Descriptions :)

You have all been most gracious blog readers! I've been realizing that I tend to write when I want to vent, and so my posts often contain very little description on what I am actually up to and tend to be more focussed on how I'm feeling. I would love to actually tell you though, what it is like over here in Thailand!

Let me start off with my neighborhood. I live in a suburb of Bangkok called Nonthaburi. Unlike the quaint, pretty suburbs that we in the states are used to, Nonthaburi is a sea of activity. All up and down the road where I live are shops and vendors. There is a steady stream of taxis, motorcycles, and buses that makes every attempt to cross the street a threat at your life. (It doesn't help that even after nearly a month being here I have a hard time remembering that cars are coming from the "wrong" direction). It is definitely more busy than I was expecting, but I can't complain too loudly because we teachers here at GES definitely take advantage of all the things near us. We go to the 7/11 at least once a day. We visit our favorite restaurant "Som Bots" every other day. And I like to make my weekly trek down to the "Big C" grocery store and least once a week! We use public transportation to get everywhere. Taxis, tuk tuks, motorcycle taxis, buses...I've ridden in them all and they all have their perks and disadvantages. So despite the fact that we breath in exhaust all day, we can't see the sky through all the buildings, and I've forgotten what nature looks like :) living smack dab in the middle of this city is not too bad.

Now to move on to my apartment. I live in an apartment with 3 other girls, that is way nicer than I expected. It has three stories and three bathrooms (one for each floor). The bottom floor has a nice kitchen and a wonderful living room. I have my room on the second floor, along with Bridget. 3rd floor belongs to Kira and Amanda. It's just the four of us living in this spacious abode (besides the geckos, ants, and cockroaches) and we seem to do pretty well with it that way!

My Class. I've only been with my students for less than 2 weeks now, but already I am so attached to them! I'm not sure there could be a more perfect combination of 20 kids. I have the quiet shy students and I have the loud students to balance them out. Every one seems to know that if they behave class will go well, but if they don't, there will be consequences. Their lower English level makes it difficult to teach at times, not knowing what they are understanding or what I need to keep going over, but I guess that is part of the job. Sometimes I feel like I'm more of the student than they are! I'm learning so much about teaching...I still have so much to learn!

Thai kids have the funniest names! I have a Minnie in my class who has a brother named Mickey. In another class there are siblings names Seven and Eight. It is the name of the boy who reminds me of that Abbott and Castello skit "Who's on First". When a fellow teacher had his leg rubbed by one of my students, I asked if he knew who the student was. He said he didn't know who it was. I asked the teacher, "Do you know who It is?" Frustrated the co-teacher replied, "No, I already told you, I don't know who it was!" Living in Thailand brings a whole new side of humor to that skit!

Well, there's so much to write! I think I could go on and on. Instead of just jabbering away though, I'll leave it up to you! Feel free to ask me questions! I'd love to answer them! Or ask me to write about something specific, and I'll do my best at that too!

I'd love to hear about how everyone is doing! I'd love to be praying for you as well! Feel free to email me at my gmail address :)

Thanks for reading! Love to you all!

Reality Hits

"One of these day's I'm gonna fly, over the mountains.  One of these days I'm gonna ride on a silver lining.  One of these days I'm gonna witness all that I've been missing...one of these days."

From sun-up to sun-down for the past week I've been working on getting my classroom set up and on lesson plans.  There's never enough time in the day or enough energy in my body to get everything that needs to be done, done.  Last night after spending the entire day setting up my classroom, I finally had to call it "good enough" and figure that God would take care of the rest and that my day would go fine.

3:00 am-Oh great!  I ate something that didn't agree with me.  After several trips to the bathroom and several prayers out to God that I would be well enough to make it to my first day of classes, I finally threw up (sorry if that grosses any of you out!) and felt oh so much better.  Good enough to get a few more hours of sleep and to feel rested enough to make it to my first day in my OWN classroom!

God is so gracious!  I had a lovely first day with my class!  All of my students are well behaved and seem like they are going to be so much fun.  I feel inadequate as a teacher sometimes, not sure what to do always, but my kids were just great the whole time!  :)

By the time 2:00 (the end of school) rolled around my legs and feet were aching, my head was cloudy, I was hot and sweaty.  Looking at the prep that needed to be done for the next day was overwhelming.  And it's in these weak times that we miss home the most.  I started thinking of all my friends and my family back home.  I was down-right homesick!  I miss you all!

A good nap helped to cure many of my problems!  Tasks didn't look so daunting.  My body felt rested and refreshed.  But I still missed home :)  I got what I needed to done and I feel ready for another day tomorrow!

This all may seem kind of random.  I'm not complaining (although I do covet your prayers).  I'm just realizing how amazing heaven is going to be!  I long for that day.  But I'm excited that it hasn't arrived yet, because I think that God has a group of 4th graders that he wants me to be a light to!  How exciting!!!

"For my power is made perfect in your weakness".  

My life in Thailand

 

 One thing I've had to be really careful of since I've been to Thailand is that I don't smoke my alcohol.  It's been a challenge, but with my good support base I'm getting through!

This waterfall is in the middle of a mall near us.  It's pretty sweet!


Kira and I decided we wanted to dive into the pool at the bottom of the waterfall!

Getting to the mall we decided to travel Thai Style: see how many people you can fit into the back of a pick-up truck.  It was fun to see all the looks we got from the Thai people as a bunch a forangs (white people) passed them on the streets.  Their faces would go from emotionless, to surprise then they would usually yell one of the English phrases they knew at us and wave.This man is making Roti.  We love to buy Roti from him, not only because he's adorable, but also because his Roti--flat bread, fried, and then drizzled with condensed milk and sugar, is like eating a little piece of heaven!  NO JOKE!!!  It's so amazing!

On our adventure to the mall we found a very comfortable massage chair.  If it hadn't been for one of the other teachers, Chris dragging me out of it, I may still be there. 
These are the four of us girls who live in our apartment together enjoying some bowling.  On the left is Bridget, then Amanda, then Kira, and then me!  They are all GREAT!!!

Oh how I do enjoy Kira!Well friends and family,  As you can see I have not been bored since I've been here!  God has blessed me with so many fun, friendly people!  He has already given me so many adventures!  I can't believe I've only been here two weeks.  I'm starting to pick up on some of the language, and feel more like I might be able to go do something small on my own.  In fact, today I went shopping at Big C and took a took took home by myself!

This upcoming week is pretty relaxed.  We don't start school until Thursday, so I have until then to finish lesson plans and to get my classroom set up.  There's so much to do still, but at least I've got some time to do it!  If I don't have time to write more before, please be praying for me on my first day of school!  It's kind of scary to be teaching my first day as a new teacher, at a new school, in a new country.  Pray that I will keep remembering that my reason for being here is to share Jesus with these kids!  Pray that God will open up their hearts to hear the truth!  I love and appreciate you all!  If there's anything I can pray for you about email me at jillnielsen86@gmail.com   God Bless!

In Your weakness I am strong!

I know this last week was just the beginning of these words of Jesus becoming so real in my life.  Throughout this week of lesson planning and setting up my classroom, the feeling of insignificance overwhelmed me many times.  "You're not smart enough."  "You're not quick enough."  "You're not experienced enough."  Were some of the lies I was fed this week, and sometimes I believed them.  And in truth, on my own, they may be true, but with Jesus on my side, my battle is already won.  I know I still have a lot of work ahead of me and that it is NOT going to be easy teaching this year, but I also know that with God ALL things are possible.  So I'm just going to keep trusting that God is going to be made strong in all my weaknesses!

posting pictures soon!

Two Days and lovin it!

Yesterday was the perfect first day!  I got up early, did some unpacking, some cleaning, and some email in the morning.  In the afternoon I went to the store and bought all the things I had put on a list during the morning.  I barely  made it 'til 9:30, but I did make it so I got a fantastic night of sleep and now I'm on schedule!

Today, my second day in Thailand, was perfect as well!  We left GES kind of early and took a taxi down to a Thai orphanage.  There we were able to hold orphan babies.  They were so cute and there were so many babies.  It made me sad to see so many babies there, but they were being taken care of pretty well.  We discussed how Thai people rarely have abortions, so that is one reason there are so many orphans, so in a way I was happy to see so many babies.  They are all so precious and special and they just need a little extra attention.  I will probably be volunteering there and who knows, maybe one day I'll adopt from there :)  

After visiting the orphanage we made a stop by the massage place.  This is an organization to provide jobs for blind men.  So I had a blind man give me an amazing massage for an hour and a half and it only cost me about $6!  It was incredible!  But boy he worked out those knots and I'm still a little sore from it.

Afterwards we ate some delicious food and did some more shopping!  I've got a Thai phone now!  I finished off the day with my first baby-sitting gig!  I watched an adorable little red-head girl name Jaya.  Her parents are also teachers here at GES.  

As I've been exploring Thailand the last two days I've been enjoying the company of some of the teachers here.  Some of them are first year teachers like myself.  Others are doing the guiding and have been here for some years in the past.  It's so encouraging to be around people who love the Lord and who have a passion for people.  It reminds me of the verse I read out of Romans this morning, "...so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed." -Romans 15:32  Being around people with the same purpose and the same Savior is so refreshing!  I praise God that He has given me wonderful people who are making this transition easier and I praise Him because they are helping me to grow up more in Him!

God Friends

As I said my teary goodbye's this morning, which seems like an eternity away now, my wonderful family said a prayer for me.  Out of every best wish, and safe travel prayer that was prayed, the one that stuck out most in my mind was the one said by my lovely sister-in-law.  "God, give Jill good seat companions to sit by."

Emotional from my farewells I hopped on the plane in Pasco on its out-of-the-way flight to Denver.  I didn't mind the detour because it meant I'd been able to sleep in my own bed the night before and it meant that Hayden and Emily were there along with my parents to see me off.  Leaving for a foreign country for then months had left me unusually emotional and weepy.  Feeling a need for some joy, I pulled out the special note Emily had given me to read on the plane.  Contrary to the feelings I thought this letter would produce, I began sobbing from the sincere, touching contents of the letter.  As tears streamed down my face and sniffles proceeded from my leaky nose, I'm sure the sweet middle-ages woman next to me thought I was crazy to be throwing such a fit just for going to Denver.  Whatever her thoughts though, she let me cry.  She gave me the space I needed to let it out and then to sleep it off.  She didn't way a word to me, which is exactly what I needed because by the time I arrived in Denver I was full of excitement for the journey that I was about to partake in!

Plane flight from Denver to San Francisco:  The inquisitive eyes were the first sign that I would like Dream.  She watched quietly as I shoved my duffle beg into the overhead compartment.  As soon as I sat we began in easy conversation.  We had lots to talk about.  She was heading home to Bangkok from being an exchange student in New Mexico.   How excited I was to be sitting next to someone who could calm one of my biggest fears-not knowing the Thai language.  She assured me that I would be able to get around speaking English and then she proceeded to help me with some Thai.  What a blessing that was!  Not only had she helped me to be excited about my trip again and taught me some Thai, but she had become friend #1 for my trip.

San Francisco to Tokyo.  "Hmmmm..."  I thought as I stowed away my luggage and sat down in my window seat, "That boy is quite good-looking!"  And when that same "good-looking" boy sat next to me, I was completely taken off guard.  I could barely blubber out the greeting, "Hey, how are you?" before I fell back into a silent stint.  Only when Collin (whose name I found out as we were landing after our 10 hour plane ride) asked me if Tokyo was my final destination and I found out that we had the same flights to Bangkok as well, did I find my voice again.  We compared stories.  His was one of excitement and adventure as he travels around Thailand on bicycle.  We had an enjoyable conversation and then he left to go sit with his friend who was sitting toward the back of the plane.  I might have been disappointed to lose his company if it hadn't been for the fact that his leaving cleared up the seat next to me and left the entire row entirely to me to stretch out in and enjoy.  I got a couple hours of much needed, sound sleep and enjoyed some time alone.  After landing, Collin allowed me to cut in line with him as we went through security.  As we walked to our next gate together I realized, I had made friend #2!

Friend #3 I have a good feeling will be the most special.  I knew this friend was going to come and was a little nervous that Shaellea, who was also going to be teaching at GES wouldn't be as nice as I hoped.  All my fears disintegrated when a cute blonde tapped on my shoulder and asked, "Jill?"  it didn't take much more before we were sharing stories and she was getting me excited by telling me all about life at GES.  If I have it my way, friend #3 and I will continue to be great friends!

Three friends!  That's quite a few to make in one day, but God wasn't quite done yet.  I wasn't expecting friend #4.  I already had three friends on the same flight with me to Bangkok.  I figured I'd go and chat with them, but apparently God wanted me to have one more.

I'd found my seat 41D.  I was sitting next to a middle aged man with his young son.  No big deal, we probably wouldn't talk much.  But he kept looking over at me expectantly.  Finally he came out with it, "My wife is sitting in the row ahead, is there a chance you could switch her spots so she can be with our son?"  That's how I ended up next to Tim-a sweet Thai man who is 29 but looks 20.  45 minutes into our conversation as we were talking about painful ways to die, Tim pointed out that we were getting pretty deep for having just met.  At this point he officially declared us friends since only friends would talk like this.  BINGO!  I'd found friend #4!

To some, these plane encounters may not be a big deal, but for someone as people-driven as I am, the meant the world!  They totally lifted my spirits!  Hopefully I had a chance to shine Christ to them!  God knew exactly what and who I needed and when Emily prayed that prayer for me to have good seat partners, God had already planned it all out perfectly.

One day!  Four friends!  I have a feeling this is just the beginning!  What friends is God going to put into my life tomorrow?