Things we like about living in Thailand (#11)
9:15 p.m. - The mango is on a tree in our yard
9:20 p.m. - The mango is in a smoothie
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March 28, 2007
March 27, 2007
A picture to scare the grandmothers
We have a motorcycle! (Actually we have the use of someone else's motorcycle while they spend the next year in the States.) Since we lack several required pieces of documentation (and since I'm neither experienced nor brave enough to try driving it on the chaotic streets of Bangkok) we'll just use it for short commutes here in our neighborhood.
-Tom
March 26, 2007
The visa search continues
We're continuing to look into options for longer-term visas and we're thankful for the possbilities that God has led us to so far. Over the next weeks we'll likely need to make some fairly important decisions about what we'll do. Here are some of our options:
1) I could probably get a teaching job at a private Thai elementary school. I have a meeting this Thursday with a representative from the school and someone from the immigration department. The main issue for the school is whether or not I'm currently qualified to teach English. The main issue for me is whether or not I want to become an elementary school teacher.
2) We may be able to renew our current visas. I hope to go to the immigration department tomorrow to find out more about this. The downside to this is that we will soon be finishing up our formal language study and at that point we want to have something meaningful to do - both to have more contact with Thai people and to have a legitimate reason for being here. The upside is that it would give us more time to look for a job.
3) There are a number of Christian ministries that are working in Thailand. We could probably work with one of them and get religious worker visas that way. Some things about this option are very attractive but, as a team, we have reservations about this since we want our presence here to be easily reproducible by the emerging Thai church. If we give the impression that this kind of work can only be done by "professional missioaries" it will be unhelpful in the long run.
4) We've discussed the possibility of starting our own small English teaching/consulting business. This could work very well in the long run, but it will take a lot of time, money, and paperwork to get it started. We would also likely need considerable help from someone with business experience.
We'd really appreciate your prayers for these decisions that we'll need to make. We had a good meeting with the rest of the team tonight, discussing our goals and reaffirming our commitment to doing all that we can to disciple groups of believers that will be able to spread naturally within the Thai culture. We're excited about what God has called us to and we trust that He will lead us to the visa/employment option that would best serve His purposes.
-Tom
March 21, 2007
Chef for a day
Today I tried my hand at Thai cooking. I made kiaw waan gai (green, sweet chicken curry) and kale and mushrooms in oyster sauce. To make the experience as authentic as possible I went to the market to get some of the ingredients. It was a good chance to practice speaking Thai and the vendors were very helpful (and slightly amused).
This is the curry paste - I'm not sure what all of the different kinds are. I bought the green stuff in the back.
The vegetable vendor. This stuff is incredibly cheap. I bought basil, kale, hot peppers, and egg plant and the guy still had to talk me into getting something else just to get the price up to 20 Baht (60 cents).
The dishes turned out pretty well, but the curry paste was so hot that the girls couldn't eat it and had to resort to peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. Also, after spending all that time preparing the food it was kind of depressing to realize that I could have just gone down the street and bought a generous serving of this same kind of curry for 25 Baht (around 70 cents).
I should also make the disclaimer that Candice cooks Thai food without taking pictures and bragging about it on the blog :)
-Tom
March 18, 2007
Little House in the Big Woods
Claire and I have been having fun reading Laura Ingall's "Little House in the Big Woods" lately and Claire has enjoyed learning about butchering, guns, maple sugar, and churning butter, etc. Bring back memories, anyone? Claire has come up with some quotable quotes lately about Laura's life....
Tonight Tom told her that when he was Claire's age he didn't have a computer. Claire responded, "Just like the Little House in the Big Woods"! You lived in a woods and I don't think they had a computer either!"
In the book Laura writes about how she had never even seen two houses standing together before her first trip to town. Her first visit to town she was quite overwhelmed by the experience (trembling all over while walking up the steps to the general store). We were in the city the other night and when Claire came out of the mall she was oohing aaaahing over the city and traffic lights and saying how pretty it was. She said, "I bet Laura and Mary never saw any thing like this" (as we were walking on an overpass over 10 lanes of cars).
- Candice
Fresh Prayer Requests
Well folks it's the hot season...99 degrees today. Sigh. The good news is the girls have a little pool to lay in and we're having air conditioning installed in one room tomorrow, so at least we'll have a place to escape to soon. Afternoon naps have gotten pretty unbearable upstairs. We've found that the best place to sit and lay in the house is downstairs right against the tile - anything else gets you all sweaty. Anyone have any advice for heat rash? Poor Eliza is covered with it despite the pool and covering her in powder a few times a day.
We are feeling an increased need for prayer right now and would really appreciate it if you would pray with us about a few things....
1) Visas! Our visas are good through August and then we will need to find another way to stay in Thailand. We had a meeting on Saturday about working with a new tutoring center run by a church. Tom has a meeting on Wednesday about possibly teaching English in a local school and getting a work permit/visa through them. We can tell that God's hand is in this process already as we are making some neat contacts and meeting some people ministering right in our own area.
2) We have an Anabaptist workers (in southeast asia) retreat at the end of the month and hope to make some good contacts there and network and learn from long term workers.
3) Language learning is that ongoing request that will probably never go away - it's been a struggle and I'm sure it will continue to be a struggle. Pray we don't give up and accept making surface conversation but that we can continue learning to deepen our relationships.
4) We are thinking and planning and praying for various groups and teams who are coming - the prayer team from LCF in July, 5 new Latin American team members in August and a REACH team in November. Pray for creativity and ideas for us and connections through which we and they can do ministry.
5) At church on Saturday night the theme was "Flip the Script" about how God can turn our "script" for our lives upside down at any moment (ie: Moses at the burning bush) and how he is in charge of our lives and our plans come second to what he wants to do with us. I feel like God has already turned my life upside down! It's hard to look to the future and say God, do whatever you want with me because I know what he's capable of doing! Everyone who knows me knows that planning is importnat to me and I hold on pretty tightly to my plans. Sometimes it is very painful to be here and I feel very lonely, very tired of being foreign and different and not understood. BUT I also am beginning to really love Thailand too and I know that' s from Him. Pray that we can be open and accepting of HIS plans....scary as that is.
-Candice
We went bowling this weekend with the team to say good-bye to Ben as he has finished up his internship and is headed back to the States. The girls had fun cheering on all the bowlers and we took them upstairs for rides afterward. Eliza was half terrified and half excited by this horse ride. She held on pretty tightly to Claire.
The girls at the skytrain station - our stop is On Nut. Aunt Nita, Happy St. Patricks Day and thanks for the shirts!
March 14, 2007
Tough Chick
March 13, 2007
Things that wouldn't go over well in the States (#3)
This is another Thai dessert that our neighbor has brought us a couple of times. It's a hot dog bun with some kind of sweet, green, custard-like filling. It's pretty good in small doses, but if I eat too much of it (or maybe just look at it for too long) it becomes rather unappetizing.
Tom
March 12, 2007
Respect for the king
Thailand's King & Queen
Here's an article from The Nation about a Swiss man who has been charged with (and pleaded guilty to) insulting Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej (by vandalizing pictures of him with spray paint). I've heard about how seriously the government takes any type of disrespect toward the royal family, but this is the first instance of prosecution that I've encountered since we've been here.
The online version of the Boston Globe also has a story (read it here). These two accounts differ as to whether he could be sentenced to 15 years total, or 15 years for each of the 5 images that he defaced.
At any rate, this is another example of the importance of the king to the Thai people. When our team met with the Thai university students a couple of weeks ago, they mentioned the king and talked about how spiritually and morally significant he is as model for all Thai citizens to follow.
-Tom
March 11, 2007
Saturday's adventure: Temple of the Dawn
(click on any picture to see a larger version)
Yesterday we visited Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn). This is one of Bangkok's most recognizable structures because of its unique shape and its location on the Chao Phraya River. The tall tower is called a prang and it was built in the early 1800's on the site of another wat that had served as the royal temple and palace before the capital was moved across the river.
We really enjoyed the beauty of the prang and the surrounding temple grounds. There were a lot of statues, flowers, and trees and the overall effect of the architecture was very impressive. The girls had fun finding the animal statues and did a good job of tolerating all of the people who wanted to take pictures with them. (I'd love to hear what they say about these pictures later..."here I am with this foreign kid that I saw...").
After we were finished at the wat we rode a boat back across the river and took a tuk-tuk to Bangkok's largest flower market. It's an area where the streets are lined with people selling all kinds of flowers - for incredibly cheap prices. Being a romantic husband is definitely less costly here - the 5 dozen roses that Candice is holding set me back a whole $1.12.) There were piles of orchids, row after row of roses bundled in newspaper, and elaborate garlands and other arrangements designed for religious purposes. It was definitely the best-smelling market we've visited!
The girls did a great job despite the long day and the heat and were rewarded with some McDonalds ice cream on the way home.
-Tom
March 09, 2007
Erawan Shrine
Yesterday, while we were in Bangkok investigating language schools, Claire and I stopped at the Erawan Shrine. For many people this is one of the important religious sites in the city. It's a shrine to Brahma, a Hindu god and it was installed after the construction of an adjacent hotel was delayed by several accidents (in the 1950's I believe). After the shrine was built, the construction proceeded with no further delays and so now many people go there to pray or make wishes and leave offerings (primarily flower garlands, candles, and wooden elephants). It's a fascinating place to visit - there are even musicians and a company of dancers who are paid to dance by people who wish to thank Brahma after their wish is fulfilled. It's also a good example of the mixture of religious belief that exists here in Thailand. The worship of Brahma (or any god) and even the beilef that wishes or prayers can be answered by a supernatural power have no place in orthodox Buddhism. Yet these beliefs seem to be a crucial part of the spiritual life of most Thais.
-Tom
Click here for a video clip of the dancers.
Claire posing with some of the larger elephants that have been left at the shrine.
March 08, 2007
Learning Thai
I'm really enjoying my first week in langauge school. It definitely makes me feel like life is flying by to be so much busier (and the house is dirtier!), but I'm learning a lot. It feels strange to have homework again for the first time in a long time! The school is called In Lingua and my teacher's name is Tuk. It's in a high rise office building next to a big shopping mall about a 40 minute bus ride from our neighborhood. My favorite thing about the Thai language is that it makes sense! Ie: I just learned that "desert" is called "talay saai" "sea of sand" and a "stroll" is a "duen len" (walk fun)...a snack is "ahan len" (food fun). It also feels good to have more time out of the house (while Tom works at home investigating everything from language schools to Thai business) to practice Thai and to see the city. Just riding the bus home yesterday I saw all kinds of interesting sights.....construction workers taking a siesta lying on the ground right in the middle of the construction site, a girl riding a baby elephant down the sidewalk (for people to feed to make merit), one motorcyle taxi driver rubbing another's shoulders (touch between men is much more common and comfortable here), and a few things I won't mention!!
The girls are doing really well too. We continue to be amazed by the way kids can adapt to a new culture- embracing and accepting things that we find really strange. Last night they were both really proud of themselves for eating spicey squid legs from my salad! They are both really into drawing. Many times in the day you can find them in their "craft corner" coloring away or drawing in the new sketchbook from Grandpa and Grandma. They also love playing in their new pool- trying to find ways to stay cool and heat rash free as we head into the hottest season of all, March - May.
By the way, CONGRATULATIONS MARTIN AND SYLVIA!! I'm so excited to have a brand new nephew, Elliot Hans Witmer Rhodes! We love you guys.
-Candice
March 03, 2007
Ju
This is my Thai teacher, Apilaporn Vechakiy (thankfully her nickname is Ju- much easier for me to pronounce. I have often been thankful for the common practice of using nicknames here!). My Thai study schedule will be changing next week as I begin language school three days a week beginning on Monday. I am looking forward to more formalized langauge training, but I enjoy studying with Ju and will continue meeting with her for tutoring on Fridays.
-Candice
March 3, 2007
Last evening we hosted a team meeting at our place and had a good discussion about Buddhism and Thai culture. A couple of Ben Ryan's friends from the university came and shared about their beliefs and experiences. Both of them come from Buddhist families and even though they described themselves as less devout than their parents they still practice at least some aspects of that religion - and their values and beliefs have been strongly shaped by Buddhism. They graciously answered our questions and gave suggestions as to how we can relate sensitively to Thai people.
They talked a lot about the importance of respect for elders in Thai culture. It is something that is ingrained in children from the very beginning and they emphasized the importance of this for us as "outsiders" as well. It really is a different mindset for us (as Westerners) to adapt to. We're used to being independent, and we greatly value our ability to think for ourselves. For Thais, respect and consideration for others are stressed as the highest values - not independence and personal rights.
Another topic that I found very interesting was their observation that within the past generation Thai culture has changed drastically. They said that young adults (themselves included) are much less likely to believe all of the teachings about karma and the continuation of existence after death. Many of the traditional Thai Buddhist beliefs and values are fading as this generation is opting for a more Westernized set of values and ideals.
I think that for our work here this trend has important implications. Will we be relating to traditional Thai Buddhists or to people who are moving from that to a more secular, materialistic mindset? And what difference will that make in how they perceive Jesus and his teachings?
The discussion gave us a lot to talk about and was another small step in our learning process here.
-Tom
After the meeting Ben got the girls all riled up through a combiation of tickling, teasing, and a trick in which he convinced them that he was sticking a pen up his nose and pulling it out of his ear. Here he is trying to calm them down.
