Although this update is a little late coming, here it is!
11 things you should know about my time in Thailand!
- We went to the beach! Woo hoo! Pacific Ocean! But the water was “poison” so we couldn’t swim.
- We went to the beach again! Woo hoo! Pacific Ocean! But I got a really bad jellyfish sting. I’ve never felt that kind of pain in my life. 4 weeks later, it’s still lookin’ pretty nasty.
- We went to another beach! Woo hoo! Pacific Ocean! There were 3 dead jellyfish on the beach. I was anxious the entire time I was in the water. My friend got stung. I did not. I don’t think I’ll try to swim in the Pacific Ocean again anytime soon.
- Our ministry hosts loved us well! They spoke life over us and encouraged us daily.
- We lived in our own apartment…I felt like a real adult again! Grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, it was lovely.
- Ants, cockroaches in our cooking area/entry way, mice, and yes a rat or two…no big deal. We got our ant kill and our rodent poison out and took care of things. But if you were ever bored, you could probably find a roach to chase after and kill.
- Team time! Our team was by ourselves for the first time this month. It was great. We had the opportunity to grow closer together and challenge one another to go deeper with Christ.
- Riding in the back of the truck was the best alone time you’ll get on the World Race!
- Thai Buddhist funeral. I have now been to one. It was an honour to be invited, and a privilege to attend. It was so elaborate physically, yet so empty feeling spiritually.
- Sometimes the hardest part of this month was having so many of the comforts of home. We had access to a grocery store and a mall all the time. We had wifi nearby. We had a coin-operated washer down the street. We could go jogging. It was great, but also felt weird to feel so normal. Some days it felt like we were living in the western world (minus the critters, the heat, & sleeping on an air mattress of course).
- We had game show night! We played Thailand themed Jeopardy. It got a little violent and competitive. It was epic. The prizes were out of the world. (1 candy, peanuts, etc).
- And one more! I rode an elephant for 2 hours! We went through the woods, swam in the river, and was in awe that I was in Thailand riding an elephant!
11 things you should know about our times teaching English in a Buddhist school
- Candace and I had 35 kids in our class of 3rd and 4th graders. It was fun. We talked about the alphabet, numbers, days of the week, opposites, animals, feelings, and weather.
- Names included: Fluke, Dream, Eh, Um, Prayer, Oil, Best, Thank, Tarng, Joe, Go, and Arm.
- Sometimes drawing and colouring is a huge treat for kids in other countries. They don’t actually get to do those things in school.
- We prayed for Fluke (Oil’s brother), the first day. He had a rash all over his body. He was healed. Amen!
- Ask: “How are you today?” Automatic response: “I am fine and You?” Sounds simple, but it was so cute the way our students said it.
- Coconut Ice Cream is the best. We finished our time there with an ice cream party.
- Whitening Powder is a real thing. Some days the kids would have it all over their faces. They desire to be white. And white people want to be dark. I’ll stick with what I have and use my SPF 60 sunscreen.
- Baby Shark, Singing in the Rain, Hokey Pokey. These are what you call, “overplayed songs”. I wish I could say I didn’t have to sing them all this month too. (Did I mention we are teaching English again? haha)
- Ask: “Khao Jai Mai? Do you understand?” Automatic response “Kao Jai!” (Yes!). Our response: “They don’t understand”.
- We taught in the office. It was air conditioned, which was lovely. It was a decent sized room, but still a little challenging at times!
- The teachers/administration provided us with awesome snacks every day. We were so thankful for coffee (that we made into iced coffee) and fruit! We also were quite intrigued by some of the crazy treats. Prawn chips, dried seaweed, and weird little cakes that had purple or green frosting/cream in the middle. I did not try these crazy things. I stuck to coffee, fruit, & peanuts most of the time (although even they had some funky flavours!)
Thank you for you continued support!
