On the team’s last day in Thailand, we thought that we should really go visit a temple so everyone could experience the religion of the culture in which we had been immersed for the past week.  Temples in Thailand are not much different from temples in Taiwan so nothing really surprised me. The rest of the group, however, held onto every word my dad spoke about the religion of Buddhism and the lostness of this people.  The youngest girl in our group (17) was very affected by this experience.  I asked her what she thought and she just shook her head.  Most of our time there she spent by herself just looking around and trying to process what she was experiencing.

As we walked from temple to temple, I remembered back to my first experience in Taiwan seeing a temple.  I remember the heartache and sickness I felt.  When I first walked through a temple and saw how lost the people were, I couldn’t help but cry.  There was a darkness surrounding the temple that, at times, was overpowering.  These thoughts came back to me as I watched this girl experience the same things.  A fear crept into me asking me the question, have I grown numb to the lostness of these people?  In Taiwan, there are temples EVERYWHERE.  Some are very large while others are very small situated between two homes.  I have grown so accustomed to seeing them everywhere that I don’t even think about it anymore.  Visiting this temple and seeing the people worshiping these idols has opened my eyes and my heart to these people once again. Take a moment to pray for the people of Thailand today.

Dragons guarding the entrance to the temple

Money being offered to the gods

Chanting monks

3 generations visiting the temple

So lost

Helping her child give money to the monks

For Christel ;)

The team has been so stinkin’ tired after each day that we haven’t felt much like doing lots of exploration in the evenings. This evening was no exception. As we debriefed after the day’s work, we decided we all just wanted to grab a bite to eat in the food court next to the hotel.  We all got different things but were able to eat together and enjoy each other’s company.  Since the beginning, I’ve said that I wanted to go to Dairy Queen because I never get good ice cream in Taiwan.  There are lots of restaurants here that aren’t in Taiwan (or at least Kaohsiung).  Our dinners have been so heavy every night that I haven’t felt like eating a blizzard after a meal.  This evening was different. I purposely left room for my DQ Blizzard.  Oh so good!!

Dairy Queen. Ahhh!

Not my typical Butterfinger Blizzard, but I'll take it!

It’s been a long two days of work over here in Thailand. Today we finished at 3:30 and then our team met together for a debriefing.  As I went to the meeting, all I could think of was how much I wanted it to be a quick get-together and then I could have some time to just rest and relax.  Wrong idea. We came into the meeting all really wanting to talk about our days and get everyone else up-to-date on the work we are doing.  It turned into many sharing what God was putting on their hearts while we’ve been here. Suddenly I was wide awake and not feeling very tired.  Our “short debriefing” ended up going for an hour or so.  It was so refreshing to hear members of the team open up and share.  God is doing great things here in us and the many other people we are helping.  We are not even halfway through our time here; I can’t imagine what other great things God has in store.

After our meeting, we went out to eat. It was the first time we were all out as a group just walking the streets of Chiang Mai. Finally!!  Our hotel is connected to a large mall so we walked through the mall to gain access to the outside world.  After walking a few blocks, we arrived at our destination…MEXICAN FOOD!! Oh my, I haven’t had good Mexican in a while.  Again, we had lots of laughs and good conversation around the table.  It was so nice to be out on our own to explore and have down-time.  I enjoyed getting to know some of our group members better and the fresh air.  It might seem a bit humid/foggy to some but it is fresh air compared to Kaohsiung. It was an enjoyable evening but I need rest for another busy day tomorrow.  Enjoy the few pics from our journey tonight and the hotel we are staying in.

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We started “working” today but will really get into the work tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. All of us on the team are excited to start but we also know that it will be a long day.  Sorry I can’t give more specifics on the work we will be doing.  What I can do is tell you about the cool adventures I am having.

I am thoroughly enjoying our meals here and find that you can find many of the same dishes as in Taiwan.  Food is very cheap (if you go to the right places) and extremely yummy.  I often have to stop myself from saying things in Chinese when ordering or interacting with the Thai people.  Thankfully you can get by with pointing and using short English phrases.  I am still attempting to say “hello” and “thank you” correctly. Maybe by the end of the trip, I will feel like I can say them without sounding completely ridiculous.

Tonight we decided we wanted to do a dinner river cruise.  We called up the tour guide, Windy, and she made the reservation for us.  It was absolutely beautiful!  Soon after we arrived, our food started coming out.  We ate as the boat was at the dock. After our meal was over, we started on a 1+ hour cruise down the river.  It was such a beautiful night and so peaceful on the river.  We passed many river-side restaurants with pretty lights and fun music playing.  Windy told us about the different restaurants and about some of the other buildings we were passing.  There were lots of laughs and easy conversation amongst us.  I would say that this was my favorite thing we’ve done so far…but I still can’t wait to ride an elephant  Now I will let the photos do the talking.

Our boat for the dinner cruise

Looking through the drink menu…so many good fruit smoothies!

It’s hard to see but there are lanterns floating up to the moon in this photo

The start of the cruise. Lots of beautiful restaurants to take pictures of

We sat at the front of the boat and we were able to see so much beauty!

The inside of the boat

The rest of the team arrived last night and we spent today sight-seeing. It is so good to have other people to explore with. There are 9 of us on the team and so far we’ve all gotten along really well. Today started off with discussion on where we should go. We ended up choosing a tour to some of the local handicraft places. Our tour guide was a woman named Windy and she was so helpful during our trip. As we rode to the first stop she told us about the culture and religion of Thailand. She was always ready with an answer to our questions. We couldn’t have asked for a sweeter lady.

Our stops included a Thai silk making shop, a wood carving shop, a jewelery store, and a lacquer wear shop. All of these shops gave demonstrations on how they make the different items. It was really neat to be able to watch how skilled these workers are in their craft. I’ve attached photos of the different stops from today’s excursion.

This evening, we got Windy to take us to a restaurant that serves traditional chiang mai food and has a dinner theater. It was a lot of fun trying new food and watching the many dances. At the end of the evening, our group was allowed to send up a lantern into the night sky. Overall, it was a very good day full of new experiences.

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Thailand is not taiwan. A brilliant statement, right? I’ve been hesitant to go out and explore after settling into my hotel room. I thought maybe because my lack of sleep I didn’t want to go out but the more I think about it, the more I realize that I’m just not comfortable here yet. It is not Taiwan.

At first glance, there are many similarities but the the cultures are very different when you look deeper. As I travelled  this morning, I kept feeling like I was doing something wrong in my response to people I encountered. It was a very strange feeling for me because I’ve never experienced this before (or I had someone with me to discuss what we should do).

I don’t like this whole travelling by myself to a foreign country. Don’t get me wrong; I like travelling to a foreign country, just not like this. I can’t tell you how happy I will be once the rest of the team arrives. I need companionship and someone to tell my travels to. That is partly why I’ve been writing so many posts on here. I don’t have anyone to share my experiences with.

I’m sure once everyone arrives, I will feel more comfortable and want to explore more. For now, though, I can’t help but miss my home, Taiwan, and the comfort it has to offer me.

It’s been a long journey but I’ve finally made it and I’m currently laying in my hotel bed ready to get some sleep. I know my journey was not as long as for those coming from the States but it was long for only coming from Taiwan.

I’m a bit disappointed because the Internet costs here at the hotel. Bummer. I really only want it to be able to update family and friends on life here but I might just have to wait a few days. I understand that all of my posts on here will be at the same time probably. I wrote two posts just in the time I was at the Bangkok airport and I didn’t have Internet there either. I guess the fact that I’m not willing to spend money for the Internet either says that I’m cheap or that the Internet is not so important to me.  I think it’s the former..

I had all these plans to go explore today but I think I might rest and relax while everyone is still on their way. I definitely need to get caught up on my sleep and since I don’t have Internet, I’m not too sure where to go when I step out of the hotel.

Will write more later…and add some pics of the hotel and surrounding area.

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This will be a funny story to those of you who are actually reading my blog. I spent the night in bangkok waiting for my 6 am boarding time to chiang mai. After checking in as early as was allowed, I found my gate on the board and headed there. When I got to the gate, it was extremely quiet and no one was around so I went to the food court. I ended up falling asleep with my head on one of the tables.

It was 5 when I decided to head back to my gate. I checked the board again to make sure my flight was still leaving from the same gate. I didn’t want to make the long treck only to find out they switched the gate. I ate some breakfast and fell asleep across some of the seats at my gate. At 6 I got up and looked around but they weren’t boarding. There were people at the gate so I figured the plane might just be late. Note: my plane to Bangkok was about 30 min late.

I kept hearing announcements but nothing (I thought) that pertained to me so I kept dozing off. At 6:50 (my flight was supposed to leave at 6:40) they announced that they would be boarding…but the flight number was different from mine!!!

This is where I need to clarify that the only flight schedule board was at the other end of the concourse. They had nothing at the gates to indicate what flight was waiting at what gate.

I pannicked for a brief minute and then went in search of the board to see where my flight was. When I got to the board, it indicated that my flight was closed (and the gate was completely different). That is when I sprinted to the new gate. The person said that the flight had already left (I kind of doubt it…I think the gate was just closed). He then said that I could get on the next flight at 10:30. Thank the Lord that there was another flight leaving within hours of the first.

After asking about 50 million people to point me in the right direction along the way, I finally found the counter to be able to change my flight. They were all very nice to me even though I probably seemed like an absolute moron. Now I am $50 poorer but I am also wide awake and tying to keep track of this next flight.

This actually works out well because I wasn’t entirely sure what I would do once I got to chiang mai because i would have some time to kill before being able to check-in to the hotel.

My thoughts through all of this:
1. There’s a first for everything…even missing a flight. Thankfully it was on one of the cheapest flights out there.
2. Thai airport workers are fairly nice.
3. I should get more sleep…not at the airport.
4. Don’t trust the big board to be correct even an hour before you are supposed to board.
5. Try hard to understand what the people are saying because, who knows, they might have called for me…

Well, that’s my story of missing my flight. Hopefully I won’t have any more posts like this one.

An empty concourse when I first checked-in to the airport. It did NOT look this way by the time I actually left Bangkok.

I’m not sure that etiquette is the proper term for this but it seems like something everyone knows how to do in Bangkok. Let me explain… I landed in Bangkok just before midnight and my next flight was not to leave until after 6 the next morning. I had to go through immigration and pick up my bag so I had some time to kill before checking in again. Of course I wanted to sleep so I started walking around looking for a good/safe place to get some shut eye. The Bangkok airport is fairly large and I was not sure (I’m still not sure) where to go to actually check-in.  I figured I would get as close as possible to the check-in area and rest for a bit.

I saw a sign for food so I figured I would see what they had before finding the check-in area. As I got to the ground level where all the food is, I spotted an interesting sight. Several people were sleeping under the many levels of escalators. There is about a four foot high space that offers some privacy and peace and quiet in the busy airport. I walked by at first but after seeing that all the food places were closed, I decided to go back and try sleeping in this same area as everyone else.

It’s been a few hours now and I’ve observed many things. First of all, I cannot sleep nearly as well as all of the others who are surrounding me. Somehow the hard tile floor is just not as comfortable as my memory foam mattress back in Taiwan. Second, these people came prepared. When a new person or pair arrive, the have all the essentials…a blanket or piece of fabric to lay on and/or a sleeping bag. They walk right in like it’s the most normal thing in the world and set up their little camp.

This must be normal for them. The only people who walk by and stop to watch are the foreigners; everyone else walks by without so much as a glance. I don’t know if this happens in other airports but it’s definitely my first time experiencing it.  Needless to say, I haven’t slept much…probably because my lack of preparedness, so I can’t wait to actually get to Chiang Mai and sleep in a real bed. Enjoy the photos I snapped as more and more people joined the airport sleepover.

On a side note: you can see signs for the airport hotel from the place I’m sitting. I guess I’m not the only one who wants to save a buck.

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Thailand is only a few hours away on a plane but, of course, my total travel time is 12+ hours. To get the cheapest ticket, I had to purchase a flight from Taipei to Bangkok and then a separate flight (on a different airline) from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. Thankfully there is a high speed rail that goes from kaohsiung to Taipei and it only takes 2 hours. I’m on the high speed now and then I will go to the airport. Once I get to Bangkok, I will sleep in the airport with my luggage and wait for my second flight which will take me to my destination.

Top 10 things I’m excited about (in no particular order):
1. Warm weather. Yes, I live in a tropical country where it has been 70+ degrees recently but that’s cold to me. Chiang Mai has been in the 90s…yay!

2. Along with the warm weather, I’m super excited about NICE weather. It has been foggy/smoggy in Taiwan for months (I’m not exaggerating).  I can’t wait to see blue skies and breathe fresh air!

3. Seeing my dad.  I will be meeting my dad in Chiang Mai and will be able to spend some time exploring with him. It’s always nice to have “daddy time”.

4. Dairy Queen. There is a DQ next to our hotel. For a girl who has been craving milk shakes over the past few weeks, this could be very bad

5. New photo opportunities. After being in Taiwan for a while, I feel like I’ve exhausted my photo ops. I know that is never the case but I’m still very excited to have new subject matter to photograph.

6. Elephant riding. I WILL make his happen during my stay. How cool would it be to ride an elephant? I’ll let you know very soon

7. Getting to know a new Asian culture. I talked about this in my last post. Check it out if you want to know my thoughts.

8. Seeing friends who I haven’t seen in years. I have the opportunity to meet up with some friends who live in Chiang Mai and some who will be there at the same time as me. I never would have thought that Chiang Mai would be our eventual meeting place.

9. Getting away. I LOVE Taiwan…it is my heart along with the ministry I help. But I have been craving a break/getaway for some time now. I think this trip will serve my needs very nicely. I am staying for an additional few days after my dad’s team leaves so I will have some time to just rest and relax. Ahhh

10. New food. I love the little Thai restaurant we have in our town and I’m sure I will enjoy the traditional Thai I will eat while in Chiang Mai. I’m not a big fan of really spicy food but I like a little kick to select foods. Hopefully I won’t have to leave a meal with tears in my eyes and a runny nose.
There are lots of exciting things about this trip and I’m sure that as I look back on this post, I will discover that there were even greater things waiting for me in Thailand. As for now, this is what’s on my mind while I ride the high speed rail up to Taipei.

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