Christmas 2007

I had a good Christmas this year. A few days beforehand I made about 24 cookie plates and one afternoon, my teammate Joelle and I delivered some of them around town. Then my friend and former roommate, Ning, came to visit Ubon for 2 days. On Christmas Eve, I went to Bergman's house. We watched a movie and played a game after the kids were in bed. They even let me sleep over : ) In the morning we watched the kids open gifts and enjoyed an American style breakfast together. (oops forgot to take paictures of that...sorry!) Christmas afternoon, Owen Bergman and I went swimming (can't do that in WI!). Then on Christmas night, I went to the park with the other American worker and her teammate because some of the Thai Christians were having a "candlelight caroling" time. My parent's called before I went bed, but a few hours laters I got up in the middle of the night and was able to Skype my family using a webcam so that I could be a part of their Christmas Day gift opening time. Praise God for technology like that : ) Overall, there were many blessings this Christmas. In Bethlehem, I imagine that on Christmas Day life went on as usual, not many even were aware that Immanuel was being born in their city. I feel like being in Thailand on Christmas is a bit like that...just a normal day. We look forward to times ahead when Christmas will come to the Isaan personally and they will understand what the incarnation of Jesus really meant!

I Dreamt of a White Christmas

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Well, at least in my house it does :) My decorations are up and at night I like listening to Christmas songs and pretending it is not 88 degrees! The Thai Christians also celebrate Christmas, so at the church on Sunday, there was a little Christmas time...Isaan style... complete with a fish dinner.

Firstfruits Offering

At church on Sunday, there was a Firstfruits Offering given. From what I could understand the Thai Christians do this based on the concept of firstfruits in the Bible and the American Thanksgiving. About this time of the year, after the harvest, people in the church will bring some of their rice, fruits and vegetables, and other food to the church as an offering of thankfulness before God. The fresh food is enjoyed by everyone after church and the rice will be used to feed everyone on subsequent Sundays throughout the coming year.

A Unique Gift

On Monday night, the girl I teach English to and her mom, presented me with a gift that they picked up when they were in Bangkok. Usually when Thais give a gift, it is wrapped up and the receiver does not open it in front of the giver. However, in this case they just gave it to me unwrapped. So, what could I say when I received a large silver medallion-type necklace with a glitter playboy symbol dangling in the middle of it? This symbol is very popular here. Some people may know that actual meaning behind it, but honestly, your average Thai person, especially in Ubon, has no idea. They just think it is a cute little rabbit. So, anyways, when I got in the car it gave me a good laugh...some things are just hard to explain :)

City of Angels

Did you know that "Bangkok" is translated as the "City of Angels"? Here are a few pics of the big city when I was there earlier in the month taking my language test. December 5th was the 80th birthday of the King of Thailand who is the longest reigning monarch in the world and much of the city was decorated to celebrate that event. There was also a special photo display done in the Kings' honor, so that was very interesting to see. My friend Angela and I went to one of the local malls to watch a movie in English and to also check out the Christmas decorations. We heard a screaming crowd in one of the malls and found out that there was a popular Korean movie star in town : ) I'm getting more comfortable finding my way around this city of 10 million. I like visiting once in awhile, but I'm always glad to get back to Ubon : )

Snake #2

This week I was walking out my front door, when I spotted this little guy. Both times now, the Lord has allowed me to see the snake BEFORE it enters my house, which I'm very grateful for! I used a broom and swept it on the ground. It was just sitting there and I wasn't sure what to do, so I sprayed it with cockroach killer. It didn't like that and slithered away.

Baby Pumpkin

There is a situation here where neither of this little girl's parents are able to care for her at the moment, so we are all trying to help out. Everyone just calls her Pumpkin, and on Sunday she spent the day with me : )

Exam Day!

On Saturday I was in Bangkok to take the Thai Language Test for foreigners. There were over 300 of us from many different countries...Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, America, Canada...and I'm sure many more. There were 2 other PIONEERS people taking it this year, along with my friend Angela too. We started the test at 8:30 am and I finished around 2:30pm. There were 5 parts of the test. The two parts which were oral and required good listening skills were the areas where I did not do so well. But the rest of the test I felt like I performed at a decent level. I was very relieved to be done! However, I have to wait about a month before I receive the results. I will definitely be continuing in language study this year, but I think I will focus more on my weak areas and leave the reading and writing alone for a little while.

Thanksgiving 2007

This year, I really enjoyed my Thanksgiving. I also realized that this was my third Thanksgiving around this table in Thailand! We had great authentic Thanksgiving food and then enjoyed talking and playing games in the afternoon : ) Thank You Lord for your many blessings and gifts!