End of Term Class Party!

My lower intermediate class, left to right: Jeab, Amnuey, Kerk, me, Jit, Mouy, Barsan

They brought so much food!

And Mouy brought a cake.

Kerk eating a Chinese steamed bun. I love this picture!

This is why I love my job. Not actually because my students bring us lots of yummy food and cook with us & for us, but because they like to spend time with us at Step Ahead! Yesterday was the last day of this 8-week term at Step Ahead, so I told my class that we could have a party, and I'd bake chocolate chip cookies, and they could bring something if they wanted. But they went all out! They brought all sorts of food: several different kinds of fruit (rose apples, bananas, longan), dried seaweed, Weet-a-bix, cake, a couple kinds of steamed Chinese buns, and nuts. We sat around eating and talking for about an hour, and then I gave them their final exam. After they finished, they decided it was time to eat again! Somebody ordered sticky rice and spicy pork salad, and we went back to the table and ate lunch. It was really relaxed and fun. I am always happy to see that our students feel comfortable just hanging out at Step Ahead.  The young boy in the picture just above (Kerk) is the nephew of the tall man on the far right (Barsan), two pictures up. I think it's great that uncle and nephew are studying together! They work together at a photo shop down the road in Khao Lak. Occasionally Paul and I stop by to see them there if we're out and about in the evenings. This group has been my favorite class since I've been here. It was quite small last term, but a few more joined this time, and we've had a solid core of about 7 students who never or hardly ever missed class at all. I am so excited to see their progress; several of them understood very, very little of what I said when I met them, and now all of them understand a lot! And they can speak much more, too. I love language learning, because it's something you can see tangible results with.   

Hooray for bike riding! & first Thai lesson with Germans

Yesterday after church, I was a little bored b/c there was no one around at all. Paul had gone to Bangkok for the weekend, Amnuey had gone to Koh Nok, and Benz had gone to dinner with some people from her church. Then I remembered that Amnuey had repaired an old bicycle that I could use! So I went out on my first bike excursion by myself! I felt so free. It reminded me so much of the old days when I used to go out for hours-long bike rides by myself in Salzburg. I explored just about every corner of the city on my bike, almost no matter what the weather was. And I loved it. It was a great adventure. Somehow, I couldn't really feel lonely on my bike. I felt close to God and close to nature. I could stop anywhere I wanted to; I could go to a little cafe and enjoy a hot cup of coffee on a cold day. I could bike up challenging hills (and partway up Gaisberg Mountain) or on the flat road alongside the river, which led out to other towns.

Well, this bike ride wasn't quite like those times in Austria. There are no bike paths here, and it's not really safe to ride along the main road, so a bike can't be my main form of transportation. But every time I set out by myself on a long bike ride, I always reminisce a bit. This bike trip had one thing in common w/ my bike rides in Austria: the bike was really clankety and rickety, and too small! As I soon discovered, I couldn't shift gears! Well, I could shift up but unfortunately not back down. That made it a hard ride up the hills. I had to go old school and stand up to pedal. I rode out a small country road that goes through the rubber tree plantations and out to the waterfall (the one I've been to a few times already). I didn't ride all the way to the waterfall b/c I didn't have a watch and I thought it'd be getting dark soon, but I rode to the reservoir. It was a cloudy day and late in the afternoon, so it wasn't very hot at all, just a bit humid. I loved it. I realized how much I've missed bike riding since I've been here, especially since I don't drive either, and I feel a bit stuck.

Today was our first German-Thai lesson: me, Ton, and four Germans. Boy, did we ever laugh! All four of them were so funny and good-natured and interesting to talk to. My brain got all mixed up as I tried to understand everything Ton was saying and then translated it into and explained in German (but really, it worked out well for the most part. Occasionally I turned to Ton and spoke to him in German, and then he gave me a confused/ amused look). I am really happy about this opportunity to help Ton (earn some money), to use my German in a challenging way, and to get to know some nice people. It's good to be connected to the German community here. A lot of them stay here for half the year or longer (they are retired). I encouraged them to all buy the same book, one that has German and Thai, so that Ton will know what to prepare beforehand, and they will have a better idea of what's going on in class. It is hard to learn a language that has a different alphabet, so you have to learn by trying to distinguish the sounds as best you can and writing them down the way they sound.

Featured Friend- Benz!

These are old pics but some of my favorites. Good times. Pic #1: at the sticky rice restaurant


Pic #2: at Khao Lak National Park Restaurant, my first month here!


Pic #3: my birthday, of course! What would a birthday be without chocolate cake?



Name: Benz (Isariya Ar-ngee- one of only a few friends whose first and last names I actually know)

Age: 25


Interests: traveling, learning foreign languages and being friends with foreigners, translating (she is quite impressive at this), YWAM, Jesus, being a tour guide (sometimes), sports, being un-Thai, laughing loudly (even more loudly than I do) and singing loudly all over the house, showing ministry teams around Thailand and driving us around in the Step Ahead-mobile, doing anything that's new and fun.


I don't think Benz is afraid of anything. She is not shy at all; in fact, she has a loud personality. Another friend of ours told her to "tone it down" in public, haha! She is strong-willed and determined. I am always impressed at the energy and ambition with which she tackles new tasks. She perseveres. She loves a challenge and doesn't like to be bored. Benz is from the far north of Thailand, close to Chiang Rai (most of my friends are from the north). She is from the Akha hill tribe, which is mostly Christian. Benz's mom is really cool. She visited here and cooked all sorts of delicious northern food. Lots of people think she is Benz's older sister b/c she looks so young and she's very beautiful. Benz is beautiful, too. She says things straight, exactly as they are on her mind. She is genuine. I don't have to worry about what she might or might not be thinking, because she tells me! Benz and I are very different, but I appreciate her very much.

Featured Friend of the Week- Pia!

Not bad!

Pia getting some instructions from another golfer

The golf ball actually left the ground this time (which was progress for me).

I do not know how to swing a golf club. 

I've had the idea for a while to feature one of my friends each week (or at least, every so often) on my blog so that you (my readers) can get to know some of the lovely people I get to spend time with here. But then I got pretty busy and didn't post on my blog for a while. So here goes: hopefully I'll be able to keep up with it!

Name: Pia- this sounds a bit more like a "b" than a "p;" but we don't have this letter in English. It gave me a lot of trouble at the beginning, but I think I can say it now.  They don't really talk about last names in Thailand, so I don't know most of my friends' last names.

Age: 29 (they do, however, talk about age all the time)

Interests: spending time with and teaching kids, laughing and having fun, being adventurous- trying new things... like golf, drinking coffee, being outdoors, watching sunsets on the beach, knowing God and encouraging others to know Him.

Pia and I have a blast together no matter what we're doing. We laugh together until we almost cry. She is from northeastern Thailand. Thai is not her first language; she is from a people group called Gui (but I'm not sure if that's how it's spelled). She came here in 2005, after the tsunami, to work with We Love Thailand (the umbrella organization that included all Christian organizations who were helping with the relief efforts). Now she works for an independent ministry. Her vision is to build a ministry house where she can have kids come and stay with her, and she can help them with their homework and teach them from the Bible. She is also involved in community development projects, including a mushroom farm that is just getting started. Pia speaks English really well, and she often translates for me at church. But she helps me a lot with my Thai, too. Pia is better at golfing than I am.         

Going to Phuket to see a dog's tooth?

http://picasaweb.google.com/briswann
I'd like to open this entry with a story about language learning. During my Thai lesson this week, due to a slight mix-up in vowel sounds, I told Ton that I'd be going to Phuket next week to visit a dog's tooth. What I meant to say was that I'd be visiting a dentist. Almost as soon as the words left my mouth, I realized I'd made a big mistake. Ton cracked up. During a lesson about prepositions today, Ton told me that the chairs were above the table. :) I got a kick out of that and had to demonstrate by holding a chair above the table, just for fun.

Unfortunately, the tooth that gave me so much trouble last summer has reared its ugly head again. It doesn't hurt that much, but it's about the same as last time, and the dentist told me I had a low-grade infection. Then I had the root canal redone by a specialist and hoped it wouldn't give me any trouble abroad. Fortunately, I've heard that there are some really good dentists and doctors in Thailand. John Quinley recommended a friend of a friend in Phuket, so I've made an appointment. I hope it won't be too expensive.

Interestingly, I managed to organize a Thai class for Ton to teach without exactly intending to! A while back, a German lady named Monika came to Step Ahead and asked me if we offered Thai classes. I said no, but that I wished we did. She came back again last week, and I suggested she sit in on my lesson w/ Ton the following week and then we'd see if we could learn together. About halfway through our lesson, a German guy showed up who also wanted to learn Thai! So I invited him to sit in for the rest of the lesson. Monika has two other friends who want to learn Thai as well, so starting next week, we'll have a class of four Germans, a Thai teacher and a teaching assistant. We'll meet on Mondays for two hours with a break in between. Ton will start at the very beginning with them, and I'll help by explaining some things in German as needed. I think this will be fun, it's a good way for Ton to earn a bit of money, me to brush up on my German, and for me to review the Thai I've learned already. And then I'll continue to meet with Ton on Wednesdays and Fridays to learn Thai.

Paul's parents visited for a few days. They were so sweet and funny! His dad has a really different accent. He preached at church last Sunday. We spent some time cooking and eating together, and Paul, his mom and I went shopping in Khao Lak for an evening.

I am really happy that I've been able to spend a lot of time with Pia lately. She is such a neat person, and it's wonderful to finally have a Thai (girl) friend that I can really connect with. Last Saturday, after teaching, she, Ton and I went to a nice restaurant at Tablamu Pier and had lunch, looking out over the water. Pia anad I spent the whole afternoon there, enjoying the ocean breeze. On the way back home, she took me on the Navy Base to see the beach there. Then we got the spontaneous idea to hit some golf balls at the driving range! Wow, I stink at golf. I'm amazed that I can swing and hit the ground instead of the ball about 7 out of 10 times. We had good fun, though.

Having Guests, Similan Islands, and other adventures

Similan Islands

Whitney and I- does it get any dorkier than this?

Teaching the kids at church



Ton with the motorbike loaded with kids!




It's been ages since I last blogged! Here's a link to several new photo albums: http://picasaweb.google.com/briswann





So much has been going on that it's hard to know where to start! Well, first of all, there was a happy end to May's story (the girl who was living at Step Ahead, separated from her husband in Singapore due to visa problems). She hadn't heard anything for months about getting her visa to join her husband, and then one day, the letter that she needed came! Her husband flew here the next day, stayed for two nights, and we got to send them off with prayer and encouraging words. May (and her husband) joined us for our morning devotion for the first (and last) time, and then they cooked a huge Chinese meal for us. I miss May, but I'm happy that God answered our prayers for her to be able to return to her husband.





We've had lots of visitors at Step Ahead in the past two weeks, which has been really fun, and really encouraging- to have fellowship with English-speaking Christians. First we had Nick and Paula from Oregon. They're doing a trip around the world. Benz knew Nick from his DTS outreach in Chiang Mai six years ago. They were so nice, fun, and just easy to get along with. We made chocolate chip cookies three nights in a row! We went to the beach and played volleyball with some of Paul's friends who work at a hotel there, and I got a swollen, bruised wrist (I must've hit the bone; it's better now though). Paul, Nick, Paula and I stayed up late trying to solve the world's problems, and they helped me teach a really fun lesson at the Sarojin. We went to a waterfall (same one we went to with Gaan recently).





Then Whitney escaped the frigid cold of Xining and visited me for a week. We had lots of fun together! The highlight of her visit was our trip to the Similan Islands. Those pictures are definitely worth checking out if you want to see the most beautiful beach you can imagine (at least, it certainly was the most beautiful one I've ever seen!) I have never seen such clear water in my life. We went snorkeling and we climbed up a rock with a gorgeous view. We made friends w/ some ladies from Bangkok who spoke Chinese (Whitney chatted in Chinese, and I talked to a lady a bit in Thai). It was really neat to hear about Whitney's work, and we exchanged teaching ideas. She helped me with my classes as well. During Whitney's visit, we also had a girl from Chiang Rai come and stay at Step Ahead for two days. She's a friend of Ton and Chaiyot's, and she was a lot of fun too! Paul's parents are coming into town this weekend. For some reason, Feb seems to be the month for visitors.





The last thing for me to write about today is something I'm excited about: teaching the kids at our church. Last Saturday, Ton and I started teaching the kids from church, plus quite a few neighborhood kids. He did some songs w/ them and a few other things I didn't quite understand, and then I did a short English lesson w/ them. This week Pia and I will teach together. She'll do a Bible lesson, and I'll do English (obviously, since I can't teach the Bible in Thai!). We had 18 kids the first week, and half of them were kids whose parents don't come to church! I think this is a great opportunity to reach out to the community.





Oh, and one more thing: I seem to have become an expert at miscommunicating things lately! For some reason, whether I'm trying to speak in English, German, or Thai, the messages that I think I'm communicating are not getting across (or also, people aren't communicating clearly w/ me). Usually funny situations are the result. And I normally take these things in stride. But today, for some reason, I'd had enough of it and was frustrated to the point of tears. There is a German lady who is possibly interested in joining my Thai lessons with Ton, which is cool. I talked to her on the phone (in German) and invited her to sit in on our lesson next Monday, but I said I needed to confirm it with Ton first. He said sure, and so I sent her a text message saying Monday was fine, but I abbreviated Monday, and she thought I meant for her to come the next day! So while I was at the Sarojin teaching today, Monika showed up for a Thai lesson! I am sure that Ton was thoroughly confused, but (Benz told me this later) he tried to do a lesson w/ her. It didn't work out very well b/c he doesn't speak much English, so he didn't understand what she was asking him. I had a good laugh when I heard about it, but then I actually just felt frustrated b/c I couldn't explain to Ton very well in Thai what had happened (well, I sort of could; Paul said "Bri, your Thai is brilliant! You should speak it with other people besides Ton!" I appreciate his encouragement). And this was the 2nd day in a row that a major breakdown in communication had happened to me (along w/ several other minor ones this week). Oh well... it's all part of living in a foreign country.