A few thoughts on Thailand.

It's been a week and a half since I left the tropical paradise that is Thailand. 

And I thought to myself, "Most of my readers will never go to Thailand. 

I should educate them." 

While I can't give you a rundown on genuine Thai life, I can pass on to you a few thoughts of an American tourist vacationing in Thailand after six months in China. 

Let's begin.

"Where did all these Europeans come from???"

That's right. They all congregate in Thailand to get warm in the winter time. And some of them might be paler than you, the girl who's lived the last six months under the cover of smog. Score!

"There are bathrooms everywhere. AND WESTERN TOILETS...that aren't covered in pee or footprints!!"

I didn't have a picture of a toilet, but this was our bathroom on Koh Phi Phi in which we could take COLD showers because it was so HOT outside!

Oh, you're wondering what I meant about the footprints on the toilets. Remember that most people in China use squatty potties and aren't used to something raised off the ground. Now, use your imagination.

"The King is EVERYWHERE."

That's right. The king's photo is literally everywhere--restaurants, businesses, highway signs, you name it. He looks like a nice guy, but I would've paid for a picture of him pointing off in the distance with a caption that read: "Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!"

"Roti and smoothies. That's it. I'm never leaving."

Roti: fried deliciousness that can be improved with banana, nutella, chocolate, and just about any other wonderful thing you can think to put on/in it. 

"Alright. Where did all the drag queens come from?"

   

But really. They call these people "Lady Boys" and you are guaranteed to find multitudes of them if you wander the Night Bazaar.

"Whoa--Buddha's worse than Santa."

 

He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake. That's right. Buddha's EVERYWHERE. There were three big temples within two blocks of our hotel in Chiang Mai and spirit houses with teeny Buddhas were scattered all down the street.

"THREE STORY STARBUCKS."

 

Did you just pee your pants? Yeah, me too. 

There were two other Starbucks a short walk from our Chiang Mai hotel.

"Green. Oh green." 

I went from the first picture (Taiyuan) to the second picture. You can understand my excitement.

"Sa bai dee kaaaaaaa."

The all-around nice greeting that you hear multiple times a day in Thailand. Sometimes the "ka" stretches out into three syllables. 

Even Ronald knows how to do it the Thai way.

And, just when I thought I was beginning to grasp the four tones of Chinese, I was affronted with Thai's FIFTH tone. 

That's it. No more language learning for Laura. 

"I look like I have smallpox."

 

   Thanks, mosquitoes. There are well over 100 bites on those once-beautiful legs.

"Thai people are so...chill."

 

Thailand is famous for its abundance of "Thai smiles". Life there isn't lived according to time constraints--businesses don't open til late morning and don't close until late at night. And they played volleyball with us. What more could you want?

"MMM...eggs with flowers?"

 

    Unexpected.

   Yet delicious.

Of course, there is far more to Thailand than the few thoughts I have just passed on to you. 

But if I had to choose a third-world country to spend time in, it would probably be Thailand. 

And it's not just because they have a three-story Starbucks.

An Almost-Perfect Day in Chiang Mai

Let me to take you back to one almost-perfect day in Chiang Mai. 

Actually, let me take you back to a day before the almost-perfect day. 

The day that I found myself in tears because it was hard to think about going back to cold, smoggy Taiyuan (the "Dirty T") instead of the clear skies and rolling hills of Tennessee.

The day when I realized that one of my problems last semester--one of the reasons that I didn't feel quite "ME"--was that I need nature in the way I didn't understand before. 

In response, the Father gave me a special day in the green warmth of Thailand to treasure as I spend another semester in Taiyuan. 

This day began with a ride in the back of a covered pick-up truck with two Swedes, two Germans, two Australians, one Israeli, Natalie, and Yours Truly.

Our first stop was at the orchid farm, where I learned that orchids come in pretty much every color but green. 

 Our guide instructed us to "STOP TWENTA MINUTES. TAKE A PICTCHAS."

Then it was time to do what all people are supposed to do when they visit Thailand. 

That's right. 

I rode a freaking elephant. 

Natalie and I rode on the back while our Israeli friend "guided" the elephant (which means he fed it bananas while yelling, "AY, Bobo! Go left! GOOO LEEEFFFTTT!!"). 

Somehow we ended up the elephant that was blind in one eye and couldn't follow the rest of the elephants to save his life. 

And seatbelts, of course, were not a necessity because that would take away from the adventure of almost falling out the entire time. 

Near the end of the ride, the elephant trainer thought it would be a great idea to kick around a water bottle so that our elephant would get spooked, run, and make me yell like a banshee. 

Our next stop was lunch (noodles wrapped in banana leaves) and a hike to a waterfall. 

That's right. 

A HIKE. 

IN NATURE.

I walked at the back because I kept accidentally smiling and inadvertently humming to myself out of pure bliss. 

It reminded me of Tennessee...if hiking in Tennessee was like going through an obstacle course with bamboo plants and palm trees everywhere.

After hiking, we went white water and bamboo rafting with a swarthy Thai guide who looked like he could've been a pirate once-upon-a-time.

If anyone remembers my experience rafting the Nile, you know that the way I feel about rafting now is similar to the way a hangman feels about his noose. Fortunately, it was dry season, so the Mae Tang (the river we were on) was really low. It was essentially like riding a merry-go-round instead of going bungee jumping. 

And I was ok with that. 

Since I couldn't take any pictures ON the raft, here are some internet photos of what we did.

The last stop on our tour was to a Karen Long-Neck village, where some of the women still put gold rings on their necks to stretch them out. It was like stepping into Ripley's Believe It or Not--except more sad. 

There was a pervading sense of hopelessness there. 

I'm guessing it had something to do the fact that their lives revolve around being stared at and getting their pictures taken because the rest of the world thinks they look weird. 

Then it was time to go back. 

After settling into a sketchy guest house (because we didn't reserve a room in the nice one with the assumption that they would have a vacancy...), we made our way out the Night Bazaar for a last taste of good Western food and cheap shopping. 

 And that was it. 

My Almost-Perfect Day.

The End.

 

Desperately Dependent

It's easy to think that people in my position have an easy time connecting with the Father. 

Why?

I followed Him to a place that's hard. 

I have to depend on Him in another culture. 

I'm concerned about His work in others' hearts. 

I'm surrounded by a team that has the same goals as I do and I receive encouragement from back home more often than a lot of people do stateside.

In fact, if I weren't me and I read my newsletters and put them on my fridge, it might not be hard to imagine myself with a halo around my head, living the life of adventure, and battering down the gates of glory. 

But it's not that way. 

It can actually be really hard to hear Him over car horns, banging construction, and language I don't understand. It's hard to see Him in dust, concrete, and smog. It's hard to feel His presence when all I really want to feel is a hot shower and clean air. Before I knew it, He was distant and I couldn't understand why. 

Over the last few weeks of travel--and now our Annual Thailand Conference--I've recognized the void.  And I spent some time scrambling around, trying to figure out what to do with it, how to reconnect and be revitalized. 

I tried praise, thankfulness, journaling, reading about Him, spending time alone--and all those things are good. But I realized that what I really needed was for Him to be my dad. I needed to ask Him to love and affirm me in a way that all my growth, accomplishments, and gifts will not. Not that He wouldn't love me if I hadn't asked for it. But He wanted me to see how desperately dependent I am on Him so that I could feel His love more fully. 

It's amazing how often we have to relearn these lessons. 

A Visit to Koh Phi Phi

Once upon a time, I never dreamed I would be visiting Thailand. 

I never thought I'd go to China, either. 

I guess Asia in general wasn't really in the picture. 

Stop #3 on our Spring Festival travels list (after Beijing and Chengdu) was Koh Phi Phi Don, and island off the coast of Thailand, where we (my teammate, Natalie, and I, that is) met up with friends from other teams in our program.

Slightly overpriced, quite hot, and full of crazy Europeans: yes.

BEAUTIFUL, BEACHY, AND FULL OF FRUIT SMOOTHIES:

DEFINITELY YES.

Six days of sun, beach, sitting, eating sweet things, dancing, playing cards, and wearing shorts. 

Along with a bit of hiking and some snorkeling.

Glorious. 

Fire shows outside of our bungalows every night. 

Island!

Our bungalow. 

My favorite.

We made it to the top of the island!

Because I could. 

Beach.

Jeannie really wanted to get into that coconut.

Beach. 

Volleyball with some Thai guys. 

Of course, to conserve money, we stayed at a place that gave us a giant towel as a blanket. 

Coconut juice actually tastes kind of like corn chips. 

And the other thing is a Thai pancake called "Roti".

Sometimes your unexpected dreams really DO come true.