Kim and Jeremy in Thailand

This week is school spirit week, so the kids don't have to wear school uniforms. Instead, they have the crazy themes. First was wacky hair day, then baby day. Today is clash day. It's kind of fun to see what the kids come up with.

The end of the quarter is on Friday and I've been trying to catch up on my grading, but to be honest, it's been really tough because I'm still battling morning sickness and fatigue. I'm hoping that they will go away soon, but in the meantime, I'm kind of in over my head until Friday. Oh well-what are they going to do, fire me? Seriously, people understand, it's just that I feel bad for not being able to keep up.

Other than that, our big project is deciding what to do for April break. We have the first two weeks of April off, and we want to get out of Chiang Mai for at least a few days. People have found cheap tickets to Singapore (about $100 roundtrip), so that's one possibility. Or maybe we'll go someplace else within Thailand...there are lots of choices.

This happened to one of our friends who works here at the school over the weekend. We just had to share it!

Right now, it is burning season in Thailand. That means that everywhere you go, they are burning the fields and brush from them. So smelling smoke is not terribly unusual. Jeanette smelled smoke but didn't think anything of it, until she came outside and noticed a fire in her yard. This is only a few feet from her house.

She looked around, knowing that there should be someone watching this fire. But no one was there. She tried her hose-no water. Hmm...so she started walking around talking to the neighbors. All the westerners agreed with her-it's a fire! we should do something! but no one knew quite what to do. The thais she talked to did not seem concerned in the least.

She went up to the school (she lives very close) and talked to one of the guards. She told him, "There's a fire at my house!" In all seriousness, he asks, "Were you cooking?" After she explains that no, the fire is not her fault, he came by to look. He also wasn't concerned and didn't really do anything.

Still feeling that the 2-3 foot flames in the yard needed to be addressed, she went back to the school to talk to the Thai principal. She called the fire department and explained what was happening, and they agreed to come.

Some time later, a fire truck right out of a 1950s movie pulls up. The firemen get out-dressed in their tshirts and flipflops-and look at the fire. They are not too concerned-in fact, they only douse a little water on the fire at the Thai principal's request. Then they leave.

Two days later, the fire is still smoldering.

Needless to say, she was not terribly impressed!! But the house didn't burn down and everything seems to be okay. Now she thinks it's a great story to bring home!

It's Tuesday-that means it's Garcia night!! Woohoo!! Lately I've really been wanting western food, so I'm very excited that it's Tuesday!

The hot season is definitely starting to kick in. It's warmed up quite a bit over the last few weeks, and now a typical day is about 95 degrees in the afternoon, cooling down to the low 70s at night. It'll keep getting warmer for a few more weeks; April is the hottest month, which is why that's when Songkran is. Songkran started out having some more significant meanings, but now it's basically a two week long waterfight downtown. If you're there, you're fair game!! Apparently motorcycles and people on public transportation are the favorite targets. Sounds like fun...

To preface this story, you need to understand that across the board, customer service in Thailand is impeccable. They are so much more attentive and focused on the customer than employees in America. Usually at the Pizza Company, you'll see two or three employees scanning the room, waiting for you to make a move to indicate that you want something. They are very prompt at taking your order, filling your drinks, and bringing your food.

Angela and I went to the Pizza Company for dinner last night, and they had a sign up about some new combo deals, with a small pizza, drink, and side order. We were excited about that. So we tried to order, but they told us we could only get it with Super Deluxe or Seafood pizzas. Yuck! Seriously, shrimp and squid do not belong on pizza. We asked again because the sign didn't specify a certain type of pizza, and I had ordered something different with the combo the previous week. Our waitress left abruptly. We thought she was getting someone different, or maybe someone who understood more English. Nope. No one came back. We sat there for a good 15-20 minutes. And servers were coming to the tables next to ours, but wouldn't look at us. We contemplated moving to another table, or leaving and coming back in.

Finally, one of the store managers came over and took our order. She wouldn't give us the combo deal either, but at that point, we just wanted some food. Our food came out shortly after, along with the check (which is normal). When we were done, we wanted to pack up the leftovers and take them with us. Once again, we couldn't get anyone's attention. Even when we made eye contact with them, which usually means they're definitely on their way. We were ready to just take the plates with us when we paid. Finally, we got some guy who had just come on for his shift and probably didn't know that we were the naughty customers.

Our theory was that Thais are too polite to actually kick people out of the restaurant, so this is the cultural equivalent. It was so surreal, because we've never had anything like that happen here! We got a good laugh out of the whole thing!

Friday at last!! This has been kind of a long week. I was helping out with the ESD conference, which invites kids who are homeschooled to come to Grace for a week. Lots of staff put on all sorts of seminars and classes for both the kids and the parents. I had a few sessions teaching Excel to the high schoolers. It was a neat opportunity, but I've been tired this week and it took a lot of extra time!

Jeremy and some of the guys are going to have a game night tonight. They tried to do it last week, but it turned into the Coe Curry Festival instead. So while they get together and play 'brain games', I think Angela and I may just go shopping or watch a movie.

We're still trying to make decisions about next year, so please keep praying for us as we're hoping to at least conclusively say Thailand vs. America in the next week or so, then figure out more details from there.