“And God said what?”  It was good!  My grade 9 class answered in unison with their weak morning voice.  “So if God created this world good and man was the climax of His creation that means Katak here is a mistake, right?”  YES!!  That woke them up.  Any time they can make fun of their classmates they jump on it! Continue reading Creative Thinking →

“Taan cow na krap.”  Bunan said to me as I ate my bowl of cereal in my house Saturday morning.  About 4 hours before, I had come downstairs to a land close to what Noah must have seen.  The kitchen and living room were under about a half-inch of water.  The task was so daunting to me that I fled and went running.  Upon my return, I mopped up the kitchen side and saved the living room till after a phone call to the States.  To my joy, Sarah Jane finished the job and a rainbow appeared, and the Hallelujah chorus was sung by angels in robes in the background, it was incredible!  She had also told Bunan that we thought the porch of the house next door kept flooding and leaking water down the walls of our house, onto the stairs, and then resting on our bottom floor where we were constantly mopping and we needed some help.  “Taan cow na krap.”  He asked me if I was eating.  “Colleen Kii Maouw mach don chaow, yang my gin na ka”.  I replied thinking I said, “I talked a lot this morning so I haven’t eaten yet.”  He laughed hard as he went up the stairs and then I realized that I told him my poo was drunk this morning so I hadn’t eaten yet.  Perfect!!! Continue reading The First Week →

Midnight came and went for me on Friday night after Thai food, French dessert, and a great time of visiting with Mary Beth and Paul…my first stateside visitors…that were actually coming from New Zealand.  I woke up before 6am and went for my typical Saturday run that soon became untypical.  It was one of those runs where I was tired, my bones hurt, and my speed and exuberance were at a low.  Yet I still found pleasure running in the early morning as there was little traffic and few people.  I enjoyed the time to think and pray and as I continued my labored run with my mind elsewhere, I heard a motorbike coming up from behind.  It didn’t strike me till later that he was driving on the wrong side of the road.  As I heard it come closer I thought, “who knows me that has a motorbike around here?”  Then it happened.  He road by, grabbed me, and then took off like a bat out of where I wanted to send him.  I was so shocked I couldn’t scream in English or in Thai, I couldn’t catch him and kick him off his bike, I couldn’t do ANYTHING.  Oh man, I was so mad!  Then I was stuck with the mental issues.  He was wrong, but I feel wrong.  Why couldn’t I catch him?  Should I have flagged a car to run him over?  Will he come back again?  How do I forgive him?  Will he do it to someone else?  Man, the mental madness was mayhem!  Then, why tell anyone? Can they do anything about it?  I felt completely helpless and continue to wonder about the answers to some of those questions. Continue reading An Odd Day →

Sara Jane (my new house mate) and I sat in the middle of a mall in Malaysia for 15 minutes on a tan leather massage chair complete with feet gloves.  The chair continuously squeezed our feet, calves, better side, back side, and back and I would smile as people walked passed and stared (I think they were jealous).  As we pulsated, Sara Jane told me how she was looking at DVD’s in a reputable looking store when suddenly the gate shut with a clamor and locked everyone inside.  The customers looked up, smi/ed at each other and continued perusing the selection as if it happened all the time.  Apparently a cop was spotted so the store closed its doors to their illegal industry courteously keeping the “Movie, DVD, VCD” sign up so the cops would never know what they were selling!  Too funny!  Ah the joys of black market South East Asia shoving its face in the middle of the light. Continue reading Malay Mahem →

Have you ever played a game or sport outside in the summer to where the sweat soaks through your clothes, your legs and body are so soar that you dread the time when the alarm will ring the next morning, and you’re so dirty that last weeks socks are jealous?  Or maybe you remember the time when you got caught in the freezing cold rain or come in from playing in the snow and you’re body is red from the cold and the stale smell envelopes your nostrils as your take off your external clothes…what’s the next thing you do?  Yeah, take a shower.  As you’re in the shower you want to stay there for at least the next 2 hours and just let the water fall on your face with your eyes closed.  The thought always enters my mind, “Man, this is the feeling for which showers were invented.”  Ok, maybe not in those exact words…(I was trying not to leave a hanging participle, thanks mom). Continue reading Backyard Memories →