Kim and Jeremy in Thailand

No. We have some very good nurses at the school who keep an eye on these things (after all, we have over 400 students to look after, with parents in all sorts of places throughout Asia). About two years ago, there was a problem with bird flu and they stopped serving chicken at school. We're still eating chicken, so I'm sure there's no problem. And we promise not to go out and run wild with the neighborhood chickens.

Cost of living is very low here in Thailand. We can eat out in a Thai restaurant for about a dollar-for both of us. We are renting a two story house for about $200 a month. Most things are cheaper here, especially everyday items like food and clothing. The exceptions are things like electronics, which are luxury items here and don't have nearly as much competition as the US. Those items are more expensive here, as are American goods, which have to be imported and are usually only selling to farangs anyway.

Yes. Driving here is an adventure!!! Most of the cars are stick shift, so I had to learn that when we came here. Jeremy just had to learn to shift with his left hand instead. Almost all roads in Thailand are divided roads. You don't turn across traffic; you make a U-turn and come back on the correct side of the street. We drive on the left side of the road-usually.

Thais are VERY laid-back when it comes to the rules of driving. Lane markers are merely a suggestion, and often there will be one more lane of traffic than there is painted on the road. There pretty much aren't speed limits in Thailand. And if you see a motorcycle, expect it to do anything-drive between cars, drive on the shoulder, drive the wrong way on the shoulder, turn in front of you-anything goes. Sometimes Thai-style driving can be convenient. Say, for example, you need to make a right turn (across traffic) but you aren't in the turn lane. No worries! Just turn anyway, especially if you're in a large vehicle (that gives you the right of way). What if you need to drive the wrong way to get somewhere because a U-turn would be inconvenient? If it's not too far, go ahead! It's not as crazy as it sounds once you get used to it. But I wouldn't be surprised if Jeremy and I don't pick up a ticket or two when we get back to the US!

We currently attend Chiang Mai Community Church. It is very much an international church. Because the community tends to be a very transient one composed mainly of Christian workers, things are run a little differently. There isn't membership in the church. There is a pastor, Pastor Ruppert, who is from Great Britain and is a very gifted speaker. But we often also have guest speakers. We have a rotation of music teams, who lead worship in all different styles, from liturgical to gospel to Baptist. It's really neat to get to experience so many different traditions in the same church.

There is a ton to do here in Chiang Mai! I really enjoy going to the markets. They sell everything there-clothes, purses, trinkets, touristy gifts, jewelry, food-anything you can think of. I like practicing my Thai with the vendors as you bargain, which you always do at markets in Thailand. There is a mall nearby which is pretty new, and has a really nice movie theater. It's also neat to just drive downtown-there are tons of neat shops and restaurants to see. If you go a little bit out of town, there even more things to do. We haven't done much of the tourist stuff yet-usually we hang out with friends from school at someone's house. Since we're so international, a favorite activity is having someone cook ethnic food. We'll play board games and watch movies too-not too different from America there.

Thais have a very distinct style of food. There's a lot of chicken and rice or chicken and noodle dishes, but the flavor is unique to each dish. Some of our favorites are pad thai (thai style noodles fried with chicken, tofu, vegetables, and sauce), pad see yuu (another stir fry, but with wider noodles and different vegetables), and gwy tiaow (soup with thin noodles, meatballs, and garlic). Thai food can be spicy, so I like to ask for it 'mai pet', which means not spicy. At school, there is always Thai food (and always rice) and a salad bar. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they try to have a western choice also, which is usually sloppy joe or spaghetti.

One interesting thing about Thailand is that it's almost always cheaper to eat out than to cook at home. For example, we have a favorite little Thai restaurant near our house. To eat there costs 20-25 baht per person. 40 baht is a dollar.

Our day starts at around 5:30am, when we wake up. It's still dark out! Jeremy and I arrive at the school around 6:50am. We'll go to the Computer Services office, where Jeremy will get started on his projects for the day. I go to a staff prayer meeting from 7:00-7:30. Then I'll spend some time making copies, grading papers-whatever needs to be done. School starts at 7:55. On Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I don't start teaching until 10:30, so I have time to get caught up on grading and email. On Tuesdays we have homeroom, so as a class sponsor, I would attend that where the students plan fundraisers and class activities. Friday is chapel, where Jeremy runs sound and I take attendance for the 9th grade class.

Then my classes start! I teach for three periods, and both have a mix of Word and Excel students. Two classes are heavily Word, the third class is about half and half. They learn mainly from a textbook and some web tutorials. I do very little lecturing; mostly, class time is spent with me going around answering questions and teaching individual students a concept at a time. I teach until around 1:00 each day.

Meanwhile, Jeremy has already gone to lunch with Sam, because they get hungry by around 11:00! I go to the very last lunch, which is decidedly unpopular with staff, and usually is only three of us. The school provides our lunch for free (hooray!). Lunch is over around 1:30.

Then I have a brief period for grading or helping with computer projects before 8th period study hall. A few days a week I monitor study hall; the other days I try to be in the computer lab to help students with their homework.

After school is over, Jeremy and Sam are able to tackle the more disruptive computer projects. Sometimes Jeremy is just getting back from working with other organizations in downtown Chiang Mai. While they do computer work, I used to tackle grading and lesson planning. Now I go to soccer practice! The exception is Wednesday, when we have staff meeting.

On a typical day, we'll leave school between 4:30 and 5:00. By then we're pretty tired! We'll eat dinner and spend the evening either with friends or just reading or watching a movie.

The school is in a facility that used to be a luxury health club. Needless to say, the athletic facilities are outstanding! The rest of the building has been converted (the shooting gallery is now the choir room, etc) into classrooms and offices. It's a beautiful campus located in Hang Dong, which is a city right next to Chiang Mai. It's only about a 7 minute drive from our house. You can see pictures of the campus at the gallery.

The school has 450 students, K-12. The school runs on an American curriculum, so our school calendar is pretty similar to that in the United States. Somewhere around 80-90% of the students are international kids-many children of missionaries, some of ambassadors and businessmen. They come from all over the world-the US, Britain, Australia, Denmark, New Zealand, Korea...the list goes on and on. The rest of the students are local Thai students.

No. We actually live in a very nice mubaan, or gated community, here in Thailand. It's just on the outskirts of Chiang Mai city limits, so it's kind of like living in the suburbs. We're about 15 minutes from downtown. Jeremy and I were used to living in apartments in the US, so to come here and have a four bedroom house all to ourselves is quite a treat!! You can see pictures of our house in the gallery.