Ubon Ratchathani

So I'm here in Ubon. I have been for the past couple of days. Since I don't have wireless at my school, I've been coming to an internet cafe to stay connected with the outside world!!

I can't even began to describe the difference between here and bangkok. It's a whole different environment. So far, I'm loving it. It comforting to be away from the city and the pollution. Ubon is really pretty and the people are so friendly. For the past couple of evenings, Erin and I have been hanging out at the park. It's really fun! There's so much going on, off to one side a group of break dancers showing off their moves, across the way numerous games of futbol are taking place, not to mention many other sports as well. There's even a fitness center with equipment and dance lessons. Erin and I sometime just sit and watch. It pretty interesting to watch cause there are several gay guys dancing and it's hilarious.

The school compound is really nice, the apartment where we are living up stairs is very spacious. Despite the ants and mostiqitos that we run into, it's a very nice situation.

Leaving Bangkok

Today, in a couple of hours I'll be leaving Bangkok for Ubon. So many mixed feelings. I'm going to miss everyone here, but i know this is a new adventure that God has laid out. It seems for the past week, every worship thought that has crossed my path has been about following God's plan, and going where He leads. Just like Jeremiah 29:11 says, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." I take comfort in that verse, I can do anything with God, He's one step of ahead of me always and forever!

Rayong Beach

Today the language school took the day off, and we spent the day in Rayong, Thailand. Typically this area is crowded with tons of beach goers, but today not so much; it being the off-season and all. I was so excited to finally get to go the beach in thailand!
We got up extra early and drove two hours outside of Bangkok to Rayong Beach. This trip as well as being a relaxing day away from the city, was also a spiritual retreat. Pastor Williams came along and had various short worship thoughts throughout the day. I felt so blessed to be away from the busyness of Bangkok.
A few of us decided to venture out into the gulf of thailand. For me it was quite of change from swimming in the cali beaches. The water was so warm, it was a nice change. After eating lunch, we walked around and took pictures. It was a fun getaway to have before leaving everyone for Ubon.

Freak Rain Storms

It's seems to be an everyday thing here. Right around 5 in the even or so; dark, black clouds start to quickly roll in. It happens so fast, one moment you can enjoy the Bangkok skyline, and the next it's hidden behind a mountain of grayness. Erin and I often wake up from our afternoon naps and realize it's not safe to leave because most likely it will start pouring when we lest expect it. Ahhh...the joys of nature ;]

Today especially was scary. I've never seen the sky that black, before sundown of course. And in a matter of moments, it's pouring. It doesn't even start with a drizzle this time, it's like a dam opened up in the sky. I hope never to be caught out in a storm like todays.

Yummy Birthday Cake!!

Tonight, Kim cooked us a wonderful American dinner; consisting of pasta, garlic bread, veggies, && salad!! Now that wouldn't usually wow me, but after just being here just two weeks I have been missing those foods. Especially salad!! It seems that salad isn't part of the Thais meal. Anyways after the meal, Kim had prepared me a chocolate cake w/ a candle for my birthday. It was fun to celebrate once again my birthday with these great people. Kim's 6 year old daughter Sierra, made sure she was right by my side as I blew out the candles and then she insisted she help me cut it. lol.

After eating way too much, we all watched "I Am Legend", and "Inside Man." I had so much fun spending another Saturday night hanging out with everyone. It made me think about starting next week, I wouldn't be able to do that anymore and I'm going to miss it so much!

The Ultimate Mall Experience

My first impression of Bangkok, Thailand was definitely a growing city with really bad pollution. But there's so much more to this lively city. I honestly thought I wouldn't many of the luxuries that I have living back in the States, but that's not the case here at all! I can pretty much get anything here just the same as if I were living back home. Bangkok's malls have and continue to shock me. They are so beautiful. Today we went and saw a movie for the first time since we arrived two weeks ago. And just let me say the movie theater is lot nicer than the ones back home. You actually get to select where you sit in the audience, and the seats are really nice (especially for the price you pay, the low, low price of 140 Baht=about $6). Another thing that is done before every movie, is the audience stands up and pays respect the King of Thailand, while is song his played. This idea of holding the king in the highest respect is seen throughout the country. It's really interesting to me, cause I feel as Americans we don't really hold anyone even close to the level of respect that the Thais do.

The mall itself is breathtaking. With every floor, something new to amaze you. I think it was like the sixth level, you can buy a ferrari (I have no idea how you get it out of the showroom). We took our sweet time going through the food court, there just too many places to choose from. But my favorite part was dessert. We ate at Swensons, which is an awesome icecream place.

After stuffing ourselves and watching "Dark Knight" we preceded to catch the public bus back to our apartment. When we boarded the bus, it's was actually empty for once. But by the time we got to our neighborhood, it was packed. Erin and I made our way to the door, and jumped off. It wasn't until the bus drove away did we realize we had gotten off a little early and the rest of our party was still on the bus. lol. But it was okay, we knew where we were, and preceded to walk to 7-eleven to stock up on snacks. Exiting 7-eleven came with a surprise, a typical thailand downpour. We tried our best to get back as soon as possible. I'm sure the locals had a good laugh at us. I mean two white girls running through the rain, soaked. It had to be a funny scene.

Side note: I think I've gotten way too comfortable "living the good life" here. And surprisingly I am more than ready to leave for Ubon. I feel like this has almost been a little of a vacation and I'm ready to have that mission experience that is intended for an SM. Hopefully I'll find what I'm looking for, with God's direction; of course.

Filipino Food && Karaoke

Ever since I arrived here in Bangkok, my co-workers told me about their tradition to go out for either Korean or Filipino food and sing karaoke. Now my first reaction to this tradition was fear. Haha. I'm not the singing in front of people kind of person. But tonight I even surprised myself. There we were enjoying some yummy food and flipping through a book of hundreds of karaoke songs. I'll admit I didn't just jump right into it...it took me some time to realize I really am comfortable enough with these people (who i've only known a week and half) lol. So anyways, I did it. I sang karaoke. Once I started I couldn't stop. The songs varied, from Spice Girl's Wannabe to Mandy Moore's Only Hope. But it was so much just letting loose with my new friends!

caterpillar freak out

Just now I was about to put more water on my birthday flowers...and i ran into a brown caterpillar!! I just was really angry at the stinky caterpillar crawling around in my flowers...that's not his home!! Haha. As soon as i freaked out Erin freaked out as well. So there we both were screaming at the caterpillar, who didn't do anything but keep crawling around in what he thought was his home. So Erin being the brave one (lol) took the flowers on the balcony, and I took a knife and flung it out of the flowers. I then preceded to fling it off the balcony. Who knows maybe it landed in some plants...i don't know. I just hope there's not more crawling in my room!! lol.

Adventure to Ayutthaya, Thailand...

Yesterday was the queen of Thailand's birthday, which also makes it Mother's day here, therefore school and work is cancelled. Seeing this opportunity to do something fun, the other SM's and I decide to take our first trip by ourselves. We decide to travel about an hour and a half outside of Bangkok (the current capital of Thailand) to a city called Ayutthaya which used to be the capital of Thailand before it fell to the Burmese in 16th century. Now this city is a modern town surrounded by the kingdom's old ruins.

Getting there was an adventure in it's self. We had to take several forms of transportation just to get to the bus station. And being in a foreign country the simplest thing like taking a taxi or asking for directions is often a trial. But fortunately we made it to the bus station without trouble. But when we got there we were so lost, thank God for the many people who spotted us out and came up and asked where we needed to get to. I think it's funny how much we stick out from the crowd here, it takes some getting used to.

At the bus station I saw a bunch of monks. Which isn't strange here at all, they're actually all over. But I had never seen one up close before, they absolutely fascinate me. Before we actually got the bus station I witnessed one on the corner by our school with his little basket. Apparently they come out early in the mornings and people bring him food and then the people kneel down while the monk blesses them. It was really interesting.

After buying our tickets for the bus, which cost all of less than $2 for a one way ticket, we piled into the bus and took the five seats in a row in the back. It was a fun trip chatting and playing cards. When we finally arrived in Ayutthaya we got off and were extremely confused on how we get to the ruins. There were many tuk tuk driver waiting at the bus stop to start picking up people. So we did what everyone else was doing and started haggling with the driver trying to lower his absurd prices. We ended up getting him from 200 baht to 160 baht per person for the whole day. It was pretty cool having our own driver, take us spot to spot. It helped being with someone who knows exactly where they're going, cause we had no clue what's so ever.

The first place he took us was Wat Yai Chai Mongkol. At first we tried getting in the gate without buying a ticket, but it didn't work, the guard soon realized and asked us for our tickets. We played dumb and then started back to the ticket booth. But we didn't give up that easily, we walked around the back and noticed that there was gate, unguarded so we simply went through it, and just like that we were in. lol. It was exciting...even though all we had just saved was less than a dollar. This Wat was amazing. There were so many buddha statues, all them draped in a yellow or orange cloth. Certain ones had offerings, things like food & water and incense are left at the foot of the statue. On one in particular, I noticed a cat eating the food that was left, I couldn't help but think that's funny.


All through out the day, our guide driving the tuk tuk, took us around to the different ruins. It was so interesting to be in place that used to hold so much power. And seeing it all really made me realize the distinct culture that Thailand has. We visited this temple with this huge golden Buddha. We had remove our shoes when entering it and there were a ton of people making offerings and praying. It was very strange to see this up close. After we were taken to a restaurant by the river. It was really nice, although the river was a weird brown color. Not something I would want to swim in or drink from. We order chicken fried rice, but we didn't receive that at first. Actually I'm not sure what we were brought, but it smelled fishy and looked extremely spicy. They soon realized the mistake and brought us our actual order.

After lunch we were pretty much tired out, but we still had one more stop: the reclining Buddha. This ruin was especially cool. I had seen pictures, but actually being there was even cooler! The tuk tuk driver then took us back to the bus stop and there we paid him of total of 800 baht. Later I was thinking about it, and I'm really glad we had hired him. Because I don't think we would have been able to do that all by ourselves. Plus the way people drive there is just amazing to me. They take such an initiative and they always are able to squeeze into any little space. There were many times where I doubted his skill but he always got through. It was pretty cool.

It turned out to be a great day! It was our first experience traveling alone as SM's and we had a great time. Even with our minor run in's with confusion, we always seemed to do okay! I'm so excited for the many more adventures that will occur in the future!!

Getting Close to Strangers on Bus 40

So yesterday was very interesting experience. A bunch of us decided to take the bus to the malls in downtown Bangkok. Getting there was no problem, we were in the comfort of air conditioned bus. After walking around and window shopping for some we sat outside admiring the beautiful thai mall. Within 10 minutes it started to pour, this was probably my first thailand downpour that I've experienced. We ran for cover in the adjacent mall, and soon after we decided we should head back. So we took the skytrain to our stop, but after that we needed to catch a bus or a taxi. We decided we would take a bus, now we really weren't sure what bus would take us back from there, so we hailed all them and then preceded to ask. Bus 40 said it would take us back so we boarded. I have never seen a more crowded bus in my whole life, we couldn't really even fit all the way. My friend, Arielle was practically standing in the doorway. It was so squished, there wasn't even room to get money out of my purse. After we paid the attendant, we made sure we looked out for our stop. And when we saw it, we prepared to jump off. The buses here, never really stop completely, which is what's scary about them.

After that short but tiring afternoon, Erin and I went back to our room, where I completely passed out until 11 o'clock. I woke up so disorientated, I didn't know how long I had been sleeping. But I soon forgot about that, and just went back to sleep!

Preparing for and Accepting Change

I have just completed my first week here in Bangkok, Thailand. It has been an amazing week. God has truly blessed Erin and I, it's so amazing knowing that He's taking care us even when we don't ask. So about a couple days into our stay, we find out we won't be staying here at the Bangkok SDA Language school, but instead we will be moving 12 hours away to another branch in Ubon, Thailand. At first I was shocked and it took some time to come to accept this change. But I realized I'm not in control and I should not try to be, God's leading our mission here and that's something I need to remember always. So at the end of August, Erin and I will be changing location to a smaller city in the northeastern region of Thailand. Ubon is about an hour away from the Laos border and near the Cambodia border as well. I'm really excited to explore another part of this beautiful country and the surrounding countries. Our adventure is never ceasing!

My 20th birthday, location: Bangkok, Thailand!

This last thursday I turned another year, but this year was special. Not only am I not a teenager anymore, I celebrated my 20th in Thailand! Did I mention the very exciting surprise I received...waiting for me at the school was beautiful bouquet of flowers from someone very special (it totally made my day!)

A bunch of us, took Bangkok's skytrain downtown, to explore the infamous thai nightlife. As soon as we stepped foot out of the skytrain's platform we were immersed into Bangkok's hustle & bustle. Vendors everywhere you turn, tuk tuk's asking "where you go, where you go?" desperately wanting you to ride in their cart; it was truly an interesting experience.
At one point in the evening, three of us split off from the main group and deciding to go exploring other parts of the city. We took the skytrain to two of Bangkok's malls. I've honestly never seen malls like these before, they were so amazing. Outside of one of the malls, there was art exhibit on display. EARTH FROM ABOVE was it's title. The photographs were just mind blowing. All of them centered on the concept of creating a better earth. After, we decided to try and take the bus back to our apartment. Luckily we found the right bus route and made it make in one piece.


The next day we got up bright & early to travel to the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. It was so cool, I had heard and seen pictures about this place, but it was amazing to actually be there! I can't get over how colorful everything is. Their fruit is amazing and not to mention cheap! It was really interesting to see the way people live on the river and how they make their living. It seems to be a very simple, calm way of life and yet the market place is very busy and loud. I absolutely love the people here. Their faces have such culture to them, it's so beautiful.


Before we actually got to the floating markets our tour man, stopped at an place with elephants! I was so excited, because I've been up close to an elephant before, and I've always wanted to! They are such amazing animals, so sweet and gentle. It's kind ironic to me that this massive animal is so loving and kind. At this place we fed them bananas, which they eat up quickly and even after they were all gone their trunk was searching all over for more. Seeing the elephants was so great, but it also made me a little sad, I hate that they are tied up all day, i just want them to be free!! lol. We also stopped at the Samphran Elephant Grounds & Zoo, where we watched a thai man and his transvestite assistant. It was really gross (earlier in the day we drove through the "black light district" which is known for their 'corner' solicitation and i saw countless women who went born that gender...yes very disturbing.) After that we watch an elephant show and a crocodile show. I could barely watch the croc show...i was so scared of the men in it. They would put their heads inside the crocs mouth...crazy people!



After our visit to the zoo, we went to a rose garden where once again they had elephants! There, we watched a traditional thai show, where they displayed traditional thai dancing. It was very beautiful! Our last stop was so random, but we stopped at jewelry showroom. I've never seen such extravagant pieces before, it was very cool! At last our tour was over...we were all exhausted. But it wasn't over, we still had to drive back which involved sitting in rush hour traffic for a very long time. I had so much fun being touristy. This is only my first week, I have so many more fun experiences ahead of me!! I can't wait!

Thailand: riding the green bus

Today I had my first experience riding Bangkok's bus system. I rode something called the "green bus" which apparently is infamous for being dangerous and scary. I first heard about the green bus from Erin, she was reading the handbook which was placed in our apartment, and there it specially said not to ride the green buses. Now we didn't know why, so when I was out today with a co-worker I asked her and she explained the story behind the green bus. Apparently, the drivers on these buses drive especially fast and don't tend to stop fully for exiting and boarding passengers. So today my co-worker suggested we take the green bus back to the school. So there I went, scared and nervous that the bus driver would drive off with half my body not inside the bus. Haha. but that didn't happen thank God, I survived.

Instead of observing normally at the Language school today, I had the opportunity to go to another kindergarten school in another part of town. My co-worker put me in charge of story telling. I had so much fun. The kids were so cute, and precious. I especially liked the cubby ones. lol. I know that sounds weird, but if you had seen them you would agree. At this school, the kids barely speak English, so as I was helping them they would just speak to me in Thai as if I understood. lol. And I would get a lot of "Teacher, Teacher!!" haha. But it's cool.

Tomorrow, I get to lead out in an English class for 6 ten year old boys. It should be interesting. I've observed them before, so I'm aware that they are very competitive and hard working. I'm really excited to see how it goes! On thursday I officially get to teach my first two classes, it's kind of cool cause it's my birthday!

After a long day of commuting through Bangkok traffic and tending to little ones, I came back and took a nap. But at some point, Erin freaked out about the scary black clouds that were forming outside our balcony. I have to agree they were massive and very strange. It looked as if it were going to pour, but it never did. And we ended up having a beautiful sunset. I love all the surprises my day is filled with. This is one never ending adventure!

Thailand: day three

So it's my third day in thailand, and i am just absolutely loving it here! the place, the school, the people, everything is making this experience so rewarding. when plans first changed from micronesia to thailand i wasn't too sure how it would go. i have realized that i am not in control so many times in my life. and this example is clear. God was at work here, it was always going to be thailand! that gives me comfort and assurance, He's always with me.

this picture of downtown bangkok was taken from the fifth floor of my apartment building right outside my front door. i marvel at what an interesting city i'm living in. i almost die every time i cross the street to go to work. haha. it's quite the adventure.

yesterday, i went shopping for the first time at store called BIG-C it's the "thailand walmart." i'm loving how much my american money is worth here, haha but i know if i think like that it won' last much. lol. i saw my first thai starbucks as well. didn't get to try anything, but soon i will (there's only so long i can go without, lol). the taxi ride back from shopping was a bit interesting. not only do they drive crazy, i imagined myself and erin alone not knowing how to tell the driver how to get to our apartment, it wouldn't be good. thank God another SM was with us, so he did all the navigating.

i just have this amazing feeling about this year, and i trust with all my might, that God will see me through it.

Thailand: it's reality!

i'm here! i arrived in bangkok, thailand yesterday. and so far i absolutely love it! i haven't done much, but still i love the environment! i have a really great group of SM's here with me, which is making the experience all the better!

yesterday, after only getting 4 hours of sleep Erin and i got up way too early. i wonder why we can't sleep passed a certain point (same thing happen this morning, hence the blog). anyways we went to church and met all the other SM's. after we all just hung out, and napped. later we went out for pizza, yes pizza.....haha it's actually good, just like back home! and went back and watch a movie at the school's director's house.

this just being my first day here, i already know this is going to be a great experience! everything is coming together. God is so wonderful and i know he's watching out for me and everyone here every second of everyday!