Pray for Asian Disaster Victims- updated on Dec. 28

I'm sure you've heard that an earthquake in Indonesia triggered tsunamis and tidal waves. Waves hit several Asian countries, India, and even the Eastern coast of Africa. 22,000 people have been reported dead. One of them was a grandson of the King of Thailand. He died in Phuket. At our school, we were required to black or gray and non-bright colors to express our sympathy.

News reports said this may be the costliest disaster in history because so many people lived in the affected areas. Remember to pray for the rescue workers and the people who lost family and friends. Others lost their businesses and homes. Sri Lanka was probably affected the worst. The worst hit place in Thailand was Phi Phi Island. All the guesthouses were destroyed and hundreds of tourists were killed. I went there in August. I'm praying for the scuba instructor I had. I hope he's okay. Unfortunately, this time of year is the peak season for tourists at Phi Phi. So many foreigners were injured or killed. Thai warships had to come to pick up people from the island.

Earlier this month I went to the Similan Islands and Phuket. The coral reef in the Similan Islands was badly damaged by the waves. That's really sad because it was so beautiful. A Thai teacher told me that a restaurant that we stopped at in Phuket was destroyed. I was in Bangkok when this happened, far away from danger. I didn't feel the earthquake, but a Thai teacher who lives on the 19th floor of her building did. Take care.

Merry Christmas-- Trip to Sukothai and Mae Sot

It doesn't feel like Christmas, but Merry Christmas anyway! I'm far from home and family and friends and it's just a little cooler here. It's usually significantly cooler in Texas during Winter. Sometimes Texas has snow for 20 minutes before it melts away. I don't think it snows in Thailand even in the North.

At school, the Thais asked the farang teachers to come up with a Christmas program. We have 30 minutes to explain to Thai kids what Christmas is all about. But we're not supposed to say anything about Jesus. No nativity scenes. Stick with Santa and his reindeer. Actually, what we're doing will be fun. We're going to sing the 12 days of Christmas with Thai kids dressed up as each part. Mark and I made some very colorful wings out of plastic board and construction paper for the partridge, turtle doves, French hens, and so on. He even made beaks for the swans, geese and hens. We're going to decorate a milk cart wagon that will be Santa's sleigh. Zach will dress up as Santa and throw out candy. We'll teach them to sing We wish you a Merry Christmas and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer as well.

The Thais are a generous people and this Christmas season is no exception. I have received numerous gifts from teachers and students. One kid gave all the foreign teachers Louis Vuitton gifts. I got a black Louis Vuitton tie. Mark and Zach got blue and red ones. Erin and Cyndi got Louis Vuitton billfolds. I don't even teach this student. She just didn't want to leave me out. I know they are real too.

Sukothai and Mae Sot

Now I'll briefly tell you about my trip that happened ages ago. Sukothai is in Northern Thailand. It used to be the capital of the country centuries ago. It has many ancient ruins with large stupas (the inverted funnel shaped structures) and large Buddha statues. We arrived at 5 am in the morning. We rode a bus all night to get there. We looked around the ruins for a day. Then we went to Mae Sot and met up with a teacher from our school. Geoffrey is a British ex pat who teaches at Chitralada. He visits Burmese refugee children in Mae Sot. There is a church there that teaches the children because they cannot go to state schools. We helped throw the children a Christmas party. Then we went to a fancy restaurant.

Okay. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Over the New Year break I will go hiking on Phu Kradung mountain in Loei province in Thailand. Later.

...If only in my dreams---- Similan Islands Trip

I won't be home this Christmas except in my dreams. It will be my first Christmas away from home. It's going to be tough. I don't plan to spend Christmas day alone though. I'm going to go out with friends. There are lots of places that have special Christmas dinners for ex-pats. I'll write some about my Similan Islands trip and then go. I'm going to meet with a director from the Youth With a Mission organization. They do missionary work in Thailand. I'm interested in it. I've met several missionaries who had great experiences with them. I let you know what I learn.

On my next post I'll write about my trip to Sukothai and Mae Sot. They are in the Northeastern part of Thailand. Mae Sot is right by the border with Myanmar (Burma).

Similan Islands trip

I knew this trip was going to be different because we (teachers from Baylor and Australia) were traveling with the Thai teachers. The Thais made all the arrangements. We booked a train to get to the Similans. There were 41 people that went from our school. We took up an entire train car. As soon as we started going the Thais started taking group pictures. The differences between how we take photos is funny. I normally don't like group photos. But the Thais take almost nothing else. I flipped through their albums and I saw maybe two or three pictures of scenery without people in them. On some of my trips I don't take pictures of people at all- just landscapes.

We ate fish, rice, and pineapple for every meal. Sometimes we had other things too like oysters and crabs. We got sick of the food. I also got badly burned. Otherwise I had no complaints. I was in paradise.

My friend Cyndi said, "I've always seen pictures of wonderful places on people's computers. I can now say I've been to those places." It's true. The water was so clear. You could see down about 20 meters. The beaches have sand that is as white as you can imagine.

My friend Zach said, "I'll never be able to go back to Galveston. There is just no comparison."
It is so true.


The Similans are the best islands I have seen. They are a national park. You have to have connections to stay where we stayed. Our school pulled some strings and we stayed on an island that only the elite go to. Our guesthouse was right next to one reserved for the Royal family.

We rode out to the islands on a boat. As I looked out on the water I saw flying fish. They hung in the air for over a minute sometimes. It was incredible! Zach saw a manta ray from the boat.

We went snorkeling and diving. On our diving trips we saw sting rays and lots of fish that I had never seen before. Some of my friends saw eels. We have some underwater pictures. I will try to load them, but they are very large pictures. I'm really not telling you enough about the trip, but I don't much time to write now.

I saw the Incredibles. It was very good!
There was a special Christmas service. It was so early because so many people at church don't stay in town on Christmas Day.

Take care. I'm going to try to write again before I go to Khao Yai National Park on Thursday. I am going with the school. It is an English Camp.

Other people I'm thinking about...

My whole family will be missed this Christmas. I'd like y'all to send me pictures if you can. I don't have enough family photos.

I'm really happy for my friends Brian and Missy. They had a baby girl last month.

Nick and Melody had a baby girl last month too. I pray for their missionary work.

Also I am so happy for my friends Andrew and Dana. I heard they just got engaged.

Chad is workin' in Africa too. I pray for him all the time too.

I can't write everyone's name, but I miss y'all.

So many things are changing back in America with my friends and family. All these things are so cool, but I don't get to see them. I wish I could. Okay later.

Monkeys!

I've traveled to a few more places since I last wrote. I went to Lop Buri, the city of monkeys. The people let them run wild at a temple and in the city. Monkeys climb around the telephone wires, sit in the middle of the road, and sometimes growl at people who walk by. Once a year at the temple there is a monkey feast. The people dump tons of food and let the monkeys devour it. We missed that spectacle but I witnessed enough.

The monkeys also grabbed food and anything else people were carrying. They snatched a woman's hat and shrieked at her when she tried to get it back. My friend Cyndi smacked a would-be hat snatcher and impressively grabbed it back from his mangy hands. My Uncle Steve warned me that if I wasn't careful the monkeys would steal my camera. Well they didn't get it. I was only pounced on by a baby monkey. Others weren't so lucky. We took a video of four monkeys that jumped my friend Lindsay. It was really funny! She was not harmed. She shook for a while, and they jumped off. One monkey sat on a boy's head and was just chillin' up there. But one woman freaked out when a monkey climbed up her back and started biting her hair. Her husband wanted to take a picture of it, but she was screaming. When they got it off her, she wouldn't go near them again. I can't blame her. It was a humorous and strange experience.

I also saw a vineyard, an ostrich farm, and a huge sunflower field in the same area.

Last weekend I went to the Similan Islands and with Thai teachers from the school. More on that later.