Back in Thailand!!!!!!!!!

Oh yes, it needs THAT many exclamation points :)

Been back in Thailand for about 5 days now, sorry for the delay in posting, but we've been working out some internet kinks - still working on them in fact, so I'll post pics separately lest Blogger decides (again) to not work.

So the plane ride was LONG, but uneventful.  B and I were able to change to get seats next to each other for the flight from New York to China, but the rest of the trip we sat separately.  We flew China Eastern Airlines this time (last time I'd flown American most of the way), and although I'd been worried because I believe it's a budget airline, I found it to be quite nice and new and the food was for the most part an improvement.

One funny note on plane food.  China Eastern by it's name is clearly a Chinese company, hence whereas AA had offered an Oriental and Western food option, China just offered Oriental.  Which for the most part was fantastic since it meant wheat free.  On the way from Shanghai to Bangkok they did a tray of snack foods for breakfast which I found quite intrigueing.  The plate smelled sweet and I was sleepy and so I opened what I believed to be a sweet roll with relish.

And bit into smoked hot dog.  Okay, just hadn't been what I'd expected.  But there was a package of cookies.  Having learned my lesson I read the package this time in the dim airplane lights: Onion flavored.  Hmmm, possibly okay in the right circumstances, but with my tummy now feeling iffy, I was not up to it.  Here they had jelly snacks.  The label was all Chinese, but it felt like gummys, so I decided to try it - only to be greeted by one of the most offensive odors I've ever smelled.  It smelled rotten!

So the day was saved by apple chips and chocolate orea wafers. :)  That's one thing you learn when travelling so far from home - it's best not to have expectations.  Reminds me of a time I had a cup of green soda last trip.  I thought it was lime flavored - what I got was gummy bear.  Per Dayanna there's a purple Fanta soda that tastes of Bubble Gum!

Another fun food travelling story, on our layover in Shanghai Brooke was craving some comfort food so bought a bottle of Starbucks iced coffee and a chocolate bar.  Neither of us were sure of the exchange rate where China's money was concerned, so Brooke got the good news much later - $12 for the coffee and chocolate!  Best part: She thought the bar had almonds when in fact it was chocolate and Jelly Beans.  Hee hee hee.  Talk about an unpleasant surprise!

Leaving the topic of food for a bit, in New York an Asian girl sat next to me while waiting for the plane to board.  I noticed that she had a book that looked like it was in Thai, so I asked, in Thai (one of my like 5 sentences) if she understood Thai.  She was from Thailand and had actually been in the US doing missionary work for a couple years.  At first I had wondered if she was a witness , but no, it was for the Indonesian Youth group or something like that (I'd not heard of it).  She was very sweet nonetheless and we chatted a bit about the US and Thailand, what we liked, what we'd miss about home, etc...

So, back to the timeline, we got into Bangkok very early (around 1am) and waited and waited in the immigration line.  Then we got near the front and oh Brooke hadn't gotten the entry card so we had to step out of line while she filled it out.  Then we got back in line and waited.  And finally without any real ado we could get our luggage!

After reading the board wrong the first time we found our bags safe from the Columbus airport where we'd last seen them and headed to customs where we were waved on without even needing to have our bags scanned.  By then it was probably 2:30 or 3:00 and we learned a taxi would cost about $30 that time of night and that distance, so, since Bangkok is a very nice airport, we decided to just hang out until the train into the city opened at 6.  Total of city line, BTS & taxi to Grand Wing: $4 per person.  Starbucks while we waited: $12 :)

It was a bit of a hassle dragging our bags up and down at the BTS and Brooke lost her token at one point, but finally we were at our new home.  Now we just had to explain to our new landlady who we were.  Fortunately I know friend in Thai so I said we were friends of Terry and Alanna and she mentioned Dayanna - whom I had been terribly worried about since I'd said we'd take a taxi to Grand Wing and hence should have arrived hours ago!

An older man in the lobby invited us to sit - clearly exhausted - while the landlady made a call, then randomly handed it to me.  It was Dayanna, who was a bit suspicious, how had I gotten this number, and no, I wasn't supposed to arrive until tomorrow!  Well at least I hadn't worried her or kept her up!  It just then took a bit of work explaining we were in fact downstairs now.  Later we joked that we had to go back where we came from because she'd not had a chance to set up the bed for us, so we could not be there now :)  Honestly, as long as there was a shower Brooke and I did not care.  We were just happy we'd caught her before she'd left for service because otherwise I don't know what we'd have done.

So we both took showers, and still a bit wired from Starbucks we went out...

Free Zone

Found a little free wifi on my balcony - just have to stand on one leg and touch my nose with my tongue :) So I survived Ayyuthaya despite touring it on a bike, believe it or not :) Didnt have a single fall or collision, though I do have some funny video of Fjorn...heh heh heh.

Sad night tonight - my last meeting in Bangkok. Ill have to remember next Sunday that Thonburi Thai congregation sends their love home with me :) We had a special announcement and everything - though Alanna had to explain because I thought everyone was applauding because Fjorn and I were leaving lol. Really going to miss everyone here... Gave away some of my stuff for the sake of room and weight - including a couple pairs of shoes - Chieka, dear girl, was worried if Id have enough shoes when I returned home :) I told her that would not be a problem.

So heading onto Manila tomorrow, Ill write more at the airport. Looking forward to seeing my Philipino family again! And of course my family family not long after, though NOT looking forward to That flight! Hard to believe Ill be home again in less than a week!!! Time has truly flown!

Heads up

I bought 30 days Internet at my Apartment, which is most likely about out, and its seems silly to pay for 30 days when Im leaving in 5. I dont know the internet situation in Manila, but Ill try to find something! Just wanted everyone to know so as not to cause worry if I dont respond to an email or something! But Bangkok airport has free internet as does Beijing, so I have at least a couple known check in points in the next 10 days (cant believe only 10 more days til Im back home!!!) and Ill try to charge my phone so I can phone once I reach Chicago (or at least send out one frantic txt!).  Yes I do indeed love exclamation points, lol :)
So little fill in for the next week: Tomorrow I go to Bethel (by boat!!), Wednesday witnessing then pool at the mall Bankae and pizza, Thursay we go to a little town outside Bangkok where we'll bike around the sights - yes i know, ME on a bike! should be interesting, already warned Terry Im hazardous to others when on two wheels, proceeded by me tripping on the stairs - Friday Little India, Chinatown and flower market, Saturday fly to Manila; Sunday spend the day with Aira and the Tagalog group! YAY!!! Very excited to see my friends again there again :) Tho.sad to be leaving my new friends in Bangkok :( Also in Manila Ill tour Bethel one day, then on the 28th Ill head home!!!
In case I dont write for a while, all my love to my family and close friends, see you when I get home!!! XOXO (Id just do hugs, so as not to weird anybody out, but frankly I dont remember which that is so youll all just have to deal with it, lol :D )
   -K

Elephants and Gators oh my!!!

Big day Alanna had planned for me and Fjorn today! We caught a bus heading away from the city and started our day way - with Nam Dtok, which literally means waterfall. Its a meat dish you traditionally eat with your hands using sticky rice, cabbage and basil leaves. There this little place around Phet Kasem soi 100 (were at soi 16) that per Alanna and Terry does it best. Its a bit of a walk from the main road so we took motorcycle taxis - Fjorn and I both have pics as proof! Good fun, though I had to hold onto my hat!
We arrive at the eating place -Alanna says she doesnt call it a restaurant anymore as this gives the wrong impression- and there is a monk having lunch there. Alanna reminds us to be careful not to bump him as they have no physical contact with women and have to go through a cleansing ritual even if just accidentally brushed. To make this easier the monk moved to allow us the bigger table. He was nice and chatty so Alanna proceeded to talk to him (Terry was ordering) and gave him magazines, which he seemed quite happy about. So we proceeded on with our meal, and the monk walks off. The lady brings us an order of Som Tum, spicy papaya salad with nuts- which the monk had ordered, she said. Ok, we like Som Tum, though Alanna said we'd probably still pay for it, but its an extra dollar, so we clean our plates. Then we go to pay, and learn that the monk has paid for our entire meal randomly! So we walk up the street, thank the monk and head on for the day, all agreeing it was incredibly weird, but according to Alanna weird things always happen when she and Fjorn hang out together. We then all grab Gaffe Borong Yens - Thai iced coffee we got in a bag, and head back to the bus.
Next stop Samphran Elephant Ground and Zoo! We make it there just in time for the Crocodile show. There were a number of crocs in the pool, all just dozing. They start to move a bit when music comes on -Star Wars music :) The two croc wrestlers/handlers come out then and pull the crocs to the platform by their tails through the water. They then proceed to line them up, put their hand in the crocs mouth, put their Head! in its mouth, jump over them, all the while laughing and joking about it (though admittedly the spoken humor I didnt quite get as it was in Thai). I went in not knowing what to expect, but quite enjoyed it, though I had trouble looking when they would put their head in the the croc's mouth!
Next we saw the elephants, which were all over the park, including two with babies! You could feed them and pet them and there was even an option of riding one for an extra fee, though unfortunately you did this on a seat rather than on the elephant, so Fjorn and I opted not to. But we got a number of good pics with the elephants!
Next was the elephant show, narrated in British English. It told the history of Elephants in Thailand as they did tricks, played soccer and danced. And it ended with a bang-literally! In talking about how elephants were trained for warfare they had a battle with cannons and actually burned down this little hut! The people looked like they were having immenses fun with this. All in all I very much enjoyed the shows, and it was well worth the trip :) We then caught the bus home and rested up before meeting - which was good, Im slowly starting to catch more words, my new word for the night was poofung, which was said often. Literally it breaks down to people listening, but together means audience :) It was in my comment in the book study.

Eating Like a Local...and confusing the Aussies

So lately Ive been quite pleased with myself; Ive managed to go several new places all on my own (during daylight hours in perfectly safe parts of town :) ), admittedly theyre not exactly remote, hard to get to spots but I used my bus map and figured out which bus to take and when to get on and off -though choosing when to get off is typically oh there went my stop! but bus stops are pretty close together, so I just get off at the next one and walk back, considering it a bit of unplanned exploration. Fortunately Im fond of walking! Unfortunately I had an audience at one point for my method of choosing when to get off so Im fairly certain that one young Thai brother will forever think me the dingy foreign girl - on the bus back from service he asked if I could go home, then switched to Thai and I knew the story was being told...ugh! Oh well, with the questioning ability of a 3 year old in Thai I should be used to looking a bit foolish anyhow-its good for my humility and Id never fault the brothers and sisters who have gone above and beyond to help me out here.
So anyway, Sunday I went (on my own!) to the Sunday meeting at the ITF tower on Silom road, a major road in Bangkok they taught it on Pimsleur. I took a bus and the BTS there then returned just by bus (which is the cheapest way to go). I knew in this instance where to get off exactly, and youre supposed to ring the bell to let the driver know to drop you at the next stop (they dont stop if no one is getting off and no one is signally they want to get on), but I just feel so pushy ringing the bell, so I figured Id just wait til he stopped- and watched my street go by, then the little market thats open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and we were going over the river - so I rang the bell. It was a small walk home but totally worth it as I found the most delectable donuts inthe world!!! And justified buying and eating them by what a distance it was to get home (though really not that far to walk, especially by Bangkok standards). Unfortunately - or perhaps fortunately for my waistline!- I couldnt find it yesterday when we were in the area doing return visits :( I had wanted to share my new found delight with Alanna and her friend just arrived from Taiwan, Fjorn (we bonded over both having unusual boy names as girls). Its funny, Fjorn is here for 10 days -serendipitously leaving on the same day as me! - and she has a list of foods to try long enough to take a month! Yesterday it seemed all foods mentioned were sweet and fried so I teased we were trying to fatten her up. Ohh and on thatnote, we had roti for the first time last night-its a treat from Bangladesh thats reminiscent of a sopapilla filled with banana (and fried then drizzled with condensed milk). Sooooo yummy!
And speaking of food, that takes me to the trip I took (by myself) to Wangwian Yai, or in English: the roundabout with the big horse statue in the middle :) Alanna and I had passed through there the other day and I had seen these nice, inexpensive hats there - Ive been wanting a hat to keep the sun out of my eyes and off the burnt back of my neck; I have an umbrella, but Im no good at the getting it out and putting it away and juggling it with all my books, plus its mostly broke now; guess I shouldve splurged on the $6 umbrella. However on that day I wasnt yet ready to commit, but having had a bit of a headache the day before from too much sun, I wanted a hat before witnessing on Wednesday. So I pulled out my map to find which buses went there (most do, and I probably couldve crossed the road and taken any Song Tao, but I wanted to go by bus).
So I get there, try on all the hats several times and finally indicate to the salesperson Id like to buy this hat; and it was the last one and they wouldnt let me buy it! Ugh! So I had to go through the whole process all over again. But I found and purchased a hat worthy of an English garden party and Eliza Doolittle :) and it was under $2. Sweet! By now I was starving, but had only ever eaten cinnamon donuts holes at Wangwian Yai -not exactly the best dinner in the world- so I walked along to see what I could find. I came across this noodle place a little ways off the roundabout. It look busy and smelled delightful, I just had to figure out what they were serving exactly...So I stood there for 5 minutes trying to read the sign. I fortunately saw no blood in sight (which you do have to be careful of in Thailand), and although Im getting better at reading Thai script, their sign was in a fancy font and I couldnt make out what the letters were let alone sound it out! Oh well, I was starving and it looked good so finally I just approached, pointed to the sign, asked for one and pointed to the noodles Id like-and it was the BEST noodle soup in the world!!!!!! And mind you, that statement shouldnt be taken lightly as Ive now had quite a variety of noodle soups both here and in Malaysia. Oh but it was phenomenal! it had his clear broth that was packed with flavors of lime, garlic, green onion and cilantro, the rice noodles were slippery, but not slimy, and just a bit chewy, the meatballs were sausage, and the bean sprouts added this bit of crunch and really absorbed the flavor of the broth with a tang-plus made you feel you were being healthy for eating your vegetables! Oh it was fantastic; I took a picture of both the dish and the food stall + sign so I could ask Alanna and Terry what exactly Id eaten... Ill definitely be trying to recreate this once I get home :)
I also recently tried another new dish at the food place at the corner of our soi, called Cow Moo Dang -and no Im not making this up. It translates into Rice Pork Red, and is also an absolute delight - I had it two nights in a row, contemplated a third (but hadnt yet tried their wonton soup so got that instead) and even as I write this Im thinking, yum, I could go for some Cow Moo Dang. Its kind of like this pork meat sampler over rice with a hardboiled egg in this sweet and sour red sauce, garnished with green onions and cilantro. And here a note: as I was saying that my favorite bites were those with cilantro in it I learned that they dont call it cilantro in Australia, but it must not feature too strongly in their cuisine as neither Alanna nor Terry knew what to call it. I said its often in Mexican food, but then again Mexican food is also not as prevalent in Australia. I also got this horrified look from Fjorn when I mentioned the Kingdom Hall in Kuala Lumpur being on the 2nd story of a strip mall - and had to explain its not a mall where people strip, but a strip of stores, versus an enclosed building. Oh and on the subject of crosscultural English communication, I had to ask how they referred to chocolate chip cookies (Alanna's bus map had a corner missing that looked like someone had taken a bite out of it, which reminded me of our ancient chocolate chip cookie recipe card), to which Alanna said shed call them chocolate chip biscuits, but Terry would call them cookies. Which of course led me to ask, then what do you call biscuits; muffins. But muffins are sweet. Yes but they also call the biscuit on the McDonalds sandwich a muffin. Thats an English muffin, which led me to trying to explain the difference between an English muffin and a biscuit. Well, you know, a biscuit is more lumpy and light and crumbly and oh yum you need it for biscuits and gravy. To which I got this Look. I think it sounded icky to them, so then I was trying to explain that it isnt a gravy like on mashed potatoes, but a sausage gravy. This led to me explaining how you make it and how it can be hard, in my opinion, to find good biscuits and gravy, because a lot of times the gravy is a bit bland because its more milk than sausage because of course milk is cheaper than sausage.
It was a very amusing conversation, especially since Alanna and Terry are going to New York in May -their first trip to America- and have been making a list of foods to try while there. Id already completely shocked Alanna and Fjorn by saying I eat sweet potatoes with butter and cinnamon and sugar, then describing a dish commonly appearing at potlucks- yams with a butter cinnamon sauce and nuts topped with marshmallows! Apparently sweet potatoes are savory in Australia. However, as she adds these foods to the list with New York style pizza by the slice and hot dogs from a cart, were not sure if theyll be able to try them! Alanna was asking, now how far is Ohio from New York again? See the friend she is staying with is from Jamaica, so I have no clue if the things Im describing are part of her diet, and its not exactly like I know where to find good biscuits and gravy and marshmallow yams in New York! So Alannas thinking to try these things she may need to stay with an America American (her term :) ) at some point, not just a Jamaican American. Im guessing though that someone in the hall will likely be able to help them out though since neither dish is exactly an Ohio specialty. I had to give the bad news that flights from New York to Ohio arent typically cheap- and oddly enough you could find deals to Florida often for cheaper, though physically farther away.
Speaking of Florida, I worked with a Filipino sister named Gloria Monday who had lived in Miama for 9 years. It was interesting in learning how she came in the Truth, because while in Florida, where there are many Witnesses, she never encountered them, but she then came to Thailand, where there are comparatively few Witnesses, and learned the truth. Its funny how these things work. Shes a lovely sister, and I very much enjoyed my morning with her. I was using a new presentation Alanna had written for me - in Thai script! That one caught me a bit off guard, though I could mostly read it. It definitely gives added incentive to memorizing the presentation versus reading it as it would take 10 minutes to sound it out! (remembering it and stumbling over the words only takes about 5). Ive had good success with it thus far. It helps because right at the beginning I mention Im from the US and learning Thai, which I think has received a very kind and patient response from the ones Ive spoken with. It probably doesnt hurt that, per Gloria, people are more interested in knowing what is this foreigner doing here trying to talk to me? It also always amuses me when I carefully give my presentation in Thai, hand them the literature and they say Thank You in English :) Its like wow your Thai is so incomprehensible Im willing to pull out my English :) It was good, though, last Saturday I worked with sister Misato, a Japanese sister who also speaks a good bit of English and she helped me with my tones. Though we doubtless must have been funny to passerbys-Nock Seuk Sa? No Seuk Saa. Seuk Saa? Yes Nock Seuk Saa. Ah Sah Sa Muck. Ah Siah? (Student, formal way of saying study, study? Student. Volunteer. Volunteer?) Which reminds me- sweet sister Wan whom I went out with Monday afternoon has been working on her English! Wednesday she had a letter learning book out in field service :) She is just so cute! And here may I say Ive never been so happy to be short in my life as when Im here in Thailand. Im a good half foot taller than sister Wan! Me! Joanne (from California and also petite) made the amusing comment that back home shes like the super midget where as here in Thailand shes normal, fits right in. Even wearing my wedges at the Kingdom Hall here I feel a bit like a giant, as suddenly Im about the same height as all the Japanese brothers.
Which reminds me (in this increasingly rambly post) Sunday at the English meeting I just happened to sit in front of a couple visiting Thailand from the US. I sat down and was listening to the southern accent when they asked are there any other Americans here? And I turned around and said hi! Im from Ohio :) Though then I got to giggling to myself when theyd said they were from Texas, having recently had a conversation with Alanna as to how it seemed to her all Texans were crazy. (She has a Texan Uncle in Australia and we'd recently talked to a crazy Texan man living in our area) But this couple was actually from Louisiana, but had moved to Texas after Katrina, which was then a bit of common ground, and I told them yes we have a family that moved to our sister congregation after Katrina. Unfortunately they were quite excited about this and I had to burst their bubble by explaining I meant in Ohio-not Bangkok.
Okay, this post has been quite rambly enough so Ill end with a pic, and as Dr. Seuss would say: Do you like my hat? Do you like my hat? Oh yes, just you wait 'enry 'iggins, just you wait! (Ok had to add in a bit of My Fair Lady too!)

Hot Hot HOT!!!

Summer is here in Thailand (May, June to September, our summer is monsoon season), and man is it HOT! I was worried Id simply become a big wimp while in Malaysia with my airconditioned room but no even the locals have been declaring raawn maak! (very hot). I went out this afternoon with a Thai sister who stated she didnt like the hot-or dogs, but we both agreed that bananas were yummy. They have more varieties of bananas here, and I must admit I prefer them to those in the US. Theyre these cute little bananas and Saturday I bought a whole bunch for about 50 cents! The Thai sister, Wan (meaning sweet, and what a fitting name for this darling sister) was shocked to learn that in the US Id pay 60 baht for a bunch ($2)! So later she treated me to grilled bananas -only 20 baht, she told me :)
It was an interesting, but lovely afternoon with the Thai sister - curious because she speaks little English, and of course my Thai is severly limited (but hey I know the words for prayer, prophecy, volunteer, Bible Student, truth and just this morning I learned Creator. Im a total hit at parties :) ). But we got along just fine even if our conversation stayed very simple, and she had several very nice calls, one of which spoke quite a bit of english and was studying to be a doctor. (She looked young and I was curious as to her age, but though the Thai people dont consider it at all rude to ask age-or really anything youd like to know- Im still hesitant to pry).
Speaking of age, its been quite entertaining to hear what age people over here believe me to be - Ive gotten everything now from 16!!! to the more reasonable 26. And forgive me if Ive mentioned this before, but the compliment I received in Manila just amused me to no end - I was told I look young for a caucasian. First time Id ever been told that! Speaking of perspective, Ive learned since coming over here that most white people are, by Thai standards, fat, old looking, and have big noses! Ha! Dont feel bad for me here, because I personally find it hilarious. Additionally Ive been told to Thai people there is no distinction between Australian, American and European, were all the same, all farang, but according to Raywot considered to be more polite than Thai people. This was a relief because what I WAS worried about was being seen as the rude/obnoxious American (especially after having just met and spoken with one, yech he was such an arrogant know-it-all!!!).  I suppose this lack of distinction makes more sense of an earlier conversation I had with a couple of Thai sisters (with Alanna's help in this instance). They had been asking where I was from, to which I replied the USA, but this didnt suffice, they wanted to know my geneology apparently, to which I answered I was a little Native American, Part Italian and Part German. The answer was no to the first two (especially having Lidia around, a dark Italian girl whom looked nothing like me), but then suddenly a yes to German. Apparently I dont look American (What exactly American looks like I still dont know), but German, yes I was clearly German! I later learned Lidia had stopped saying she was from Australia and said she was from Italy as Australia was unsatisfactory. :) ) So apparently in manners all white persons are the same and where you come from is not in fact determined by where you were born, but what you look like. Its a funny world.
Also just one lasr cultural side note to all the Americans looking forward to suntanning this summer - here all the lotions have whiteners in them and pale is the fashion. Oh the irony.

Uploaded Pics

Sorry its taken so long, but Alanna kindly lent me her laptop so I can upload pics from my camera. I put them under the pics section of my google site. Also, here is the link for my Kuala Lumpur photo album - I have more to add, but it just takes a while to load, so it'll take a day or so to get them all up. hopefully this works okay!
https://sites.google.com/site/amarchinthailand/
http://webmail.roadrunner.com/do/redirect?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2F115038126585849576508%2FKualaLumpur%3Fauthuser%3D0%26authkey%3DGv1sRgCKPxnZL4poeE5AE%26feat%3Ddirectlink