Immigration Day: A Better Way to Do It

Today was the day of our long dreaded visa renewal. Last year, after a failed attempted at arriving early, we were at the immigration office from nearly opening to closing time. (Immigration Day) Learning from our mistakes, we planned to be at the office well before the 8:30 opening time. We guessed that by waiting for the office to open, we could decrease our total wait time during the day. A taxi was scheduled to arrive at 6:00. At 5:50, the driver was waiting on our street. Traffic at this time of day was very light, even with the driver being unsure exactly where the huge Chaeng Wattana complex was, we arrived at 6:30. We had thought we might have to wait outside the building, but we could go right in and get in line directly in front of the correct office doors.

The line in front of the door before the crowds arrived; the blue bag is ours.

We were seventh in line. We filled the two hour wait with exploring the building while Philip held our place. On the main floor where the immigration office is located, the kids ran around the atrium, as large as two soccer fields with a windowed ceiling six stories up. Downstairs, we discovered three cafeterias, a handful of cafes, various little shops selling everything from clothes to snacks, and the ever-present 7-11. Meriel said she was hungry, so then everyone had to have a snack: snow peas, almond slices, and rice crackers brought from home. Then the drawing books and pencils were gotten out, a few rounds of "Spot It" played, some more running around the atrium, trips to the bathroom. Finally, opening time was near and so we squeezed in to our place in line beside Philip.

A bit more crowded; hard to find the end of the line.

Right at 8:30, an immigration officer opened the doors. Since we were so close to the front of the line, we missed most of the shuffling and shoving. We had all our paperwork together, so we could go directly to getting our queue numbers. Philip was the first to step up to line one. The lady asked how many tickets and smiled when he said, "Six." But then her machine was broken. People in the lines became restless. Either all the machines were not working or with extremely unusual foresight (for Thailand), but none of the workers were handing out any tickets. When the machine was up and running, Philip was handing N1#3, along with five other numbers. For visa renewals, we had only 2 other people in front of us! We barely had time for all six of us to get settled in chairs, before we were called.

Of course, the actual processing of the visa took some time. The lady at the desk next to us was the one who had processed our visas the previous two years. She greeted us happily. The woman at our desk looked tired and harassed; her name tag was on upside down. We had a few anxious moments when the lady looked closely at our documents and flipped through pages as if she wasn't sure she was going to let everything pass. Finally, she began stamping visas into our passports. In the end, she lightened up a bit as she took each person's photo.

The last desk was for final approval. Since we already had the visas stamped into our passports, I wondered what the chance of rejection was at this point. I did notice a tray on the desk labeled "Cancelled Visas," and realized they could still revoke ours. They did not choose to do this, however, and we left the office at 10:15, six visas in six passports of six cheerful family members.

Giving or Getting: Who was Santa Claus?

Santa Claus...Sinterklaus...Saint Nicholas. I'd like to introduce you to the mall St. Nicholas. Your child sits in his lap; he asks, "Who do you want to give a gift to this Christmas?" Or maybe, "Which poor person can you help this Christmas?" He encourages children to write lists of how they can be gifts to others during this season.

Since St. Nicholas Day was on Sunday, our history and geography lessons for last week were about a man name Nicholas who was born between 200-300 years after Jesus. He lived in Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. His parents were wealthy, and at their death, Nicholas inherited it all. This man loved and followed the teachings of Jesus, giving his wealth to the poor and showing God's love. Many of the stories attributed to Nicholas are of uncertain veracity, however we learned that historical sources support the story of his supplying dowries for a family of poor young women. What is certain is that this man embodied the love of God and became an emblem of giving.

A few years ago, we stopped opening our stockings on St. Nicholas Day since memories of opening stockings on Christmas morning were so important to Philip. Other than making sure the kids knew the story of the "real Santa Claus," I hadn't found a good way of making the day special for them. Since this year, December 6 was a Sunday, I knew which shoes the kids would be wearing and that they would be putting them on in the morning, so I decided to put a few coins in each of the kids shoes. Hollis was the first to discover, "Hey, there is money in my shoe!" It didn't take the girls long to recall the story of St. Nicholas. Meriel's response with a delighted smile, "St. Nicholas must have put it there!" The girls decided to take their 10 baht piece to church as offering or a as a gift to a beggar on the way to church and save the smaller coin for later.

On Christmas and throughout the year, may we remember those who have lived before us as examples of Christ. Instead of wondering how Santa Claus could fly through the air and how long it would take him to visit every house (maybe an interesting future math and geography project, though), we choose to look to the example of St. Nicholas as a man who gave of himself just as Jesus gave Himself, which is, after all, what Christmas is all about.

A Little Bit Magical

Yesterday evening, we all enjoyed our second Bangkok Street Show. Wandering around Lumpini Park, we stopped at various tape marked "stages" and were treated to the goofy, the amazing, and the magical. A good live show is all about the performers personality and stage presence. Many of these people must have been "class clowns." Now they get to travel the world, entertaining people from various cultures, "playing" for a living.

Philip's all around favorite was the acrobat troupe. No props, just brawn and discipline. Flips, flying, feats of balance. His award for pure entertainment went to Katay Santos from Venezuela. His tricks weren't the most eye catching, but he kept up a good banter with the crowd, drawing us in and making us laugh. His finale of doing a handstand on top of a stack of four chairs had Meriel holding her breath.


My heart went out to a young Chinese woman. Sequins falling off her costume, her tricks weren't dazzling but created from pure hard work and determination. She performed some interesting acts of contortion. Then she began to balance objects on the bridge of her nose, face upturned. She set up a plastic table "leg," then a table top, four small wine glasses, another top. Finally she had three tiers with vase of flowers on top. She climbed a set of stairs, balanced on a rocking platform, scaled a few rungs of a pair of ladders, and managed to get back down to the ground. She must have been balancing all of that on her face for more than 5 minutes.

The Japanese Juggler had all the kids watching wide eyed. Using sleight of hand and optical illusion, he made fixed wooden circles spin and rotate. He was also quite good with the Chinese yo-yo. He was able to get three yo-yos whirling around and around, hopping from one string to another, then flying into the air. The crowd gasped as he sent a small yo-yo high over the tops of the trees, managing to catch it just before it escaped into the audience.

The grand finale for our little family came in the form of a thin, gray-haired Japanese man carrying an umbrella with a bubble machine perched atop. As he stepped through the deepening twilight, his big smile and bright eyes had the audience warming to him immediately. The stage lights glinted on the bubbles, causing Hollis to exclaim, "They are rainbow bubbles!" Masashi Okuda caught bubbles and stored them in his top hat, releasing them later with a flourish. He created larger and larger bubbles, then tiny and even tinier bubbles, a sprinkling of fairy dust. Bubbles within bubbles, caterpillar and cluster bubbles floated up into the sky. From a small flask, he sucked some kind of gas into his mouth and blew it into the bubbles. These opaque bubbles sparkled and hovered before bursting in a puff of smoke. After the show, our little family walked through the evening, filled with pleasure and a little bit of magic.

The Character of God

We are into the season of Advent now and enjoying the anticipation leading up to Jesus' birth. As part of our Jesse Tree, yesterday, we read the story of the first sin in Genesis chapter 3. Of course, I've read this story many times and would say I know it well, but I was struck by a new aspect of it. Satan* deceives Eve on many levels, but fundamentally he brings her to question God's character. Eve, and Adam, physically walked and talked with God. They had the opportunity to know him like no one else. I believe they would have known He loved them, that He was wise, all knowing, and good. If she had stopped to think about it and to think about God, Eve would have realized that what the serpent said couldn't be true. The God that she knew would not try to keep her from something good. He loved her greatly and knew what was best for her.

The great deceiver still uses this same trick today. I often find myself wondering if certain aspects of my life are really best for me. Wouldn't it be better if I could see my family more often? If we didn't have to worry about our plans for the future? If we had plenty of extra money? If...If...If...? I begin to think that I can orchestrate a better life for myself than God. But wait! God loves me so much that He sent His only Son to earth to die for me. This same God created the world and has the power to do whatever He chooses in it. He also cares about me personally, not just my physical well being but also my soul. He loves me greatly and knows what is best for me. So next time I begin to see "that the tree [is] good for food, and that it [is] a delight to the eyes," I will look away from the fruit and toward the Almighty God and my Loving Saviour. 

It would sadden me to have these precious children question my motives, because I love them so much and only want the best for them, and I sure hope they know it. That must be how God feels when we don't trust His ways.

*Yes, I know that the Genesis account doesn't specifically mention that the serpent was Satan or vice versa, but other Biblical references lead me to believe that it was Satan and not just a clever serpent.

Giving Thanks

Well, much has happened since I wrote last which has again prevented me from writing regularly. We'll see if I can manage to get in a rhythm now, but with Advent upon us, it may not happen. We celebrated a lovely Thanksgiving with member of our Christian family. Eris really has a tender heart; she wrote a "Thanks" list on her initiative which I thought was worth sharing (with her permission).

1. We were delivered from hard dengue fever
2. A soft bed
3. Our house
4. A couch
5. Our Bibles
6. Monkey (her favorite stuffed animal)
7. Family
8. We have a park nearby
9. Friends
10. A free nearby children's museum
11. A good fan in this hot place
12. Food
13. Bicycles
14. Money
15. Skateboard
16. Clothes
17. Ball
18. Jesus saved us from our sins
19. Homeschooled
20. Books
21. Library

I would agree with all of the above. And these people certainly top the list:

Ramen and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

It's been awhile since I've written here. After my parents' visit at the end of September, I needed some emotional recharging before I felt ready to share my life with you all. However, I have missed the connection I feel writing (even though not many people read this, at least I imagine a connection) for my friends and family. The time with my parents was wonderful, parts of it restful, and I plan to write about some of it; but when they left, I felt anew the isolation and loneliness that comes from living in a city of millions far away from close friends, familiar seasons, and those who speak my native tongue.

My method of recharging is simple - pray some, daydream some, Skype a few close friends, and READ! I really wanted to read a book that I knew I would enjoy fully. I wanted characters I could relate to and love, no foul language or questionable morals. No divorce, no adultery, no wars - not even the traditional evil versus good of fantasy. We have a decent English library here in Bangkok. The girls and I travel an hour and a half every other Saturday for "library story time" and the chance to lug home new reading material. Amongst the donated literature, it is difficult to find the sort of book for which I was searching. I brought home something that seemed a possibility, but it failed to live up to my high expectations.

Frustrated, I turned to technology to help meet my needs. I am a bit technologically challenged, so I ended up spending a bajillion minutes trying to figure out how to use my mom's library card to check out an e-book to read on Eris's Kindle. I found one that I wanted to read - book number ten in the Mitford series -- it was checked out. I put a hold on it and went back to moping. It wasn't that I didn't have anything to read; I just wanted what Philip called my "Ramen and grilled cheese sandwich" book. In the U.S., a packet of chicken flavored Ramen with a grilled cheese sandwich on the side was my comfort food. We kept a stash of noodles on a high shelf for Philip to make for me when I was sick or particularly feeling down.

So two weeks ago, when I could have been writing the stories of "Grandma and Grandpa and Us in Chiang Mai," I was finally reading my book. (After another bajillion minutes getting it from wherever it is in cyberspace onto the Kindle.) It was just what I hoped for, although without the familiarity of holding an actual book. Last week, I may have been ready to write again, but Philip did not have his Thursday night Bible study, during which I commandeer the computer. So here I am, planning to renew my regular blogging amidst the craziness of my life with four little ones, who all daily help to drain me via fussing and squabbling and recharge me with their laughter and snuggles.

Can't be down and lonely too long with this little one around - plus his three big sisters!

My Schedule; God's Plan

Last week was our first week of school. After a season of birthdays, I was ready to settled down into a routine and get some formal learning done. I had planned that the first week would be uninterrupted - no play dates, no extra shopping trips, five "full" days of school. Then on Sunday, I met a single mother of two from Ukraine who has been traveling around Asia for the last year and a half. Everyone at church thought that her little boy was a second Simeon, and her daughter fit in right between Hollis and Meriel.

As our kids played together, she asked about things to do in Bangkok. She had another week before her flight to Kiev. I mentioned the Children's Museum and Jatujak Park. Thinking ahead of my full week of school, at first I wasn't going to offer to meet her. Then I thought, What is more important: getting in as much schooling as I can and getting on a good schedule or loving people? Besides, I don't often get a chance to spend time with other mothers, and all of us would enjoy some time together. So we agreed to meet at the park on Wednesday, and indeed it was a blessed, enjoyable time. Our kids played, we encouraged one another, we prayed together. I had a chance to get to know a sweet sister in the Lord.

Another friend had been planning on meeting us at the Children's Museum for Simeon's birthday the week before, but he had been sick. Since he was so disappointed and we hadn't gotten together in a few weeks, I invited his family over on Friday. Once again, I realized that the opportunity for growing friendships was a higher priority. We are in Thailand to show Christ's love, and we can't do that very well if we don't take opportunities do spend time with people. We did some science projects, including erupting soda geysers and chocolate quicksand with baking soda with vinegar reactions (also know as erupting chocolate oobleck), so we kind of "did school."


This same friend turned seven years old on Wednesday this week and invited us to celebrate with him. We had a great time exploring a garden, trying some Thai coconut milk cake, and rollerblading. It was also a chance to practice our Thai. Suksan Wan Geun! (Happy Birthday!)

Today, we went to a City Gardening Fair with some other Thai homeschooling families. Next week, we have to do our 90-day report at immigration. Then another friend we met a couple month ago and haven't seen since will meet us for a play-date. I remember how much I prayed for friends and for people to help us learn Thai. This may not be exactly what I had in mind, but God is providing and allowing us to be His light here. What better lesson to teach my children than to be ready to follow God's plan and take opportunities to show His love, even when to do so interrupts "our" schedule.