The Tale of Two Taxis Two Times

I'm certain nearly everyone has a taxi horror story.  So we want to throw our hat in the ring with yours : )  One day last week after our morning class we were headed for downtown Bangkok.  We asked the office staff to write down our destination, so we could show the taxi driver.  So one of the staff walked us out to the curb, flagged down a taxi, and talked with him in Thai, gave us the nod to get in and said "call when you get there".  That was the first red flag, for Lynne anyway.   So we hop in, trusting the exchange has been made, the driver is clear, traffic is good and we will at our destination, get done what we wanted to do and be back in record time to teach class at 1:00.  Well, as we pull away from the curb the driver is saying something about the address, he was not familiar with it and did not know how to get there.  We are processing this and he continues to drive.  A while later he asks for the written note, so we oblige.  As he is reading it he is shaking his head and letting us know he does not have any idea where this is; and could we call them?  Well, the place was not open at that time and we did not have access to a phone; we told him this.  So he drives on, all the while mumbling that he did not know this place and needed to call.  At this point he begins to look for a phone booth to call.  He pulls over into a gas station parking, gets out and goes to the phone booth.  While he is away we devise a plan, to have him abandon the plan and take us home.  When he gets back into the taxi he tells us no one is answering.  (Ever feel like nobody is listening or understands you?)  So we ask him to turn around and take us back, which he was more than happy to do.  We were thankful to God, for the fact that he admitted he did not know where he was going and that he was happy to take us home. Whew!  So less than an hour later we are back at our place, we called the school to let them know and found out that they were praying for us, apparently they were not to certain of us arriving at our planned destination.  

Later, after our afternoon class, we attempt this again.  This time someone from school took us to the other side of the road, and began to flag down taxis.  Each time, the taxi would stop on the road, traffic piling up behind, while they discussed where we wanted to go; only to have the taxi deny us entry into their taxi and speed off.  After the third taxi, she told us to pray, and we did~ not wanting to repeat the mornings experience.  The next taxi would be our ride to our destination, without incident.  We got home without incident, thanks to a kind person where we were, who flagged the taxi and told them where we were going.

Taxi 2 coming............

Amphawa floating Market

Saturday continued with a visit to the Amphawa Floating Market.  It is the season for fireflies and it quite a phenomenan along the river banks in the evening.  We began with dinner, ordering food from the vendors in their boats on the river- we were on the riverbank.  Blue yelled down our order of Pad thai with shrimp to one of the floating kitchens.  A few minutes later our dish was being passed along via a long pole with a basket attached and given to us. It was pure chaos to us!  There were so many people there you could hardly move.  It was an amazing experience!

King Rama II's garden and summer house

We visited the 2nd King of Thailand's garden and summer home.  The gardens were lovely with flowers, green grass, topiaries and lots of beautiful orchids.  The home was museum like and we walked through it barefoot.  We'd love for you to see it but pictures were forbidden.  When you enter any thai home you remove your shoes.  The bathrooms have little hoses next to the toilets to wash your feet.  Its interesting that we have not noticed any foot odor here, hmmmm.  

Lichee Plantation on the Mekong River

Here we are visiting the Lichee Plantation on the Mekong River. We were able to watch how they harvest the Lichee and package it for sale.  We sampled several varieties and they were delicious!

Large ones with seeds and smaller ones without seeds.  Phyllis likes the ones with seeds, I liked them both :)  Blue's dad cut some beautiful flowers with a machete for us to have.  Every part of it is used.  The petals are edible and can be juiced too.  We tried the juice later that day at the market- very refreshing.

  

Bang Kung Camp

                                                                                                    

Saturday continued with a drive to Bang Kung Camp in Samut Songkhram Province.  This was a former fort from 1767.  It was a historic Navy campsite with ruins, an old temple, statues of thai boxers, a zoo and waterfront area with canons.  By this time of the day it was scorching hot and any shade was a welcome oasis.  

Mango Plantation on the Mekong River

Saturday continued with a visit to Blue's grandma's mango plantation on the Mekong River.  Driving in we saw the rows of mango trees as we approached her home on the river.  She has a beautiful view from an outdoor area overlooking the river.  The breeze was so refreshing.  We could have stayed there all day.  

We left there to go visit her friends down the road, they own a Lichee plantation on the river.  We ate Lichee which taste kind of like grapes with big seeds.  There were beautiful flowers growing there as well.  Everyone was so friendly and welcoming to us.  We really got a taste of Thai life visiting these homes.

Damnoen Floating Market

On Saturday we spent the day with my morning students.  Blue organized the entire day with her dad and his friend driving us out into another southern province.  We left Bangkapi (our town) at 8:00 am and headed out to the Damnoen Saduak floating Market in Ratchaburi Province.  We arrived at 10:30.  It is a rural area and was so refreshing to be out where it was green and open after the crowds in the city.  In the past daily commerce in Thailand was mostly conducted along the rivers and canals.  Bangkok water network was busy and served as the principal means of communication causing Bangkok to be called the "Venice of the East" by early european visitors. Today the floating market is a "must see" destination.  Hundreds of boats crowd the market area paddled by women in awesome hats because the sun is hot!  We took a boat road through the vendors to savor the sights, smells and sounds.  It was an incredible experience.  If you have ever experienced a traffic jam in a vehicle, think about on a boat and we didn't have life jackets!  (Safety precautions are non existent here)  

We're number 1!

English 4 Fun!  This was a great morning.  We had 1 hour of class and trekked to the 5th floor worship center to have some fun.  There were 6 classes that met together for songs, testimony, small group time and games.  The Winner of the game is pictured here : ).  The competition was stiff; a few blocks from the opponents but Lynne's team prevailed.  It was good to be silly together and laugh a lot with the students.  In small group we asked questions relating to the family.  It was neat to hear how much they loved just being with their families.  

PM Class

In this class 2 students just graduated, 1 is in his 20's and the rest are still in high school.  They are quite lively in the afternoon.  They enjoy playing games after class.  They work hard and fast!  

The AM Class!

Welcome to the morning class!  A few students took the day off : ), I learned this afternoon they may have been studying for entrance exams.  School is starting in May!  

They are concocting an outing for us all next week sometime.  We will keep you posted.  Lynne's class will be invited to join in the night out!  I will treasure the memories of them in my heart, mind and ears!

Tribal Missionary

We met a very interesting woman tonight after church.  She just flew in and is staying at our apt/hotel.  She attends our church here when she is in town, we got to walk back from church tonight with her.  Tomorrow she returns to the northern Thailand mountain area to minister to the Karen tribe who are refugees from Burma and very poor.  She told us about how rural and mountainous the area is with jungle like conditions.  Lots of snakes!  She lives with a family in their hut, very primitive. She dresses like they do with woven skirts and shirts.  We asked her what the food was like there and she said they eat rice in leaves with mashed up crickets, some chili is added for flavor.  She said you don't know that you are eating crickets and that it took her awhile to get used to it.  I would imagine so!  We asked her about the snakes and she said you have to carry a machete because its you or them.  There are five different kinds of poisonous snakes, one kind can fly!!  The first time she killed a snake it was with a ruler, she's a teacher.  She bought a machete the next day, the ruler is too short she said.  Cobras are easier to kill because you have clean shot when they lift up their head to strike you.  She assured us that she freaks out after the kill.  We think she's pretty amazing- WOW!  

Chiang Mai food displays

Marketing!

We are sitting in the back seat of a taxi, coming back from the JJ Market.  The driver brings the car to a stop and these young ladies, move out to the street and perform a fun dance routine.  It was complete with music.  We have no idea what was being promoted.  This is a super busy road, constant motion & constant congestion.  So, how does that work?  

On the job...

Each morning on our way to the bus, we pass these people all set up and ready for the morning rush.  By about 3:00 they have closed up shop.  The display of their food is very enticing.  We would be coming from the direction of the woman in the background with the yellow shirt on.  We have a short jaunt across the canal, with that little piece of green space to enjoy.  

Traveling Salesman...

Amazing!  We have seen many traveling street vendors.  What hard workers! Can you imagine carrying this load on a day that is 95 degrees and 41% humidity?  All with a smile on his face.  Gives a new meaning to gratitude.  Yesterday, there was a traveling garden shop.  She had plants, bushes and flowers on a cart, she was pushing along the sidewalk.  

Chiang Mai

We had a great education on the many types of foods created by the people of Chiang Mai.  There were many tempting treats, but we were told it may not be good for us to sample them.  Apparently short-timers to this area are prone to food sickness, whereas the people living here are able to enjoy them without effect.  

As you wish.....

Chiang Mai treats!

Chiang Mai is in northern Thailand; they have beautiful handicrafts and some of the greatest displays of food, we have seen.  It looked familiar but we were not sure what it was.  Any guesses?

2nd Week of Classes

It's hard to believe we are already on our second week of classes!  We seem to be in a routine with our students in the classrooms and everyone is opening up a little bit more with us and each other :)

Phyllis started a Phase 10 game time after her classes this week and today my morning class joined her for some stiff competition.  One of the staff Dom taught the students how to play in thai or we would have been there all day just trying to communicate the instructions!  

We invited our students to our place this coming up weekend for games, food, etc. Some have committed to coming but everyone in my afternoon class had plans.  I was disappointed but they came up with a wonderful alternative after class and called me over to ask if we could all go out to eat this afternoon.  It worked out perfectly and we all headed over to the Mall to eat at a great thai restaurant.  Two of my students have cars so we carpooled as many as we could and another group took a taxi.  Joy, one of the staff joined us so we could introduce her and make a connection for the students with someone other than me, a short timer.  She is lots of fun and they enjoyed having her along.  She also teaches Level 2 English and most likely some of them will have her as a teacher.  This is such a fun group!  They really have connected and that makes is easier to have some great discussions.  One of my students found a new job and it begins tomorrow so this was her last day.  She is one of my better students so it will be sad to see her go plus she is really enjoyable to be around.   The food was amazing!  They ordered all different kinds of entrees and we ate family style.  They were loading up my plate with some interesting things and it was all good.  There were steaming bowls of soup (the kind I tried had huge shrimp in it) that were served on pedestals with some kind of burners inside with flames you could see, it kept the soup really hot for most of the meal.  We ate papaya salad, fried rice with shrimp and crab, mango salad with fish.  Thai fried chicken which is a favorite here and shrimp patties with a delicious sauce.  I couldn't believe that it was all gone at the end of the meal.  Most of my girls are so little I wondered where they put it all :)

It was nice to have some time outside class to talk one on one with the ones seated around me.  I found out that three of my students are working on their masters degrees right now.  One of my students loves to read marketing and finance books for fun.  No one is married but they range in age from 22-42. Almost all of them have been to many different countries. 

The Weekend Update

Saturday we were able to sleep in past 5 am but its amazing how your body gets used to a routine :)  Carol, one of the filipino missionaries at the school brought us to the JJ Market in the morning.  It was amazing and a good thing we had a guide because it was immense.  There was stall after stall of created and copied art, goods, textiles, books, etc. etc.  You name it and it was there in some form. We really enjoyed seeing the creativity and ingenuity of the thai people. We arrived when it opened at 9:00 am and there were quite a few people already there and by the time we left at 11:30 it was crowded and very hot (the drip started at the top of your head and ended at your toes- felt like I just took shower :).

Carol shared with us that she and her husband Don Don will begin a new charter of Santisuk English School by the airport in July. Very exciting!  They just found a two story building to rent that will be classrooms on the first floor, probably two, and the second floor will be their living space.  They have a little boy who is 4 months old.  Please pray for God to provide for this huge endeavor.  The building is a shell.  No closets, bathrooms, walls, kitchen, etc.  They are moving into the building in May!

We spent the rest of Saturday doing our laundry, reading essays and catching up on personal stuff after the busy week.

This morning we went to our small group at 10.  It was much smaller than last week because the american visitors returned home but we really enjoyed the intimacy with the girls, I call them girls because they are all significantly younger then us :)  

We talked about the sermon from Friday night.  It was about bearing one another's burdens.  This small group has gone through some tough things together and truly have born one another's burdens.  One shared today about when she was suicidal and how the others were there for her and how God protected her life during that time.  This group is an example of what fellowship truly is.  We also planned cell group and a party to invite our students to next Sunday.  This will be an opportunity for our students to connect with the other thai people at the school. We will host these at our hotel/apt. next Sunday morning and afternoon.  Please pray for this time together.  We will play games, eat pizza and thai food, show a short dvd (8 min.) and share testimonies.  

We learned some interesting facts about the thai language today.  We found out there is a "royal language" in thai that was only used when you talked about the King. When the bible was translated into thai the "royal language" was used in the translation for God.  I think its really cool that there is a royal language that is used for God.  He is the King of Kings and the thai christians can grasp this description of God in a deeper way because of their language history.  Singing together in phonetic thai really brings this home.  

This afternoon was spent correcting and grading our students first compositions.  They tried so hard and it was really difficult for us to grade these papers with a number.  Their essays gave us further insight into who they are since the topics to choose from were; What do I do in my free time? What makes me happy? and What I do before I go to bed? 

Tomorrow begins week 2 of classes!  Thank you for praying for us and our students!!

SANTISUK ENGLISH SCHOOL

Welcome to school!  Leave your shoes out back.

A View from the Fly Over.

This is a great aerial shot of the basketball court at the school.  The lean-to is our outdoor lunch room and area where we dock our shoes during school.

No Elevator Here!

As we ascend to the 3rd floor for the morning, our calves say enough!  By afternoon we climb one more floor and are met with a blanket of heat; the stairwell is not air conditioned.

We go into the classroom.

This is a typical classroom.  The tables are in U formation to allow for interaction.  We can turn on the air conditioner in our room 1o minutes before class starts.  

We are students.

Lynne's morning class, 2 students missing today.  They are eagerly awaiting the day's lesson.  The original breakfast club.

  

We Finished the First Week!!

Well, it has been an amazing week!  Our students continue to be faithful to attend class and stay focused for the full two hours- Praise God!  

Our time together with the students begins with sentences.  Every day they come prepared with 10 sentences from a list of words that are commonly used in the english language.  They take turns reading their sentences aloud and we encourage and correct by listening very intently and reading over their shoulder.  Their sentences really give us a sense of who they are and can be quite entertaining :)  This is supposed to take about an hour but we have found it takes 30 minutes or so even with the varying class sizes.  

Next we move on to sounds.  Every day we begin with a quiz for the sound of the previous day.  This is difficult for them.  The sounds are ones we use but are not found in the thai language and the introduced english sounds can be very similar to theirs, tricky!  After the quiz we introduce the new sound.  For example, the thai language does not have a V sound, they would use W.  We are teaching them to over pronounce until they understand and can hear the difference on their own.  Again, very tricky.  We get up close and personal with every student during this time listening and watching to make sure they are pronouncing the word correctly.  A funny day was when we introduced the Th sound.  To get them to actually say THE, you have to instruct them to put their tongue out under their teeth.  They thought this was very funny!  Thai people don't show their tongues at all.  We had to assure them that once you get used to saying the TH sound no one will see your tongue :)

Then, we move on to the workbook which is written by the staff here at the school.  Wonderful tool that helps the student with pronunciation of vowels, consonants, intonations, comprehension, vocabulary, crosswords and essays.  We brought home the first essays and they are going to be very interesting to correct and read because the students really personalized these.  

At the end of class we find ourselves with lots of extra time every day.  So, we use the time to post questions to find out more about our students.  For example; 

What do you do in your free time?

Have you travelled to other countries?

What do you want to achieve in life?

What animal best describes you?

Tell me about your family?

Where do you work or go to school?

Describe a time when you were surprised?  ( I found out one of my students won the thai lottery with this questions)

What will you do this weekend?

They love answering these questions.  It gives them a chance to share and also get to know one another.  We love getting to know them better this way :)

After class many times they stay around to talk or ask more questions.  This week we were able to have breakfast after our 7 am class twice with a group of 20 something women who really wanted to practice their english skills with us. Another day we went on an outing and enjoyed having lots of time to talk.  

We have noticed that there is a wide range of english understanding within each class.  Everyone has basic english 101 in school.  They learn the alphabet and how to read and write it.  When they come to the school they have those skills and that varies some as well.  Our classes have some students who can really understand most everything we are saying to them and then we have other students who struggle.  They tend to look to the one who can speak english and understand it to help them.  They are willing to help each other which is nice to see.  I loved the first day with my afternoon class.  There were a few students there early and one of them asked me if I spoke thai.  I said no and he looked horrified but he has really come along. 

We are really enjoying our time with the students, it is exciting to see them improve.  Time flies when we are together, their excitement is contagious and energizing.  When the class is over, it hits us and we head home for refreshment and a rest. 

Please continue to pray for us and for our students.  We have definitely felt your prayers and know that God is at work in the school.

Have you ever...

Gone to the neighbors, parked your shoes outside the front door, visited and walked back home without your shoes?

Gotten onto an elevator and waited patiently for it to deliver you to the "L"; only to find out you never pushed the "L"button and minutes later you were still on the same floor, wondering why it was taking so long?  And this not just once but 2 days in a row!

Needed to write the day on your whiteboard, so you would remember what day it is?

Been in the grocery store and decided to try the food they were sampling; even though you had no idea what it could possibly be; and at once regretted it!

Jarred your innards several times a day; by stepping down, only to find the step lower than you had thought?

Looked forward to your favorite snack; purused the grocery store for it, found it in the same container you always bought it in, got it home; and realized it was not same nacho cheese flavor you had grown accustomed to enjoy on occasion.

Bellied up to your favorite barista, ordered your favorite drink, had them ask you 2?, thinking for sure it was a double shot espresso day, said YES!,  your gal pal confirms "two for you?" SURE, then being confused when you are handed 2 cups of coffee?  Who knew?

Welcome to our world, "livin' in another time zone" (a great line for a song ~ it's up for grabs, please share it with us)

The People That You Meet; when you're walking down the street...

Students at Santisuk English School.  The gathering room, where it is nice and cool.  Students hang out playing games, ping-pong, chill on the couches and just visit.  We teach on the 3rd & 4th floor.

A smooth ride.......

This is a shop along the way.

You can rent one for 2000 baht.

Most people get around this way.  On one of these you have access to not only the highway but the sidewalks as well.  There is a designated lane in the middle of the sidewalk for them.  Just keep an eye out; because you cannot hear them, for the traffic noise all around you.   You are considered to be very wealthy if you own a car.  The average monthly salary is 8000 baht, which is not quite $200.00!  A trip to Walmart?!

Hello? Bangkok calling...

These phone booths are so cool.  It's true.

They sit at the entrance to a neat little nursery.

Hard working woman...

She was carrying 2 baskets full of fish!  There are great eats all along the sidewalks.

Mr. Chang

At least that is what his shirt said.  He was kind enough to pose for a picture, while the rest of the construction crew looked on longingly.  

Dog Day Afternoons in Bangkok!

It's 98 degrees and he's feeling it!

He didn't even give us a wag of the tail as we walked by!

Tuesday!

F.P.

No R & R sighted, yet!

First Day Teaching

Our day began a little earlier today :)  With our first classes at 7:00 am we needed to leave by 6:25 to walk to the school and have the air conditioning turned on in our classrooms before 6:50.  We were both a bit nervous since we really didn't know what to expect but our students were wonderful.  They are eager to improve their english and get to know us too.  They worked very hard for the entire two hours of class.  

Phyllis has all high school students in her classes and I have all adults.  They travel anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour to get to the school, mostly by bus.   If you have a car in Bangkok you are considered very rich.  

After the first class that ended at 9am three of my students wanted to go out to breakfast/lunch with us.  It was quite an adventure, they had lots of questions and we had fun getting to know them better.  I am having a hard time remembering their names since they are so different from what I'm used to.  Their names are very long so everyone has a nickname like Ae, Oom, Ta, Jekky and Non to give you some idea.  

We took a break in between classes and returned for our 1pm class and found that those students were just the same, excited and committed to learn.  

Tomorrow after our second class we are going to see some of Bangkok with Lab, she is an accountant who is out of work right now.  It is hard to find jobs here in Bangkok right now just like the US.  She decided to work on her english and is taking classes for the first time at the school.  

Sunday

This morning we met with our newly assigned cell group at the school.  It was a mixed group of thai, filipino and americans.  There were about 10 of us.  Besides us the other americans were visiting, one used to teach at the school a few years back and is now a lawyer pursuing a position here in Bangkok.  He still keeps in contact with his students from three years ago!  

Our time together included singing, mostly in thai, we had printed sheets with thai in phonetics. It was very moving to sing together in another language.  During that time two former students who now either work or volunteer at the school shared their stories about how they came to know Jesus while at the school and how their lives are filled with peace now.  It was very encouraging to hear from them how they have been changed and humbling to know that we might be a part of amazing change in someone's life.  

We shared a thai meal together, the Hot Tamales in the picture were brought by the visiting americans, definitely not something you can purchase here.  No one liked them but us, the others described them as "burning" and they like very spicy food - interesting :)  

Later on we had a teacher training, we begin tomorrow morning!!  Please pray for us and our students.  We have two classes, one at 7:00 am and the other at 1:00.  We each have about 18 students each.  The school has 220 students signed up for this three week session, the most they have had since October.  It will be a busy place all day and into the evening.  

Today our jet lag caught up with the both of us.  We did laundry and not much else and that was a big adventure.  The laundry area here and everywhere don't have dryers so we have all ours drying all over our hotel/apt.   The good thing is we didn't even need to go out to eat tonight, there was food right by the laundry- very interesting but it was tasty and she delivered it to our room.  We are learning to eat the thai way and that is to use a spoon and a fork.  The spoon is your main eating utensil and is in your right hand if you are right handed and the fork is in your left and you use it to shovel food onto your spoon.  The spoon is also used like a knife. They don't use chopsticks. 

hmmmmm

I found it interesting that we could step into this shrine as observers. I watched the lines of people waiting to light their incense and lay their flower offerings down.  I was struck with the thought that all religions have their casual observers; who perform the rituals of their religion.  What was going on in their hearts?   To be able to talk to them and learn how being here, made a difference in their lives.  Dang the barriers!  

Dancers

These ladies were preforming dances on the perimeter of the shrine grounds.  A person can pay theses ladies to dance as a form of offering to the gods.

Offerings

This lady was selling flower offerings along the walkway to the Erawan shrine.  The flower wreaths were beautiful, and fragrant.  You can see the orchids, they also used roses and jasmine.  It was beautiful and fragrant to walk by.  She was one of many vendors selling to the worshipers.  

Erawan Shrine

This is the famous Erawan Shrine.  Construction was underway of the Erawan Hyatt in 1955; construction workers were dying; so the people constructed this shrine

to appease the gods.  They were attempting to get mercy from this statue.  (you can google Erawan for the complete story)  There were a great number of people here.  There was a cloud of incense smoke in the air.  The yellow is mass amounts of flower offerings given to this statue, in hopes of favors granted.  

Shrines

This shrine was located along a busy walkway, next to the city streets, outside of a mall of sorts.  They are very ornate.  The flower offerings are abundant and fragrant.  

The driver was gracious to give us a picture in his vehicle.  I love how colorful it is!

Getting Around

Tuk-Tuk ~ an optional way of getting around the busy streets.  We walked.  The water taxi was our big adventure for the day!

Along the Klong

Many stops along the way, but not for long.  It is amazing to see the river taxi workers navigate their way around the taxi and the docks.  They have a rope they lasso around the concrete pillar 3-4 times and the passengers depart.  They unwind the rope, sling it over the top and proceed to collect from the recent arrivals.  There's a job!

Departing the river taxi; just keep moving forward!

Notice the green in the background.  That was a treat to see all along the Klong.  Beautiful orchids hanging from sides of building.  The trees are in bloom now, it is summer here!  

A view from inside the river taxi.  You are seated in a somewhat squat position for 35 minutes, after which most parts of the lower body feel cramped.  Then it's quite an art to get up and move out onto the dock all in one motion; while the boat glides back and forth!  Success was had by all.  Apparently in the recent past, the river taxi just glided by the stopping point and you had to hid the ground in motion!