Thai for a week...

So I'm finally able to take a few minutes to tell you about my week in Thailand. It was terrific, mostly because I was with my parents and finally able to see the places and meet the people that they know on a daily basis. The hardest part for me these first 8 months of having them gone has been not feeling a part of the everyday, day in and day out kinds of things because I couldn't visualize anything or anyone that they were talking about. It was the first time in my life that I wasn't intimately familiar with their surroundings. So I was able to soak up alot of their atmostphere in my week there and it helps.

I arrived Sunday about 9 hours ahead of my parents so their colleagues Brian and Lena picked me up at the airport and took me to Mike's for a burger - just about the only place you can get a burger! Then they took me to their home to shower and change clothes, and we were off to the Sunday market and it was quite an experience. Good for helping the jet lag, it kept me moving, but when we were done I was ready to sit. Lena bought some lights to use on their Christmas tree. Though they don't really celebrate Christmas, there is quite a large western population that do so there are a few places that have decorations to purchase, but compared to here, it's almost none. Mom said it was really hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner. It's just not in the air or in the people there.

So when it was about time for my parents to arrive, we drove over to their apartment (Brian had the key) and they arrived about 15 minutes after we did. We visited for a few minutes and then Brian and Lena headed home and we unpacked and went to bed. I did sleep well, though it was warm during the day, it cools off at night and I had a fan that helped as well.

We went to the office every day during the week. Mom is still trying to learn her new position and the week I was there was the last week that her predecessor would be there so she had some things to get answered, plus they are quite behind. I didn't mind, I got to meet and get to know all the office staff (especially all the Thai ladies that work there), I read my book some and then asked Mom for something to do to help her. So throughout the week and helped her with several tasks including some organization things to help her find paperwork in the future. The first morning we stopped for bagels at Smoothie Blues and an Iced Boom Chocolate at Wawee's. They normally do this about twice a week. The rest of the week we ate breakfast at home, but we did have another Iced Boom Chocolate on Friday! I love these things - it's kind of a cross between an iced hot chocolate and a chocolate shake, not as sweet as anything we have here, but a really good chocolate flavor and served with whipped cream on top. YUM!

Monday evening we went to eat and the Hong Tau Inn right around the corner from their apartment and it was my first introduction to Thai food (we had eaten lunch at a new Japanese place with the Thai girls from the office). It was very good - I'm so glad that there are quite a few dishes you can get that are not spicy. Tuesday for lunch we ate at their usual lunch place and then Tuesday evening we had dinner at a more western restaurant down near where they teach ESL in the slums. They were on a break that week, but Tuesday during the day we had had to go to the consulate for some paperwork and so then Dad drove me around a little bit and showed me where they teach and where they go to church. After dinner we went to the night bazaar and it was a little more crowded and in tighter quarters than the Sunday market had been. But there were many of the same things being sold. I bought some clothes and a few gifts. It was fun to watch Dad bargain with them with the little Thai he has learned - I think they have both learned a lot more than they realize!

Wednesday evening Mom and I went to have manicures and pedicures before we went home and had dinner at home. It was fun and something I had never done before. The total for me to have both was $10. If it was that cheap here, I could afford to get it done every couple weeks! Oh well. Then Thursday we were only in the office for a little over an hour because we went to take a cooking class. It was really tremendous! They started by giving us a tour of the market and telling us some of the differences in what they use that we don't have. Then we went on out to their facility, which was an open air place under a pavillion. It was really neat. They had some staff that did all the prep work, then they told us how to make a dish, then showed us, then we each got to make our own individual dish. It was all done in a wok and we each had our own over a freestanding gas burner. We made 5 dishes in the morning and ate them for lunch. Then we did 3 more dishes in the afternoon and they packaged them up for us to take home for dinner. It was a lot of food and a lot of fun! After a day on our feet we went across the street and had a 2-hour massage, which felt really great.

Friday we wrapped up early in the afternoon and then headed to Warorot which is another market area in Chiang Mai. Mom and I hit the jackpot on fabric places and we both spent the rest of the baht that Dad had on him! I got some fabric for a skirt and 2 blouses, 5 pair of pants, and 4 pair of shorts all for under $50 US. Mom got some for blouses and capri pants. When we wore out from being there we headed home. We took the "song tau", which literally means 2 benches but the westerners call them red trucks, which are similar to our taxis. When we arrived home I packed my stuff and then we watched a movie together before it was bedtime. Saturday morning we headed to the airport. It was really hard to believe the week was already over and was very difficult to go. From the time we left their apartment till I arrived at my house, was a total elapsed time of 41 hours - that's a really long trip. I did very well though and was able to sleep when I was tired.

Some overall impressions from being there are the friendliness and warmth of the Thai people. They really enjoy listening to you try to speak their language. They are grateful for any business you give them and will go out of their way to do business. Any westerner, no matter how poor, is rich compared to their standards. Many families have no car, only a scooter (which is actually like a small motorcycle) as their only mode of transportation. They are for the most part a people who work and live within their neighborhoods and don't venture far from them. I also learned that those people from hill tribes outside the city are not considered Thai citizens and there is much animosity between them and the Thai people, though they were all born and have lived their lives in the country of Thailand. I'm glad I went in the season I did, it would have been more difficult for me in their summer or rainy season, since I don't like the hot weather. However, I could also tell that overall it is a dark part of the world, these people need to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.