What to do with language learning?

Let's face it: the majority of my time at the moment is spent having a grand old time, learning to speak Thai in exchange for an endless stream of English lessons.

My workmates, concentrating hard in the office.
[This is an old photo from last year; the lady at the far right
no longer works here.]

Which I'm not complaining about at all!  I'm really enjoying having a chance to adjust to my new life in an Asian country.  And the people the Lord has surrounded me with are just gorgeous - generous, patient and easy to have a laugh with.
But there are some stresses associated with 'starting from scratch' in a new culture. 
For example, how do you communicate to your landlady that your hot water system is actually electrocuting you each time you take a shower?  What do you say when you realise you've been severely misinterpretated, and have probably so deeply offended the other person that they're likely to be planning your funeral whilst you creep guiltily away?  When you have the vocabulary of a 12-month old (and even that's being generous), how do you make friends?
Praise God, because it really isn't so disastrous as it sounds.  With a good dose of humour, a few blessed souls who have a reasonable command of the basics of the English language, and an already well-used Thai-English dictionary, God has helped me to fumble through each day.

How to cheat death in a small room?

# Having been thoroughly coached by my office workmates (the team at CRCSC), I approached my landlady and explained (in two sentences) about my shower dilemma.  Result? The following evening, my old shower was taken away, and replaced with a new one. Hurrah!


My friend, Jam, who had me over for a
sleepover after Bible study.



# After attending a small group Bible study on Tuesday night, I was faced with a very cold motorbike ride back to Chiang Rai city (I don't have a motorbike yet; a friend was going to give me a lift).  One of the young university girls, Jam, kindly offered for me to spend the night at her house.  So we bunked in her room, and talked well into the night!  Iceblock worries resolved, and some great bonding time to boot.

# Most Thai people are very forgiving and will write you off as a 'crazy farang' [crazy foreigner] if you say something stupid.  It just means I go very red in the face, 'kor tort' [apologise] my way out the situation, and write the experience down as another lesson learnt about what not to say.

 

Just for fun... :P

On an exciting note, it's less than 2 months until I can move and join with my YWAM team!  I'm loving it here in Chiang Rai, but there is this sense of purpose attached to next year's project that compels me to greatly anticipate what God's going to do there.

This Thursday, I'll go and visit the YWAM team for a few days.  A good opportunity to suss out what my life will be like next year, and a lovely break from the chaos of Chiang Rai, too!

Loving it all the same, and loving you guys, as well!  Just want to say how much I appreciate all these little 'snippets of home news' you're all emailling me.  Keep 'em coming; they really make my day.