Thai friends and a peek at my daily habits...

Thai friends dancing the night away!

What a party!



Last night, I was invited to attend a housewarming party with some of my Thai friends. Imagine a true Aussie bushdance, but replace Slim Dusty with karaoke to Thai pop music, mung into sticky rice and curry instead of a sausage sizzle, and swap your XXXX for some good ol' moonshine.

I abstained from the latter, just to clarify.

The biggest difference? The Thais are waay more into dancing than us Aussies. [Although I, being the token 'farang' (foreigner), had to comply with the renditions of 3 Beatles songs and endless shakin' of my booty to their Thai music.]

On another topic (because I'm sure the mental image of me moving in an uncoordinated fashion to uber-loud music disturbs you as much as it disturbed me), let me give you a glimpse into my current daily life!

At the moment, I'm volunteering at Chiang Rai Christian Services Centre (or CRC for short). 


Char and Kowaa, both new fathers

 

The super-serious Adjarn Seeton



On  Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I spend most of the day with the fun people at the office - in the afternoons, I exchange English lessons for Thai lessons.  My colleagues are Beer, Yu, Kowaa, and Char.   My 'boss' is Adjarn Seeton ('Adjarn' is a respectful term for an older man).  I really enjoy spending time with these guys - on days when I'm free, and they're doing a special program out in the community, they invite me to come along.  For example, last Tuesday (12 Oct), we went to the local prison and did a morning of songs and health education for the inmates there.  

Char and Beer

  

 On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I can choose from a range of activities - hanging with the CRC mob, catching up with my YWAM teammates (who I'll join up with in January), visiting Thai friends in their various occupations, or chilling in a coffee shop and preparing lessons, practising my Thai, and keeping you guys informed!

The weekend just gone, I spent out in Beer and Yu's villages - one night in each, although they are very close together.  It's a surreal feeling, being surrounded by jungle, chickens and many people who don't speak a bar of English. 

Ah, the immersion method of learning a language.  It bites at the time, but I reckon it's helping me out heaps.
 Despite the language difficulties, general confusion and constant uncertainty of what to do/what not to do, I praise God for the cultural insights I'm being blessed with at the moment.  Please pray with me that He will guide me to get involved in what He wants me to do.  Thank God with me that He's given me these 3 months to adjust and learn to communicate!

Ok, yep, that's enough from me.  Check out  my pikkies to get an idea of where I'm living, and some of the people I'm hanging out with at the moment.

My love to you all!



The main road near my house - do not be fooled!
It is rarely this serene!



  

 

The road I live on - pronounced 'Soi Gong Yao'







Euphoria! and utter dread.

Thought I'd start off on a bright note. YES, I've arrived, safe and sound, in beautiful Chiang Rai!

But before anything else, I must describe to you the hazardous journey that brought me to my current city of residence.

I knew before leaving Australia that I would have a 14-hour stopover in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia. I planned on bunking down in the International Airport (KLIA), which is about the same size of Singapore's International (for those of you who've been there). Now, I had heard that I could catch a 'SkyBus' to KLIA from the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) (which is where AirAsia delivers its passengers to).

Upon arrival in KL, I hunted around to find a 'SkyBus' that would take me to KLIA. When I asked a bus driver (whose vehicle had 'SkyBus' written on the side) if he went to KLIA, to the International Airport, he nodded profusely and waved me on board.

Fair enough. But halfway through the bus ride, as I was chatting to another Aussie girl sitting next to me, I thought to ask her if the bus actually went to KLIA.

'No, this bus goes to the city centre!' She told me. Ah. Whoops.

No worries; I decided to just find a hotel in the city and bunk there for a few hours, until my 7am flight the next day.

After fluffing around for awhile in a shopping complex (KL Central), I managed to get fairly clear directions to a hotel close to the bus station (where my bus back to LCCT would depart at 4am the next morning).
However, the first two hotels recommended to me were fully booked out. At a bit of a loss, I tried a third, as near to the bus station as possible.
'Hotel Mexicos', it was called - after sussing out the room, and finding out it was only $30 a night, I settled on this as my best (if only) choice.

Later that night, after a lovely cheap dinner (a grand total of $4!), I hit the sack early, knowing I'd have to be up at 3am to get to the bus station in time.

Fighting a slight premonition of impending doom, I asked God to keep me safe and help me to rest up a bit. Then, I finally fell asleep.

12.30am - BANG BANG BANG BANG! 'Open your door! We need to talk with you!' BANG BANG BANG BANG! 'Please open your door!'

Oh, Father, what's going on?! Bleary-eyed, and with my heart pounding louder than a thousand marathon runners on a wooden bridge, I threw on some decent clothes and ventured to look through the door's peephole.

There were at least 4 uniformed police officers wandering around the corridor! Thankfully, I could also see that they were banging on the door next to mine. So they weren't after me, it seems. (I know I'm a shady character, but seriously!)

After a few more prayers for courage, and contemplating the potential hazards associated with taking this action, I pushed the door slightly ajar and asked what was going on.

'Oh, we're sorry, Miss. Please take your rest.' How exactly am I supposed to do that?

Anywho, end of the story is, I didn't get much sleep that night after all, and I still don't know if the room next to me contained a murderer or drug-smuggler, or if the police were just mates with him and wanted to see how he was going. At midnight.

AND now I'm safely in Thailand. I've settled in well, bought a few of the essentials (like a blue kettle, $4, score!)

But I don't have any pictures yet, because I'm still trying to figure out my camera phone (I had to get a new one because my old one wouldn't work here). And I've been a bit lazy in the photo department. Ok, I hate taking photos. This I need to work on.

This post is definitely long enough. My love to you all, I'll write again next week!
xoxo Jacki