Top 10

Top 10 Things I have taken for granted about America

I realized lately there are things - big and small - that I take for granted.

10. Jumping in my car – and driving on the right side of the road – anywhere I want or need to go. At any point. And knowing exactly where I am and where I am heading.
9. Ordering a chicken sandwich and getting a chicken sandwich. Oh how I miss Chickfila!
8. Being able to read the signs: Yes, the internet is down for a month; yes this is in fact the men's bathroom, not the women's; No, we aren't opened and won't be until tomorrow - please don't stand around and wait.
7. Covered sewers and sidewalks. But oh is it fun to walk through everyone's waste.
6. Eating eggs, bacon, biscuits, french toast, waffles ... you know, common breakfast foods. Here it's rice, rice and more rice. Do you want it white, fried or sticky? At least there is some variety.
5. Walking out of my room and seeing my wonderful roommates (did I mention in person, not just on a computer screen via Skype) and then walking just two semi-circles to the right to see Marcus.
4. Air conditioning in restaurants, stores and rooms.
3. Being able to speak to someone and having them understand me clearly.
2. A pillow that does not feel like a 50-pound boulder under my head.
1. Toilet paper in public bathrooms.

But yet all of these things have made the past 4 weeks an experience I will never forget - and one I have enjoyed every single day! I am falling in love with the country and people, but definitely realizing more and more why I'm proud to be an American too.

Happy Fourth of July!

Children of the Nations

Every Saturday we have larger events that are either for everyone on the team or organized just within each ministry group. These are fun events to invite our new Thai friends who we are meeting to and spend the day exploring the city. The Temple was one event, and this past Saturday we visited a local orphanage, spending hours holding, hugging and simply loving on the kids. It was such a sweet morning!

We brought coloring sheets of the story of Jesus, boxes of crayons and bags of bright, shiny balloons to entertain the 20 or so three and four-year-olds, and they loved it all! It was neat to listen as

the Thais shared with them about Jesus, and they tried intently to color in the lines. OK, there wasn't a lot of that with three-year-olds, but I tried intently to help them with the task.

We spent the entire morning playing with the toys, eating lunch and then preparing for nap time, and all the while we just held children in our arms who might not have ever been held before - or at least not in the last month, even year.

The Japanese Art of Kare-a-o-kay

Every Friday night we have a team social, planned and provided for by either Team This or Team That. Hannah and I (Holli) are members of Team That, which was responsible for this past Friday's social: dinner and karaoke!

We reserved two private rooms at the Pullman, the finest establishment this side of Bangkok. (Seriously! This is where the King stays when he visits Khon Kaen. I bet he would have come and sang with us if he were here.) The rooms were a-mazing! They were decorated with Aboriginal masks (Hannah is hidden behind one in the second picture) and were connected, as well as the music and lyrics, which made for some great team bonding! Jordan dedicated a song to Hannah: "Quit Playing Games With My Heart", Hannah dedicated a song to Jordan: "That Don't Impress Me Much," and I thought only of myself. :o)

The best part of Thai Karaoke is that there were no performances. Everyone sang and danced together, while laughing at the horrible videos that went along with the lyrics. Seriously! Tell me how a video featuring the London Skyline goes with "Hit Me Baby One More Time"?? Awesome! If anyone knows of a place like this in Florida, Hannah would like to go for her birthday in August! (Shh... It's a surprise. Don't tell her.)

Jordan is a member of Team This. I wonder what they've got planned for this week ...

Wat Nong Waeng

Our very own Legends of the Hidden Temple!

Last Saturday our CCP team, and a couple dozen of the Thai students we've met, headed into the city on the Song Taos (Thai bus system) to Wat Nong Waeng. It is the largest temple in Khon Kaen and one of the most frequently visited by both tourists and Buddhists. And I can see why, it was suay mak (very beautiful)! There were nine floors, each with their own nooks and crannies to explore and ample idols to bow down before. This combination made for quite an emotional morning: from the excitement of a golden beauty to the heartbreak of knees to the earth before gold.

Our views and heart for Thailand was expanded in many ways. From the top of the temple, it felt as though we were looking out at New York City from the top of the Empire State Building. We could look off from all four sides and see the very edges of Khon Kaen. We could even see KKU: our home sweet home!

I (Holli) am in front of a large gong that the Buddhist bang to lift their requests to the sky. They believe the louder and bigger the gong, the better their petitions are heard.

A Visual: Crunching Bugs

I wasn't kidding. They ate them. Scorpions, Maggots, Cockroaches, Killer Crabs. They ate them all.

Loving Thailand (and crazy memories), Holli

The Night Market

One of our favorite things to do so far is to go to the night market on campus. This is also a favorite of the Thai students, as it is packed out by 4 p.m. every afternoon. Hundreds of tents are set up behind The Complex, which is similar to UNF's newly constructed Student Union Building, and sell everything from clothes and shoes to smoothies and squid on a stick. (I'm not sure what this is called in Thai quite yet - I haven't been brave enough to order it.) For a smoothie (second picture), you pick the cup with the fresh fruit in it that you want, and then they dump out whatever is in the cup and mix it all together. My favorite thing to eat are the strawberry smoothies (straw-berri bun) and waffles! These aren't leggo my eggos, these are hot from the griddle, coated in sugar crystal Thai waffles!

Everything is so cheap though: a pair of jeans is just 100 baht, which is roughly $3 in American currency! My routine smoothie and waffle cost just 35 baht together. That's right, $1. Beat that Jamba Juice! :o)
It has been fun serving the Thai students because of this by buying their dinner or treating them to their own treat.

It takes about 20 minutes to walk from our apartment to the center of campus, which is where the night market is at. During that time, we all must walk single-file because the driving is absolute madness on the roads. There are literally a thousand motorcycles zooming all through the streets - nearly 80 percent of the students have and drive motorcycles around - and they aren't too fond of stopping, or even slowing down, for a line of Americans. I feel like a line of little ducks following whoever is leading us to campus that night. I can only image what the Thais are thinking ...

Sawadeka, Holli

First Few Days in Thailand ...

After nearly two days of traveling, we made it to Thailand! On one of our long flights, Hannah excitedly woke me up (which I wasn't thrilled about at the moment, having spent hours trying to get comfortable) and pointed to the window. Boy was it well worth waking up! The view (pictured first) from the window was none other than Santa Claus' home: the North Pole. We saw many more breathtaking sights, from Moscow to Singapore and then entering into the city of Khon Kaen. God is truly the God of the nations, and his creation around the world is astounding!

We have spent the past two days getting to know the team and being orientated to the Thai culture. Last night, two of the boys experienced a Thai classic: fried bugs! It was like George Clooney and Brad Pitt walking on South Beach ... the paparazzi was going crazy as we were all taking pictures and laughing the entire time! Nothing brings a team together like a bag of dead, crunchy bugs. We also took a trip to the local market, the Lotus, which was quite an adventure. A few of the Thai Christians lovingly came along and helped translate "Milk," "Laundry Detergent" and other simple necessities for us.

We are on two different ministry teams for the summer, which has helped us get to know the other girls on our team, and a lot of different Thai students as well. Our ministry teams go to different lunch spots on campus and eat with the students every day. Here is a taste of our lunches this morning:

HOLLI
Ok, so the actual taste of my lunch was scrumptious! I tried one of the student's favorite meal: wet pork noodles with all the fixins' and it was yummy! :o)

The Lord also blessed our team with a taste of ministering to Thai students, as we met nearly 10 girls at lunch today! There are six of us partnered with the Thai staff girl, Pi Betsy, and we are ministering to girls in the English Department. (That's right, they are studying English! Praise the Lord.) As I was talking to one of the girls, we realized she lives in the same building as us just two floors up! What a sovereign God! She is planning to come by later this afternoon with her friends and hang out. I am so excited for the relationships God is going to form and to be the hands and feet of God in these girls' lives. What a privilege!

HANNAH
I am ministry partners with a Thai girl that is on staff here at KKU. She actually went to a Summer Beach Project in Jacksonville about 8 years ago. We have lunch in the Humanities department, with the goal of meeting freshman girls each day. The freshman girls wear white shoes with their uniforms so it is easy to tell them apart. Their semester just started so the freshman have only been here for about a week. They are extremely eager to talk to us and practice their English. Everyone here has studied English since Kindergarten so it is easy to hold a conversation with most of them. They are eager to teach us Thai and I think I'm doing pretty well!

Yesterday we met 4 girls and were able to get their phone numbers. We are looking forward to meeting them again and inviting them to some events that we are planning. They want to come and hang out with us at our apartment soon! All of the people here are very friendly so it is easy to become friends with them. We just asked if we could share their tables and they were glad for us to sit with them. I am excited to go back next week. Tomorrow is our day of rest! WooHoo!

Lagon (Goodbye)