Learning Thai

Today was Claire's first day back at school for the summer term. The Thai summer vacation starts sometime around the end of February and ends in May, but many schools offer a summer term as well. At the kindergarten level this is part day care and part preparation for the upcoming school year. We've decided to leave Claire in the same class that she was in last year. She really liked her teachers and we thought it was more important for her to stay with them than for her to try to keep up with her age group (especially considering that she was only with them for about a month). So, today she was in a class with a whole new group of kids - and many of them were having a hard time letting their parents go. When we arrived several kids were already crying at full volume and as more kids were dropped off the chaos increased. At one point one of Claire's teachers was holding four sobbing kids. That whole scene made Claire feel better about her ability to handle school!

The principal had told me earlier that we'd be welcome to bring Eliza along as well - there's a "pre-kindergarten" class for her age group. I thought that I would just introduce her this morning and let her see the room, but she jumped right into playing with toys and drinking milk and I ended up leaving her there for the morning. The teachers said that she did well so I guess that we'll take her at least a couple mornings per week. She was very pleased with herself when I came to pick her up.

Candice spent most of the day in Bangkok - visiting Sharon and attending language school (for an update on Sharon you can read her blog).

I met with Manat (the English teacher that I worked with at the first school Claire attended). We discussed the possibility of a trip to the Thai/Burmese border to help out with a school and church there - I hope that can work out. After that I stopped at my new favorite snack stand in Thipawan to buy a banana smoothie and ended up having a really interesting conversation with the guy who works there. We started talking about Christianity and he had a lot of questions and was much more open to talking about it than anyone else that I've met here so far. He's obviously thought a lot about his beliefs and I think that he sincerely wants to know the truth. He knows a little bit about the Bible and would like to read more. Please pray that I would be able to stay in touch with him and that God would continue to attract him.

-Tom