The Latest, Greatest Adventure

Today, being New Year's Eve, was a free day for we In-Thailand folk. It started out slowly, we percieving not that adventure was waiting at its nether parts. In fact, our imperception was more accurate than we thought...

It all started when the sun went down. The light faded, the sky turned a smoggy orange, and reading out on the breezy balcony was impossible without blindness closing in soon afterward. I thought to myself, thought i, "Self, it's about time you and Veronica got some meat on your bones." So i gathered up my belongings (three half-read novels) and began to query my vicinity as to the status of my napping roommate. She had just woken up, and was in the state of mind often called "grouchy" in the vernacular. "Yo Vron," i threw down, "Whaddaya say we grab some grub up in this hood?" She, being kindly disposed to the idea, proceeded to prepare for such a venture.

As we walked along the dusky lane tangent to our dwelling, our conversation turned from mangy dogs and being run over by speeding drivers to the destination that would fulfill our quest, having been altogether indecisive up to this point. I, missing the American enterprise so widely accepted in our five-minute-or-not-innit society also known as the sandwich, suggested to the chagrin of my companion that we settle for KFC. She, being greatly indisposed to such an insult to the culture that we found ourselves in, made a remark to the effect that her preference was simple, English-speaking asian food. As we passed by the proximate option, Hot Pot, she also remarked that she had always wanted to have the cultural experience of cooking the food in a provided vessel centrally located on the table. I, being the kind and decisive friend that i am, considered the option taken, and began to redirect our steps to reach the point of interest: Hot Pot.

Slight wariness set in as we were handed the menu. It consisted of many pictures of single, uncooked food items, and their prices. There was no suggested mixture that we saw, so, I, being the imaginatively experienced friend that i am, started pointing things out to our waiter (who spoke "medium" English, which really meant not much at all). Feeling satisfied with the sensible order of beef, bok choy, and baby corn, with a side of vegetable noodles, i sat back in expectation of our delicous and imminent meal. Veronica, on the other hand, felt uncomfortable at the crowd of wait staff that was accumulating at our table in anticipation of our selections, and began to vociferate against the unfamiliarity and choice of restaurant.

When the order came, we discovered that, in proportion to our pot, it was quite meager. Wishing to fill our stomachs with more than a few leaves and slices of beef, we decided to use our ignorance to our advantage. Desperately, we appealed to the waiter to suggest more additions to the soup that was forming under our attention. He pointed out several more vegetables that suited our fancy. Veronica was ever skeptical, mutteringly eating the green, curly noodles. "The sauce is good," she admitted darkly. However, once there was less empty space in our pot, and it had come to a rollicking boil, the general atmosphere across the table from me improved. The sauce was indeed quite good. Our conversation began to include hopes and plans for much more cookery in the future, as well as many a giggle over our situation.

It turned out to be a satisfying meal, though we were the center of attention and probably a main topic of conversation in the kitchen. Our waiter saluted us with an erudite, "Happy New Year," which we heartily returned. We had had a truly cultural experience, and we both felt improved as individuals as we left.

A Snapshot of Sights and Sounds

We had to move yesterday because a new group was coming in. We just went down the street, so it's not bad at all. I actually like this place better than the old place. Veronica and i are in a large room on the top floor... It's really nice and airy, with yellow walls and flowery curtains, and the beds are more comfortable than the other ones. We don't have air conditioning, but we don't really need it because we have more-than-adequate ventilation. Sounds are really distinct up there: the roars on the street, the twitterings in the air, the splashes and creakings in the rooms below.

There's a roundabout on a road that we frequently travel, and it reminds me of Dad because he likes roundabouts. I also saw a baby elephant in the middle of the city, and i got to pet it. Elephant skin feels kind of loose, not like i imagined it would feel. Another interesting sight came rather out of the blue. Yesterday when we were walking out of the slums, we came to a dock on the big river that goes through Bangkok. There was a huge tanker ship there, and we asked if we could see it, and they let us on board and gave us a tour. It was really interesting. They were from Georgia (by the Black Sea and Russia, not in the U.S.). I also noticed the other day how many 7-Elevens there are here: basically one on every corner!

the real Bangkok

The tourist attractions of Bangkok--the elaborate temples, the beautiful palaces, the colorful markets--are not what define the city. One has to search for them amid dirty sidestreets and gargantuan highway bridges, past the plastic lawn chairs of the street restaurants and a mangled beggar or two. The city is not the ancient sights, but the people and how they live.

Two nights ago, three of my teammates and i had the privilege of experiencing the reality of Bangkok. We went to visit the friends of a couple of the girls who are a part of the ministry we have been serving, and to see if there was a place we could return to with the rest of the team.

Much of the evening consisted of walking through the streets of the slums. One girl lived down a narrow walkway, inside a house with a bright blue door. Her living room consisted of a platform of wooden planks to sit on, furnished with an oscillating fan.

As we walked, the girls kept meeting people they knew, and they would feel free to join our expedition. Soon we had a party of over ten, not including the five "falangs" (Thai word for foreigner). They didn't speak much English, and we didn't speak much Thai, but we managed to exchange names and ages somewhat accurately. They seemed to be a little wary of us, but they were always friendly, as is Thai culture.

At one point, we came across a group of about twenty children, mostly boys. After some mingling, and some attempts at English ("Falang! How are you?"), they decided to take us through a short cut. As we made our way through junky yards, and in between closely-spaced houses, across board-bridges over puddles, and past multitudes of flea-bitten dogs, we felt completely immersed in Thailand. We couldn't understand a word that was being trumpeted about us, and as we walked we caught glimpses of home life: moms cooking, children watching small TV sets, men sitting and smoking.

That was a night that i am not likely to forget.

Tidbits of Thailand

The Thai language is really beautiful. There are five tones (low, mid, high, rising, falling) and the script has over 40 characters (i think) and many of them are very similar. It would be a very difficult language to study in depth (though not as much as Mandarin, i think, because the characters are made of an alphabet, not words).
Here is the extent of my Thai:
Sawatdee-kaa! Hello!
Korp kun kaa. Thank you.
Sam Three
See* Four
Sip Ten
*most recent addition

The most recent thing that has caught my attention about Bangkok is that i never see any old, junky cars like in America. They all drive really nice cars, and if they are older models, they don't look abused. I'm not sure why this is, but my current theory is that only rich people drive cars, and then they take really good care of them. I was expecting the compactness of Europe in the roads and transportation here, but that's not the case--the roads are wide and the vehicles are as large as in America. They do drive on the left, which was intriguing to me; upon further research, Thailand, Japan, and Indonesia are the only countries that drive on the left without having ever been under British control.

I don't think i'll ever get tired of Thai food. It's so delicous, and there is such variety. However, some of my teammates have eaten fried grasshoppers and crickets and maggots and squid and other creepy crawly or equally disgusting things, and i declined partaking in these. I do think it's important to be open to trying extra-cultural foods, but i would not seek them out and buy them. I would only eat them if i had to--like if a host had specially prepared them for me, and would be absolutetly offended if i did not accept his hospitality.

I love being in a different culture, but i also feel sorry for the Thai people that my team has been around for the first few days here. I'm sure we've made some atrocious mistakes. There have been several times that i've forgotten to "wai" back (the hands-together bow greeting, similar to our handshake), or i've touched someone's head (the highest, most respected part of the body--not to be touched unless given permission), or i've been too respectful to people in positions of service. We will learn, we will learn.

Bangkok

It's really large--the complete opposite of Denver, as cities go. There are skyscrapers splashed all over the city, not only a small cluster in the center. They drive on the left (though they were never part of the British Empire, similar to Japan and Indonesia). There's a river through the middle of it. And it's dirty.

But the people are beautiful, and they live their lives.

yes?

It's a simple word.
It's the first word that came to mind when i was trying to think of a title for this blog.

But upon further speculation, it has more significance than a random space-filler.

"Yes" is the affirmative answer to a question. It is the opposite of "no." It also represents a willingness that i would like to embody. I'm leaving in less than 30 hours for Thailand, an adventure that will leave me lots of opportunity to obey or to rebel. It is my desire to be recklessly abandoned in my pursuit of God, and that requires a "yes" to all that He would ask of me, even the uncomfortable.

There is another "yes" that is required for me before i can live out the former one. The Scriptures say that all our promises in Christ are "Yes" and "Amen," meaning we have full assurance of them. There is not much we can be fully assured of in this world, but in Christ, there is: everything He said. And this releases me to say, "Yes!" back to Him, not only with my mind, but with my life.