Beka & Stephanie come for a visit!

So apparently half of Asia goes on holiday for a week or two during Chinese New Year. This means that there are lots of parties, parades, and visitors. Families do stuff together, like worship their ancestors and eat etc. But what was most exciting for me was that I had two guests come to stay with me! There is just something great about getting to be a host, be hospitable and show of all there is to see of where you live.

Beka House, who I met at orientation, and Stephanie Roegner, who I met this week, are missionaries in Taiwan and they decided to spend their holiday here. Our first excursion was down on the river boats. We went to Wat Pra Pho which is the reclining Buddha. It takes up an entire building it's so huge! The next day they came to Hua Hin with us(Friday-Sunday), which we found out was a private resort, so they came to the wedding of our teacher also. When we got back-exhausted-we all got Thai foot and shoulder massages. Uhh, can I just say ouch!

Monday, we all woke up sore from Thai massage, but it was back to school for Sarah and I and then we went shopping, or rather they did and I went looking. We had movie night at my place where we watched The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It was very curious indeed.

Tuesday they flew to Chiang Mai to ride elephants all day and then on Wednesday we went back on the river and toured Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn). That was a hike-literally, but it was awesome. Here's Sarah, Beka and I climbing.

Following our excursion we decided to cool off and grab a cuppa at the Oriental hotel. All the tourguide books say it's THE place to go so we went. Imagine 4 girls in walking shoes, t-shirts and shorts/pants/capris, drenched in sweat showing up at a 5-star hotel asking for directions to the tea room. The bellboy with the funny cabana hat literally did a double take and looked us up and down to see whether we were dressed appropriate to go there. Reluctantly he sent us in the right direction. We had THE best seats right under the staircase on the right. The room was uh-mazing. There was even live music being performed softly in the background. When we looked at the price and realized there was no way in a million years we could afford the full-set for high tea we all decided to go a la cart and order tea with maybe a small dessert. We convinced ourself that it was all for the experience. Our conversation even included politics, finances, and social problems so at least we would appear to be cultured and civilized. (Stephanie also dared me to just eat the rock-sugar whole, so we did throw the civilized part out the window occasionally.)

For our last excursion, on Thursday night we determined to eat Indian food at the place Stephanie found out about. We headed back to the boats, only to find out after we got on one boat that it was the wrong one and we had no idea where it was taking us. We eventually found ourself on the opposite side of the river we wanted to be on, and way farther up the river than we wanted also. So we took a ferry back and got a tuk-tuk near the Grand Palace. Thankfully the guy new where Royal India was so we made it there without any more U-turns. Turns out the place was supurb! The food was delicious (first time for me having Indian food), and the cost was inexpensive, plus, we have another story to tell our friends.

The best part is that we get to return the favour to Beka and Stephanie when we visit them in Taiwan for the volunteer retreat in April!

PS Stephanie, I definitely used your pictures for this post, as I had none! Thanks!

A Thai Wedding

(One thing I have learned here, is that the Thai way of planning is not exactly the same as American planning. I have also learned that surprises are to be expected, if that even makes sense. )

In November Sarah and I were invited to the wedding of one of our teachers at the Thai language school we go to. This was really exciting. We not only knew the teacher (Jeerawat) but her groom Werner who is from Switzerland. In December I also found out that 2 missionaries from Taiwan were coming here to visit and stay with me! It just so happened that they would be here the same weekend we had the wedding. I figured-no problem- they can just come with us. It was held in a tourist location, so they could just hang out at the beach while we went to the wedding. WELL, 2 days before we left we finalized plans for how we were going to get there. Then the van was late when we were ready to leave. THEN, when we got to Hua Hin we pulled off onto a dirt road and stop in front of this big house(?), and we were like, "is this the hotel?"

It was indeed the "resort" which was actually really nice. It had a secluded private beach and the rooms were huge with massive beds, large veranda's and fancy bathrooms. Example:

Everyone went straight to the beach where the kids played in the water and I searched for seashells. My major panick was as I realized that this was a private place, and the only people staying there were wedding guests who would be spending their entire time together. Here I was thinking that I had committed this major faux pax by just inviting two extra people along to the wedding. The bride however said that it wasn't a problem at all, and that it was better for them, because it would mean they had more guests. Someone else even told me that it is normal for a single person to invite one guest with them. So Stephanie and Beka suddenly became our dates. That evening everyone ate, unpacked and Beka Steph and I even went to the beach for some star-gazing and contemplating-the-universe talk.

The next morning was also spent at the beach watching the sunrise and collecting seashells with Marta's kids. I know have an amazing collection of awesome seashells. (Grandma, I got some for you too!) By the time I got back to the house, it was a buzz of activity. We weren't allowed to do anything as the guests, so we just loafed around, ate breakfast, cleaned seashells, watched loads of flowers getting delivered, etc. Several of us hitch-hiked on a bus into town to do some shopping. Beka and Stephanie shopped for wedding atire, and the rest of us just shopped or enjoyed Starbucks! We saw a parade starting to celebrate Chinese New Year as well. When we got back, everyone got dressed and went to celebrate the wedding. I have learned that in Thai weddings, there is just a whirl of people all over the place taking pictures, standing around, talking, signing the guest book, and then all the sudden you realize that the wedding started, but not everyone takes their seat; some people just keep doing what they were doing.

The wedding was beautiful and all in Thai, so that means I didn't understand a large percent of it. There were many unique elements including a point where the bride and groom were presented to the other's parents who then presented them with a beautiful garland of flowers to wear around their neck. There were also 5-6 Pastors who stood around them and prayed over them. After they processed, the pictures continued and was followed by the reception which meant a never ending stream of food and a special greeting by the bride and groom who gave each of us our gift which was a porcelein jewelry box.

Several of us escaped the reception to do another night walk on the beach and then returned to play spoons. Phimjai (one of my teachers) decided to spend the night so she stayed with Sarah and I that night. The bed was big enough that all 3 of us fit easily.

We took advantage of our last morning in Hua Hin, and decided to go downtown for breakfast and try to see if we could go parasailing or horsebackriding. When we go to the parasailing place we discovered that they didn't actually have parasailing and they had 1 horse! Instead, Phimjai, Sarah, Stephanie, Beka, and I decided to walk along the beach which was crowded with sunbaked Europeans. Mostly we gaped at how little clothing people could wear and still consider it a bathing suit. I shudder to think of it! We ate lunch and hitched a ride with Werner and Jeerawat back to the house (7 people in a 5 passenger car!) then packed to go home!

What a short break, but so nice still. Here's some more pictures of the weekend!

Never Quite Caught Up

At some point in every blogger's adventure there is always the post that says "it's been a awhile since I last blogged, so I figured I would catch you all up to date...etc." Well, here you go folks.

If today were anymore hectic I would have thought I was back in college. Knowing that this week would gradually get more and more hectic, I was determined to remain positive when I woke up this morning. Despite 3 1/2 hours of homework on Monday, burning my hand with tea on Tuesday, learning 6 writing rules + exceptions today, my internet breaking, getting laundry detergent on my computer case, and not having my newsletter written yet, I would say that this has been a pretty great week. Last Saturday I got to NOT spend the whole day trying to memorize vocabulary and spend time with friends from school at Siam Paragon. We went to see the movie Australia in Siam's First Class theatre. It's definitely an experience to try at least once. The theatre only has like 30 seats which are all Lazy boys. It was sweet, and when the horses and cows stampeded across the screen the whole room shook!

Moving on...My apartment is now spotless and patiently awaiting visiting missionaries from Taiwan who are on break for Chinese New Year. I finally got a shirt to wear to my Thai teacher's wedding on Saturday. I am over the hump in Module 4. Module 4 by the way is all about reading and writing Thai. This is also the module where we learn all the rules and exceptions to the rules, so it pretty much makes everyone groan nonstop. I've decided I owe Starbucks my gratitude for giving me a peaceful place to do homework both in England and now in Thailand.

I got to see my new apartment and spend the afternoon with Dang on Monday. I also finally got to open my Thai bank account.

I read Foreign to Familiar this week and was very thankful for it (and for Natalie who gave it to me). Lately, I had been feeling the effects of culture stress. Manly, just feeling that doing anything here is time-consuming and stressful. Having to use a foreign language to do basic tasks is even hard. It's also annoying being stared at like an alien everyday. Seriously!

Oh well, so hopefully my internet starts working again soon. I know this was just a hodgepodge of information. I mostly just wrote what came to mind. There are a lot of things coming up, so I'll be sure to keep y'all in the loop!

Peace!

Back to School!

I can't believe Christmas is over already! Yesterday it was back to school. I was so excited to see so many new and also familiar faces. Even though we saw some of our friends on Christmas Day, I felt like I hadn't seen them in ages. My module 4 class has 7 students total including a new student Damien from New Zealand. We have only reviewed module 3 these first 2 days but tomorrow it will be all new as we plunge into module 4 learning short vowels and consonant endings, along with the numerous "exceptions" to every rule. So far, I am pretty positive, though I'll see you on the other side in 18 days to tell you how it went!
This month has many activities planned, including CWEFT training, a visit from missionary friends from Taiwan, and the wedding of one of my language school teachers! Like last month it will be over before I know it.
Just so you know, I just got all the pictures from our trip to Uttaradit over Christmas, so I should be updating this soon to tell you all about how the rest of December went. The pictures are up already if you want to have a look at them! Peace out!