Learning Thai

We are really enjoying cooler weather in Thailand!! The cool season seems to have officially arrived and we can now sleep with our door open and fan on. Temps are in the 70s at night and mainly 80s during the day. So refreshing!! In fact, it's cool enough to pretend it's fall. We carved our jack-o-lantern last night and are planning a costume party tonight!

I realized that we have not given an update on Claire's first days of school. Thank you so much for your prayers! Many of you wrote to say you were praying and Claire was so pleased when I told her about all of you. Tom and I were definitely more nervous than she was- she stayed so calm! After a few days of filling out forms (thank goodness Tom can read and write Thai!) and gathering documents, taking an entrance test, a medical appointment, uniform fitting, and buying lots of books and notebooks, she officially started.

After her first day of school, she hopped off the motorcycle and said, "Mom, I think I said "Abby" and "America" 50 times today!" (in response to those classic questions- what's your name and where are you from). :) The other kids seem to be super nice. In fact, when Tom went to pick her up on the first day, she was nowhere to be found and eventually he discovered her with her new friends in the bleachers watching the older kids run races. :) Fortunately, Claire's Thai teacher is very kind and willing to spend extra time working with Claire. She is also planning to grade Claire based on her progress in Thai and not in comparison with Thai students- which we are very thankful for! Claire also loves her Science teacher and thinks he's really funny.

So, there are still plenty of details we still need to figure out, but it feels like things are coming together and we're so glad about how much Claire likes it. She says "It's going good! Thanks for praying for me!"
So far we haven't gotten any pictures, but we'll try to take some this week and post pictures of her new uniforms, friends, and the school.

Thanks again for all the Abby-support this week!
Love, Candice

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 09:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I got back late last evening from our three-day university retreat at a nearby beach. We had a total of 18 participants (including Colleen’s parents) and the weekend went really well. God certainly answered our prayers for His presence and guidance and we were all encouraged by our time together. There were 6 Chinese students, 5 Americans, 4 Thais, 2 Nicaraguans, and one Laotian – quite a mixture of cultures and languages! Several of the students are believers, some are actively seeking, and others have had very little exposure to Jesus. We spent time each day worshiping and studying 1 Corinthians 13, talking about how God’s love can improve our relationships with others. By the end of the weekend almost everyone was sharing openly about their experiences and problems. Some of the people had never met each other before the weekend but I heard several of them talk about how amazed they were that they could bond with each other so quickly. This was another good reminder for me of the power of God’s love as expressed through Christian fellowship.

Another aspect of the weekend that was very encouraging was reconnecting with Pon and Piak, two young men who I had the privilege of studying the Bible with before they moved away to study in their home areas. Both of them are doing really well and it was exciting to see them taking leadership in our meetings and talking openly about their relationship with God with the other students. Piak told me that he now loves to talk about God and that he was very excited to have a chance to share about his faith with some of the other students.

In addition to the Bible studies and prayer times we also enjoyed eating a lot of good food, taking a trip to an island, swimming, telling ghost stories, and taking thousands of pictures. It was interesting to notice some of the cultural differences as well. As we’ve mentioned before, the Thai beach experience (sitting and eating under umbrellas) is considerably different from what Americans prefer. A couple of the students noticed some other foreigners sunbathing and were curious to know if I had ever done that. Then they wanted to know “What does it feel like?” Later they tried it out for themselves, but only for a few minutes.

I didn’t take our camera along, but here are some pictures that others sent to me or posted on Facebook...

Group picture with Colleen's parents before they left early.

When on vacation Thais (and apparently the Chinese as well) like nothing better than taking pictures of every person in every possible combination.

Half of the guys slept on this huge bed.

Pon and Colleen leading the group in worship.

One of our delicious seafood meals...We were usually so hungry from the other activities that the first 15 minutes of mealtimes were very quiet as everyone dug in.

Some of the group stayed under the umbrellas all day. Others risked tanning by going swimming.

And finally, no trip to the beach is complete without the leaping-into-the-air picture.

Thanks a lot to all of you who prayed for this weekend. It was a significant event for our team and for our friends. You can continue to pray that this experience will have an ongoing impact and that all of us would go forward with an increased sense of God's love for us.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Abby! Claire goes by the name "Abby" at school (from her middle name, Abigail) because it's easier to pronounce for Thais). At home she's Claire Abby, Abby, or Claire

Today is the end of home schooling as we know it! Tomorrow, Claire starts back to Thai school. It's been a really good year of learning for us- we really liked the Sonlight curriculum we've been using and we've learned a lot! Claire is officially half way through her second grade year of school and will start there in Thai school. She will be a attending a large Thai Catholic school that is right in our neighborhood. We are thankful for a super short commute! She will study with all Thai kids but the program she is in will be in English (although she will have about three classes in Thai). We are hoping for her to make friendships, progress in Thai language and to continue in her English subjects. We may do some supplemental studying at home depending on the need. We're not really sure what to expect and have many questions, so please pray that we have a good relationship with teachers and administrators. Please pray for Claire too. Although she will be studying in English, she will still stand out and be very different at her school. Pray for friendliness and for peace. Pray that she will be easily accepted by her classmates and be able to fit into the new routine well.
Thanks for your prayers!
-Candice

P.S. For those wondering, Eliza will start back to school a week later at the Thai kindergarten (and Tom begins teaching English there again after the school holiday). She will be homeschooling two days a week- so we're not quite done!

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

For our family date night before Tom left for the weekend retreat, we went to Ocean World at Siam Paragon (big mall downtown). It was so much fun to see Silas checking out all the fish. He loved to run ahead shouting and pointing at his discoveries...."Look Mom! Look Dad! Big FISH!" We enjoyed the Silas tour. A few pictures of our fun night (minus the not so fun part of sitting in traffic for hours!)....favorites: sea horses, the playroom, darkened room of glowing jelly fish (with music!), glass tunnel for close-up views of sharks and sting rays.

-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In an attempt to better understand what my children are experiencing here in Thailand, I'm currently reading the book Third Culture Kids by David C. Pollock and Ruth E. Van Reken. A third culture kid is a "child who's spending a significant part of his/her developmental years outside the parent's culture." Claire, Eliza, and Silas seem to qualify. Some parts of the book make me happy, some parts make me worry...an expanded worldview vs. confused loyalties, cross-cultural enrichment vs. ignorance of home culture, rootedness vs. restlessness. Difficulties include not having a feeling of belonging in either culture, uneven maturity, developmental issues, etc. I also worry about all the people they have to bond too and then part from as workers come and go on the field. It's also harder for Claire and Eliza to make friends here. I've seen them reach out and speak Thai and try really hard to be friendly, but the cultural barriers (many Thai kids seem intimidated by them or appear to be laughing at them) make it hard to have close friends. This is a major prayer request as Claire returns to Thai school this week- that she can feel as "normal" as possible in an all-Thai school and that she will make a close Thai friend.

It's interesting to think about how the kid's experience as TCKs here is different from mine as a person who spent my developmental years in my parent's home country. Before we moved here, someone told me that adults "adapt" to culture but kids simply "adopt" culture. And I've found that to be very true. Rather than needing to adjust to Thai culture and rather than comparing it to their home country, they simply accept the ways thing are done here. So their adjustment in that regard has been really easy. My worries are more how they are affected developmentally.

Sometimes I really regret the fact that they don't get to go to choral camp or have sleepovers or cousin campouts. It's something that never stops being painful to me. I wonder how it is hurting them not to have a totally "normal" childhood in their home culture. On the other hand, it's also thrilling to be raising world citizens- who love Thailand and who are learning about the kingdom of God outside of traditional church. They are blessed kids in many ways. I love seeing their relationship with God growing. I love that they are learning to be very respectful children because of this culture of respect. I love that they are learning about their world and embrace differences in people.

For any adult TCK's out there or parents who have raised your kids outside your home culture, we really seek your help and advise! We're learning as we go here! I'm sure we are making plenty of mistakes. I guess my working theory is that if things are stable and reliable at home, they will be able to tolerate a lot of ambiguity and challenge in the bigger world. And I'm thankful that their personal relationships with Jesus help them to be strong and to make good choices. Please pray for our family as we continue to try to figure out this cross cultural life!

-Candice

The kids stand for the national anthem on tv which plays all over Thailand every morning and evening.

My kids' favorite kind of chip: seaweed.

Silas's rides his banana tree horse.

They are used to many forms of transportation, including night train.

Unique books for babies. Silas learns the words for ginger and galangal.

Worship at home.

Artwork. This scene shows a Thai school.

Learning to celebrate many fun, new national holidays, like the big Song Kran waterfight.

We also appreciate your prayers this weekend as Tom is gone at the retreat. Pray that the spirit will be working and that some will have a new realization of who Jesus is. Please pray too for victims of the worsening flooding all over Thailand.....
-Candice

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 06:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Yesterday Eliza and I spent 9 hours in pursuit of a document that I need in order to serve on the board of our new foundation. The official purpose of this document is to declare that I am not a criminal – but the real reason for requiring it seems to be to make the applicant jump through as many hoops (and pay as many fees) as possible. We started the day by going to the American embassy where I filled out an affidavit stating that I do not have a criminal record. This was notarized by the official at the embassy. Then that document had to be translated into Thai. After that we had to take the original and the translation to the legalization department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There we waited, showed the papers to a supervisor, then turned in the papers and the fee, waited, collected the receipt, waited some more and finally got the papers back, now bearing the official seal from the foreign ministry.

It seemed like a lot of running around for a paper that’s basically just a very official version of my claim not to be a criminal! But it was a good chance to spend some quality time with Eliza and she had fun being my sidekick for the day (especially when she got a big chocolate milkshake!)

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This past Saturday was an important milestone in our progress towards registering a foundation in Thailand. We had our first board meeting and then signed a contract to rent a building that will serve as an office (and later on, a teaching center). We're happy to have two Thai friends who are willing to serve on our foundation's board. Ju (second from left below) is Candice's long-time language tutor and someone who has already been an important cultural adviser for our team. Pat recently received her doctorate in law from an Indiana university and has returned to Bangkok to work for the government. She will bring some much-needed expertise to this venture! Also pictured (on the right) is Joe, the lawyer who is walking us through the registration process.

We're registering the foundation under the name "Tan Bunkun" (pronounced "boon-koon"). It's a Thai concept that's a little difficult to adequately translate but it has the idea of paying back a kindness that's been received. We hope that the name will lead to many interesting discussions in the future. The mission statment that we are working from is: "The purpose of the Tan Bunkun Foundation is to facilitate Thai and North American interchange, to see the message of Christ positively influence the business environment in Thailand." This is a broad goal and we will be looking for more people to help us work towards this it.

Here's the building that will house our office. We are renting one of the three-story units. It's within walking distance of our house on a street that is just being developed.

Thanks to those of you who have been praying for this process - and please don't stop now! We still have a lot of work to do with setting up bank accounts and getting some other documents in order before we can submit our paperwork to the local government.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 05:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In an earlier post I mentioned an upcoming retreat for university students that our team is planning. We are continuing to work towards that and we want to share some more information with you so that you can join us in prayer.

We’re going to spend several days (Oct. 23-25) at the beach in what we hope will be a good combination of relaxing, socializing and Bible study. Efrain and Nixson’s friends from the university have been asking them questions about relationships and maturity. They are looking for moral guidance as they consider romance and as they look ahead to their adult lives after college. Most of them are not yet believers but they are very open to learning from the Bible. We are also inviting Pon, Piak, and Tukdaa – three new believers who have been part of our group but have all since moved away from Bangkok for work and university studies. So, it will be an exciting mixture of believers and seekers and we are very excited about what could happen as we pray, talk, and read the Bible together. It will also be an interesting mixture of cultures and languages. We’ll have Thai, Chinese, Lao, Nicaraguan, and American participants.

Our main goal as the facilitators of this event is to create an opportunity for these students to learn from God’s word. We’re not there to provide a lot of instruction or information, but hopefully to guide the discussions and to encourage their participation. We’re certainly relying on the leadership of the Holy Spirit as we look ahead to this multi-lingual event!

I (Tom) will be participating in the retreat. We debated taking the whole family but decided that it would probably be better without the kids. So unfortunately, Candice won’t be able to participate.

Thanks for joining us in prayer before and during this event. It has the potential to be a very powerful weekend. We want to do our part to prepare but also be very flexible and open to His leading during our times of worship and Bible study.

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 03:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This picture is the latest episode in a story that has dominated the Thai news for the last month. Annie, shown here bowing at her mother’s feet, is a model and actress who became embroiled in a scandal after she claimed that her baby had been fathered by another famous Thai actor. Accusations have flown back and forth and the media has really played up the story to an amazing degree.

I think that a similar story in America would certainly cause a stir, but I don’t think it could possible carry on for as long as this has. I’m sure that these situations occur all the time (all around the world), but the Thai preference would be to settle the issue quickly and quietly without causing anyone undue embarrassment or disgrace. Since this has gone in the opposite direction it continues to be a source of morbid fascination.

Annie has been heavily criticized during this ordeal, but her actions yesterday would be appreciated by everyone as she demonstrated repentance to and respect for her mother. In Thailand the mother-child relationship is the most sacred and that is why this picture is meaningful. According the newspaper reports Annie bowed at her mother’s feet and apologized for the stress that this has caused her. Her mother accepted the apology and assured her daughter that since she had returned home she would recover from her sadness and be happy again.

-Tom

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of our favorite Saturday activities once a month is to travel across town to the English library (Neilson Hayes Library- founded by the British Club in Bangkok) and get a large stack of books to last the month.

Silas loves to explore the rotunda shaped art gallery, with an exhibit updated monthly.

The gallery has good acoustics for singing "chicken, chicken, chicken" he's discovered.

A brief stop at the story time with Claire and Eliza. There is a nice mix of kids from many cultures at this story time- mainly British, Indian, Thai, American.

The bean bags are a good place to read a book or just zone out and stare at the light fixtures.

After story time, comes craft time. Today's craft was an magnetized animal scene.

Outside the library is pretty too.

After a morning at the library, we make our usual stop at a close by favorite noodle shop, passing a mosque and many vendors along the way (huge prawns and salted grilled fish for sale!).

Waiting for noodles.

A very common noodle soup is made special in this shop with the addition of duck. Yum!

Slurping our noodles.

-C

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 01:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An afternoon downpour floods our yard. Meanwhile.....

Tom hangs out laundry indoors while Silas does the "monkey swing."

The rainy season means almost nightly thunderstorms, frequent street floods, and laundry that just won't dry. The air is so humid that even sunny days aren't good drying days!

-C

Posted by Tom & Candice Mast at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)