First Sunday

Today I went to visit the Foursquare Church here in Chiang Mai pastored by Allan and his wife Sariton or Tuu(spelling??)  I met a few other English speaking members as well.  The church is primarily a college age crowd most likely due to the proximity of 2 universities; Chiang Mai University and Payap University.  Worship reminded me a lot of home as I recognized at least 4 of the songs even though they were sung in Thai.  The heart behind it all was clear though.  The sermon was translated at least most of the time ie: during the prayers at the beginning and the sermon.  More on that later.  The prayers were many and its cool that they have no problem taking time to pray for whatever was on the speaker's heart.  The sermon itself was translated as there was a Canadian speaker and 2 Canadian guests.  I appreciated the translation as well.  All 3 were here in Chiang Mai for a conference and were friends of the pastor's.  They also do missionary work.  Leann-the speaker, spoke on running to God as our fortress and not being afraid of things that Satan might send our way.  It was a good and timely reminder for me.  I spent lunch and the afternoon hanging out with all of them.  We went to one of 3 of the orphan homes that the church runs.  The House of Hope has 9 children who range from around 6 or 7 to 16 years old.  Ron, one of my new Canadian friends, led us in singing and games with the children.  The children were clearly having a lot of fun and laughing a lot.  Ron, his wife Sharon and Leann all have experience as missionaries and it was wonderful spending time with them.  We will be staying in touch via facebook. Yeah!
Today I am experiencing my first Thai rain.  It looks like everybody else's rain and its coming down in buckets.  It did stop long enough for church and hanging out with the kids.
3 more days til orientation.  I'm looking forward to it and developing a routine.

Settling In

I'm finally at a point where I can catch my breath.  Since I'm awake before 6am yet again, I have lots of time.  Yesterday was quite a full day of adventure.  I moved from the guest house to an apartment and went to look at a shared housing possibility.  My apartment is across the street from the back of my school.  It reminds me of a hotel because of the room size but I have a fridge and microwave in my room.  The kitchen for the whole place is downstairs and outside in a little room with the washing machine.  I originally thought I would like my own place but I met a young woman who is a former student at my school and current tutor who's parents are missionaries but going on furlough for a year.  So she has a house to herself.  If I go there, I would most like rent with her and one of my new co workers.  Its a quaint little house a little bit north of school with furnishings, a nice neighborhood and a housekeeper who also does laundry.  The only concern is how to get from the house to school.  At least part of the time I can catch a ride with a coworker and I'm seriously considering learning to ride a moto cy(motorcycle in different sizes).  I've heard that the automatic one is quite easy and moto cy's have no rules here.  They do ride for the most part on the same side of the road as the cars.  Which brings me to the other concern.  Over here, everyone drives like they do in the UK, on the left.  I've heard that you get used to it pretty quickly.  The trippy thing was getting in a car on what would normally be the driver's side in the US and I was the passenger.
Yesterday, I toured my school, met coworkers, enjoyed cake, coffee and a fruit I can't spell with my director.  She was my tour guide for most of the day around town.  I've learned that the royal family is highly respected and the colors are as follows: queen-blue, king-yellow, princess-purple. 
Yesterday I also enjoyed local thai cuisine although I'm going to have to ask people to write down the names of what I eat.  I enjoyed coconut tea, a noodle dish that was yummy and a gelatin dessert for lunch.  For dinner it was pad thai from a small restaurant near my home and we had banana leaves or something in it.  I also found out that there are 7-11s everywhere.  When I bought a few things from the large grocery store I was surprised at the amount of American food and the American food with a thai twist like sushi flavored Lays.

I do have a phone number and a bank account now.  So I'm feeling a little more settled however I have to finish unpacking today for sure.  Tomorrow I hope to go visit a church.  Email me if you would like my phone number.

A Quick note

Landed safely in Seoul at Incheon airport.  Got to experience Korean food on the airplane complete with directions on how to put it together.  It was actually easy but it looked complicated.  It was called Bibimbap(spelling?)  Not bad but the taste in my throat later wasn't so enjoyable.  There was about 4 Korean guys sitting in front of me and next to me.  They liked their camera so much they stood up while we were landing to take pictures.  Yikes!
More to come later....

Addition to the last post

I should probably clarify the beginning statement.  Thailand is not something in the future anymore that I'm planning for and imagining about.  Its happening in just over 20 hrs. So now I'm a combination of nervous, excited and Whoa!  its actually happening.  I'm also pondering the deep mysteries of the universe like how can two airlines depart from the same gate at the same time.  My gate no less.  Yes deep mysteries and serious boredom.  Signing off and hope to reconnect in Seoul.

The Waiting Period

I'm finally at the point where going to Thailand is not something I'm anticipating but its so far in the future, I can imagine what its like but I'm still living in the here and now.  I'm actually killing time in the airport at SFO currently.  After much wandering and the one and only time I'll buy a Caesar salad at SFO, I found a plug so I can stay fully charged.  I watched someone else plug in and discovered I no longer need to just drain my laptop battery to stay busy. 
So back to the anticipation.  I'm mildly nervous but still excited and ready for adventure.  Right from the get go, my flight is delayed 50 minutes.  I notice that my second part of the trip has the same departure time.  Guess they plan to go faster in the air to make up time. Since the airport is really not that exciting, I think I'll end here.  I hope to connect again when I hit the ground in Seoul.  But hopefully it won't take me as long to figure out how to connect to the airport Wifi.  It seemed a bit like rocket science here at SFO.

A little background information

About Chiang Mai

http://www.chiangmainews.com/aboutchiangmai/

Meaning of Lanna

http://www.lanna.com/travel-info/about-lanna/lanna-meaning.html

Welcome to my new blog

I'm starting a new blog to chronicle my life in the Lanna kingdom.  Check back after July 27 for new adventures.