crazy minds

Memories -LAOS

2011-07-23T04:07:00.000-07:00

I’m back in SA after 20 months of living and traveling abroad. It’s lots of fun going and working in another country. Making lovely friends and learning loads about oneself. I worked in Thailand for 18 months. Being thrown into a kindergarten class full of Thai students was daunting. After surviving that I knew I am capable of doing anything. Well I thought so. I met a lovely, cleaver American man who also taught English there. We shared 10 sweet months together. But time ran out and we parted ways in opposite directions. That’s the sad part of travelling, the saying goodbye, one of the hardest things I had to do. But as a friend of mine said: “It’s not goodbye, it’s see you later”. And this prepared me and made me stronger to be able to say goodbye to many more fellow travelers. Here are some snippets.

29 April 2011 LAOS

I woke up this morning with a stiff neck. Is it because I slept wrong? No ways. It’s from all the head banging down by the river. What a glorious experience: tubing in Laos. As noon sets in we prepare ourselves. Bikinis’ tubing shirt and shorts and off we go. Taking a ‘tuk-tuk’, he drops us at the top of the river and the first of many free shots are offered. This place is something from another world. Hundreds of foreigners getting drunk on shots and buckets, floating down the river going from bar to bar and sliding down slides, in their drunken state. Vang Viang is the place to be. Some people get offered jobs and stay here for months getting to be drunk all day and give out shots.

At first you’re not sure what to make of this but you soon discover the table where you can pour free whiskey shots and help yourself to some. At the corner of my eye I see a bleach blond dude, short black tight shorts, shirt-les dancing around like a stripper in a night club. But it is 2pm and I am way to sober for this. A few sips from a bucket and my friends encourage me to go dance with him. I walk straight over and pull out my moves but all he wants to do is grind me. He gets to close and I back away still dancing and realizing the people around find it quite entertaining. When it gets too much for me I leave the dance floor and others join in after.

We regroup, get into the river and float down to the next bar. I think back on my life in Phuket and the man I shared it with whom I had to part ways. I recall our memories and know how much he would love to be in this place with me. The only way to hide my tears is to through myself in the river and put my shades on. Trying not to think of him brings more tears to my eyes. How I miss his brought shoulders and afro hair. His brought smile and chillness. We shared an amazing 10 months together and had to part ways because he had some unfinished business in Saudi Arabia and I wanted to become a backpacker. The tears flow as I sit in the bar overlooking the river and watching people drop down from swings, plummeting into the water. The music reaches me as I come back to reality and know that I am gonna have a good time on this river and not be stuck in the past.

Bar 3 is where the party is at. Somewhere between the first and third bar 4 hours have passed by and it is time to shake, shake, shake our bodies. Life is good and all our friends we picked up on the journey from Thailand to Laos are still together. Soon my sadness washes away and I am grateful for all I have and being able to take this journey here to be with these stunning people. I love each one of them and each brings an important vibe to the group. Wauter a Dutch, 18 year old boy with fluffy blond hair and blue eyes, skinny and tall, is very bombastic and honest. We’ve had some Dutch/Afrikaans conversations. He is good to have around if you want to smoke some weed. Scott is from America, 33 years old just started out his 1 year travel plan. He is the most fun loving person I have meat. Big beard, bold head, short and stout. He looks like he could have been one of the dwarfs from Snow White, the one called Happy. His chuckle is contagious it comes from deep inside and bursts forth like a fountain.

And this was just the beginning…

Breath

2011-03-18T05:08:00.000-07:00

Sitting in silence feeling my heart beat as the seconds pass. Who is this person I have become. What does she believe in now? There used to be so many walls built around. A safe area I created for myself, away from the “world” and its sinfulness. Now I am in the centre of it all. People I judged have become my best friends. Souls I thought surely would go to hell turned out to be angels. I stare at this book of rules and only feel emptiness. At the same time there is emptiness inside myself. Trying to re-evaluate the situation but only silence await.

Thousands of people died in the earthquake and tsunami this week in Japan. Those “lucky” to have survived are stranded as all their possessions have been taken by the ocean. Now they sit and wait as nuclear plants have been damage and possibly send radiation into the air that will kill thousands… even millions, if a solutions isn’t found soon. My heart beats, I take a breath, another breath and weep at how insignificant an fragile the human body is. How dependent we are on the air we breathe.

My addiction

2011-02-01T01:32:00.000-08:00

It’s hard work keeping this addiction going.

Long hours of lazing about on a hammock accompanied by it.
Sleep deprivation, snuggling up underneath the blankets with my favourite companion.
Waking up on a Saturday morning and grabbing it before even thinking of breakfast.
Nothing to do at work, reaching for my companion to fill the time.
Chilling on the beach, waves crashing and of course…
One is not enough anymore, two, three maybe four will do but it never ends
It is impossible to walk by it without taking a look, buying more, trading used ones in for other used ones.
Maybe the next one will be a better high.
They suck you into their world
The real world doesn’t seem real anymore and you can’t distinguish dream from reality anymore.
You become part of their world and become friends with them.
Big ones, fat ones, small ones, skinny ones

What is my addiction?

Books I have read since I have been out here
The shack
Harry Potter - Goblet of fire
Harry Potter - Philosopher’s stone
The Book thief
Harry Potter - Order of the phoenix
Eat, pray, love
Harry Potter - Deathly hollows
Thousand splendid suns
Narnia- the magician’s nephew

A piece of paradise

2011-01-26T04:17:00.000-08:00

Cherry lips sooth me with your kisses.
Wrap me tight like sticky mango rice in a banana leaf.
How clever you are reading your books.
But you don’t understand how I long for you to read me

To be able to understand my heartaches and why I weep.
That you would know the pain I have for indigent people.
As I realize I too am indigent.
Needing your comfort, your friendship, your conversation.

For you to lie next to me, listening to the sounds of the night.
Inhaling the fresh air and the rain tap tapping on my roof.

I cannot compare anymore.
I long for the peace and quietness of nature.
You want to be entertained.
I long to chat for hours about religion, god, meditation, purpose...
Philosophising about life, the good parts and bad.

You don’t understand me.
You try do comfort with logic.
But all I need is to be understood, to have something to live for.
To live a life with meaning.

Thank you for trying babe.
Trying to comfort me when I’m sad and feel like I’m going insane.
For reasoning with me and trying to understand.

I used to have a heart that aches for the poor in spirit and heart.
Those who are physically and emotionally drained.
I wanted to help make the world a better place.
Plant seeds that will grow into big trees where people can rest in their shade.
I wanted to give to others cause Jesus gave his life for me.

But now there is no more Jesus and I don’t have a reason anymore.
Except for the burning in my heart.
The longing to give a little piece of my paradise.
It seems so selfish to keep it all for myself.

Painful realities

2010-12-03T18:43:00.000-08:00

I came to Thailand with the idea to travel and teach. Hoping that teaching would be my passion and I get to travel doing the job I love. Along the way I fell in love with an amazing man. He built a lot of character in me and we are making good memories together. But somewhere in between I realized that teaching is not my calling. After being forced to observe one of my work colleagues and being told by my boss that I should learn from her and learn to make my voice stronger (obviously because the discipline in my class is just not there).

Having to go to work became a dreadful thought I even took a fake sick day because I couldn’t bare it. Why was I pressuring myself into teaching when that is not what I wanted to do? There are millions of opportunities out there. I can go sailing, work in a hotel go, into tourism or be a dive instructor. And this is travelling while you work.

No more screaming at kids who could not pay attention because they only have an attention span of 2 min. The thought was pleasing and exciting. But what about my boyfriend? I wanted to meet someone out here with whom I could travel together. But our journey may end after this. The thought of leaving him and going my own way as he sets out on his own course, devastates me. I have never been as close to any other man. We spent a lot of time together and I like being around him. How will I face this world without him? How can I bear travelling alone from here on and not miss him when I smell cigarettes. Go to sleep at night wondering what he is up to. Reading a book and not wish he was beside me, reading his. Not being able to stare at him when he sleeps or caress his afro hair when we are both drunk and kissing each other not worried about who is looking. How can I endure this relationship and make more memories with him knowing it’s all going to end. How can I not be in pain at the thought of losing him...

Wondering Beauty

2010-11-21T09:26:00.000-08:00

Am I dreaming or is this for real? Being surrounded by this beauty with amazing people. Having lived in Phuket for over a year now, I forget that I am surrounded by famous islands, amazing views and beautiful beaches. A trip to Pang-nga bay was a good reminder for us all of how privileged we are. Random pharangs, nomads, wondering souls in an unknown country finding comfort and companionship in one another. Some of us trying to find out what the meaning of live is. Others just enjoying the journey.

One can’t help to stop and think: “Who, what or how did all this breathtaking beauty come to be...”

Leaves fall and weave a carpet made of yellow and brown. I take a moment, take a picture.

2010-11-14T08:56:00.000-08:00

Capturing moments

2010-11-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

Okay so I decided that I need to write at least once a week in my blog. It’s a crying shame that I have been so negligent. But as the season changes I believe there will be a change in my state of mind to write more. There is so much to be said and then also nothing at all. A friend gave me a brilliant idea of capturing moments in a day. This week I have been looking for beautiful moments. This helps one to focus on the goodness in life and realize that no matter how hard it is to wake up or how shitty your day is. There is always something to smile about and be grateful for. Here are some of my happy moments of this week.

1. Cuddling with my boyfriend for just five more minutes before getting ready for work.
2. Jogging up a steep hill and overlooking the beautiful ocean as the sun sets and colours the clouds with golden-pink paints.
3. Cooking meatballs and mash for my ‘liefling’(darling) and having the meal in the midst the jungle. Breathing in the fresh air and enjoying one another’s company.
4. Having 30 kindergarten kids attention and laughing with them as they enjoy counting to 20.
5. Playing beer pong with white wine and mango-pineapple mix. A gentleman’s game I must say.
6. Going out to Patong with 23 people crammed into a 12-seat minibus.
7. Holding my cat close and hearing him purr.
8. Going on an impromptu lunch and eating chocolate mousse for dessert.
9. Finishing “the book thief”. A gripping novel narrated by death.

The list goes on and on. I can’t wait for this week to bring more moments of beauty and splendour.

A date with darkness

2010-07-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

Darkness covers the face of the mountain.
A candle is lit
While creatures of the night creep out.
The orchestra plays sweet melodies
Everyone with their own unique instrument.
The cricket creeks
The geco goes geco-geco
A bird calls out to his loved one
I close my eyes and listen to the night
Singing away in darkness.
Calming my spirit and brining rest to my soul

I can just hear the frog singing:
“Don’t worry, about a thing. Cause every little thing is gonna be alright.”

And everything is alright.
But it wasn’t always this way
I got my heart broken by a Thai guy.
The kindies were driving me crazy.
My best friend heard that he might have cancer
And I hated living in town with car enjins being reffed at my window.

But then I remembered what my mother used to say:
“This too shall pass.”
I held on to her words and started looking for solutions to my problems.
I asked around for places outside of town.
A kind man hooked me up with a tree house in the jungle.
Far far away from any mechanic shops.

I realized how many cool forang friends I have
And started hanging out with them more often
Soon enough I found a certain liking in an American sweetheart.

I started using a different approach to teaching kindies
Less screaming and more singing.
My best friend went for an operation and is going to be okay.

Whatever life throws at you:
Learn from it, become more knowledgeable.
And grow- one step at a time.

Life in the Jungle

2010-07-10T21:46:00.001-07:00

Staring out over the ocean, the ambiance of jungle creatures singing their melody of life and the little breeze rustling through the ancient trees surrounding me brings peace to my soul. Some people are only able to afford a stunning view like this when they retire but I am 24 years old, a kindergarten teacher and lucky to live here. At first when I moved here all I could do was stare at the view;. drink in the ocean while siting in absolute silence. In complete awe and amazement... “Am I really living here?” Is this happening to me? Can it be true?”

Going to work in the mornings felt so wrong. I had to drag my body away from this place cause it feels like I am on holiday. I hope for this place to be a kind of retreat. Where my friends can come and chill, away from the busyness of the city and their jobs and just be. Relax and be filled by nature and enjoy the jungle creatures serenading us into the night.

Life is truly amazing. If you told me a year ago that I will be living in a tree house in Thailand, loving my job and having stunning friends- I would not have believed you. But it’s true and life just gets better and better.

Ground-rules

2010-04-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

Here are some basic rules to adhere to when living on Phuket Island.

1. Wear sunscreen
2. Don’t drink the tap-water.
3. Learn the Thai word for ‘not spicy’ (mai ped)
4. Drive on the left side, but watch out for those who don’t..
5. When lost, keep driving straight. You are sure to find a beach somewhere.
6. Don’t drink and drive but if you do- don’t make an accident.
7. Don’t trust a guy when invited up to his room for “coffee”.
8. Always have a rain coat with you.
9. Never go with your boyfriend when he is going to Pathong. Trust me, you don't want to know what him and the boy's are up to.
10. When all has been said and done, know that Phuket will change you: for better, or worse.

Chillie-lips

2010-04-11T17:21:00.000-07:00

You are shutting me out
I am alone and abandoned
Slipping away
My heart is blind and num
Your love has grown cold

I have become impotent to your lips
They used to taste of sweet honey
But now they are just hot chillies
Burning away my desire for you

Spellbound

2010-03-26T19:26:00.000-07:00

I am intrigued by this world
The world I’ve been locked away form.

Being with a young man.
Half Christian, half Sikh.
Half Indian, Spanish and Dutch.
Half confused, half not so confused.

To feel his dark, fair, velvet skin against mine.
His lips, soft and smooth intoxicates me.
Those big brown Spanish eyes.

What is this world I am caught up in?
Somehow my heart connects with his.
All walls collapse,
As I find myself strangely intrigued

Is it his Indian appearance?
Or his Dutch background?
Maybe it’s his English accent?
Or those intense Spanish eyes?
Either way, I am spellbound.

So what is truth?
What is forbidden and what is allowed?
Things that seem taboo yesterday,
Are the latest trend today.

Love is not a feeling, it’s a choice.
But it’s a choice based on a feeling.
Even beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Here today, gone tomorrow.

Deception

2010-03-24T05:00:00.000-07:00

Inspire me
Bring me to life
Show me the unseen world

What is truth?
Does it have a name?
Is it in a religion or a person?
Budism, Hinduism, Seekism, Islam, Christianity...

Will we ever know?
Or are we bound to find out to late?
When our life here is finished
Standing before the eternal Judge

Will there even be a final judgement?
What is real other than what we have
created to be real in our own minds?

Sex before marriage? Yes/No
Abortion? Yes/No
Anything goes nowadays.
“As long as you feel right about it.”
But many things we feel right about
Are pretty fucked up.

To hire a hore equals
A moment of pleasure for you,
but a lifetime op pain for her.

To have sex all around
To satisfy our apitite
Means many kids growing up fatherless
Wifes growing up without a husband
A generation of orphans
Born with a disease they had no choice in.

When will we ever stop hurting?
Trying to find meaning and using each other?

There is a God, this I know.
For the Bible tells me so.
I have heard his voice.
Felt His pain for us who run away
Away from his love,
Searching fulfilment in the shadows.

In the dark places that enslave us?
I know your truth that sets free.

But I am intrigued by this world
The world I’ve been locked away from...

Weekend adventures

2010-02-21T08:14:00.000-08:00

I am sooo happy. It is incredible to live on my own. Never knew it could be so much fun. No parents worrying about what time I am coming in. No one to tell me to clean up my room... Now I am the one telling myself to clean up. Haha. Complete freedom and 100% responsibility. I am starting to get to know what and who is around town.

My weekend started early. Well so it felt because I went out on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening. This is all thanx to my sweet Thai friend. We had a blast this weekend.

Thursday
I am on a mission to find out where I can exercise so he showed me a cheap gym after that we ended up in a Chinese temple in Phuket bay. They have this thing that they do where you shake a holder with a bunch of long sticks with numbers on until one falls out. The number that falls out will lead you to a card with encouraging words on. Of course these words were all written in Thai. Luckily my friend is Thai and I relied on him to translate it. At first he had a hard time to understand what it means and it said something about the water flowing through the rocks. We had a good laugh about it and eventually he figured it out: “you have good fortune in yourself and you don’t need to find luck in reading this card...” Okay I am a bit confused will ask my friend to interpret it again.” Mmh, now comes the question of course. Is it okay for a Christian to go into another temple and read her “fortune”? Well I don’t see it as reading my fortune. It’s just a message on a paper and part of the Chinese culture. What do you think?

Friday
Friday we went to a festival in Phuket town. It was held in “the old town”. This is a place where there are many old buildings. Usually this street is completely dead but because of the festival they cordoned the street off and people where stampeding to get a taste of the delectable Tai food sold on the side of the road. This ranged from coconut ice cream, deep fried chicken, shrimp cakes, coconut bakes and delectable cakes. There was a place where you could write something on the street. Proudly South-African I wrote “I love South Africa.”

The festival became too crowded and we made our way to a beach party in Patong. It was a roller-coaster ride to get there. The road leading to Phatong from Phuket town is very steep up and down. Sitting on the back of a small motorbike, going 10km/hour praying that we get up the hill was an adventure in itself. This grew a lot of faith while adrenaline was pumping. Going up was okay because I only had to hold on to my friend as to prevent falling off because of the steep hill. But going down and around the sharp corners took my breath away. I reminded myself that he is Thai and he has a lot of skill lifting lots of people on a motorbike. So this should be easy peasy for him.

He got us there safely. The music pumping drew us to the beach party. People were dancing drinking out of buckets. This is the funny part. When you are young you play innocently in the sand filling your bucket with sea sand and making a sand castel. But it seem like as people grow older they don’t leave the childish things behind. They just find a different use for the things they used when they were a child. Like putting alcohol into the bucket instead of the sand. People really are fascinating.

I have been looking forward to some good DJ music for a while and this over exceeded the expectation I had. People moved to the beat of each song happily jumping around singing with, taping their feet and shaking their hips. The beach party ended in the early hours of the morning and the DJ moved to a club. Of course, charging a small fortune to get in. We rather decided to enjoy the quietness of the beach and listen to the waves crashing.

These are moments I want to freeze in time and say: “Thank you Lord for an awesome friend”. Moments like this is what makes life truly special. I also know that my time in Thailand is very short and a lot of people I meet here I might never see again. They only share a small part of my life and I want to treasure each moment I have with them.

Saturday
The day was laid back. I decided to hit the road and go to a beach I have never been before. I ended up at Surin and Lamsing. Stunning and yet again stunning. Even though the beaches were packed with forang (foreigners) it was so quiet. I could see people taking their first rest after a whole year of working hard in Europe with no sun. They were so happy to get sun on their skin that some of the women decided to go topless. At least they had their g-strings on. Not a pretty sight. Especially those women who are a bit more advanced in years and don’t have the ‘support’ they used to have when they were younger. At Lamsing I had a sweet Iced coffe while enjoying the shade and the view of the beautiful blue ocean. At times it’s good to take a day to yourself and see where the road leads you.

I rushed back before sunset and grabbed a meal with a friend, then headed back to my flat where my Thai friend picked me up again. This time we were off to Kata. Trying to find ska-bar (a friend of a friend celebrated his 30th b-day). We had no clue where it is and after driving around for an hour in Kata (this time with his brother’s car) we found it. Well worth the journey of getting lost. It was tucked away in a small street at a beach hidden away from the busy streets. This small rasta-bar was packed with friendly faces. Some of them familiar others complete strangers. I had some good conversations and was encouraged by a particular young man who looks like a really solid guy. He has his dreams ahead of him and already his next step planned out. Believes in himself and wants to make a success out of his life. I love listening to people like that. They encourage you to re-evaluate your life and ask yourself: “where am I heading? What are my goals? What do I hope to achieve in life.”

A successful weekend with lots of fun and good times. Now I am ready to take on the week... teaching 5 year olds.

A place of my own

2010-02-13T21:00:00.000-08:00

I have reached one of the big goals I set for myself: To get a job and be able to afford renting my own flat and buy my own food. It’s incredible! It’s very small but just what I need, a bedroom and bathroom. In my bedroom I have: a fridge, air-con, cupboards, bed, television and a DVD- player. I can see the sunrise from my bedroom, peeking around the mountain in the morning as I get ready for school.

Phuket town is a lovely place to live. With easy access to food and friends. We went to an anti-Valentines’ day party yesterday. Lots of young foreign English teachers were there from all over the world: Scotland, Ireland, America, Australia, Philippines and of course South Africa. I am looking forward to meeting more people.
Here are some pictures from my room with a view.

Field trip

2010-01-28T01:02:00.001-08:00

I think I am in love but this time it is not with some man. It is with 29 five-year-olds. They are so sweet and some of them are quite charming. Yes it is my kindergarten class. Every day I feel like a celebrity because when I walk into the classroom I have 29 kids screaming: “teacher Ansie! Teacher Ansie! And hugging me and smiling. They are 29 bundles of energy, hard to control at times but so eager to learn and participate. We went on a field trip to the Zoo, Aquarium, Chalong Temple and Butterfly garden – all in one day. Imagine 120 five and six-year-olds. Running around in an aquarium and 10 teachers trying to control them. The poor tourists who decided to go to the aquarium on that day. They were just looking at us with a smile on their face as if to say: “I am so glad that I am not you.” But I am glad that I am me. If you would have told me a year ago that I would be running around in a Zoo in Thailand with a bunch of kids, I would tell you that you are crazy. Now you would probably be the one telling me that I am crazy. Phuket Zoo has interesting shows with monkeys, elephants and crocodiles. The monkeys and elephants were sweet but the show with the crocodiles were very disturbing. I am sure they have to drug the crocs to make them behave like they do. The two Thai guys were dragging them around by the tail and pocking them with sticks. At a stage I wished the croc would turn around and bite the guys heads off. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. On a lighter note. I enjoyed the elephants the most. They are very well trained. Can sit down, dance to music, paint a picture, play with a hoola hoop and kick a basketball into the goal post. All in all the field trip was interesting but heart breaking. To see tigers and crocs caged up and in chains is against their nature. That is when I missed the African safari. Where you can see animals running around in the wild, happy and free. Then you are the one in a cage, in your car staring at the animals. Time runs out so quickly and I cannot believe that I have been teaching for 3 weeks already and am in Thailand almost 3 months now.

Living on the edge

2009-12-11T09:49:00.000-08:00

This is hilarious, coming all the way to Thailand, doing an intense TEFL course in Phuket only to end up teaching Science in the North East of Thailand. I love it! Today I had all the possible emmotions in one day. I started the day off in a zombie mode because we went to Phatong beach and checked out all the beautiful Thai ladies with their sweat little bits of clothes on, only got back at 4am. Which meant our plan to go drop CV’s off at all the possible schools and hotels only started at 4pm. We went to ECC, one hotel and one language school.

Monday we will be kicked out of the place we currently stay at and need to look around for cheap accommodation. The stress and worries of finding a job and not making too much dept was starting to get to me. I kept reminding myself that moments like these are why I had to get out here in Thailand. To grow up and trust God that He will provide. I wanted to cry because I don’t know where to go or what to do. I had a possible job set up for March but I can’t hang around that long doing nothing. “Lord what am I going to do, what do you want me to do, where do you want me. Why can’t I rest in you and trust that things will work out?”

Then I was a bit irritated because different people tell you different things. One says: “Don’t go to the South. There are a lot of fighting under the Muslims. It’s no good. Then someone else comes along: “No it’s great there, I will love working there.” The worse is when people tell you: “Ag, you won’t find a job this time of year, hardly any schools hire this time of the year, wait for April.”

Later today I just decided that this is the adventure I was looking for. Out of the 25 of us who did the course, only 2 have a job so for. This is basically due to the fact that no one has looked for jobs yet. Most are still travelling for 3 weeks and will only start looking then.

To try and make a long story short. The contact I had in Nakorn Ratchasima who only had a job available teaching kindergarden children emailed me today asking if I want to teach science, then I can start on 10 Jan. Amazing, that will be more interesting than teaching English and it’s for grade 2-6. That is more the age group I was hoping to teach. How cool is that. I will still see what it’s about and I am sure they will want me. Haha, you gotta have a little faith in yourself because the one who created you has a lot of faith in you.

This is an exciting journey, living on the edge. I love it!

Teaching

2009-12-01T09:50:00.000-08:00

Okay, okay here it comes. The actual reason why I am in Thailand at the moment: TEFL-course(teaching English as a foreign language. I have been going on about the beauty of the people, food and surroundings... that’s not good enough?

The course is amazing. We are having so much fun in the class. Today was hilarious. We learnt about conditionals (zero, 1st, 2nd, 3rd...) so Simon, one of our cool teachers would write the beginning of the sentence: “If I had a few days off of work I would...” so he asks the class to complete the sentence and someone shouts out: “get drunk”. Funny things came out today. “If I won the lottery I will... have lots of friends.” The most exciting part about being around people from all over the world is to hear the variations in intonation, accents and slang.

Other than being taught, we get the opportunity to teach as well. I have taught 3 classes with an average of 10 Thai students, aged 16-40 and two, one-on-one lessons. Each lesson is 43min in length. One of the one-on-one lessons was that we needed to recruit some Thai person and offer a free one hour lesson. This took a lot of preparation because we had to invent our own lesson according to the person’s needs and their level of English. It took me about 8-10 hours to prepare a 1 hour lesson. I picked one of the waitresses at a restaurant close by. I enjoy teaching it is great fun and we get evaluated after each lesson. This helps to see where we can improve. There are two requirements in order to pass the course one is that we need to pass 4/6 of our lessons. I have already passed 4. We have a grammar test next week Monday for which a 75% pass mark is required.
Time goes by so fast.

Thai newspaper proof

2009-11-27T21:41:00.000-08:00

This photo was specially taken for those of you who are still in denial and do not believe that I am actually in Thailand... Those who think I might be hiding away somewhere in Krugersdorp or maybe in someone’s roof, hahaha.
Do you believe me now? Is this proof enough?

PHI-PHI ISLANDS

2009-11-21T07:45:00.000-08:00

Yes it does get better and better everyday on this island. We are like this bunch of students on a very long holiday. I always look at pictures of pretty islands and blue-green water; people snorkelling and sipping juice out of a pineapple... and this time I was the one in the picture. It felt as if I was walking into a brochure of some exotic island. But then I realized this is true life I am actually real and this place is actually real. I can still not believe I was actually there. Fifteen of us who study together went on a trip to the Phi-Phi islands. These ones are especially for you Jonny. A picture is worth a thousand words. So in today’s special I will only be boring you with some beautiful pictures of places that really do exist on this
‘God-with-us earth”. Amazing, God truly is a magnificent artist!

2009-11-17T04:54:00.000-08:00

The 29 people who do the course with me are absolutely crazy! Most are from somewhere in America others from England, New Zealand, Cambodia, Austria, Vancouver Island, Canada, Scotland, UK, Texas...
Today we each prepared a short 2 min teaching using elicitations. For example: showing pictures, describing an object, showing an object, miming an action. Then we the “Thai students” need to say the English words. More difficult than I thought but we all got through it. Brian is the comedian in the class. He’s from New York, age 27 his lesson was on T.V programs. This is him acting out a soap opera.
We are still learning how to use the white board, to speak slow and pronounce the words loud and clear. Tomorrow we start teaching our first English lesson to real Thai people.

2009-11-17T04:43:00.000-08:00

16 Nov.
Things just get better and better. I love it here, the people the food... mmh
FOOD
This is especially for Janie cause she asked about the food. My first Thai meal was delicious. Rice, chopped up chicken breast softly cooked. The small bowls from the left is: chicken soup, middle: mild sause, hot chilli sause. To the right is cucumber. A lot of food for a small person such as I. As I was struggling to get everything in the Thai man who brought the food, topped up my chicken soup... this is what happens when you misunderstand one another. I thought he motioned to take the bowl but he decided I needed some more soup and brought more cucumber. All of this for a mere 35 bath (R7).
Yesterday I walked around Phuket town, just exploring and came to an amazing lookout over Phuket city. To the left I saw the sea, to the right was a mountain where the sun was setting. WOW! Stunning, this is where I missed a special friend of mine... By now I was tired from the walking and treated myself to a very expensive meal: steak and tjips 240 bath. Which is actually what I would have paid in South Africa.
There are all kinds of food and treats on the streets. Today I bought freshly chopped up pineapple and papaya for 10 bath. I don’t know if you are interested in the prises but this is very important to me as I love budgeting and getting more than what I pay for, bargaining. Another lovely discovery is sweet potato with grated sweet coconut!

I am very cautious of what I eat because on Saturday, famished from walking around at the beach side I was in desperate need of food. Sat down while showing the Thai people a picture of what I thought looked nice: White rice, fried egg and chicken mix. The first thing they put in front of me was a huge jug of water with ice. I should have read the signs... what followed was finely chopped up chicken cooked in chillies. For those of you who know me, know I hate hot food. Unfortunately the Thais love it. They can’t speak English but saw I found the food extremely hot. Half way into it I just called it quits. They probably took pity on me that’s why they brought me some carrot and potato soup. Now that was good!
This shows how friendly these people are. Always willing to give more than what you expect of them.

2009-11-14T06:06:00.001-08:00

Here are some of the beautiful beaches we visited thus far. The one at the bottom is Rawai beach, at top is Nai Han Beach and inbetween is somewhere in between the two...

2009-11-14T05:51:00.001-08:00

Okay, okay. You probably don’t want to hear preaching from me the whole time. What I am really up to is what you people nagged me about to start a blog. Jason (an American who lived in New York and doesn’t like it there) and I took a walk around “town”. By town I mean around the South point of the South of Phuket Island. Check the map out. We stay in Phuket Town. There we cought a bus for 30 bath (divide it by +/- 4 to get rand value) to Rawai beach. I took a swim and some Thai’s shared their food with us. Delicious coconut bake.

From Rawai beach we walked all the way close to Nai Harn Beach, chilled there and realized we need to catch a bus back to Phuket town at Kata beach. With no Tuc-Tuc’s in sight or motorcycles to give us a lift we decided to walk. Halfway there we got tired and wanted to take a rest. The Thai lady didn’t understand me so she gave us a lift to Kata Beach on her motorcycle, wonderful! Thai-ed from the journey we sat back and was exited to take the journey back to Phuket town when we saw the bus at Kata Beach.

2009-11-14T05:26:00.000-08:00

Pre-Departure

I am in eager expectation to officially begin this journey to Thailand. So many adventures to be sought after: Mountains to climb, people to meet and seashores to discover... though most important of it all, a soul to be shaped through trial and error. Good times and bad, challenges and lots of laughter.
“Lord develope in me a character that seeks after your kingdom and righteousness. To ask questions and not be afraid of the answers.
This is one of the poems which as inspired me and surely will carry my throughout:

Ithaca

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up before you.

Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.

Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.
Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would have never set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.
Constantine P. Cavafy (1911)
[ Greek original ]
___________________________________________

The time draws near and my heart is being prepared for the journey ahead:
“I will disciple you this year. Grow in you a warrior heart to stand up and fight for what you believe in. Trust me follow my steps closely. I am the commander of the armies. Like a sheep to the slaughter, I bore the sins of the people of Thailand. Go now and preach good news to the poor. Lift them up, feed them clothe them, love them: Physically, Spiritually and emotionally. Serve and lay down your life for them.”

14 Nov. 09
Lord there is no more I can ask of you my God. You have brought me to this magnificent place. I give you all honour and praise. The earth truly belongs to you. Thank you for this journey, my heart and spirit is content. For the first time in a long time I am truly at peace. Lord work miracles through me, show me the way to the abundant life you have promised us all. To not fear the unknown but embrace it, to follow the dream in our hearts and truly be content. You are my confidence, I am at peace living in a foreign country and I feel at home, because I know you are with me and truly where you are with me is where my heart belongs.

How can we- how dare we limit ourselves when the one who created heaven and earth created us. This is blasphemy when we dare think lowly of ourselves, it serves no one. Not you not God. We need to lift His name on high and understand when Jesus spoke the words written in Mathew 6 “Do now worry... he meant DO NOT WORRY, because HE cares for you. He is the care taker- taking away all our cares. How can I be in a foreign country and be so happy and even more content? Because I have taken my cares to Him. Praise Him for he is good!