Allay Wah?

By now, you've probably realized that I've stopped writing. I'm back in the USA. I've decided to end this journal. I'm not in Thailand anymore, and while I'm sure I'll find adventures here in the states, I've never been one to "blog." Maybe I'll start a new journal, but I'll leave this one to be a record of my time in Thailand. Oh... I guess there is alot of open space left between Big Cow and our actual departure. Most of that is goodbyes that were very meaningful and I don't want to trivialize them by trying to write about it. That, and I'm lazy. Thanks for reading.

Art

December 14, 2005 8:03:59 PM




I'm writing this very late because I've been very busy the past couple weeks. The weekend after Thanksgiving was the first official Grapevine retreat, The Big Cow Weekend. The weekend was at the Khow Yai national park (Khow Yai, yai = big => Big Cow). When we first announced it, we had reserved space for 40 people. We left on Friday night with 45 people. About 6 of which we had never met before, they came as friends of friends.

<Play Time>

When we got to Khow Yai, we had some free time before lunch. So people visited some waterfalls and just generally played around in the grassy areas.



Me in a tree.



IDin and Jaja at the waterfall



American Football



Greg multitasks.



Ja, Ta, Andy, Bird, Boy, Stef, Patrick, Amy

<Lunch>
        
        We then drove to an area where we could get food, which we did. The only reason I'm mentioning this is so I can tell you about the unfortunate members of the 8km walk. At the play area, we had the option of either playing around and then taking the van to the food or going on an 8km. hike through the woods to the food. It turned out that the hike was pretty rough. Apparently, whoever measured the trail just measured distance from the starting point to the ending point, leaving out all the turns in the middle. It was closer to 15km. Also, the group was attacked by bees (Josey had an allergic reaction) and land leaches (Keim's socks were soaked in blood). The group finally arrived an hour and a half late. They were tired but alive.

<Hostel>

        We then went to the nicest hostel I have ever stayed at. There was a spacious common area, a pool table, free food, comfortable beds, and you could climb on to the roof for a decent view of the mountain.
        This is where we were divided into our teams and assigned the task of creating team skits. I really don't like skits (not that I didn't have fun), so I won't go into detail about them. The students seemed to really enjoy them, especially some of the Europeans who had come on the trip as well.



Uh Oh and Pond enjoy the skits.



Fon, Toby, Drew, Me, and Uh Oh: I think it's funnier to not say anything else about this.

<Campfire>

        After the skits we had a campfire... in the middle of the parking lot. First we sang some campfire and praise songs, then Greg talked about creation and what God's power means to him. Then P'Ja, a Thai Christian, shared her testimony in Thai. [Note]: P'Ja is awesome.




After the testimony, we roasted marshmallows. The Thai students had never made smores before, so we shared with them this beautiful western tradition. But they brought something of their own the the table. Flavored marshmallows. I don't know how Americans have been having campfires all these years without figuring this out. Put strawberry, or chocolate or anything INSIDE the marshmallow. Wow.

<Games>
        The next day, we split into our teams again and played games. It was a great way to get people to branch out and meet new people. One of my favorite games is one that is common among Thai people. A sheet is held up between two teams. Each team sends one person to the front, right next to the sheet. The sheet is then dropped, the first of the two "duelists" to say the name of the other wins. We played other games, but none that I feel are particularly of note. Oh wait... yes, there was a 3 way tie at the end of the events, so the victors were determined by Rock Paper Scissors. I don't know... that just seems like a very Thai thing to me.



Patrick vs. JaJa

<Big Cow>

        After the victors were determined, we left the hostel and headed back to Thamassat. We stopped at the Chotchai ranch for food and ice cream. It is conveniently located near Khow Yai and as an added bonus has a really big cow!



That's one big cow.

<Sunflower fields>

        The final stop on the Cow Yai trip was the sunflower fields. This was just a place where we could take lots of pretty pictures with our friends. Awkward moment: I was walking around and a woman from another group motioned to me with a camera and said "take a picture" in Thai. I assumed she wanted me to take a picture for her and her friend, so I said sure. Before I knew it, I was in front of the camera and all of her friends (about 6 people) were taking turns getting their picture taken with the farang. When I managed to extricate myself, they grabbed Danny, then Alan, then Joe. I guess I had somehow forgotten I was a celebrity simply because of my skin.



Pond



Milk & IDin



Me & IDin



Danny

It was a great first retreat. I'm excited to hear about retreats in the future.

December 14, 2005 9:21:23 PM

I leave in 3 days. Today is a holiday, post won't come. Tomorrow is Sunday, post won't come. Monday, the post might come... but probably not. The mail has been running slow as of late so we still haven't gotten the Georgia vs. Georgia Tech game. I am therefore dropping my self-imposed internet ban. But all my journal writing time has been taken up with goodbye letter writing. I'll have plenty of time to write on the plane, so I'll put up a couple of closing posts after I get back to the states. Sorry, my faithful readers.

This weekend we are going on the first-ever Grapevine Retreat. Consequently, I won't be near a computer so I can listen to the Georgia/Georgia Tech football game. So this is what's going to happen. Danny Kenyon's parents are going to record the game and send it to us on DVD as fast as possible. To preserve the integrity of the game, I will not be getting on the Internet, opening mail, or recieving international phone calls until I watch the game (about a week). Just so you know where I am. Goooo Jackets! Sting 'Em!

November 24, 2005 2:09:26 PM

We celebrated Thanksgiving at Grapejam on Tuesday. We had a great turnout. About 55 people total came. Allison Coley and Kathy Every did an excellent job preparing a feast for all those people. It was delicious.



Greg sticking his head into the kitchen looking for food.



Milk dishing out some oh-so-delicious apple pie.



Paa plays some guitar after the meal.

It was really good having Thanksgiving. I'm starting to get a little homesick. But at the same time I'm sad to see my time here in Thailand coming to an end. Perhaps I can come back some time. I would love to see what the Grapevine looks like in a couple of years.
We actually had two Thanksgivings because the next day, Stef's parents invited us to their new apartment (they have moved to Thailand) for another delicious meal. We couldn't find any American football to watch... but we did find a couple of "soccer" games making it a truly international Thanksgiving.

November 24, 2005 2:17:04 PM

November 24, 2005 1:04:50 PM

<Summary>
On Saturday, our friend Pim took some of us to the province of Ratchanaburi. There we visited a floating market, a memorial to King Rama 2, and some sort of museum shaped like a giant 3 headed elephant.

<Floating market>
We had to get up bright and early so we could beat the tourist crowds (and prices). So after turning off my alarm at 4:00 AM, I went downstairs to meet Stef, Derek, Brandon, Joe, Taan, and Yim. We left Rangsit at 5:00. 2 hours and 20 minutes later, we had picked up Pim's family and Andy and Jen and were sitting in a couple of boats at the floating market.
A floating market basically means that you are in a boat. It's a pretty cool experience.
Pictures!



The Market



Aww... Taan is sleepy.



Yim, Taan, and Stef



I like this picture.

<Sleepy day>
One common theme for the day was exhaustion. Everyone except for Pim and her family had gone to see Harry Potter the previous night (group of 42 Grapevine people). So few of us had gotten more than 4 hours of sleep.



Sleepy.



Very sleepy.

<Erawan Museum>
The first thing I noticed when we pulled up to this museum was the giant 3 headed elephant.




It turns out that this was a museum for Thai culture and to encourage general peace and morality... or something like that. I was tired. Give me a break.



Yim, Taan, and Pim. (Their names mean: Smile, Sugar, and Mold (like a mold for making something))

So I finally got back to Rangsit around 4:00. And took a nice long nap. I had to get up early the next morning so I could listen to Georgia Tech beat #3 Miami. ;)

November 24, 2005 2:02:55 PM

Hey everyone! Thanks to some stellar work by Drew Champion, the Grapevine has a website. It has a calendar of events and a photo album section. So if you have Grapevine/Grapefriends related pictures, go to http://clubgrapevine.com (NO "www") and click on the photos link and post some pics.

Other news: 8:30 to play in the 2nd quarter of GT vs. Miami. We are up by 7. Let's go Tech! But I gotta go to church. Peace.

Alright folks. 3 brand new entries for you. If you don't want to sit here and read them, I recommend that you print them out and use them for good reading material in the bathroom. Oh... if you're going to comment on any of them, comment here... that way I don't have to look very far in order to see that nobody is writing.

November 17, 2005 11:19:50 AM

Yesterday, Thailand celebrated Loi Kratong. Loi meaning "float" and kratong meaning this thing


Kratongs are essentially small boats, but they take different forms. Most of them are a slice of banana tree (about 6 inch diameter, 1-2 inches thick) and decorated with leaves and flowers. I saw some made of styrofoam and one that was really big... I'm not sure what it was, but I doubt it was a slice of banana tree.



On Loi Kratong, people make/buy these boats and take them to a river or lake or pond or anywhere there is water (I know someone who floated theirs in a 2"x7" pool.) Most people put candles and incense in the kratong and then let them float away. The reason for this is to seek atonement (say "I'm sorry") to the water for using it to travel on, dump your trash in, ect. That's right. In order to apologize for 364 days of abuse, everyone gets together on 1 day a year to throw even more stuff in. Drew asked our friend Opal how he would feel about an apology based on throwing things at him. He responded "I am not a river."

Regardless, it was fun. After Grapejam on Tuesday, we provided materials for people to make kratongs. This was a very popular activity. We've noticed that Thai people love to do arts and crafts. On Wednesday, we went to the festival and floated our kratongs. Knowing, that we have already received atonement from Jesus Christ, some of us did not put incense or candles in our kratongs. We still floated them to participate in the fun and used it as an opportunity to thank God for the blessings He's given us.



There are a bunch of traditions/superstitions about how the kratongs behave. Couples will release their kratongs together. If they float together than it is a good sign, if they drift apart then it is a portent of bad things to come. If a kratong capsizes it is an especially bad sign (perhaps why some people make theirs out of styrofoam.) My kratong just kinda sat there... didn't go anywhere. Maybe we should have gone to a river, it might have added a little more suspense. Danny threw his in, trying to get it to "fight" with Brandon's. It capsized immediately.


Note about my kratong: I did not make one on Tuesday night, and I had planned on not floating one at all. But on Wednesday afternoon, as I was telling a student about English lessons on Mondays, a woman brought her little girl to the door. When I answered the door, she told her daughter "give it to the farang." At which she handed me this beautiful kratong. I had never seen them before, nor do I ever expect to see them again. Thai people embarrass Americans when it comes to giving. So often they give for no reason and expecting nothing in return. Anyway, since I had been given such a nice gift, I decided that I would float it after all. I prayed for the girl and her mom as I sent off the little boat.

"Wow Art, what a great explanation of a truly interesting holiday! Is there anything more to this already elaborate and culturally rich holiday?"
Why yes there is. In addition to floating things on water, people also float them in the air. Candles with a large plastic bag above them are lit and released into the air.


The heat from the candle provides hot air that carries the balloon. Security at the festival we were at kept taking these balloons from people as they tried to light them. Apparently they think this presents some sort of fire hazard. Go figure. That didn't stop people from trying. People came in waves and the police had to keep going back and forth to stop them. This picture was taken about 5 seconds before the balloon was released and 8 seconds before the cop got there. This group was the only one of this wave to get their balloon off. I heard that in other parts, these balloons fill the sky and make a very awe inspiring and beautiful sight.

Pictures.












November 17, 2005 2:29:41 PM

November 17, 2005 10:29:17 AM

The week before SIIT started, we had a big planning weekend to talk about what we needed to do for the upcoming term.


Nice place for a planning meeting huh?

<Trang>
        The southernmost provinces has long been a place of conflict in Thailand. There are several muslim groups down there who think the predominately muslim provinces should secede from Thailand, which is a buddhist country. Several months ago, Thailand instigated martial law in those provinces in response to the terroristic bombings that have been making newspapers once or twice a week.
        Trang is a city a relatively short distance from these provinces. There is still an (as yet) untouched province between the conflict and Trang, but tourism in Trang suffers anyway. This meant that we stayed at a nice place that was cheap and was not what I would call a "tourist area." It was very nice. I'm sorry that such peace is at least in part due to such terror. What a paradox.

<Koh Hai>
        We actually stayed on an island called Koh Hai off the west coast of Trang (in the Adriatic Sea).



Near Koh Hai, there were several small rocky islands that could be rowed to in about 15-20 minutes using the free kayaks. These islands sometimes had little huts on them... I'm not sure what they were for, perhaps a place for fishermen to take breaks.



On the second day we went on an excursion in the morning. The plan was to go to "Emerald Cave". This is an island that has a beach in the middle of it. The only way in is by swimming through a small tunnel for about 80 meters. We never actually got to do that though, by the time we got there, the tide had risen too high for us to enter safely. (note: when the tsunami hit Thailand, there were 10 people swimming through the tunnel. They were all killed and they were the only casualties in the area.) Instead of Emerald Cave, we went snorkeling around a couple of the islands. The highlight of this (for me) was when we found a large jelly fish. It's head was at least a foot in diameter. I could watch it's muscles propelling it forward and it had small fish swimming around and in it.



We didn't spend all our time swimming and kayaking. We spent lots of time preparing for the coming semester. I was really grateful for this. After a month of traveling, I felt like it was time to slow down. I translated this into returning to America. Our meeting helped to focus my mind on the job at hand. I left feeling excited for my last 6 weeks in Thailand.

November 17, 2005 11:13:42 AM