I'm Here!

Hello America! I am just settling in to my second week here in Thailand and it has been great so far. I have found several things I can eat here; unfortunately none of it is Thai food. Right now my diet mostly consists of tuna, bread, goldfish (the snack crackers, not the actual fish), and the occasional ice-cream cone. I also discovered that at Rimping, one of the grocery stores, they sell cans of refried beans and flour tortillas! This might sound strange to you, but it makes me very happy!


Amanda, Hilary, and Mark have been here for nearly 4 months and it seems like they are experts on Thailand. It is like I have my own personal tour guides. They have all been taking a Thai class at Payap University and I am amazed at how much Thai they have learned. The three of them have been very helpful to me over these past two weeks!

on Payap campus celebrating graduation

Looking over the city of Chiang Mai

 

On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have started helping Robert teach an English class that consists of 4 girls from China. At first, the language barrier was a little intimidating for all of us, but we soon found some common ground. We discovered that all 5 of us enjoy the Twilight book/movie series and we share a love of Taylor Swift. I guess some things are just cross-cultural! I am really enjoying working with these girls and I am looking forward to getting to know them better.

Yesterday, two of our English students took Amanda, Hilary, and I to Doi Suthep, a Buddhist temple here in Chiang Mai. It is a big tourist attraction, because it is situated high on a mountain with a beautiful view of the city. It was very crowded when we went and it made me so sad to see hundreds of people bowing down in prayer and worship to a false God. Thailand is a country very devoted to Buddhism, so please join us in praying that we can reach as many people and plant as many seeds as possible in the time we have here.

At Doi Suthep with our student Neung

Right now, we are preparing for our upcoming trip to Cambodia. We leave this Saturday and will be gone for one week. While we are there we will be teaching English lessons during the day and healthy habits during the afternoon and evening. We are very excited about this opportunity and we can’t wait to see what God has in store for us! Please keep us in your prayers as we travel from Chiang Mai to Cambodia and back again.

Thanks for reading our blog!

Until next time,

Kara