Getting to Phuket, Thailand

So, we had been in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for a conference with our organization.  My favorite part was singing with over 500 other people, IN ENGLISH!  Remember to appreciate your times of singing with your brothers and sisters in your own language.  And, I'm so glad that our Mongolian friends get the same opportunity...to sing in their own language...so, I'm fine with singing in their language when I'm THERE!

Following are some pictures of leaving Chiang Mai (via a red truck...a normal part of Chiang Mai's public transportation). 

Me in the red truck, ready to go to the airport for our flight to Phuket.

Our time in Phuket has included enjoying a sunset dinner at an ocean-side cheap-o restaurant. Our plate full of shrimp fried rice with chilis and sweet Thai basil was a measly $2.75 a piece! It has been sweltering hot with vivid sunshine; you might say the pendulum has swung very strongly to the other side of the temperature gauge! Remember, we left Mongolia when it was -28 degrees F. Today, it's 91 degrees F. I walked out on the sand and it was HOT. I thought, "Oh, don't be a pansy; just walk fast." After about 5 steps, I had to dash back toward the shade. An hour later, I noticed my big toe has a swollen spot where I have burned my skin. No joke! What's the sand like when it reaches temps over 100 degrees next month? I won't know. I'll be back in Mongolia with single digits again!

The sun is setting.

Our plate full of shrimp fried rice--Kevin doctors his up with extra hot red chilis!  Yum!

This is how to spell "Coke" in Thai.

A Thai Long Boat floats across the sunset venue.

As well as a cruise ship....

Only a minute left of this sunny day!

One more moment and the sun slips out of sight.  Notice the bright spot high in the sky.

A Day Tour in Thailand

This past Thursday, we took our first ever tour in Thailand.  Last year, we just nosed around on our own, but this year we wanted to see some things that we weren't sure how to find on our own.  So, the first stop was...

an orchid and butterfly farm.

Another totally different orchid.  This one might be my favorite!

Kevin standing at the end of an "alley" of orchids at an orchid farm.  We were told that orchids need "just right" watering and sun...too much or too little is easy.  Just right is difficult. 

This plant and water fall was in the butterfly farm.  We didn't see any really outstanding butterflies.

However, these butterfllies were interesting.

Here's the dangling roots of the orchids.  They hang on poles to grow; no need to plant into dirt!

Yes, this is a real elephant.  He lifted me up with his trunk, then planted a snotty, sandy kiss on my neck.

Up close and personal!

An elephant with his trainer, painting a picture.

The elephant continues with the painting.

The trainer carries the painting off to display it to be sold later.

See that tennis shoe on the right?  It's mine.  Proof that I was on top of an elephant.  It was a little scary, mainly because I kept thinking horrible thoughts, like, "I hope they tightened this seat down well!"  Here, we were on our way to have the elephant walk upstream in a river with us on his back.  Amazing, the strength these animals have!

 

While on the elephant, I took a picture of this raft.  We had been on a raft like this earlier.  Just like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn!  Tom and Huck didn't have their own Thai raft guide.  Notice the elephant on land in the background.  This is nothing like a River Ridge Custom Canoe!

Here's our personal raft guide.

And, here we are on the sunny raft with several other friends we met on the journey.

 

Here's the elephant we were riding.  During the whole time, except photo taking, the elephant's driver was sitting right behind his head/right in front of our seat.  Here, I'm feeding the elephant a stick of sugar cane.  Doesn't he look like he's smiling?

Our tour ended with an oxcart ride.  Bumpy...yes.  The day was a fascinating way to see the hills of Thailand around the Chiang Mai area. 

 

We would highly recommend this tour, arranged by Journey Tours in Chiang Mai.  Well done, and it included pick up and drop off at our hotel and a Thai buffet lunch, all for $33 USD each...amazing!

Differences That Make a Culture

There are so many differences in the two Asian cultures of Mongolia and Thailand.  Every year, our organization requires all of their teachers to gather together in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to attend a week-long conference.  Almost all of the teachers who attend also spend 1-3 more weeks in some part of Asia.  This year, we are spending some extra time in Chiang Mai and Phukett...both in Thailand. 

For me, some of the differences seem to be magnified more this year than last...perhaps because last year, everything was new to me in Thailand.  Here are some of the most obvious differences I've taken note of:

1.  Weather!  Mongolia: we left when it was colder than -25F.  Thailand: It's been in the 80's every day we've been here so far.  Long johns, heavy boots, a scarf, hat, and coat have all been ditched for the quick and easy shorts and tank top! 

Proof that it's warm as I get chummy with the craziest mannequin I've ever met!

2.  Food!  Mongolia: Salt and pepper.  Potatoes, carrots, peppers, broccoli.  Amen.  Thailand: Spicy, deep, rich flavors.  Amazing flavors!  Fruits and veggies galore!  Did I say spicy?  Kevin and I had the spiciest meal we've ever had last night.  We were in pain.  Our eyes were watering.   I wanted to get out of my body so I didn't have to feel the pain in my mouth.  Luckily, the hot mouth syndrome died down about 15 minutes after the meal.  We want to go back to the same place later this week, but we'll order "mild"!

The white fruit has tiny seeds much like a kiwi.  It's dragonfruit.

Thai food on the street.  We haven't eaten any warm, meat-based foods from street vendors, however, we've gone to several "hole-in-the-wall" restaurants just like the Mongolian guanzes.  Good food!

3.  Manners.  Thailand:  Spitting or blowing your nose on the sidewalk is not a common occurence here.  People smile at you on the street.  Big, genuine smiles and a nod of the head.  Sometimes even an honorable bow.  People wait for one another to go through doors and offer one another to go first.  Mongolia:  These things mentioned are often the opposite.  To illustrate: The day we landed in Thailand, a Mongolian woman was pushing my back with her carry-on luggage as we exited the plane.  She pushed me again.  I had to stop to allow the man in front of me to bend down to pick up something and she pushed again.  I turned around and said, "You can only do that in Mongolia!"  I smiled politely, but with meaning.  She giggled and said, "Oh, sorry."  It is VERY normal to be pushed, sometimes just ever-so-gently, (and sometimes not) in Mongolia.  I've gotten used to it.  In fact, I sometimes gently press my hand into the small of someone's back to get through an aisle.  When in Rome, do as the Romans do.  However, I'm enjoying the difference of this in Thailand.

4.  Religion.  Both countries practice Buddhism.  However, there are many more temples here in Thailand.  There's a temple around every corner and large statues everywhere. 

Over 30 idols who can't see, hear, or help.

5.  Trash: It is perfectly acceptable to drop pieces of trash onto the ground in Mongolia.  I've seen proper citizens drop their gum wrappers purposely on the ground.  The best reason I can explain for this is that the socialism era has not totally died in Mongolia.  It's somebody's job to sweep the street and sidewalks.  Dropping trash contributes to someone else keeping their job, because there's trash which needs to be cleaned off the street. Thailand has a King rulership, and has for many years.  I'm not sure what the rules are concerning littering, but there's just not as much random litter, even though there are trash piles on sidewalks, collected, and ready to be picked up.  I am speaking of directly downtown.  We've been on some back streets with some major trash.  Don't get me wrong...this isn't heaven...there's just differences.

6.  Varmints:  In Thailand, we've seen a large mouse/small rat running along the sidewalk with a chicken leg; I swatted a mosquito last night which left a nice, round bloody mark on my calf (I needed to go to the hospital for a transfusion, he took so much blood!).  And we had a cute little lizard outside our B & B door last night.  Mongolia: mosquitoes are rare...well, non-existent this time of year, of course.  I've seen one little mouse over a year ago on a sidewalk.  I've never seen a lizard in UB.  I like the lack of varmints in UB, Mongolia! 

7.  Open alcohol use:  It's amazing that I haven't seen a single drunk passed out on a sidewalk here in Thailand.  The weather is perfect here for that to possibly happen.  However, in Mongolia, I've seen men and even a teen girl once (whom we helped), passed out in the freeeeeezing cold on the sidewalk.  I'm puzzled how this can be true.

8.  Language:  We stopped into a large, modern bookstore yesterday.  The number of American and British-written books which had been translated into Thai was astounding!  There were quite a number of original Thai-written books as well.  We even saw the Harry Potter series translated in Thai.

9.  Alphabet:  I'm so thankful that the language I'm learning is Mongolian.  Even though the alphabet is slightly different than English, it has many letters which are the same.  Thai?  It looks scary!  It looks like hieroglyphics.  sample of Thai language

10.  Traffic:  Taxis in Mongolia, of course, are cars.  One form of taxi in Thailand is a red truck that holds many people.  And, it's open to the weather.  Another traffic difference?  Motorbikes in Thailand.  Hardly a motorbike to be seen in Mongolia...even in the summer.  And the biggest difference? Very few horns are honking in Thailand.  In Mongolia, buses and cars drive with their horns!  Honking means, "I'm right here, don't pull out," "Get out of the way," "Move over, Rover," or any other thing the driver wants to communicate.  A horn is rarely used in the traffic in Thailand.

A red truck, open at the back, and benches on each side...a great taxi.

The Problem with American Noses

We are in Thailand right now.  More on that later.  However, I must tell you a fun story.

The night before we left Mongolia (Saturday night), our two friends invited us over to their apartment.  We were discussing the drastic difference between Lin's nose (Chinese friend), and Kevin's nose.  Lin hardly has a bridge to her nose and it's totally flat.  And Kevin's...well, you know if you know us.  He calls it his beak.  But, I think it's great.

Anyway, somehow the discussion led to, "How can your lips touch during a kiss if you have that nose in between you?"  I said, "Well, that's simple!"  And, I demonstrated a slight turn of the head and the lips made perfect contact. 

There was a look on our friend's face which expressed a total "lightbulb" moment...you know, when something makes TOTAL sense finally.  "OH!  So THAT'S why Americans always kiss like that!"  I said, "You mean, Chinese don't?"  He laughed pretty hard.  "No!"

It was a lightbulb moment for us, too!

Total frustration while demonstrating a nose-to-nose kiss where lips can't quite reach!

Christmas Day 2011 in Mongolia

So, Christmas Day started out pretty "traditionally" for us with opening gifts with our family.  The non-traditional part was that it was done over skype!  Here, we're skyping w/Heather (I have just opened a scarf she had wrapped and sent along with us back in August).  Thanks, Heather!

A few hours later we had our teammates and four Mongolian and Chinese friends in for breakfast before church.  Here we are with Handa (left) and Bayarkhuu (right).  We met Handa only two days earlier on the bus and visited with her for an hour in heavy traffic!  You can become good friends with someone on an hour bus ride!  Before this day, Handa equated Christmas and New Year's as the same holiday. 

This Mongolian man sang a beautiful rendition of a song about Jesus being "my Savior, my friend" (I could catch those Mongolian words!).  He had an awesome voice.  This was part of our Sunday morning Christmas Day service we attended.  It was well done.  Our friends who ate breakfast with us came along to see what Christmas is all about.

This mom and her son have been to Rochester, MN, for her son's heart surgery.  They have met some of our friends in Rochester.  They accompanied us at the Christmas concert/drama mentioned in the previous picture.  Here, we're at an Indian restaurant.  This was the most non-traditional Christmas meal we have ever had!

Dalai went to the Russian border with us this past fall.  He has become a really good friend.  His girlfriend from Inner Mongolia, China, has come to UB to live for awhile.  She has also become a good friend!  These Chinese friends were part of our Indian Christmas Dinner in Mongolia...talk about truly international!

And here's the rest of the gang who hung out at the Indian restaurant...our two teammates on the right, and the new Mongolian friends on the left.

After lunch, some of us visited the ice sculptures about two blocks from the Indian restaurant.  Here is the Statue of Liberty.  There were many sculptures representing places of importance for several countries with a high influence on Mongolia.

And then another block away, we just had to get our picture taken with Santa and the Giant Christmas Tree!

This tree is in Sukhbaatar Square.  Stay tuned for New Year's Eve pictures which will have this tree lit up in its full glory!

We went home for an hour and then ventured out again to attend The Nutcracker Suite, Mongolian ballet.  Kevin was given two tickets as a gift from the school where he teaches high schoolers.  It was so well done, with live music and ballet dancers who had stamina beyond my imagination!

This is the theatre where the ballet took place.  It definitely had a royal, rustic ambiance to it.  I'm sure it was built during the Russian occupance era.

So, even though we were far from family, we were kept busy with some great relationship-building times.  We were so happy to introduce Handa and Bayarkhuu to the historical reality of how Christmas began.  We are looking forward to our continued relationship with all of these dear friends!

Shining the Light during the Season of Light

Now that Christmas and New Year's is officially over, I can breathe a sigh of relief.  Not because I had a harried time shopping.  Not because I had dozens of relatives to cook for.  Not because the traffic was just awful at the mall.  And not because I've gained five pounds from eating too many Christmas goodies (not a problem here!).  No, none of those things are the reasons for holiday stress in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.  For me, I was dreading the possibility of the stress of being away from family for the holidays.  This was the second year we were in Ulaanbaatar instead of with our families in the U.S.  It's what I have dubbed as "One of the Top Five Difficulties of Living in Mongolia."

Last year, I remember going into the kitchen to have a little 5-minute cry session by myself in the kitchen.  I felt the pain of being away from our kids and parents, and I really didn't want to be a downer to Kevin.  This year, I had tugs of difficult feelings, but I also was rejoicing at the many opportunities to share the real reason for Christmas with many of our friends.  So, that's my sigh of relief...that the emotional pain was less than last year, even though it was there.

One of our first gatherings was a couple weeks before Christmas.  We showed "The Nativity", a professional movie depicting the historical story of the first Christmas.  Seven friends came, and here's a picture of the ones remaining at picture time (which was also game time)....





Our friends include a young man I met while leading an English club at a university as well as a high school guy who has been coming to our home for over a year and a half now.  A young man we met through another American summer teacher also came.  Two friends were new additions this evening, coming along with their friends.

Christine, our director's daughter, decorates cookies with Kevin, at our organization's Christmas party.  It was good to fellowship with friends within our organization.

What better way to celebrate Christmas Eve than to have all our teachers who take our English workshop over to view The Nativity together.  We teach 40 teachers.  Twenty three attended the party at our apartment.  EVERYBODY wears boots, and here's the pile before a few latecomers arrived!

Here, Joseph and Mary are discussing the news they've been told via our movie projector.  We enjoyed sharing the true, historical beginning of Christmas with our teachers.  Many of them celebrate "Christmas" and "New Year's" as one holiday.  Perhaps this has clarified the meaning of Christmas for some of them.

Here's some of our "spread" for the teachers.  Some of these items would rarely be part of a Christmas snack table in America...such as boiled eggs and mandarin oranges.  Then, other items like fudge, peanuts and crackers just might make an American table!

I will post more pictures soon of Christmas and New Year's celebrations.  We are thankful we were here this season!