One wonderful provision has been through our IBC church member Jeff Lee, who connected us via email with his former pastor in Chicago before we left the States. This pastor's family has been out in Chiang Mai for the past year. The first Korean couple we sovereignly met was when we dropped Eli off at the church nursery this past Sunday and introduced ourselves to the teacher that day. The teacher happened to be the wife of the pastor and said she knew of our coming and was waiting to meet us. Since then, they've been a great help connecting us to Korean resources, giving us helpful tips, and just driving us around.
Here are some updates:
- Weather: If you've been reading the news, two typhoons came through southeast Asia, bringing about some of the worst flooding here in Chiang Mai in decades. Our immediate area had minimal flooding in the streets, but overflow from the Ping River caused major flooding with over 200 deaths in Thailand. Please pray for those affected, that God would meet their physical and spiritual needs.
- Transportation: With the help of one of the other missionary couples, we were able to obtain Thai driver's licenses! It would've been quite complicated on our own, as we had to first go to Immigration, then to the clinic to get a physical, then to the DMV. Normally, there's a 3-part driving test (colors, brake reaction, perception), but we only had to do the first part. David is still researching the best car for our needs, but we hope to purchase something next week. In the mean time, Ester is hoping to learn how to ride the songtheaow (taxi truck) to get around without a car.
- Housing: Praise God!!! Through the referral of the Korean pastor mentioned above, we found a home. At the end of October, we'll be moving into a 4-bedroom duplex. We'll be sharing the duplex with a Korean pastor and his wife. Hope they don't mind hearing our boys cry in the middle of the night. The home is unfurnished, so we'll need everything...literally. Like many Thai homes, it also doesn't come with an oven, so we hope a toaster oven will cut it. We're debating whether to purchase a dryer. It also doesn't come with a stove, so we'll have to get portable burners. Although there's a great grassy lawn, we're not sure if it's safe for the boys to play in because snakes and other pests can often be found hiding in the grass. (Side note: We're learning every day that the Korean community is truly a small world. We had a conversation today where the pastor we'll be living next to said, "Oh Master's Seminary. I knew a guy named Jin Soo Young." Happens to be IBC's very own Elder Andrew. =P)
- ZOE: This year, ZOE is trying something new, giving the new missionaries 5 1/2 months to study Thai before working full-time. David will take intensive language classes while teaching English to ZOE students once a week. In the mean time, Ester's been learning some basic phrases through this awesome Youtube Thai Learning site. She's wrapping up Lesson 1. =P
- Food: The wonderful thing about Thailand is that you can eat a meal for $1/person. Ester's been enjoying Japanese bento lunches for $1.60! You can't beat that. With reports of flooding coming in last week, we went to the market to stock up on food in case we couldn't get out and about. We continue to receive dinner meals daily from the ZOE family. What a help and blessing. We live right by the main road, which has all the major food stores needed. Big C is like a Walmart, Lotus is like a Target, Makro is like Costco, and Rimping is like Whole Foods. We frequent Big C most often. However, we were able to get some imported goods at Makro and Rimping. Ester was thrilled to find basic cooking ingredients for Japanese and Korean cooking. However, imported goods are more expensive. It's been nice to become more independent, cooking meals for ourselves. It's also been nice to have some tastes from home, without having to figure out what the boys will be willing to eat. Ester's been able to make mac 'n cheese for the boys (Ian's favorite!), daenjang jigae (Korean bean paste stew), salmon kimbap, and beef curry. We even got a referral to order kimchee from a local kimchee lady who delivers it to your door! (There happens to be a large Korean community in our neighborhood.) Beef is harder to come by. After looking for thinly sliced beef to make bulgogi, Ester came across what was called beef knuckle. After that meal didn't work out, she was able to find imported Japanese beef at Rimping. Now we know. Ester's also been on the hunt for some breakfast sausages, which isn't readily available. David found the last box at Rimping for $6!
- Church: This past Sunday, we visited Chiang Mai Christian Fellowship, which is where several of the ZOE missionaries attend. In fact, most of the congregation is made up of missionaries from all over the world. It was a great time of praise, teaching, and fellowship. What a blessing to attend church with our fellow ZOE missionaries. During praise time, it was overwhelming to be in a room full of families who've all left the comforts of their home and join together to lift our praises and hearts to and dependence upon our Lord. Sundays must truly be a time of encouragement, comfort, and joy. Another blessing was that Ian and Eli went right into their respective classes and enjoyed playing with toys and new friends. Eli had some tears at the beginning, but adjusted quickly. The teacher said he kept asking for more crackers. Ian said, "I was shy at first, but then I felt happy."
- Ian's Schooling: This week, Ian went in to school for a 45-minute kindergarten readiness test. He did great and is testing at a 5 1/2- to 6-year old level. Today, Ester had a meeting with the elementary principal and his kindergarten teacher. He will get to visit his class tomorrow and get a feel for a normal school day. Hopefully, he'll adjust to the classroom setting as well as he has been to everything else here in Thailand. He's doing exceptionally well, considering all the life changes. There are 11 other students in his class, coming from 6 different languages. What a neat experience for Ian to be exposed to children of all cultures. We're looking forward to this school year as we've heard great things about this Christian school. His school day runs from 7:40am-11:30am. This school year, there have been days that the school has been flooded out. We'll see how the rest of the season goes.
- Pregnancy: Ester is now 13 weeks, and is due for a monthly checkup at the end of the month. She got some good referrals for some doctors and hospitals, so we'll be checking these out in the next week or so. We're still praying about where to deliver, with the option to fly to Bangkok coming into the mix. We'll keep you posted.
Here are some pics...Ian's first mac 'n cheese in Thailand...how come I didn't know how easy it was to make from scratch?
Japanese cooking...soy sauce, light soy sauce, sake, and mirin...now if we can find some bonito flakes and kelp:
In addition to these treasures, Ester found sugar and sesame oil...now she's on the hunt for some dried anchovies:
God is good!
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