On December 23rd, I attended a Christmas Party at the Person family's place. They had a white elephant gift exchange. They invited teachers from my school and Tan and Ice and others. This is their first year living in Bangkok. They lived in Chiang Mai for 15 years. They went to Baylor and met in Thailand and became missionaries. Suzie's parents were there. That was some of the best home-cooking I have had in a while. Turkey, stuffing, fruit salad and more. It really made me miss Christmas in Texas.
On Christmas Eve, I attended a service at Evangelical Church of Bangkok and then went to a Christmas party at an art gallery run by the Davies family. At that party, I led Christmas carols. That was lots of fun!
On Christmas morning, I awoke and went to Rori's room to a secret santa gift party with the teachers from Baylor who work at my school. Rori played Santa Claus. She bought stocking stuffers and was an excellent host. Then I went to another Christmas service. The message was good. Pastor John talked about how Jesus did not come to bring Peace. In fact, Christ divides the world. Brothers will fight against each other. But for those who really believe in Jesus, they will find peace in their hearts.
Then I went to another party at the Gray family's home. They also had a gift exchange. They have lived in Bangkok for 8 years. They host the Men's bible study group every Tuesday night. I help lead the group. Mark has been a wonderful host and mentor for the men that come. We have recently been studying I Peter. There was excellent food there. Japanese curry (Marie, the mother, is Japanese), turkey, mashed potatoes.
That night Tan and I saw King Kong. I really liked it. It was a bit long though, and my friend Andrew had a good point when he asked,
"Why didn't they bring back a dinosaur from the island instead of a giant gorilla?"
I had to go to work the next day. On December 26th Tan and I celebrated our one year anniversary at Tony Roma's. Last year, had our first date on the 23rd at Larry's, spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day together, and then exactly one year ago I asked her to be my girlfriend. (Coincidentally, December 26th is the anniversary of the Tsunami as well.) We had ribs and barbecue chicken. Tan picked eating ribs over my suggestion of a fancy buffet in a hotel. This shows she would fit right in if she came to Texas. :) We mostly talked about our families. Her family does not celebrate Christmas. She is the only Christian in her family. Most Thais, including Tan's family, celebrate on New Year's by giving gifts and spending time with family. We also watched a horror movie. Sometimes she covered her eyes and asked me when it was okay to look again. I can't really say enough about how wonderful she is. It was our second Christmas together, and it was very special.
Tan and I will go with a group of friends from church to a Thai national park in a province called Prachuap Khiri Khan. It's in the south. The park is called Namtok Huai Yang. We'll spend two nights there. On New Year's Eve we plan to sing songs and do a devotional to welcome the Lord into the New Year.
I asked Tan if it was a big deal that she wouldn't be with her family on New Year's. She said that she wouldn't be the only one that wouldn't be there. Her sister has exams to finish. So the whole family couldn't be together anyway.
I'm still job hunting. I'm applying for ESL/ EFL teaching positions. I have had one interview for a part-time job. I would be teaching creative writing on weekends at a library. It sounds fun.
I found out today that I will have to go on a "visa run." If I leave the country and come back it will extend the time I can stay in Thailand. I wasn't planning on taking a trip. I thought I could go to the Immigration Center and apply for an extension, but the man who notarizes the request letter will not be back at school until January 12th. My visa expires on the 8th. If it expires I would have to pay a big fine. So I'm planning to go to Cambodia on the 6th and come back on the 8th. I have wanted to see Angkor Wat in Siem Riep for a long time. I'm excited about going. Tan and some friends might come with me.
Since I probably won't write again for a few weeks, I'll go ahead and say: Happy New Year Everybody!! Sheesh. I'm lazy sometimes.