Summer is coming to Bangkok! I've been warned repeatedly that March and April (especially April) are the hottest months here, unbearably so. Two weekends ago was coolish and breezy, but other than that it's been getting increasingly hotter lately, and it appears there is more to come. The Thai schools are about to take their summer break, but here, I actually like working through the summer. If it's ridiculously hot, I'd rather be in my classroom, with its two big AC units (that the school pays to run) than out in the heat or at home where I pay for AC. It's too hot to vacation comfortably, even at the beach. Even now it's getting to the point where a walk of just a few blocks will leave you dripping and my hair flies into a ponytail if I am out of doors for more than a few minutes. Really makes me wonder why the Thai schools are on break during the lousiest weather of the year!
Such a contrast to Michigan where we break during the summer because it's the one time of year we actually can enjoy the great outdoors (with all due respect to my Uncle Bill and others who are only happy when there is snow on the ground, Michigan is indeed best in summertime). I plan to live the air conditioned life for the next two months, taking taxis instead of open air busses and living with higher than usual electric bills while I run the AC more often than not. But to live in the tropics and enjoy the sunshine without the sweat, it's worth every sa-tang.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Monday, February 27, 2012
A Method to the Madness
Some people in the world are really "good" at being sick- they don't complain and they just power through as if nothing were wrong. But let's be honest- I am not one of those people. When I am sick, I usually put my entire life on hold and lay on the couch (and often moan while I am at it) until I am better. Other people, many times the power-through-and-never-complain-people, seem to look down on me for this (perhaps it is the overly dramatic moaning...). Last week, perhaps against my better judgment, I decided to be one of those other people, and here I am, a week later, still feeling yucky. Instead of admitting "I can't do this" on my sickest days, I went on the field trips- and I even did my best not to complain the entire time, though I certainly wasn't 100% successful. Instead of canceling my fun skating outing on Saturday, I went, knowing it would be very tough to reschedule, and on Sunday, despite every fiber of my being wanting a nap, I stayed all afternoon after church for a bridal shower since I don't get to see my church friends very often (since everything happens downtown and in the evening when I am in bed). I loaded up on Tylenol, grabbed a few throat lozenges and powered through. Even though I slept for 12 hours Friday night and 9 hours Saturday night, it just wasn't enough. I'm exhausted, and still not quite over whatever this is, making me realize that perhaps my maddening resting might just be the best route after all, even if I often travel it alone.
Perhaps next time I get sick I will be content to be my lazy self, my sit-on-the-couch-and-sip-tea self, my rest-rest-rest-and-put-life-on-hold self, and not feel bad about it. And while I contemplate that, I am going to lay down and watch DVD's until bedtime or 8pm, whichever comes sooner.
Perhaps next time I get sick I will be content to be my lazy self, my sit-on-the-couch-and-sip-tea self, my rest-rest-rest-and-put-life-on-hold self, and not feel bad about it. And while I contemplate that, I am going to lay down and watch DVD's until bedtime or 8pm, whichever comes sooner.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
6th grade SALT trip
We wrapped up our SALT (see previous post for explanation of SALT) trip the past two days at Safari World and an elderly home. I was pretty grateful on Thursday that the Safari World trip didn't require too much out of the chaperones as my sinus cold was getting worse throughout the week. Our bus rode through areas with all kinds of wild animals, which were pretty cool to see, especially since I could see them from my air-conditioned seat on the bus. We went to a couple of shows at the park where orangutans and sea lions did tricks and then after lunch I gave my group a map and a list of the items in their photo scavenger hunt and told them when to be back. Meanwhile I sat in the shade and ate ice cream and chatted with one of my colleagues, and enjoyed getting to know her better. That's the nice thing about having good kids in a pretty harmless place- they get to experience freedom and I get to experience adult conversation.
Adult conversation was one of the main highlights for me of the three days. Teaching can be so isolating, and usually I have just 35 minutes a day at lunch where I get to converse with anyone over age 14. So being able to work more closely with a team and get to know some teachers that I never see in my daily routine was really fun. It is definitely more fun to have other adults around when the kids do and say ridiculous things. Plus, then you get to alternate telling them to sit down on the bus or to stay with their group or pick up their trash or stop kicking the seat in front of them. Much like single parenting vs. having two parents, the tag teaming and moral support mean a lot.
On Friday we went to a retirement/assisted living home where the students put on a talent show and then spent time interviewing the residents. I managed to have one short conversation with a woman (in Thai), though she was much more interested in telling me that she liked my hair than in actually talking with me. Another woman chatted away at me and didn't seem the least bit bothered by the fact that I didn't understand a word she said. I have a hard enough time understanding Thai when the speaker has teeth... The students did a great job being open and friendly and talking with the residents seemed to enjoy themselves as well.
Culturally, the idea of such a home is a bit odd in an Asian country. It is much more typical here for an elderly person to live with their children, and homes like this are few and far between. But as we talked to residents I began to get a clearer picture of why many of them lived there: they didn't have kids. I don't know if they never married or didn't have children or if their children had died before them, but it did make more sense to me once I knew that. That must be difficult for them, and all the more reason for our students to come and visit and spend time with them. At one point I saw one woman with the rapt attention of three of our boys, very expressively explaining something or telling them some story. I loved it. Those three don't ever pay that good of attention to me!
The students stayed at school until 7pm Friday night (yep, teachers too) for fun and games and wrap-up to the week. Luckily, by Friday evening my cold was beginning to improve a bit, though I'm still not at 100%. I survived SALT year one and didn't have to teach for 3 days and have a couple of four day weeks coming up.
Adult conversation was one of the main highlights for me of the three days. Teaching can be so isolating, and usually I have just 35 minutes a day at lunch where I get to converse with anyone over age 14. So being able to work more closely with a team and get to know some teachers that I never see in my daily routine was really fun. It is definitely more fun to have other adults around when the kids do and say ridiculous things. Plus, then you get to alternate telling them to sit down on the bus or to stay with their group or pick up their trash or stop kicking the seat in front of them. Much like single parenting vs. having two parents, the tag teaming and moral support mean a lot.
On Friday we went to a retirement/assisted living home where the students put on a talent show and then spent time interviewing the residents. I managed to have one short conversation with a woman (in Thai), though she was much more interested in telling me that she liked my hair than in actually talking with me. Another woman chatted away at me and didn't seem the least bit bothered by the fact that I didn't understand a word she said. I have a hard enough time understanding Thai when the speaker has teeth... The students did a great job being open and friendly and talking with the residents seemed to enjoy themselves as well.
Culturally, the idea of such a home is a bit odd in an Asian country. It is much more typical here for an elderly person to live with their children, and homes like this are few and far between. But as we talked to residents I began to get a clearer picture of why many of them lived there: they didn't have kids. I don't know if they never married or didn't have children or if their children had died before them, but it did make more sense to me once I knew that. That must be difficult for them, and all the more reason for our students to come and visit and spend time with them. At one point I saw one woman with the rapt attention of three of our boys, very expressively explaining something or telling them some story. I loved it. Those three don't ever pay that good of attention to me!
The students stayed at school until 7pm Friday night (yep, teachers too) for fun and games and wrap-up to the week. Luckily, by Friday evening my cold was beginning to improve a bit, though I'm still not at 100%. I survived SALT year one and didn't have to teach for 3 days and have a couple of four day weeks coming up.
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| The only picture I took at Safari World: Definitely something to be proud of! |
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| The lady in the purple pants really liked clapping along to the songs, though the guy in front of her kept nodding off :) |
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
The VonTrapp Family rides through Thailand
Today our team of 7 teachers took our 70ish students to Ancient Siam, a Thai history park just outside of Bangkok. It has all these replicas of sites important to Thai history and culture, and the park itself is shaped like Thailand. I think the replicas are even placed geographically throughout the park, though I am not really sure about that. In the past, they have ridden trams around the park with a tour guide. This year, however, we rode bikes. In the heat and sun. Except some kids didn't know how to ride a bike, so we needed two teachers to drive golf carts with those kids. Being the generous person that I am, I agreed to take one for the team and drive a golf cart, which was, of course, the highlight of my day. I have never driven a golf cart before, especially not when I'm trying to stay to the left, and definitely not one with swarms of students on bicycles all around me. Amazingly, I didn't hit anyone or anything, even the few times I had to throw that baby into reverse.
Even in the cart, I was soaked through by the time we got to lunch, but the kids seemed to have fun (we did a photo scavenger hunt throughout the park) even if they didn't read any of the information or learn much of anything. They were pretty cute tooling around on their bikes, reminded me just a bit of the scene from The Sound of Music when they ride bikes. The park map was pretty insane so we spent a great deal of time just being lost, but I think that was the norm for most groups, so I don't feel too bad. It could be a cool place to come back to with visitors if people are interested in the history and don't have time to go to one of the ancient capitols of Thailand, there were quite a few things I would have liked to see if I weren't keeping tabs on eleven 11 year olds!
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Observations From a Rugby Tournament
No English teaching this weekend because of the Bangkok International 10's Rugby Tournament: the highlight and biggest event and fundraiser of the year for Nak Suu. I decided to drop in for a bit this morning to cheer on the kids. To a certain extent, sports tournaments are all the same. There's an energy and buzz about them, and for those who don't know how the sport works, a definite amount of confusion as well. I, being used to skating competitions, was wondering what the schedule was so I wouldn't miss the kids games. At this giant round robin tournament however, there are cycles of 15 minute games playing all over all the time, so you just kind of have to go and see what you see. Since Nak Suu had three youth teams going (U-11, U-12, and U-16) I was able to see lots of games and each team play at least once. Don't know that we scored in any games, but we almost did in one U-12 game I was watching :) It made me miss skating competitions to an extent: the glory of participating, the merchandise tents, food vendors, and the like. Our kids played hard against much larger opponents. Thais are small to start with, and our kids are often even smaller due to the rough circumstances and poor nutrition in their lives. As the program continues and they learn more about the game they'll get better. At this point they looked a lot like a lot of youth teams in soccer or basketball who haven't yet figured out that passing is the real key to the game. I was impressed with how hard they played, even when they were outplayed or the other team didn't play real clean. And rugby is definitely a fun sport to watch, even if I don't understand it at all. It's fast paced and exciting and you can get the general gist of it fairly easily.
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| U-16 scrum |
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| U-12's in action. Love how the coaches are right on the field in the youth games, yelling and coaching all the way. |
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| The U-11's watch the older kids play |
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| Biggest fundraiser of the year for our program. |
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| I love the Thai numerals on their jerseys. |
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| U-11's lined up and ready for the equivalent of the kickoff. |
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| Yes, those are grown men rugby players in those outfits... |
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| My friend and I decided only a non-native English speaker would put PMS Club on the back of a red rugby shirt. |
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| Nak Suu fielded a men's team in the tournament as well. These guys actually won the game I saw :) |
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Good answer, but wrong question.
Language learning has its ups and downs. I remember when I was first learning Spanish there would be days where I felt like I really got it, and days when I couldn't put two coherent words together to save my life. There were times when I felt like I was learning a lot, and times when I felt like I was working just as hard, but not learning anything. The whole process felt rather magical at times. I went to this woman's home once a week, we spoke Spanish for two hours, I only studied occasionally in between, and magically over time I was able to speak Spanish. I can also remember multiple occasions where someone asked me something in Spanish and I responded, but then later when I thought about it, I realized I had answered a completely different question than they had asked. Oops.
Learning Thai is so far proving to be much the same. I have a one hour class with my tutor on Tuesdays and two hours on Thursdays. On Tuesday, I could hardly think or talk and was utterly incapable of producing Thai. Today, things went much better. I could mostly follow along and could respond and joke and laugh and tease. There are weeks I feel like I'm gaining a lot of new vocabulary, or weeks when I can tell I'm suddenly able to use vocab I know, and then there are weeks where I feel like I am stalled, not getting anywhere. There are times when the only words that pop into my head are bueno, entonces, y, así, and other filler Spanish words.
And, there are even times when I answer the completely wrong question. Right after school today I went to look at another apartment with one of the Thai teachers from school (this is not the apartment for me... still looking). We had discussed that I needed to be back in time for my Thai class so as we walked to the apartment complex next door she spoke some Thai with me (very slowly and clearly:). I understood most of what she said, but at one point she was asking me something about how long and I couldn't get the rest of it, so I figured it was how long my class is, since that's what we had talked about. So I answered that (and was feeling good about it) when really she had been asking how long I had been studying Thai. Oops.
I was pretty proud though that I even spoke any Thai to her. Usually I get way too embarrassed to speak with the Thais at school which is such a shame because most of them would probably really think it's great and they are a great practice resource, just sitting there for me every day. I keep telling myself I'll be ready to just talk any day now but then in the end I get too shy. Oh well, little by little.
Learning Thai is so far proving to be much the same. I have a one hour class with my tutor on Tuesdays and two hours on Thursdays. On Tuesday, I could hardly think or talk and was utterly incapable of producing Thai. Today, things went much better. I could mostly follow along and could respond and joke and laugh and tease. There are weeks I feel like I'm gaining a lot of new vocabulary, or weeks when I can tell I'm suddenly able to use vocab I know, and then there are weeks where I feel like I am stalled, not getting anywhere. There are times when the only words that pop into my head are bueno, entonces, y, así, and other filler Spanish words.
And, there are even times when I answer the completely wrong question. Right after school today I went to look at another apartment with one of the Thai teachers from school (this is not the apartment for me... still looking). We had discussed that I needed to be back in time for my Thai class so as we walked to the apartment complex next door she spoke some Thai with me (very slowly and clearly:). I understood most of what she said, but at one point she was asking me something about how long and I couldn't get the rest of it, so I figured it was how long my class is, since that's what we had talked about. So I answered that (and was feeling good about it) when really she had been asking how long I had been studying Thai. Oops.
I was pretty proud though that I even spoke any Thai to her. Usually I get way too embarrassed to speak with the Thais at school which is such a shame because most of them would probably really think it's great and they are a great practice resource, just sitting there for me every day. I keep telling myself I'll be ready to just talk any day now but then in the end I get too shy. Oh well, little by little.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Steel Orchid: Off to the movies!
I headed out after school today well prepared. I had changed into jeans, grabbed a warm sweatshirt, put a pair of socks in my purse, and I was off: to the movies. I had heard that the theaters here were cold, and it did not disappoint. By the end of the movie, my nose was numb. If I ever start missing the chill of Michigan winter I can save myself the airfare and go to a theater. The theaters here are very nice, and if you want to pay more, there are even luxury recliners you can sit in. One thing that was different here was that you select your seat when you buy your ticket. At first I was a bit surprised and not sure what she was asking me. But it really makes sense. Seats were assigned in the order that the tickets were purchased, and you could sit with your group if you came with a lot of people. With only about 8 of us in the theater today, that wasn't an issue, but I can see how it could be and assigned seats would be a nice feature. Before every movie in Thailand, between the previews and the actual film, the king's anthem is played, which everyone stands for. I really liked the pictures of the king's life that they showed during the anthem and the people's love for their king was evident- it gave me chills (and yes, it was the song and pictures, not the AC). At long last I settled into my seat, leaned back, and the show began.
Just what movie had enticed me to the theater on a Monday afternoon? The Lady, the biographic film about Aung San Suu Kyi. It's rare that I go see a movie (about once a year) and is almost always for a specific movie, and not just to see something. The Lady did not disappoint. Even though I have been reading a lot about her since my trip in November, I still knew very little about her life before her house arrest. I knew she was the leader for democracy in Burma, but I didn't know why. The movie, like Hotel Rwanda last week, brought me to tears on several occasions, but despite the loss and grief, it also inspires hope.
One thing that really struck me was the depth of the sacrifice that she and her family had to make on behalf of so many Burmese people. There were many periods of painful separation from her husband and sons. It reminded me about several verses from the Bible, about leaving behind family and friends to follow Jesus. It reminded me that missionaries throughout the world go through painful separation from family and friends on behalf of many people in many nations. And, it reminded me that many times the struggle is even greater for those who are left behind.
So I definitely walked out of the movie wanting to hug my family and hold them a little closer from this side of the world. But I also walked out with a spirit in me to keep on keeping on. To keep on doing what God has called me to do- teaching my students in both mathematics and the love and knowledge of God, to keep on empowering at risk children by teaching them English, to keep on working for justice in this world in whatever small ways that we can- a voice for the voiceless. Wherever you are today, I encourage you to continue to fight for true freedom and justice for those around you. As my dear friend likes to quote, we can not do everything, but we can each do something. And maybe make one of those somethings going out and watching The Lady. It's a pretty good place to be inspired.
Just what movie had enticed me to the theater on a Monday afternoon? The Lady, the biographic film about Aung San Suu Kyi. It's rare that I go see a movie (about once a year) and is almost always for a specific movie, and not just to see something. The Lady did not disappoint. Even though I have been reading a lot about her since my trip in November, I still knew very little about her life before her house arrest. I knew she was the leader for democracy in Burma, but I didn't know why. The movie, like Hotel Rwanda last week, brought me to tears on several occasions, but despite the loss and grief, it also inspires hope.
One thing that really struck me was the depth of the sacrifice that she and her family had to make on behalf of so many Burmese people. There were many periods of painful separation from her husband and sons. It reminded me about several verses from the Bible, about leaving behind family and friends to follow Jesus. It reminded me that missionaries throughout the world go through painful separation from family and friends on behalf of many people in many nations. And, it reminded me that many times the struggle is even greater for those who are left behind.
So I definitely walked out of the movie wanting to hug my family and hold them a little closer from this side of the world. But I also walked out with a spirit in me to keep on keeping on. To keep on doing what God has called me to do- teaching my students in both mathematics and the love and knowledge of God, to keep on empowering at risk children by teaching them English, to keep on working for justice in this world in whatever small ways that we can- a voice for the voiceless. Wherever you are today, I encourage you to continue to fight for true freedom and justice for those around you. As my dear friend likes to quote, we can not do everything, but we can each do something. And maybe make one of those somethings going out and watching The Lady. It's a pretty good place to be inspired.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
My favorite soi dog
So, I think I have mentioned this guy before. He lives on our soi (street) and every single time I walk past him, he is sleeping. And, just like our dear Champ, he has a scar across his nose. Every time I walk past him I wish I had my camera, and today, I did happen to have my camera as I walked into 7-11 where he was sleeping right outside the door- one of his favorite spots. He wagged his tail as I walked up to take the picture, but didn't bother to smile for the camera.
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| Champ's Thai twin |
Tea and treats in toasty temps
First, my apologies for forgetting to take my camera anywhere for about a month now... I'll get back on that.
Second, I love living in the tropics. It's hot, yes. I get sweatier than I would like at time, yes. But with cascades of sunshine most days of the year (which I like to look at, but not necessarily stand in) and no need for sweaters or boots or long underwear or mittens or any of the rest of that stuff, I cannot complain. I love running errands in flip flops year round. I love the open air hallways of our school and my apartment building. I love green plants growing outside in February. Maybe in a few years I could start missing Michigan's winters, but not right now. Probably the only thing I miss about the cold is cute jackets, which you can't even wear in the depth of winter anyway because the cutest ones are never warm enough for the worst of it. I certainly hope that spring comes early for all of you- right as your weather starts warming up, ours will go from hot to hottest and maybe then I'll want to trade places with you :)
Today I am going to a tea room downtown with a friend who grew up in London. Last weekend we were both craving a proper cup of tea, so I was very excited to hear about this tea room. Of all my experiences from Scotland, tea has had one of the bigger impacts on my life (if you discount the fact that Scotland was actually a precursor to my moving abroad to teach). It wasn't too hard to get tea with milk in Argentina, and it's easier here than in the US (I just about gag every time they bring me a Lipton bag, though more and more places are starting to carry good tea and understand my request for milk) but it's still not real common here to be able to get it done right.
Tomorrow is my last Sunday of English teaching before I have a weekend off and then switch (I think!) back to Saturdays. It will be so nice to be able to go to church again- I miss it!
Second, I love living in the tropics. It's hot, yes. I get sweatier than I would like at time, yes. But with cascades of sunshine most days of the year (which I like to look at, but not necessarily stand in) and no need for sweaters or boots or long underwear or mittens or any of the rest of that stuff, I cannot complain. I love running errands in flip flops year round. I love the open air hallways of our school and my apartment building. I love green plants growing outside in February. Maybe in a few years I could start missing Michigan's winters, but not right now. Probably the only thing I miss about the cold is cute jackets, which you can't even wear in the depth of winter anyway because the cutest ones are never warm enough for the worst of it. I certainly hope that spring comes early for all of you- right as your weather starts warming up, ours will go from hot to hottest and maybe then I'll want to trade places with you :)
Today I am going to a tea room downtown with a friend who grew up in London. Last weekend we were both craving a proper cup of tea, so I was very excited to hear about this tea room. Of all my experiences from Scotland, tea has had one of the bigger impacts on my life (if you discount the fact that Scotland was actually a precursor to my moving abroad to teach). It wasn't too hard to get tea with milk in Argentina, and it's easier here than in the US (I just about gag every time they bring me a Lipton bag, though more and more places are starting to carry good tea and understand my request for milk) but it's still not real common here to be able to get it done right.
Tomorrow is my last Sunday of English teaching before I have a weekend off and then switch (I think!) back to Saturdays. It will be so nice to be able to go to church again- I miss it!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Travels ahead :)
I haven't blogged yet this week because I have busy doing two things: eating dinner with friends (each night this week so far, which has been fun) and buying airline tickets.
On Monday I was putzing around waiting to meet my friend for dinner so I perused airline tickets for this summer. I've just been fare watching lately. I've discovered that I can save significant money (usually) by flying to Chicago and then either getting a ride from my dad or taking the Megabus or Amtrak the rest of the way. In order to go to Argentina in July, I have two itineraries to book that need to be closely linked together on the return trip: ie, the times must fit perfectly. Short story is I had to book them at the exact same time to ensure this would all work. Well, when I looked on Monday one itinerary had dropped $300 since I looked last time and the other had dropped $100. Both were pretty good prices for the trips. I knew I had a decent deal on Buenos Aires, and was relieved to find out at school the next day that the Thailand-USA ticket was also a decent price.
So on June 3rd-4th, I head to Chicago via Korea.
On July 6th-7th I go from Chicago to Buenos Aires vis Panama and Peru.
On July 27th-28th I return to Chicago via Colombia and Panama.
Then the 28th-29th I come back here via Korea again. If all goes well, I'll have 12 hours on the ground in Chicago to go to my dad's house and shower and sleep.
My first day back at work is July 30th :)
Yesterday I also fulfilled a nearly life-long wish: I booked a ticket to Singapore. When I was a kid my parents worked with Asian Outreach, a group on UM's campus. We got to be very close with several students, and two of them even lived with our family at various times. One such student was Uncle Pong. He was from Singapore, so I grew up hearing about this far-away magical island where is was always hot and the food was delicious. And at the age of 8 I decided that someday, I was going to go there. Uncle Ping's girlfriend came to visit while he was in Ann Arbor, so we got to know Aunt Choon as well. So at the end of March, I am flying to Singapore for 4 days to spend time with Uncle Pong and Aunt Choon and their four kids (teenagers by now) and to experience the wonder and magic of Singapore. Obviously, from an adult perspective, I know that Singapore is not magical, but I do know it's a great place to visit and I can't wait to go!
Tonight, no dinner with friends or airline tickets. I'm feeling kind of under the weather- there's a major bug going around school, so I came home a bit early from school and slept for an hour. I'll heat up some leftover Issan (northern Thai) food from Tuesday and relax and skype with my mom before an early trip to bed. I hope I don't get this as bad as everyone else...
On Monday I was putzing around waiting to meet my friend for dinner so I perused airline tickets for this summer. I've just been fare watching lately. I've discovered that I can save significant money (usually) by flying to Chicago and then either getting a ride from my dad or taking the Megabus or Amtrak the rest of the way. In order to go to Argentina in July, I have two itineraries to book that need to be closely linked together on the return trip: ie, the times must fit perfectly. Short story is I had to book them at the exact same time to ensure this would all work. Well, when I looked on Monday one itinerary had dropped $300 since I looked last time and the other had dropped $100. Both were pretty good prices for the trips. I knew I had a decent deal on Buenos Aires, and was relieved to find out at school the next day that the Thailand-USA ticket was also a decent price.
So on June 3rd-4th, I head to Chicago via Korea.
On July 6th-7th I go from Chicago to Buenos Aires vis Panama and Peru.
On July 27th-28th I return to Chicago via Colombia and Panama.
Then the 28th-29th I come back here via Korea again. If all goes well, I'll have 12 hours on the ground in Chicago to go to my dad's house and shower and sleep.
My first day back at work is July 30th :)
Yesterday I also fulfilled a nearly life-long wish: I booked a ticket to Singapore. When I was a kid my parents worked with Asian Outreach, a group on UM's campus. We got to be very close with several students, and two of them even lived with our family at various times. One such student was Uncle Pong. He was from Singapore, so I grew up hearing about this far-away magical island where is was always hot and the food was delicious. And at the age of 8 I decided that someday, I was going to go there. Uncle Ping's girlfriend came to visit while he was in Ann Arbor, so we got to know Aunt Choon as well. So at the end of March, I am flying to Singapore for 4 days to spend time with Uncle Pong and Aunt Choon and their four kids (teenagers by now) and to experience the wonder and magic of Singapore. Obviously, from an adult perspective, I know that Singapore is not magical, but I do know it's a great place to visit and I can't wait to go!
Tonight, no dinner with friends or airline tickets. I'm feeling kind of under the weather- there's a major bug going around school, so I came home a bit early from school and slept for an hour. I'll heat up some leftover Issan (northern Thai) food from Tuesday and relax and skype with my mom before an early trip to bed. I hope I don't get this as bad as everyone else...
Sunday, February 5, 2012
God Wins: thoughts on genocide
I'm not a huge movie person. There are essentially two kinds of movies I like: based on a true story and based on a Jane Austen novel. This evening I watched one of the former, Hotel Rwanda. On Friday I borrowed a copy from a friend and after a hot day at Nak Suu today I decided to relax in the AC and watch it. Several years ago I read Left to Tell by Immaculée Ilibaguza (which I believe is currently in the Collins library) and it left a deep impression on me. So on my flights here in January I read We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families by Philip Gourevitch (which I will return to the Collins library in June). Both books deal with the horrific events of 1994 which are the root cause of horrific events in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today. When I was job searching a little over a year ago Kigali was one of the cities receiving serious consideration. All this to say, this is a movie I've been wanting to see for a long time.
If you haven't seen the film, I highly recommend it. Tears flowed freely at several points as I watched the grief and loss of families torn apart not just by war, but by genocide. What strikes me the most when I read about what happened in Rwanda, or in Cambodia or any other number of places, is that the rest of the world knew what was going on- and did nothing- even after the lessons from the Holocaust (did we really learn anything from that?). As Edmund Burke famously said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." But even as I type that I realize how complicated that is for foreign governments, and how frequently UN peacekeepers are quite useless.
Sometimes I wonder, what is going on in the world today that we know about, yet are doing nothing? Several places come to mind that are in the midst of terrible conflict, some with spokespeople or intervention and some without, but it all makes me so grateful that God is a God of justice. No matter how many tears I cry- at the atrocities in memoirs or movies or in the news or in my own city- they are nothing compared to the tears that he cries. Honestly, if I didn't know that God wins, that he knows and sees all things and that he will come for judgement, than I don't think I could live in this world.
Everywhere you look there is suffering- it crosses the boundaries of race and nationality and class and religion. I see heartbreak and poverty every day on the streets of Bangkok. I saw it on the streets of Detroit. Every church, temple, mosque, or synagogue on planet earth if full of hurting broken people. And yet, God offers us hope, and that is why I can learn about all this stuff and still get out of bed in the morning. God wins. That's the bottom line. God brings justice to Rwanda, to Cambodia, to the streets of Syria and Egypt. I need to do all I can to fight and stand for justice now, but rest assured, what we cannot see, God can. What we cannot avenge, he will. On the last page of the book, when the last word of the story has been written, God wins.
If you haven't seen the film, I highly recommend it. Tears flowed freely at several points as I watched the grief and loss of families torn apart not just by war, but by genocide. What strikes me the most when I read about what happened in Rwanda, or in Cambodia or any other number of places, is that the rest of the world knew what was going on- and did nothing- even after the lessons from the Holocaust (did we really learn anything from that?). As Edmund Burke famously said, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." But even as I type that I realize how complicated that is for foreign governments, and how frequently UN peacekeepers are quite useless.
Sometimes I wonder, what is going on in the world today that we know about, yet are doing nothing? Several places come to mind that are in the midst of terrible conflict, some with spokespeople or intervention and some without, but it all makes me so grateful that God is a God of justice. No matter how many tears I cry- at the atrocities in memoirs or movies or in the news or in my own city- they are nothing compared to the tears that he cries. Honestly, if I didn't know that God wins, that he knows and sees all things and that he will come for judgement, than I don't think I could live in this world.
Everywhere you look there is suffering- it crosses the boundaries of race and nationality and class and religion. I see heartbreak and poverty every day on the streets of Bangkok. I saw it on the streets of Detroit. Every church, temple, mosque, or synagogue on planet earth if full of hurting broken people. And yet, God offers us hope, and that is why I can learn about all this stuff and still get out of bed in the morning. God wins. That's the bottom line. God brings justice to Rwanda, to Cambodia, to the streets of Syria and Egypt. I need to do all I can to fight and stand for justice now, but rest assured, what we cannot see, God can. What we cannot avenge, he will. On the last page of the book, when the last word of the story has been written, God wins.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Cooking Dinner
Sometimes you don't realize the things you miss until you get to experience them - and then you think, oh man, I really miss this! One of my favorite activities in the States is hanging out and cooking dinner with my friends (generally while their kids run in circles around us, which just makes it that much more entertaining for me) but it's not something that's a regular part of life here. Yesterday my friend had invited me to come over and cook dinner together, and it was awesome. We made salmon with fresh salsa and a great veggies and cous-cous salad, chatting and sipping wine while we worked. Swiss chocolate and fresh raspberries and blackberries topped off the meal as we retired to laugh and talk in the living room.
It seems that it's much less common here to hang out with friends in your home, and it's something I definitely miss. I mean, going out for dinner or tea or whatever is great, but there is something about being able to sit and relax and just be together in a home that fosters greater friendship and conversation. It is really too bad that I don't/can't cook more, but I do love having friends here for tea. I am hoping that having people over is something I will do more once I move. I certainly love having people in my apartment now, but I do wonder how many of them are keen on hanging out in one of the on-campus apartments.
But anyway, yesterday was lovely and especially nice as it was the first Friday in a while that I've had the energy to stay up past 8pm- oh the life of a teacher!
It seems that it's much less common here to hang out with friends in your home, and it's something I definitely miss. I mean, going out for dinner or tea or whatever is great, but there is something about being able to sit and relax and just be together in a home that fosters greater friendship and conversation. It is really too bad that I don't/can't cook more, but I do love having friends here for tea. I am hoping that having people over is something I will do more once I move. I certainly love having people in my apartment now, but I do wonder how many of them are keen on hanging out in one of the on-campus apartments.
But anyway, yesterday was lovely and especially nice as it was the first Friday in a while that I've had the energy to stay up past 8pm- oh the life of a teacher!
Thursday, February 2, 2012
See Spot Run: Basic reading
Yesterday was a huge accomplishment for me in my study of Thai. I stopped by to see a friend in her office, and then headed up to my classroom to teach my last class of the morning. By the time I got up the stairs I had an email from her. When I opened it, it was short, but entirely in Thai! I was pretty surprised. She speaks only English with me and our conversation hadn't even been about language. Wow, I thought, she must be trying to challenge my Thai and see what I can do! So I read through it and was able to make out all of it but one bit. One syllable I could tell was the sound "nay" but I had no idea what it meant. So I could get the entire second thing she said but only about half of the first line because of the word "nay".
I wrote back telling her I was a bit confused and explaining which bits I understood and which bits I did not. Turns out she was trying to send the email to someone else (a Thai)! And I understood it! Today I asked her what the nay was. Turns out it was the first part of the word "nation" referring to a building near campus called the Nation Building. I got the "chan" part, but chan has a meaning on it's own- though it's spelled differently from the "chan" sound in nation, I couldn't tell since my Thai spelling is nonexistent. Just working on speaking and listening and reading for now. Once I knew the word nation, I understood the entire email :) All two lines of it anyway!
And if you hadn't noticed, I'm feeling pretty proud of that :)
I wrote back telling her I was a bit confused and explaining which bits I understood and which bits I did not. Turns out she was trying to send the email to someone else (a Thai)! And I understood it! Today I asked her what the nay was. Turns out it was the first part of the word "nation" referring to a building near campus called the Nation Building. I got the "chan" part, but chan has a meaning on it's own- though it's spelled differently from the "chan" sound in nation, I couldn't tell since my Thai spelling is nonexistent. Just working on speaking and listening and reading for now. Once I knew the word nation, I understood the entire email :) All two lines of it anyway!
And if you hadn't noticed, I'm feeling pretty proud of that :)
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