maia

last week we had a beautiful gift: our first visitor!  our dear friend maia came for a visit on her way to a new job in china.  maia and i taught together in pennsylvania.  we then left (at slightly different times and for slightly different reasons) and worked at the same physical therapy company.  and now we are both living in asia. 

it was fantastic to laugh with maia, be encouraged by her and discover more of chiang mai.  we kept joking that we saw more with her here in two days than we had the last month because we've been so busy! 

maia got to climb waterfalls,

see a cultural show,

slice her foot open (in this picture it look deceptively healed),

visit a hospital for tonsilitis,

go bungee jumping,

play with tigers,

experience multiple restaurants

and ride elephants.

just think of what's in store for you when you visit!!!

signs

these are some of my favourite signs around town...

first of all, this perfectly describes the easy-going nature of chiang mai:

i see this one coming home from work every day and for some reason, it always makes me laugh:

please notice the dog made to look like a lion on this dog food advertisement:

the honourable king.  i grew up admiring this man and have even more respect after just a few weeks here!

do you buy both hobbies AND land here?

grrr, you just can't get away from this!

this is an exclusive french restaurant that we want to go to some day (but that day is not quite yet...)

the tour bus sign made us look twice...

i forget what this guy was advertising, but check out that email address!

everyone's favourite: a dinosaur to sell things!

and finally: the sign for our city! :)

ice coffee and smoothies

a friend of ours showed us her favourite road-side stand to get iced coffee (among other icy delights). 

below you'll see the little stand, the flavourings all in different containers, the woman cutting up a kiwifruit for my smoothie (talk about fresh!), the concentation on a good blend, and finally the enjoyment of a fresh smoothie and an ice coffee!

all of this enjoyment for less than $1!

lessons to myself

I had a 6th grade boy cry today.  He's new this year (to both being in A school and being at THIS school), it was the end of the day and he was packing up to go home.  I went over to help him keep moving (i.e.: I had 39 other kids that needed to be dismissed) and he looked up at me with moist eyes and said, 'I don't know why I'm crying, but I am.'  So I slid down to his level and talked to him.  Was it all of school?  Or the homework?  Or something else today?  'I don't know.  I don't know why I'm crying,' he repeated.  I told him how he's been hit with so many new things...all at once.  And when we're overwhelmed, crying is pretty normal.  We talked a bit more, he gave me a hug and off he went.

I was definitely talking more to myself than my student!  There have been so many times in the last few weeks I feel fine, and then: bam, feel like crying.  I haven't, but I have sure felt like it.  I haven't learned any real Thai, I can't eat the food (almost all of which contains gluten), I'm always lost (I guess that one isn't so new), I don't have hot water to wash dishes, and I have no idea how we will afford to outfit a kitchen when we get our own place.  These are not deal breakers.  We will learn our way through (except the getting lost part) and be fine.  Life here is good and we are both glad to be here!  But in these beginning stages, sometimes life feels a little overwhelming.  And sometimes I just feel like crying, with or without a reason... 

glimpses

Here are some impressions from around town...

a quiet neighbourhood street:

a playground too dangerous for kids:

 quintessential thailand:

 interesting sculpture on a bridge:

 produce and flowers from our nearby market for $4:

 the beautiful (and almost overflowing) Ping river:

First post!

This is my first post from our new home....  So many people have asked us to start a blog in order to follow this next chapter in our lives.  And I find myself wanting this outlet because there are so many thoughts I want to share; thoughts too long for facebook status updates.  On the other hand, writing on a blog presumes people will read the blog and that seems a bit egotistic.  My thoughts are not so great!  But people have asked and there is much to say!  So here it goes....

We arrived about 15 days ago and we still can't believe this is all real!  We've been working incredibly hard at school, meeting lots of people, exploring new restaurants and using our two Thai words repeatedly!  But sometimes, in a moment of quiet, we'll look at each other and grin and say, 'Is this really our life?!'  It's so surreal.

Things are going really well so far.  School's off to a great start; I love my students already!  Ray will start his part-time position as Elementary IT Person (if that's not his official title, it should be) tomorrow and work for his company in the US the rest of the time.  Until December we're subletting an amazingly comfortable house, complete with an adorable dog named Molly. 

How amazing to walk into a house with everything ready to go!  The weather is beautiful; it's at the height of the rainy season, so we get to experience daily downpours and humidity without awful heat.  And most of all, the people have been completely fantastic.  Whether a vendor on the street or the teachers at school, everyone has made us feel welcome and happy to be here!

So many major changes in the last few months!  It is surreal.  But it our reality and we are so grateful to be living it!