Whats up Peeps!

....P. Fon (is the girl who we stay at the center with) Jess and i taught her some English slang and one of those words were "peeps" and so now she no longer address people as "people" but rather "peeps". Its great! It makes Jess and i laugh every time because we will all be having a serious conversation and P. Fon will be describing someone or talking about a situation where this "peep" said this and thats "peep" said this and it i think for Jess and i we are waiting for her to laugh or for there to be a delay in her reaction but there isn't. I would like to start bringing that word back in everyday conversation when i come home. ....just a thought. Sorry for the ramble, it just gives me great joy whenever i hear her say it.

We have been in Roi-et for two weeks now. We will be home in 30 days, not that i am keeping track...at least not trying too! I love it here and will miss it greatly but i am looking forward to be home. I get butterflies every time i think about it and feel rather anxious so i am trying really hard not to think about it too much.

We have had quite the busy run since we have been back. Although many of our classes have been canceled the last two weeks, we have been preparing for the Christmas party that will take place at the center on the 13th of December. The kids will perform the Christmas story with musical numbers and songs for the community. I am really excited. It has been alot of fun preparing for it thus far. Jess and i am p. Fon and Pure rewrote the lyrics to "Baby its cold outside" to go with our play. We even got to sing it a couple times to help the kids practice......however i think i messed them up more then helped them! :) We also put together a dance for the younger kids to dance to. Its about love, and they look adorable dancing to it.

We also had the opportunity to harvest rice. We didn't do it for very long but it was really cool. They use this sharp blade which looks like it just came out of the movie "i know what you did last summer" and i had some issues with it, i treated it more like a butter knife then a sharp SHARP knife....thing. However, i came out with all of my limbs intact which i was thankful for. We also visited the prison here in Roi-et and were able to put on a little Christmas program for them with some songs and. It was alot of fun. I was fine in the morning as we were driving to the prison. I had been to prison many times when i was in XD so i wasn't nervous and then we made our way up to the wardens office and he was telling us that we needed to be careful because it wouldn't be unlike them to grab you and take you hostage so stay close. After he said that i think reality hit and i remembered.....oh right i am in PRISON! It wasn't like any prison i had been in before. The prisoners just sleep in one big room on mattresses. Boys are on one side of the prison and girls are on the other. And then they kind of just hang out in like a common area but we were walking side by side. Its like a big compound and they are all over the place hanging out and working. It was a little strange to see that just because when you think of prison its usually all on lock down but not this place. The prisoners are treated very well. The warden that is currently working there is a very good man and really looks after all of the prisoners.

Jess is now a pro at driving a standard. She has been doing an awesome job getting us from place to place. Next week P. Fon has to be back in Bangkok for a wedding so Jess and i will be on our own on Saturday and we will drive to the school where we have to teach. It is quite exciting. I am more excited i think that i dont have to drive. I have tried it a couple times and its just too much to try and remember with the way the people in Bangkok drive, i cant handle it, im a mess the whole time hahah.

Well thats all the updating i have for you now. Thank you for your prayers and all your support. It means alot! Please continue to pray that God would help us finish strong and finish the work He has for us here.

Take Care and God bless

Katey

October Fest

So the month of October was a busy one for us. The first week we returned back to Bangkok we attended a seminar at the church. It was on the Thai culture and the people. It was really good. Very insightful. It opened my eyes up to alot of different things. As we have been learning more about the Buddhist religion i have come to find out that yes there are obviously some major differences but we really arent that different in the way we think or in what we do. I was also amazed when thinking about how different cultures can be from each other. That might sound like a dud statement but i never really realized how different one place is form the next and why that is. From what we beleive to how we think to the expressions we make. My worldview has definitely been widened in more ways then one. I feel as if i am still trying to process everything. In a way things seem to be moving so fast its hard to straighten it all out in my head.

(side note) We had to use the squatty potties alot this week because of what floor we were on for the seminar...well we could have walked up a flight of stairs and used the western toilets but who wants to walk up all those stairs unless its absoulutely necessary right!...anyways i still havent mastered the squat potts. I still end up peeing on my feet. At first i was always really ashamed and nervous that i spelt like pee but now i dont even give it a second thought...i mean for cryin out loud im trying my best alright!

My parents came down for 11 days....it was a surpirse...i mean i knew they were coming but they planned to come not even two weeks before they actually arrived. It was so good to see them. I am so thankful they were able to make it down. I am happy that i was able to share a part of this adventure with them. They hung out in Bangkok the firt week as we were in the Seminar and then we spent the next 5 days in Hua Hin which is about 3 hours form Bangkok. It was alot of fun. The beds were one of my favorite parts. It was nice not sleeping on what feels like a board :) DOnt get me wrong, im glad i have a bed but it was nice to have a change for a couple days. We wnt to a place called Monkey Mountain while we were there and it was awesome but kind of surreal becayse these monleys just chill as if they are people......Jess was brave and decided she wanted to feed them so she bought some food and before she could "hand it out or throw it" this little creeper of a monkey jumped right on her head. I was very proud of her though. She was very calm....me on the other hand i was all the way over on the other side of the road. She was freaking out on the inside but i most definitely was freaking out on the outside.

When we returned home form Hua Hin it was time to say goodbye to my parents and head to Loas to renew our passpotrs.....we decided to lay low the last two months we are here and cooperate with the law and stay here legally! It was a good trip. It was very short but it was nice to see another part of Asia. The bus ride however was not so nice. There were cockroaches and it was raining outside so rain was leaking in directly on top of me......i didnt know if i should laugh or cry.

We were given an amazing oppurtunity we were able to go to Phuket for 10 days to help out with the Tsunami releif with a pastor named Wasan. It was really awesoem to be there. It was sad as well. We went down to one of the big memorials in Bang Nam khem and it really made what happen a reality. It really brought prespective for me . Because it happened so far away i guess it was just a passing thought , something that i was sad about but then i moved on and didnt really understand the implications of it all and how it effected the people and such. But it was also cool to hear how God worked in the lives of the people during this time, i was able to hear this man named An, his testimony and it was just awesome how God worked in his life.
We taught a bit of English and were also able to help start the building of the foundation for a preschool. That was alot of fun...i have been reminded just how weak i am hahaha. I am asking for weights for Christmas.........(haha thats funny)

We were also able to see soem of the Island, Phi Phi Island and we went and saw Maya Bay where the movie the Beath was filmed with Leonardo Dicaprio. It was beautiful and it was so sweet of God how it happened. Jess and i really wanted to go but we knew it wasnt going to happen and when Wasan picked us up from the airport he was telling us about how the week was going to look and how he had to go to Phi Phi island to officiate a wedding and jokinly we said we will come with you and he was like okay! He knew the owner of the resort and we were able to stay for free. It was a huge blessing. It was alot of fun...however my legs didnt have such a fun time. I woke up the next day looking like i had gotten the chicken pox but only on my legs hahah. Good times!

We are now in Roi-et once again for the last 6 weeks. It is hard to believe it is almost time to come home. It will be bittersweet for sure. I am happy that we have another 6 weeks here in Roi-et. I missed the kids for sure. It is still pretty warm here but i am going to try and take advantage of it while i can :)

I am going to try and be better with my posts.
thank you so much for reading and for your supporrt and prayers
Miss you all
Love
katey

Bad Girls Bad Girls whatcha gonna do when Thailand comes for you!?

So first off i need to apologize for my lack of posts.........I am really sorry. Time has gotten away from me so the next couple blogs will be recent (but not so recent) events from the past two months.....

Ok so funny story now.....it wasnt so funnt at the time. Jess and i went in August to go and renew our visas but when we went the guy at the desk looked at my passport and the stamp said we had a month more...(till Sept 25th) So we were mightily releived gien the fact the Jess forgot her passport. So we headed to Roi-et and then September 16th we decided to head to Bangkok and get the process over and done with a little early....or so we thought.....

Jess ahnds the lady her passport and says that she has been staying in Bangkok for the last 22 days illegally......which made no sense because i remebered seeing my stamp and it said we had till september 25th. So i whipped out my passport to "save the day"......"have no fear front desk lady her stamp must be wrong..." thinking to myself (jess i have it under control aint no thing) SO i handed the lady my passprot and it turns out my stamp was wrong. So at this point it was still okay we were going to change my stamp because clearly the man at the airport gave me the wrong stamp so no harm done......

To make a long story short....Jess had to pay the fee because he stamp was right, and they couldnt do anything for me unless a left the country ASAP and then as i entered back in they would correct my stamp....however after all was said and done it would have cost the same to travel somewhere as it would to just pay the find of 11000 Baht which is about 320 ish us dollars. I wont lie....i had a bit of a break down. There were a couple different things going through my head at the time. At first i was reminded of the Movie 'broken down palace' i was thinking "great i am going to be put away in jail because i am now an allegded offender in Thailand and i will never be able to go home and blah blah blah..." and then i thought about the movie "Babel" The part when Brad "hottie" Pitt was screaming get the American Embassy on the phone...thats all i wanted to yell...." someone connect me to the Canadian Embassy right now this is an outrage!" Then all i wanted to do was call my daddy hahah.

So after many hours at the Visa place.....we left with our passports stamped with a stamp stated we are alledged offenders.......eek.......It was a good lesson. We were told that they sometimes do that in order to make money for the economy which helps the people in the end, which I'm all for helping the people it just sucks the way some of them try to do it. But i will now always look at my stamp on my visas.....you should too......you never know it could be you next!

Good times.......listen, the law is no joke!

Godbless

Katey (offender of the law) Merriman

Life in ROI-ET

Howdy friends!

So it has been about two weeks since Jess and I have been living in Roi-et. We are living at the centre (a.k.a. The church plant that is connected with the church we were staying at while we were in Bangkok). We are in a village called Banon. It has been quite the change from living in Bangkok.

Our days consist of teaching and driving. From Wednesday to Saturday we teach about two classes a day, some days we teach two classes each. In between classes we are traveling to the next school in the next village. Let’s just say us and the truck have become one! Friday after we teach we come back to the house and the kids from the village are waiting for us. We usually read a story to them and act it out and then the kids have a reading competition and then there are two more English classes from about 4:30 to 6:00. Sunday we have a mini service or rather program for the kids. There are a bout 40 kids ranging from 3 years old to 17 years old. We start off with a song or a little exercise…usually both. Jess and taught them the song “Jesus you’re my Superhero”, they seem to really enjoy that little ditty. The first week we were hear we dressed up like superheroes…..well…….our version of a superhero so I don’t know if they really just enjoyed watching us make fools of ourselves but in either case they like the song….who cares why exactly…right! After a little exercise to wake them up we tell them a story and act it out and tie it in with a Bible story and then have a time of prayer where we can pray for the kids and this week i was given the opportunity to teach a dance class. It was a lot of fun. I don’t think I have gotten that much exercise ……well lets just say in a very long time……my heart was freaking out! Then we have lunch all together. It’s really cool to see different parents or grandparents bringing food or preparing the food for the Sunday lunch. After lunch we hang out with the kids all afternoon. We read to them, play with them, help them with homework, this week Jess has been helping one of the teens to learn to read music, we just spend time with them.

So that’s what a usual week looks like. It is quite busy from Wednesday to Sunday. It is pretty exhausting at the end of the day but in a good way. Teaching has been a lot of fun but quite challenging at the same time. It is a lot different teaching here then it was in Bangkok. Many times the kids are all on different levels in their knowledge of English. I am not sure if it is like this all over Thailand but here in Roi-et at many of the schools the students are not exactly taught in the sense that they interact with the teaching and learn but rather the teaching is up in the front writing things on the board and the kids just copying. So many times it is a struggle to get the kids to interact. It’s almost as if they aren’t sure that its okay. Sometimes you feel like you are talking to yourself. Also, Dr. Natachai, was telling us that usually in the Thai culture one wants an education not for the knowledge side of things but rather to get the diploma just to be able to say you have one or so that you can get a job to earn money. So they aren’t exactly excited about learning or have a concept of why it is important. So it has been challenging but interesting to be able to interact with the kids and think of new methods and new ways in which we can get them excited about learning. The other challenge is that they know how to read certain words or spell them but don’t always know what they are or their meanings. It has been a really awesome experience being in the classroom with the younger students. I have been having a lot of fun, however…I may come home with a little less hair :)

I love the lifestyle here. People live very simple. They don’t have a lot at all but they are content. It has also caused me to look at how I live and the mindset I have about different things regarding the way I live, its been challenging me and helping me to see how blessed I am and that many of the things I think I need, or rather just want most times, that they are just things, its all just stuff. It really isn’t important and is really just another distraction from what really matters. Many of the kids here have been left in their care of their Grandparents because their parents have left them to go to Bangkok. There was a young girl sharing with us last week that she is really sick but her parents don’t have a lot of money so they couldn’t give her a full check up at the hospital like they needed to. As this little girl was sharing this, she was talking about how her tummy hurts and how she has to take a lot of medicine but she is worried about if it turns out that she is really sick because her parents don’t have much money. So here is this young girl who is sick and in pain but yet her concern is that she hopes that it isn’t anything serious because she doesn’t want to cost her parents money because they don’t have a lot of it. How different our mindsets. Then I think of my own parents and think how they would feel if they were in that position, that must be so hard on them. ……….I don’t know……just the difference in the way we live in North America compared to the way they live here or other parts of the world. The different struggles and worries. Different values and opportunity or there lack of. It just makes me think and evaluate what really is important. What matters to me? And makes me wonder where my part is in all this, where do I fit, how can I help?

Sorry about the ramble….just processes I guess….

On another note…….i eat bugs now…..yep that’s right. Jess and I and the two other girls, P. Fon and P. Kem, we went to the market and ate a grasshopper, a cricket, an ant and some other kind of insect. ………don’t judge me………..but it was actually quite delicious if I do say so myself! If I close my eyes and didn’t know that I was actually eating insects I think I could eat a bag of em!

I think that I have fleas or bed bugs or something in my bed…….I continues to have new bits on me everyday. Jess doesn’t seem to be getting bit but for some reason they continue to have a feast with my body. I mean really when you think about it jokes on them……I mean….lets not forget folks……… I eat bugs now…HELLO!!!

I really feel like we are to be here for such a time as this. I have felt such a great peace since we have been here. A peace I haven’t had in a very long time. The fellowship that God has given us with P. Kem, P. Fon and Dr. Natachai has been awesome. I am really having a great time. It has been challenging and tiring by days but I can honestly say that at this time there is no place I would rather be. I look forward to being able to continue to build relationships with the kids and love on them and that God will use us the way He wants.

I miss you guys

I hope all is well

Thank you for your prayers, keep them coming :)

God Bless

Katey xo

Rice and Motorcycles

Hey Everyone!

Sorry it has taken me so long to update my Blog. It feels like time is going by so fast. It is hard to believe that Jess and I have been here almost two months! I remember the first night we arrived in Bangkok, feeling very nervous and anxious. I remember asking Jess right before we were about to walk out of the luggage pickup and through the doors where we would meet Dan and Pada for the first time, if she was sure she wanted to do this cause it was our last chance to turn back :) and now I feel like time is moving faster then I would like it too. Its rather bittersweet!

It has been a great two …well almost two months.Jess and I are on our way to Roi-et on the 27th of August. I am quite excited about the change in scenery and the change in pace. However I will miss the business of Bangkok and the friends we have made here, and our favorite chicken and rice lady and her husband with the soft features....... according to Jess :). A month ago I wondered what I was going to do when we left for Roi-et, I haven’t yet found chicken and rice as good as hers but the way I am feeling a month later is that if I eat anymore chicken and rice, or chicken fried rice, it will be oh to soon! There is a combination of reasons as to why we order this particular dish as much as we do. At first, it was because our now favorite chicken lady with the husband who has the soft features according to Jess, she is located just down the street from where we live so it was very convenient, second it was absolutely delicious (the first 10 times) and lastly it is the only thing we know how to order in Thai, so without pictures we are lost and thus resort back to what we know how to say in Thai...this being "cow pat guy". So our options are very very slim. Because of this minor dilemma, last night Jess and I went to a little Thai street restaurant that had a menu with pictures so we just pointed and were able to broaden our food choice:) Maybe that’s what we need to do is take some pictures of a variety of different Thai foods that we like and make a little picture book, so then we can just whip it out whenever we need to eat…….or I guess we could learn how to say something other then “Cow Pat Moo” or “Cow Pat Guy”. We really should look into that!One more rant about food while I’m on the subject. There is a delicious Thai treat called Mangoes and rice…..well that’s the English word for it…….anyways, if you are ever in Thailand or you ever decide to eat at a Thai restaurant, ask if they serve Mangoes and rice. It is the most delicious combination ever!! I never would have thought that those two things would taste good together but they put a bit of coconut juice on top and it seriously is a party for my taste buds. I find myself thinking the same thing whenever I eat this yummy treat, I wonder who thought it would be a good idea to eat mangoes and rice with a little bit of coconut juice on top….together.....Who ever it was is brillant and i am forever grateful :)

Today was our last day for Thai class. It was sad to say good-bye to my fellow class mates. However, most of my classmates will be taking module two so I will see them on Monday! I am enjoying the language and have looked forward (most days) to being in class and learning all that I can. I feel like I can understand a lot more then I can actually speak. And then there are many times where I hear what they are asking and it sounds familiar but I just can’t recall what the word means. That’s a bit frustrating at times but its coming slowly but surely. Thank you for all your prayers in that area, (keep them coming :)) God has been so good with giving me an understanding and a lot of encouragement to keep me chugging along. I know more than when I came right!? hahah..... that’s how I'm trying to look at it!! I am feeling a bit more comfortable as time goes on but still need to push myself to speak and converse more than I have been outside of class. I am looking forward to starting Module Two on Monday.

I took my first motorcycle ride last week. I was very nervous! When it was time to get on i wanted to hold the motorcyle driver so tight around the waist but knowing that its not culturally acceptable to do that here in the big BKK, i put my hands on his shoulders. At first i held on really tight, so tight that my knuckles where no longer skin tone but rather a nice shade of white, but in fear of the possiblity of striking a pressure point on the poor mans shoulders, I tried to loosen my grip a little. I mean really though, how bad would that have been if buddy passed out as i was on the back..hahah! (Thats all i could think of at that moment) However, once we got going it was glorious. I had a hard time trying to hold myself back from closing my eyes, lifting up my hands and singing "BORN TO BE WILD" at the top of my lungs. I decided against it though, as I didnt want to make myself anymore of a spectacle then i already was for being white! :) It was a great little adventure. I wouldnt mind driving around on a motorcyle, having it be my only mode of transportation while I'm here. I am thinking about investing in a sweet helmet or something.

Jess and I are having a great time. God is teaching me a lot at the moment about who He is and that when we seek Him He will and does draw us near. It is through seeking His face we come to know Him more and through knowing Him more we learn who we are in Him. Thank you for all your prayers. Continue to pray for us as we leave for Roi-et where we will be teaching and helping out wherever we are needed, that God would have His way with us and use us as He wants.

I love and miss everyone.
God Bless
Katey (aka. Street rider)

My Very First Blog!

Hey everyone…….I mean, Sawatdii Kha.
So thanks to Jen I now have a blog…..thanks Jen a little shout out for ya!) :)
I am quite excited! I have never had a blog before, and for some reason I feel a little nervous about it.

Moving right along……
Jess and I have been here for three weeks now. Time has gone by fast. It feels like we have been here a lot longer then just three weeks. I feel as though we are finally getting into a routine now that school has started which is nice to finally have some structure. School started on Monday, it has been a fun adventure thus far. I knew learning Thai was going to be hard but I don’t think I knew just how hard it actually is. We have finally completed learning the vowels and consonants. There are 21 vowels, 37 consonants and 5 tones. Now the issue I have with all of these vowels and consonants is that many of the vowels sound the exact same. For example, the other day we were going through three of the vowel sounds and the teacher would say them and then each of us had to take a turn and repeat them back to her. Well, when it came to my turn I repeated the three vowels she gave me, I said them exactly as a heard them which was all the same all the same and yet I said it right. It’s puzzling really! Today I felt like I spent most of my time sunk down in my chair with my head down, eyes up with the most stunned look on my face. You could definitely see the wheels inside my head trying to turn! Needless to say it was a bit of a situation. I must say it has been quite the humbling experience. I get laughed at quite a bit by not only the teacher but the other students as well. Sometimes I sound so silly that I catch myself having a little chuckle……at myself. Even though it’s been a bit of a challenge I am excited that I have the opportunity to learn the language and look forward to being able to apply it.
Jess and I have been doing some ministry with a place called The Well. They minister to victims of human trafficking. We have been out twice to the red light district. We have had the opportunity to meet some amazing women. I am praying that God will continue to open doors in those relationships He has allowed us to start. It is a great ministry with some amazing volunteers. The first night we went out I had a lot of different emotions but I have never felt so alive. I was reminded that God uses us even in our weakness. All He wants is for us to be open and willing.
The heat is still unbearable at times. I am getting use to being constantly damp. I don’t think I have ever had to do laundry as often as I have since I have been here! However it is a great change from the cold long winter we had in New Brunswick this year…or any year really! :)
…..Well that is all for right now. I just want to thank everyone for your support and your prayers. I am so thankful to be here and just pray that God will continue to grow in me and use me in whatever way He wants to. And pray that God will continue to help me master ………or just grasp the Thai language……I will take what I can get hahah. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog! I hope you have enjoyed my very first blog :)

God Bless
Katey