Birthday Week

It's official: I'm 24 years old. And believe it or not, this was my very first birthday away from my family (except for my dear hubby, of course). Most people experience this in college or something, but I have been fortunate enough to always see my family on my birthday until now, so that was pretty sad for me, but thanks to John, we made it through. Since my actual birthday fell on a school night, we didn't really do much until this weekend.

On Saturday, after work, we got together with two couples and had a fondue party. Three of them are our co-workers, and one is the husband of a co-worker. Us three girls have been planning this for a while. Shooka (the other Kindergarten 2 teacher) and I are both lovers of everything French. In fact, I have started giving her private French lessons once a week after school. So we thought the idea of fondue was wonderful. Ruth and Ricky (the Christian couple from school) loved the idea as well. So, we had cheese fondue with potatoes, chicken, bread, broccoli and cauliflower, followed much later by chocolate fondue with tons of fruit and cookies. It was awesome!! Shooka is from Iran, and is married to a Thai man who worked in Iran for several years, so their house is beautifully decorated with Persian things; it was a fun night.

Shooka and her awesome Persian cat

Clockwise: Ruth, Shooka's husband, Shooka, and I hope you know who the two on the right are. Ricky was taking the picture.

Then today, we went to church in the morning, and then John took me into downtown Bangkok for a surprise date. After kind of a struggle following the GPS' directions on the motorbike, we arrived at our destination: Crepes and Co.! What a treat!!! It's a real creperie run by a Swiss-Bulgarian restauranteur, and it is totally authentic. It took me back to my childhood memories of crepes in Paris. John and I shared two savory crepes: Ham, Cheese, and Egg,

and Bacon, Mushrooms, and Gruyere.

They were incredible!! I don't even like mushrooms and I was savoring every bite. After a while, we got a dessert crepe as well: pears, chocolate ice cream, and pear sauce, followed by the best coffee we've had in Thailand. Thanks to my wonderful husband for such a thoughtful Birthday present!! :)

Oh, and here's a photo of my class. Keep in mind that half of my class (literally, I counted) was sick this week, so there were six kids absent this day.

And a cute picture of some of the boys.

The boy on the left is Ikkyu (try to pronounce that), he is a cute boy but already prone to peer pressure. Number 2 is Top: he's a trouble-maker, maybe you can tell from the picture. :) The third one is Kong: a great kid who is being trained to be the class leader. I call him "my little man" because he looks and acts like a grown-up already. And the one of the right is Film (pronounced Feem). I know you're not supposed to have favorites, but he is. Hands down. He was in uniform that day because he was sick and joined us half-way through the day.

The Kingdom of Cambodia

Due to a very unpleasant mistake on the part of our old school, we had visa issues and had to quickly leave the country this week. We flew to Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Tuesday afternoon, and flew back to Bangkok on Wednesday. It was a very expensive day off, that's for sure, and sadly we had to foot the bill (Thanks a lot, Saint Francis School), but it was nice to get away for a night (and cool to get the Cambodia stamp in our Passports.)

After a half-day of work on Tuesday, we got to the airport, boarded the plane, and after an hour, we landed in Cambodia. We booked a random hotel on expedia, which turned out to be really nice. Right off the bat, we were amazed at how well everyone speaks English in Phnom Penh. Although it is a poorer, less developed country than Thailand, the amount of people who speak at least passable English is much higher. People were very helpful and kind, and we really enjoyed our night there. Our hotel happened to be connected with a French restaurant, so on Tuesday night, we had a wonderful French dinner on the roof: French onion soup, red snapper and crepe Suzette. Yum! We loved how much quieter and darker this city was compared to Bangkok.

The next morning, we slept in (a novelty now that we work six days a week and go to church on the seventh), and went for a nice walk around the neighborhood. Our hotel was in what appeared to be the Korean district of town, so we naturally stopped in for a Korean lunch, made by real Koreans. Nikki would be very proud of us for using our three Korean phrases: Anyeonghaseyo, Kamsa hamnida, and Mashisoyo (Hello, Thank you, and It's delicious). I could even read a couple of items from the menu thanks to my self-taught Korean alphabet lesson back in May 2010.

We also found an awesome, very Portland-ish style coffee shop to chill for a couple of hours. I got a spiced Indian tea, and John got a coffee brewed with beans from Lao.

We enjoyed walking through the city. There are a ton of parks, and a lot less pollution than we are used to in Bangkok.

Prayer Request: Please pray for John. Over the past weeks, he has had three random, non-connected foot injuries. Today, while playing football with some teachers from school, he completely ripped off his big toe nail, and he's in a lot of pain. Don't worry, I won't post pictures, but if you could pray for a quick recovery, that would be great!

Our New Friends

Here are the pictures that I promised in the last post... Since last year, we didn't post very many pictures of our friends (granted, we didn't have that many, except for our small group and a few people at school), so this year, we have resolved to do better and so far, I think we have succeeded.

First things first, here is a picture of our small group. We have been with them for almost the whole time we've been here, and they have truly been a lifeline. We thank God for sending them to us! A couple of guys are missing in this pic.

Next, we have our friends Ruth and Ricky. They are a Christian couple at our new school; Ruth is from the US, but grew up all over the place, like me, and Ricky is from the Philippines. We had them over for dinner and introduced Ricky to his first ever fajitas (which he loved, BTW).

Here is Alan, the Spanish boy we tutor.

And here are three of our co-workers. We had them over for dinner the weekend before last, and had a fun time and some great conversation. The one on the right, Tiffany, then went with us last Sunday to our church and to a food exhibition in the neighborhood where we used to live. Oh yeah, and here's the motorcycle.

PS: I love how this post makes us look like social people which, uncharacteristically, we have been recently...

New Blessings in a New School Year

After six weeks in our new apartment, we are still without Internet, so I'm going to stop putting off writing this post and just do it! Sorry for the delay! :)

We are three weeks into the new school year at Kasintorn St. Peter School. John is loving third grade. He has a wonderful Thai teacher to help him with classroom control, and his kids are really great. After his struggle with his fifth graders last year, he is so glad for this pleasant teaching experience. There is a great support system among the teachers at our new school, so he is becoming friends with our coworkers and they like to bounce ideas around. It's so refreshing to work in a creative environment this year. I am still plugging away with my Preschoolers. I really love the kids and the K2 teacher from the other class, but the system is frustrating and stressful. The poor kids have to complete worksheets and workbooks all day long, and don't have time built in their schedule for play or for conversation. I am doing the best that I can, but I would appreciate your prayers.

We have met some wonderful people through the school, and are really enjoying having people over for dinner and getting to know them better. We have become friends with a great Christian couple, and they invited us to their church last Sunday. They are connected with a small Thai church. They have a Thai service and an English service separately, but they meet in between for lunch together. We felt very much at home and will definitely go again. We have also started attending a Bible study at a Philipina teacher's house. There are four people (plus us), three of which are our colleagues. That group already has been a big encouragement to us. We are so grateful for these people God has brought into our lives.

Another incredible blessing has come through the form of one of John's students, Alan. If some of you are thinking the name sounds Hispanic, you are right. His Mom is Spanish and his Dad is Thai. We got together with his folks and him last Sunday and spoke rapid Spanish for four blissful hours. They have a cute Castillian accent and are wonderful people. Even the Dad speaks Spanish. What a random, awesome blessing for us!! We miss speaking Spanish, but more than that, we miss being able to communicate with people! We are slowly building up our Thai vocabulary, but still, our Thai is limited to taxis, markets, and food. Honestly, once you've said "hello, how are you, I would like one phad thai with chicken and lime, how much is it, thanks" you don't feel like a life-long friendship is forming, especially when you know that the next time, you will only be able to say the same thing again.

On another note, another exciting thing for us is our motorbike. We "bought" it from a friend who was moving back to the US, and we have saved a ton of money on transportation already. Plus, it's just a lot of fun. Maybe more for me than for John, since he has to deal with driving in traffic, and I just have to sit on the back holding our stuff and enjoying the ride. But seriously, we love it! For the boys reading this blog, I better say that it's a Honda Wave, 110cc, I guess they don't sell them in the US, but this sort of scooter is the minivan of Asia. We have actually seen up to five people, a dog, and a bunch of groceries on these things. For the girls, I can mention that it's a cute red color.

Last weekend, we made a trip we never would have without the bike. We went 50 km away to a place called Nakhon Pathom. It claims to be the oldest city in Thailand, and according to our Lonely Planet guidebook, the chedi at the temple is the tallest Buddhist monument in the world, rising to an impressive 127 meters.

That's enough for today, I think. I still haven't brought you up to date, but that gives you something to read, and I'll post more later, including some pictures. We love you guys and hope you're doing well. Stay in touch!

A Month in Thailand: A Random Assortment of Events in the Sullivan Family

Sorry for the delay in posting. We have been without Internet for a month, and are still trying to get it installed at our new apartment... It's just part of living in Thailand. But although we haven't written, we've sure been busy. Here's what we've been up to:

We successfully moved to a new area of Bangkok. We were sad to leave Muang Thong, but we really like our new area: Bang Yai. We have been living in our new apartment for 3 weeks now, at The Square, and it's a beautiful upgrade. It has a nice living room, a separate bedroom,

and (drumroll please) a KITCHEN!!!

We bought ourselves a little toaster oven, and have been having so much fun. Quiche for dinner tonight. We have shops nearby, and a movie theatre literally 100 steps from us. Here's a view of our street.

Yes, it is a lot more urban than last year.

Since John is sick of hearing me sing Kindergarten songs in the evenings, we decided to get some alternate entertainment. What did we get? 2 dwarf rabbits! We named them Yai

and Lek,

literally "Big" and "Little." They are so much fun!

For the past two weeks, while poor John has been sitting at home bored out of his mind, I have been teaching Summer School at our new school: Kasintorn St. Peter School. After two crazy weeks, I now consider myself a real Kindergarten teacher. Actually, I teach K2, which is the equivalent of second year Preschool in the US. Let me show you the difference in size of my students from last year and this year...

I am in charge of 28 four-year old students. I teach English, Math, Science, Art, Cooking, Singing and Games, and many other things. I am in the classroom with them all day, so I help take them to the bathroom, eat lunch, take naps, and everything else. I have two Thai teachers in the room with me most of the time, and I'm so glad to have them to help me, as the students are quite a handful, and they speak virtually no English. It has been fun thinking of all the songs and games that I used to play when I was little and/or when I was teaching Sunday School. I've forgotten so many! I would love any comments with suggestions of games, songs, or activities.

I am collecting some great stories. For example: The first week, we took the students on a field trip to the Bangkok planetarium and science museum. I was solely in charge of 8 little kids who spoke very little English, who look exactly like all the other hundreds of kids in the place and are all wearing the same uniform!! When we got to the planetarium, there were only 5 seats left, so I fit my 8 kids into 4 seats and sat myself at the end where I could keep an eye on them.

As soon as the lights went out, one girl started shrieking and crying and trying to run out the door. So I took her on my lap and tried to get her to calm down. It was an hour-long show, so two boys got bored and kept getting out of their seats. So I added another one of my lap. Half way in, another girl burst into terrified tears; while still holding the two children in my lap, I stood up, trying not to be too obnoxious in the front row, and walked over to pick her up too. Needless to say, I thought the hour would never end!! We finally got back to the van all in one piece, only to have to clean up the worst nose bleed I've ever seen!! Yikes!!

On a different note, we've enjoyed exploring a new area. Here we are in colorful India town in Bangkok with a couple of teachers from Kasintorn.

And, just for fun, some pictures of our new fruit market near our house. Piles of coconut,

mountains of Durian (The Thai national fruit: smells exactly like rotting garbage. Yum!),

and everything else imaginable...

South Korea

Sometimes it's good to step away from "regular" life for a while in order to appreciate it more. After a very roller-coaster year in Thailand, full of ups and downs, exciting moments and exhausting adjustments, God gave us exactly what we needed by sending us to South Korea to visit my best friend, Nikki. We totally needed a break, and now we are back, refreshed and at least a little more ready to start a new year.

It was wonderful to get away from everything Thai, at least for a little while. Korea was totally different, and that's what made it such a great place to vacation. For one thing, we went from 95 degree weather to lower 20s; it was like going from the hottest day of the year, to the coldest day of the year, to which all I can say is: Thank God for spring and autumn! But it felt great to wear sweaters and scarves and gloves and heavy winter coats and hats and jeans and blankets and anything else we could get our hands on...

Aside from the change in climate, we loved trying Korean food: it's delicious!! It has such wonderful names. Try saying them out loud. Go on. It's fun!

Here's bibimbap:

Shabu Shabu:

Galbi:

Dac Galbi:

And of course... Kimchi! We think it looks like a smoker's heart in this picture.

I hate stereotypes, but in coming to Asia for the first time, I had my fair share, I'm sorry to say. Thailand did not at all look the way I pictured "Asia," but Korea fit the mold. High rises everywhere, efficient bus system, lots of lights, etc. It was quite amazing! Unlike Thailand, the streets were clean, there were no street dogs, people recycled, and (gasp!) they actually use the crosswalks! Here's a view from Nikki's apartment:

Of course the best part of the trip was spending time with friends. We loved seeing where Nikki lives, her school, her church and small group, and meeting some of her friends. Of course she took us sightseeing on the weekends, so here's some of the stuff we saw. We spent a couple of days in Seoul, and actually really loved the city.

I think it's the 3rd largest city in the world, but it's so organized, it's a very comfortable and fun place to visit. We saw Gyeongbuk gung and palace

and a museum about King Sejong, the king who invented Hangul, the Korean alphabet, which is apparently the most scientific writing system ever made. We visited the Korean war memorial, where we learned a lot that we never learned in US History class.

We walked down Insadong, a handicraft street, and through the shopping district. At the end of the day, we went up to Namsan Tower for an overlook of the city.

It's a very "cutesy" place where couple attach locks to the fence to represent how their hearts are locked together. Here we are.

Aren't we adorable?

Our second week, we went to visit our friends Charlie and Natalie, whom we spent a lot of time with during our TESOL course in Thailand. They live in a small village on the Eastern sea, about 40 km South of North Korea. They got us a motel right on the beach,

and while they were at work, we went for a walk on the beach in the snow! They took us to an awesome coffee shop in the mountains:

A couple days later, we met Nikki, had lunch, and went for a paddle in these beautiful swan boats on the Hwachan lake.

She took us past the small village where she taught last year. It's in a beautiful, mountainous part of the country, and we loved it!

In Cheonan, Nikki's city, John and I went to Independence Hall, a huge park with 7 or 8 museums commemorating Korea's Independence from Japan. We didn't have time or energy to walk through all of it, but it was really interesting.

Our trip home was mostly uneventful, but we went home feeling so happy. Here's why: we were waiting in the immigration line in Shanghai (during our layover) and saw a woman who looked Peruvian, beyond a shadow of a doubt. We started looking around and noticed a group of men who looked Latin as well, and they had Peruvian Passports. As we got up to the front of the line, we noticed they were having trouble filling out their arrival cards (the only languages were English or Chinese), so I jumped in and offered to help. Those 5 minutes of speaking Spanish totally made my day!! Man! We miss Spanish, and more than that, we miss living in a country where we can communicate! But we are back in Thailand, determined to stay positive during our second year, Gracias a Dios!

Good-bye Saint Francis, Hello Summer Vacation

Sorry to make you jealous with my title, but yes, we are enjoying our first day of Summer vacation. It's been in the mid-90s all week, and very humid. Although you may be sick of inclement winter weather, let me just say that we wish we had some... We are so sick of sweating! So there you go, the grass is always greener on the other side.

It's hard to believe, but we have successfully completed our first year of teaching. Granted, we started in the middle of first semester, so we're really only been teaching for a semester and a half, but it still feels like a whole year. We have learned a lot, about teaching, about ourselves, and about life in (for lack of a better word) an opposite culture. There have been a lot of good moments, but to be honest, we are glad to be done at Saint Francis and moving on to another school. We will really miss some of our students, though.

So here's the update you've all been waiting for:

We have decided to stay in Thailand another year. We got accepted to teach at another Catholic school not too far from here. Here's the real kicker: we will be teaching Kindergarten and First Grade!! Yep!! We are moving from 5th and 11th Grade to 1st Grade! We did teaching demos during our interview, and I was blown away by how tiny they are, with their miniature little desks, and how easy it is to entertain them!! We think it will be a lot of fun, once we get used to it, and it means we'll come back to the US with more experience whenever this whole Asian escapade is over.

Thank you for all your prayers!

Pictures... Let's see. Here are a few to show our last weeks at school. We really haven't had anything to do these past two weeks without students, so we've had to be creative to entertain ourselves.

...finishing up grades. Our "beloved" blue books.

...going out to lunch for 2-3 hrs with some of our fellow teachers.

...taking advantages of the empty classrooms to watch movies on the TVs.