Short stories of our "firsts"

Things have seemed to settle down here. We have now been in Saraburi for over a month, and it is starting to feel super comfortable! It's weird when we come back from little weekend trips and as we pull into our neighborhood, it feels like we are back home. :)

But that's not how our first few weeks were... it did take a bit of adjusting. Here are a few stories of our adjustments to life in Thailand. The good and the not-so-good. But all of them were adventures!

Our first moped and first monsoon. (With our luck, these just happened to coincide). After crunching the numbers, we realized that it would actually be cheaper for us to rent a motorbike each month rather than taking two motortaxis everywhere we go. So here it is! (along with it's amazing driver...)

After a mini driving lesson (and let me tell you, it was very brief), we picked up the motorbike from one of the teachers at our school who rents them out. We wanted to grab some dinner before meeting up with our friends to see a movie, so Jonathan precariously drove us to this little restaurant on a corner not too far away from our house. However as we started eating, the first big downpour of rainy season hit us. Haha that would be a great way to break in the bike - driving/sliding in monsoon rains amidst chaotic Thai traffic. The rainy season in Thailand doesn't mean that it's constantly raining, it just downpours for like an hour or two every day, usually in the afternoon. But when it pours, it is violent! So we figured it would be best to wait it out. We ended up waiting in the restaurant for about an hour and a half after we finished our meal haha. But the Thais always take forever to eat, so it wasn't a big deal. The first break in the rain we saw, we booked it home! Didn't really want to spend the night there if we could help it. Now THAT would have been a story.

First movie theater experience. Since we don't live in a touristy town, there is only one movie theater in Saraburi that plays movies in English. And it doesn't even always do that. But when it does, the movie is only in the theater for a couple of weeks. So we had to get on it! Our first movie in Thailand was X-Men: Days of Future Past. But the tickets were even more expensive than in the States! Like $12 a ticket. I think it's because it's a luxury here. And we had to pay for our 3-D glasses (it was only being shown in 3-D). Anyways, we bought some popcorn, (I feel like I should note our choices were cheese, sweet, or original, not butter) and went into the theater. Before every single showing, everybody stands up and they play an anthem to the King while clips of people crying and showing their love for the King play on the big screen. After which, we enjoyed our movie! It was very entertaining. Unfortunately though, this may have lead into the next experience...

My first (and hopefully only) bout of gastroenteritis. Ugh, I will spare you the details, but I have NEVER been sick like that before. Where I've been physically constrained to my bed and the toilet. For 4 days. Once figuring out that it probably wasn't just mild Traveler's diarrhea, we took a quick trip to the hospital down the road and got some antibiotics from the doctor. You know how I said how cheap healthcare is here? Well get this - a doctor's visit, plus a full round of antibiotics, plus pain relievers, plus a pain relief IM injection, plus rehydration packets - all for under $15, without insurance. Couldn't believe it. After a week on the medications, I felt like a new woman. I have never missed food that badly before! The only thing we could trace it back to was the popcorn that I ate at the theater. Jonathan and I have the same food every day, all day. Except I had that popcorn and he didn't. The doctor laughed when I told him that, but that's the only thing we could think of! Haha. Either that or I just had super bad luck.

Our first day of church. We knew there was an LDS Branch located semi-close to us, we looked it up online before flying into Thailand, but we had no idea of how to get there. Yeah, there kind of was an address on the website, but that's not how transportation runs here. Even if there were taxis out here (which there aren't), they don't know any addresses. Luckily, one of my friends from BYU study abroad served his two year mission in Thailand so he was very helpful! (S/O to Robert!) The branch is located in Lopburi, which is the neighboring province and about an hour away. We went to the van station down the street and kept on saying, "Lopburi?" until we got to the right van. Lucky for me, I am Thai-sized, but poor Jonathan was crammed in the back of that van with 4 other people and under-operating AC. We then realized about halfway through the drive that we didn't really know where/when to get off. We were assuming it would go to the station in Lopburi and then we would pick up a motortaxi from there. But the van made multiple stops...whenever the passengers asked him to. My friend had sent me a little message in Thai that explained where it is we were trying to go (thank you!!!), so we showed this to the lady sitting next to us on the van and she pointed behind us. We had passed it - great. So we yelled, "yut kha" which is 'stop, please' and clamored off the van. Then we proceeded to walk down the road, showing that message to a few people and they just continued to point downward. We had no idea how far away we were, so we kept on walking, but then we finally saw a policeman on his motorbike. We figured he'd help us out. After reading the message, he flagged down a motorbike taxi and gave verbal directions to the driver. Jonathan and I squished onto the motorbike (I think this was the first time we tripled hah) and we took off. The guy took us a few minutes off of the main road and we were getting worried because we thought the church was on the main road. We figured he was given wrong directions, so we asked him to stop and then showed him the message. Just like we thought, we had to turn right back around and make our way back. Right as we entered onto the main road again, we saw the same policeman drive up from right behind us! Haha, I guess he realized he gave the driver the wrong directions and he chased after us. How sweet :) Then we finally made it to the meetinghouse - well, it is more like a couple of rooms inside a building shared with a pet store - like 30 minutes late.
The meetings were all in Thai, but there were a couple of missionaries that translated for us during Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School. As I went to Relief Society, a cute little sister came up to me and introduced herself. She said she was learning English and wanted to be my facebook friend :) She couldn't translate, but she pointed out where we were in the lesson and I tried to follow along with the English version on my phone. Hardly anyone speaks English in the branch, but they were all welcoming and friendly, just the same. Once all the meetings were over, the members put out these long tables and brought out a bunch of food. Apparently that's the thing here! A linger-longer every Sunday (except for fast Sunday of course). It is always so delicious and so authentic. We love it! I think we will try to bring rice cooker-macaroni and cheese to the next one, and share our American goodness :)

First time teaching school on a Saturday. So apparently our English Program students go to school on Saturdays as well. I guess its a very normal thing for all students in Thailand. Even shopping malls have extra classrooms and group study rooms for self-teaching and English instruction on the weekends. We were asked by our school if we would teach Saturday morning classes. We wouldn't turn down extra money, so we said yes. It's only for 3.5 hours and we only do it every other week (so that we can travel on our off-weekends). But the students don't really want to be there, and the teachers don't really want to be there either, so what do we do? Watch movies, of course! To help with their listening skills..... :) You know I have seen Tangled now about four times now and I am still not sick of it haha. And Megamind is up next! It's weird how much I love movies.

First Wai Khru Day. Wai Khru is a day where all the students in the school pay respect towards their teachers. Wai - is the greeting of respect (where you put your hands together and bow) and Khru - means teacher. Each class spends the whole previous day arranging bouquets of flowers and then they present them to their teachers during a ceremony. We all got up on stage sitting above the students (a little awkward) and each of the class representatives took their turn walking up to the stage and bowing at our feet while giving us flowers. I couldn't believe how respectful these kids are! I mean, they are still kids so they still act up sometimes, but each one is so genuinely sweet. Even students I didn't even know would stop and 'wai' to me on campus. It was incredible. I don't think "teacher appreciation day" in the States even comes close to this.

Unfortunately we couldn't keep the bouquets, they are just for show and they were actually part of a little competition. But all throughout the day, students had little flower bracelet things that they bought and would hand out to teachers of their choice. Needless to say I was super touched and appreciative that I was lucky to receive a few :)

First Thai massage. If you've heard anything about the famous Thai massages, you know that they are amazing, but horrible at the same time. Well, I never had a professional massage before, like in my whole life so I knew that I was going to be pretty tight everywhere. It also didn't help that I did a bunch of squats for the first time in several months the day before and I couldn't even walk. We went to this place down the street from our house and a full-on Thai massage is only 200 baht ($6) for one hour! My first time, I was so tight and in so much pain that two ladies worked on me almost the whole hour. They just giggled and kept on saying, "broken lady, very broken lady." And don't I know it! Haha. They also would laugh and say "baby, same, same" when they would get to my feet and hands. Who knew that I would still be considered tiny among all these Thai ladies :) It was actually very helpful that their little granddaughter was running around and putting toys in our faces while she sang songs in Thai. She is so adorable and it helped keep my mind off of all the pain. Her grandmother has her practice her ABCs and other English vocabulary when we come in for massages. It's a fun break and a great way to de-stress. Hopefully getting regular massages will help my migraines too! I think it will become a weekly occurrence for us.

And LASTLY...

First District-turned-Stake Conference. Just this last Sunday, we went down to Bangkok to attend District Conference, for the Bangkok North District. After we taught Saturday morning classes, we hopped in a van and took the 1.5 hour trek down there. Once we got into the city, we found a little bed a breakfast, and had 5 minutes to change before heading out to the hotel where the Saturday evening session was going to be. We were told that it was only a 10 minute walk...but of course it took almost 30 because we kept on having to stop and ask people for directions. We finally got there all sweaty and gross and walked right into a high school prom. Hahaha, turns out the Saturday evening session was at a DIFFERENT location. After deciding we weren't dressed for the "Great Gatsby" theme, we cut our losses and grabbed dinner and a movie. Sunday morning though, we made it to the right spot. And at the beginning of the meeting, they announced the formation of the new Bangkok North Stake! Meaning that now we are members of the Lopburi Ward. For those of you readers who aren't LDS, you probably don't understand the significance of this. (All it means is that membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is growing in Thailand). And it is incredibly exciting! After the announcement you could just see all of the members' faces light up with huge smiles :) I didn't know this, but apparently Thailand has the fastest growing membership in the church in all of Asia! This new formation makes now 2 stakes in Thailand. Once we get a few more stakes formed, there will be serious talk about building a temple here. All of the members can't wait! It will still be a while, but it has been amazing to witness the growth here :)

Impromptu Weekend Getaway: Ayuthaya

It was a normal Friday morning, Jonathan and I woke up and got ready for school. Then I get the thought to look at my phone. There awaited two texts from fellow teachers at our school saying that all the universities and schools were closed that day because of the declared coupe. Cool, long weekend! However we sat there wishing we could see into the future so we could have put together some sort of trip. Dang.

But then Jonathan turned to me and said, "Why don't we just go somewhere? Like maybe that Ayuthaya place." Although he didn't really say Ayuthaya, it was more like uh-you-tayama, haha close. But I got the gist. We pulled out our Thailand travel book, read a little bit about the area, packed up our backpacks and headed toward the train station! Can I just say how awesome this felt?! I am the kind of person that has to have all the details worked out in my planner before we take a trip. I need to know where we are going to stay, how we are going to get there, and what we are going to do once we get there. But this was so exciting! Just dropping everything, grabbing a toothbrush, toothpaste and some cash and heading out the door. 

The train schedule said that the next train heading towards Ayuthaya would be getting in at 11:51, so naturally, we Americans made sure to get there a few minutes early so we could buy our tickets. Haha, silly Farang. We forgot that Thailand runs on "Thai time." Turns out the train would be an hour delayed, coming in at 12:51. So we walked around, grabbed some lunch and went back to wait at the station around 12:30. Time came and went and then the train finally showed up at 1:22. An hour and a half late - mai pen rai! We were shocked that the tickets were only 9 baht each, that's about 28 cents for an hour train ride, but it made a little more sense when we boarded. There were at least some benches, but it was pretty crowded, super hot, and vendors were walking up and down the aisles selling dried squid on sticks....ulgh.

Ayuthaya is somewhat known to be the "Venice of Thailand." The central part of the city is completely surrounded by a river so you have to ride a ferry to get across. Once getting to the 'island' we found the soi (street) where most of the guest houses are and found a place to stay. It was very interesting because as we were walking down the street, people would be running out to us and asking us if they could show their place. It is the low season for tourism, so for once, we Farang actually had a bit of say in the price! Found a little room (with AC - that is non-negotiable), dropped off our stuff and went back out to see the sights. 

So when you see pictures of ancient ruin temples in Thailand, almost all of them are in Ayuthaya. This city was the ancient capital of the Siam Kingdom from 1350-1767. It was a major trading port between Asia, Southeast Asia, India and even Europe. It was a pretty big deal back in the day. Because it was the central capital there are temple ruins everywhere! Apparently at one time, there was a total of 400 temples standing within the city. Modern Ayuthaya has been built up around it, so you'll just be driving down the street and then a huge ruin pops up on your right. Here are some pictures of the Wats (temples) that we ran into on our first night out:

Wat Phra Mahathat. Throughout all the temples, most of the Buddha heads are cut off, I'm not sure why. I think they were stolen by thieves after the Burmese ransacked the city. But looks like they left one behind! Some people say the head was too heavy to steal so it was left and trees protectively grew around it. 

Wat Ratburana. At night, they turn on a bunch of floodlights towards the temples. It was gorgeous. Too bad they were doing construction... pardon the scaffolding.

The next day, Saturday, we wanted to spend hitting up all the most famous wats in the area. One of the ways to get around the city is by tuk tuk - those 3-wheeled kind of car things. But they are pretty expensive...they try to charge 'farang price' which we couldn't afford paying all day. So we chose instead to rent a couple of bicycles! Turned out to only be 30 baht each for the whole day (that's under $1). It was a blast!!! Riding our bikes around, pulling the map out, getting lost (once), and discovering everything on our own. We started the day off by stopping at this little vendor on the side of the road. This really sweet lady made each of us a rockin omelet with some toasted garlic bread and orange juice. Perfect way to start out the day. It was so funny that she really wanted to get a picture with us - we are just such an oddity out here I guess.

Our first stop on Saturday was Wat Phra Si Sanphet. Well, actually we went into this building which is right next to the wat. This building, Wihan Mongkhon Bophit, houses a 17-meter tall Buddha statue so those people who come to see the once-great temple can pray and pay homage.

Here, you can see a picture of what the Buddhist monks look like. We see them everywhere here, just walking down the street, riding the train, some even using their cell phones haha. But of course you see them most frequently in the temples. I also wanted to show that little Buddha statue on the right - it's covered in little paper gold leaves. As part of 'paying tribute,' people will either buy a lotus flower and kind of shake it while praying, or you can buy a little gold leaf to press onto one of the many statues located around the inside of temple. As you press it on, you make a wish for good fortune. It's also a good way to keep all the Buddhas looking golden!

Now here's Wat Phra Si Sanpet. The largest (and most iconic) of all the temples in Ayuthaya. Love it!

Wat Lokayasutharam. Has the largest reclining Buddha in all of Ayuthaya at 37 meters long.

After a morning of biking around, we grabbed a couple of smoothies and spent part of the afternoon in the Chao Sam Phraya National Museum where they house all of the images and Buddha relics found in the temple ruins. It wasn't really air-conditioned but it was nice to get out of the sun for a bit.

Then we were back out on the road. This was our last and probably our favorite temple. It took quite a while to get to it considering it's 'off the island.' Wat Chaiwatthanaram. SO massive, pretty well put-together still, and there weren't hardly any people around! I did get my first Thai sunburn that day so I spent most of the time hiding in the shade while Jonathan walked around some more. (Can't believe that we forgot sunscreen!) But yeah, I could have sat in this spot for hours just taking it all in. Beautiful.

Sunday morning, we were able to find the Ayutthaya LDS Branch and go to church. Again, everyone was so incredibly sweet and inviting. We enjoyed a very Thai lunch afterwards and then walked over to the last few neighboring temples.

Here is Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon. One of the few temples that you could actually walk up the stairs and see inside one of the chedis/prangs (those cone-shaped things).

Wat Phanan Choeng. And here is the largest Buddha in all of Thailand! Just kidding, it's not. Stands at 19 meters tall. I just did my research and this one doesn't even come close to the largest in Thailand... which is 92 meters tall, but that one is outside. This one was pretty big for being indoors. By the way this picture does NOT do it justice, so you will just have to take our word for it. It was huge.

Then before heading back to the train station, we spent an hour walking through the Ayuthaya floating market. That was a perfect way to end our weekend. Found some good spots to get souvenirs and bought some fresh coconut ice cream topped with peanuts and sweetened condensed milk - the Thais drizzle that stuff on top of every dessert. It was delectable! And was served in a little clay pot, which we got to keep.

There are still SO many things that we didn't see! We will definitely be taking another trip back down here to hit up that market and see more of the sites. The city itself is not that big, but there is just too much to see in only 2 days. Our trip back to Saraburi was much better on the train (I think we may have inadvertently bought seats in a nicer car), but still 2 hours behind schedule haha.

Mai pen rai!

Mai Pen Rai

What does, "mai pen rai" mean? It's Thai for you're welcome. But it really means something like, "forget about it" or "no worries." I decided to title this post as such because here in Thailand, it is more than a phrase... it is their philosophy! You could say that mai pen rai is like Hakuna Matata! It means no worries, for the rest of your days :) Seriously though, that is what the country is drinking. You'll see what I mean in a little bit.

Before I go into what a typical day for us looks like, I want to tell you about our house! And technically it's our very first house together! How fun that it's in Thailand, right? So the house is owned by one of the teachers at our school and is therefore provided free for us, we just have to pay for utilities. And it's a legit house! There are two floors: bottom floor has a living room with cable TV, a kitchen with a little refrigerator, a sink and a washing machine, and a bathroom. Top floor has one bathroom, and 3 rooms. I think the house was designed for 3 single people because each room had a single bed, a wardrobe, vanity, and desk. So what did we do? Took apart one of the beds, pieced it back together next to the other single bed in the biggest room, crammed both wardrobes and vanities into the same room, and put the desks in the empty room. Now we have a study! (And one fully put-together guest room.... if anyone wants to come visit!) Our make-shift bedroom is a bit cramped, but it totally works. Oh, and we have little AC units in each room! Which is a TOTAL life saver. Here it is!

And we have it all to ourselves! Well, us and a couple of geckos. One particular little baby gecko likes to greet us every morning by scurrying out from under our bathmat right as we step on it. What a terrible place to settle down. Now that I think about it I haven't seen him in a while.... maybe I should check on that.

Ok. A typical day. Wake up at 6:30 and get ready for school. I feel like I should point out that the showers here only have one lever - no hot or cold. It's lukewarm most of the time but when it rains, the water does get a little chilly. Which is actually very refreshing! And there's no tub or tray or anything... the water falls straight down to the floor, so the whole bathroom gets a little flooded haha. It actually only took a couple days to get used to. I am just happy that we have running water! Alright, then we get dressed (I wear a dress or skirt everyday, except for casual Wednesdays we can wear pants) and have breakfast. We are holding onto the Americans inside of us and are still rocking cereal every morning :) One of these days I'll cave and have what the Thais eat for breakfast - chicken, rice, and eggs (which is what they have for EVERY meal anyways haha) but not yet! We live only a few minutes away from the school which is handy, and the basic way you get around is by motorcycle taxi. Cabs are only found in the big tourist cities like, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Phuket. There's this motortaxi station right at the end of our street and it's super funny that after only 2 days, we don't have to tell them where we need to go anymore! They see our Farang (foreigner) faces and say "Sawbowa, Sawbowa" which is the nickname for our school. Heck, they even see us walking at the end of the road and will backtrack to pick us up. They are so friendly :) We'll see them driving by and they'll start honking and waving at us haha. Yeah, if you couldn't guess, we stick out like a SORE thumb! Saraburi is very much a residential city, there aren't any tourist sights here, just a couple of local temples, so Farang don't come through here too often. Especially for months at a time. 

We are going to video one of our motortaxi rides to school just so you can see what it's like. It is CRAZY! Weaving in and out of traffic, hugging the shoulder on the wrong side of the road, and even driving on sidewalks. It's an adventure every morning. Our first day of school, we got dropped off and we walked towards the middle of campus where all the students were gathered for their daily announcements and such. Um, and they have 3,900 students. Since we are new this year, they had us get up and introduce ourselves to the whole student body. I don't know how many of them actually understood us, but they all laughed and giggled after we were done. :) Afterwards our coordinator showed us our desks (there is a foreign language department where we are stationed) and then handed us our schedules. There were a few unexpected surprises. I thought I was teaching science, but actually I am teaching Supplementary Science (like a lab class), Health, AND English/Grammar. We thought that Jonathan was teaching mainly English and a little Computer Science, but he is actually only teaching Computers. That kind of threw us at first. Then they handed me a different schedule (because the first one was wrong) and it turned out that I had a class right then, and I was already 15 minutes late and I didn't really know where it was. Then later in the day, my schedule said that I had one of my science classes over in a different building, but when I go over to it, the room is locked. I peek through and all the desks are piled high with books and my students are no where to be found. After walking around and triple-checking my schedule, I went to the nearest office and tried to explain what was happening. Of course, no one really spoke English, but then they got some department head on the phone to tell me that they moved my class for the meantime, because of all the books. But then I didn't really know where my students were.... I walked around and finally found them, and the class time was already half over by then. GREAT first day haha. But no worries! Mai pen rai. That's how things go here. Especially with the foreign teachers. Just go with whatever they give you!

So with Jonathan and I teaching subjects that we weren't really mentally prepared to teach, we were asking around for curriculum, books, a syllabus, anything. And you know what we got? A piece of paper with 3-4 handwritten bullet points of what to teach for the whole year. Mai pen rai! Everyone was really nice, told us not to worry and that we could spend the first couple of classes introducing ourselves and getting to know the students. But then that was done and we had to start teaching for real. I was told that my English classes had some books, but didn't get those til the middle of the second week of school (let me tell you, we did a lot of getting to know you games until then.... ha). And for Science and Health, I have to come up with basically everything. Mai pen rai! Oh, and Jonathan was given the same thing - a couple of bullet points for teaching computers. He's actually creating his own curriculum for Computer Science which is really cool! ....... And then 2 weeks after school started, he was given two more classes, teaching English. Mai pen rai. He LOVES teaching those classes though. He's definitely more of an English teacher than Computer nerd, but he is doing fantastic and all the kids just love him. Of course. He's a pretty likeable guy ;) So it's been a little bit more work than we were anticipating, but we are learning a lot and it's fun having to figure out this part of the adventure!

The Thai students here are SO sweet! Teachers are very respected in this culture and it's awesome. (Like second to only the Buddhist monks and the Royal Family). So you don't get the same rebellious nature that kids have in the States. There's no talking back or defiance whatsoever. The only issue you have in the classroom is chitter chatter, which you would expect from teenagers everywhere in the world. But once you set your boundaries, its really fun to teach. And all the students are so sweet!!! (Did I already say that?) Seriously, the other day I got caught in a monsoon downpour after one of my classes and one of my students took out her umbrella and walked back with me to the foreign language building! They just didn't want me to get wet :) Also whenever we walk by any students on campus, or outside of school even, they say, "teacher, teacher!" and then they wai you (that is the traditional greeting of respect - bowing with your hands together). It makes me feel so good haha. So all of my classes are part of the English Program at the school. Saraburiwittayakhom offers an English Program for grades 7-9 where all of the subjects (with the exception of Thai and Social Studies) are taught in English, with farang teachers. Students have to take tests, do an interview, and pay extra to get into the program - it's a cutthroat process. So their levels of English are higher, which is really nice to teach with. Jonathan's two English classes are part of the regular Thai program, so his classes are bigger, about 50 students (rather than 30) but he says that they are a blast to teach as well. Bottom line: We got the best school with the cutest students! We really got super lucky with our placement and we couldn't be happier!

Ok. Enough about school. We get off at like 3:30 or 4:00 and usually ride a motortaxi home. Most of the time we can't find two of them so we both squish onto one motorbike with the driver. Super fun when everyone is hot and sweaty. Then we go home, try to cool off and relax by watching one of the two English channels on TV. I have never watched so much Law and Order in my life hah. And then we come up with something for dinner. We've cooked spaghetti in our rice cooker a couple of times, but we mostly have instant noodles (thai style - which means with very spicy seasoning) or rice and eggs. I think we are going to try some more adventurous meals with our rice cooker in the future. [Any tips on rice cooker recipes, please comment below!] Or we head over to the night market. There is this really good night market about a 5-10 minute walk from our house and they serve a bunch of delicious food. You can get 5 sticks of grilled chicken for only 20 baht! (That's under one dollar). There's also this lady boy who makes super good fruit smoothies - strawberry, banana and coconut YUM. Grab some chicken and a couple of smoothies and there's dinner! Oh and I just have to say, last time we went to the night market, there was a little baby elephant just walking down the street. In the middle of the city. Haha, only in Thailand! Of course there were men with it, selling bananas and such to feed the baby elephant. They came up to us and we were like, no thank you, shaking our heads. But then they gave the bag of bananas to the elephant to hand to me... and I couldn't say no to those little eyes! We forked over the 20 baht and I got to have dinner with a baby elephant on the streets of Thailand.

The past couple weekends we've mostly caught up with grocery shopping and laundry, but we also went to a Saraburi football game! Wow, was that fun. It's just their local league but it was definitely spirited!!! We sat right behind the drums and some fans that were standing and singing literally the whole entire time hahaha. It was so funny because I was hoping that we could get a picture with them at the end of the game, but then they turned around first and asked to get a picture with US! I guess we are as much of a sight as they are to us hah. So here's the picture. We are definitely going to buy ourselves some Saraburi jerseys and go to more of the games.

Alright, I can't end this post without at least mentioning the coup d'état. I'm pretty sure all of you in the States know more about the situation than I do, because here in Saraburi, we've haven't noticed anything different! Doesn't affect us here. I think the only military personnel I've seen are a couple that help direct traffic during rush hour, but that's it. No tanks or protests or anything. There is a countrywide curfew from 10 pm to 5 am "indefinitely" (more like until further notice) but since we are a boring married couple, we are in bed by 9:30 anyways. The people of Thailand seem to have a "mai pen rai" feeling even about this... at least here in Saraburi. No worries! So we aren't :) The day after they announced the coup, they did close all of the schools and universities in Thailand though. So we woke up Friday morning, got ready for school, and then realized that we had 3 day weekend! What did we do with all that extra time? Well, we wanted to see more of this beautiful country... hence our impromptu trip down to Ayutthaya. Courtesy of the military of Thailand.

A post of our adventures in Ayutthaya is forthcoming!

15 Things I've learned about living in Thailand

Wow. So much has happened! Time has just gone by too fast and I can't keep up with everything that is going on! So I'm just going to jump right on in and give you some of the highlights...

The flights to Thailand weren't too bad. I mean, I'm not a fan of 6 hour layovers, but it could have been worse. With the exception of our first leg (from SLC to LAX), we were flying completely at night. I guess the way the earth turned while we were in the air, kept us in the dark the whole time! Which was great - helped us sleep some. And when we didn't sleep, we watched a stream of endless movies - they had a seriously legitimate selection.

We flew into Bangkok at about 11:00 AM Tuesday morning and met up with our program (OEG) at the airport. And here is where I start my list of things that I've learned about living in Thailand.

1. Thailand is known to be the 'Land of Smiles.' And it's true!

I was talking with one of our fellow Thai teachers and she said that the reason Thais smile and laugh so much is that they don't know how to respond to foreigners (or "Farang"). They see us, weird Westerners and they get shy, so they just start to smile and giggle. Super funny when you think about it :) Even the airport security personnel at Customs and Immigration were smiling and chuckling when we told them we were coming as teachers... Not sure if that was a good sign or not.

Once OEG drove us to the orientation hotel, we turned right back around and got some vaccinations in downtown Bangkok.

2. Health care is SO CHEAP here! 

Well I can't speak for other things, but the vaccinations were ridiculously cheaper than in the States. The American travel clinics wanted us to pay $600 (per person, per dose - 2 total) for Japanese Encephalitis. Oh, and insurance wouldn't cover any of it. And guess how much it was in Bangkok - $16! And only one dose! So that was awesome, however the ride home was not so much.

3. Bangkok traffic can be horrendous.

The ride to the travel clinic was about 20 minutes from our hotel... and it took us over 3 hours to get back. Not even kidding. And that was after it took us about 15-20 minutes to find a taxi that would even take us. They were either full, or would say that our hotel was too far away. But we were grateful to have some shelter in the taxi considering it started to downpour.

So this picture is from the internet, but this is pretty much what it's like during rush hour every day in Bangkok. In my opinion, the traffic patterns are a giant mess. There are a million of these forks where 3-4 lanes of traffic have to merge. We were stuck basically where that yellow cab is (in the middle of the picture) for at least a half an hour - wedged between all these lanes of traffic trying to merge, but really everyone was at a dead stop. I think there were some protests going on around our hotel as we were trying to get home; nothing violent, just another thing to contribute to the traffic chaos.

4. You don't tip here.

The taxi only charges using the meter, so naturally, we gave our driver a little tip (especially because of how long the drive was) and he absolutely lit up! I attempted to say "khawb khun kha" (thank you) and he busted up laughing. Haha, I hope that made up for the couple of hours he pretty much wasted. Anyways, apparently you don't tip in Thailand! At restaurants they already include the service charge, and everywhere else, you just don't do it. It makes things easy.

5. The Thais are so welcoming and endearing! 

Our orientation in Bangkok was about a week long and mostly consisted of classes - some that taught the Thai language, and other that gave us tips on teaching English here. When we met up with our program, the Thai OEG staff conducted the traditional Thai Welcome Ceremony. I forget what it's called, but they wrap basically some string around your wrist and give you a blessing. It was so cool and everyone was so sweet :) I guess you are supposed to keep it around your wrist for the whole duration of your visit? But you don't have to - just if you want to keep the blessing, which we will. We can use all the help we can get!

6. There are like NO bugs! Thanks to you, Mr. Gecko.

Seriously. There were NO spiders, flies, even ants in any of our hotel rooms. Not ONE! (And here in our house in Saraburi, only one cockroach sighting). And it's all because of those amazing little lizards :) They are super common here - and we love them because they eat all the bugs and mosquitos! So as far as I'm concerned, Mr. Gecko will be our permanent roommate.

7. This country is literally dripping with humidity.

Multiple showers a day is a MUST. Like I said, we mostly stayed in the hotel during the first few days of orientation, but they did take us to The Grand Palace. And wow, was it beautiful! But mostly sweaty. Like a LOT of sweat. Every person was completely drenched, and we were only there for a couple hours in the morning! It is so humid, that when I leave our air-conditioned bedroom and enter the hallway of our house, my glasses fog up! Haha, that has never happened to me before.

Here are some pictures of us at the Grand Palace:

8. The Thai people LOVE their King.

People speak so highly and personally about the King and the Queen. Their pictures are everywhere and they are fervently worshipped. It's pretty crazy to find that kind of loyalty nowadays. Their King has been in service for like 65 years now, so for many people, this is the only King they've known! Thailand's Father's Day Holiday is actually on the King's birthday - and same with Mother's day for the Queen's birthday. It's interesting how reverent the Thai people are towards the royal family... it's cool.

9. Do NOT drink water from the tap.

Luckily, neither of us learned this the hard way. We were definitely forewarned. When Jonathan filled up the sink to shave, the water was brown. Ew, gross. Though you're ok to brush your teeth and wash your dishes in it. Just whatever you do, DON'T SWALLOW. Every Thai person only drinks bottled water. In fact, there is a joke that there's a water fountain somewhere in Bangkok that actually IS safe to drink, but its never been used. Better to be safe than sorry!

10. Rise and shine - get ready for some rice.

That's what Thais have for breakfast! The same food they eat all day... chicken, seafood, eggs, and rice. However we've caved and bought some cereal and milk. We've gotta start our American tummies off right in the mornings!

11. Phad Thai is NOT spicy.

Yup. It's not. A lot of other Thai food is really spicy (that's kind of what they are famous for), but not Phad Thai. Which is great because I can actually eat it!

12. Westerners have been mis-pronouncing "The Bridge over the River Kwai" for decades!

Let's set the record straight. It's NOT the River Kwai (like in 'high'), but the River Kwae (like in 'quack'). You learn something new everyday! So that's how its supposed to be pronounced. The cool thing is, that we actually got to visit it! Here are some pictures:

As you can tell, it's still a functioning railway. So when you hear the horn, all the tourists scurry away and then follow right behind it. It's funny because we were taking pictures of the train, while the people on the train were taking pictures of us!

After we visited the bridge, we were taken to this place called the Rafting Restaurant. We walked on and there were tables and chairs set up and we were like, cool! Eating dinner, floating on the River Kwae. But then a little tugboat came, strapped our raft to his and then he pulled us down the river! The sun was setting and it was gorgeous! Just look at these sweet pictures that Jonathan got. Oh, and side note, the raft then turned into a raving dance party - complete with colored strobe lights and a disco ball. Haha, only in Thailand.

13. 7-Eleven runs this country!

There are more 7-Elevens in town than there are bathrooms. Ok, maybe not (including the bathrooms in houses). But you can look down the street and see three 7-Elevens within walking distance. It's the bees knees here.

14. Fruit is considered dessert.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE fruit! It's just funny that after every meal, they usually have 'dessert.' But it's fruit. So instead of thinking that I'm being healthy, I guess I am really just consuming treats all day.

And I saved the BEST for last....

15. Elephants have a great sense of humor.

On our last day of orientation, they took us to an elephant camp in the Kanchanaburi province (about 3 hours away from Bangkok). It was amazing! They brought out these baby elephants that put on a little show for us. There was a part where they asked for volunteers to receive an elephant massage. Some girls went up there and proceeded to get their 'backside' worked on, if you know what I mean haha. It was pretty funny. Since Jonathan has really wanted to get an elephant massage, I told him to volunteer! Well, I think you can guess what happened by the picture...

Got slapped in the family jewels by an elephant. I guess that's crossed off on his bucket list now. I just hope that we can still have children! Hahaha, poor guy. Had no idea it was coming. And neither did all the other guys who volunteered to go up later (that was fun to watch hah). But then things got a little better because then we got to feed and play with the baby elephants :)

And of course, finished up with taking a quiet stroll atop our very own mama elephant.

More to come about our new home in Saraburi.....

Hmm, let's go to Thailand

Yup! We are going to Thailand. Look how gorgeous it is!!!!!!

Ok, I WISH that was where we are going to live. Our actual house will be infinitely more humble, but still in this beautiful country. So how did we come to this decision? Well it went a little something like this.

While I was applying to PA schools last year, Jonathan discovered his absolute LOVE of teaching. He decided that teaching is what he wants to do for his profession (and he is dang good at it!) so he began a Master's program in Education as well as started working as a substitute teacher. As we were discussing all the directions our lives could take this next year, Jonathan threw the idea out that we could travel overseas and teach English! We have heard so many amazing stories and people who have loved doing exactly that. So Jonathan and I made the decision that if I didn't get into PA school this year, that we would go on an adventure. And here we are.

Jonathan and I will be leaving at the beginning of May and will be teaching for one semester (5 months). We got placed at the Saraburiwittayakhom School (try saying THAT out loud) in Saraburi, Thailand! The Saraburi province is in the central region of Thailand and is about 2 hours north of Bangkok. I feel like we got the perfect place because I think we will be far enough away from the city to get a small town/village experience, but close enough that we can indulge in some American hamburgers in Bangkok when we just can't take the cravings anymore! :)

Here are a couple pictures of the school where we will be teaching.

We are SO INCREDIBLY PSYCHED!

Also here is a twist. I'm not actually going to be teaching English like almost everyone else. The school wants me to teach Science! Grades 7-9. It is going to be so much fun!!!! I am a little intimidated though because I don't remember everything from my middle school science classes. Like rock classification, geology, astronomy, etc. However I do distinctly remember learning plate tectonic movements using 3 Musketeers candy bars in the 7th grade.... those were the good ole' days. Gonna have to brush up on that middle school earth science!

And in addition to teaching English, the school wants Jonathan to teach Computer Science! Also grades 7-9. We aren't sure what that will exactly entail yet, but it sounds super cool. Like word, excel, typing, html, etc. 

We've just bought our plane tickets and submitted our visa applications. So I think we are getting close to being ready! Just gotta get mentally prepared...

 

....CAN'T WAIT!

Simple Gifts: A Countdown to Turkey!

The past month has been a battle in the Osorio household. The source?
Christmas music.

I know. Christmas music is a magical and joyful thing! But for me it signifies the start of the Christmas season, and that didn't start until after Thanksgiving dinner while I was growing up. But that's besides the point. Anyways, many people say this as a reason to listen to Christmas music right after Halloween, "Well if there were Thanksgiving songs then I would listen to those but there aren't."

Well world, I am here to tell you that there is a Thanksgiving song! (At least in my opinion.)

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free

'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,

And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,

To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,

To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come 'round right.

Well, doesn't that just capture the Thanksgiving spirit? When we take the time to slow down and really think about all the blessings (or 'gifts') we've been given, we will literally find ourselves in the "valley of love and delight." There it is. Being grateful for the simple things is the secret to living a happy life.

Happiness should NEVER be placed on things. Material things, or even non-material things! If it is, it's not true happiness. And it won't last.

The bottom line is, true happiness is never conditional. Not on anything. 

However, my favorite part of "Simple Gifts" is this line: when true simplicity is gained, to bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed to turn... til we come 'round right. We all make mistakes in life. I have found myself a time or another, turning and turning. Running around in circles, trying to figure out my life. Figuring out how to make it better, and how to make myself better. I'm human; we all are. So I'm not perfect and making mistake after mistake is very frustrating. But the lyrics of this old folk song give us the answer! Turning will be our delight once true simplicity is gained.

True simplicity. Well, I don't know how to gain that or what it would really look like, but in light of my blog post last month, I've been trying to be more grateful. (With Thanksgiving here, it's perfect timing, right?!) But especially be more grateful for the simple things. So I know that everyone and their dog has done this, but every single day for the past month, I have found one thing I was grateful for each day. Thought I would share.

My Countdown of Thanks:

1. My husband doing the dishes

2. My little nephew Daxton. I cannot stand how cute he is!

3. Sunday dinner with the family

4. Recorded TV - NO commercials. That's the only way to watch TV.

5. Early shifts at work. I can come home when it's still light out!

6. The miracle of Skype. It lets me see my family who are afar, including my adorable nieces, Kyrah and Sydnee!

7. Yummy new recipes from my co-workers. Shout out to mini chicken pot pies!

8. Our bed. It's awesome.

9. Modern medicine! I would die from migraines without it. (How did people survive before??)

10. Movies. It is amazing how much time and effort goes into an epic production! Also, I love popcorn.

11. Instant comfort that comes from prayer.

12. Sweet and fun co-workers that make working worth it. Well, that and getting paid...

13. Instant communication. Email, phone calling, texting, endless possibilities.

14. Science. It's amazing what truths we have been able to discover! I like to believe that when we discover truths of the universe, it's like peering into the way that God works. 

15. Central heating

16. Instant cereal. My favorite food. Whoever invented cereal is getting a HUGE hug from me in heaven.

17. Primary. I love that the church has a place for beautiful children to go and learn about the Gospel and feel of the Spirit. They have such faith and are so close to our Heavenly Father.

18. The crisp cool feeling of the air in Fall. I will never get sick of it.

19. Restaurants. Delicious food, ready to eat at a decision's notice! And you don't even have to clean up.

20. Modern transportation. Lets me take a much-needed nap on the way home from work.

21. Incredibly grateful for my husband! And that he's my best friend. And that he can make me smile and laugh, even when I'm feeling sick, exhausted and grumpy. Oh, and that he still loves me despite all of that.

22. To have a job! (I have to remind myself to be grateful of this one frequently...)

23. That I have family living so close!

24. Fingernail clippers. Seriously, how did people trim their fingernails before?

25. The holy scriptures and words from our modern prophets. They will never lead you astray! Isn't that so amazing?! And such a blessing.

26. That clementines are in season. That means Christmas is right around the corner!

27. My ancestors and everyone who has come before me. My parents, my in-laws and my whole family. They have taught me so much and have loved me unconditionally. I love them all with my whole heart!

28. And of course, my Father in Heaven and His Son, my elder brother, Jesus Christ. Their guidance and companionship is what gets me through this life and I know it is only through Heavenly Father's plan and Christ's ultimate sacrifice that we are able to live with Him again for eternity.

Lesson I've learned: If you want to happy, be grateful for something simple each and every day.

Everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Courtesy of one of Jonathan's students while he was substituting teaching at an Elementary School :)

Sometimes change requires Patience

Fall. The BEST season of the year! Maybe it's my favorite because I can roll out of bed and wear my sweatpants to work. Or maybe it's because jackets and boots are my favorite items in my wardrobe! Fall is my favorite because it's the season of warm hot chocolate, delicious harvest vegetables and caramel-apples, and crisp nights watching football. Or more often, warm cozy nights on the couch watching football. (We are poor lazy bums.)

Perhaps it's the season rubbing off on me, but I am finding myself to be incredibly impatient lately! I am wanting change. And I want it now. Maybe it's because I've been so used to consistent change. In college, I took different classes every semester, moved to a different apartment about every 6 months; there were things to look forward to that were planned out. Whereas now, I don't know what's going to happen! But I want it to happen quick, because I hate not knowing.

I still haven't heard back from about four of the PA schools that I've applied to. So far, all the ones that have responded have been rejections. That's always fun. At first, it hurt. But then after a while it started to dull and then it became an expectation. Each letter would come through the mail and I'd think, OK, onto the next rejection. In fact, a part of me is expecting not to get into any of the remaining schools. I guess that could be a bad thing in some people's eyes, but I think it's a mindset that is preparing me for something different in case this whole PA school thing doesn't work out. Rather than being devastated, I will have a plan to move forward. And in fact we do have a back-up plan! There are plenty of other exciting things we can do with our lives. And we are still just starting our lives together! 

The world is our oyster! - a quote I hear quite often from my husband.

Here is a new change. Jonathan has created his own business!

Bear River Media is a social media managing company where, you guessed it, Jonathan manages your social media! That means facebook, twitter, pinterest, instagram, blogs, you name it. As well as coming up with other advertising efforts and campaigns. It's pretty smart, considering that's where all business is going anyways (if they haven't already gone there). Mostly everyone's audience is on social media. But no one likes to keep up with the million of social websites out there. There are way too many and it drains your time by the hour. That is why hiring someone else to do the work for you is so wise! Not to put in a shameless plug in for my husband's business, but I just did.

It is super exciting! I don't think this is going to be our sole future, but it is something that Jonathan is trying out and hopefully it brings in some side money, as well as such great experience! I am so proud of him, doing something so hard and brave.

I want to do things like this.... things that help us move onto the next chapter in our lives. I feel like we are still in this limbo-phase. My life is seriously this one tragic cycle. I wake up, snooze for 10 minutes, leave for work in a rush 5 minutes later, WORK, come home, eat, shower, turn on the TV, fall asleep on the couch and then go to bed. I totally get it now when older people used to tell me that work becomes your life! It truly does. I feel like these people sometimes.

Expressionless. No hope, no excitement, nothing to do with life but go to work. And I guess if you love your work then you don't feel like this! If you are passionate and feel like you are making a difference, then that is living life. Unfortunately for me, I fall far from that. I am a college graduate earning 10 bucks an hour and getting rejected from nearly every graduate school I've applied to. And if I'm not going to get into PA school, then what am I doing? I'm pretty over this whole work thing. I am wanting to move on! NOW!

However, that's not how life works sometimes. Sometimes change requires patience. 

I've had to remind myself recently that the point of this life is not to get to the end. It's to enjoy the journey. How many times have I heard that?! Like one too many. But it's true! And enjoying the journey means that sometimes we will have to patiently endure. Wait for what we want with a huge smile on our face and trying to be grateful for everything around us. And perhaps during that waiting, what we thought we wanted wasn't really what we needed in our lives. Patiently enduring can often take us on a different path. That may be happening to me right now. Who knows?

We will have to patiently wait and see........