Friday, November 30, 2007

John's second visit; plans for this month




Check out new pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/briswann/ChongFahDinnerLoyKratongPingAndPumpkins These are some random pics from Benz's camera. My dad is sending me a camera which I hope will arrive before I go up north for Christmas break! I haven't finalized any dates yet, but I'm planning to go up north to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai for maybe 5-6 days to visit a friend, do a visa run, and enjoy some cooler weather! Classes for this term end Dec. 13th, and then we're having a big Christmas party at Step Ahead Dec. 14th. So sometime after the Christmas party (maybe the 16th or so) I'll head up north. I'll stop off in Bangkok to visit John and Kim as well, maybe both on the way there and back. I wasn't expecting (or perhaps hoping NOT to) spend Christmas day here in Khao Lak, but I think it looks like I will after all, because we have a lot of things going on here and a lot of good outreach activities; we'll do Christmas caroling in the area (at hotels and stuf), have the Christmas party at Step Ahead for our students, and then a big service for all the churches in the area, plus any visitors who want to attend, on the 25th. Though I am definitely sad to be away from my family/families (both my American and Austrian ones!) during the holidays, I am reminded that I'm here to serve and share Christ's love and hope, and there's no better time to do that than the Christmas season (except for maybe Easter). I thought everyone from Step Ahead would go home for Christmas, but I found out that 4 out of 5 of us, at least, will be here. I'm not sure about Ping, but I suppose she will probably stay here, too. Benz will be getting ready to take off for New Jersey for a year to do a cultural exchange program with a church there, so she's not going home until January.


John came down on Thurs. and had a short visit with us; he left again on Fri. afternoon. We had a really nice dinner together at the Chong-Fah hotel/ restaurant on the beach (I've included a few photos from that, but they didn't turn out so well). It was really good to meet with him, though. I am encouraged every time I talk to him. He's such a good boss. He's definitely the visionary type; he has tons of good ideas and is always optimistic about carrying them out! (or having them carried out). But at the same time, he really looks after the well-being of his volunteers and listens to any concerns we have. He encourages us to develop our talents and empowers us to step out in new areas. He and Kim are both like that, and I appreciate them so much, even though I only see them once a month for short visits. There are a couple of exciting new projects/ things coming up for Step Ahead: Amnuey is going to start teaching a computer class, and one of the preschool teachers is going to start an eco-tourism hotel, where people can come stay and learn about Thai culture and lifestyle. I think they are planning to hire some guys from the Moken village (I wrote about/ posted some pics of them a while back) to work there. During the "downs" and sometimes boredom w/ my daily routine and the limitations I have to work w/ here, I am still reminded that this is an amazing opportunity that God has given me here.


Last night we loaded up the vehicle and went to Takuapa for a music contest put on by our friend Mae's church. It was really fun! The contestants were all teenagers. Our friend Ton was the emcee, and Mae translated the message given at the end by a Philipino guy. The music was not particularly good (often off-key!), but the kids had a great time, and it was a great outreach opportunity. Paul did some translating, too, for the judge (an American guy). It was a late night; we helped tear down and then left from Takuapa at around 11:15, picked up Benz from work and ate dinner around 11:30! Then we dropped off Ton in Lam Ken and Chaiyot at his house and got back around 12:30. It was such a good evening, though; I am happy that I'm starting to feel more connected here.


This morning, I finally got to visit Paul's church. Ton is the pastor there- in Lam Ken. Actually, I visited their cell group on Wednesday night, but I can't remember if I already wrote about that. Benz, Paul and I went there together today. It is a small, very simple house church. The meeting room has a concrete floor, and they set up plastic chairs for service and clear them away to sit on the floor for lunch. The bathroom is a squatty potty, and to wash your hands, you go to the backyard, dip some water out of a bucket and lather up your hands w/ a bar of soap! There is a small cooking unit (not a stove, but something like one). Needless to say, there's no air-conditioning, but there's not at Pak Ping Church, either, so I'm trying to get used to being HOT on Sunday mornings. (Last night, however, there was a wonderful cool breeze; I was almost chilly sitting outside!). I really loved Pastor Ton's church. I don't know how to describe it except that it's sweet; without all the unnecessary extras, these people just focus on loving the Lord and each other. They have so little but they are so generous. Pastor Ton has barely enough money to live on, but he insisted on paying for our meal last night (and would not be persuaded otherwise) -and not out of an attitude to show off, but just to bless his friends. It's a small church, maybe 12-15 people. No instruments except guitar, but I felt that the worship was genuine and beautiful. And God does not require a big, fancy building in order for us to worship Him. Ok, that's all for now, though I always feel like I have so much more to share than I can write about!



Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Birthday, Thanksgiving... and health issues



This is going to be a long entry... I was a little worried about spending my birthday and Thanksgiving in Thailand; holidays and special occasions can be the worst times to be abroad, so far away from your family and friends. But actually, my birthday turned out great! My friends at Step Ahead got me a chocolate birthday cake (it was yummy!), and Paul, Amnuey and I went to the beach and swam to the raft and dove, swam, and enjoyed the sunset and waves until the moon came out (lovely)! During the day, Ping and I made banana and pumpkin bread. We had a fun time in the kitchen, and I am so glad that we are starting to connect more. She's using a lot more English, I'm using more Thai, and I think she's warming up to me (she's quite shy). That girl is awesome in the kitchen. She chopped that pumpkin up in about 3 minutes, whereas it would've taken me about 15 to cut it (no joke). She was excited about making the bread; she'd been wanting to learn how to make it since the last time I did it. She thought we should try making mango bread, or papaya, hehe. She is cute. After the beach, nobody else wanted to go out, so Paul and I went to an Italian restaurant in Khao Lak that I've been wanting to try for a while. I had pumpkin gnocchi w/ creamy gorgonzola asparagus sauce. It was delicious. Then we visited Benz at work (she's working part-time at a tour company now; can't remember if I already mentioned that).


Saturday was the big cooking day. Paul roasted 3 chickens in the oven and helped me w/ various side dishes, and Amnuey peeled and cut the sweet potatoes for me. It was so much work, though. I cooked enough for about 20-25 people, but only 15 or so showed up. Two of our students came, plus Gan from down the road. I'd invited Al and Karin (Canadian couple from our church) and Jay and Melanie (another Canadian couple from church) plus their two kids. They brought some food, too. I chatted w/ the students, prayed for the food, we sat down to eat... and then halfway through my meal I got REALLY nauseous and had to go upstairs to the bathroom. The nausea was followed by a fever for a couple hours, so I was in bed for the rest of the afternoon until around 5:30 p.m. I've had recurring stomach trouble since I've been here, but it's so hard to figure out what the problem is, b/c it's not every day or even all day when I get it; it might be 1x or 2x a week. I eat quite a variety of foods (Thai and Western), and this time it was food I cooked at the house that made me sick! So I went to the dr. in Khao Lak yesterday, and the diagnosis was: inconclusive. He said it didn't sound like I had a bug; I looked healthy, stomach felt and sounded normal. He supposed it was a reaction to food but that I could get tests done at the hospital in Phuket if I wanted to. Bronson and Paul's mom both suggested that I keep a food log, writing down everything I eat and how I feel. So I've been doing that since Friday. I decided not to go to the hospital in Phuket yet, b/c my stomach is feeling a lot better since yesterday. But then yesterday I woke up w/ a migraine that lasted until late afternoon! At least I can thank God that when I get migraines, they are relatively mild (I don't usually get nauseous; but my vision blurs, my eyes are very sensitive to light, and then I feel a lot of pressure behind my eyes). So those of you who are praying at home, please pray that I'd stop having so much health trouble! It makes me feel worn down and stressed out to deal w/ this stuff all the time. But God comforts me in my distress, when I turn my worries over to Him (I Pet. 5:7, I think that's the one, but I'm not going to look it up at the moment!)


Saturday was also Loy Kratung (still not sure about spelling), a Buddhist festival. By evening, my stomach was settled (still hurting, but settled) so I went w/ Paul and Amnuey to the fairgrounds, which were bustling. People were sending off little boats made of banana leaves and flowers and candles on the river. It was very pretty, actually.


Our household has been more harmonious lately, and I'm happy about that. The conflicts were getting a bit tense, but I think that usually happens when people live together. In general, I feel like we're more balanced and settled w/ each other now, which is great. I love my teammates! Another good thing is that my Thai is coming along... well, I need to take a more active approach (and Bronson gave me a good idea about that), but I'm happy to be understanding a whole lot more now. OK, I've got to go for now. Thanks, everyone, for the birthday wishes, packages, etc. :)




Thursday, November 22, 2007

Cheese at the local supermarket!





This blog entry is partly for me to report with great delight that they are now carrying actual cheddar cheese (and Nutella, too) at the local supermarket! Which means that I'll no longer have to travel all the way to Phuket to get those precious commodities. On Tuesday night, there was a good-bye party for Saskia, the Dutch girl who works at Child Trac, an NGO that a lot of Paul's and my students work for. We really enjoy the Child Trac group; they are a tight-knit and really fun group. So Paul and I took off on the motorbike for the 40-minute-ride to Takuapa, the closest larger town in the area. But it started pouring on the way there. We had rain coats, but I discovered later that mine had ripped at the armpits, which is why my arms got so wet. It was still a fun trip, though. We went to a really nice restaurant, outdoors but covered (like most Thai restaurants) and surrounded by little ponds w/ fish and little stone walkways. The food was really nice, too. Some of my students lit sparklers, which is why there's smoke in some of the pictures. We had a good time, but I found it sad, too, to see the kind of lifestyle these people are living. There's a lot to pray for around here. Lots of homosexuality and gender confusion. Paul says there's a lack of good male role models in families.


Tomorrow I have a ton of things to do to prepare for our Thanksgiving meal on Sat. (you guys have all celebrated already, but there's too much work during the week for us to have had it today!) I only know of two of our students who are coming for sure, but I am glad that they are coming. There is actually a Buddhist festival on the same day, Loy Graton (no idea how to spell it), where they make miniature boats out of banana leaves and float them down the river to carry away their sins (I think that is the idea). It will still be a large group for Thanksgiving, w/ us from Step Ahead, two Canadian families, two of our students, and a few of the guys from the Step Ahead preschools. It's going to be lots of work, since I'm the main organizer and head chef. I hope I'll get a chance to rest at least some this weekend. I'm still feeling really, really tired most of the time and can't usually sleep past 7:00 even when I have the chance to (which is rare). I find the holiday season the hardest time to be away from home. Don't know yet what my travel plans for Christmas break are.

Friday, November 16, 2007

The rhino beetle incident, biking and a Thai foot massage






My sister keeps asking me if I've seen any strange bugs here yet. I hadn't yet, but I got my dose this week. When I came downstairs for morning devotion, there was a huge rhino beetle on the dresser where we keep the music! I have actually seen these before (I guess it was in Arizona), but nevertheless, I was terrified to see such a large flying insect in our house. I immediately alerted Paul to the presence of a deadly insect, but he was not alarmed at all. In fact, Ping had brought the beetle in as a pet, and Paul just said, "oh, it's a rhino beetle! Cool." I said that if it started flying during our devotion, though, I would certainly freak out- guaranteed. So you can guess what happened next. Of course, the humongous beetle started flying around like crazy, into walls and up to the light, then down low, narrowly missing my head. It was like a june bug but about 3-4x as big. I was sitting on the long bench in the middle, so I was trapped. I asked Amnuey to let me out so that I could escape if the beetle flew near me again. Everybody else thought it was funny, but I didn't find it all too amusing.



I had a busy week, and today I decided that the best medicine for my homesickness and frustration about not being able to get out and about was to join a bike tour w/ our friends Gaan and Geng from down the road. (Side note: is it possible to be really busy, but bored and sad at the same time? Apparently so. I have plenty of work to do, but I still feel bored from being in the house most of the time, w/ the exception of trips to the beach to go jogging or watch the sunset- which is always gorgeous here.) It turned out Gaan couldn't go biking today b/c she wasn't feeling well, so it was just me, Geng, his friend Nai, and a Swiss guy named Felix. It was cool b/c I got to speak some German w/ him. We drove to Thai Mueang and biked about 22 km altogether, stopping at a shrimp farm, a fish farm, and the beach! At the beach, we met a class of schoolkids who were doing an art project. It was neat. We rode on the roads through the countryside- past water buffalo, mosques, temples, rubber trees, spider webs, over bridges, through a small town w/ little shops... it was fantastic! Then we had a nice Thai lunch at one of the cool restaurants made out of wooden benches that still look like tree limbs, all very natural and beautiful. I just love the way they design things here! Then, unfortunately, I developed a stomachache (don't know if it was the food or other factors), so I missed the next stop- the waterfall, b/c I was sitting in the truck in the air conditioning w/ the seat leaned back and trying to nap. I prayed that my stomach would feel better, b/c it was pretty miserable, and then it did! So I got out at our next stop, which was at an aquarium (or something like that), where we saw sea turtles, different kinds of fish, and lobsters! It was so cool! Especially the turtles. I only have pics from the first part of our outing, though, b/c then my camera stopped working after that.


Kim Quinley (director's wife) arrived this evening from Bangkok, and we enjoyed a lovely evening out- a girl's night! We had dinner at the sticky rice restaurant and then got foot massages! And man, a foot massage here is awesome. It's not just a foot massage- they massage your legs, too, and afterwards they do your shoulders, back and head for a few minutes. And they serve you tea. Wow. After that, we had gelato at an Italian restaurant. It was so nice, b/c I haven't had a fun night out w/girls yet since I've been here. It's been hard this week; I've been feeling lonely and just really realizing how small this place is (and the fact that I can't get out! I'm going to learn how to drive the scooter so that I won't be quite so limited in where I can go and what I can do.) So even though it wasn't the best week, it sure ended nicely.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Nam Kem, English service, Thanksgiving, an Asian fair






I'm a little behind on this post, so I'm going to finish it up now. Last Saturday Paul and I went to Nam Kem, a town just up the road from here that was the worst hit by the tsunami in all of Thailand. We looked at the memorial there, which has a big boat that was washed on shore and the names of ppl who died on a wall. It was raining the whole day though, and since we were on the motorbike, I didn't take my camera. En route we saw a white guy and his wife in front of their house, and we decided to stop and talk to them (Paul figured they were missionaries). Well, his wife went off to a church meeting, but we ended up chatting w/ Joe, who was from California, for about 1 1/2 hours! He invited us in and told us about his work (church-planting w/ Thai and Burmese) and about his journey of faith. It was fun to talk to him. On our way to the memorial, we saw Brad, a guy from Fayetteville (!) who's doing church-planting w/ Burmese, too. He is going home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. I wish I were. I usually don't feel sad about being here except when I think about the holidays. But I've decided, in order to combat my holiday blues (or at least Thanksgiving blues), that I'm going to organize a Thanksgiving meal at the Center and invite my students. There are actually a lot of dishes I can make easily, as long as we get the oven fixed. And it'll be a great way to build relationships w/ my students. I suppose most of them will not be able to come, but even if only 4 or 5 come, it'll be fun!

On Sunday we had a meeting after church to discuss starting an international worship service in English on Sunday nights for the tourists who come here and any Thais who are interested in practicing their English. I am really excited about this, because it means that I'll actually be able to understand sermons on Sundays (we do have translation, but I always feel like I'm still missing a good deal of what's being said.) And I was given a job- I'm going to lead worship! I'm excited but nervous about this, because I've never led worship before.

On Wednesday night (or Tues, can't remember), Paul, Chaiyot, Amnuey and I went to a little fair just down the road. It was so much fun! It was like a fair you'd go to in America, yet it was distinctly Asian. There were lots of different kinds of foods and Thai sweets and drinks. Instead of hot dogs and nachos, there was phad thai, curry, sticky rice, and then Asian cookies, gooey candies, and stuff kind of like Rice Krispy treats but not exactly. And there were vendors selling clothes, sunglasses, health/ beauty products, shoes, you name it. I bought some body scrub- milky rice scented. We walked around looking at everything and then played balloon darts and bingo! (great number practice for me). There was a dance and singing contest that was pretty funny. And a big slide and jumping castle for the kids. For the most part, I've settled into life here, and I'm glad to have a routine. But every once in a while, something reminds me that I'm actually in Thailand!! And how cool is that?

Friday, November 2, 2007

Taan's good-bye party and 3 on a motorbike


On Thursday night, we had a good-bye party for Taan, who is leaving tomorrow. We had a huge BBQ in front of the Step Ahead Center. It was really nice! In fact, a few of us spent a good portion of the afternoon skewering meat and veggies to make shish kabobs, which turned out delicious. A lot of people came, mostly from the two churches here. We watched a video with pictures of Taan, people made toasts to her, and we prayed for her. She will definitely be missed around here. I don't have any pictures from her party, but I'll post some when I get some from Benz's camera.

I spent pretty much the whole day working on lesson plans, which seem to be going very slowly, but I looked up a lot of games online that I can use for class, so hopefully that will prove useful in the long run, though it was very time-consuming. And at least I got my two classes for Mon. planned before the weekend. After a whole day of being inside, I said to Paul that we had to get out of the house, rain or no rain. I had cabin fever. So we went down to Gaan and Geng's, and I brought Ligretto to teach them how to play. It was so fun! Gaan was too tired to play, but Paul and Geng loved it, and another guy who was hanging out there joined us. Then we went down to the beach to James's restaurant (our Burmese friend that we met while running on the beach one day). The drinks were so pretty that I had to take our pictures with them. When it was time to go home (it was getting late), James offered us a ride home on his motorbike, which was nice b/c the streets were really flooded. But for some reason, I found it hilariously funny to actually be riding three on a motorbike (which they do in Thailand all the time), w/ Paul perched on the back (I think he was sitting on a luggage carrier, not an actual seat) and so I laughed the whole way home! I was really tired, too, which might have had something to do w/ it. James couldn't figure out what I was laughing at, but then he started in laughing anyway, and Paul just chuckled and said "brilliant," which set me off even worse. One might have wondered what I'd had to drink when I staggered off the bike, still laughing, but it was only orange juice.

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