The End of the Semester

Smile!

Today was the second to last day of classes. The last day will be on Monday when the kids take their final exam. So today I took pictures and the kids asked for my e-mail. It's funny. Most of them can't write very much. It'll be interesting to see what kind of letters I get. Some kids even wanted my phone number in America. I was touched, but I didn't give it to them. The kids know I'll be coming back in May so they weren't sad. And I wasn't sad either. I'll miss them, but I'm also glad this semester is going to end soon. It's been tough. I've learned more than the kids did. I hope I will be a more patient teacher and less of a pushover next semester.

Bernd loves talking all the time. Not just on the cell phone. 

Bernd

Bernd is one of the best friends I've made in Thailand. I met him through friends at church. He's from a village near Stuttgart, Germany. I like his sense of humor and his dedication to following the Lord. He has a vision to be a missionary in and through the business world. He got me interested in Youth With A Mission http://www.ywam.org/. He did a program called Discipleship Training School in Seattle. He travelled to South Korea and China and did missionary work with YWAM. I am interested in doing DTS also. But I don't know if the Lord is calling me to do it and if so where I should go.
Right now Bernd is travelling in Myanmar with his German friend Miri (sorry if I misspelled her name). Bernd won't be in Thailand much longer. He's going back to Germany. He wants to continue studying.

See Y'all Soon

I'm excited! I'm thinking about returning home to Texas. I miss Austin, I miss Baylor, and I even miss Waco. It's been so long since I've walked the streets of downtown Austin or hung out in coffee shops with Baylor students or seen live music played only by westerners in a little hole-in-the-wall place. Thai people can play well though, I must admit. I love going to hear bands in Bangkok. But it ain't the same.
I really miss my mom and dad, my little brother, and my dog Winter. It's amazing that I haven't seen them since I arrived in Thailand on May 20th last year. God has given me the strength to deal with being away from them so long. God has given me great friends, and I am so thankful. I'm very thankful for Tan and the time we share together.
I'm going to be back in the USA from March 25 to May 22. I want to see as many family and friends as I can before I go back to Bangkok. I will stay in LA for a few days around Easter time and then go to Austin. I'll probably work as a substitute teacher at my old middle school or high school. It'll feel strange to be working there. Mr. Duran is still the principal at Westview Middle School. I hope I can earn about $60 a day. That isn't much in the US, but it's a lot in Thailand. When I'm not working, I hope I can make road trips to Houston, Waco, Dallas and other places. I'll see y'all soon.

Happy Chinese New Year! and Fun in Rayong

There is a huge two-day celebration in Bangkok's Chinatown. I'm going tonight with a group of friends to take it all in. We're gonna see shows, eat noodles, and wear red. It should be tons of fun! I'll take lots of pictures.

Speaking of fun, I had it in bunches last weekend. I went with six friends to Rayong. Tan organized a van to take us and she knows a friend who knows someone who owns a nice resort there. We got a great discount. The resort, or whatever it was called, was nice. It was a three-room apartment-style suite. We were close to a lazy beach without many people. So we had fun, fun, fun hangin' out doing abosolutely nothing. Ow! Say it again. We watched Starsky and Hutch in the Van on the way there. So we were quoting it all weekend. "Hey. Hey, DO IT. DO IT. I said DO IT. Yeah! DO IT." I love that movie. Ben Stiller is too much.
We played cards and had a silly dance competition at night. On the beach we through the frisbee and ate Thai food. There were tubes available so got in them. Tan got flipped over (in the tube) by Bernd and Jason a few times. I failed to protect her. I'm bad in that department.
Then we took a bunch of silly photos. And later, when we were all dry, Bernd thought it would be funny to pick up Julia and carry her into the water. He's a big German guy. Julia, the little Korean, had no chance. Then Jason did the same thing to Ice. And I felt obligated to get Tan wet. Everybody was telling me to get her. So I got her. She really didn't want to get wet. She was yelling at me to stop. But I did it anyway. It wasn't too bad. She forgave me. Then we went after Bernd and wrestled with him in the water. I couldn't get his head underwater. But I pulled his leg out from under him and TIMBER! He fell like a big German Spruce tree. (I don't know if that's a real tree in Germany.) Okay, the point is we had a wonderful time. Thanks Tan for organizing it. :)

Our First Date

Our first date was real fun. Tan and I had a good time eating Mexican food and just talking. We ate pretty late because she had to get medicine from the hospital first. I waited for her in a bookstore in Emporium. She likes to read. She'll often read books in English because she doesn't want to wait for them to come out in Thai. At dinner I asked her where she would like to travel. She told me she'd like to go to Latin America especially Argentina. One of her friends was an exchange student there. Tan wants to study Spanish. She also wants to see Europe and Africa. Then I talked to her about what she wanted to do with her life. She would like teaching children or doing missionary work. She asked if I knew any other languages.

"Si, hablo Espanol un poco."
"Mai khao jai" she said. We play this game now. I'll talk to her in Spanish and she answers in Thai. Usually we both don't understand each other. It's really silly.

I want to go to Latin America too. I told her, "We should plan a trip to Argentina." She thought it was a great idea, but neither of us can afford to go yet.

Then we left the restaurant and caught a taxi to her favorite Starbucks. She says it's nicer because it's more quiet. But it was closed by then. It was about 10 p.m. So we walked down the street and found a restaurant that was open. We ordered fruit shakes. I couldn't believe it! The place had a pen filled with Pomeranians. My dog back home is a Pomeranian. I miss my dog Winter so much. Tan thinks they're cute. She likes dogs, but doesn't like cats. So we finished our shakes and played with the dogs.

Later that night I told her, "Era una noche encantada."
"What does that mean?" she asked.
"Look it up."
She pretended to be upset.
"Okay, write it down."
Then I told her what it meant. (But you'll have to look it up.)

Then I tried to get her to tell me what she wanted for Christmas. She wanted me to surprise her. So I said I wanted a hint about what she would like. She finally told me a book she wanted. But I told her I would get her something else to surprise her. She wanted to know what I wanted. I said I wouldn't mind a book or anything. Then we said our goodbyes for the night.