A good birthday, now I'm off to 'Nam

Thanks for wishing me a happy birthday.  I had a very good one.  I went to go bowling with some friends- Thais, Americans and Australians- on Friday.  And some friends gave me free tickets to see the Thailand Open on my birthday.  It has the world's biggest tennis stars.   I've seen Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Marat Safin, and Thailand's favorite Paradorn.  It's been great!

And I'm going to go to Vietnam for two weeks because I have a holiday.  I leave tommorrow.

I'll let y'all know more about it when I get back.

I'm going to take lots of pictures and say hello to Uncle Ho. 

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Questionnaire

Here's a questionnaire.

 

1. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME? Steven Ray Cross

2. WHAT COLOR PANTS ARE YOU WEARING? black work slacks

3. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Janitors talking in Thai in the computer lab.  I have no idea what they're saying.

4. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? potato chips

5. DO YOU WISH ON STARS? no

6. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? blue my favorite color

7. HOW IS THE WEATHER RIGHT NOW? hot, always hot in Thailand

8. LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Oi a Thai friend

9. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT YOU THIS? YES!

10. HOW ARE YOU TODAY? relaxed and a little tired

11. FAVORITE DRINKS?  Root beer

12. FAVORITE SPORT? soccer

13. HAIR COLOR? dark brown

14. EYE COLOR? blue

15. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS OR GLASSES? no

16. # OF SIBLINGS? one younger brother

17. FAVORITE MONTH? December, Christmas time

18. FAVORITE FOOD?  That's tough.  I really like food.  In Thailand I like sin yai pad kee mao ky the most (that's big flat noodles with Thai veggies and spices with chicken)  I also like green curry and chicken.  In America I like Italian food, Mexican food, but BBQ ribs are probably my favorite.

19. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Signs with Mel Gibson.  I liked it.

20. FAVORITE DAY OF THE YEAR? Christmas Day

21. WHO DO YOU CALL TO VENT? I vent in my e-mails and on my blog site.  Sometimes I vent to my parents and sometimes in my prayer group.

22. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A CHILD? a Hot Wheels toy car it was a classic corvette with monster truck wheels

23. SUMMER OR WINTER? Fall!
24. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs
25. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Vanilla!
26. DO YOU WANT YOUR FRIENDS TO REPLY? Sure

27. WHO IS MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? don't know

28. WHO IS LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? don't know

29. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS? single studio apartment

30. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? it's been awhile... 

31. WHAT IS UNDER YOUR BED? the floor and some dust bunnies 

32. WHO IS THE FRIEND YOU HAVE HAD THE LONGEST? Sam and Nick Gantt

33. WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT? I watched the Thailand Open.  Roger Federer was impressive.  He had no trouble advancing to the next round.  Andy Roddick was amazing.  He can hit a serves that go 220 km/h.  I also saw the best tennis player in Thailand-  Paradorn Sirachaporn.  He is ranked no 20 in the world.  The Thais go crazy for him here. 34. FAVORITE SMELL? BBQ

35. WHO INSPIRES YOU? my dad

36. WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF? this question for starters.  That opens up a big can of worms. I'm afraid of making bad decisions basically.

37. PLAIN, BUTTERED OR SALTED POPCORN? buttered

38. FAVORITE CAR OR TRUCK? it changes often.  i really like mini Cooper's. 

39. NUMBER OF KEYS ON YOUR KEY RING? three

40. CAN YOU JUGGLE?  yes, but not for very long.

41. DO YOU OWN A DONOR CARD? Nope

42. Last book you read?  I finished The Davinci Code and now I'm reading True History of Ned Kelley. It's about an Australian outlaw who was kinda like Robin Hood.

43. Is your checkbook in balance? yeah

44. Did you make your bed today? nope

45. Who did you last argue with? myself.  Does that count?  I don't argue very much with others. 

Godzilla lives.... at my school

A moat surrounds our school.  In it there are fish, frogs and other animals you might expect to find anywhere in America.  But then again this is not America.  Another creature lives or lurks you might say about the moat.  I don't know what the Thais call them exactly, so I will call them monitor lizards.  They look like giant lizards or baby alligators.  They are a scary sight.  About five feet long from tooth to tail.  You may have seen pictures of them on my website:  http://photos.yahoo.com/steven_c19 .  If you spot one in the moat you probably won't see it for long because they submerge into the green murky water, and they can swim quickly.  They not only can move quickly in water,  but as I discovered first-hand, they can go swiftly on land as well. 

My Australian friends who teach at the school had their first encounter with one on the way to home to the bus stop.  We all take the same route every day.  We walk out the back gate of palace grounds and then turn the corner and walk next to the moat.  On that particular day an ambush was waiting for them.  Andrew spotted it in the bushes only a few feet away.  He froze.  Mark didn't notice at first and kept walking.  Lindsay, another teacher who has been here a year, was walking behind them.  Andrew said something to Mark like "Watch out, mate!  Lizard!  Giant Lizard!"  Then Mark saw it and reacted instinctively.  Lindsay claims she has never seen someone jump so high and so far before.  He jumped from the sidewalk into the street and maybe nearly got hit by some cars.  I was not there, so I don't know.  Then it ran off.  I heard this story so I half-expected to meet a monitor lizard some day, but I was not prepared for where and when it would happen. 

Months later I'm waiting for my class to arrive.  It's typical for Thai kids to be late to class.  They aren't counted tardy, and I am thankful they were late that day because it decided to show up to my class uninvited.  The first floor of my wing has a roof, but it's open to the air.  It's basically outside.  I teach on the second floor of the wing which has two classrooms.  I was walking around on the first floor for no particular reason when it happened.  I was very startled.  Okay, I'll admit it.  I was freaked out.  I was ready to jump three feet high.  But I got out of the way, and I don't know what got into it, but it began to climb the stairs.  Maybe it wanted to learn English.  But I doubt it.

At this point I was thinking what am I gonna do?  I'm not prepared for this.  No one told me that monitor lizards come to class.  I could just picture my students arriving and then screaming like frightened masses in a Godzilla movie.  Some of my class have been freaked when a little gecko climbs around on the walls.  How traumatic would it be if they see little Godzilla running towards them?  They might be afraid to go to my classroom ever again.

So I ran to get the nearest people I could find.  I spotted the janitors.  I shouted "Lizard!  Big lizard!"  They didn't get it.  I didn't know how to communicate with them.  So I just motioned for them to come.  They looked puzzled.  But I insisted they come look.  They followed curiously, and they must have thought "farang ba" crazy foreigner!  What is he so excited about?  Then when they saw the monitor lizard wiggling around and struggling to climb the second set of stairs they began laughing.  I started laughing too.  They must have been just as surprised as I was.  We all stood there for a moment.  What do we do about this?  Then one of the men got a broom, and then he climbed up the stairs and swatted at it.  Then the lizard turned and came down the stairs.  The man jumped onto the railing and let it go by.  Then it was running around, and it nearly went into an empty classroom.  One lady was so scared she jumped onto a cafeteria table.  I thought that might be a good idea.  I was ready to jump onto a chair when the man with a broom chased it off towards the playground.  I looked around the corner to see if would come back, but it had vanished.  A second visit remains an unwelcome possibility.   

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Why do I blog in Thailand?

The purpose of this blog site has never been exactly clear to me.  And it probably is confusing to whoever reads it since the content seems random.  Sometimes I write about what I'm feeling.  Sometimes I write about something I read.  Othertimes I describe some event and what I was thinking about at the time.  In the beginning, I wrote just to Baylor friends.  It was just a way of expressing myself better because I frequently didn't share my thoughts or speak my mind.  Now that I'm in Thailand maybe the purpose has changed.  Now I think most of my readers are far away.  They don't see me everyday.  I think mostly family and some friends read it, and i'm not sure how often.  Now this is almost all they hear from me.  If my blog's purpose is to stay connected with family and friends than it is a poor surrogate.  It is nothing like being in the same room and spending time with people.  Even talking on the phone is way better.  So I've resolved to start calling family and friends more often.  So be warned, if you get a call from a number you don't recognize please answer it.  It's probably me dialling with an international calling card. 

Now that I'm in Thailand, I feel like writing interesting facts about the country and culture.  It's the scholar or nerdish part of me coming out.  I also want to share what I'm experiencing by describing sights and sounds.  Othertimes I sound like I'm Charlie Brown talking to Lucy's psychiatry-for-nickel clinic.  It's not easy being so far from America.  I'm learning lessons over hear.  God is working on me.  I'm not always willing to be reshaped by His hands, and it is painful at times.  So, I guess my blog's purpose is to help me record my feelings and experiences during my transition years from college and beyond.  Sort of a diary, except I don't think diaries are open to the public.  And there are certainly things I don't share here.  Enjoy reading in any case whomever you may be: family, friend, stalker, or lost-roamer in Cyberspace.  Thanks for reading about my journey.

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