Cambodia Visa Run

This blog entry is not like my usual entries. This one is for documentation purposes, so that it exists somewhere on the net. This was originally written for teams that are staying at The Life Center church in Chonburi, Thailand. But it could be adapted to almost any group. Prices are accurate as of April 2006. Pictures are by Dave & Shannon Harder and me.

If you are planning to stay in Thailand more than 30 days, you will most likely be taking a trip to get out of the country and right back in again, to renew your visa. We call this a "Visa Run". The nearest country from Chonburi (and Bangkok) is Cambodia. Once you've been there, you'll know why we wrote these instructions. It is it quite (some would say intentionally) confusing.

Prices:

• Air Conditioned 15 passenger van with driver (from Chonburi): 1800 Baht/day (regardless of number of passengers)
• Gas for the van: 1000 Baht
• Cambodian visa application (with photo): 1000 Baht
• Cambodian visa application (no photo): 1100 Baht
• Guide: 200 Baht/person

Times:

• About 3.5 to 4 hours travel time each way
• About 2-4 hours for paperwork and standing in lines (depends on the lines, AVOID SATURDAY)

Step 0: Checklist BEFORE YOU LEAVE

• Passport
• Pen
• 1000 Baht (or $20 US) for Cambodian Visa
• Make sure you have a Thailand departure slip stapled inside your passport (and filled out).
• Passport Photo: You will need one on your Cambodian visa application form. If you don't, it will cost an extra 100 Baht. You can get passport photos taken at a photo shop (Kodak). Getting photos ahead of time is the cheaper alternative.
• You may want to bring a book, pillow, food, water, diskman, portable dvd player etc. The ride is about 3.5 hours. There are gas stations along the way for bathroom breaks.
• You can leave stuff in the van or take it with you. They don't check your luggage/backpack.
• ...and finally your Passport!
• Tip: Leave early to avoid long lines. We left from Chonburi at 5:00am
• Tip: Go on a weekday to avoid long lines. They are open Saturdays but it is busy!
• Tip: Note that $20 US is a better price than paying 1000 baht for a visa. If you have US money, now is a good time to use it (exact change required for either currency).
  

Step 1: Getting to the border

• Shortly after you arrive and park, one or more "guides" will come up and say that you pay them and they will guide you through. Others will say that if you let them guide you, it will be faster than if you do it yourself. That isn't true. They may also tell you that they have a special relationship and you will save money by going through them. That is not true either. BUT if you want someone to hold your hand through the process, they WILL do that. And they cost about 200 Baht extra per person.
• From the parking lot you see a huge market. The road forks. Take the left fork. A little ways down you will see a dirt hill that has lots of people with carts. Go over the dirt hill.

Step 2: Exit Thailand (customs)

• Make sure your departure slip (stapled in your passport) is filled out.
  You will first walk through what looks like a border crossing station, but that isn't the border.
• Head to the departure building. This is on the LEFT side of the road (looking into Cambodia)
• Wait in line (You have a "Foreign Passport")
• The Thai customs will remove the departure slip and stamp your passport, and you'll be on your way.
• Note: If you overstayed your welcome (stayed longer than 30 days, you will be fined 500 Baht per day for every day beyond the 30 days.
  

Step 3: Apply for Cambodian Visa

• Walk across the street and down the road to the Cambodia Visa Office. This is on the RIGHT side of the road (looking into Cambodia) and it has rows of chairs out front.
• Fill out the visa application form:
  
  • you are a tourist
  • you are entering at POIPET
  • you came from Thailand
  • If you don't know the answer to a question (like address in Cambodia), leave it blank
• Hand in your visa application along with your passport and 1000 Baht (or $20 US)
• Wait for your passport to be processed (about 20 minutes)

Step 4: Enter Cambodia (customs)

• You can walk or take the free transport service into Cambodia (it's a diesel, open tour bus--not the guys with the carts). It's not very far so it's not a huge deal. But it will stop right in front of the Cambodia customs office.
• The customs building is on the RIGHT side of the road (looking into Cambodia).
• As you enter the customs building, someone should be there handing out Cambodia entry/exit slip. You need this to get in and out of Cambodia so find a guy with the slips.
• Fill out the Cambodia arrival/departure slip:
  
  • You are a TOURIST
  • Your visa was obtained in POIPET, visa number is not important
  • If you don't know the answer to a question, leave it blank
• Tip: Fill out both sides of the entry/exit slip, because once the exit slip is stapled into your passport, it's harder to fill out.
• Then you're IN CAMBODIA! Do what you like, but if you want to keep things moving, you will walk across the street to the other customs building to exit Cambodia.

Step 5: Leave Cambodia (customs)

• Same basic line, different direction.
• This building is pretty much directly across the street, with a giant DEPARTURE sign.

Step 6: Enter Thailand (customs)

• Walk the back to the Thai customs "building" (actually it's pretty open). This is on the LEFT side of the street (facing Thailand). It is past the Cambodia visa office, right after the bridge.
• As you approach the line, there is a table with guys handing out Thai entry/exit slips. Pick one up and fill it out while you are in line.
• Fill out the Thailand arrival/departure slip:
  
  • Read the instructions!
  • For address in Thailand, use TLC's address: P.O. Box 25, Bang Saen, Chonburi 20130
  • You are a TOURIST
  • You are NOT on a group tour
  • If you don't know the answer to a question, leave it blank
• Tip: Fill out both sides of the entry/exit slip, because once the exit slip is stapled into your passport, it's harder to fill out.
• Tip: If you have a 60 day Thailand visa, make sure they see the page in your passport. Otherwise they will stamp it with a 30 day visa and you will have problems on your next visa run (voice of experience).

Step 7: Go home

• Go back the way you came. Go through the big building in the people lane and over the hill.
• When you go over the hill there is a tent with one final check. Men go through one side, women through the other. You must go through this on the way back.
• You can spend some time in the market if you like. You will be harassed by child beggars and sunglasses salesmen.

I hope this helps. I know I sure would have appreciated a guide like this. If this helped you, leave me a comment eh?

The World Wide Blog

The other day I looked at a friend's blog and they had some links to some other blogs of people that I know. And those people has other links to more blogs of people I know, and so on. Apparently there are a lot of people that I know that have blogs....

Endsville Flask, dgoerz, Nicolette, Ange "the cat" Mandel, Tim&Robyn, bronnyblog, Fat Tony, Any Janzen, Seto Safari, The Nesdolys, The Bakers, Cara, Kathy, The Englers, Julene Indonesia, Rebekah Janzen, Steve & Carolyn, Steve Klassen, The Harnetts, The Thoutenhoofds

And those are just the people that I know (or have met at least once in real life). There are a few more of people that I don't really know.

After reading a lot of blogs, and keeping one myself, I thought I would share my take on blogs:

Blogging is kinda fun because you can write about life (like a diary) but other people can read it and keep up to date on what is going on in your life (general or personal). To an extent, what and how you write will determine your audience, which could be thousands of people, or maybe it's just your mom. It has a different feel than email, but it serves a different purpose. Emailing 100 people you know, to tell them about your latest adventure, is not a good idea if only 10 of those people really care. And it sucks if there are 30 people who do care, that are not on your email list! But if you blog it then anyone that is interested can check out your blog when they want, if they want.

Everyone has the right (freedom) to keep a blog. Different people use blogs for different purposes.

Category #1: I think the best use of a blog is to keep friends and family up to date when you don't live in the same town. It is also an easy way to share pictures, and it doesn't plug up anyone's email box. I see a lot of young families doing this and I think it's great. Their audience is mostly family but it allows friends to have a peek into their lives too.

Category #2: Then there are the people that blog about their life but their audience seems to be their friends, who live in the same town as them. I'm not sure what purpose that serves. I would rather talk to my friends in person, than blog it and hope they read it. Get off the computer and get out and socialize! I scratch my head on those blogs, but maybe they are in category #3.

Category #3: Then there are the people that like to write, and would be keeping a journal or diary anyway. But they have decided to let others look in on their life. They aren't writing for anyone but themselves. So if you read their blog, you get what you get. I can respect that. Some people just have a lot of thoughts and need to get them written out. Some of the thoughts are really good, and I'm glad they are willing to share them.

I think I fit into categories 1 and 3. My friends and family are spread out so this blog allows me to reach a lot of people really easily. I think I also fit somewhat into category #3. I want a record for myself of all the things I experience, yet I am glad that there is an audience that enjoys what I write. It encourages me to write more.

Things I'm Gonna Miss

There are so many good things in this country, so here is an unsorted list of things I'm going to miss...

• The whole bathroom is a shower.
• If you leave something out, it heats up instead of cools down.
• Songtaus that will pick you up and drop you off ANYWHERE on the route.
• Good meals for a buck (drink included).
• Using a sprayer instead of toilet paper. Maybe this is more information than you wanted to know, but I've stopped using toilet paper. Cleaning your rear with water instead of toiliet paper is cleaner, more thorough and you don't have to buy toilet paper. It takes a while to get use to, but now if I build a house for myself, every toilet will have a sprayer.
  
• No tax (it's hidden in the price).
• Access to a drum kit and a bass guitar, anytime.
• Everyone smiles at each other. General good will toward their fellow man.
• Everyone has a level of respect. This place breeds much fewer jerks.
• Limited rules and regulations so you can do something dangerous and still have fun.
• Picking and eating fresh mangos.
• Songkran.

My Hump Song

Just in case you wanted to know, the most popular song in this country seems to be "My Hump" by the Black Eyed Peas. It's not a very intelligent song, nor a topic that I would bring up at the dinner table, or anywhere else for that matter. But I guess it's got a catchy beat, and they just love to play it. In fact there are even a couple of different versions. If a movie is in the Theatre for a week, that is a long time. But I guess songs are different, because they've been playing this one for the whole time I've been here. I am guaranteed to hear it at least once every market night (which is 3 nights a week), and other places too. Stupid song.

Picking Mangos

I picked mangos the other day. I have an open invitation Sanchez's (missionaries) to pick mangos at their house anytime. Did I mention I LOVE mangos? I know I could buy mangos in the market but I like to pick them myself because a) they're free and b) because I can.

The cool thing is that I'm doing them a favour. They don't have time to pick them all so the mangos just fall off the tree and litter their driveway. Once they hit the ground, they split open and the ants get them. The best mangos are the ones that you pick and then let ripen. There's nothing like a juicy ripe mango (except maybe a juicy ripe peach, but in my opinion, mangos are better).

Mixed Feelings

As I write this, it is now less than a month before I return to Canada. As I've lived here and the novelty has started to wear off, it is easy to forget how lucky I am to be here. It is just as easy to forget all the logistics of getting here and staying here. And it is sad to think that I may not return to Thailand for this length of time ever again. Yes I still have a month to go, but I can already feel my departure date coming up really fast, as the days fly by on the calendar.

Yes, I miss Canada, my friends, my family, (my car); and I will be glad to see them again. But I know that it will be probably no more than a month before everything is familiar again, and I will look back on the first 4 months of 2006 and realize how lucky I was to spend it in Thailand.

Songkran Castles

Part of the festivities of Songkran in Bang Saen involves building sand castles on the beach. Man there must have been about 50 of them. They looked really nice, like they were professional or something--and maybe some were. But I was told that they build the structures out of wood and then spray the sand on. Once you know that dirty little secret, then they aren't quite as awe inspiring. Some of the sculptures were obvious works of art (there are some things you can't fake with wood), and other sculptures were perfect--a little too perfect. Something that is truly made of sand should not contain screw heads.

As creative as each sculpture was, they really weren't thinking outside the box. The monument theme got old fast, and they always included something from Buddhism (the face of Buddha, sculptures of Buddha, spirit houses, etc). The sand castle competition in Harrison every year is WAY better. But hey, it was free and it was still better than I could do. Check out my pics for more.

Everything Is A Little Zappy - Part II

It has become common knowledge at the church that you do NOT touch anything electrical at the church unless you are wearing (insulating) sandals--especially the microphones. The problem stems from the fact that nothing is grounded. I originally thought that was OK because all the floors are ceramic tile, and ceramic is not conductive (it is in fact a very good insulator). But apparently the grout between the tiles and the finishing coating on the tiles IS conductive. Hence you get zapped when you touch the metal part of the microphone if you have bare feet.

So I was curious to know just how much electricity was buzzing through my system when I touched some of the equipment the other day (I was wearing sandals but they were wet so I got zapped). I took my multimeter, I attached one probe to the "grounded" part of the microphone, and I touched the other probe to the grout between the tiles: 150 VOLTS! That's a lot of volts. OK, putting things into perspective: Electrical outlets in Canada are only 120V. No wonder it hurt.

A technical side note: The voltage on the microphone seems to be enough to shock people but it is very low current (I measured it)--and it's the current that kills you. Even 12V can be lethal in the right conditions. So please don't feel at liberty to go out and stick your finger into empty light sockets just because over here we're getting zapped by microphones that carry a higher voltage.

Electronics Paradise

I went to Bangkok with my friend Beer (he's a person, not a beverage). He is also an electrical engineer (well, just finishing up his degree). So we have a lot of common interest, and would discuss it at length except for a GIANT language barrier. We get by.

There are no Radio Shacks in Thailand. If you need a decent selection of electronic parts, you go to Bangkok. More specifically you go to the biggest electronics market I've ever seen. I guess you could call it Bangkok's Electronics District. I decided not to take pictures because they wouldn't capture the place. There are HUNDREDS of little shops. Then you can enter buildings along the road which contain even tinier shops. Some are only 6ft by 4ft and they are just big enough for one person to sit behind the counter. You view their selection from the narrow corridor that you are walking down.

Pros: Lots of variety. Everything is really cheap.
Cons: Everyone carries mostly the same stuff. You have to search hundreds of stores to find the less common things.

And that actually sums it up for a lot of speciality places in Thailand. There are very few all encompassing department stores. Most of the sales are from tiny, family-run businesses. At the beginning it is overwhelming to see all the stores with all sorts of goodies. But after 20 stores, you realize that everyone carries pretty much the same as the next guy with only slight variation (or none at all). So there you have it. It's great for the treasure hunter, but exhausting for the guy who just wants to buy it and leave.

But to leave things on a happy note, it was a cool experience to see another side of Bangkok, and I will probably never see that many electronic components spanning that many streets again.

Songkran

Songkran is the Thai New Year. It is a celebration that starts April 13 (the official Songkran day). On that day, it is tradition to bless the elders of your family by pouring scented water on their hands (I think it is to cool them off, or to symbolize it, because this is the hottest time of the year). That is the reverent part of Songkran. The days following are when everyone breaks lose and the entire kingdom has a water fight.

Bang Saen, where I am located, is a Thai vacation town. We have a really HUGE LONG beach (such that when you are in the ocean it goes as far as you can see in both directions. Probably about 2-3km solid). And everyone flocks to the beaches, so we probably get to see the best of Songkran. The church is also on the main drag through town. This is very convenient for observing and participating in the water fight.

Try to imagine our road out front: a 6 lane street with a median down the middle. And hundreds upon hundreds of pickup trucks in virtual gridlock in both directions. Each truck has between 3 and 15 people in the back and 1 or 2 huge barrels filled with water. As they drive down the street they scoop out water from the barrels (with plastic bowls) and throw it at other trucks and at people on the street. And the people on the street do the same. The ultimate destination is the beach, but people drive along the main drag in both directions because that is where much of the excitement is. We took a drive away from town along the main highway that leads to Bangkok. We were fine but the traffic heading toward Bang Saen was pretty much stopped, for miles. I've just never seen anything like it.

There are also no shortage of water guns. And they're cheap too. 10 bucks Canadian will get you a pretty sweet machine (like a $30 super soaker). But the streams are always so small and you spend half the day pumping the stupid thing. I found that nothing delivers water better than a bucket.

Oh ya, and then there is this clay-like powder that they mix with water and smear on your cheeks. They hop off the trucks and cover your cheeks with the stuff and wish you a happy Songkran. It's all in good fun, and the stuff is not at all gritty, and comes off instantly with water.

Every day is like 35C, so getting hit with water is actually refreshing. The tap water is actually warm. We have one garden hose running from the church out to the street where we fill up a garbage can. We can't fill that thing up fast enough. There are that many people to soak. There are also guys that go around selling huge blocks of ice to put in your containers to cool off the water (blocks like 18"x12"x12"). This makes the water REALLY cold and of course then you get better reactions when you soak people with it. We bought 2 blocks once and I think they were gone in 15 minutes.

It's pretty much a given that if you are in the street or on the sidewalk, you are fair game (if you really didn't want to play, you would take the backroads). Our favorite targets are the songtaus (the pickups with seats that are like local buses). I don't know why you would take one if you didn't want to get wet. Not only that, but it's faster to walk than to drive. That's our favorite target, because most of those people are unarmed. The other favorite are the pickup trucks that are so full of people that they didn't have room for a water barrel. They're just sitting (or standing) ducks. Open windows are fair game too. So why they will roll down the passenger side window is beyond me. We generally leave it alone but they are asking for it. And then there are tour buses and you will get the odd one with a window open. I don't think those guys want to be hit but man, they're asking for it.

An Element of Respect

Here's the part that I think is the coolest (and why this would never work in Canada): There is an element of respect throughout the festivities. For example, street vendors selling (much needed) food and drinks will set up right on the side of the main road. But no one will spray them, or douse their food with water (at least not intentionally). When they put the powder on your face, they don't try to get it in your eyes or your ears or in your mouth (some might depending on if they are drunk or not, but so far I've only got it on cheeks and forehead). And ya, some people do get drunk and may take things too far. The girls have to be more careful than the guys (who might want to smear Songkran powder on more than just their face). But the number of decently sober people seem to far outweigh the not so sober people. Also, they don't spray little kids, and they don't go out of their way to soak people who obviously aren't "playing". Overall, the point is to have fun, not to tick people off. Man if we tried this in Canada, we would have riots, fights, assaults, arrests and everything else that comes with idiots being idiots. Over here it's about having fun, with the people who want to have fun. I like that.

At the time that I am writing this, I have soaked people with water for two days now (Thursday I "distributed" water to the masses from 1:30-6:30pm almost non-stop). And we have at least 2 more days to go. It has been crazy but expect the weekend will become even more intense as more people get time off work. If you have read this entire entry, I'm proud of you.

Kids Camp For A Day

Saturday I spent the day at a Thai resort. World Vision sponsors a whole bunch of kids in this province of Thailand (money to go to school and get a good education). So now school is out (for Thai kids) and World Vision put on a kids camp last weekend. The TREK team and I were in charge of all of Saturday, about 10am to 8pm. The TREK team only got back Friday night from their mid-term vacation. I've never seen so little planning for such a long period of time!

The kids were middle school age. I've never been a youth sponsor, but some people on TREK had been, so they knew the art of faking it. If you look like you know what's going on, they'll believe it. It wasn't completely unorganized. We had some stuff planned, but nothing was rehearsed, we just did it.

I found out that middle school Thai kids are pretty shy. They also don't hold hands very well. And every single one of them had a "dead fish" handshake. I guess when you've grown up in a society that avoids physical contact, that's what you get.

It was a good experience. I came out of it a little wiser. And a little more certain that I was not destined to be a youth pastor.

My Future

It's been no secret that I don't think I will be in Thailand long term. Some people have asked me what made me change my mind about Thailand. The answer is I never changed my mind. I came here because I felt called (or I felt something. Whatever you call it when you get a strong desire to return to a country and you can't get it out of your head). Part of me coming here was to determine whether I was called to Thailand long term or not. Now don't get me wrong, I really enjoy it here. It's a lot of fun actually, and it doesn't really feel like work. It's almost like a vacation except that I have stuff to do. The biggest thing that has turned me off to continuing longer is my own personality. I am not a people person like everyone else here. Nor am I a kids person. I'm a sit-at-the-computer person. Part of that is my job. Ok, I help out with interpersonal activities (such as teaching English twice a week) but it's not what I'm naturally drawn to. Overseas missionaries need to be people persons, otherwise they might as well be working in Canada. I feel like the work that I'm doing here is temporary. It will meet their current technical needs but that isn't ongoing (at least I don't think it is).

I don't think there is a need for a full time techie just for Team 2000. Ya, they always have videos to make and problems to fix, but not enough to justify a full time person. That would be overkill. If I was able to raise my own support, I could probably find enough work being a missionary techie for say, all of Asia (websites, video, computer tech support). That would be a pretty serious commitment, and it's just thoughts right now. I think my next step will be in Canada, but I really don't know what the future holds in Canada or what the future holds after that.

This is where I need God's guidance and your prayers.

Convenience Stores and Sewers

There are a lot of 7-11 convenience stores in Thailand. In the city you are never more than a 10 minute walk from one. And even if you were more than 10 minutes away, you are never more than 2 minutes away from a local convenience store (not always a full store, but they'll at least have drinks and usually some chips). Now that's convenience.

Thailand also has a very large sewage system, not unlike most developed countries. The difference is that you KNOW it's there. There are metal grills and concrete slabs EVERYWHERE. (Under the concrete slabs is the giant sewer pipe. The slabs also have a couple of holes in them, probably for lifting them up, but also for pouring stuff into them and ventilation). 7-11 is the name of a store, but it is also the average number steps you have to take before stepping on either a concrete slab or a metal grille over the sewer pipe, as you walk along the side of the road. There are literally that many. For clarification, the storm drain system is not separate from the sewer system. There is only one system, and that means that there is a lot of raw sewage beneath your feet and it often smells as much. It becomes a part of life. You just have to know that when you're in the city, don't take a deep breath and expect fresh air, you may just get a waft of the sewer smell.

The Three Hour Tour

We have made some friends in Ang Sila, a small fishing village about a 15 minute drive from TLC (still part of Chonburi). That lead to us doing some clean up and building work for them (the MEI team helped out with that). And to show some of their gratitude, they invited the TREK team and I on a tour on a fishing boat. Sweet.

Before we got into the boat, we got to see one of the things they harvest...jellyfish. GIANT jellyfish. Each one of them was the biggest I've ever seen. We're talking around 18" in diameter for some of them. Check out the pictures. Apparently there is good money to be made in harvesting jellyfish, but I wouldn't eat them.

There is a lot more activity happening out in the ocean than you can see from land. Apparently the water is fairly shallow even WAY WAY out in the water (like a couple of kilometres). I know this because there are clusters of bamboo poles sticking out of the water. Even some elaborate bamboo structures that are solidly anchored in the ocean floor (see my pictures in late March).

First we stopped where guys were harvesting mussels. It looks like they pound bamboo poles into the ocean floor and leave them there for a long time (just sticking out of the water). Over time, mussels and coral grow all over them. Then divers bring them up and they scrape them off. The mussel shells were a nice green colour, not the black that I see at home. In between the mussels are a whole lot of other sea creatures like baby shrimp and tiny crabs.

Next stop was at a boat that was collecting crabs. I think the fishing guys must all know each other cause this guy gave us a bucket of crabs for free. All the crabs were already tied up with elastics, rendering them "safe". They have a way of tying a crab up with 1 elastic band. The coolest thing about these crabs were that their legs were a beautiful light blue colour. He also gave us a horseshoe crab. That was a very interesting looking creature. See the pictures to see what I mean.

After a while the severe rocking of the boat got to Tony and he had to lie down for a bit. Even I was wondering if I was going to start feeling noxious. There wasn't a whole lot of room on deck, as it was a very small boat (about 20 feet long I'm guessing). Plus the deck was at quite a steep angle, not at all flat. And we had around 10 or 12 people on board.

Then we docked at a different pier for a few minutes and some of the Thai guys got out and left. We didn't understand what was going on until they came back. We had stopped for more beer.

We travelled some more and eventually ended up at this processing house on stilts in the middle of the ocean. It seemed to be abandoned but it was big. The stilts were concrete and the floor of the place was about 10 feet above the water (depending on the tide). It too had large concrete tubs, (like the ones we saw on shore with all the jellyfish) but they were all empty. We stayed there a while and swam in the ocean (it was warm). Some of the guys even cooked up some of the crab for the ride home.

All in all it was a really cool experience to see what stuff is out there to be harvested and to see how they do what they do.

The Neighbours

It's 5:55am and I can't sleep. I woke up at about 5:30 and now that I'm awake it is going to be hard to get to get sleep. The time between 3:00am and 8:00am is best spent sleeping because that's when the noise starts.

The most annoying neighbour isn't a person, it's a rooster. He starts up at about 3:00am and doesn't stop until well into the day. He's like every 10 seconds. I would not be opposed to a couple of gunshots in his direction. At 6:00am (about now) the birds start up, and I don't mind that so much because it is mainly background noise. But it was sure a lot quieter before.

I am in a townhouse, with neighbours on both sides. I have come to realize just how thin the walls are. You can buy some incredibly thin cheap cinder blocks. One good hit with a hammer and they crumble. But they use them anyway. When they're finished a wall they cover it with stucco and that's it. But it still would take only a couple of good hits with a hammer to make a hole big enough to tell my neighbours to shut up.

For the most part, the neighbours have been fine. But this morning someone has been dropping a ping pong ball onto the floor and letting it bounce. THAT is annoying at 5:30 in the morning! Tim & Robyn of the TREK team are two doors down. Tim says he can hear the guy fart next door. We share the same neighbour and I haven't heart anything but I believe him. Oh and then there was the other day when the lady next door was just yelling at the top of her lungs (fortunately this was around 9:00am). She was obviously mad at someone or something, only I didn't hear anyone respond (but that was way too loud to be talking on a cell phone).

All this to say I'm getting more and more awake and I would really like to be sleeping right now. #$@%^$%$#%$!!

Life At The Orphanage

The orphanage is really just a two storey, two bedroom townhouse. It sits empty except at night when I'm here sleeping or typing on the computer (like I am right now). And I've got A/C and a very large, comfortable bed so I'm happy. But life here has had its moments. Here is a summary of my adventures (some of this is a rant).

A few days after moving in, the water started coming out of the tap in spurts. Then it just stopped coming out altogether. So I check the tank outside and it was EMPTY (everyone has a tank at their house in case of a water outage). Valves were open but no water. Turns out whoever was at the place last, turned off the water when they left, and I had been using tank water the whole time. Mystery solved (thanks Tim).

Nobody told me that there was going to be someone cleaning the place while I was there. I first found out about the mystery person because the pillows on my bed would get moved around. Not a big deal but c'mon, leave my pillow alone.

Went into the kitchen one evening and discovered a giant spider. I think there is a picture of him in my photo album. He must have been 2" in diameter (with the legs). Tony wanted to kill him, but the spider moved extremely fast and went up into a crack in the ceiling. I haven't seen him since, and I've decided he must have moved next door.

Came home one day and flicked the switch for the lights. Nothing. Checked the breakers, they were all on. A power outage? But my neighbours had lights on. So I go to check the power meter on the telephone pole in front of my house. THE METER IS GONE! I call Karen, who calls the landlord, who comes over right away to inspect the non-existant meter. Apparently he sent someone to pay the electrical bill and the guy didn't pay it (and when you don't pay your bill, that's it, no power for you!) He was very appologetic and offered a room at his house. I declined, but took all my bedding and slept at Tony & Scott's place.

The next day I brought my bedding back, and put it on my bed. I left it in a ball because I didn't know if I was really going to get electricity that day. When I came back that night at 11:00pm I had power! Went upstairs and my bedding had disappeared! It's 11:00 at night, and my bedding is gone. AAAAAAAH! What are you supposed to do in a situation like this? I can't go back to the church (it's past 11), and there are no other sheets in the orphanage. I concluded that the cleaning lady had assumed the bedding was off to be cleaned and took it to the laundrymat (turns out I was right). Well intentioned I'm sure, but I need that bedding EVERY night. Finally, I took a comforter from the other bedroom and slept without sheets.

About a week ago, Goi and I were in the office when 2 vanloads of kids show up at the front doorsteps of the church. We were the only ones at the church and neither of us had any idea what this was about. They were from Lorenzo Home which is a catholic AIDS orphanage nearby. They wanted to see the orphanage. OH. For you see, I wasn't expecting any visitors. And although the place wasn't really messy, it wasn't exactly presentable. So we got on the phone with Karen pretty quick and so Goi waited with the Nun and the Kids while I high tailed it to the orphanage for some quick sweeping and putting away of some unmentionables that I had left out to dry. I learned that when living in an orphanless orphanage, always have the place presentable.

In my quick sweep job, I swept up 2 cockroaches who were upsidedown and dead. It seems that if a cockroach finds himself on his back, there is nothing he can do to remedy the situation. What I want to know is what they were doing to get themselved in that situation in the first place. One of the cockroaches had died in front of the refridgerator. The day after I swept up, there was another cockroach on his back in front of the refridgerator. What's the deal with dying on your back in front of the refridgerator?? And if I clean this one up, will another one take its place?

Those are the adventures so far. I guess the next thing would be the wireless internet which keeps going down (as I write this, the internet is down). Oh well, it all keeps life interesting.

God At Work

This is from a letter that Karen Hubert Sanchez of Team 2000 just recently sent out.
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This just happened. For the last few weeks, P' Ganiga, one of our newer believers, has been sharing her burden for her boss, P' Laan. P' Ganiga was able to walk with her boss as she discovered she had breast cancer, and went to Bangkok with her to visit the doctor there. P' Ganiga was burdened for P' Laan because she did not want to obey the doctor and have her breast removed.

Carmen got a group of us from TLC together and we went to share Christ with P' Laan and pray for her. During this time, it just so happened that Dan and Agnes Ratzlaff from Abbotsford were here scouting out some land for our church. A few years earlier, Agnes had experienced God's grace while fighting kidney cancer, and she was happy for the chance to share her story with P' Laan. We went last Monday afternoon and Agnes shared some scriptures and her story and then we prayed and laid hands on P' Laan. Her surgery was scheduled for Friday.

On Friday, P' Laan went to Bangkok for her surgery, and the doctor examined her before the surgery. He told her to go home. She was cancer free!!! Amazed, P' Laan admitted to P' Ganiga that she too had prayed that Monday after she received prayer. She prayed her very first prayer and silently told God that if He would heal her, she would go to church every Sunday.

Yesterday, P' Laan came to church for the first time ever, keeping her promise to God. She loved it all...the worship and the preaching and the fellowship.

Pray for P' Laan to meet the God that healed her and to grow in her new faith.
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Wow, eh? This is the kind of stuff I hear about around here! I know that I'm "way over there in Thailand" and it may not sound as exciting because the news is second hand and you don't know the people. But P'Laan was at our church this Sunday. This is a real person who HAD real cancer, and was really healed! Really. I mean you don't just schedule a surgery in Bankok unless it is serious. Can you imagine having the doctor say to you "Why are you here? There's nothing wrong with you."!!?? Wow. Anyway, I share this with you to increase your faith, and to encourage you that prayer DOES work. God is listening and he answers prayer. Really.

The Chicken Ladies

Beef is hard to find here. It's just not mainstream. The big meats here are pork, seafood and chicken. And that's fine with me cause I like pork and chicken and I can tolerate seafood.

I have become a regular customer with two chicken ladies (for the CHICKEN, not for the ladies!! Sheesh, they're in their 40's.) The first chicken lady was shown to me by Ricky. He brings all the visiting teams to her for a meal. She is set up at the beach at light pole #4 and she's there every day serving chicken and sticky rice. And now she even sells fresh beef and pork jerky (the best you'll ever have). Here chicken is barbequed chicken breast chopped into strips (bone and all). Served with a dipping hot sauce, it is really good stuff.

The second chicken lady was actually my own discovery. I went to a food market near the university in search of some form of deep fried chicken ("guy tot" for those of you who don't speak Thai). And I found this one lady with her little stand selling deep fried chicken. It looks and tastes like KFC but it is BONELESS and WAY CHEAPER. About 5 baht per piece (remember 35 baht is a dollar). And she's there every night. Man, after having her chicken, going to KFC is a step down! I think I'm addicted.

Pants vs. Shorts, Heat vs. Mosquitoes

You may know that we are in the middle of summer here. What you may not know is that I'm not wearing shorts. The reasons stem partly from abundant air conditioning, but mostly from the hassle of wearing shorts (wow, I never thought I would ever call shorts a "hassle").

I am required to wear pants for both church and English classes. Pants are more respectable than shorts, and so they are required for church and especially in a teaching position such as English class. So that takes care of 3 days of pants (yes I could wear shorts the rest of the time but I'm lazy and I don't feel like changing in the middle of the day). But the main reason I wear pants is because of mosquitoes. For the first while I wore shorts and my legs were getting eaten. Pants solved that problem. Plus, I've adapted to the weather and I don't find it unbearable to wear pants all the time.

So there you go: Pants or Mosquitoes? I choose pants.

My New Blog Home

Welcome to my new blog site.

After doing a bunch of research on the most popular blog sites, I concluded that blogger/blogspot is definitely the best one. They are owned by Google now, and that means realiability (I'm talking to you diary-x), speed, lots of features, and lots of storage space. Too bad I didn't research this BEFORE I started blogging.

Now I wish that I could move my old blog entries over to here. So if you want to read my old blogs, go to http://jonknoll.blog.com

P.S. My appologies to those who now have to sign up with yet another blog site so they can post comments.

P.P.S. For those who use newsreaders, my link is http://jonknoll.blogspot.com/atom.xml (For those who don't know what I'm talking about...uh, never mind).

Hot

Summer is here. The weather skips spring altogether and moves from "winter" right into summer. You know it's hot when the Thais start complaining about the heat. It seems that hot weather for them is like rain for me; they're used to it but they don't like it. Not me however, I love the heat. I just love that every day is hot, every evening is warm. I never have to grab a jacket to go out at night. The weather is definitely one of the things I am going to miss when I move back to Canada. (Of course I am writing this from an air conditioned room. I might not be singing the praises of warm weather so much if I didn't have the air conditioning.)

With the intense heat has come some intense storms. When it rains it pours. But I don't mind because it is short lived, and the streets are dry in about an hour (crazy).

Close to Jackfruit

I have really gotten a taste for Jackfruit. It's a fruit that's really hard to describe, so I'm not going to try. And I'm really going to miss it if I can't find it in Canada (and I don't think I will find it). Mind you, they import durian, and jackfruit is about the same size and not nearly as horrible.

If I haven't said it in my blog yet, I must say it now: I love the location of The Life Center Church (which is where I work)! It is close to everything you could need: good cheap Thai restaurants, photocopy place, hardware stores, coffee shop, computer store, night market (right in front of the church), corner store that is virtually always open, 7-11, 2 food night markets that serve food until late, pharmacy and a shopping mall -AND- The Jackfruit Lady.

The Jackfruit Lady is about a 1 minute walk from the front door of the church. She is there just about every morning, cutting a jackfruit to sell the pieces. 20 Baht (65 cents) will get enough jackfruit for breakfast and a snack later on. She makes me think about how society works (well Thai society anyway). Everyone finds a job to do and does it. The jackfruit lady cuts and sells jackfruit at one little location in one suburb of a big city. It's not a particularly busy place, during her hours (which is about 10:00am-noon) but the population is dense enough to sustain her. Well anyway, I'm really glad that at least for a couple months in my life I am able to walk a very short distance to buy as much jackfruit as I want.

Testimonies

Hello all. I thought you might be encouraged to hear the testimonies of a husband and wife who recently became believers. They are members of an AIDS chruch called Bet L, and they were baptized in the ocean today.

Kwan (wife): I first heard about Jesus when I was in the hospital being treated for AIDS I was laying in bed and a nurse came and shared the Story of Jesus’ love and forgiveness of my sins. I was very interested in knowing more about Jesus so I went to Church in Bet “L” . I gave my life to Christ that Saturday. After I became a Christian, my life and my health changed dramatically. I never had to stay in the hospital again after that. My first husband died of AIDS but when I started going to the Bet “L” church and receiving medicine, I met another man with HIV and fell in love with him. After we were married, my husband became very sick. The Doctors told me that because his lungs were full of water and he could not go the bathroom anymore, that it was a 50/50 percent chance that he would live. That day, I laid my hand on my husband’s swollen stomach and began to sing and worship God. I cried out for God to heal my husband. In the evening my husband suddenly had to go to the bathroom. All his swelling went down and he was greatly relieved! The next day, the doctors examined him and were surprised to see that all his symptoms were gone. Apart from HIV, he healthy again and was told he could go home immediately!

Phuak (Husband): One day I met a friend in the hospital with HIV who told me about Jesus. She said, “If you believe in Jesus, you’re life will change” I had no other hope in life so I prayed and gave me life to Christ. I was very addicted to alcohol. The Doctors had told me to stop many times because it was so hard on my sick body. But I couldn’t stop drinking no matter how hard I tried. One day after I prayed to God, I went out and got very drunk and fell down. That next Saturday, I went to church and told them my struggle. I asked them to pray for me to be able to stop. Many people came around me, laid hands on me and prayed for me. After that day, I have never drunk again. I thank God for freeing me from the bondage to alcohol! Before I believed in Jesus I was so sick but after I believed he healed me so much that I was able to go and work in a factory. Now for the first time in my life, I have money enough money to live on and take care of my family.

Praise God people are being healed not just physically, but spiritually too!

The Land Of The Good Enough

One common theme that I've noticed throughout Thailand is that NOTHING is perfect. Everything is a little crooked, a little off, not quite straight etc. Where Canada is the "Land of the perfect", Thailand is the "Land of the Good Enough". The Thai workmanship stops when it is functional, not when it's perfect or beautiful. If it works...good enough.

Coming from a country where everything is done "right", it sometimes gets frustrating at the workmanship of the tradesmen. It's like they finish it good enough so it won't break while they're still there, and it will last just long enough so that if/when it breaks, there will be some question as to whose fault it is (and they will absolve themselves of blame). The same goes for the manufacturers. It will work long enough for you to get it home. Or things like the plastic will be so cheap and brittle that any slight mistreatment and the thing shatters.

The Thai wiring may look like a web spun by a giant drunk spider, but it works, so they leave it. The light switch might be upsidedown, and in the far corner of the room (or even better, in the next room over), but it turns the light on so that's good enough.

You can NEVER assume that two adjacent rooms will be at the same floor level. Way too often there will be a subtle, unmarked, 2" step. Not enough to see, but enough to trip over. Sometimes the floor level will change within the same room, so you must always be alert to this. On staircases, top stair or bottom stair (or both) will be a different hight than all the others. Like no one bothered to do the math to make all the stairs even. Sometimes you will get stairs unusually narrow and/or steep. Unsafe for sure, but it gets you from one level to the other, so what's your problem? It works, good enough.

The only place where they don't say "Good Enough" is with their cars. All the cars and pickups are perfect and they wash and wax them. There are very few "beaters" that I've seen (except for commercial vehicles). Strange.

Everything In A Bag

I guess we do this in Canada too, but I find it funny that everything you buy--no matter how large or small--gets put into a bag. The standard Thai bag is a white semi-transparent crinkly plastic bag. They come in various sizes but most of them are pretty small. The best is when the the item is already packaged in a bag, and then they put that into a bag when you buy it. Or when you're in the market and you buy some deep fried whatevers, they put it into a small heat resistant plastic bag, and then put that bag into the standard Thai bag. By the way, the bag also makes a great substitute for a cup. A lot of fruit shake stands will give you a fruit shake in a bag rather than in a cup.

Tinglish

I've noticed that when I talk to Thai people in English, I don't speak proper English, but more of a dumbed-down simplified English. I know that it's not really good if the Thai person is trying to learn to speak English properly, but if you use the "extra" words in your sentence, it just confuses them. It is butchering the English language for the sake of communication. Most of the time I want to convey a message. How that message is conveyed becomes secondary. Examples (to English speakers, to Thai speakers):

English: Where're you going?
Thai: Where you go?

English: I'm going over to Lamthong Mall.
Thai: I go to Lamthong.

In English we have two ways of saying verbs. For example, you can say it the simple way "I go" or the more complex way "I am going". Unfortunately, for some reason conversational English dictates using the complex way for most cases. And that requires a more complex form of the verb. Most Thais know only basic English, so if you want to be understood, you have to use the simple form of the verb. (Yes, yes, I know you might be thinking "Or you could just learn Thai"--I'm not there yet.)

To keep things simple, you have to cut out all the non-essential English words, such as : a, the, am, are and -ing endings.

Also, if you want to be understood better, you will have more luck if you say things in the butchered English way that the Thais say it, rather than saying it using proper English pronunciation. For example, there is a large department store here called Lotus (The full name is Tesco Lotus). I have asked the Songtau drivers to take me to Lotus (LOW-tus) and they give me a puzzled look. If you want to be understood you have to say TES-go Lot-AAAS. If you tell the van driver "Royal Ping Resort" he will not understand, but if you say "Loyl Ping", they will know what you are talking about.

Their English also takes some getting used to. For example, in Thai if a word ends with a consonant, you end the word with your mouth in the shape of the consonant as if you were going to say it, but you don't actually say it. Pronouncing the last consonant is a foreign concept to Thais, so they often don't do it. That means they don't say mouse, they say mou, and science becomes sien (silent n). Then theres the pronunciation of two consecutive consonants that really throws me. If they see two consecutive consonants, they try to put a vowel between them. So "st" becomes "set", "sp" becomes "sep", "tr" becomes "ter", "sc" becomes "sec". So the name "Scott" become "Secott", and "Sprite" becomes "Seprite". One time a student was telling me what software programs they use in school, he told me he was using Ill-you-set-ter-rater. That one really threw me. Eventually I figured out he was saying "Illustrator", but he was separating out those consecutive consonants (and butchering a perfectly good English word).

What I have learned is that learning another language goes deeper than just the different words and the accent. It means learning a number of rules about the pronunciation that we just don't have in English. The rules are foreign to us, but a lot of our rules are foreign to them. And it helps to explain why they have an accent.

Visa Run

If you are going to stay in Thailand for any length of time over 30 days, most likely at some point you will have to go on a "Visa Run". You leave Thailand and cross the border into some neighbouring country and then turn around and re-enter Thailand. It is a pain, but that's what is required when your Thailand visa expires.

From Chonburi, the nearest border is Cambodia. It takes about 3 1/2 hours to get there. It is the most confusing border I have ever seen. There are people everywhere selling stuff, and it isn't very clear exactly WHERE the border is. There are buildings but the whole time we were just hopping from one building to the next, never sure when we actually crossed. Maybe the whole thing is intentionally confusing. That way, you feel the need to hire a guide, which will hold your hand through the whole process, for 200 Baht a person.

The most annoying part is that there is no free short term visa for Cambodia. When you enter Thailand, you automatically are granted a free 30 day tourist visa. For Cambodia, you have to pay 1000 Baht (about $25) and fill out a page long visa application, WITH a passport photo attached (I didn't know that, so I had to pay an extra 100 Baht). In a few minutes your Cambodian visa is added to your passport. Then you can go to the next building to get it stamped so you can get in.

Cambodia is a very poor country. My only memory of it was observing that they drive on the right side of the road. That's all I know because as soon as I got my passport stamped to get into the country, I walked across the street to the other building to get it stamped to leave. In total I was officially in Cambodia for 5 minutes.

I guess it's neat to be able to add another country to the list of places I've been, but I don't look forward to the day-long affair, the next time my visa expires.

Living in an Orphanage

Well I'm not really an orphan, and it really isn't an orphanage...yet. But I'm living in an orphanage. Team 2000 and TLC Church have been working on a project to start an AIDS orphanage. If you know Ricky and Karen Sanchez, you may also know that they were in Canada for 4 months last year, doing almost nothing but fundraising for this orphanage. It worked, they raised over $100,000 USD (which is staggering when you turn it into Baht). Now the process has started and it is just a matter of logistics, setting up and running an orphanage.

The current situation is that they do not yet have any AIDS orphans, however, they do have a townhouse rented and partially furnished. But until the rest of the logistics work themselves out, I will be living there. It is more room than I need, and it is definitely more room than the 1 room apartment I was sharing with two other guys from the TREK team. Now I've got a king size bed, the room has A/C and a large front deck. It is unlikely I will be there when the orphanage gets going. (I am not a caretaker, and that is not why I'm here anyway). But I think I finally have a place to call my own, for now.

Ice Cream On A Bun

Well I got daring enough to try it. Yes, ice cream on a bun. More specifically, here is how the order went: I tell the street vendor one ice cream on a bun (by pointing), she starts with a bun and puts two scoops of sticky rice on the bun. I tell her mai ow (don't want--I couldn't imagine adding sticky rice to the mixture), so she removes the sticky rice. Then she adds 5 small scoops of "ice cream" onto the bun, and tops it with what appears to be corn. This concoction was only 10 baht, thankfully. Although it was cheap, I think it was a waste of money. The ice cream didn't taste like ice cream, it was more like bun flavour (I guess to compliment the bun it was sitting on). The corn didn't help any and the sticky rice definitely would have been too much. Anyway, I didn't finish it. I couldn't.

This may beg the question, "why put corn on your ice cream?" Well over here, corn is actually considered a dessert. It is put on and in things, as one would do with fruit. I once bought yoghert and the label showed various fruits and corn. I thought, "they couldn't have put regular corn in the yoghert!" Well they did, and it tasted as much--not something I enjoyed. But apparently the Thais like it this way. I've seen one booth at a food court where all they sold was cups of hot corn kernels.

There may be other questions such as "Why put ice cream on a bun?", "Why put rice with your ice cream?" One of the missionaries told me his motto: "Why ask why?". It's not bad or immoral, it's just different. THEY probably don't know why they do it, they just do. They would probably ask you, "Why DON'T you put ice cream on a bun?"

His name is Bun... Spelled PLE

Everyone in Thailand has a nickname, which is a good thing since everyone in Thailand has a REALLY long real name (first and last). Their nicknames usually have nothing to do with their real names. Usually they are just common words or things, and some are in English and some are in Thai. One of the girls here has the nickname "Ying" which means (conveniently) "girl". Another one has the name Goong which means "shrimp". One of the guys around here has the English name "Beer". And another guy has the name "Bun"--spelled PLE. His name requires a bit more explanation.

Bun's nickname is actually from the english word "apple". But in the Thai language, they don't end words with "L". They can't, it's a foreign concept to them (much like it is a foreign concept to us to start a word with "ng"--which they do with ease). So instead of saying "l" at the end of a word, they will say something like "bun". So this guy's nickname is really the last syllable of the word "apple" and thus the spelling "Ple", but the Thais can't pronounce a word ending with "l" so his nickname is pronounced "Bun". You see, it totally makes sence when you understand a little bit of the language.

Change of Plans

As I mentioned in my prayer letter, I wasn't able to help out in Chiang Mai the way I had hoped. The English/Thai/Computer training center had not been set up when I got there. Russell Schmidt was able to rent a place in the beginning of February but it still needed renovations. The end result is that it was decided that I would be better off in Chonburi. There is more to do there. So on Feb 17 I flew to Bankok, and then made my way to Chonburi. There is lots going on in Chonburi (more specifically The Life Center in Bang Saen). So I will be working with Team 2000 and the TREK team that is here.This is a sign on the back of a Tuk Tuk in Chiang Mai. I would have ridden with him if I only had somewhere to go. (Farang means "foreigner" in Thai).

A Bit About Northern Northern Thailand

While I was in Chiang Mai, a team of pastors and businessmen were visiting from North America, touring all that is going on with MBMSI in Thailand. They also came up to Northern Thailand, and I was able to go with Russell to meet them. They flew (we drove) to Chiang Rai, which is 3 hours North of Chiang Mai. From there we drove to Chiang Khong. That is almost as far North as you can go in Thailand. It was really cool because the guest house we stayed at was right on the Mae Khong River, and right across the river was Laos.

We visited several Khmu villages and met with several Khmu pastors. Russell Schmidt's connection with the villages is that he disciples and encourages the Khmu pastors. The Khmu villages are tribal villages, very rural and very poor. But people are really turning to the Lord! It was cool to hear how several people on several different occasions, prayed and received healing. After they were healed, they turned to Jesus. Traditionally their religion was spirit and ancesstor worship. But they have seen the power of Jesus, and those who have turned from it say they are never turning back.

We also toured the "Golden Triangle". This is the border area (not strictly defined) of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar (Burma). It is more of a tourist trap than anything. We went on a boat ride up and down the Mae Khong River. Then we stopped on an island that is actually part of Laos. The whole island is full of Laocian tourist shops, selling tourist junk. But on the plus side, I can say I've been to Laos. And actually I think I've been to Burma too, although only borderwise, because I never really was on Burmese soil.

After being in Northern Thailand (and Northern Northern Thailand) and seeing all the work that Russell Schmidt is involved in, I must say that he sure has a lot of "irons in the fire". The unfortunate part about his work is that it is so spread out, and there is a considerable amount of time taken up just travelling to the various villages, and even around Chiang Mai. But I am glad to have seen it and I'm glad I was able to serve in a few small ways. God is blessing the Schmidt's ministry in Northern Thailand and I pray that the love of Jesus spreads like wildfire through those villages.

For a more visual tour, please check out my pictures.

Being Sick

I guess it's all part of life, but I was sick. And that drastically decreased my motivation to blog, or do anything. It ended up being some sort of throat infection, which is why the caugh syrup and other pills didn't do anything. I got some antibiotics and that started to clear things up pretty quick. So I got to learn how medicine works in Thailand. It's funny how there are no "prescription drugs". Everything is available. In fact if you tell the pharmacist your symptoms, they will diagnose you and give you the drugs to fix it. The antibiotics I needed were sitting in a box on top of a bunch of other drugs, in one of the aisles. Nothing is really "behind the counter". The other thing that's different is the price. It's cheap. Maybe because it's not the real thing, but as long as it works I guess I don't care. 7 days worth of antibiotics cost 100 baht ($3.00 CAD). At least it's not expensive to get well.

Oh, yes they do have doctors. But if I would have gone to one, I would have paid in the order of 2000 Baht, so I was just as happy to not visit a doctor.

The Buddism of the common Thai

Maybe I'm not one to really comment on such a thing, but it seems to me that the average Thai person is Buddhist, BUT not in a devout sense. I get the impression that the spirit houses, the little offerings and the status of being Buddhist are more to keep the status quo than to really make great strides for Buddhism. And I guess they do their duties to make merrit, but I don't see it really changing their lives. They do what they have to do to keep their families happy and to keep the status quo. Satan's got them right where he needs them. As long as they stay Buddist out of fear of shaming their family, they will never turn to Christianity. But these are just my thoughts, probably more naivety than anything.

Spiritual Update

If you have been keeping up with my blogs, you may have noticed a lack of spiritual entries. It would seem ironic, since I am on a "missions" trip. The truth is, I don't feel any more spiritual here than I do at home. I write about my experiences. Currently my experiences are more comparing and contrasting Thai culture to Western culture. I'm sure God is teaching me things. But recently I haven't had any major revelations in my daily devotions.

One thing that I have started doing consistantly is bowing my head and praying before every meal. So often I have prayed in my head as I started to eat the meal, or just skipped praying altogether. I have been convicted that if I can't do that simple act, I must be embarassed or ashamed to show my Christianity. But I need to be unashamed of that which I believe. And part of that is through prayer. Not to mention that the food here actually needs praying for! You never know if the next meal is going to make you sick. So far so good, but I'm not taking any more chances.

Beer Shampoo

I needed to buy shampoo today, so I went to a drugstore in the mall. Some of the cheapest shampoo was also the strangest. It's funny what kinds of things they use to enhance their shampoo. I could choose between: Henna, Avacado, Yoghurt, Honey and Beer. What part of honey can you extract that would NOT be sticky? As for Avacado and Yoghurt, those are foods. So I choose Beer, because when is the next time I am going to be able to buy Beer Shampoo? (Bob & Doug McKenzie would be proud--there is a reference to beer shampoo on their album). The silly thing is that if I put any of those things in my hair, I would use shampoo to remove them. So why would I want any part of those things IN my shampoo? I guess it's just another one of those Thai mysteries.

Random Stuff

Saw a dog get run over and die. I don't want to witness that again.
Fortunatelly(?) it was the owner that ran over his own dog, so there is no tension between any neighbors. His kids were crying and all, but I learned that later on that day they got a new puppy, so the mourning period was extremely short lived.
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I can't understand how the Thais are able to talk on a cell phone in such noisy places. I've seen many a Thai, carry on what I can only assume is a coherent conversation, on a cell phone, standing right beside--or in--the middle of a busy street. The vehicles around here aren't quiet either. It would be like talking on a cell phone while standing beside a vaccuum cleaner. When my cell rings and I'm on the sidewalk, I have to cover the other ear, and even then the conversation is difficult. So I've come to the conclusion that all Thais are born deaf in one ear :-) (no offense intended, I actually marvel at their ability to block out huge volumes of noise).
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Sidewalks often don't live up to their name around here. The side "walk" is often the side "obsticle course", filled with uneven surfaces, poles, signs that are too low--even for a Thai person, wires, cars, motorcycles--both stationary and moving, plants, tables and chairs, street vendors, bags of garbage, store displays, dogs, cats, and oncoming pedestrians. Most of the time there is a path through the maze, but it's usually only wide enough for one person to pass through. Half the time I give up and just walk on the road.

Prices

I just got back from an awesome lunch. Sweet and sour chicken, on rice, with fresh vegitables. It was so tasty. To complement it I had a Mango Shake, made with fresh mangos (I know because I watched them make it). The total for the meal was only 45 Baht ($1.29 CAD). I've often thought "something this good should not be this cheap". What's the opposite of highway robbery?

Some other Chiang Mai prices for you in Baht (and Canadian):
- 1L Water: 5 Baht ($0.14)
- Ice Mocha (Starbucks quality): 55-65 Baht ($1.57-$1.86)
- 1.25L bottle of Coke: 27 Baht ($0.77)
- Ice cream cone (prepackaged): 20 Baht ($0.57)
- Typical noodle or rice dish: 25-80 Baht ($0.72-$2.29) The price really fluctuates depending on the attractiveness and location of the place.
- Typical fresh fruit drink: 10-20 Baht ($0.29-$0.57)
- Bag of fresh fruit (Pinaple or watermelon or others): 10 Baht ($0.29)
- Cell phone: 2,200-15,000 Baht ($60-$430)
- Cell phone minutes (anywhere in Thailand): 5 Baht/min 1st minute, 2 Baht/min after (14.3cents, 5.7cents)
- Cell phone call to Canada: 10 Baht/min (29cents/min)
- High speed internet: 30 Baht/hr ($0.86/hr)
- Trip across town on a Tuk Tuk (3 wheel covered cart): 80 Baht ($2.29)
- Trip across town on a Song Tao (pickup truck with benches in the back): 30 Baht ($0.86)
- Trip around town on an air conditioned city bus: 12 Baht ($0.34)
- Small motel room in downtown Chiang Mai--Prices vary, using mine as an example (Hot Showers, TV, Fridge, Air Conditioning, queen size bed, and a 4 foot by 4 foot balcony): 300 Baht/night ($8.57/night).
- 2 hr boat ride up the Ping River (includes herbal drinks): 250 Baht ($7.14)
- A day trek (bamboo river raft, elephants, lunch, hill tribe villages): 700-1600 Baht ($20-$45).

Keep in mind those prices include tax. There is a 7% Value Added Tax (VAT) but it is built into the price on everything you buy. With prices like these, it's no wonder this place is crawling with tourists.

Financial Update

Wow. I received a financial support update today and couldn't believe what I saw. Several more people sent in generous donations after my previous support update. Not only am I fully funded, I'm overfunded! When I originally made up the Support-O-Meter, I made the scale up to 125%. To be honest, I didn't think I would make it to the 100% mark. But God has blessed me almost $1000 over my budget! That goes outside the bounds of my Support-O-Meter's range. I can't believe it. All I can say is PRAISE GOD and thank you for your donations!

It is another testimony of God's faithfulness. Blessing me more than I could imagine (note the Support-O-Meter's size). It is also another confirmation that I am where I'm supposed to be.

Tourist for a day

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

Made it

I made it to Thailand safely. Met cool people. Too tired to think. Falling asleep at computer. Must go to bed.

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.

Raising Support

Raising support is one of the jobs that comes with the territory of missions work. I haven't met anyone who likes it. Who wants to go around asking for money? (Actually some people don't believe in asking for money, but that's another story).

I have been trying to hand out my first prayer letter in person (for the most part). The cool thing about handing it out in person is that it gives me a reason to connect with a lot of people that I haven't seen in a long time. The pseudo-alterior motive has been great. I say pseudo-alterior because I really do want to visit people, but when there is no particular reason to, I tend to let things slide. Giving them a prayer letter in person is reason enough to pay them a visit.

Jon