And then, and then, and then and then and then!!!

For those of you fortunate enough to see “Dude Where’s My Car?” you can pick up on the reference for the title of this blog post. Basically, 2 guys are at a drive through fast food restaurant and the lady taking their order keeps saying “and then?” after each order but they’re done with their order and there is “NO and then.” Haha, I feel like my time here has been one “and then” after another. That is exactly what this blog is reflecting too . . . just random “and then” thoughts that I felt were worth sharing.

CORN
Yes, I am writing a section on corn. I feel like I’m in Forrest Gump (I’m all about the movie references today). Much like Bubba has so many options of how to cook shrimp, the Thais have many options for corn. Corn on the cob, boiled corn, grilled corn, corn pie, corn bread, corn yogurt, corn flavored ice cream, corn as a side garnish in ice cream, sweet corn in a cup, corn waffles, corn juice . . . I could continue but I have other subjects to cover ;).

DEAR ANTS
Yes, I wrote a letter to the ants who invaded (notice the past tense) our house.
Dear Ants,
I hate your stinking guts. You make me vomit. You are scum between my toes. Oh wait, that’s my Little Rascals Reference. Let’s try again.
Dear Ants (also known as crawling nucences),
Please note that our home is a Thai home and the only acceptable way is to be greeted at the sliding gate and if we accept you as your guests, we would allow you to come to our front door, take off your shoes and then you could come inside. Crawling through the ceiling onto our kitchen counter is not an acceptable way to enter the house (granted I wouldn’t let you in the front door anyway). I know that you fought many a battle as you came in through our ceiling multiple times on multiple days and tried to get into our sealed food. Luckily we are somewhat smarter than you. We finally realized that there is a chalk that we could purchase to get you to stay out of our kitchen. No offense but we don’t spend our hard earned and raised money so that you can eat our yummy goodies. You like trash anyways, so stay OUTSIDE and have free reign of our trash! Okay? I realize that most of the ants I am writing to are already dead because I either crushed you or drowned you. Those who got away, let this be a warning to you . . . I have the proper ammunition to get rid of your quickly in the future. Your extended stay in our kitchen was only once lived. Plus, we moved so good luck at finding us. Oh and for those who can pass this message along . . . please let your smaller ant friends and family know that they are not going to get on my good side by trying to bit me fiercely and dig into my skin. I will carry around anti-ant chalk if I must. Thank you for your time and please note that if you abide by the rules, I won’t be forced to do away with you in an unkind manner.
Sincerely,
Brittany
p.s. to those humans reading this . . . the ants weren’t THAT bad, but they did cause quite a few fiascos. Haha. However, you live, you learn, and you buy ant chalk.

CHILDREN
Okay. So I know that my blog isn’t in order of importance as this ranks way above corn and ants, haha. However, I am too lazy to move things around J.
So, last Thursday, our school celebrated National Teacher’s Day. It’s a ceremony where the kids bring flowers and put on a small program for the teachers. The students come up on their knees and bow to Buddah (in public schools) and Jesus (in our school and other Christian schools) and bow to the King of Thailand and then come to the teachers to present us with flowers. We had the privilege of saying a prayer over the students that came to us. This was at the elementary school so it was just over 50 kids from grades 1-6 that mostly live with foster families or in orphanages. Our students are precious and each has a unique story. I am excited to get to know them. I will take a picture of my 4th grade class on the first day that I teach so that you can all see the faces that I will get to see each day. Here are a few pictures of kids from our school that I’ve taken, I don’t know what grade all of them are in but they are part of Hope International Schools. These faces are why I’m here. My heart melts around these children.

This last picture is of students who attend the preschool but they are so cute and i needed to include it.

I start school tomorrow. It's a Thai day so I will be ovserving my Thai counterpart and will have meetings and more lesson planning. Tuesday is my first official day as the TEACHER!!! Please pray for favor as I establish rules and guidelines and get to know the children! Thanks so much for your partnership with me as I dive into teaching . . . I am SO EXCITED!!! :-)

Peace, Love, Corn, Ant Chalk, and the Smile of a Child!

A New Blog Design, A New Address, and Some Pictures Including a BOY UNDER THE TABLE!!!

BLOG

Hey everyone! So Chris designed my blog - I love it! He also added a "partner with me" link. When you click on it (it's toward the top right of the blog), it will direct you to the C&MA website where you can give electronically. Thank you so much to everyone for your support . . . it has already been such a blessing to me. I am about 1/2 way (last time I checked) to where I need to be for monthly giving. Thanks again!

ADDRESS

So, the address I posted before is a little different than what our permanent address is. Please note that this is the correct one:

Brittany Gray

224-475 Kwan Wiang, Soi 19

T. Sanpakwan

A. Hang Dong

Chiang Mai, 50230 Thailand

We have decided that all 5 of us teachers will live together as opposed to be separated between 2 houses. We are moving into the other house this weekend because it's more like a home and has more appliances and such already in it. We're excited to get settled!!! :-)

PICTURES

There really is a BOY UNDER THE TABLE!!! So many of you know that thanks to Rosetta Stone, one of the only phrases I had memorized before coming to Thailand was "poo chai you di toe" which means "there is a boy under the table." Why did memorize it? Because it's so fun to say. We were eating lunch at Joel and Marvel's house the other day and their 2 year old son, Hezakiah was crawling under the table and I was so excited to blurt out

"POO CHAI YOU DI TOE!!!!" :-)

I am trying new food just about every day! This is Cow Soy, note that it does not have cow or nor soy as part of it's contents. lol.

This is my roommate (we will be sharing a room together) Sarah, ME, and Kirstin (the Vander Kooi's who started the school 4 year old daughter)

House Mates - on the left: Misty from the Philippines, Me from Colorado, and Sarah from North Dakota. Emily comes on Monday and she's from New Mexico.

On the left: Misty, Me and Sarah. On the Right: Joel, Hezekiah, Marvel and Kirstin (the family that started H.I.S.)

UPDATE

This week was our first week of 2 of orientation. It's going really well so far! Starting June 29th, I will officially be a 4th grade teacher!!! More information to come!!! :-)

Address

I have a house and it has a mailbox! YAY! So excited. Letters and packages can all go to this address:

Brittany Gray
224-442 Kwan Wiang, Soi 21
T. Sanpakwan
A. Hang Dong
Chiang Mai, 50230 Thailand

Home

One of the other teachers arrived last night and we are already starting to buy things for our home. I love that word. Home brings so much comfort to me. I am excited to start fresh . . . very fresh. We don't have a whole lot, but then again, we don't need a whole lot for the most part. There will be 2 houses of teachers. One will house 2 teachers and one will house 3. I am pretty sure Sarah and I will live together but there is the other house she has the option of looking at. I think the one we are in is the best, so I secretly hope she does too so we can start making our home a home.

I was proud of myself for assembling a fan yesterday. There were instructions . . . but all in Thai. Considering they have different symbols than us and all I know is "hi," "thank you," and "there is a boy under the table," I decided to go with the pictures. I felt very independent as I spent a couple hours by myself (before Sarah flew in) in my house cleaning and being all domestic :-). I learned about new sounds of the house and how the birds around are LOUD. There is also a lizzard that sounds like a bird but a talking one. It cracks me up.

I feel a peace from God as it's starting to sink in that I'm here for 2 years. Wow, I made that commitment? Hehe. I know God has me here for a reason, it's just a lot to take in and let's face it, I've only be here for 3 full days so I think it's okay that I don't have everything figured out yet.

Orientation starts next Monday, I'm excited to meet the other teachers and to dive in together. It's been nice having Sarah here too because we share similar questions and curiosity about what our lives will look like here.

I just wanted to give a little update. Sarah and I are watching Kirsten (Joel and Marvel's 4 year old) so I must go and play with sea otters and color. :-)

Love to all!

Back to Singapore

Okay, so I'm not physically back in Singapore. However, it was a 14 hour part of our (Kalena and me) almost 48 hour journey. Kalena is a high school student from CCR (my home church) who came out here to spend the summer with the Vander Koois. Kalena and I took the journey together which was nice to have a traveling partner!!! So, I figured I should share some of the pictures we took of our 14 hour layover in Singapore.

Fun on the tour bus:

The oldest Chinese temple in Singapore:
No, don't know what the door means but we are good at making things up.
A picture is worth 1,000 words.
Mr. and Mrs. Bat . . . there were a lot of bats in the temple, it's seen as good luck


Dim Sum anyone?


Child's play.
Kalena posing in front of waterfall in airport.

Waterfall in Butterfly Garden (also in airport) . . . yes, the airport was amazing!

And there you have it!

New

Hi everyone! I am officially in Chiang Mai and have had my first full day here. My conclusion of the day is "Everything is New." Let me explain:

New culture
New language (so confusing!)
New smells
New climate (can you say humidity?)
New people
New driving laws (or shall I say lack of driving laws? C.RA.ZY!)
New house (I move in tomorrow!)
New food (so far, so good!)
New currency
New dependence on God . . . I am out of my comfort zone for sure and am realizing my dependence upon Him is key (even though it should always be that way, this is kicking it into high gear! ;)

I am doing well but am exhausted and my laptop battery is about to die and I don't have the ability to charge it where I'm at right now. So, this is a short post, but a post nonetheless.

Thank you everyone for your encouragement and prayers. I am holding together okay but know that all this "new" will catch up with me and I'll have my moments where I'm not holding it together very well. Your prayers mean so much to me!

Hope you find something "New" in your day! :-)

Leaving (already left) on a Jet Plane

As most of you know, I am heading to Chiang Mai, Thailand for a 2 year commitment to teach at Hope International Schools. I am partnering with IFAP (the tent making arm of the Christian and Missionary Alliance). If you don't already have one of my prayer cards/letters, please let me know and I'd be happy to get you one! I headed out on June 5th and am actually in transit to get to Thailand. I am so excited for this opportunity and feel that God has led me to this point. As it's been bitter sweet to leave my job, my family, my friends and home church, I know that He will use me for his glory as I take this leap of faith. Thanks to everyone for their love, support and encouragement! MORE TO COME!!!