A different kind of Easter

Decorating the church for Easter

Kids making papaya salad

Jeab in red! She's doing a lot better.

Two new Easter albums: http://picasaweb.google.com/briswann . There's a lot to report on this entry, so grab a drink and snack (maybe some leftover Easter chocolate) and get comfortable. I'll number them:

1. making pad Thai with students


2. another visa run


3. Easter celebrated differently this year
4. Jeab's recovery!
5. jellyfish and soccer
6. kids' classes at Step Ahead

So here goes: 1) We had another great meal with the famous cook, Jit, who's been one of my favorite students ever since I got here. She and 3 other ladies, also students here, came over and showed us how to make pad Thai. However, even though it was the 2nd time around for me to watch, it's very complicated and I still don't think I could do it on my own. It was probably the best pad Thai I've ever eaten- Taste of Thai, sorry- NO comparison. :)

2) Ok, this visa run takes the cake for number of complications and severity of motion sickness. To make a long story short, on the bus ride to Ranong, I had the barf bag out and ready (though I'd taken some motion sickness meds, a new kind though), but by an act of God I managed not to throw up. I thought I'd die. I wanted to. For the motorcycle taxi which drove me a total of approximately 15 minutes- but waited for me while I went on the boat- I paid 4x the amount of money I paid to take a two-hour bus ride from Kuraburi to Ranong! Then I was put on a boat w/ 2 Swedes, a Philipino lady and her cute little daughter, which would've been no problem except that they wanted to stay in Burma and shop for about 2-3 hours, whereas I wanted to head straight back to Ranong- as soon as possible. The boat guys wanted me to take the same boat back w/ them, but I said absolutely not- I had dinner plans that evening w/ the Australian family I'd stayed w/ in Kuraburi! After paying a bit extra in baht for having a $10 bill that wasn't "new and crisp enough," according to the Burmese officials who stamped my passport, I thought I was ready to return to Ranong. As punishment for not wanting to return on the same boat as the Swedes and Philipinos, they put me on the slowest boat, which stopped approximately every few meters to pick up Burmese and Thais. We must've had 15 people crammed on that little fishing boat. The whole boat trip including the haggling over the $10 bill on the Burmese side took 3 hours; it should've only taken 1. On the bright side of all this, I met a nice German guy on the bus ride back, and I had a lovely time w/ the Austrlian family in Kuraburi. I stayed 2 nights w/ them, and they had 2 guests from their home church who were helping w/ a water project in a nearby village. We played a fun dice game the first evening and went out to eat the 2nd evening. I love spending time w/ the Higgs, who are so sweet and so much fun. We seem to have similar preferences in books and theology as well. On the final leg of my journey back to Bang Niang, the bus driver asked for my phone number- but he asked one of the bus attendants to ask me for it. I didn't give it to him, but when I was waiting at the front to get off at my stop, I had a good laugh w/ the 2 bus attendants and the driver, and they complimented me on my Thai. They asked me how many years I'd been here already. :)

3) On Saturday, we had an especially fun morning w/ the kids at church. After some songs and teaching, they cooked lunch! They did a great job. And we decorated the church together. On Sunday morning, we had a candlelight sunrise service and ate rice porridge w/ garlic, ginger and cilantro for breakfast (have you ever had rice porridge on Easter morning?). We sang songs- really funny too, b/c they didn't sound like hymns or traditional Easter songs; they sounded like oldies- I mean 60s rock! And we played a game where we passed around a plate of boiled eggs, chopped in half and w/ candles stuck in them, and when the music stopped, whoever was holding the plate had to eat one and feed one to his neighbor on each side! Then we went home between services and had our usual service at 10. That was really nice. The kids- including the ones from our Saturday class- sang a special song- "prajao bpen kwam rak"- God is love. Paul's brother Mark was visiting for a few days, so it was really nice to get to know him a bit as well. Now he and Paul are off traveling in Chiang Mai.

4) Jeab, our housekeeper, has recovered for the most part! Praise God. She came to the Easter services and today was her first day back at work at Step Ahead.

5) I've been playing soccer w/ the boys at the beach lately, which is great. I really, really miss doing competitive sports, but I find it really hard to organize people to do anything here. Benz played tonight, too, which made me glad to not be the only girl. Unfortunately, after the first match we all went into the sea and I got stung by a jellyfish in about 5 different spots. These jellyfish are not dangerous ones, but it sure did hurt anyway! There were never any jellyfish around the first 5 1/2 months that I was here, but for some reason, there are lots of them right now. Almost everybody has been stung- Paul, El, and some of Paul's friends who were visiting.

6) Lastly, Liz and El are teaching a kids' class at Step Ahead while the kids have their vacation from school. It's great! Today was the first day. Jit's kids are studying w/ us, too.

Done!

Featured Friend- Ton!

Ton with a bunch of kids from our Saturday church class


handing out prizes at Children's Day


I think Ton is the favorite emcee for any church event! (this was the Christmas gathering)


Teaching the kids some fun songs


Name: Ton (his first name is Prateep, which is Peter in English, but I can't remember his last name)

Age: 26 (exactly one month younger than me)

Interests: Jesus, teaching kids, teaching the Bible and Thai- as of recently :) , playing guitar, taking pictures, drinking coffee, playing soccer, driving a motorcycle.

Ton is such a unique person. When I first saw him, I wouldn't have guessed that he was the pastor of a small house church (that I would later attend). He looks like a rock star, for one thing, and he's really young to be a pastor! The first few times I saw him, we didn't say much at all because I couldn't speak any Thai and he only spoke a little bit of English! But a couple of months later, he became my language partner and we've had LOTS of laughs, lots of fun, and we've learned a lot together. He is such a good teacher, and he's learned quite a bit of English, too. And he has become one of my best friends here. Quite unexpectedly, I've organized two Thai classes for him to teach, and I'm helping explain things to our German students. We'll start a second Thai class next week at Step Ahead if everything goes as planned!

Ton is from northern Thailand (Chiang Rai) and he came here after the tsunami to pastor this small house church in Lam Kaen. He also worked with Siam Care, an NGO that helped children after the tsunami. I admire his commitment to God and his kindness and heart to serve and love people. He is outgoing and friendly and very funny- very silly sometimes. He has a huge smile and an infectious laugh. He takes special care to make sure that new people feel comfortable, which I really appreciate. Sometimes I don't understand his stories. And sometimes he drives me crazy. But I feel really blessed to know him.

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.