Happy Birthday Hijack!!!

Happy Birthday Brittany!

Update: Thanks all for participating. Even though we are back to our regular programming, feel free to wish Brittany a happy birthday :) Thanks all for making her birthday special! -cb

Brittany, your blog has been hijacked because all your friends wanted to wish you a happy birthday! And we wanted to celebrate you the best we knew how! We hope that your birthday is a wonderful one and that you feel blessed. We all wish we could celebrate with you this special day, this is the easiest way we can!

To all who read this blog, please post a birthday wish for Brittany. You do NOT need to register or signup. Simply enter info in the comment area and select the Name/URL under the identity and put your name in there.

-CB

May Saap, May Khaw Jai

The title of this blog is the Thai phrase for "I don't know, I don't understand." This is a phrase I use often when my children come running up to me and blurt out sentences of Thai that they expect me to understand and often I give up and just say "may sap" or "may khaw jai." They just laugh and then blurt a million more Thai words at me. Sometimes I tell them that I know what they are saying so they don't say anything about me but I really don't think I have them fooled though. haha.

The title of the blog is significant because these have been phrases that have been going through my head this past week or so when new developments started with the school. There are truly so many details involved that I don't know all of them (I don't need to know them nor am I sure I want to try to comprehend it all).

The short story is that there was/is persecution and disagreement going on in the area where we have our school about us conducting our school in this government building (that was abandoned for 7 years before the goverment told us we could fix it up and use it for this year until we can find a different place). We've been told that it's possible that we'll have to leave the school building we are currently in and teach at the place where our kids are registered at. This change was to be made ASAP as in TOMORROW. This place is a small building and doesn't have room for us and so we would need to conduct our 1st-6th grade classes on a concrete pavillion all day every day. At first I counted this as the "bad" news but then I figured - who am I to decide what's "bad." Maybe it's just God's will and something bigger and better will come along. I don't know. May saap. This past week, we have been praying diligently about the situation and just asking God to do what would be best for these children that we teach. They are just now getting into the swing of things and getting used to the consistency and schedule of our day. It breaks our hearts to have to uproot them again but, "may saap" . . . I don't know what's best for them but God does. I have gone through my times of being angry with the community and their lack of compassion for the abandoned children and the orphans . . . I don't understand "may khaw jai."

Basically, the long and the short of it is that it would be a miracle from God if we were able to work it out so we could stay in the current building we are in for the rest of the year. We have sought God so much on this and truly I am at peace with wherever He leads, knowing that He is in control. However, I don't want to be apathetic about the situation and have still kept my passion for the children and for glorifying Him through it all.

PRAISE GOD. Today, we found out that we may be getting a miracle after all. As of now, it looks like God is going to keep us in our current building. It's hard to explain all the details, but basically, someone came out of the woodwork in the past few days and is helping us and those originally trying to kick us out of the building are stepping back it seems. Seriously, so amazing! I still feel like "may saap, may khaw jai" because there are so many details and so many things that are not logical about the way things work here in Thailand. However, I know that God is in charge and is working through this school. I know that God is my rock and my foundation. I don't always understand the way He works, but that's not for me to understand.

A verse that I have clung to since I heard it at church yesterday is 1 Corinthians 3:9-13:
For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work.

One of the songs that me and my roommates blast every time we are driving to and from any where, is "My Savior My God" by Aaron Shust. The lyrics have stuck out to us even more the past week as we knew that we were facing a serious situation regarding our school and our students and our lives here in Thailand. Again, "may saap, may khaw jai" . . . but "khop khun pra chow" . . . Thank you, Lord!

Lyrics to My Savior My God :

I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed, what God has planned
I only know at His right hand
Stands one who is my Savior
I take Him at His word and deed
Christ died to save me; this I read
And in my heart I find a need
Of Him to be my savior

That He would leave His place on high
And come for sinful man to die
You count it strange, so once did I
Before I knew my Savior

My Savior loves,
My Savior lives
My Savior's always there for me
My God: He was, my God; He is
My God is always gonna be

Yes, living, dying, let me bring
My strength, my solace from this spring;
That He who lives to be my King
Once died to be my Savior

That He would leave
His place on high
And come for sinful man to die
You count it strange, so once did I
Before I knew my Savior

My Savior loves,
My Savior lives
My Savior loves,
My Savior lives

Thoughts

- This is my 3rd blog post today but with limited interent access, I have to take advantage when I can :-)

- I walked into my room yesterday and caught a lizard sleeping in my bed . . . I tried to explain it’s welcome to stay on the walls but isn’t allowed to be in my sheets but it ran away before I could make sure it understood my wishes.

- I didn’t expect this country to be so hot. Can someone check the thermostat fo reelz?

- I hate mosquitoes.

- I didn’t expect to have a student who has pig tails and the sweetest smile and the best arm I’ve seen on a Thai girl as she chucked a pencil sharpner at the head of a boy in front of her. I didn’t expect my reactions to be 1. laughter (on the inside of course!) 2. wondering if Thailand has an Olympic softball team and 3. oh, that’s not acceptable behavior. I guess my reactions will be altered appropriately as I become a more mature teacher. Hehe

- I didn’t expect to enjoy taking daily showers without a hot water heater . . . I guess this coincides with the not expecting this country to be so hot comment.

- I hate red ants.

- I wasn’t expecting my student to pull out a packet of spices that you put in Thai Roman Noodle soup when I asked what he was hiding. Turns out it’s his idea of a treat . . . pours a bit in his hand and licks it up. Hmmm, I decided not to discipline him . . . if he wants to burn his tongue with spices, that’s his choice. LOL.

- When we drive down the road, I’m not surprised anymore to see an elephant being led alongside a main road

- I love praying and singing with the Thai teachers every morning before school.

- I hate mosquitoes and red ants.

- I love these children whom God has surrounded me with. This doesn’t mean they don’t test my patience daily . . . it just means I am developing a deep love that comes with forgiveness, discipline and adoration for these kids.

More random thoughts to come!

The Faces of Love

a little girl that we ride to school and back with each day.
My new student

The child that hugs everyone all the time. He calls himself a monkey which he is because he climbs all over me.

Playing the "Don't Blink" game

playing badmitten. She is also a monkey. She's a climber.

such a sweet child.

My student who has only one volume (and I'll give you a hint, it's not quiet)

so sweet. Also in my class.

the child who had the spices in his pocket as a snack (see above posting).

Daniel, Gordon and Emily (all my co-teachers). Gordon refuses to smile in photos but I let it slide because he loves his students with all his heart.

Leonie and Kari - helpers for the summer - - - HUGE blessings!

one of my students who LOVES football.

The twins. The problem is that they are impossible to tell apart. Today, they are actally not wearing the EXACT same shirt. If I ever have twins, for the teachers' sanity, I promise not to dress my children identically. Luckily, Emily is the one who has to tell them apart, lol. The principal suggested we ask the kid who isn't in trouble what his name is to get an honest answer, lol.

I encourage students to stick out their tongues at me, is that wrong?

1st and 2nd grade girls. Adorable.

Good bye Kalena and Tessa. I will miss you!

Seriously, this time, I really am going to miss you!

Simplicity

We have been going to a church in Chiang Mai for the last month and love it. The church is called Abundant Grace and it is a bilingual church. Every song is sang 2x, first in English and second in Thai. The announcements are done in Thai and translated in English. The sermon is given in English by the pastor (I am told he’s from Singapore) and is translated into Thai by the pastor’s wife (who is Thai). A majority of the church body is made up of Thai people, maybe 20% of the church is foreigners. The pastor is very whitty and makes a lot of jokes which I enjoy, but most of all, this is a church with a passion for sharing Christ. Another thing that I love about the church is that the children’s home that ½ of our children from the school live, attend Abundant Grace also and seeing them before and after church is such a joy. Love those kids. Honestly, they each own a piece of my heart (which is okay since I know that God wants me to feel that way).

Yesterday's sermon really stuck with me and I decided to share a bit of it.

The title was “The Power of Simplicity.”

The pastor shared that his son came to him and asked 4 questions this week:

Question 1: “Dad, how do you get a giraffe into a refrigerator?” His dad's amuzed and confused response: “ummmm, cut it into 1,000 pieces?” His son’s response: “NO dad, you open the refrigerator, put the giraffe in and close the refrigerator.”

Question 2: “Try this one, Dad, how do you get an elephant into a refrigerator?” The pastor is getting smarter and says “open the refrigerator, put in the elephant and close the refrigerator.” The son’s response: “NO dad, first you have to open the refrigerator, take out the giraffe and then put the elepahant in and close the refrigerator.”

Question 3: “Dad, there is an animal conference in the jungle and EVERY animal comes from all over. Which animal doesn’t make it?” The pastor’s response is an exhausted “how am I supposed to know that?” The son responds “dad, I told you that you put the elephant in the refrigerator, so it’s obviously the elephant!”

Question 4: “You come to a river and it’s a river known to be full of crocodiles. How do you make it across without being eaten by the crocodiles?” The pastor is tired of saying I don’t know but mutters an“I don’t know.” The son responds: “all the animals are at the conference, so you just swim across!”

I imagine in his own way the son gave his dad a "DUH" sort of response and went back to playing. :-)

The moral of the story? Kids think simply. As we get older, we tend to complicate things. A lot of times, we complicate things unnecessarily.

The more simple we become, the more effective we become. Extra baggage always costs you something extra (just like going to the airport and having too much baggage like I did on my way to Thailand, hehe). It’s better to walk in the power of simplicity.

Simplicity allows us to:
focus better
be more creative
produce greater and lasting results
eliminate unnecessary stress.

Moving here has “simplified” my life in some ways where I have learned to live more simply. However, my schedule is not simple at times. I am reminded to try not to over complicate things and keep them in their most simple, purest form. Being surrounded by kids forces me to do this as I have to keep things simple when I try to teach. However, I find freedom in the simplicity of things. I feel more creative and more driven when I step back, de-clutter my thoughts and focus on what God has me doing right now and what my purpose is: to show Christ to these children.

I know that simplicity can be a simple thought but it’s a thought that is often forgotten and covered in cobwebs and seems to become complicated.

I hope that this inspires you to take a moment to simplify your life :-).

A Few More Pics

This is a picture of a group of us who played volleyball the other day at one of the foster homes who sends 3 of their 9 foster girls to our school. The man behind me and to my left (the only guy in the pic) is the house dad and the house mom is the lady on the far right. Such a great family.



Is it hot in this country? A picture is worth 1,000 words.

Seriously, so hot and humid.

A beautiful sunset in a beautiful country.

When we went to a cultural dinner and show with some friends.

Emily and I at the night market enjoying a chocolate coated apple piece. I says "apple" on it ... I am thankful for the label because I wouldn't be surprised if they chocolate coated fish or pork or something! lol.

The roomies after church at a Vietnamese place . . . mmmm.

So, all my pics are of fun things we do . . . but please keep in mind that we work a lot more than we play! I'll try to get more pics of us working so you believe me, haha.

Random

I live in a very random country.

We went to a buffet the other night. I felt like I was at the Flying W Ranch as we were in this open but covered eating area where we sat on picnic tables and had little tin grills at each table where they would bring fiery coal to heat our tin grills and grill our meat while we had tin kettles of scorching water to fill the sides of the grill to boil veggies and such. So, the smell of campfire smoke and tables made me felt at home. Random.
Also, in the midst of the buffet where there are dead crawling things to grill, a million types of tofu, vegetables and fruits I couldn’t identify along with vegetable jello . . . there was pizza (granted it was spicy and had shrimp so it still counted as Thai food) and there were French fries in the middle of the buffet. Random.
A lovely assortment of doughnuts for dessert. Random.
There was a Thai band playing on stage (not similar to Wrangler music though – we’re no longer feeling like we are at the Flying W), we are sitting next to a big screen where Thai soap operas are being projected and granted if I did speak Thai fluently, I still couldn’t hear what they were saying because of the music. I was intrigued by the soap operas. My friend made a true statement that the Buddhist culture (which Thailand is 98% Buddhist) teaches to hide a lot of emotion and suppress it. So, when Thai’s act and have to show emotion – a lot of them overdo it and it makes me laugh out loud. Hilarious. But this is our entertainment at the buffet. Random.
Even though this is an all you can eat buffet, if you don’t eat all your food, they weigh it and charge you extra. Random.
We are walking to our cars and as we come up on the stage where 1 Thai guy was playing his guitar, I realize I recognize the song – he is singing a Greenday song in English. Random.
When you go to your car, there is a man who is paid to stand there and shine a flashlight on your vehicle so you can see where to put your key. Courteous, but still Random.

Other randomness? I have a new student in my class. She just showed up the other day. She is from one of the children’s homes. I didn’t know that she was my student until I cranked my neck while singing the National Anthem to see who this unidentified child was that was lined up in the 4th grade line and I had about 2 minutes before going to class to figure out if I was supposed to teach this child or not. Long story short – she is a new student and now is my 9th child. I am trying to get over the fact that I loved that I had 8 students 4 boys and 4 girls – the perfect number to divide in 4 groups or 2 groups or boys vs girls. I was getting used to counting 8 heads and making sure my head was still on at the end of the day. However, I quickly got over my selfishness after meeting Poompui. My new student who doesn’t speak a lick of English. Haha. She fits into our class well. She has the best big-teeth smile and sports her pigtails like she was born with them. She is beautiful. She also loves to hug me. I love hugs but there is a downside. Why is this a downside you may ask? Her height puts her exactly at eye level with my belly. Apparently my pudgy middle intrigues her and she’s turned my stomach into her new toy. While I have to get over my pride and my hurt of having a child constantly poke, prod, squish and jiggle my stomach, I have to laugh. I have to laugh at this child who finds one of my biggest insecurities to be her new fun activity. I have to laugh over the fact that I’m here in the middle of the hottest country (in my opinion at least) - - - by the way, some one should tell the authorities that the air conditioner is broken in this country - - - and I am teaching for the first time in my life and teaching children who struggle to know what I’m blabbing about. I have to laugh at the quirkiness of my 9 students – Arm, Bless, Boonyoung, Dao, Git, Pang, Poompui, Quan and Ying. I have to laugh as nothing usually goes as planned whether it be in school or just in life here in Thailand. I have to laugh at everything random that comes my way. I laugh a lot here and this makes me smile. I’m so glad our God has a sense of humor. I know I’m here for many reasons, but today I am enjoying the laughter of the randomness.

A Few Pics

I have so many more pictures and will post more soon. I haven't taken a ton of pictures of the kids at the school because I am trying to be careful to make sure they see me as their teacher and not just as a friend who takes pictures of them all of the time. However, there should be upcoming opportunities where picture taking will be appropriate :-).

Joel and Marvel threw a surprise bday barty for Kalena. These are the 3 girls I live with. From left: Emily, Sarah and Misty.

At the 4th of July bash. Apparently I am very fond of Ronald McDonald. Not sure if it's his red hair, his makeup or his unique style of dressing. One will never know ;).

Eating . . . at Jerusalem Falafel in the middle of Chiang Mai. Haha.

Test driving our friends moped as we were trying to decide whether to purchase mopeds or a car. I think we have decided on a car but the moped is pretty fun . . . but then seeing how people drive here, it would be a bit scary.


Daniel is not dead, don't worry. Actually, I am taking his glasses off first before I turn him to his side in case he starts vomiting (hypothetically). At orientation, we had an all day First Aid and CPR training. I'm a pro now. I better not say that because if something does happen and I don't know what to do, I'll have to be held accountable to my "I'm a pro" statement. Scratch that, pretend I didn't say that.


This is not an inappropriate picture. The toilet seat is down. We are doing our laundry by hand. We generally do our laundry outside but we were desperate this particular evening so we decided the bathroom was a good as place as any.

I like this picture of Misty, Sarah and I. Sad that Emily isn't in it but she wasn't here yet :-(.

A Day in the Life Of . . .

I woke up this morning to my alarm (so thankful it was to that sound and not the chanting of the monks – still not used to the fact that I sometimes awaken with the sound of men’s voices chanting something unrecognizable to me as they walk through our neighborhood but sometimes it throws me off because it sounds like they are on my balcony – that would be awkward!). Anyway – I had the intention of doing my laundry this morning before church but selfishly was excited when I looked outside to see it raining because it means that laundry is not possible and I can lay back down and steel some time on the phone with my mom – one of my favorite things to do. It also gives me a chance to do a bit more writing as I often have to fight for time to write blog posts. I thought maybe I’d share what one of my days looks like - I picked Friday of this past week because it was truly such an awesome day!

Friday, July 17, 2009

6:40 – wake up exhausted but encouraged that yesterday was the best teaching day by far and excited to tackle today
7:20 – grab all my stuff (including my full cup of coffee) when I hear a roommate shout “they’re here” and run out the door to catch our morning ride (we get picked up by our neighbor Chot who lives down the street and is the house dad of a 9-girl foster home, he brings 3 of his girls with him).
7:21 – play “don’t spill the coffee” game as Chot goes over the endless speedbumps in our neighborhood and decide that chugging the coffee is the best option as I’d like not to stain all my clothes and scald my leg just yet this morning.
7:25 – pick up 8 more kids (making a total of 16 people in this “station wagon”) from another foster home.
7:26 – smile and reply to all the “good morning teachers” that are screamed in our direction
7:35 – say “kop khun kha” to Chot and get out of the car and make my way to my classroom as my kids come up to me and grab the things in my hands and take them for me (model servants! =).
7:36 – go to our morning staff prayer meeting as we sing songs (we sing in English as the Thai teachers sing in Thai) and then do consecutive prayer (sounds so cool when we all pray out loud at the same time in 2 different languages)
7:45 – watch the kids play outside until assembly and play the “don’t blink” game with Anne from 2nd grade who hunts me down because I taught her the game yesterday and now she wants to play it every free time we have, hehe.
8:15 - watch the kids in morning assembly as they sing the Thai national anthem
8:30 – head to the teachers’ “lounge” as I have until 10:00 to lesson plan while I see some house parents come in for the parents meeting and wonder which parents take care of which of my kids from my class
10:00 – hand held bell rung to let the kids know it’s snack time
10:15 – watch the principal take pictures with the kids and their house parents and see how many kids are assigned to one house parent and have mixed emotions as I am thankful that the kids have a safe place but wonder how much one on one attention that each kid gets (which I really don’t know the answer to so I’d prefer not to assume anything because the house parents in my eyes are heroes)
10:30 – work on an “about me” project with the kids as they take the answers to the questions they wrote yesterday and decorate them so we can laminate them and hang them up in the classroom
10:40 – wonder what is so hard about using pencil first and then marker . . . when I was kid, I didn’t want to mess with pencil either – but the kids need to learn to take their time, right?
10:41 – hide the markers and colored pencils so that students are forced to use just pencil and pretend that the comments mumbled in Thai are “you’re right, teacher, we should do what you say” as opposed to potentially “our teacher is mean and stupid.”
11:00 – break out the markers allowing the kids to like me again
11:15 – bust out the foam numbers to keep one of my students entertained because he finishes every assignment way before the other students (it’s partly because he’s a hyper boy and not as meticulous about coloring and making things perfect like some of the other students)
11:16 – start giving my student long math problems, watch him solve them on the floor with the foam numbers, give him high fives as he gets every problem right and watch him laugh and grin from ear to ear every time he solves a problem and am thankful for his enthusiasm for learning (just have to keep all his energy focused on learning instead of disturbing the class, haha)
11:50 – finish projects, tell them all what a good job they did and head to lunch – remind kids to wash their hands
11:51 – eat lunch (noodles, some type of vegetables and some type of meat and not too much spicy sauce because the lunch ladies can see my albino non-Asian self coming and know that I can’t handle the heat ;) with the other teachers and kids.
12:20 – watch the kids play
12:40 – break up the 4th grade class in 2 groups and take 1 group for 45 minutes while Kruh Nida (the 4th grade Thai teacher) takes the other group and we work on learning things that each group needs more work on. Letter bingo is involved.
1:30 – fun reading, read the whole class a Bearenstine Bears book . . . so fun
2:15 – switch teaching groups
3:00 – give all kids a Starburst (thanks to my care package from my fam J) for participating so well
3:01 – realize these children have never eaten a starburst
3:02 – laugh as the kids eat this thing their teacher says is a “Starburst” – wish I had pictures of some of their faces, they were not sure what to make of it. Lol
3:15 – school is over
3:20 – jump in the car with 11 sweaty children and head home
3:40 – entertain a few of the foster children (taught them the dot game) as their house dad makes some repairs around our house and explains how to take care of some of the things that apparently he thought we were neglecting
5:00 - Emily and I head to the club house about a 10 minute walk away as Misty and Sarah have their language lesson. Write about the snake story on my blog and smile.
7:00 – walk home ready for dinner
7:08 – walk by the foster home as it is on the way to our home and see that our roommate Sarah and Ying (one of my 4th grade students) are in a heated ping pong match
7:10 – sit down with the kids, watch ping pong, play the “don’t blink game,” laugh hysterically
8:00 – with weird fruit in hand (as gifted by the family), make a plan to come play volleyball Sunday night with all 9 kids
8:05 – use our 2 burner gas stove and make a delicious pasta dish
8:30 – fat, dumb and happy J
8:45 – take a shower with no heated water and smile that cold water is the perfect temperate to shower with in this ridiculous heat
9:00 – gather around the table with roommates and watch a movie as we make flash cards to help ourselves remember our Thai vocabulary
11:30 – go to bed and thank God for such an awesome day.

Every day is an adventure. Some are much more challenging than others – but all are worth it. The Thai teachers teach the kids all day Mondays and Wednesdays and we English speaking teachers teach all day Tuesdays and Thursdays and then we tag team Fridays. Monday nights, right after school we go to Joel and Marvel’s for dinner – they invite the English speaking teachers over and their spouses (for Daniel and Gordon) for fellowship and prayer – such an awesome time and Marvel is an AMAZING cook so I often salivate thinking of Monday nights ;). Tuesdays after school is an all teacher meeting and then I meet with my IFAP (C&MA) group every other Tuesday for bible study and dinner. Wednesday nights after school, we have Thai language classes. Thursday’s after school, we have an all staff bible study at the school. Friday nights are “free” and Saturday mornings are Thai language lessons again. Sunday morning is church. Most of the time on our little free time we do have, we are still doing extra lesson planning, personal language study, getting to the internet connection, grocery shopping, doing laundry by hand, cooking, or taking a nap (usually much needed). Haha. But I love it. It’s crazy busy but having 3 roommates with almost identical schedules helps so we’re all in the same boat.

I know this is where I’m supposed to be right now and I love that.

The Snake Story

I feel like I have so much to write about but then it's also jumbled in my mind and I feel as if it would take me hours to sort through my brain (contrary to popular belief - I do have a brain) to make even the slightest bit of sense. So, I will spare you confusion and instead, write about one of my favorite stories so far teaching here in Thailand.

We have a student with C.P. He walks with a walker and has a missing-teeth smile that can melt your heart. He uses the teachers' bathroom because it's the most accessible to him. One of our English speaking teachers (Daniel) was helping him get to the bathroom. The boy goes into the bathroom and thinks it's necessary to use the 2 bathroom locks even though Daniel is right outside waiting for him to finish. All of a sudden (and I am hearing this in muffled tones as I am lesson planning not far from where the scene is unfolding) the boy yells "Mr. Daniel, Mr. Daniel . . . there is a snake coming at me! Mr. Daniel, HELP!" Daniel is quickly imagining this huge snake coming out of the toilet in pursuit of our sweet student who can't get away quickly enough before his poor little butt becomes a meal for this slithering creature. Of course the bathroom door is locked so Daniel kicks the door open like a hero. He's ready to take action and quickly stops in his tracks and starts chuckling. All I hear is "ummmm . . . that's just a worm buddy." There is a worm on the other side of the bathroom floor about an inch or two long slowly making it's way in the boy's direction. I told the boy's foster father the story that afternoon and he just shook his head, chuckled and said "I am always telling him not to lock the door."

Every time I go to the bathroom and see the broken lock, it makes me think of the "snake" and of that boy and of why I'm here and I just smile.

I love my life! =) Thanks again to all of you who make my life here possible! I couldn't do it without your love and support!

Introducing . . .

MY CLASS!

I am the English Teacher of the 4th Grade Class at Mars Hill (a school run by Hope International Schools). I have 8 students - 4 boys and 4 girls. One girl didn't want to be in the video . . . she was a little camera shy :-). I will post pictures of each later. I love my students. They are totally kids and not always doing exactly what I ask but I guess that's part of being a kid. It's also a challenge when I barely speak Thai and they are trying so hard to tell me something. They are doing really well though with 2 and 1/2 days of ALL English a week!!! They warm my heart and I can't wait to spend the whole year working with them. There will be tough times for sure (I already have had a couple ;) but it will be SO worth it. All the kids from our school come from foster homes or orphanages that they call children's homes (where they have House Parents). All the students have their own unique personalities, backgrounds, etc. I love it, I love it, I love it. Remind me I said that once I come back and say I had a really bad day at school! :-) Okay, with no further ado . . . "Hello America" is a little fuzzy but I took it the first day I taught and I think the light behind doesn't help. There will be MANY more stories/pictures/videos to come of them all. :-)

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!