sawadee ka!

Bangkok from the top of 'Golden Mount'

Howdy y’all!
Thailand has been great so far! I’ve met lots of Dan and Lora’s (the family that I’m here with) old missionary friends. They have been nothing but loving and welcoming to us! God has really blessed me with a great place to live, lovely Thai friends who can’t wait to spend time with us, and just a fantastically rich culture with little things I’m learning about everyday!
Random tidbits:
· Everyone’s confused as to what ethnicity I am. So far I’ve gotten Japanese, Korean, and Thai… not Chinese. Strange, eh?
· Tokyo was really fun… although I was only there for a few hours! I got my bum washed by a toilet and wandered around the shopping areas. There were panda bear baos! It says 'the steamed bun which did the form of a panda' ^_^ I’m so getting a Shu Umera eyelash curler replacement when I get back!
· I don’t have to be ashamed of looking in Fobby in pictures anymore… it’s odd if I don’t throw up a peace-promoting sign! ^_^V ~la
· Pee Gaye (‘older Gaye’), our Thai teacher, is taking us to Thai massages in a few days… although I don’t like massages, I’m willing to try this one. A bit scared though, it’s two hours long! (yeah yeah, I know I’m supposed to be on missions, NOT on holiday!)
· Pee Gaye and her family took us to “Korean” bbq yesterday, which is like the Thai version of Manna’s. OMG it’s insane! They had hot pot, a place to make your own Soom-Tam (a spicy Thai salad), ice cream, lots of meats, veggies, a station to boil clams, and lots more. And it was only 85 baht = less than $3!!!
· We wandered around Bangkok for a day before heading up to Chiang Mai… riding on tuk-tuks is not fun. Especially when busses fart in your face! We’re going to get motorbike lessons soon though! We missed the Grand Palace, but from what I saw (the tops of roofs), it looks beauuuutiful!
· The students are soooo fun! I love spending time with them. Thai people are probably the friendliest people I’ve ever met! It’s great how they laugh at my reactions to things (being “American”), and how cute they are whenever we talk! I taught them how to play Pabo, but they like to say ‘buffalo’, since it’s supposed to be a stupid animal. They’re just so lively and filled with joy! :D
· The food here is SO GOOD. I’ve tried something new at every meal, and nothing has been bad so far! It’s so cheap too! The Singaporean team also made us some real Sing food during English Club. I'm not sure what exactly it was called... It was really good too, but I felt odd eating little fishes with eyes on them.







Here we are at Dhi's church, where the whole service was in Thai! The people were really welcoming to us! :)


Erm… that’s about all I can think of right now… I’m off to run and get stuff for our Fourth of July celebration for the students tomorrow. Kris and I are hoping to host some of them at the apartment! Hope you have a good one with lots of fireworks, watermelon, and hot dogs! :9