It was suggested to me to go on a "Trek" while I was in Chiang Mai. A good idea indeed. I wasn't sure how I would do that since I had no idea about where to go, what to do or anyone to go on a trek with. But I think God had His hand in how it came about.
On Sunday I went to an international church. It was nice to hear a fully English sermon. It could have more depth than the sermons at TLC because it wasn't being translated. As soon as I walked in I was greeted by 4 other guys who (I found out later) were there for the first time as well. They were in town for a conference of Christian English teachers, of which there were over 600 people from all over Asia. After church we walked around and ate lunch together. Along the way, they were pricing out day treks, and it occurred to me that it would be cool if I went along with them. So we signed up. 700 Baht (20 bucks) bought us a trip to 2 mountain villages, a trip to a waterfall, lunch, a trip down a river on a bamboo raft, and a trip on the back of an elephant. Not bad for one day!
It is fun to be a tourist once in a while. I sometimes have this "better than you" tourist attitude because I know that I'm being catered to as a tourist. And now I think I'm better at spotting the good price and the tourist price. It was funny when I paid the van driver he told me not to tell the other people in the van how much I paid, because they had paid much more for the same tour. He he.
First stops were the hill tribe villages. Whatever those hill tribes used to do, they don't do it anymore. I think they're main source of income is tourism. But they still live in rural houses. The first village was about a 1/2 hour walk, way up into the mountains. It actually reminded me of hiking in BC in the summer. We get up there, and I'm walking around and I spot a pickup truck! I know he didn't get up there on the trail that we hiked on. That's when I realized that this village is maybe not as rural as I first thought. In any case, I enjoyed the exercise.
The waterfall was nice. The waterfall was a bit too cold for my liking. It was like visiting Cascade Falls in the summer. I think its too cold for the Thais too. But hey "bring the foreigners, they don't know the difference!" The Thai lunch was great, rice with various toppings. Then a trip down the river on a bamboo raft. The rafts were made of about 10 thick bamboo stocks, about 20 feet long. They held the raft guide at the front, 2 in the middle and someone at the back. It was mostly calm and quite relaxing. A stark contrast to the elephant ride. The elephant ride was neat, but it is very much "hold on for dear life". The two seater on top of the elephant becomes one with the elephant, so it rocks every which way. And elephants don't come with shock absorbers. A good day had by all.
Here's the God part. Unbenounced to us, the trek company has several vans, and each person is pre-assigned to a van, usually based on which hotel you're staying at. The vans are staggered so only one van is at any activity at any given time. I ended up in a van with 3 couples and one other single girl, who was also looking for her friends. At the first stop I started talking to her and found out that she was in town for the same Christian teachers conference as my friends were (from church the day before), and soon found out that her friends were the same friends I was looking for. Fortunatelly, we found the others at the first stop and they had room in their van, so we all got to enjoy the day together. It was cool to be able to hang out with a group of likeminded Christians. I will probably never see them again, but it was cool that at just the right time, God provided me some friends to go on the trek with. Thanks God.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Crosswalks
In my experience, crosswalks are more dangerous than J-walking, becuase they give you a false sense of security. The crosswalk buttons beep, tempting you, like they're saying "c'mon, push me, I'll keep you safe, you know you wanna". But like all other traffic signs and signals, they're just suggestion. I foolishly tried out a crosswalk, thinking it would give me some magical power to stop the traffic... and almost got run over by a motorcycle. To see a crosswalk in action, check out the little movie I have in my pictures.
Learning Thai
Apparently it is good idea to learn another language. It teaches you things about your own language. I'm taking Thai lessons right now, 2 hours a day on weekdays. And I'm learning to be thankful that I learned English first. You see for me, learning Thai is optional. But for many others in the world, learning English is not. English is a very inconsistant language, and it must be horrible to learn. Learning Thai, on the other hand, is hard, but a different kind of hard.
The Thai language is quite structured and logical. It makes sense. It's the pronounciation and the tones that are the killer (and I haven't even begun to learn to read and write). There are 5 tones for each vowel. And each vowel can be long or short. This means there are 10 different ways to say each vowel, which can mean there are up to 10 different words packed into one 1 sylable word. The upshot of this is that most words are only 1 or 2 sylables. The downshot is that pronounciation is VERY important.
The lesson book is written using the words spelled phonetically, which is like English but every letter has the pronouncation of a different letter. Here's what I mean: The "i" vowel makes an "e" sound (as in "eat"). The "i" sound (as in "high") is represented using "ay". The "ay" sound (as in "bay") is represented using "e". The "t" sound is represented using "th". The "t" in a word is a combination of "d" and "t", and they just don't use the "th" sound (which explains why Thai people have a hard time saying "th" words). "ph" is a "p" sound, but "p" by itself is a combination of "b" and "p". "kh" is a "k" sound, but "k" by itself is the "g" sound (as in "good grief"), and they don't use "g". They use "c" for the "j" sound, and they don't use "j". The "u" vowel represents the "oo" sound (as in "looney"). The upsidedown "e" represents the "uh" sound (as in "unbelievable"). The backwards "c" represents the "awe" sound (as in "awkward"). Thankfully "a" represents the "aaaaaah" sound (as in "at last"), and the "o" represents the "oh" sound (as in "oh joy"). The "ng" sound is represented by an "n" with a "g"-like tail, and there are words that start with that letter (ya, try saying a word starting a word with "ng"). A backwards "3" represents the "eeh" sound (as in "exasperating"). And my personal favorite: the "u" with a line through it. A horizontal line through a "u" is the vowel that you have to smile to say. It's closest sound is the French word "bleu". It's like saying "oo", "eh" and "ee" all at the same time.
One vowel in a word means it is a short vowel, two consecutive vowels means it is a long vowel. Then look above the vowel to find out what tone it is. Unlike English, there is no guesswork as to how to say the word. But talk about brain strain. I usually have a nap after my Thai lessons and let my brain recover.
The Thai language is quite structured and logical. It makes sense. It's the pronounciation and the tones that are the killer (and I haven't even begun to learn to read and write). There are 5 tones for each vowel. And each vowel can be long or short. This means there are 10 different ways to say each vowel, which can mean there are up to 10 different words packed into one 1 sylable word. The upshot of this is that most words are only 1 or 2 sylables. The downshot is that pronounciation is VERY important.
The lesson book is written using the words spelled phonetically, which is like English but every letter has the pronouncation of a different letter. Here's what I mean: The "i" vowel makes an "e" sound (as in "eat"). The "i" sound (as in "high") is represented using "ay". The "ay" sound (as in "bay") is represented using "e". The "t" sound is represented using "th". The "t" in a word is a combination of "d" and "t", and they just don't use the "th" sound (which explains why Thai people have a hard time saying "th" words). "ph" is a "p" sound, but "p" by itself is a combination of "b" and "p". "kh" is a "k" sound, but "k" by itself is the "g" sound (as in "good grief"), and they don't use "g". They use "c" for the "j" sound, and they don't use "j". The "u" vowel represents the "oo" sound (as in "looney"). The upsidedown "e" represents the "uh" sound (as in "unbelievable"). The backwards "c" represents the "awe" sound (as in "awkward"). Thankfully "a" represents the "aaaaaah" sound (as in "at last"), and the "o" represents the "oh" sound (as in "oh joy"). The "ng" sound is represented by an "n" with a "g"-like tail, and there are words that start with that letter (ya, try saying a word starting a word with "ng"). A backwards "3" represents the "eeh" sound (as in "exasperating"). And my personal favorite: the "u" with a line through it. A horizontal line through a "u" is the vowel that you have to smile to say. It's closest sound is the French word "bleu". It's like saying "oo", "eh" and "ee" all at the same time.
One vowel in a word means it is a short vowel, two consecutive vowels means it is a long vowel. Then look above the vowel to find out what tone it is. Unlike English, there is no guesswork as to how to say the word. But talk about brain strain. I usually have a nap after my Thai lessons and let my brain recover.
Collective Competition
One interesting aspect of a densely populated city is that there's always room for one more. There are people everywhere, selling whatever. Even on the side of a busy road/highway, there are people selling stuff. It seems like there is very little thought put into location. It seems they would do more business if they set up closer to where people walk. But I guess they make enough to get by, because they're there the next day.
But what I really want to comment on here, is the businesses. Where I come from, it is not advantageous to set up shop, right beside your DIRECT competition. Yet over here, I have seen a row of little grocery shops (like about 20 or 30 of them!) side by side, all selling the SAME THINGS. As you drive by them, it is like watching the background of a cartoon. These people are investing a significant amount to set up a store. What inspires the entrepreneur to set up a grocery store between grocery store 16 and grocery store 18?
The other place I see this is in some of the specialty malls. Even specialty malls will cluster together. In one corner of Chaiang Mai, there is a collection of electronics malls. In each mall, are several levels of stores, all selling one of 4 things: Cell phones, computers, cameras, and cell phones. I will admit though, it is great for the consumer. Everything is in one place, including all the competition.
Oh ya, and then there's the store selling the BLATENTLY pirated software. Poorly scanned cd covers printed with poor ink jet printers. Its actually funny because as long as they obtain a licence to sell this stuff, it's all good as far as the government is concerned. The moral of the story (there are no morals): Stick to making things that can't be copied.
But what I really want to comment on here, is the businesses. Where I come from, it is not advantageous to set up shop, right beside your DIRECT competition. Yet over here, I have seen a row of little grocery shops (like about 20 or 30 of them!) side by side, all selling the SAME THINGS. As you drive by them, it is like watching the background of a cartoon. These people are investing a significant amount to set up a store. What inspires the entrepreneur to set up a grocery store between grocery store 16 and grocery store 18?
The other place I see this is in some of the specialty malls. Even specialty malls will cluster together. In one corner of Chaiang Mai, there is a collection of electronics malls. In each mall, are several levels of stores, all selling one of 4 things: Cell phones, computers, cameras, and cell phones. I will admit though, it is great for the consumer. Everything is in one place, including all the competition.
Oh ya, and then there's the store selling the BLATENTLY pirated software. Poorly scanned cd covers printed with poor ink jet printers. Its actually funny because as long as they obtain a licence to sell this stuff, it's all good as far as the government is concerned. The moral of the story (there are no morals): Stick to making things that can't be copied.
The Night Safari
The other night I went to The Night Safari. It is a brand new attraction in Chiang Mai, and it is conveniently located less than 10 minutes from where I am staying. It also happens to be free until the end of January (after that it is 500 Baht per person!). It is a massive beautiful new zoo, with very nice landscapery. The interesting thing about this zoo is that in order to experience it the way the designers had intended, the Night Safari should be visited at night. The problem this is, it very dark at night.
I took the Jaguar trail. It is about 1km, and you walk around a lake. As you walk, you pass by animals in their cages--doing whatever it is that they do at night (which seems to be either sleeping or hiding from the visitors). Many of the cages were "open", meaning there was a deep cement wall surrounding the cage area, so the animals couldn't get out. Other cages had glass in front of them. Each cage was lit, but in order to keep the serenity of the night, the lighting was more like mood lighting or "Where's the animal?" lighting. The result of it was, I saw only about 40% of the animals. At one point I found myself laughing as I peered into a fairly dark cage, trying to spot a black leopard. By the end of it, I decided I would have to come back again in the daytime, so I could fully appreciate all the animals and landscaping. And I recommend that for anyone else who is thinking of going.
I took the Jaguar trail. It is about 1km, and you walk around a lake. As you walk, you pass by animals in their cages--doing whatever it is that they do at night (which seems to be either sleeping or hiding from the visitors). Many of the cages were "open", meaning there was a deep cement wall surrounding the cage area, so the animals couldn't get out. Other cages had glass in front of them. Each cage was lit, but in order to keep the serenity of the night, the lighting was more like mood lighting or "Where's the animal?" lighting. The result of it was, I saw only about 40% of the animals. At one point I found myself laughing as I peered into a fairly dark cage, trying to spot a black leopard. By the end of it, I decided I would have to come back again in the daytime, so I could fully appreciate all the animals and landscaping. And I recommend that for anyone else who is thinking of going.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Things that make you go WHAT?
I had a "WHAT?" experience when I first saw Pepsi Latte at the 7-11. What think-tank dreamed up combining a Latte with Pepsi? It was so weird I had to try one. Actually it's not as bad as one would imagine it should be. It tastes more like Pepsi with vanilla or cream soda. Quite drinkable.
Other things that make me go WHAT? are some of the funny signs. Ya, they're in English, but not our kind of English. One sign was advertising a laptop computer and I guess it was left over from Christmas. The slogan was "Think Santa". Ok, but if I think Santa, I won't be thinking laptop...
Other things that make me go WHAT? are some of the funny signs. Ya, they're in English, but not our kind of English. One sign was advertising a laptop computer and I guess it was left over from Christmas. The slogan was "Think Santa". Ok, but if I think Santa, I won't be thinking laptop...
Chiang Mai Mai Mai
I arrived in Chiang Mai, ready for anything, which is good I guess because Russell Schmidt was open to anything. Russell and Elizabeth Schmidt are urban/remote missionaries in Chiang Mai (northern Thailand). They live in Chiang Mai, and Liz teaches at the Christian International school, but Russell's real ministry is with the Khumu tribal people, about 6 hours north.
They live what could be a modest American lifestyle, in Thailand. Like a lot of people, they live in a "mubaan" -- a huge subdivision of houses that has only one entrance which is guarded. The mubaan that they live in is right beside the International school. And since it is a Christian school, most of their neighbours are Christian and work at the school. Liz works there and their 3 kids also go to the school so it is convenient for the family to live here. Their neighbours are from all over the world, not many Thais (and these neighbours also have wireless internet so I can send you stories of my adventures).
For now I am staying with the Schmidts, although they are looking for affordable housing for me. Ironically, I haven't eaten a Thai meal since I arrived in Chiang Mai. Because of all the tourism, it is very easy to find Non-Thai food.
The Thai/English/Computer training center is not set up because funds have not arrived so he hasn't been able to rent a place. But they will be renting a place in February, then I can help with renovations and setup. In the mean time, he has signed me up for Thai lessons, 2 hours a day for 5 days a week. That is intense! I had my first lesson already and wow, there's no slacking when you are the only student!
In about 3 weeks a group of pastors and businessmen will be visiting Thailand, including Russell's Khumu ministry. At that time, him and I will head up and then I will get to see where he works when he's not at home.
Now that I have come up here and actually talked with Russell and found out exactly what he does up here, I have a better handle on what he needs in terms of missionaries... not me. Russell would really like to have a team of missionaries go and live and work amoung the Khumu people. He was ready to send me up there! I declined because I would be on my own, and nobody speaks English up there, and I didn't feel that ministry was for me. I see myself in more of a support role (fixing stuff and making it better), rather than a leadership role. For that kind of thing they need a guy like Reg.
So that's an overview of the Chiang Mai, the Schmidts and what I'm doing.
They live what could be a modest American lifestyle, in Thailand. Like a lot of people, they live in a "mubaan" -- a huge subdivision of houses that has only one entrance which is guarded. The mubaan that they live in is right beside the International school. And since it is a Christian school, most of their neighbours are Christian and work at the school. Liz works there and their 3 kids also go to the school so it is convenient for the family to live here. Their neighbours are from all over the world, not many Thais (and these neighbours also have wireless internet so I can send you stories of my adventures).
For now I am staying with the Schmidts, although they are looking for affordable housing for me. Ironically, I haven't eaten a Thai meal since I arrived in Chiang Mai. Because of all the tourism, it is very easy to find Non-Thai food.
The Thai/English/Computer training center is not set up because funds have not arrived so he hasn't been able to rent a place. But they will be renting a place in February, then I can help with renovations and setup. In the mean time, he has signed me up for Thai lessons, 2 hours a day for 5 days a week. That is intense! I had my first lesson already and wow, there's no slacking when you are the only student!
In about 3 weeks a group of pastors and businessmen will be visiting Thailand, including Russell's Khumu ministry. At that time, him and I will head up and then I will get to see where he works when he's not at home.
Now that I have come up here and actually talked with Russell and found out exactly what he does up here, I have a better handle on what he needs in terms of missionaries... not me. Russell would really like to have a team of missionaries go and live and work amoung the Khumu people. He was ready to send me up there! I declined because I would be on my own, and nobody speaks English up there, and I didn't feel that ministry was for me. I see myself in more of a support role (fixing stuff and making it better), rather than a leadership role. For that kind of thing they need a guy like Reg.
So that's an overview of the Chiang Mai, the Schmidts and what I'm doing.
Everything is a little "zappy"
Experiencing electronics in this country makes me realize why everything is grounded in North America. If you're in bare feet and your hands are a little moist, you will probably get a little shock from anything metal that is plugged in. I can't even rest my wrists on the grills of my built-in laptop speakers because it will tickle me with a little buzz-like shock. The electric oven is the same story, as is the Schmidt's computer and even video projector at TLC. It's not enough to really hurt you but its enough to say "ow" and "is it supposed to do that?" The answer around here is "yes".
Cell Phone (in case you care)
I thought it would be nice to go along with Thai culture and get a cell phone. EVERYBODY has a cell phone. Literally. My number is... not going to be posted here. I pay by the minute and I don't know what it costs yet. You guys can email me. It's really nothing special, it is in fact the bottom of the line Nokia phone. Yes, Mr. Technology is also Mr. Cheap. It doesn't have a colour screen, no custom ringtones or anything like that. It DOES however come with a built in flashlight! How many of you can boast that? (BTW I didn't get the absolute cheapest. You can buy used phones, but they only have a 30 day warranty, and from the experience of 2 people, that's about how long they last. So I bought new, and Nokia is considered to be the best brand by several people). The plan is to donate the phone to The Life Center when I leave, so it can be used by missions teams in the future.
The Night Bizarre
I went to the "Night Bizarre". For those who have been to Bangkok, it's like Khao Saen Road except only at night. For those who haven't, it's about a kilometer of street vendors and tourists, lining both sides of a fairly busy street, from the afternoon onward. The vendors are selling all the usually tourist junk: cheap watches, t-shirts, trinkets, various types of clothing, purses, travel bags, jewelery, magic tricks, music CDs, VCDs and DVDs (not necessarily legit CDs/DVDs). The shops repeat every 30 feet or so, you don't have to walk the whole thing, but I did for the experience.
Overall, I didn't really like it. Too many pushy salesmen, not representative of Thai people, and to many ignorant tourists. I don't like to be associated with them.
Overall, I didn't really like it. Too many pushy salesmen, not representative of Thai people, and to many ignorant tourists. I don't like to be associated with them.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
So what are you actually DOING?
I asked this question of Reg when he was in Thailand, "What do you actually DO over there?" I got vague answers like, I teachEnglish, I help out with Church and I take Thai lessons. What, three things?? Sounded like a pretty slack life. I've only been here a week, but now I understand...
Life here runs a different pace, and by different I mean slower. Times are generally approximate. Work and free time for us are a mixture throughout the day, it's not segmented by the clock. You may put in 8 hours of work but it happens throughout the day. I have a schedule for the week that I'm here in Chonburi, but it only has 2 or 3 things on it per day. It's weird how it happens but I got up at 8:30 this morning and I'm finishing this blog now at 1:20am. If I wasn't busy I surely would have gone to bed 2 hours ago.
But what exactly do I do? Every day is different:
The fixed items are: English classes Tues & Thurs 7-9pm, Church service and supper 4-7 on Sunday, Police Station Kid's English Club 10:00-11:30am on Saturday, College & Career with students from the university Saturday 3-5pm on Saturday. Monday is our day off.
The variable items are: Getting lunch from a local outdoor restaurant or street vendor, getting supper (same thing), getting pictures and footage for the 2 videos that I'm currently working on, editing the videos, meeting with the members of Team2000 about various projects (often video related), Thai lessons (1 hour, twice a week), and interacting with the Thais. This is important in ministry too. There are lots of Thai students that come to English classes and hang around the church, who are not yet saved (the use of the word yet is intentional, given time we trust God will draw them to Himself).
I don't know how it happens, but every day gets filled up, with no help from TV, no computer games, no surfing the internet for hours, no visits to the beach and no aimlessly wandering the streets. Somehow we are kept busy. It's great.
Life here runs a different pace, and by different I mean slower. Times are generally approximate. Work and free time for us are a mixture throughout the day, it's not segmented by the clock. You may put in 8 hours of work but it happens throughout the day. I have a schedule for the week that I'm here in Chonburi, but it only has 2 or 3 things on it per day. It's weird how it happens but I got up at 8:30 this morning and I'm finishing this blog now at 1:20am. If I wasn't busy I surely would have gone to bed 2 hours ago.
But what exactly do I do? Every day is different:
The fixed items are: English classes Tues & Thurs 7-9pm, Church service and supper 4-7 on Sunday, Police Station Kid's English Club 10:00-11:30am on Saturday, College & Career with students from the university Saturday 3-5pm on Saturday. Monday is our day off.
The variable items are: Getting lunch from a local outdoor restaurant or street vendor, getting supper (same thing), getting pictures and footage for the 2 videos that I'm currently working on, editing the videos, meeting with the members of Team2000 about various projects (often video related), Thai lessons (1 hour, twice a week), and interacting with the Thais. This is important in ministry too. There are lots of Thai students that come to English classes and hang around the church, who are not yet saved (the use of the word yet is intentional, given time we trust God will draw them to Himself).
I don't know how it happens, but every day gets filled up, with no help from TV, no computer games, no surfing the internet for hours, no visits to the beach and no aimlessly wandering the streets. Somehow we are kept busy. It's great.
Great Green Coconut Balls of Goo!
The night market is filled with what-are-thoses. I was traversing the night market in search of my next meal when my Thai friend Bunn pointed out these coconut covered green balls of goo. He said they were really good, and the lady at the booth offered me one. The coconut shavings were good, the green goo had the consistancy and look of a very large booger, but its saving grace was the inside, which was a sweet cookie-ish flavour. The green didn't really taste like anything, but once you hit the center, the whole thing tasted like a chewey coconut cookie (well not really, but there is no Canadian equivalent that I know of). Pretty good, 10 balls for 10 Baht. As I write this I have 3 left, here beside me. I know the center makes them taste good, but it's really hard to get past the look and consistancy....maybe tomorrow.
Shower Update
Regarding my post on January 13th...The three of us guys who are sharing the apartment behind the church, decided that we could spare $16 each for the privelege of warm showers in our bathroom. We now have a shower water heater in our shower! And wow, it is so worth it. Speaking of showers...
1. The bathrooms here don't have showers, the bathroom IS the shower. The whole bathroom is tiled to about eye level and there is the shower head, on the wall, attached by hose to the water heater, and that is attached by hose to the shower faucet. At first I thought it was weird, but now I think it is the greatest thing! You get to use the whole room as your shower, so you are never cramped for space. if the floor gets dirty, you just spray it down (same with the toilet). The toilet is available for use during your shower, as is the sink (talk about multitasking). Now that I've tried it, it will be restricting, going back to the shower stall.
2. The electrically minded in the crowd may ask, "You made sure that shower water heater was properly grounded, right?" Funny you should ask... um, no. Actually the entire country of Thailand is not properly grounded. I raised this concern with my roommates, inspected the previous heater wiring and the wiring of two other shower heaters. In each case, the ground in the heater was not hooked up (despite numerous warnings inside the box that said "This Unit Must Be Earthed"). Thai wiring doesn't have a ground wire, and the water pipes are plastic. So, when in Thailand, do as the Thais do. I hooked it up ungrounded and so far, so good. BTW, every water heater has safety circuitry ELSD (Electrical Leakage Safety Device -- I think). I think it's equivalent in theory to GFCI. The heater has "Test" and "Reset" buttons just like GFCI. The funny thing is that the test works even if the ground is not hooked up.
1. The bathrooms here don't have showers, the bathroom IS the shower. The whole bathroom is tiled to about eye level and there is the shower head, on the wall, attached by hose to the water heater, and that is attached by hose to the shower faucet. At first I thought it was weird, but now I think it is the greatest thing! You get to use the whole room as your shower, so you are never cramped for space. if the floor gets dirty, you just spray it down (same with the toilet). The toilet is available for use during your shower, as is the sink (talk about multitasking). Now that I've tried it, it will be restricting, going back to the shower stall.
2. The electrically minded in the crowd may ask, "You made sure that shower water heater was properly grounded, right?" Funny you should ask... um, no. Actually the entire country of Thailand is not properly grounded. I raised this concern with my roommates, inspected the previous heater wiring and the wiring of two other shower heaters. In each case, the ground in the heater was not hooked up (despite numerous warnings inside the box that said "This Unit Must Be Earthed"). Thai wiring doesn't have a ground wire, and the water pipes are plastic. So, when in Thailand, do as the Thais do. I hooked it up ungrounded and so far, so good. BTW, every water heater has safety circuitry ELSD (Electrical Leakage Safety Device -- I think). I think it's equivalent in theory to GFCI. The heater has "Test" and "Reset" buttons just like GFCI. The funny thing is that the test works even if the ground is not hooked up.
Shopping Carts
The other day I found out the answer to a question I wondered about but never bothered to ask. So you know how shopping carts have a set of spinny wheels on the front and fixed wheels on the back? Have you ever thought "Why don't they put spinny wheels on the back too? Wouldn't it be easier to steer?" Ok, well I have thought that. And now I know why they don't...
Over here they don't have Costco, they have Makro. It's neat because it's almost the same (except you can't buy hot dogs there). Well their shopping carts have spinny wheels on the front and on the back. And it's true that it makes it eaiser to manuvre at the back, but it also gives the cart a mind of its own. They are the most trying shopping carts you have ever seen. They refuse to drive straight, you have to fight with them to keep them from bumping into things, and ideally you need someone steering at the front if you want to turn a corner. I have never been wishing for fixed wheels so much as when I went there. Its one of those things we take for granted, and now that I've been there, I'm thankful for what I didn't realize we had.
Over here they don't have Costco, they have Makro. It's neat because it's almost the same (except you can't buy hot dogs there). Well their shopping carts have spinny wheels on the front and on the back. And it's true that it makes it eaiser to manuvre at the back, but it also gives the cart a mind of its own. They are the most trying shopping carts you have ever seen. They refuse to drive straight, you have to fight with them to keep them from bumping into things, and ideally you need someone steering at the front if you want to turn a corner. I have never been wishing for fixed wheels so much as when I went there. Its one of those things we take for granted, and now that I've been there, I'm thankful for what I didn't realize we had.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Kids
Saturday was national kids day. Now there is something we missed out on in North America! I went along with the TREK team to a big mall in Siricha (next city over) where they had a whole floor of things to do for the kids. The International Christian Children's Nursury had a booth set up (run by someone who attends TLC). We were there to help with the booth . Actually we were put in charge of games (1 game per person). I was a bit unsure about this, because I don't work with kids EVER. But when I came to Thailand, I made myself available for anything. So anyway, I was in charge of a pretty simple game: The kids (one at a time) had to put the coloured cardboard shapes into the cardboard placeholders (the best I can describe it). Once the kids finished all the games and they would get a prize.
I have obviously lost touch with my childhood. Before we started I looked at the games and thought to myself "these kids are going to be bored, who wants to do such simple things?" But the kids did the games and enjoyed themselves. We had a huge crowd of parents and kids, and they just kept coming. What I realized is I was looking at these games and thinking if I would want to play them. Of course not, but I'm not a child. When they're that age (3-6 I think), they don't pre-judge the game, they just play it, and enjoy themselves. I still have a lot to learn in this respect.
I have obviously lost touch with my childhood. Before we started I looked at the games and thought to myself "these kids are going to be bored, who wants to do such simple things?" But the kids did the games and enjoyed themselves. We had a huge crowd of parents and kids, and they just kept coming. What I realized is I was looking at these games and thinking if I would want to play them. Of course not, but I'm not a child. When they're that age (3-6 I think), they don't pre-judge the game, they just play it, and enjoy themselves. I still have a lot to learn in this respect.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Hot weather, cold showers
First a little context...
So I'm currently staying in Chonburi, on the 7th (top) floor of an apartment building which is right behind the church. Thats where the single guys stay. Most of the rest of the stay in the church, which itself is a 4 storey building (with a deck on the roof). Oh, not the missionaries themselves, they have their own houses, each only a few minutes from the church. Most of the people I'm working with are part of the TREK team (6 people + 2 kids). FYI: TREK is a 10 month short term missions program, and 7 of those months are spent working with missionaries in the field.
The first night here I tried having a cold shower. Apparently the water doesn't get nearly as hot as the air--IT WAS FREEZING! Most places have inline water heaters in the bathroom. The shower hose gets hooked directly up to it and it instantly heats the water. When Reg was staying in this apartment, the shower heater broke and it has never been fixed. Fortunatelly there is a bathroom at the church with a working water heater. I had a shower there last night. This was the first time I have been to Thailand where a hot shower was always available, it was so nice. Now I can live here.
So I'm currently staying in Chonburi, on the 7th (top) floor of an apartment building which is right behind the church. Thats where the single guys stay. Most of the rest of the stay in the church, which itself is a 4 storey building (with a deck on the roof). Oh, not the missionaries themselves, they have their own houses, each only a few minutes from the church. Most of the people I'm working with are part of the TREK team (6 people + 2 kids). FYI: TREK is a 10 month short term missions program, and 7 of those months are spent working with missionaries in the field.
The first night here I tried having a cold shower. Apparently the water doesn't get nearly as hot as the air--IT WAS FREEZING! Most places have inline water heaters in the bathroom. The shower hose gets hooked directly up to it and it instantly heats the water. When Reg was staying in this apartment, the shower heater broke and it has never been fixed. Fortunatelly there is a bathroom at the church with a working water heater. I had a shower there last night. This was the first time I have been to Thailand where a hot shower was always available, it was so nice. Now I can live here.
A little bit of God's timing
The original plan was to land in Bangkok on Thursday, stay in Chonburi long enough to attend a church service (Sunday) and then fly up to Chiang Mai on Monday. Upon arrival, I was informed that I was staying in Chonburi 10 days...Oh...ok... As it turns out, Louise Sinclair-Peters (one of the Team 2000 missionaries) will be going back to Canada for a month, and needs to put together some presentations for the churches she will be visiting. At the same time Russell & Liz Schmidt (Chiang Mai missionaries) just finished working with a team from Bethany College and wanted a bit of a rest before I came. Perfect timing on both ends (except for the flight, it cost about 30 bucks to change--which was what I had paid for the flight originally, oh well). Looks like a bit of God's timing.
Meeting Christians
It seems highly unlikely that this sort of thing would happen normally...
On my long flight from Seattle to Taipai, I was seated beside an elderly Taiwanese lady. We got to talking (which was good, I wanted to be on good terms with whoever I was sitting beside). She told me she was a Mandarin language teacher and had retired and moved to Seattle (where her son lives). She was going over to visit her three daughters in Taiwan. I told her what I was doing and she asked "Are you a Christian?" and I said yes. She told me she is a Christian too (goes to a baptist church in Seattle). And her daughter-in-law works at the church in Seattle. And her son is a pastor in Taiwan! And I thought, what are the chances that two Christians would be seated side-by-side on a 14 hour flight to Taiwan?
There were also two girls on my flight who caught my eye. After two transfers they were still around, and one of them also had a Canadian flag on their backpack, so I thought I would go over and talk to them. They are going to travel several months through Thailand and South East Asia for several months. Turns out they are from Winfield (near Kelowna) and attend the Alliance church there. One of them was even on a Mexico missions trip with YMI! What are the chances that the only 3 people that I talked to, on the whole trip over here, would be Christians?
On my long flight from Seattle to Taipai, I was seated beside an elderly Taiwanese lady. We got to talking (which was good, I wanted to be on good terms with whoever I was sitting beside). She told me she was a Mandarin language teacher and had retired and moved to Seattle (where her son lives). She was going over to visit her three daughters in Taiwan. I told her what I was doing and she asked "Are you a Christian?" and I said yes. She told me she is a Christian too (goes to a baptist church in Seattle). And her daughter-in-law works at the church in Seattle. And her son is a pastor in Taiwan! And I thought, what are the chances that two Christians would be seated side-by-side on a 14 hour flight to Taiwan?
There were also two girls on my flight who caught my eye. After two transfers they were still around, and one of them also had a Canadian flag on their backpack, so I thought I would go over and talk to them. They are going to travel several months through Thailand and South East Asia for several months. Turns out they are from Winfield (near Kelowna) and attend the Alliance church there. One of them was even on a Mexico missions trip with YMI! What are the chances that the only 3 people that I talked to, on the whole trip over here, would be Christians?
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Made it
I made it to Thailand safely. Met cool people. Too tired to think. Falling asleep at computer. Must go to bed.
Jon
Jon
About to leave
Well here I sit at the Seattle Airport. My baggage is checked in and I got through security no problem. Now I wait for my flight. I'm really tired, the last few days have been non-stop activities. In hindsight I need more than a couple days to finish things up for 4 months! But everything is done. Thanks to everyone who has supported me this far, and thanks for all your prayers. The fact that there hasn't been a single person that has not approved of me going, is another sign that this is where I am supposed to be.
The next 4 months are a blank slate at this point. But I'm not nervous, rather, I'm excited. It is a step of faith. Maybe this is a bit how Abram felt when God told him to leave Haran and move to the land of Canaan. In any case, I have peace about where I am, and that's the best place to be.
The next 4 months are a blank slate at this point. But I'm not nervous, rather, I'm excited. It is a step of faith. Maybe this is a bit how Abram felt when God told him to leave Haran and move to the land of Canaan. In any case, I have peace about where I am, and that's the best place to be.
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