A day at the market

I'm sure many people have been to a flea/outdoor market at some point. The weekend market Sarah and I went to yesterday was like none other! Oh my goodness! It never ended! Sarah and I walked for 3 hours and barely touched one part of it. Here's what it looks like inside one aisle. It keeps going and going, and going and usually it's like a dance trying to work your way around all the people. Sarah bought some postcards and I got a couple framed pictures of pressed flowers. I bartered a couple other times, but the people wouldn't come down enough on the price so I didn't get it. You can get literally anything at this place though, home decor, garden products, clothes, accessories, electronics, food, pets, paper products, candles, incense, silk. All of it you barter for and it's really inexpensive too.

Celebration!

Phew! Module 1 of Thai Language is finished. Sarah and I had our oral and written tests today, and both did fairly well. To celebrate we went to Swenson's and got an oreo ice cream sundae. Mmmmm-good! Then we went on an adventure with the Hedtke's. We really haven't explored too much yet so it was nice to learn about the subways there. We went to a place called Esplanade. Here's the Ronald McDonald outside. Basically, a glorified shopping-mall near the Thai Cultural center. There they have an indoor bowling alley, skating rink and movie theatre. We saw the movie Bangkok Dangerous which was awful (Thanks for the warning Ryan T. ;). If you haven't seen it, just don't. We ended the night with some Italian food, which was super good as well. Now that we know where the subway system is, hopefully Bangkok will be more open for us to explore, otherwise we would probably find ourselves hopelessly lost :(

Grrrr....

Ok, so this might just be a minor vent, but since it has caused me to literally have a headache right now, and has slightly inconvenienced other people I thought I would include this as part of what's going on. Working on week 4 and I still don't have internet access! At first it wasn't much of a problem; I figured I could survive without email for a couple weeks. Now though, I have gotten so far behind in my responses, I don't know when I'll ever catch up. Plus, I have a to-do list that keeps doubling every week it seems! For anyone that has sent me something in the past month, I sincerely apologize for not responding sooner. Half of my Gmail is starred so I can get back with you as soon as possible. Today, we went to the office and I was able to send 4 emails then copy about 12 into a word document so I can respond offline then paste my responses in email the next time I'm online. For now, I'm at least thankful that I can get online at the office instead of being stranded for who knows how long. In other news, I have a 2 hour test tomorrow to finish module one of Thai language school. This has also added to my stress and headache, though unnecessarily I'm sure. To top things off, I just tore open a packet of instant apple cider mix to enjoy and help me relax and it instead exploded all over the floor. Right now I just need the power to go out so I can't do my homework, and then I will call it a night and go to bed. In all seriousness I find solace in the hope that "joy cometh in the morning". Goodnight.

Pride goeth before THIS Aunt!!

Here she is folks! The first pictures I've received of Ariana Grace Williams, my first niece (that's right they changed her name again!! I think it's so neat this 3-D ultrasound imaging. I don't know I think she has Becky's nose! LOL Please keep my sister Becky and Anna in your prayers, as their doctors have been closely monitoring her pregnancy due to some major difficulties. Our family breathed a bated sigh of relief when Anna made it past 12 weeks. The doctors are anticipating her to go full-term now, if not just a few weeks early with a due date of December 1st. We are all very excited for this arrival, including Marshall who can't wait to be a big brother. Mom (Grandma Karkan) plans to call her by her middle name Grace as she believes by grace she will safely be received. I am sad I will not be able to see her or hold her when she is born, but regardless I will strive to be the best Aunt ever, even from the other side of the world.

Sauna!

That's right folks, a little over two weeks after moving in and Sarah and I discovered that our apartment complex has a traditional Finnish sauna. I was pretty much stoked, and today since we found ourselves with nothing to do by 7:30pm Sarah and I ventured to try it out. Let me just say it was wonderful, and just how I remember it from my visit to Finland. It included throwing water and everything. I think they prefer people that use it to go in their birthday suit, but we decided against that and wore towels instead. It proved to be the perfect way to take a break after a long day, and now that we know that it's there we want to be able to use it maybe weekly while we live here.