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Dogs riding on motorcycles, feeding hippos (and grabbing their teeth) at the zoo, riding an elephant, killing roaches....ah, the life in Thailand! I think that I have done more in the last two weeks than I did the entire rest of the summer. I have definitely seen many new and different things. It has been crazy and fun all at the same time, but I think I am ready for a long nap. :) But seriously, being in Thailand has been great and adventuresome so far. It would take way too long to let you know everything that has happened, but I will give you the highlights.
Departure from Salt Lake City, UT on Sunday, August 15. Arrival in Bangkok on Tuesday, August 17 after catching 4 airplanes in 28 hours. What a long flight all alone, but it went well and there were no problems. I actually slept most of the time which made it seem to go relatively quickly.
The first day and a half was spent in Bangkok sightseeing and just getting used to being in Thailand. Then we hopped on an overnight train headed for Chiang Mai in northern Thailand which is where I have been since. Once in Chiang Mai we took a few more days to sightsee and get used to the time change, etc. This is where we went to the coolest zoo ever! We were able to feed and touch many of the animals including giraffes, hippos, tapirs. We weren't able to touch the chimps and other monkeys but they were definitely fun to feed. Talk about greedy animals! We also have gone bowling, swimming, seen a movie, driven motorcycles, shopped at the night market, eaten lots of ice cream, and much much more. It has been a whirlwind!
Then, last week we started our training. We began with our TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) training last Monday which was an excellent class and was full of useful information that will be very helpful once we get to Ubon. We ended the week with presentations which also went well. I had to teach two vocabulary words and one structure (sentence) to our class. It was interesting.
This week we started Thai language and culture training. This is definitely a lot more difficult than last week. We all left feeling a little overwhelmed after the first day. Thai is definitely a difficult language to learn. We are also reading a book about Buddhism so that we are able to relate to the Thai culture. Buddhism is very much imbedded in the Thai culture. One of the reasons that the Thai people are difficult to reach with Jesus is that they would have a feeling of complete loss of sense of self due to it's impact on the culture. It is what they are. We are also reading a book about ministering cross-culturally and what that means. Basically, I have to pretend I am a child again and learn how to speak, how to act, etc. Doesn't sound like a bad deal, does it? It will be rather difficult to set aside my own culture in order to incorporate into the Thai culture, but well worth the cost to be able to reach them where they are at.
Well, that is about all for this edition. Hopefully, next month's will be a little more exciting with pictures and more stories. I currently do not have internet capabilities on my own computer and am using the internet cafe across from where I am staying. Once my computer is set up then I can send as many pictures as possible. So, don't worry they are coming.
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1. August 2004 - Arrival in Thailand!
