My mornings are usually spent with David because we are the only ones up :) We eat breakfast and talk and play piano in the kitchen, ha!
This morning, while plans were being figured out, we watched final fantasy VII. yay! Thai culture is hilarious. Originally today Eric and I were supposed to go with Tutu's sons to go buy a new guitar for the orphanage, but within 20 minutes, the plans changed 4 times! And before we knew it, we were in the car with Daniel (who hadn't even been home previously, he just showed up out of nowhere!) headed to an unknown destination. That was the new plan and we just were going along with it. That is really what a day looks like in Thailand usually. You wake up to find what the day awaits you- where people need you and what needs to be done. yet even then it will probably change several times before you actually get there!
Daniel took us to Chiang Mai for the day. He took us a to a huge mall there, and we went and saw the movie Wolverine! It was really fun! It was great to see that side of Thailand.
During the previews for the movie, there was a whole preview about the king and how great he was (which was super cheesy and pretty humerous), but the whole audience stood to honor him the whole time. Thailand loves their king so much! His picture is everywhere! He really doesn't hold very much governmental power, but is the face of Thailand. This king has been the longest reigning king that Thailand has ever had- I think he is about 78 years old! When he dies, his son will take over, but Daniel said that his son isn't a very good guy and most people don't like him.
The mall was very similar to the United States, but certain things were very different- like how the food court worked (you had to buy a prepaid credit card type thing to get food) or how you actually purchased a specific seat in the theater when you got your ticket (like a play in the states).
Thailand is very interesting because it is a very highly developed place (at least in the cities for the most part), yet the prices of things are so cheap! They are similar to prices of third world countries. It is such a confusing country. I can't figure it out.
We got starbucks today! Mmmm!
After the mall, we went and picked up Daniel's girlfriend and headed to a really neat second-hand outdoor market/store thing. There literally were piles of clothes covering the ground. You had to walk on top of them to get to the area you wanted to look through. It was so crazy though because Eric found a mid-ohio race track T-shirt in the dinky second-hand store in the middle of Chiang Mai, Thailand! Crazy! We laughed so hard.
On the way home we stopped and got some Thai noodles on the side of the road. They were absolutely delicious! And then we tried crepes for dessert. But these aren't normal US fruit-filled crepes. Oh no. These were filled with sugar, egg, tuna, and ham/hotdogs. But they were absolutely delicious! Very different, but really really good. They were very sweet still somehow.
The culture here (as far as plans changing) and the Thai time (as far as never being on time) are exactly what the stereotypes say. But I really have learned to love it. It is so relaxed.
One thing that I have really paid attention to since being here is how adults in the mission field's families are run. I think that is one of the primary things I am worried about when considering missions work. it's been great to talk to John McCullum and to observe how individuals decide when to come and for how long and how they stay in touch with their families back home, etc... Good stuff for sure :)
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