Discovering the crazy streets of Ram 2

You know there's that saying: "When it rains, it pours." If I may be so bold to say the opposite, "when it shines, it shines bright." And I'm saying this both literally and figuratively.  I hate to sound like a broken record, but the days are steadily getting hotter, and every passing breeze is sanctuary from the humidity.  Figuratevily speaking, the crazy streets of Ram 2 (Ramkhamaeng 2 - the neighborhood I live in in Bangkok), are shining brighter with the friendly, bright smiles of my neighbors.  I mean, Thai people are nice, but seriously??? They are so overwhelmingly hospitable! The other day, I was rushing home from church so that I could change to play some volleyball with the university students when I ran into some of my students that I taught earlier in the day.  They had a bag of mangoes with them and "Ploy" handed me a mango saying, "ma moo-ang!" I gladly accepted, and as she was handing me one, another gentlemen was telling her to give me more - I gladly accepted those as well! Woo hoo! free mangoes! I thanked the kids, I thanked the nice gentleman, and as I continued to rush home, a grandmother, who...whom...I greet every morning stopped me and gave me two MORE mangoes and she told me "Priow" (sour).  I told her, "Aroi Mak!" (It's delicious!)...again, I attempted to rush home, and the grandmother ushered me across the street to the nice gentleman's home (meanwhile, the nice gentleman was yelling into his house telling his daughter to come downstairs) and he gave me a bagful of mangoes and told me that they are from his farm! I was drooling at the mouth...fresh fresh mangoes...love. His daughter came downstairs and she began speaking to me in English really well, explaining to me that the mangoes from her father's farm are sweet, while the mangoes the grandmother gave me are sour.  Meanwhile, the grandmother was cutting up the mangoes, and gave me some to try with a mango dip which she forewarned, "pet" (spicy). I told her "chaup pet!" (I like spicy!).  The mango dip tasted like tamarind, anchovies, shallots, fish sauce, and some other fun stuff. But it was really really good. I made friends with that household, eating fresh mangoes, trying mango dip (who knew there was such a thing!), and got the daughter's digits and I'm hoping we can hang out so that I can get me some more mangoes...haha..jk jk jk. She wants to learn more English and I told her I would help her.
:) ANYWAY...I finally made it home, changed as fast as my sweatiness would allow me, and made my way back down my neighborhood street...they all yelled "bbai exercise mai?" (going to exercise?)...haha, they're so cute!!!! I speed-walked down and came across my students again, sitting down on a porch of another man's house (who I also say hi to everyday), and I told them to have a nice dinner, and the nice man was telling me to sit down with them to eat!!! Hahaha...SO SWEET!
ahhhhhh...the crazy streets of Ram 2 - crazy crazy sweet. I love it.
Later in the evening, I ran into yet another friend named "Ray" at the night market.  I didn't immediately know that she was there, but I recognized her dog, and so I popped my head into the store and saw that she owned one of the shops! So we got to talking...and she's such a sweet lady. She's currently taking language classes at the church so I get to see her on a weekly basis, although she isn't one of my students.
So yes...when it shines...it SHINES! :) LOVE!!!!

here are some pictures to update on these past weeks:

Rayong

as a university event, we went to plant trees at a marsh.  

I've never done anything like that before and it was the coolest thing ever...

Saving the planet is fun stuff! Go Captain Planet!

our awesome group of university students

doing my part diligently to save the planet

grow well and beautifully my two little trees! 

I named them Adam and Eve. :)

so hungry from all that work!!! :)

Yes, those are plastic bags on my legs...in a desperate attempt to avoid going bare feet.

Makha Bucha Day 

yay for Buddhist holidays!

On my first holiday off, Carolyn and I invited the lovely Napada ladies over to our place

P' Pawn, P' Nong, P' Jompi - barbecuing...mmmmmmm

P' Pawn, P' Jompi, P' Wi cooking up some Som Tam (papaya salad)

Som Tam - green beans, fish oil, sugar, lime, fish sauce, tomatoes, brown stuff, peppers, and other stuff...

P' Wi is an amazing cook. <3

The menu - 4 different types of Som Tam, at 4 levels of Spicy-ness.

...my defrosted contribution...heh~

P' Nong getting ready to bake some cupcakes

Won- da-ful!!! ^^ I had a lot of fun decorating...

Sweet sweet P' Wi... <3

Var - she's one of my students, and also P' Jompi's daughter!

on the table: playing UNO

on the floor: playing Rhumikub

we played UNO for 3 hours.... 

if only I could translate how to play Monopoly Deal and Camps...

so much fun with these great ladies

Saturday Classes

ahahaha!!! So cute!!!

<3

Have a great week everyone!

Indeed, it has been a great week of exploration.

There's been a lot going on on this side of the world - the weather has been getting steadily hotter, a little bit more humid, and I definitely did not pack enough underwear for the amount of showers I'm taking. 
--___-- ........ 


But I'm still so grateful to be here and really taking everyday as they come - everyday has been different and new - I thought that by now I would get into a routine, but it has been the complete opposite!!! Every hour is filled with something to do, someone to meet, something to EAT and when I can squeeze in the time, something to blog about. Here are few places I visited in the past week:

At the night market near our house - there was a quaint Chinese New Years carnival going on.  I tried to win that fake Hello Kitty pillow, but couldn't pop the seven balloons required...even if I tried 3 times and wasted more money than it's actual worth  :(

At Mahatthai with the Joy Kids - we learned about Ruth and Boaz, and the kids are busily coloring away. :)

Some of the Joy Kids! There is a Thai game that involves powder, and well, these kiddies couldn't get away fast enough. NARAK MAK! (very cute!)

At Napada Handcrafts once again.  See all that smoke outside? There are men, with these Ghostbuster packs on, and they go around spraying chemicals to kill all the mosquitos.  Apparently, they kill roaches too because when we went outside there were roaches squirming everywhere. BLEH.

Heading to Sichang Island for my day off...

a day off at the BEACH! is it really only February 10? :)

Clear  - as the clear blue sky - water...can't wait to jump in!

It was a pretty empty beach - empty enough to feel like a private beach. LOVED IT.

soaking in some sun - on my toes. :)

The Grand Palace 

More of the Grand Palace 

ok these two pictures are a but a smidgen of the actual massiveness of this area. 

At the flower market!!! that's $2 for a bouquet of roses...

Pretty orchids....which are also super cheap.

Dinner on the pier after a hard days work...just kidding 

After visiting the Grand Palace and the Flower Market. A perfect way to end the day. :)

:) 

Drinking some chocolate drinks with one of my classes.  

I teach these girls English on Saturday. <3 They're all in junior high

Until next time! Jje geun mai ka!

the shoes are starting to fit...

3 weeks - well, almost...

sometimes I wake up and think that I've been here for much longer than that, like 3 months...then I step outside and am quickly reminded that all I can say for now is "Sawasdee ka." Anything beyond that becomes a game of charades and the universal language of smiling and nodding to who knows what...

Nonetheless, everyday is a great game of charades, an endless supply of smiles and enough nods to deserve a Thai massage... (soon grace...soon).

I'm starting to get the hang of putting words together to make a coherent sentence, and there is no cheaper thrill than saying something in a completely new language and actually understanding it - but more so, natives actually understanding it.  I'm sure that some Thai are just nodding, much like I do when I speak Thai to them, but hey...it's at least so very encouraging. <3

Here's my newest trick:

"chan maa chaak pratheet America, chan pen khon gao lee."

I am from America, but I am Korean.

I tell ya, I've struggled with this whole dual identity thing before when I was younger, but not like this!

I know that when Thai ask me where I'm from, they are expecting me to say "China" or "Japan" haha, but you can see the disappointment on their face when I say "America"

and so goes the dialogue...almost every time, with almost every Thai I've met here:

Thai: Where you come from?
me: with a inner battle in my head going on, I blurt out "America"

Thai: (slight disappointment) Where are you parents from?

me: From Korea

Thai: (with much excitement) ohhhhhh!!!! do you speak Korean?

me: Yes I do!

Thai: ohhhhhhh!!!!! do you know (with variation), "Dae Jang Geum", "Wonbin", "2PM", "I love Korean dramas!"

me: oh! haha...yes they are fun...(secretly hoping that they don't ask me much more than that, seeing as I've only seen ONE in the last 8 years....)

Anyway...it is a great blessing to be Korean-American, and I've really praised God for that...it's been helping a lot to build relationships and start conversation. :) Dae Han Min Gook! and God Bless America! :)

Ministry has also been going really well - I'm starting to get the hang of daily life and really enjoying the "relaxed-ness"(i know...i just made that word up) of Thai culture. This week has been a lot of visiting the Napada handicraft ministry.  They're going to be selling bags up in Chiang Mai this coming weekend (please keep them in your prayers), and that's been keeping them really busy, on top of 2 huge orders that came in.  So Carolyn and I have been spending a lot of time there helping out...cutting loads of fabric.  I managed to scrape some pieces with me today....do what with it? no idea...maybe sew them togehter and make a patch. Hahaha IDK.

different pieces to make an original Napada bag!

Campus ministry is going well - tonight we invited a few of the college students to our place and me, being the Korean and amazing chef, I cooked Shin Ramyun...hahahaa...I can't believe I cooked Ramyun for them!!! anyway it was fun and it was nice for me to eat some Korean home-cooking. I didn't think I missed it...but I dooooooooo....someone send me some samgyupsal! :)

anyway, the kids are great! fun, willing, and receptive - so please pray for them too! I hope I can focus a lot more on campus ministry. I tried to teach them the "babo" game, but it died pretty fast...and then I realized that all the games I knew had to do with numbers. And Katie so wisely said: "well no wonder you Koreans are so good at math." - I personally stink at math, but wow...we really have a lot of number games. We ended up playing the Thai version of 3-6-9 - the Thai version is the same, except you clap on the 3's and 5's. hahhaa...and these are my wonderful friends who lost and being punished. >:)

This is called the "Roti" dance - a punishment dance 

 Amazing Shin Ramyun and Neugori 

brought to you by Grace.

yum.

1 Samuel 12:20-24

“Do not be afraid,” Samuel replied. “You have done all this evil; yet do not turn away from the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. Do not turn away after useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you, because they are useless. For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own. As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right. But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you."

sights, smells, sounds, VISION

Talk about giving your senses a wake up call. everything here is so new, everything waiting to be absorbed into my teeny brain. I take in what I can and leave the rest for later. This past week has been a lot more of learning, adapting, but by no means, anywhere near "getting used to." And I hope I don't ever get "used to" things around here - things like, greeting my neighbors on the streets with a "wai" (traditional Thai bowing) and "sawasdeekaa", things like going to the same coffee stand to get my coffee for 15B ($0.50), buying fresh fruit from the same fruit guy (I'm currently writing this blog while eating a fruit called Pomello - my favorite yet), seeing well-fed, docile stray dogs EVERYWHERE (I've started to name all the dogs on my street...Milo, Pepsi, Muzzle, Mam), jumping on the song tao, seeing babies and families riding a motorcycle to get around town, beautiful flowers in the market, on the trees, in cars...and most of all, I don't want to get used to what God is doing here. I can't say for certain that I know what it is...actually, I don't know what it is at all - hahahaha, but I do know that as the body of Christ, New City Fellowship Church is having a great impact on the community here by offering some great programs, opportunities and casting a vision to do the same in other communities. I've really taken a liking to the missionaries here - so humble, so compassionate, such visionaries. SO for now...I don't know where my nook is yet, but I don't mind shadowing their vision.

some SMELLS:

Lotus blossoms

these flowers are often used to give gifts to one another, but also used to use as alms to Buddha. The white flowers are jasmine flowers...smells so yummy.

some SIGHTS:

A side street food market in Siam Square

whew...good thing. don't worry about me guys! the Bangkok police are here to protect me!

:)

This is very very very common - sometimes you'll see a family of three hoppin on a bike!

Ironic that my blog name is "Eating Pad Thai" and I have yet to eat pad thai - it's a very Westernized dish and is hard to find outside the touristy areas

some of EVERYTHING:

Carolyn and I are excited for our tuk tuk ride.... wuhahahaha!

On a tuk tuk on our way to Khao Son Rd - one of the more trendy, hippy, shopping streets

On our way back from a nice day at Khao Son Rd. A nice end to the day :)

And....VISION

a glimpse of Sunday worship at the New City Fellowship Church
in Ramkamhaeng 2 (where I live and work)

Wind chimes and barking dogs

It has been exactly 3 days and 2 nights since I've arrive in the Land of Smiles and well, it's kept me smiling. Every night I go to sleep to sound of barking dogs - which are as many as taxis in New York, and I wake up to the beautiful sound of my neighbors wind chimes and to the sound of hoses spraying house plants. Toto, we're not in NJ anymore. :)

From NJ:



To Thailand:



It's been awesome. As soon as I landed in Thailand Sunday morning, I went straight to the New City Community Church service (MTW church plant) and worshipped with a variety of people: MTW missionaries, YWAM missionaries, and native Thai, and myself. Despite my 2 day old airplane clothes, God's presence broke through the smell and I knew that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. There's something really comforting about that. :) After a long day at the church, we visited a local park, went grocery shopping and I did myself a favor and knocked out at 7pm - only to wake up at 12am, clean and go back to sleep at 2am. Here's my room:





What has been a really great blessing is that there is another intern who also arrived the same day I did, and she's my housemate! We're pretty much doing everything together! It's weird because she's younger than some of my old youth group students but I guess because of our context, I don't really feel like she's younger...until we start talking about college and stuff (which she has yet to go...) haha...i am old~ But she's been a great blessing - we're a lot alike, and she's fun...so I love it. We're taking language classes together and it's been so much fun learning together - otherwise, practicing tonal sounds and vowels would just sound like a dying horse...which at this point, I do sound like one, but it's just more fun when you can laugh at yourself and at another. I wish I could record it! it's too hilarious.

Something else that's been a real great blessing is spending time with one of the full-time missionary families here. They have 3 gorgeous children age: 7, 4, 2. And what an answer to prayer! For those of you who know me well, you know that I was devastated to leave my beautiful and awesome and lovely niece - especially devastated that I would miss this special stage in her life where she will begin to articulate her speech, put sentences together and be awesome. Something I was praying for was a baby about the same age as M, who I could just play with, love and follow the developmental stage. Well, I'm so happy to announce that the 2 year old in this family is only a day, ONE DAY, older than M and is also learning bilingually - so development wise, I feel like I've found a supplement to hold me over until I see M. Hahaha..is that bad? He's a boy and adorable! Blonde hair, blue eyes... :) I've already offered to babysit, and they've already accepted my offer. hahaha

Tuesdays are my days off, so we ventured to downtown Bangkok today, which is actually not as close as I thought...it's literally a bus ride, train ride, and another bus ride over...the area I live and work in is Bangkok, but this city is HUGE...the area I live in is somewhat on the outskirts, and because of a flood that recently passed by, the roads are all ripped up and its really dusty here!
This is the street/area where the church is located


This is the street where my home is, and my home!





Anyway, downtown was fun - we went to a few museums: The Jim Thompson House and the Bangkok Arts and Culture Center

This here is a Song Tao - which is my main mode of transportation...It literally means 2 benches, and that's literally what it is, and it sits on top of a back up truck. Haha...it's 8 Baht for one ride which is about 25 cents. awesome huh??? It takes me to the market, to other people's homes, to the park and those are the only places I've been so far...but it's so much fun too ride!!!!



And look...a PINK taxi...there are as many as the yellow ones in NY!



Until next time! Sa wa dee kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa