Learning Thai

It's been fun to gradually develop new family traditions here in Thailand. One of them is our Saturday morning breakfasts of rice porridge (for Eliza and I) and fried "Chinese donuts" (for Candice and I). Claire sticks with cold cereal. I go out on the motorcycle and usually also buy bananas and a newspaper. The rice porridge and donuts are evidently many people's favorite Saturday breakfast. There are often long lines and if I don't wake up in time I come home empty-handed!

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 03:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's starting to seem like we've been in Thailand for a while. Sometime this past year Eliza reached the point where she's spent more than half of her life here. It won't be too long before the same is true of Claire. Of course many other more important changes have taken place during our time in Thailand, but these two pictures illustrate one change that we've been struck by recently.

Our yard/garden in November 2006

The same shot today.

In this front yard jungle we have three mango trees, a jackfruit tree, two banana trees, and a pomelo tree that is just starting to bear fruit. Here's Eliza with the first fruit to make it this far. It should at least double in size yet before it's ready to pick and eat.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 02:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Silas Rhodes Mast goes by many names around our house.....

Silas, of course

Si

Bubby (because he's just so chubbybubby)

Bubs (who loves to do fighter poses with his little fists)

Si Si (here with our little neighbor Gaew who likes to stop by and play Jut Ay [Peek A Boo])

He's still growing fast and giving us a lot of happiness with his bright smiles!

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Recently I talked with two of my English classes about superstitions. Our book gave some examples of American superstitions (walking under ladders - bad; finding horseshoes - good, etc.) Then I asked the students about equivalent Thai superstitions. Here are a few of them...

If a black cat jumps over a coffin, you'll see a ghost.

If you point at a rainbow your finger will fall off.

If you sit on a book you'll become stupid.

If you sit on a pillow you'll get "bad acne" (maybe a boil?) on your bottom.

If you cut your nails at night, your parents will suffer misfortune.

If you wear a hat inside you'll lose your hair.

When you're eating a fish (here they are usually served whole) and finish the first side, you shouldn't flip the fish over because that will cause a boat to sink. (Instead you carefully peel the bones away from the remaining meat.)

If you are doing something important that day, it's important to step out of your door with your left foot first.

On the other hand, it's perfectly safe to open an umbrella inside your house in Thailand!

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last Monday Claire and I got up early and went out to the Bang Phli community. Every year at the end of the Buddhist Lent, they have a special festival on the canal there. The main attraction is a Buddha image on a barge, and people attend to make merit by throwing lotus flowers onto the barge. Before the Buddha image came along there was a sort of parade - fancy barges with musicians playing traditional music, funny barges with people dressed strangely and dancing, and in between there were lots of young guys showing off by racing their longtail boats about recklessly.

Unfortunately, this was the morning we were robbed, so we had to leave early. Just as we were walking away we caught a glimpse of the barge with the Buddha image and saw a shower of lotus flowers being flung from the bridge and the banks of the canal.

Here are some of the pictures I took...

The crowd waiting with their lotus flowers. If you look closely, you can see the guy in the black shirt demonstrating a Thai habit that we're still not used to.

Many families came in their own boats and were getting an early start on the picnicking. I saw a man in a little boat selling ice cream before 8:00 a.m.

Waiting on the bridge...

... and along the bank of the canal.

One of the more ornate boats. Claire was impressed by all of the ladies in traditional Thai costumes.

The boat carrying the Buddha image...maybe next year we'll get a better look at it!

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 07:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

While I was on my way to teach an English class in Bangkok yesterday I just missed seeing one of the princesses (or at least her motorcade). I was walking out of a skytrain station along an elevated walkway above the street when I noticed that everyone ahead of me had stopped moving. Then I saw that police officers had been blocking the way. Just as I got there they released us to go ahead. I asked one of them what was happening and he told me that the princess had just passed by. I remembered hearing that when a member of the royal family travels by car through the city they clear all of the overpasses of cars and people.The primary reason for this is not security, but respect. It would be very offensive for anyone to be above the head of royalty (and especially offensive for their feet to be above the royal's head!)

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 08:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I recently read that according to Thai tradition, it's considered fortunate if a baby girl looks like her father and if a baby boy looks like his mother. So, it's a compliment to say that a baby boy looks like his mother. I've noticed that people often tell me Silas looks like Candice. I can't tell if he really does or if they are just complimenting/blessing him. What do you think?

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today we are very thankful for God's protection. Claire and I (Tom) left home early this morning to go see a Buddhist festival involving boats and crowds of people throwing lotus flowers. After we left, and while Candice and the other kids were still sleeping, someone broke into our house. He went through our desk, file cabinet, and Candice's purse. Then he went upstairs and into our bedroom. Candice woke up, saw him in the room and screamed at him and he ran out of the house. He got away with some money, a mobile phone, and our neighbors mp3 player (I was recording some English lessons for her). Although we felt very scared and shaken, it obviously it could have been a lot worse. Candice called me and I called our landlady. Ulai rushed over, talked to Candice about what had happened, and called the police. By the time I could get home the police and many of our neighbors were there. (You can see a few of them with Silas in the picture above.) They have been sympathetic and supportive - many offering us their phone numbers and encouraging us to call if we ever have a problem. That's been a blessing.

The police were thorough and professional. They took some pictures, got a description of the guy from Candice, and took away a movie case that the thief may have touched. Then they had me go to the police station and tell another officer and then a detective what happened.

When we told Claire what happened she had a really hard time comprehending the idea of theft. She asked "Why didn't he just ask us for the money?"

We'll take some added precautions from now on...we're not sure how he got into the house. I locked the door and the gate when I left this morning. Apparently he climbed over the gate in the front or came over the wall from the abandoned house behind us. We are thanking God so much for his love and protection.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 02:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Can anyone name the man on the right?

Over the past few months there have been some dramatic events taking place here as a large group has mobilized to protest against the current government. Those of you who follow international news closely may have read about some of this. I've thought about blogging about it, but it would take too much effort to keep you up to date, no one knows when it will be resolved, and most of you don't want that much detail anyway!

Just to give you an idea, here's just some of what's happened. In August a crowd pushed their way into the government house (where the prime minister and his cabinet work), camped out on the grounds, and vowed to stay until the ruling party (People Power Party) is driven from power. The prime minister refused to resign, but then was forced out after he was found to have violated the constitution by hosting a TV cooking show while in office. So, his party, after threatening to re-nominate him as prime minister, scrambled to hold their coalition together and elected Somchai Wongsawat (pictured above), who happens to be the brother-in-law of the prime minister who was removed in the coup soon after we arrived. The protesters are still occupying the government house, so the new prime minister is working out of temporary offices in the old airport. Earlier this week the protesting group surrounded the Parliament building. The prime minister was whisked away by helicopter and the police clashed with the protesters. A couple of people died and many were injured. Of course there's a long and complicated background to all of this. In just the two years since we've been here there have been four prime ministers, a coup, and, I believe, three constitutions.

As all of this has been going on we've been watching the U.S. presidential election from a distance, and I think that the events here in Thailand have helped to give me a new perspective on all of the fervor being generated by the contest between Obama and McCain. I've seen that in spite of all of the chaos here in Thailand, life goes on. Thais are amazingly unaffected by all that is going on. If a fraction of this chaos happened in America it would seem like the end of our civilization! But people here are used to a certain measure of instability in their government and have learned to live with it.

It's also reminded me that, in both countries, the kingdom of God does not rise or fall with any one form of government - let alone any one political party. There aren't many Christians here in Thailand, but the one's that I've met do not seem to be overly concerned about what the government does or doesn't do to promote "Christian" causes. Because they are such a tiny minority, they are not expecting any help from the powers that be and that frees them get on with the real kingdom work to which we are all called - loving God, loving our neighbors, and living "such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." (I Peter 2:12)

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Over the past year, I've had the opportunity to do a wide variety of English teaching. I've taught young kids, teenagers, and adults. I've taught people who were being forced to study by their parents, people learning for fun, people trying to pass a proficiency test that will allow them to study overseas, and people studying to improve their job performance. As you can imagine, I've enjoyed some of those assignments more than others! I'm finding that what I enjoy the most (and not just because it pays the best) is teaching adults in a corporate setting. And recently, I've had the opportunity to do more of that.

I'm currently teaching a class at a Denso factory (pictured above) about an hour away from where we live. Denso is a Japanese company that manufactures car parts (starters and windshield wiper motors among other things). I'm teaching a class of 8 fairly advanced students and it's been a lot of fun interacting with them. I'm glad for the teaching job, and I'm also glad that it gives me a chance to interact with people in a factory setting. As a team, we've been hoping for more opportunities to interact with the thousands of factory workers in this province. I teach two evenings a week, then ride back home on a company bus with the employees. It's given me an interesting glimpse into their lives and I'm hoping that I can develop some ongoing relationships out of this.

I'm hoping that this will be an ongoing job. Denso has 3 factories and there are at least 7 levels of English classes being offered by the tutoring company that has the teaching contract. So, it seems likely that I could stay busy for a while. You can join us in praying that these jobs continue and that I will be able to build good relationships with my students.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 09:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We can hardly keep up with holidays here! It seems that every few weeks there is a holiday celebrating a Buddhist tradition or an ancient king. Right now there is a Chinese vegetarian holiday. There are some special stands set up in our neighborhood selling these vegetarian dishes and the other day we decided join in and try out a few of them.

The first dish was mixed greens, the second curried beans, and the last one was something we couldn't identify and mushrooms. The unidentified object was tan in color, and seemed to be like a cross between a mushroom, a potato, and tofu. Any guesses??

In other, "normal life" news, Claire went to a meeting with Daddy and our lawyer Max to discuss our visa for this upcoming year. As a reward for good behavior at a boring meeting and because her old watch broke in the shower.....she got this awesome Hello Kitty watch. She's now completely obsessed with the time. It's so cute- we get told...." I finished my breakfast at 8:42." "it's 10:05." etc. all day. She especially loves to time her own nap and get up at 3:00 :) Here she is in pajamas and watch first thing this morning.

And here are a few pictures of Silas for those of you getting behind on his fast growth...at his one month check up he weighed over 12 pounds!

After a walk to visit Khun Seri (who is home from the hospital now. He was admitted recently for continuing problems with his eye. Please continue to pray.) Can you see the string on his wrist? Ulai tied one one since she missed the dedication.

With sisters before our first weekend family outing- to Sizzler and Yo Yo Land. This is pretty much his normal face from about 7:00 to midnight daily (although last night was a little better).

From the land of rain and sleep deprivation...
Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)