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

Question

How much respect should a Christian pay to a Buddhist priest?

I know I wouldn't enter a temple and sit at the same level with one of them. Non priests are always supposed to sit lower. I avoid going in to the temples altogether. Also I avoid getting near them in general. They aren't supposed to touch women, so I don't want to make that difficult for them.

Our Thai teacher said that people are supposed to lower their whole body when passing them on the street, and not look at them. I suppose the not looking at them would be no problem, I just am not sure about the lowering of the whole body. Where does the line of showing respect to someone other than God come in?

: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 - New things

Prices at a fraction of a Baht, such as 0.75, and a 0.25 coin.

Loud speakers in the neighborhood broadcasting speeches and music.

Web sites (such as this one) coming up in Thai.

Where different colors of Song Taus go.

Roosters crowing whenever it is light.

Few people walking.

Internet service being spotty.

Thai writing on signs in a simplified script from the one I've learned, so I can't figure it out.

: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!

Family good bye

“Stop poking the anemones, Mom!” Amanda chided me. I was trying to get one to squirt, with no success. Later she checked back to be sure I got off the big rocks where the tide pools were safely. Darrick checked back at the end of our hill climb to make sure I was with them. These were marks of the change in our relationships.

All week they helped take care of managing our activities. Amanda planned and made a couple of great meals and helped me with the rest.

She already knows more about cooking than I do. Jennifer checked out local sites to visit and the details on location and cost. We all joined her to visit the Yaquina Lighthouse and the nearby tide pools. Darrick facilitated some basketball playing with Gary and some other young vacationers. He even beat Gary at HORSE. When I had quick volunteers to clean up the kitchen, I knew things had changed. We even got along pretty well after the four of us there Monday morning prayed together for our week.

When Gary first proposed the beach week, I objected to leaving town a week early. I also wondered how Amanda and Darrick would take being away from Longview and the people in that area for that time. I also doubted our civility would last out a week in close quarters.

The frenzy of the last week of packing made me thankful for the week away. The week also gave me a chance to finish the 3 ½ books on Thailand and the book on Jesus’ teaching methods I hoped to return before we left.

Amanda did struggle with not being “home” and not having a car. The great weather, the whale sightings, our own Internet connection, and Bryan helped her through.

It was the trip to Eugene for Christmas that crystallized the hole we are leaving for our children. They will no longer have a place to stay in while visiting people in the Northwest. Then, to visit the larger family, they will have to make their own arrangements. If they are going to get together, they will have to coordinate their plans.

Christmas will be different for all of us from now on.

Our good byes were less tearful than I expected. Amanda had decided she will see us about as often as she does now. I pray that she will know we do love her and not hold any resentment toward us for doing this.

After Gary drove off with Bryan, Amanda, and Darrick, I went back in to more sorting, tossing away, packing, and reading. By 10 pm everything was done, even the last book.

The next morning Jennifer and I got it all in the car and took off. One more excursion, to the Voodoo Doughnut shop in Portland for a bacon maple bar for Jennifer, and we made it to Longview. A few more good byes, some last packing and errands, and then squishing everything into Jennifer’s smallish Malibu and we were off for Bremerton. The last stop was the credit union after we found a money order gift in a Christmas card. Providently, Gary walked in there just in time to put his signature on one last form they had run across.

Jennifer drove us to Bremerton and to breakfast and the airport the next morning. Our last good bye was to her as she dropped us off.