taking a field trip.

Every couple of weeks we take the kids on a field trip. We load all 28 of them (plus 6-8 adults) into a 16 passenger van (yep, Thai road safety at its best!) and head off to some fun locale around town. We’ve been to the planetarium, the aquarium, the local cable station, and this past week we ventured to the mall for a kid’s fair where we got to watch 4 short performances of fairy tale stories. I wasn’t sure what to expect (I never am!) but ended up being quite impressed by the productions. Each one had a different stage/set and we moved from place to place for each story. There was music and dancing and elaborate costuming.

First we saw Snow White (though I’m not quite sure what all of the story was told as no witch made an appearance and I never saw a prince, there was a lot of narration and ‘telling’ rather than actual acting out for this one.) Then we moved on to Red Riding Hood which was all done with black lights. It was pretty cool. Next was Hansel and Gretel, though again I had trouble following the story a bit so I’m not quite sure what it was all about. There were three witches here and a candy making machine and a few other details not found in the original story to add to my confusion. And last was Jack and the Beanstalk with a guy on stilts for the giant and a huge play set disguised as the beanstalk.

The kids had a great time and the people in the mall got a kick out of watching all of us troop back and forth in a train, each kid with their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them. We made quite the spectacle! Next up is the train station in a couple of weeks. Good thing we’ve had some practice. :)

a brand new year.

I may have mentioned this before but I love the way the holiday season begins in November with an opportunity to be reminded to be grateful for and aware of our blessings. Then comes Christmas with an emphasis on service, charity, and brotherly kindness. And then we’re given a chance to start a new year with a fresh perspective, to refocus our lives on what’s important…those things we’ve just spent two months celebrating; gratitude and love.

My birthday falls on the 2nd of January and while in some ways I hate it because it often gets forgotten by others in the holiday shuffle I love that my own personal year starts on the heels of a new calendar year in the midst of all the celebrations and re-focusing. I’ve always been a goal-setter and a list-maker so the New Year’s Resolution is second nature to me. There are few things that bring as much satisfaction as a job well-done that becomes an item that can be crossed off a list. But in this over-achievers, social media driven society everyone’s lists and accomplishments are published everywhere 24/7 to give plenty of fodder for guilt complexes, self-loathing, and more when our own lists fail to compare. I think this may be one of the greatest challenges of our day-to utilize all that the world gives us (and technology in particular) with its wealth of info, inspiration for change, creativity and improvement, and then know how best to incorporate it into our own various lives and circumstances without beating ourselves up over what we can’t/don’t do or do as well as we’d like.

I will always be a list-maker and a pinterest and blog addict but I wanted my goals this year to have a slightly different bend. Inspired by a host of things I’ve read about simplifying and a friend’s comment about choosing a power word to guide your year I decided to steal their ideas and make them my own. So, while I’ll still have a few bucket list type goals, challenges and projects I’m going to work towards my main emphasis for the year will be “Relationships”.

With my life in upheaval and things in a constant shift it’s easy for me to focus inward and forgo the relationships or pay them little respect (ie, I’ll only be here a few months, it’s not worth trying to meet people at church with the language barrier and such, by the time we make a real connection I’ll be leaving…etc.) But I know that when I look back it’s the relationships that make my life truly rich and the only way to leave a real mark on the world is by positively touching someone else’s life. I’ll be heading back to Utah and living close to family again; grandparents I’m still blessed to have and nieces and nephews who are growing way too fast just to name a few. I’d like to take time to build and deepen the relationships with those I could lose soon and those I hardly know yet. I’ll be building an entirely new social circle, embarking on a new employment adventure, attending a new church congregation, and hopefully engaging in some dating experiences. The possibilities for building relationships are endless.

And while I’m striving to have better relationships with the people in my life I’m also going to work on having a better relationship with myself, my surroundings, and God. Here are a few of the specifics:

• make my first and last contact of each day be with an actual person rather than a device-and make as many personal rather than digital connections as possible (in person or call rather than text or email)
• take my nephews on dates quarterly, visit my grandparents monthly and ask all the questions I’ll be sorry I don’t know the answers to if I leave them unasked
• smile at, make eye contact with, and thank people in public service situations (at the grocery store etc.)
• commit at least one random act of kindness daily
• send a postcard, note, letter each week
• take a meditation class-learn to better recognize my strengths and be more forgiving of my faults
• breathe, stretch and move every day (I have a few challenges –planks, squats-- that will be filling this requirement)
• recognize when I need to re-charge and say no and when I need to step outside of myself and push harder
• slow down and be consciously aware of the food I eat, my breath, my surroundings-unplug and be open to the unexpected
• work on developing deeper and more meaningful prayers-commit to something/ask in the morning, repent/report back at night
• study, don’t just read, my scriptures-have a theme or question in mind as I read, take notes

I’m hoping this will help bring the important things into focus and give my life some of the depth and roots I feel I’ve been missing lately.

How about you? Are you a resolution maker? What are some of your goals for 2014? Here’s to us all, let’s make it a great year!

(And who doesn't have a goal to go to the beach more often?! Here's a little inspiration for you. And a sneak peek at the holiday trip re-cap you'll be getting soon!)

a happy holiday.

It’s strange to celebrate a Christian holiday in a Buddhist country. There are enough expats here and I think western culture has crept in everywhere generally that they’ve made some concessions but it’s really just in name only. The mall has some decorations up; a tree, some lights, even some snow. And Santa’s face is recognized by many of the kids but there is no mention of Christ or the true meaning of Christmas at all. And none of the goings-on that you get in the US happen here. There aren’t concerts and endless holiday parties, no goodie exchanges or tv specials or 24-7 Christmas carols on the radio to remind you at every turn.

I’ve got my 1000+ songs on itunes that I’ve been listening to non-stop for a couple of weeks which has been awesome but without all the other trappings it sort of feels like I’m cheating and listening to it all in September. Instead it’s just a few days away.

We did have a party at school and they went all out. Each class performed a song/dance, the older kids put on a short play, and there were the ubiquitous carnival games and costumes. There was also a church Christmas program which was very low-key compared to what I’m used to. And after many delays and headaches my sister will be in town this week to do some traveling with me so we’ll spend the holiday together, which will be great, but we’ll be at the beach. (Also great, but nothing resembling a typical Christmas.) I’m missing the snow and hot chocolate, the lights, the gift exchanges, the concerts and performances, the cheesy holiday movies, and am homesick in a way I never have been before. I’ve been away from home for the holidays before but never been away from the holiday for the holidays.

So, drink some eggnog, go caroling and think of me. And I promise I’ll think of you while I’m snorkeling and drinking my fresh coconut juice! Happy Holidays from Thailand and I'll see you in 2014!

decor at the mall

getting ready to dance

Santa comes to the school party

my co-teachers and a mischievous elf

modern facilties.

An entire blogpost about toilets. Who would’ve thunk it? But it’s amazing the different options there are here. You get everything from a modern, recognizable sit-down flusher (with or without bum rinsing hose or toilet paper) to a floor squatter with a bucket of water and a ladle. There’s generally no soap, sometimes no sink and never, ever any paper towels. Every time you open the stall door it’s a surprise. You just never know what you’re going to get. But I’ve learned to take toilet paper and hand sanitizer with me everywhere I go and I’m going to have some killer thighs by the time all is said and done.

My favorite, though, are the little teeny tiny toilets they have for the kids at the school. Look how cute! We won’t talk about how they squirt each other (in the face!) with the little hoses or run around all pants-less (the boys sometimes squirting each other with other things in the process) or how they never, ever wash their hands when they’re done. Let’s just focus on how darling the miniscule plumbed facilities are.

this beauty was in a family's home, amazing to think this is day to day life for some people--you take the pink bucket on the left which is floating in a pool of water and pour water down the toilet which is the flushing technique...all kinds of awesome

same idea as the above but with a slightly more modern feel (and no, you can't put tp in the toilets so if there's any paper available--unlikely--there's usually an overflowing trash bin in the stall as well) this one was in a public sports auditorium

here's the cute school bathroom, one for all to share with no doors as you can tell, everyone just goes together and has a jolly old time

here's my foot next to it to give you a sense of the actual size...so tiny!

Confession-I have been known to squeal with joy when I've opened a door to find a sit-down flusher.  And soap? Well, the ecstasies that can bring are immeasurable. It's the little things, people.

waking from a strange dream.

It was only a matter of time before my crummy sleeping habits caught up to me on this side of the planet. Alas, for the last 3 weeks I’ve been fighting a killer cold that was made worse by the fact that I woke up nearly every day at exactly 3 am and never really went back to sleep (I wish I was one of those people that would get up and clean or bake or something instead of just lying in bed cursing the darkness and my constant exhaustion…maybe someday.) One of the side-effects of this poor sleep is a two-edged sword, I either don’t sleep deep enough to dream at all or I have super crazy dreams that are continually interrupted. Generally it ‘s the former but I’ve had a few doozy dreams lately that I just know you are dying to hear about. :)

In the first I had an invitation to a dinner party hosted by two of my most talented dinner party throwing friends, K and M. M was about 7½ feet tall and came to pick me up wearing a baby blue rain coat. It was rainy and wet but I climbed up on her slippery shoulders and we were off. She ran like a gazelle and I ducked beneath dripping branches trying not to fall from my precarious perch. Midway there K showed up and ran beside us carrying someone as well (I knew who they were in the dream but no idea who they are in real life). We made it to K’s house which was actually my old college boyfriend’s house on the outside but an amazing mansion inside and joined the rest of the people there, a conglomeration of people I recognized from elementary school on to my co-teacher here in Thailand. We were told we couldn’t have dinner until we’d made our own dessert; Dippin’ Dots. We were each handed a giant mixing spoon and a bowl of ice cream and began scooping little tiny balls of ice cream that we deposited onto a conveyor belt circling the room. And then I woke up…always at the vital parts! What did they serve for dinner?! I’ll never know.

Dream two saw my frenemie from Jr. High all grown up and nine months pregnant. We were besties now so she invited me over to her house for the birth. And I was lucky enough to be the attending physician. When she started doing the Lamaze breathing I held out my hands (I was across the room so it wasn’t as kinky as it sounds) and there magically appeared 5 bulldog puppies! They were all fuzzy and cute (yeah, I know, fuzzy bulldogs) and I have to say, they looked just like her!

In the last one I had a confrontation with Ben Affleck and Christian Bale about who was the real Batman. They both showed up at my door in costume to find out what I thought. (Just FYI, I’m a Bale fan all the way but I have no problem with him being done and handing the torch to someone else, it’s his choice. So, it’s not like I’m one of those people who is going to boycott the new movie. Therefore, not quite sure why this was going through my brain but obviously I’m a little more loyal than I’d admitted out loud.) After some randomness in the middle that I don’t remember they left me, both uttering in unison in the trademark Batman-husky-whisper voice, “Anyone can be Batman.”

There are more but I won’t subject you to them all. :) Hope your sleep is less eventful and more restful than mine. Sweet dreams!

Any dream analysts out there? I don’t want to know what they mean--unless of course there’s some hidden message about my true calling in life or how underneath it all I’m the most brilliant person alive. Basically I’m thinking Freud would have his work cut out for him.

just some random Thai street art to accompany the random thoughts

learning a language.

My attempts to capture the language unlock the parts of my brain that are rarely used and inevitably finds me stumbling for Thai phrases but coming up with my high school Spanish or the bits of French, German or Italian I’ve picked up on other travels and are miniscule indeed. I really have to think before I speak, not just to try to translate or find the right word but to make sure the words match what I’m trying to say…and each other. I’ve had to stop myself on multiple occasions from saying things like ‘muy aroi’ (‘very’ in Spanish and ‘delicious’ in Thai) or responding ‘grazie’ when wanting to thank someone.

It makes a great contrast to teaching English to the kids. It puts you in their shoes, not knowing what’s going on, not being able to make sense of the scribbles that are supposed to be letters, the babblings that are supposed to be words and hold a meaning that you have yet to discover. But when you do unlock that meaning, even just a tiny bit of it, enough to order dinner or be able to pay with exact change, it’s an awesome feeling. It’s a process both frustrating and exhilarating and one I’m afraid I’ll never completely conquer.

a random Buddha

a quiet morning.

The Thais in Udon welcome the day with a fellow I’ve come to affectionately call Morning Announcer Guy. Intercoms all over the city crackle to life every morning at 6:30 and MAG drones on and on about who knows what (it’s in Thai after all) for up to an hour. And it’s really loud. It’s a good thing I’m already up by 6:30 (and that MAG doesn’t make an appearance on the weekends) or I’d have to say I hate that guy. And maybe he’s broadcasting Buddhist messages of love and understanding, or maybe it’s the news and the weather, or maybe it’s discussions of art or how the aliens are coming to take over the planet but whatever it is, I can’t believe that it’s important enough to break into the peace of a lovely morning. Sorry, MAG, no hard feelings but I definitely won’t miss you when I’m gone.

nope, not MAG, just some random lotus blossoms