Making Friends

"In Thai we don't "make" friends," Tuk told me last week. Instead she had me write, in Thai, "I am a friend of a cute dog." I wanted to say I made friends with the dog because I had to move carefully to gain his friendly response. Either they consider everyone as a friend or think friendship is something that just happens, or not, without any effort.

They are certainly friendly people. Mrs. Janooan has spent a lot of time talking to me and helping me with my Thai and other things. She often holds my hand when we are talking or she is taking me somewhere. Saturday she invited me in for lunch. Although I had already eaten, she insisted I join her and her daughter anyway. She brought out a separate bowl of what she and her daughter were eating, this one without the hot spice in it. I ate a little of that because of her effort. She gave me a little from their bowl and I thought it was hot even though she said it wasn't. They helped me with my Thai as we talked about our activities.

Last Thursday, for the second time, I went to the free aerobics class put on in the Lotus department store parking lot. A lady there took a friendly step toward me, but hesitated until I stepped toward her and said, "Saw wat dit, ka" (the Thai greeting). Then we started talking in bits of English and Thai over the loud music. Before long she took hold of my hand too. She invited me to come stand next to her up front, but I declined, holding my hands over my ears. Afterwards she introduced me to one of her friends.

Today at the park, we walked up behind a young lady sitting on one of the benches under a covered area (sala) over a pool. We began to discuss with her the swarm of fish in the shady water in front of us. As soon as she could tell we were going to stay awhile, she moved her things over so I could sit next to her even though the next bench was empty. I accepted her invitation. I offered to get up when her friend came back, but she said no. The three of us talked and the first lady held my hand briefly too.

We talked about the big cat fish that showed up, where we were from, how long we had been in Thailand, her lottery ticket sales, and similar things. Finally I asked if I could take their picture. They let me, and then wanted to take turns taking a picture of me with each of them. Then the first young lady wanted a picture of me and each of them taken with her camera. As I began to leave, she showed me pictures of her two daughters and one son on her camera.

They have been friendly even in our brief encounters on the song taus. A lady I started a conversation with one day asked where we were going early in the conversation. She helped me with some Thai words while looking out for our destination during the ride. One of two of the song tau drivers, (we are not sure if it was the same one both times), on the route we usually take has slowed down to wait for us before we were ready to signal for a ride. Once we were coming down the stairs of the pedestrian overpass and, the other time, turning a corner further up the road than where we usually are. That could also be because they are hoping for the fare and we are easier to remember than the other people there.

:J

Learning Thai

"Sa wat dee, ka." (Hello) "Sa bai dee, mai? Ka?" (How are you?)

The greeting spoken by our female Thai teacher, Tuk every day. Males end their sentences with krap. If you mean to ask a general question, like "Is this a mango?" you need to put a mai at the end. This was the beginning of our instruction on Thai sentence structure.

Our classes began January 6 and have continued from one to three, Monday through Friday, since then.

We are supposed to study an hour for each hour we are in class. Tuk doesn't give us separate assignments for homework, we are just supposed to go over what we learned in class. Tuk, is lively and expressive and makes the class fun. She drilled us in the 9 vowel sounds plus their s

ix combinations and the 5 tones the first week and a half. She has also given us a lot of vocabulary and some sentence structure. I have tried speaking some Thai to different people and am learning by trial and error :/.

There are now nine of us since a Scottish man joined mid week. Now we have 5 English speakers (4 American) 2 Frenchmen, 1 Mexican, and one Swede. Gary doesn't sit on

that side by himself. Mn, J, and I all sit over there. Ta sat in the center until this day when she moved on the other side of Cn.

They have been interested in the Thai flash-cards I have been making for myself from the vocabulary.

The reading and writing course is a separate class that they don't let people take until after the second reading course, so they ask me if I am taking that class. I explain that some friends gave us some materials to learn Thai from so I could begin to work on some reading and writing. It helps me learn to write the words and see them written along side

pictures to suggest their meaning. Very slowly this is helping me recognize words written on signs. So far this has mostly been noticing when they are spelling an English word with Thai letters.

I am also finding out that they have silent letters, sometimes marked and sometimes not, that their letters change sounds sometimes, and lots of letters make the same sound. With a few words I don't see how they get the word they say from the letters spelling it. Ough (as in doughnut) well, it iz likely noe tougher than English that weigh.

On the day we were learning numbers, we exchanged phone numbers for practice and to have contact numbers if we couldn't make it to class. Friday, as Gary and I walked to class, my phone started "ringing". It was the first time someone besides Gary had called me, but I knew the sound was my phone since it was in the holder in my back pack strap that was across my chest. I answered it to find the Scot, Mn, from class calling. He wanted me to tell Tuk he wouldn't be in class because he was with his friend who was in the hospital recovering from an emergency appendectomy. He assured me that the procedure was over and that his friend just needed to rest. He had tried to call Tuk, but couldn't get through. I didn't think to say I would pray for his friend, but I did after I hung up. Gary saw later he had a missed call from him. Before class I tried to tell Tuk about Mn all in Thai. I did ok, with her help, until I got to hospital and the emergency appendectomy.

At break that day Cn talked to me about a masseuse he went to talked to him about "that book" I gave him, the New

Testament. He said he would try to go back to that masseuse. I couldn't quite hear him or understand through his French accent. Next week I will try to ask him more about that. I am glad he is interested in talking about it and praying that God will be guiding him to His truth and protecting him from harm in the process.

During class we often share information about ourselves as part of practicing use of the language. We have also asked each other why we are in Thailand during the break and while waiting for others to finish an exercise. Ta has come for a year to volunteer with NGOs. She was amazed when I told her we would be staying for most of the rest of our lives.

Please continue to pray for God to show His love through us to the people in the class, and for Cn and his search for the source of Truth.

:J

Food update

Fish bean curd. That is what the white cubes on a stick were which I had for breakfast a week or so ago. We were wandering through the Thai food market under the big fancy mall when I saw them and a sign identifying them in English.

Breakfast is turning out to be our biggest challenge. Most bread type stuff is expensive here and we don't have any way of heating anything in our apartment. There was a microwave in the main kitchen at the Lighthouse, so we kept Rotees overnight a couple of times and heated them in the morning. A Rotee is a big, thin pancake that the maker puts an egg on, folds into a

rectangle, puts some kind of topping on, and then rolls up. This one we had cashews on.

They are overly greasy to have regularly.

Now we have a refrigerator so we can keep fruit for awhile. Along with pineapple, watermelon, oranges, and bananas we've had a lot of yogurt, some marked down doughnuts, and yesterday we found some Chinese small coffee cakes. They have a crust-like outside

and then mostly a ground up paste inside. The cubic one had a pork flavor to it. The other two were slightly sweet. The flavor of the red leaf one was more fruity and had a chunk of something orange in it, either carrot or some thick fruit.

This ball thing I tried at lunch time. They took the ball, which

seemed to be made of rice with flavorings, smashed it, added other things (including this soft kind of sausage), mixed it all around and put it on a plate. I don't think I will have it again soon.

The teacher in our Thai class identified the steamed

balls and square I had that were filled with different things. Unfortunately, I didn't write down what all the words she gave us meant so I'm not sure which words were for those things.

:J

Meeting people

We've met several people since we've been here. Some we only saw a few days or less; others we will know on a more permanently, perhaps.

Our landlady we should know for at least four months. We met Mrs. Jannoo-an

early last week when we came to see about renting a room. She was quite eager to help us with our Thai at that time. Saturday morning I was able to ask what her name is in Thai from what I learned in Thai class. The reason I remember her name is because she explained that the Jan part means Monday and moon and she showed me how to write it in Thai letters on her hand with her finger. She told me her husband's name too. It means "golden" so that is why this apartment house is called "Golden Home". I've forgotten how to say his name in Thai, though. I didn't get his name written down soon enough.

She was very friendly to me that day, letting me use her washing machine (and pay her the 20B rather than put coins in the coin operated one), loaning me a clothes basket and some hangers to hang clothes on, pointing out where I could hang up clothes, and talking to me about why I want to learn Thai. She took my hand often and held it when we were standing talking to each other. She offered me more things than I took. I hope I can understand how much she really intends for me to take, and not offend her by refusing too much or taking too much. Also, I hope to understand whether she will expect something from us after she has done this kind of thing. Her husband has tried to be helpful too, but he speaks little English. Please pray that we would be able to show God's love to them even through our cultural differences.

We are likely to have more in common culturally with the other students in our Thai class. The two young women are from the US, two men are from France, one man is from Sweden, one from Mexico, and one from Scotland (who just joined us this week). Then, of course, our teacher is a Thai native. I spoke French with one of the Frenchman for a little while one day. It is kind of ironic because when I am trying to think of some common word in Thai right now, I often come up with the French one first. We are going to be seeing these people 5 days a week for two hours a day for six weeks, and doing some interaction with them in class and in the break.

We walked with C-n almost to his apartment on Thursday because everyday he walked to the place where we need to catch our song tau. On Friday he talked to me more about his ex wife and how dissatisfied she is with everything in his life. I said she needs to have a purpose in her life, and tried to explain what that meant. C-n also said he was unmotivated at the moment to get a job again. Over the weekend I prayed, and asked some others to pray also, to be able to give him a testament and one for his wife. Today at the break he asked me what brought me to Thailand so I explained how we were seeking God's direction and some of the other details. It was the perfect way to lead in to what I have found in those testaments and what they might mean to him and his ex wife. I had them in my pocket to give him. He accepted them. He primarily speaks French, so he may have a little difficulty with them. His ex wife, although Peruvian, is excellent at languages, including English, so she should do ok with it, if she reads it. Please pray that they both do, and for the Lord to work through them.

Please pray also for God to glorify Himself through us in the class. We are the only Christians in there, that I can tell so far, anyway.

:J

Getting used to...

Cars on “wrong” (left) side of the road. Drivers on “wrong” (right) side of vehicles.

Rough side walks – sometimes none, sometimes wide, often used by street vendors or adjacent property owner.

Signs, magazines, books all in Thai – and some in a different script than the one I learned.

Avoiding dog poop – regularly along the side of the road

Where things are – the way to get places and get “home”

Hard mattresses – how to make them softer?

Putting insect repellent on regularly – it’s my new body spray!

Bug bites – about 10 each round– Round 1 - 1^st day, on calves, – Round 2 - 3^rd day, on feet & ankles, round 3 – 5^th day, on back, overdue for round 4, thankfully!

Taking an umbrella,

for the SUN!

“Deer crossing” cross walks – warning drivers that people might try to cross there.

“Suggested” red lights and turn lanes – not everyone stops at them or turns when in them.

Carrying cash and in small bills or change – to pay TukTuks Song Taus, or street or market vendors.

Unexpected friendly "people" at unexpected events. We didn't know it was children's day when we went to the biggest mall in town!

:J

Babes in Thailand - food Monday

Pad Thai noodles with nuts and tofu has been my mainstay when I can't find anything else I'm willing to try. It is also usually the lowest priced item on the menu and often it's hard to tell what the other items will be.

Near where we are staying we found an open air market selling all kinds of foods. These we can see to choose from. The first evening a young woman had crispy, thin rice noodles in different colors and flavors with a few vegetables mixed in. She kept giving me sample of the different kinds saying, "Not hot! Not hot!" Then a lady next to me told me the flavors in English. I tried the pumpkin flavored kind and hoped she'd be there again. So far she hasn't been.

The morning we found it we were ready for a little bit of breakfast. Gary had some pork on a stick and I chose two sticks with white something on them. The long white one tasted like shrimp pressed together. The bits of hard things, maybe shell, I had to refrain from spitting out. The white cubes were soft, like scallops. All of these were roasted.

We also bought some fruit. They had oranges that were kind of like tangerines. Their bananas were cute and sweet.

We also got a green fruit that tasted vaguely like an apple, though not as juicy. They were quite willing to give taste samples of fruit we were unfamiliar with. One that looked like a yam tasted sweet, juicy, and gingery.

We've gone back for dinner a couple of times. Here are some of the things we've tried and not tried.

We tried a couple of what pastry pies. I thought mine was potato and Gary's was supposed to be chicken. They were filled with a kind of flavored paste, though, made from those things (we think).

We didn't try the squid

.

These rice dough covered items turned out to be pretty good. They were steamed. The green square was onion, the yellowish balls were bamboo, the brownish round balls were a paste of cashew, and I don't know what the roundish green one was.

We didn't get any fish baskets.

School was just getting out when we walked toward the market Monday. Many vendors were out catering to the students. This one, selling french fries, was popular. Gary got some when we came by again heading home. They were very good. You could still taste the potato in them.

So far we've managed to eat several different things in different places without getting sick! Thank you, Lord, and please continue to bless our food!

:J

Happy New Year in Chiang Mai

Our first day of the New Year started at 6:45 am, if you don’t count the half hour I was up at midnight watching the fireworks. I went out on the patio to see them better and also saw the glowing red dots of the floating lanterns. My jet lag state kept me from being too sleepy to get up at midnight, but must have helped me sleep after, since I slept through my 5 am watch alarm.

The late start meant jumping rope for my workout at 11:30, followed by a cold shower because the electricity to run the little shower water heater was off. The electricity went off in our room sometime after we went to bed at 8 the night before. Maybe it had something to do with the blow up of our power strip that afternoon. That was how Gary discovered our old transformer didn’t work. He also discovered we needed an adapter to plug anything into our new transformer. Since all of our electrical based devices were run down at that point, including the computer, the first thing on our agenda that morning became finding an electrical parts store.

We had seen one in a little mall on our previous visits, so it was a matter of walking there following our map. Many people wished us “Happy New Year” as we walked along, figuring we would understand that English!

Our map got us to the right locality, and suddenly everything looked familiar. Soon we found the mall, and one of the electrical supply places inside. They had a power strip that would take any kind of plugs, so we bought that. We also found a shorter way to get home.

After his nap (and my exercise) Gary found an outlet in the common area to get everything plugged in and recharged. The last thing we plugged in was the computer. It was the thing we least wanted fried. My “brain” charged up quickly. Other things took longer. Our toothbrush hasn’t made it yet!

Soon after this, the manager for this Lighthouse guesthouse showed up. She flipped several breakers in the electrical box in the main room after I commented on our electricity situation. That didn’t work, though. Then Gary noticed circuit breakers in ours. He flipped those and our power was back.

We set up everything in the room then. All was well until we realized the transformer was overheating and turning off. That meant the computer would go on to battery power frequently and was running out of that quickly. Now this means we have to conserve computer use as well as share it between us, until we get a better transformer.

To watch the Duck’s game through his sling box Gary had to put the transformer in the freezer after the first quarter. He turned the computer off and then plugged it in that way. He waited awhile and then turned the computer on for the last 15 minutes on the clock of the game. The transformer lasted about 5 minutes with the computer turned on. The computer had charged enough though to last past the end of the game. He was hopeful to see Oregon only 2 points behind at that point. That hope was soon gone.

The transformer can handle recharging the computer when it is off, so that is what we are doing with it at night or when we leave for a long walk.

It was great to have warm water again today!