It is now officially my last week in Thailand. I once again leave on a bus for Cambodia this Thursday to go to our next ministry.
At training camp, we were challenged to make our “normal different“. I’m not exactly sure if this is what they meant, but….
Out of the ordinary 3 weeks ago, now…..NORMAL:
- When I arrived in Thailand, I didn’t know that everybody would drive motor bikes. I surely didn’t realize that fitting a family of four on a motor bike would be a normal occurrence. Nor did I realize that calling a Moped a Motor Bike would sound so normal!
- When we came to Thailand, a snow cone was just something to get on a hot day. Now it’s a planned out daily activity. And yes, condensed milk can be used on top of anything to make it a tasty treat, including snow cones and crepes.
- Now I know that cold showers everyday can be quite enjoyable.
- Getting a Thai massage for 8 dollars for an hour…no big deal 🙂
- Riding 10 people in the back of a truck is no longer exciting and new. It’s just the way it is 🙂
- Taking off my shoes. putting on my shoes. Taking off my shoes. putting on my shoes. Taking off my shoes. putting on my shoes. Taking off my shoes. Putting on my shoes. This is just if I had to run back inside to grab money I forgot before leaving to the ministry site. (you have to take off your shoes to come inside in Thailand. FYI)
- To touch again on the last point, it’s now normal to take off my shoes to enter a store. weird.
- Smiling and acting like you really understand what people are saying to you when they speak Thai/English. It happens every day. 🙂
- It’s no longer strange to be unsure of what it is exactly that I’m eating.
- Even with showers, it’s not odd anymore to feel sweaty and disgusting 90% of the day.
- I can’t remember what it looks like or feels like to drive on the right side of the road.
- It’s normal now to have absolutely no alone time. It’s not so bad either 🙂 (I’ll let you know if that changes in the next 10 months)
- I thought that I would miss the convenience of Wal-Mart. Wrong. 7-eleven’s on every corner do the trick!
- Now, normal is when a teammate’s foot hurts, 5 people jump in and say let’s pray over it!
- It’s not strange anymore to feel completely welcomed and at home in a place that is on the complete opposite side of the globe from Home.
- Hanging out in places from catalogs and movies is just an outing for the weekend here 🙂
I’M IN THAILAND for crying out loud. I still sometimes can’t believe it, but God has blessed me with exciting ministry opportunities, magnificent scenery, and wonderful friends from all around the world 🙂 I kind of like making my normal different for a year.
