Monday, October 27, 2008

Motorbikes!


I never imagined I would be so excited about driving a motorbike. We bought our first motorbike not long after we got here to Thailand. We were just using Thai public transportation at first, which is pretty cheap in American standards, but it was costing us quite a bit here. So we decided we should go ahead and get our own transportation, a motorbike. 

I would guess that most of the families here that drive own a motorbike. When we went looking we found a nice used one pretty fast for the price we wanted. It only cost us a couple hundred bucks and we figured we would save that easy within the first couple months of having the bike. That's because we were figuring we were spending over $100 a month on public transportation and now it is only costing us about $4 a week for gas in our bike...unbelieveable! Also, it only cost us $9 for good coverage insurance on our bike for the whole year...also unbelieveable!

Anyways, now we do have transportation. You should see all three of us Americans on our motorbike together. I am sure it is quite a sight. If you notice in the picture at the top, we do even have a baby seat for Sailor on the bike. And, I promise you that we do wear our helmets all the time. We don't leave home without them. 

The pictures below are of Sailor trying out a mini motorbike at the store. She loves bikes now and we could hardly get her off of this one. Don't worry though, we won't be getting her her own real little motorbike. This little one does happen to cost almost as much as our big one did...haha. No way jose'.

Why Not Decorate?







Okay, so when we moved into our rental house at the end of August it didn't take me long to get tired of looking around at a completely empty house with white walls. We didn't have the money to buy much furniture or decorations but I knew that a little paint would go a long way. It all started with me drawing the owl on our bedroom wall with a Sharpie marker while Gabe took a nap with Sailor...haha...Gabe woke up from his nap with an owl staring at him. And so then I went out and bought a little paint and started making my own wall decorations. I figured why not, this is our home for now and we need to make it feel like home. If you come visit us here in Thailand, who knows what else will be drawn on our walls :)

Love You!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

English Students


Pictures from top:
1. Sang and Wan
A sweet newlywed couple from my class
2. Judy and me
Judy is a Burmese girl (Myanmar) who
is a 4th year graduating student. And for 
her final project she started a Children's
home on the Thailand/Myanmar border.
Pretty amazing!
3. Cina, Sophia, Tee and Judy
Three Vietnamese girls and one Burmese girl
4. Som Chai and Abayneh 
are from Thailand and Ethiopia




English Class



Pictures from top:
1. Mark and Daniel 
from Thailand and Myanmar
2. Jenny, Wan and Joy
from Vietnam and Thailand
3. My whole class

I just thought I would share a few pictures of my English class with you guys. I volunteer at the Bible college for a couple hours three days a week & I teach an English class to the students. I am working on my Teaching English as a Foreign Language certificate right now, so this class is giving me a feel for teaching English.

It's pretty amazing because I have students from four different countries in my class. They are from Thailand, Vietnam, Ethiopia, & Myanmar. Of course they all speak very different first languages, so when they come together they have to speak English to understand each other. 
It's quite challenging at times because it seems that I am quite limited in resources and quite new to this too, but it's so rewarding to get to know these people. Most of the students are around my age so outside of class we get along great as friends. 

I hope you enjoy their beautiful faces! They seemed excited that their pictures would be on our blog for you guys in America to see!



Sunday, October 5, 2008

Our Home


Hello everyone, I want to apologize for not having updated our blog. Well everything is going good over here. Dawn is teaching English to my classmates, which is kind of funny but great. Bible college is a great place to be. You get to be focused on the word, and develop a firm foundation in your Christianity. This is a picture of our new house, we are happy to be in it, and it is the biggest house we have ever lived in. We got a great deal on this rental home and  it is only $200 a month, what a blessing from God. Three bedrooms, two baths, which is great for when people need to stay over. It was completely empty when we moved in. There was only one small AC unit in the smallest bedroom, but nothing else. My parents have helped us get some of the big things we needed and some people from the local church gave us some things too. We do have some other pictures of it, so I might have to post some more on here. This place is very cool, but I did catch myself thinking I want to go back home the other day. Me and Dawn appreciate and miss all of you, yall have been amazing to us, and we couldn't have done it without yall's help and support. Sailor is doing just fine, her speech is starting to make sense. She did just recover from some little bug she had. It is hard to see your little girl go through sickness, but she it completely healed now, thank you Jesus. We found out the other day that she is terrified of chickens!!! It was the most hilarious thing ever. Whenever we are in public everyone stares at Sailor. I hope its because they think she is so cute, but she gets fed by random people everywhere we go. Of course she lets them know she wants it, and they are pleased to give it to her. Thai culture is very pleasant to be around, I haven't gotten to learn the language as fast I would like to though, but I do know a few words. Me and Dawn miss you guys very much and I am actually going to try and fly Dawn, and Sailor back for Grace and Jame's wedding. I am not making any promises though, but hopefully they will be able to make it. Well let's see if anything else exciting has happened, we do have a motorbike, for those of you who don't know that. Oh yes, also I am working with their TV show that airs in Canada. It is very cool, and I am learning what I have always wanted to. So God is good, and His blessings are for us, who are in righteousness with Him. We love everyone of you, and miss you very much. I can't wait until someone comes to visit. PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS, WE LOVE TO SEE WHO IS READING OUR BLOGS, THANKS!!!!!!!