sound and I've already completed my day of teaching, so I'm okay.  But how stupid can people be?  I felt like I was in a disco bus the entire time, if there is such a thing.  I'm sure if the bus weren't going so fast and if the roads weren't so bouncy, the passengers would have been dancing in the isles.  What a weird experience!

Mission College

Only $6,000 for the year, submersed in a chill Adventist community, tropical fruits and temperatures year round... sounds pretty good right?  Seriously, if I wasn't in love with Andrews University, I would really consider going to this school.  They offer various degrees in undergrad studies and several others for graduate studies, too.  It's definitely a place I'll be considering for my masters degree...  The campus is beautiful, the school is growing, the people are friendly and nice.  What a place!  I'm so glad I got the chance to see it.  The student body is continuing to grow, and the school is becoming so popular that it's name is changing to include a unity of asian countries!  How neat!  So, wondering where to go to school or not happy where you are?  You should seriously consider this place, it would be a great experience.  

Giant Buddha and Swimming

It seemed like it would never end!  The stairs were countless as I hiked to the top to see the giant white buddha.  Leah and I were visiting fellow missionaries stationed at the mission college for a few days, and they took us on a short trek to a giant buddha. The buddha was so big you could see it in the middle of the mountain from the highway!  It was very interesting, but quite a hike to the top.

After the exhausting trip to the top what I saw was beautiful.  Not the buddha, although it was quite clean for being white and big, but the scenery from the top was amazing.  It takes my breath away at times when I see how amazing and beautiful God's creations are.  He is magnificent and His creation shows it!!  Wow, He is so awesome.  

Because we were so hot and sweaty, the Ashlocks took us to a little swimming area and we enjoyed a picnic and swimming with Thai locals.  It was quite the adventure.  Lunch was delicious and swimming was hilarious with Leah.  Leah loves to freak out, a lot of things scare her, which was why the rope swing was fun!  Although I do have to say that we both freaked out from that swing, it was very wobbly!  

Staying with the Ashlocks was so much fun.  They made us such good food, such as Mexican food, pancakes, biscuits and gravy, fruit salad, salad, cinnamon rolls... and so forth.  They were quite the hosts, made us great food, took us places and were always very nice.  I feel so blessed to have been around these people, even if it was just for a little bit.  

Ah Bangkok

For the rest of our Songkran break, Leah and I traveled with the other SMs to their hometown: Bangkok!  It was so much fun.  Getting there was a pain in the butt, but what long traveling isn't.  The van was going a million miles an hour, everyone was scared for their lives, but we made good time.  Isn't that all that matters? Yeah, maybe not, when your life is in danger!!

 

Leah and I spent a whole day Wednesday enjoying the city of Bangkok once again.  It was a blast.  We slept in, ate a beautiful breakfast at Au Bon Pain, which is the original Panera, so I hear... that bagel was the best I've ever had. Yum!  

Next, we explored more of the shopping malls, and watched a movie, "Monsters Vs. Aliens" to be specific.  It was very funny and it was great relaxing and laughing with my friends.  It was a kids movie, but we still enjoyed it.  I really connected with the blue blob guy, he was quite the character, and I really loved his blind obsession-love for his green jello.  What a hoot!  

Anyways, after the movie, we decided we needed more food.  We walked a few blocks, checked out a bookstore for a few minutes, and then neared our feast.  Greek food!!  Yep, it exists in Bangkok.  We ordered so much food, so much salad, humus, and bread.  We were very full and content after that meal.  

All in all I really enjoyed spending time with my friends.  It makes me really sad that it will have been the last time I have seen Stephanie in Thailand before she leaves.  But, I know I'll see her again, and Ashley this summer.  I can't wait!

Red Shirts

Last time it was yellow, this time it's red.  It's all scary to me.  When people start protesting against the government, things get violent here.  When the yellow shirt people were protesting a few months ago, they wanted the prime minister out of office, and so it became after overtaking the airport that he was kicked out.  This time, the red shirts are angry because they believe that the country is a democracy and that the last prime minister should have remained in office, good or bad, because of the voting that took place.  

Basically, there are two sides here that are constantly bickering and it worries me.  I prayed that the recent violence would quite before our trip to Bangkok or Leah and I would have canceled it.  It was bad, but not as bad as the news made it out to be.  Although, there was violence.  Fires were lit to buses and other things, tear gas was released, and army people had to involve themselves in the situation in order for it gain composure.  Red shirts were also blocking public transportations out of the city, which scared me the most.  If I went to the city, how was I going get out?  

God answered my prayer, the violence ended and Leah and I were able to take our trip to the city.  Actually, on our way out of the city towards Mission College, we had to get off the BTS at the very place the riot took place a day before.  We didn't see any red shirts, but there plenty of army men with guns. It was scary walking by the lines of men on the walkway, but nothing happened.  I'm glad that things cleared up so that we would be safe on our traveling through the city.  

i can cook!

We were waiting our turn, ready to cook our dinners!

Smashing the peanuts, not an easy process.

This past Tuesday I learned how to cook Thai food, specifically the famous PadThai.  It was so awesome.  All of us SMs, from Bangkok included, gathered at a Thai friend's house and got working on chopping up vegetables, sorting noodles, and smashing peanuts.  It was hard work, cooking in the dreaded heat of Thailand's mid summer, but the results were fascinating.  

Even though I cooked my meal, I didn't actually know what I was doing.  I just manned my pan as PAo threw noodles, egg, peanuts, and some vegetables in my pot.  I did move the food around though!  I ended up eating the whole thing, don't ask me how, but I did.  It was scrumptious, and very enjoyable!!  

The part that was the most fun was being with my friends.  The people make the place fun, as I learn more and more.

SongKran!!!

It's here! Finally!  It's been the most anticipated week of my being here.  Everyone has mentioned and promoted Songkran and it's finally here!  It's seriously the entire nation of Thailand participating a water fight.  I know I know, it sounds funny and weird, but it's actually really fun and amazing, except for the drunk people, that part's a little scary.

I'll try and paint a little picture of what my day was like today, but I have a feeling that words won't be able to describe all the fun I had, so my pictures and words will have to work together.  Walking through the streets is like walking through Best Buy's music center.  It's very loud and very fun.  It makes you want to dance, kinda.  People are all stationed around water bins ready to aim and fire at any people walking by.  People of all ages and sizes are targets on the streets.  It's like an army field, you always have to be prepared and watching your back, you don't know who will get ya!  

Walking to the park was difficult, we were trying our best to avoid getting wet, but you really can't avoid it when EVERYONE wants to get you wet!  It really doesn't help that we are obvious foreigners, it makes us even more-so targets!  Not only do the people enjoy in getting others wet, but they also rub powder on your face.  That was scary at first because peoples' hands were in my face!  But, I realized that it's their way of saying "welcome to Songkran, join the fun!"  

We were blessed with amazing Thai friends when they offered to drive us around in the back of a pickup truck.  This was so much fun.  We filled up two trash bins to their fullest and ventured out in the city.  It was crazy.  It seemed like everyone stopped all they were doing to join the festivities.  Seriously, I think I can count the number of stores I saw open on one hand, everyone wanted to join in the fun!  And man, it was fun.  We had scoopers and enjoyed splashing people, and they would splash us.  It was one giant water fight.  People really enjoyed getting us wet.  

The streets were bumper to bumper traffic.  So sitting in the back of the truck and getting hosed became a regular happening.  Also, crazy people would jump in the truck bed with us and slap powder on our faces.  Sometimes the powder was prickly heat powder, which really stings!  They use it when it's really hot to cool their bodies down, but I really didn't like the way it felt on my face, so I began avoiding, if possible, having any powder on my face. 

The entire day was a blast, and it's so hard for me to believe that this goes on for three full days!  I was only out there for half a day and my arms are exhausted and I'm sunburned.  I don't think we'll be joining all the fun again, but I hope to witness it at least.  A national water fight is something every country should consider doing, what a way to enjoy the heat and ALL of your neighbors!

Ubon's Giant Waterfall

Leah and I have already visited this waterfall, but we thought it'd be a good idea to go on an adventure with our friends who have joined us for this week's holiday.  We took a van two hours west to the national park.  It was such a blast!  

There were many steps that lead down to the waterfall, they were scary to go down because they were so slippery and wet!  I kept thinking I was going to fall on my face, but somehow my flip-flops didn't become  a problem.  Once we were all down at the bottom, we enjoyed the view and the water.  The first time we went, we didn't actually go in the water because it was cold and the water was murky and mysterious.  But this time, because of our many friends, the excitement of it all, and the heat, we actually swam!  The water was still murky, which made it adventurous to swim in, but we still had a blast.  

We swam way out towards the waterfall and explored a little island rock.  I was surprised we all made it up on top, the rock was VERY slippery.  After exploring the water fall and the water in general, we hiked further through the valley along the little river.  This was quite scary because there tons of bees swarming!  We tried to avoid them by going off the beaten path and hiking on rocks... which worked just fine.  The water was very low this time, but it was rainy season last time we went.  

The hike up was awful.  We were all exhausted from the many steps we had to climb, but the exhaustion was worth the fun and adventurous time in the park.

Dinner with the Church

It was a long week of being at camp.  I was tired of not being able to communicate with most of the people around me, and really just wanted to relax.  But, the church really wanted us to go with them to one last event: dinner.  Even though I wasn't thrilled to go, I had an amazing time.  

The restaurant sat us on the cement ground near a river, HoungNam.  "Nam" is water in Thai, for those of you who don't know.  You'd think that sitting on the ground would be dirty and weird, but it's actually really fun.  You sit at a really little table, cross your legs, and enjoy the world from a child's perspective.  It's very different from American restaurants. 

It was truly an enjoyable evening.  We all had such a good time laughing, eating really good soup (which you cook right in front of yourself in a big pot!), and enjoying the view of the river at night.  I know I'm really going to miss events such as these.

Snakes, I hate Snakes

I've never really liked snakes, they slither around and like to hide and attack people.  We can also add causing car accidents to the list of things they do.  Yesterday a snake caused the car accident I was in.  We were on our way back from camp, taking the curvy back roads when suddenly the driver screeches to a halt:  she didn't want to run over the evil green snake making its way across the road.  

Well, we in the middle of winding roads, and had just come around a bend.  There was a driver behind us that didn't see us come to a stop.  As I was leaning towards the front of the car to see the snake make its way to the other side of the road, I suddenly heard a screeching sound, a very loud screeching sound.  And WHAM!!  In one fast motion my head jerked back and was slammed against the back window.  In a state of confusion I looked around and tried to figure out what happened.  The people that were drinking water had nothing left in their bottles, the water was everywhere!!  At least no one was seriously injured.  But the cars had some serious damage.  Our car basically has no bumper.  No part of it protrudes, it's all jammed into the car.  The other man's car had some serious hood problems, and had a lot of broken class and frontal bumper damage.  It's too bad my camera battery died, I wanted to take pictures.  

The cops came, after waiting for an hour or so.  They assessed the situation by measuring the distance of the tires to the lines in the road and the debris of the car to the front of the car.  I didn't understand why this was necessary but found the process interesting, oh and this whole thing took another hour.  It was a very long day.  

Finally, the police left, we got back in our car, and I thought we were on our way home, sadly we weren't.  We ended up at the police station, and waited for forever, I believe it was two plus hours of sitting around.  It felt like a long time for me because I had no idea what was so long.  I didn't know what kind of process was taking place.  No one was telling me what was going on, I couldn't communicate to anyone, and I was very confused.  I tried to remain calm, but at times I wondered where I was going to sleep that night!  Praying really helped me, I found that the more I prayed the calmer I became about the situation.

Oh, and the thing that took forever at the station was haggling over who would pay what.  This confused me, it was clearly the guy's fault to me, not ours.  But, I guess the process of payment is different here.  So, we waited around a long time to come to terms with the man on his agreement to pay us about half of what the damage costs would be.  

Finally, we were on our way to Ubon.  It felt so good to walk through my front door.  I had been on rough journey for 12+ hours.  Leah was freaking out.  My cell phone had died, and I hadn't been able to contact her.  She knew few details because our group had been in contact with some of the people in Ubon, but not much information was given.  She didn't know when I was coming home, and she was very happy to see me, the feeling was mutual.  We laughed a lot as I told her my story as I ate the mango she bought me for dinner.  It's good to come home to people you love after a long day.

Baptisms up the Wazoo!

Camp was filled with surprises.  The people were inspirational, the place was exotic, and there were people converted to Adventism.  It was insanely inspiring and an emotional experience to witness the lives of so many being changed and devoted to Christ.  

It was really special to see these baptisms for many reasons.  Firstly, I find it a miracle to see any Thai people become christian because of the drastic difference from christianity to buddhism.  What a big step for any person to take, what different gods to believe in, and what a change to believe in a god that hardly any one in your country believes in.  Secondly, one of my students

and friends was baptized.  It was so amazing to watch her choose Jesus that day.  Her name is Gina, and she's a chinese buddhist... which I would assume is a huge family belief.  Her mother isn't adventist, but watching her daughter be baptized that day made her realize she is interested in christianity and raised her hand when the pastor asked if any one would be interested in a baptism in the future.

Lastly, I couldn't converse with these people, so I wasn't aware of the many people that had seen Jesus during camp and were deciding to believe in Him.  Because I don't speak Thai, I didn't know what people were saying, how camp was affecting them, and what kind of impact Jesus was having on them.  It was so unbelievable to see how many people choose Him that day.  

After the people were baptized in the swimming pool, the people baptized formed a line so others could congratulate them.  I believe nearly twenty people choose Jesus that day, so it was a big line.  I was so happy to see a face I recognized, other than Gina's.  This lady and I smiled at one another and I can't explain the overwhelming joy I felt for her.  We shared a moment as I hugged her, I was so happy for her and excited for the journey her life was about to embark on.  All of these people baptized are gonna have a hard time.  Their families are christian, so going home to house filled with idols and people who worship buddha is gonna be difficult for them.  I hope they don't give up, I hope they try and that their trials prove good.  I pray that Jesus will give them the strength to fight for Him and hopefully, maybe, their families will become christian as well, that would be the ultimate miracle- to see their fire for Jesus grow.

Camp Korat

I just spent the better part of my week at a camp with my church. It all started with a long 6 hour drive to the camp, which is located in a city, if you can call it that, named Korat.  I didn't believe we were there when my car pulled into a park that looked like Disneyland, but it was for sure the place where we spent the rest of our week.  The park was so weird, Leah and I were trying to decide what it used to be; maybe an old amusement park, maybe an old golf course, but we were told it was an old boy scout camp- which I guess makes a little bit of sense.  The park was covered with obstacle courses and large fake animals, with some real animals like wild buffalo and an ostrich.  

I felt like I was in a magical/foreign place.  

The setting, as described above, was surreal and the experience with the people was definitely interesting as well.  The whole language barrier thing camp into play the moment the meetings started.  Even though I had Leah, I still felt way out of the loop because everything was done in Thai, except for the sermons which were translated into Thai.  Song service and game activities were hard to follow because I just didn't understand what was being sad.  It got a little aggravating at times because I really wanted to be involved, but couldn't be because of my lack of understanding.  

Even though I couldn't follow what was going on, I could enjoy it from time to time.  It was awesome to listen to the people sing, and see them enjoy the games they were playing.  They were having a really fun time, and I would even laugh, too because seeing them laugh made me laugh.  I was happy to see them happy.  

The routine of camp was a little exhausting.  Everyone, mostly, rose at 6am to exercise, eat breakfast at 7, have meetings until noon, eat lunch, have more meetings and games, eat dinner at 5pm, and then have a night meeting and more games, which would last until past 10 at times.  The days at camp were long because of how busy they were, but for the most part it was fun.  Leah and I worked with the children because we figured this would be the easiest thing for us to do given the language barrier.  (We just aided in whatever activities the people had organized for the kids.)  And I'm really glad I did this because the kids were ADORABLE.  Seriously, I think I saw the cutest kids to ever exist on the planet.  There was this kid named Isaiah, man was he a cutie.  I could have taken him home with me.  Anyways, camp was fun and exhausting. 

I had a great time, and I am so glad I had the opportunity to be involved with such a big camp.  All of the SDA churches from eastern Thailand gathered in this one place for this week.  It was great to see how many people came out.  Really, when you think about it, it's miraculous that these people are adventists.  Think about it.  Buddhism is a far cry from Christianity, the two religions don't serve the same god.  To hear about a foreign god, believe it, and convert to it's belief system is an amazing process.  I'm so happy to see the church growing over here.  It's good that these people over here can be so open minded to Christianity.  

All in all camp went well and I had an awesome time! It's great to see God at work in the people over here.

Orphanage Round III

It was our last time visiting the orphanage.  It was very sad.  We did our normal routine of animated songs, story time, and games.  The kids were adorable, and it was hard to say good bye.  I'll always remember their faces, they were so cute.  I pray that they have God will be with them and bless them.

Samson

As of lately my class has been playing games.  That's pretty much all we do.  Not so much learning english grammar or reading english, but having fun and playing action games.  I've gravitated towards not teaching from the book because I'm not a good teacher:  there are several levels of students in my class, meaning there are several books in my class.  I just cannot teach two books at one time.  I feel I leave one set of students out, and I focus all of my time and energy on one set, and I just don't like it.  I'm really not a good teacher!  But, anyways, my games are a result of different levels in my class.  I do try to make them learn english at the same time, though.

So, I've come to love making games for these kids.  We play jeopardy, hangman, duck-duck-goose, home-made board games, pictionary(my favorite with these kids... I always end up crying from laughter), and many more.  For some reason, I felt like I should tell the story of Samson, and make a game off of that, much like we do for Sabbath School here.  So, I did this for my class.  I had PNee, the school secretary, translate the story for me, and then we played a board game with questions about Samson's story.  To my shock, the kids LOVED the story of Samson.  They just loved it!!  They had never heard it before and this week they wanted to hear his story again!  

It just amazed me how interested they were in this story.  To think they had never heard any of our Bible stories before, that's so sad.  The Bible has so many fun stories in it, I feel bad that they are missing out on all of them.  I'm just so happy they liked his story and that they are having fun with it.  Today I'm going to tell the story of Jonah, I think.  I hope they like it... I think they will!!