Tuesday, December 19, 2006
My Hero
Forrest Smith at the Dallas Thai Consulate is my hero. I got my Thai visa in the mail today that will let me stay in Thailand for all of next year. Forrest is great at his job and should definitely be promoted. I said this last year when he gave me my visa also...
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Question of the Day
Tamara started this question of the day blog and I am now going to try and answer the question.
"If a movie were made about you and your life or at least a portion of your life what songs would be in the soundtrack? List five..."
*By the way, this is really hard for me because I really love music but tend to love the not so popular stuff."
1. Sisters by Betty and Rosemary Clooney because as Tamara hinted at in her blog, this is our song and we do a pretty darn good version of it ourselves!
2. Designer Genes because my sisters and I were forced to sing that in church and at social gatherings our entire growing up years (even in high school) until we grew to hate the song. I also had a mortifying moment at a concert when the woman who sang the song called me up onstage and made me sing it with her... I don't mind the song now, it makes me smile with memories.
3. Stay by Lisa Loeb because Tam, Krissy and I had a tape that played the song over and over and in high school we used to drive around with the windows down singing it at the top of our lungs. I still sing it at the top of my lungs and I wish I knew where that tape went.
4. As The Deer (the worship song) because whenever I think of family, I remember how my family used to drive around in the car singing worship songs together and that is the first one that comes to mind in those memories.
5. Halloween from Rent because it represents my love for musicals and how I can lose myself in them and listen to the soundtracks over and over until I know every single word. Rent was the first musical that I memorized. The song Halloween is the start of my favorite part of the musical.
"If a movie were made about you and your life or at least a portion of your life what songs would be in the soundtrack? List five..."
*By the way, this is really hard for me because I really love music but tend to love the not so popular stuff."
1. Sisters by Betty and Rosemary Clooney because as Tamara hinted at in her blog, this is our song and we do a pretty darn good version of it ourselves!
2. Designer Genes because my sisters and I were forced to sing that in church and at social gatherings our entire growing up years (even in high school) until we grew to hate the song. I also had a mortifying moment at a concert when the woman who sang the song called me up onstage and made me sing it with her... I don't mind the song now, it makes me smile with memories.
3. Stay by Lisa Loeb because Tam, Krissy and I had a tape that played the song over and over and in high school we used to drive around with the windows down singing it at the top of our lungs. I still sing it at the top of my lungs and I wish I knew where that tape went.
4. As The Deer (the worship song) because whenever I think of family, I remember how my family used to drive around in the car singing worship songs together and that is the first one that comes to mind in those memories.
5. Halloween from Rent because it represents my love for musicals and how I can lose myself in them and listen to the soundtracks over and over until I know every single word. Rent was the first musical that I memorized. The song Halloween is the start of my favorite part of the musical.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
It has been almost a month since my last post, I have traveled to many different places, not to mention the fact that I am in a different country now and yet I sit here wondering what to write about. I guess that I am just not in the mood to blog but I owe a couple of you an update so I will type away about my life right now until I have a sufficient enough entry... :)
I think that I will talk about my travels. Back in November (before I left Thailand), Rachel and I decided to take a little vacation together. We flew south to Phuket and then took a two hour boat ride to the island of Phi Phi in Thailand. Apparently this island is an extremely popular tourist attraction due to the fact that the movie "The Beach" was filmed there and every single hotel room on the island was full. People were actually having to get back on the boat and leave right after they got there. Good thing we made a reservation. The island was beautiful and we had fun but I would prefer something a little less crowded.
While there, Rachel and I decided that we would try scuba diving because it was cheap and adventurous. Let me mention first that my biggest fear is drowning. I used to get sick in cars that went over bridges because I had a fear of plummeting into the water and not being able to get out of the car and therefore drowning. Ridiculous I know. I think that this fear stems from the fact that I had asthma really bad when I was younger and I remember what it feels to not be able to draw a breath. But I decided to put on a brave face and try scuba diving anyway. The night before we dived, we had to attend this training session that consisted of sitting at a table and listening to a guy talk. There was no water involved yet but I found myself hyperventilating just at the thought of being so far under the water. That should have been a big enough sign and had I listened to the voices screaming inside my head, I would have canceled the dive right then. But I wanted to be brave. Anyway, I won't go into any more details and bore you, but the story ends with me losing consciousness under the water having to be brought back up to the boat by the guide. I have never been so scared in my life as I was when I regained consciousness and was still under the water with the world spinning around me. I will never go scuba diving again. Okay, I might try it again years down the road when I have forgotten the terror I felt that day. They make it look so easy in the movies...
My next trip was to the states. I flew from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, Bangkok to Taipei and then Taipei to San Francisco. The flights were completely uneventful except for some turbulence on the last flight and I was so happy to be back in the U.S. I keep thinking that someday I will get used to flying because I seem to do so much of it, but I hate it every single time.
I have been here for almost a month now and it is good to see my friends and family here. I spent some time in San Jose and then a couple days in San Diego and now I am in Missouri. When I got here there was snow on the ground and I thought that I was going to freeze to death. My body has definitely acclimated to the Thailand heat and humidity! It is supposed to snow again on Christmas which will be my very first white christmas that I can remember.
I miss Thailand. I miss my friends and my dog and The Centre and the culture, I miss everything. The longer that I am here in the states though, the more I know that I will be homesick for the U.S. when I get back to Thailand. My brain gets all jumbled and confused when I think about it because there doesn't seem to be a place where I am not homesick. I don't know if that makes sense, but it is what I feel.
After Christmas I am going back to San Diego with Tamara. I am so excited to spend time with her in the evenings after she gets off work. I know that spending all that time with her is going to make it harder to leave her when I go back to Thailand though. I am excited to spend time with my dogs, Suki and Sammy. I am excited to see all my friends from Amor and church and I am excited just to be back in San Diego. I really love it there and if I had to name a home city in the U.S. (simply for the sake of the city and not the people), it would definitely be San Diego.
I don't know what else to write.
I found a box full of my mom's old costumes today and dressed up as a racoon, including the tail, ears, whiskers, etc. My family thinks I am weird but I think that I make life more interesting for those around me. Who wouldn't want to see I 5 foot racoon walk into the room? I'll post a picture soon because I course I had mom take one. :)
I also just want to mention that I am reading the book "Eragon" by Christopher Paolini and it is fantastic. If you are at all a fan of science fiction and fantasy books like I am, you should read it. I thinks it ranks up there with the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter books and for those of you who don't know, I am a pretty die hard fan of those books! The movie Eragon comes out tomorrow and as soon as I finish the book, I will go see it.
Apparently I had more to say than I thought. I will try to write more often.
I think that I will talk about my travels. Back in November (before I left Thailand), Rachel and I decided to take a little vacation together. We flew south to Phuket and then took a two hour boat ride to the island of Phi Phi in Thailand. Apparently this island is an extremely popular tourist attraction due to the fact that the movie "The Beach" was filmed there and every single hotel room on the island was full. People were actually having to get back on the boat and leave right after they got there. Good thing we made a reservation. The island was beautiful and we had fun but I would prefer something a little less crowded.
While there, Rachel and I decided that we would try scuba diving because it was cheap and adventurous. Let me mention first that my biggest fear is drowning. I used to get sick in cars that went over bridges because I had a fear of plummeting into the water and not being able to get out of the car and therefore drowning. Ridiculous I know. I think that this fear stems from the fact that I had asthma really bad when I was younger and I remember what it feels to not be able to draw a breath. But I decided to put on a brave face and try scuba diving anyway. The night before we dived, we had to attend this training session that consisted of sitting at a table and listening to a guy talk. There was no water involved yet but I found myself hyperventilating just at the thought of being so far under the water. That should have been a big enough sign and had I listened to the voices screaming inside my head, I would have canceled the dive right then. But I wanted to be brave. Anyway, I won't go into any more details and bore you, but the story ends with me losing consciousness under the water having to be brought back up to the boat by the guide. I have never been so scared in my life as I was when I regained consciousness and was still under the water with the world spinning around me. I will never go scuba diving again. Okay, I might try it again years down the road when I have forgotten the terror I felt that day. They make it look so easy in the movies...
My next trip was to the states. I flew from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, Bangkok to Taipei and then Taipei to San Francisco. The flights were completely uneventful except for some turbulence on the last flight and I was so happy to be back in the U.S. I keep thinking that someday I will get used to flying because I seem to do so much of it, but I hate it every single time.
I have been here for almost a month now and it is good to see my friends and family here. I spent some time in San Jose and then a couple days in San Diego and now I am in Missouri. When I got here there was snow on the ground and I thought that I was going to freeze to death. My body has definitely acclimated to the Thailand heat and humidity! It is supposed to snow again on Christmas which will be my very first white christmas that I can remember.
I miss Thailand. I miss my friends and my dog and The Centre and the culture, I miss everything. The longer that I am here in the states though, the more I know that I will be homesick for the U.S. when I get back to Thailand. My brain gets all jumbled and confused when I think about it because there doesn't seem to be a place where I am not homesick. I don't know if that makes sense, but it is what I feel.
After Christmas I am going back to San Diego with Tamara. I am so excited to spend time with her in the evenings after she gets off work. I know that spending all that time with her is going to make it harder to leave her when I go back to Thailand though. I am excited to spend time with my dogs, Suki and Sammy. I am excited to see all my friends from Amor and church and I am excited just to be back in San Diego. I really love it there and if I had to name a home city in the U.S. (simply for the sake of the city and not the people), it would definitely be San Diego.
I don't know what else to write.
I found a box full of my mom's old costumes today and dressed up as a racoon, including the tail, ears, whiskers, etc. My family thinks I am weird but I think that I make life more interesting for those around me. Who wouldn't want to see I 5 foot racoon walk into the room? I'll post a picture soon because I course I had mom take one. :)
I also just want to mention that I am reading the book "Eragon" by Christopher Paolini and it is fantastic. If you are at all a fan of science fiction and fantasy books like I am, you should read it. I thinks it ranks up there with the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter books and for those of you who don't know, I am a pretty die hard fan of those books! The movie Eragon comes out tomorrow and as soon as I finish the book, I will go see it.
Apparently I had more to say than I thought. I will try to write more often.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Bad Jen
I have found myself getting really annoyed with people lately. This morning I was running around trying to figure out something for someone who easily could have done it a week ago and instead waited until the last minute and had me do it instead. A few days ago I was so frustrated with my scuba diving instructor that when he made a rude, sarcastic comment to me, I responded with an even ruder, more sarcastic comment. A few days before that I was so annoyed with cleaning up a mess caused by someone else that directly affected me instead of them and I told a friend all about how frustrated I was, in some not so nice terms. Usually I am really good about turning the other cheek when needed or having just the right amount of patience. I'm not sure what is going on with me, but I don't like this Jen. Maybe it is just the stress of going home, I hope so anyway.
By the way, I leave tomorrow morning for the states...
By the way, I leave tomorrow morning for the states...
M I C (See you real soon) K E Y (Why? Because I love you!)...
There is a mouse in a my room AGAIN and I can't catch it. It kept Gracie and I awake most of last night. Last time I put out traps but this time I can't do that because Gracie seems to get caught in them instead of the mouse. She really is a smart puppy... I hate mice.
Friday, November 10, 2006
There is no place like home
Where is my home? I am having trouble figuring that out right now. Is it Chiang Mai or San Diego or San Jose or is it with my parents when they move to Missouri?
November 1st started the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek which is a flower garden park thing. It is huge and is in honor of the King. I am excited about this because 1) I love to take pictures of flowers 2) Chiang Mai has blossomed into a city of flowers, they are everywhere and they are beautiful 3) I am really fond of the King. I am not excited about this because 1) there is so much traffic everywhere 2) I went to the Night Bazaar area last night for what was supposed to be a quick errand and there was 1 zillion people there. I am not a fan of the Night Bazaar anyway but last night was horrible 3) I am allergic to all the beautiful flowers all over the city and I can't stop sneezing.
I have been driving around Chiang Mai this week and realizing how much I will miss this city while I am gone for two months. I really love it here. I love the streets and I love the buildings and I love the flowers and I love the people. There is a part of me that doesn't want to leave at all.
Last night I was buying a gift from a vendor at the Night Bazaar and I was bargaining with the guy in Thai. He was so happy that I knew my numbers in Thai and he asked me (in Thai) if I was a teacher. I replied (in Thai) that I was an English teacher and he was so happy. He started jumping up and down and thanking me over and over again for teaching English. This exact scenario is not a common occurrence but it is an example of why I love Thailand and the people here so much. Oh, and he gave me a great deal on my gift!
I love my friends Im, Keng and P'Na so much! I hate the thought that I won't see them for two months. On Monday I was telling them what I did over the weekend which consisted of me practically living at church. Im looked at me and said "Jen, I think that you are such a good Christian and I am such a bad Buddhist." Wow, what a great conversation opener about Christianity and why I want to be a good Christian! I will pray for them every day while I am gone.
I leave Thailand on November 18th for America. I will spend two weeks in San Jose and I am really looking forward to seeing all my friends there. I get to spend Thanksgiving with my grandma which makes me happier than I could express in this blog.
I will then go down to San Diego for two days and hang out with Tamara, Katie, Suki and Sammy and then on to Webb City Missouri for one month. I am really happy to spend Christmas with family and excited about a chance to relax there.
I then fly back to San Diego for two weeks and get to spend time with all my friends there. I also hope to make it into Mexico at some point. Then I will fly back up to San Jose and leave on January 13th from San Francisco to come back to Chiang Mai.
I guess that I am at a point in my life where home is just wherever God takes me. I would like to think of all these places as home though. I guess that just means that I am home wherever I go. Praise God for that!
November 1st started the Royal Flora Ratchaphruek which is a flower garden park thing. It is huge and is in honor of the King. I am excited about this because 1) I love to take pictures of flowers 2) Chiang Mai has blossomed into a city of flowers, they are everywhere and they are beautiful 3) I am really fond of the King. I am not excited about this because 1) there is so much traffic everywhere 2) I went to the Night Bazaar area last night for what was supposed to be a quick errand and there was 1 zillion people there. I am not a fan of the Night Bazaar anyway but last night was horrible 3) I am allergic to all the beautiful flowers all over the city and I can't stop sneezing.
I have been driving around Chiang Mai this week and realizing how much I will miss this city while I am gone for two months. I really love it here. I love the streets and I love the buildings and I love the flowers and I love the people. There is a part of me that doesn't want to leave at all.
Last night I was buying a gift from a vendor at the Night Bazaar and I was bargaining with the guy in Thai. He was so happy that I knew my numbers in Thai and he asked me (in Thai) if I was a teacher. I replied (in Thai) that I was an English teacher and he was so happy. He started jumping up and down and thanking me over and over again for teaching English. This exact scenario is not a common occurrence but it is an example of why I love Thailand and the people here so much. Oh, and he gave me a great deal on my gift!
I love my friends Im, Keng and P'Na so much! I hate the thought that I won't see them for two months. On Monday I was telling them what I did over the weekend which consisted of me practically living at church. Im looked at me and said "Jen, I think that you are such a good Christian and I am such a bad Buddhist." Wow, what a great conversation opener about Christianity and why I want to be a good Christian! I will pray for them every day while I am gone.
I leave Thailand on November 18th for America. I will spend two weeks in San Jose and I am really looking forward to seeing all my friends there. I get to spend Thanksgiving with my grandma which makes me happier than I could express in this blog.
I will then go down to San Diego for two days and hang out with Tamara, Katie, Suki and Sammy and then on to Webb City Missouri for one month. I am really happy to spend Christmas with family and excited about a chance to relax there.
I then fly back to San Diego for two weeks and get to spend time with all my friends there. I also hope to make it into Mexico at some point. Then I will fly back up to San Jose and leave on January 13th from San Francisco to come back to Chiang Mai.
I guess that I am at a point in my life where home is just wherever God takes me. I would like to think of all these places as home though. I guess that just means that I am home wherever I go. Praise God for that!
Thursday, November 02, 2006
What are you reading?
1. Grab the nearest book. If you are currently reading something, that'll be fine too.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your Blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet I know that is what you were thinking!
6. Tag 5 people
"The cereal. Being the best thing to eat right now. I could go for a big bowl of Raisin Bran and cold milk. I might even take that over the eggs and tortillas."
Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your Blog along with these instructions.
5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet I know that is what you were thinking!
6. Tag 5 people
"The cereal. Being the best thing to eat right now. I could go for a big bowl of Raisin Bran and cold milk. I might even take that over the eggs and tortillas."
Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller
Monday, October 23, 2006
Shanghai
Wow, what an amazing week I had in Shanghai! I just spent seven days opening worshiping and praying along with a couple hundred people in a closed country where it is illegal to do so. I went to the annual conference for AO which is the ministry that The Centre is under. There were missionaries there from all over Asia and it was so great to hear about all the different ministries that exist in this part of the world. I was so inspired by the people that I met there.
Shanghai is such a beautiful place, I must have taken at least 250 pictures. I put some of them on my photo blog if you would like to see them, the link is on the sidebar. At night when the conference finished for the day, we went out to explore the city and that is when I took most of the photos. Shanghai is huge and there are so many high rise buildings, it is incredible.
Most of the time in Thailand, I don't mind the fact that I look and sound different from everyone else. But every once in awhile, I long to disappear in a crowd or stand in a throng of people and understand the language that they are speaking. Being in China was a different level of culture shock for me. Even though I don't understand the language in Thailand, I usually have someone with me who speaks and understands it. In China I not only did not understand the language but I was having to translate the English to my Thai friends that were with me. I did not mind doing it, it was just a weird experience for me and a whole new level of culture shock. Coming back to Thailand was so comforting. As soon as we got off the airplane in Bangkok, I felt like I was at home. Suddenly I was surrounded by people speaking Thai and even though I didn't understand it, it was familiar. I didn't mind that I looked different and sounded different, it was all okay because I was home again. It was a great feeling and left me appreciating Thailand on a whole new level.
It was a great week in China and it is even greater to be back in Thailand!
Shanghai is such a beautiful place, I must have taken at least 250 pictures. I put some of them on my photo blog if you would like to see them, the link is on the sidebar. At night when the conference finished for the day, we went out to explore the city and that is when I took most of the photos. Shanghai is huge and there are so many high rise buildings, it is incredible.
Most of the time in Thailand, I don't mind the fact that I look and sound different from everyone else. But every once in awhile, I long to disappear in a crowd or stand in a throng of people and understand the language that they are speaking. Being in China was a different level of culture shock for me. Even though I don't understand the language in Thailand, I usually have someone with me who speaks and understands it. In China I not only did not understand the language but I was having to translate the English to my Thai friends that were with me. I did not mind doing it, it was just a weird experience for me and a whole new level of culture shock. Coming back to Thailand was so comforting. As soon as we got off the airplane in Bangkok, I felt like I was at home. Suddenly I was surrounded by people speaking Thai and even though I didn't understand it, it was familiar. I didn't mind that I looked different and sounded different, it was all okay because I was home again. It was a great feeling and left me appreciating Thailand on a whole new level.
It was a great week in China and it is even greater to be back in Thailand!
Thursday, October 19, 2006
My family's Visit to Chiang Mai
I know that some of you have been patiently waiting for an account of my family’s time together in Chiang Mai, so here it is.
Mom, dad and Tamara arrived in Chiang Mai on September 28th. They were supposed to land at the airport at 2:25pm so I had Rachel drop me off around 2:30pm. I figured that it would take them awhile to get through immigration and I wanted to be there when they came through the doors. After about an hour of being told that the flight was delayed, I found out that it was actually cancelled. I spent the next two hours trying to figure out where my family was. It was not hard to find out that they had arrived safely in Bangkok but nobody seemed to know when they were coming to Chiang Mai. Eventually I found out that they were to arrive at 8:30pm so I settled down with my ipod and waited. Unfortunately I live about 30-40 minutes from the airport and I had no transportation so going home to wait was not an option. Well, 8:30 came and went and I still had not seen my family. Finally, at 9:30 my phone rang and it was Tamara telling me that they were already at the hotel in Chiang Mai. Apparently they had arrived in Chiang Mai at 7:30pm, didn’t see and caught a taxi to the hotel. I can’t figure out how we missed each other because the Chiang Mai airport is so small that you can see almost the whole thing when standing in the middle. Overall, I spent seven hours sitting in the airport and never even saw my family there. I had to catch a taxi to the hotel which is about 3 minutes from my house and finally met up with the family there.
That first night I took them to my house so that they could see where I live, meet my roommate and meet my dog. All three of them quickly fell in love with Gracie and she was so excited to have the added attention of three more people. (I should probably mention that they also like my roommate, Rachel, I don’t want to leave her out.) I then took them to my favorite noodle shop and they got to experience the side of the road, buildingless food stands that are so common in Thailand. This was a good thing because within a couple days, my favorite noodle shop was gone. I am still upset! They were all pretty exhausted, so we went back to the hotel and went to bed.
I am not going to take you through every single day of our vacation together like I just did that first day, I will just give you some highlights now…
I honestly did not know where to take them or what to do because I have never visited Chiang Mai as a tourist or done any tourist type stuff. I asked around and found some fun things to do though. We went to and elephant camp (where an elephant grabbed me with it’s trunk as I walked by), a butterfly farm (butterflies as big as my foot and since I am terrified of butterflies, it was not my favorite thing), and orchid farm (orchids are extremely popular in Thailand), explored some caves, visited a Big Ear Village and a Long Neck Village (so beautiful!), explored the Palace and temple on Doi Suthep Mountain (Chiang Mai is famous for being the place where the queen lives during the winter months), went to Night Bazaar several times and went to Walking Street. We spent a lot of time just hanging out with each other as well. I was able to take the family to my church and they met a couple of my friends there. Overall, I had a fantastic time with them!
Some things that I will remember from the trip:
1) Never trust the airlines to have any idea what is going on.
2) Elephants are pretty darn smart.
3) Tamara is a fantastic bargainer.
4) I am proud of Chiang Mai and Thailand and happy to be here.
5) My family likes to turn the air conditioner on really high.
6) I have adjusted to the temperature and humidity here and often was cold while the family was sweating.
7) The Mong Pearl restaurant has great sandwiches.
8) Walking Street is more and more crowded every time that I go.
9) I still don’t love the Night Bazaar.
10) Pu Ping Palace is incredible and I should have visited sooner.
11) My Thai language skills really suck.
12) I wish that my family lived here with me.
13) I miss the sarcasm and easy way of talking that I share with Tamara.
14) I’ve changed a lot since I left the U.S., at least my thinking has.
15) Ect.
I could go on and on but I would probably bore you. I had a fantastic time with my family and I can’t wait to see them in December!
Mom, dad and Tamara arrived in Chiang Mai on September 28th. They were supposed to land at the airport at 2:25pm so I had Rachel drop me off around 2:30pm. I figured that it would take them awhile to get through immigration and I wanted to be there when they came through the doors. After about an hour of being told that the flight was delayed, I found out that it was actually cancelled. I spent the next two hours trying to figure out where my family was. It was not hard to find out that they had arrived safely in Bangkok but nobody seemed to know when they were coming to Chiang Mai. Eventually I found out that they were to arrive at 8:30pm so I settled down with my ipod and waited. Unfortunately I live about 30-40 minutes from the airport and I had no transportation so going home to wait was not an option. Well, 8:30 came and went and I still had not seen my family. Finally, at 9:30 my phone rang and it was Tamara telling me that they were already at the hotel in Chiang Mai. Apparently they had arrived in Chiang Mai at 7:30pm, didn’t see and caught a taxi to the hotel. I can’t figure out how we missed each other because the Chiang Mai airport is so small that you can see almost the whole thing when standing in the middle. Overall, I spent seven hours sitting in the airport and never even saw my family there. I had to catch a taxi to the hotel which is about 3 minutes from my house and finally met up with the family there.
That first night I took them to my house so that they could see where I live, meet my roommate and meet my dog. All three of them quickly fell in love with Gracie and she was so excited to have the added attention of three more people. (I should probably mention that they also like my roommate, Rachel, I don’t want to leave her out.) I then took them to my favorite noodle shop and they got to experience the side of the road, buildingless food stands that are so common in Thailand. This was a good thing because within a couple days, my favorite noodle shop was gone. I am still upset! They were all pretty exhausted, so we went back to the hotel and went to bed.
I am not going to take you through every single day of our vacation together like I just did that first day, I will just give you some highlights now…
I honestly did not know where to take them or what to do because I have never visited Chiang Mai as a tourist or done any tourist type stuff. I asked around and found some fun things to do though. We went to and elephant camp (where an elephant grabbed me with it’s trunk as I walked by), a butterfly farm (butterflies as big as my foot and since I am terrified of butterflies, it was not my favorite thing), and orchid farm (orchids are extremely popular in Thailand), explored some caves, visited a Big Ear Village and a Long Neck Village (so beautiful!), explored the Palace and temple on Doi Suthep Mountain (Chiang Mai is famous for being the place where the queen lives during the winter months), went to Night Bazaar several times and went to Walking Street. We spent a lot of time just hanging out with each other as well. I was able to take the family to my church and they met a couple of my friends there. Overall, I had a fantastic time with them!
Some things that I will remember from the trip:
1) Never trust the airlines to have any idea what is going on.
2) Elephants are pretty darn smart.
3) Tamara is a fantastic bargainer.
4) I am proud of Chiang Mai and Thailand and happy to be here.
5) My family likes to turn the air conditioner on really high.
6) I have adjusted to the temperature and humidity here and often was cold while the family was sweating.
7) The Mong Pearl restaurant has great sandwiches.
8) Walking Street is more and more crowded every time that I go.
9) I still don’t love the Night Bazaar.
10) Pu Ping Palace is incredible and I should have visited sooner.
11) My Thai language skills really suck.
12) I wish that my family lived here with me.
13) I miss the sarcasm and easy way of talking that I share with Tamara.
14) I’ve changed a lot since I left the U.S., at least my thinking has.
15) Ect.
I could go on and on but I would probably bore you. I had a fantastic time with my family and I can’t wait to see them in December!
New Photos
Lots of new photos of China on my photo blog, the link is on the sidebar. Check them out!
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
I haven't forgotton...
I know that some of you are waiting for an update on my family being in Chiang Mai and I promise that I will write one next week. I am currently in China and my internet connection is not great so I need to be quick.
Basically this post is not really worth your time, but I felt the need to post something because it has been so long since I have logged on.
I will update you on all the goings-on of my life when I get back in Chiang Mai!
:)
Basically this post is not really worth your time, but I felt the need to post something because it has been so long since I have logged on.
I will update you on all the goings-on of my life when I get back in Chiang Mai!
:)
Monday, September 25, 2006
Woohoo!
My family arrives in Chiang Mai in less than 66 hours! I am so excited! I am going to spend the next couple days running errands and getting ready and then I get to spend 10 days hanging out with mom, dad, and Tam. Yeah!
I probably won't be online much in the next twelve days, so you probably won't hear from me until after they leave.
Woohoo!!!
I probably won't be online much in the next twelve days, so you probably won't hear from me until after they leave.
Woohoo!!!
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Allen is such a wonderful, fantastic, amazing friend!
Al,
Because you are so wonderful and have been such a great friend for over eleven years, you are now included in my sidebar. Sorry that you were not there before, my brain had obviously stopped working for awhile.
Everyone, check out Allen's blog!
You really are a great friend Al and I can't imagine the last eleven years without you in them!
Love you,
Jen
Because you are so wonderful and have been such a great friend for over eleven years, you are now included in my sidebar. Sorry that you were not there before, my brain had obviously stopped working for awhile.
Everyone, check out Allen's blog!
You really are a great friend Al and I can't imagine the last eleven years without you in them!
Love you,
Jen
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Thieves and their gasoline
Two days ago I filled up the gas tank on my motorbike which will usually last me one to two weeks. This morning I got on my bike to go to bible study and it would not start. After several tries I noticed that the gas gauge was on empty. I sat there confused, trying to figure out how I could already be on empty, but could not figure it out. So Rachel got on our old bike, started it up and gas started squirting out on her leg. At this point I figured out what had happened and checked the gas lines. The old bike's gas line had been unscrewed and the gas stolen. My new bike's line had actually been cut and the gas stolen. Very annoying! I had to take it in and have a new gas line installed. The most annoying thing is that somebody actually had the nerve to open the gate and go inside to steal the gas. What is going to stop them from doing it again? Nothing.
What a frustrating start to my day!
God bless Wor though for letting Rachel and I borrow her motorbike to get to bible study!
What a frustrating start to my day!
God bless Wor though for letting Rachel and I borrow her motorbike to get to bible study!
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Photo Blog
For those that don't already know, I started a photo blog. You can see my pictures at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jleeper/.
Taxes
Taxes are not my favorite thing right now. Apparently because I moved out the country, I have to pay several thousand dollars in taxes for this year. I wish that I had known this sooner. It doesn't seem fair. I guess that I should start fundraising soon...
Dentists don't actually "pull" teeth out
Last year I had a root canal which in itself was a very unfortunate experience. About a month ago that tooth started to hurt a little bit and continued to get worse until this past Tuesday when any pressure on it caused horrible pain throughout my mouth. I gave in and went to the dentist even though everything in me told me not to. But none of the horrible scenarios I pictured could have prepared me for walking out of the dentist's office two hours later with a gaping hole in my mouth.
Did you know that when a dentist says he is going to pull your tooth out, he actually means that he is going to hammer away at it, breaking off piece by piece until the tooth is gone? Well, I discovered that the word "pull" is just a nice way of describing a horrendous thing.
The good news is that I have the strongest bones in my mouth that the dentist has ever seen and this is apparently good for the rest of my teeth. The bad news is that because my bones are so strong, he had to do quite a bit of damage to get the tooth out.
I walked out of the dentist's office after two hours, sat on my motorbike, called Rachel and just started to cry. It was very sad. The dentist that I would feel better in no time. Unfortunately when a tooth is pulled, the blood in the hole is supposed to clot and cover the hole which eventually allows it to heal. Well, my blood did not clot and I have been back to the dentist two more times this week. My mouth is infected and it hurts. It is amazing how pain in my mouth can affect my whole life.
It only cost me 1000baht (about $26) to have to tooth pulled and it is going to cost me another 50,000baht (about $1335) to finish the work and get an implant. I have no idea where I am going to get that kind of money. I guess that this is where trusting God comes in.
Did you know that when a dentist says he is going to pull your tooth out, he actually means that he is going to hammer away at it, breaking off piece by piece until the tooth is gone? Well, I discovered that the word "pull" is just a nice way of describing a horrendous thing.
The good news is that I have the strongest bones in my mouth that the dentist has ever seen and this is apparently good for the rest of my teeth. The bad news is that because my bones are so strong, he had to do quite a bit of damage to get the tooth out.
I walked out of the dentist's office after two hours, sat on my motorbike, called Rachel and just started to cry. It was very sad. The dentist that I would feel better in no time. Unfortunately when a tooth is pulled, the blood in the hole is supposed to clot and cover the hole which eventually allows it to heal. Well, my blood did not clot and I have been back to the dentist two more times this week. My mouth is infected and it hurts. It is amazing how pain in my mouth can affect my whole life.
It only cost me 1000baht (about $26) to have to tooth pulled and it is going to cost me another 50,000baht (about $1335) to finish the work and get an implant. I have no idea where I am going to get that kind of money. I guess that this is where trusting God comes in.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Sometimes I ask God for things like patience and boldness and peace just because it sounds good and not because I really feel in my heart that He will give those things to me. I know, I am a horrible person! :)
On Friday morning I asked God for boldness and the request came directly from my heart. I really wanted to share about God with my 5pm class and I was nervous about it. So I asked Him for boldness and I had an amazing day!
Before my classes started, Noon came in. She is a new Christian and has been doubting God love lately. I did not know that but I did know that God has been putting her on my heart a lot lately so I told her that I have been praying for her. She was so happy that she was in tears and I was able to spend some more time in prayer for her.
I have been teaching my 5pm class about people who have changed the world in big and small ways, some Christians and some not. On Friday we talked about C. S. Lewis. The story brought up the subject of communion which they did not know about. I was able to talk with them about Jesus and what He has done for us and why we take communion.
My 6pm class is just three girls. Two of them attend bible study and church occasionally and the third has had no interest in Christianity. The third, Boom was the only one to show up for class Friday. Somehow I ended sharing my whole testimony with her and spent over an hour talking about God's love for us. She was very interested and asked lots of questions, it was amazing.
After class I went downstairs and saw Peaw who has been a Christian for about six months. She told me that she had just found out her job was sending her to Bangkok for three months and she was leaving the next day. I asked her if I could spend some time praying with her and by the end we were both in tears.
Friday night Tay and Aom (my two students who did not show up for my 6pm class) came over and spent the night with Rachel and I. We were able to spend some time in prayer with them, praying specifically for their needs that they shared.
Overall, I had an amazing day and when I got to the end of it, I could not help but thank God for filling me with boldness. I should definitely be asking God for help more often because I know that He will provide it!
On Friday morning I asked God for boldness and the request came directly from my heart. I really wanted to share about God with my 5pm class and I was nervous about it. So I asked Him for boldness and I had an amazing day!
Before my classes started, Noon came in. She is a new Christian and has been doubting God love lately. I did not know that but I did know that God has been putting her on my heart a lot lately so I told her that I have been praying for her. She was so happy that she was in tears and I was able to spend some more time in prayer for her.
I have been teaching my 5pm class about people who have changed the world in big and small ways, some Christians and some not. On Friday we talked about C. S. Lewis. The story brought up the subject of communion which they did not know about. I was able to talk with them about Jesus and what He has done for us and why we take communion.
My 6pm class is just three girls. Two of them attend bible study and church occasionally and the third has had no interest in Christianity. The third, Boom was the only one to show up for class Friday. Somehow I ended sharing my whole testimony with her and spent over an hour talking about God's love for us. She was very interested and asked lots of questions, it was amazing.
After class I went downstairs and saw Peaw who has been a Christian for about six months. She told me that she had just found out her job was sending her to Bangkok for three months and she was leaving the next day. I asked her if I could spend some time praying with her and by the end we were both in tears.
Friday night Tay and Aom (my two students who did not show up for my 6pm class) came over and spent the night with Rachel and I. We were able to spend some time in prayer with them, praying specifically for their needs that they shared.
Overall, I had an amazing day and when I got to the end of it, I could not help but thank God for filling me with boldness. I should definitely be asking God for help more often because I know that He will provide it!
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Sometimes I feel like a bouncing ball...
Sometimes living in another country is so hard that I just want to pack my stuff, buy a plane ticket and go home. And sometimes it is so easy that I can picture myself still living here when I am eighty years old. There is also a middle area where I am content and yet miss my friends and family. I wish that I spent more time in that middle area but I tend to bounce back and forth between the hard and easy stages instead. I wonder if it is always like this when someone lives overseas or if it will even out eventually. Any thoughts?
By the way, right now I am in the middle area where I am content and yet missing you all. Rachel commented today that I seem like I am doing well lately. I thought about it and realized that this is the longest that I have been content and happy since I moved here in January. That thought made me smile. Maybe it does get easier...
By the way, right now I am in the middle area where I am content and yet missing you all. Rachel commented today that I seem like I am doing well lately. I thought about it and realized that this is the longest that I have been content and happy since I moved here in January. That thought made me smile. Maybe it does get easier...
Gracie
This is Gracie, my new puppy. She is a two month old minature poodle and only weighs 1.5 pounds. She is adorable and completely attached to me which of course makes me happy. Today I took her to the vet to get rid of her worms and next week she is having her vaccinations. I cannot leave her alone for long so she goes with me everywhere. I love her but she makes me miss Sammy and Suki so much more! Tam, I have not replaced Sammy and Suki, I have just adopted them a cousin!!!
Monday, August 21, 2006
Why I Love The People In My Life
In Thailand:
- Because Rachel said that I sing better than Hilary Duff which was probably meant as a negative remark towards Hilary Duff but I took it as a great compliment towards my singing skills.
- Because last night Opal practiced dance moves with me after we watched High School Musical and her hip roles were as bad as mine.
- Because last night I had a very long and satisfying conversation with P'Max and Wor about Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia.
- Because Peaw makes me smile just by walking in the room and she does a great job cutting my hair.
- Because when I call Run to tell her how much I miss her, she interrupts and tells me how much she misses me which makes me feel good to know that it is a two way thing.
- Because I just have so much fun hanging out with Im and every moment that I spend with her I am reminded of why I am here.
In the U.S.:
- Because Tamara is like a part of me that I am missing. She understands me and knows me like no one else. She also possesses so many qualities that I admire and lack, like creativity, wit and the ability to open locks with a bobby pin just like MacGuyver.
- Because a minute spent talking to Katie is so refreshing that I just want to pack her up and take her everywhere with me. She also represents so many qualities that I wish I possessed.
- Because my parents unfailingly call me every Sunday night and fill me in on their lives. They are such examples of who I want to be.
- Because my nephews bring me joy unexplainable in words.
- Because no matter how long I go without talking to Justin and David, when we do talk it feels like only hours since our last conversation.
- Because the first time I hung out with Jenn in 1995, I threw up all over the hallway (barely missing her) and then all over the bushes outside Bank of America and yet she is still my friend today.
Saturday, August 19, 2006
I am trying this again
So I have been using friendster.com for my blog for a year and now I have decided to try out my old blogger account again. The main reason is because people have been complaining that they cannot comment on my friendster blogs and I really want to make you happy. Second, I am having some issues with Friendster and it may just be easier for me to come back over here. Now, I just have to figure out where to post all the pictures that I take... I will let you know when I figure that out. Enjoy!
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