So my mom really likes my student, Ice. My students gave a speech on Friday about who their hero is. I thought that I would upload some of them so you could see them. Ice's is the first speech, but it is only the first part of it. Then, Ton Gla's is the second. His is hard to hear but it is so sweet...he says that Jesus is his hero because he came to heal the sick, and to love everyone...even to die on the cross. And yes, Ice is in this video too...he loves the camera! :)
Field trip to Ocean World on Friday! It is Asia's largest aquarium! I am very excited and my students are too! I'll post more pictures after that trip! Hope everyone back home is braving the storm! We could use some stormy weather here! Maybe it would cool everything down! The last week or so has been really hot!
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
a little bit of catch up
So much has happened since the last time I wrote so I thought that I would catch you up on life here in SE Asia. I have been busy and exhausted lately! I feel like between teaching, grading, lesson planning, and all the wonderful extra duties, plus youth group, Thai language lessons, and preparing for the girl's retreat I had no energy left to even climb up the three flights of stairs to my bed! BUT the girl's retreat took place this past weekend and it was pretty cool!
The girl's retreat was with a group of Burmese refugee girls that live up in Mae Sot (about 8 hours) from where I live. It is in conjunction with a school that my church supports. They do not speak Thai which is a little tricky and they don't speak English which makes it even more tricky to find translators. God provided them for us though and we had the opportunity to be able to communicate with them the whole weekend. There were several teachers from my school who went, along with women from the church, and some people from America who came just for the retreat. I had 8 girls in my group who I spent the entire weekend with. They are wonderful girls between the ages of 14 and 16...don't worry I will include pictures at the end! :)
We were able to give them BIbles in Burmese so they could read them, and a good portion of the weekend was spent teaching them how to use the BIble and how to have a personal devotion time with God everyday to better get to know him and his Truth. We also played games, did crafts, and had a special banquet for them at the end that concluded in a pretty sweet dance party!
The only negative part of the weekend was the leaders themselves. There was a lot of tension between the American team and the rest of us. The American team had lead 12 girls retreats before and they did a lot of the schedule planning for this retreat. The only problem though was that they had done their retreats in Guatemala and America. Thailand, especially refugees in Thailand, have a completely different culture and need to be approached in a very different manner. The team from Thailand had been to Mae Sot on previous trips, they knew the culture, place, and the girls. They were getting upset at the American team and the American team was getting upset at the Thailand team. I chose to not get involved and instead I just focused on my girls! It worked pretty well for me, but God can never work as powerfully when His people are divided!
We ran into some problems with our transportation on the way back, and instead of getting home at 8:00 on Sunday night, we got back at 1:30. I still had to get up at 6 for work the next day so I was a little tired on Monday for work to say the least, and of course Monday is my most hectic day in regards to my schedule! :) I survived though and now for the next 2 days I have parent teacher conferences. I am not particularly looking forward to them, but it will be nice to be able to share with the parents some concerns that I have.
I also met a friend at the gym....my first gym friend! Her name is Nattie. She takes the same class that I do on Monday night. She speaks English very well so I am hoping she can help me with my Thai! Which, by the way, my students are telling me is getting better and better! The one night I even had a full conversation all the way home from church with the taxi driver in Thai! AND church is about 40 minutes away with no traffic! Yes there was alot he said that I didn't understand and vice versa BUT I was pretty proud of myself! Enjoy the pictures from this past weekend! Fon di na kah! (Have good dreams! :))
The girl's retreat was with a group of Burmese refugee girls that live up in Mae Sot (about 8 hours) from where I live. It is in conjunction with a school that my church supports. They do not speak Thai which is a little tricky and they don't speak English which makes it even more tricky to find translators. God provided them for us though and we had the opportunity to be able to communicate with them the whole weekend. There were several teachers from my school who went, along with women from the church, and some people from America who came just for the retreat. I had 8 girls in my group who I spent the entire weekend with. They are wonderful girls between the ages of 14 and 16...don't worry I will include pictures at the end! :)
We were able to give them BIbles in Burmese so they could read them, and a good portion of the weekend was spent teaching them how to use the BIble and how to have a personal devotion time with God everyday to better get to know him and his Truth. We also played games, did crafts, and had a special banquet for them at the end that concluded in a pretty sweet dance party!
The only negative part of the weekend was the leaders themselves. There was a lot of tension between the American team and the rest of us. The American team had lead 12 girls retreats before and they did a lot of the schedule planning for this retreat. The only problem though was that they had done their retreats in Guatemala and America. Thailand, especially refugees in Thailand, have a completely different culture and need to be approached in a very different manner. The team from Thailand had been to Mae Sot on previous trips, they knew the culture, place, and the girls. They were getting upset at the American team and the American team was getting upset at the Thailand team. I chose to not get involved and instead I just focused on my girls! It worked pretty well for me, but God can never work as powerfully when His people are divided!
We ran into some problems with our transportation on the way back, and instead of getting home at 8:00 on Sunday night, we got back at 1:30. I still had to get up at 6 for work the next day so I was a little tired on Monday for work to say the least, and of course Monday is my most hectic day in regards to my schedule! :) I survived though and now for the next 2 days I have parent teacher conferences. I am not particularly looking forward to them, but it will be nice to be able to share with the parents some concerns that I have.
I also met a friend at the gym....my first gym friend! Her name is Nattie. She takes the same class that I do on Monday night. She speaks English very well so I am hoping she can help me with my Thai! Which, by the way, my students are telling me is getting better and better! The one night I even had a full conversation all the way home from church with the taxi driver in Thai! AND church is about 40 minutes away with no traffic! Yes there was alot he said that I didn't understand and vice versa BUT I was pretty proud of myself! Enjoy the pictures from this past weekend! Fon di na kah! (Have good dreams! :))
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
meet my students!
I took a short video today while we were making our science displays. Meet my students! :)
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