Singing in the Traffic

This morning as I walked up to the bus stop to head off to language school...I heard his deep voice bellowing above the busy traffic. The singing policeman! He just makes my day! He's out there directing traffic at 6am with a smile on his face and a song on his heart. If I had to make a list of tourist attractions for my small neighborhood--he would be one of them. :)

New Thai Word*

*Parents--I will be using a couple words in this post that may have a bad influence on your children . Just a warning, since I try to keep my blog kid-friendly and mother-approved.

Day 11 of Thai language class was one of the funniest days yet. We are still studying Buddhism. Today, we learned the word อเวจี, which means "the worst, scariest part of hell." While reading it aloud however, my classmate cracked up because it is read as "a wedgie."

We three, all Americans, were transported back to childhood days and started laughing. For those unaware of the meaning of "wedgie" in English--is is a bullying method practiced by grabbing someone's underwear and pulling them up til it is very uncomfortable for the person. My classmate said, "Yes, the word goes right along with the definition." (I'll let you figure that last part out yourself.) Either way, we will not be forgetting that word too easily and it will entertain us for the next few classes.

The Ant Killer

I am known as the ant killer in my language class. One of the first days of class, ants kept crawling on my desk and getting on me. I smooshed one and flicked another. In Buddhism, killing living things is against the rules. I was the example that day of someone breaking a rule. (Only the strictest Buddhists follow that rule that closely.) He JOKED and said I'd get bad karma. Since then, me and my red ants have been the example everyday in class for breaking rules of Buddhism. :)

Tonight, I found a cockroach on my bed! Thankfully, one of my most amazing housemates killed it with a 5 ft pole. Can't wait to tell the teacher about that. :)

Buddhism: My Top 10

Top 10 Most Interesting Things I learned about Thai Buddhism*:
1. Buddha was a Indian prince who desired to find an answer to the suffering in the world. He did not want to be worshipped as a god. He just thought he had found answers to true happiness.
2. The base is if you do good, you receive good. If you do bad, you receive bad. No one can help you. You must do it all yourself.
3. The five pillars of Buddhism involve not drinking, not lying, not having extramarital affairs, not stealing, and not killing animals. Most Buddhists cannot follow all of these.
4. Buddha's followers did write down Buddha's teachings, yet Thai Buddhism is not solely based on his words.
5. They believe in reincarnation meaning your actions in this life can affect your next life.
6. Nirvana, the ultimate goal of Buddhism, means escaping the cycle of reincarnation into nothingness. You no longer exist.
7. To be a true Buddhism, you would desire to escape the world entirely--from all good and evil. You would achieve having no feelings at all.
8. Many monks' teaching now also includes selling Buddhist amulets and monk images to people telling them these images will keep them from sinning.
9. Thai Buddhists have incorporated beliefs about ghosts, heaven and hell in their post-death thoughts. Therefore, you could die, become a ghost, then be sent to hell, then heaven, and then on to your next life.
10. Heaven and hell, according to their thoughts, include levels relating to what you've done wrong. You only stay there a definitive time period not forever.

*These are in no particular order. Just some thoughts from my first 10 days of class. I do not mean to be hurtful in any way. I could be wrong about many of these things since I am neither a Thai or a Buddhist. However, this is purely to share some of my learning.

I passed my midterm test in this Buddhism class. My teacher says I know enough of Buddhism now to be a monk. (He was joking with me.) I however will not be pursuing that career path. I need Jesus!

Why Wai?

You may be doing a lot of shaking hands or waving lately due to your popularity. Over here in Thailand, we "wai" a lot. That is what this gesture is called, and its how we greet people and say goodbye. Here I am imitating the statue behind me. Thought you'd like to see life these days....

2 Months!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have now been in Thailand for an official 2 months! How crazy! Does it feel like that long? Actually, it feels like I've been here longer since I'm returning to the same place and I just jumped right back in here.

Here's a good quote to make you smile and remind us all to find joy in the blessings God has given us...wherever we are!

I want a life that sizzles and pops and makes me laugh out loud and I don't want to get to the end, or to tomorrow, even, and realize that my life is a collection of meetings and pop cans and errands and receipts and dirty dishes. I want to eat cold tangerines and sing loud in the car with the windows open and wear pink shoes and stay up all night laughing and paint my walls the exact color of the sky right now. I want to sleep hard on clean white sheets and throw parties and eat ripe tomatoes and read books so good they make me jump up and down, and I want my everyday to make God's belly laugh, glad that He gave life to someone who loves the gift. [Cold Tangerines]

I don't think clean white sheets, my own car, or tangerines are so readily available here in Thailand, but you get the gist of this quote. A good friend of mine quoted it from the book Cold Tangerines.

Flooding in Rural Thailand

Please be praying for those affected by large amounts of flooding in rural Thailand. Farmland is completely destroyed and farmers' whole rice crops are gone. As I watch the news, I see lack of hope and great despair on many faces. Pray God activates his church in the midst of this tragedy. For one story on the flooding, follow this link.