Bai Thoe

This post is all about the adorable three year old that lives in the house where I am staying. Her name is kind of pronounced like buy-toy. She has been coming up to my room in the afternoons when she gets home from school. She calls me Adjun Katie, which means Teacher Katie. The way she says it is so cute!

I introduced her to my iPad and of course she loves it. She loves the pond app where it looks like a real pond with fish and lily pads. I also downloaded an app called Talking Tom 2 which repeats what you say in a funny voice. That was a total hit!

Location:Khao Phanom,Thailand

The offending roosters

Yes, these are the roosters that love to talk. All. Night. Long.







They are on the roof of the house next door.

In other news, check out this much more precious neighbor.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Khao Phanom,Thailand

Sightseeing on saturday!

On Saturday Richard, Linda, and I had a great time traveling around the province of Krabi. We got lost a couple of times, but it was a good thing because we found new places they had never seen before. Around every corner seemed to be another breathtaking view. Here are some of the pictures I took...

(you can always click on a picture to see it bigger!)


































This is a little off topic, but i saw these dresses, Karlie, and thought of you!










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Location:Thanon Chamaianouson,Muang Krabi,Thailand

My new home

A Thai Christian family has generously provided a room on the second floor of their house! This house is also the meeting place for church on Sunday afternoons. The family makes pork and rice and sells it in front of their house, as well. Here are some pictures of my new room.








Next, the view from my windows.






As I write this, it is Sunday night and I start my first day of school in the morning! I'm excited - even thought the past few days have been fun I will finally begin my real reason for being here. Check out my schedule. (To my teacher friends you might find this unbelievable!)





One more thing, the woman I am staying with is so very nice and thoughtful! I know she will be a good friend soon. (This is for Grandma!) The little girl - Bai Thoe - is so cute and I love the way she says my name! She calls me Adjun Katie which means teacher. She is 3 and I am really going to enjoy her!
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Location:Khao Phanom, Krabi, Thailand

First day in Krabi

I arrived in Krabi yesterday and have had a busy day today! First, we went to visit my new school.







Oh, I forgot to mention breakfast! I thought about you Wyndie!


Then we visited the house where I'll be staying. My room has the headboard for a bed but nothing else! Yes, a bed!









I will be staying with a Thai family. This little girl is Bai Toie. She is adorable but was playing shy. The next picture is in front of my house where the dad cooks noodles and people stop by to buy them.



We also visited two other schools where two guys from Texas will be working. They are about 15 minutes from my school.

We went to lunch at the market and then bought some fruit. I'll have to do a whole post on Thai fruit at some point.





After dinner I got to call mom and grandma (yay!) and then I did some recordings for Richard's radio show! My voice will be heard all over Krabi! Make sure to tune in to 100.7 True Love!

Love you all!
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In Bangkok!

Well here I am! I didn't know I'd have time to post so soon but I'm at the hotel and have a few hours before I head back to the airport to fly to Krabi so I thought why not!

The flight was great, no delays or anything and I slept a lot and ate weird airplane food :)

Here are some interesting pictures to share.




Bible and Buddhist book in hotel drawer.Those Gideons are working hard!


Fancy smancy bathroom with shower and bathtub



Sigh... :)


Good to know there is Cartoon Network here! Lol


View out of the window, the airport is on the left.

And last but not least, the very impressive toilets in Tokyo. :)))))


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Location:Mu Ban Park View City,Bang Phli,Thailand

My prayers

I have been praying about this trip for months now.  First, praying if it would be God's will, if it would please Him, or if He had something else for me this summer.  I contacted the missionaries there in November, but it wasn't until around February that I really felt as though God had answered my prayers and I decided for sure to go.  Part of it is the love and compassion I have for Thai people.  That is something that is not from me, it's from God.  He put it in me, so that it would motivate me to go!

Once I made my decision, I've been praying for a two things specifically...

• that God would soften the hearts (and minds) of the teachers and students I meet so that they may want to learn more about Jesus
• that God would give me the words to say so that I can be clear about my relationship with Jesus and why I love Him

I humbly ask you to join with me in prayer for those things, and while you're at it, here are some requests a little more on the personal side. :)

• that I wouldn't experience (much) culture shock, or that when I do, I will be able to move through it quickly and easily
• that I wouldn't experience a lot of homesickness - especially toward the end of my trip.  The last couple weeks have proven to be the hardest when it comes to missing family, friends, and the comforts of America

I feel so blessed to go on this trip! I feel totally wrapped in prayer! (Does that make sense?!) My church prayed for me this morning and my small group prayed with me tonight. I know that these prayers are going before me and that He is in control!  Love you!

Some thoughts

On Tuesday I will be getting on a plane to travel to Thailand! This will be my third trip.  When I look that this map it just blows my mind! (I made this map to show the kids at church.)  Here is how my trip will go:  from Charleston to D.C., then to Tokyo, then to Bangkok to spend the night in an incredibly fancy hotel, then fly to Krabi (southwest Thailand) the next day!  A total of 25 hours of traveling!  I think about missionaries years ago, and the trip they had to take! It would have taken months to get to Asia, and I fret about 25 hours! 

I'm thinking about the foreign culture and how interesting everything is to me. I just LOVE Thai culture and everything I see is a feast for my eyes. I only wish I could read Thai! But even seeing the foreign lettering everywhere is interesting for me. It really never gets old for me.  Here are some pictures that will hopefully show you what I mean.  You can click on the pictures to see them better.

 A Buddhist temple

 An English poster at school (can't wait to try this recipe!)

 Girls at a Bible study - eager to learn!  We are sitting in a hut (I don't know what else to call it.)  A lot of the homes I visited in the country have these huts outside in front of their house and that's where we usually sit to visit. Also, notice the blue washing machine behind the girls! 

 Learning a Christian song with hand movements.  Notice all of the trees behind them.  I *think* those are rubber trees.

 Fancy traffic light in the city of Krabi

 Floating market

City street - notice this motorcycle's attachment. Also notice how many motorcycles there are!  I took this picture from a tuk-tuk (3 wheeled taxi).

 Making a bracelet of jasmine for me at my friend's house

Sidewalk market

I just want to express how INTERESTING everything is!  That is part of the fun of traveling to another country!

I have been praying for my trip for months and I will share some of those prayers with you on my next post.

In less than a week...

 I will be eating delicious dishes like the one below.

That's fried chicken with rice.  Basically, I go for the most American dishes I can get while in Thailand.

Maybe I'll branch out a bit this time!

Or maybe not!