red shirt shorts

Starting on Friday we are expecting to be at home quite a bit because of some political rallies that are supposed to be taking place in Bangkok. I'm not sure if it's big new in the States, but around here it's all anybody talks about.

We know very little about Thai politics and definitely are not involved with either side. But we have learned one important thing: one side wears yellow shirts and the other side wears red shirts. In fact, the two sides are normally just referred to as The Yellow Shirts and The Red Shirts.

In fact Asher's red shorts are about as involved as we get in Thai politics.

And of course the boys have their red shoes.

From what we have heard the Red Shirts are basically planning on cutting off some of the roads leading into the city and they are planning on having several large rally points around the city. As a result Roger's language school is closed tomorrow and we are planning on staying around the house for the next few days. Luckily we live in a part of town that will not be affected by the rallies.

show us your life

On Kelly's Korner the topic for this week is a typical day. I don't usually join in stuff like this, but we get asked a lot about what we actually do. And even after having this job for several years my mom tends to still ask me to explain to her exactly what we do every day.

Here's our normal day (at least for now).

Roger gets up early, I have no idea what time and I usually don't even hear the alarm go off. I tend to wake up around 6:30 and head downstairs to read my Bible. Around 7:15 we start to hear Asher hooting so we get him up and feed him breakfast.

Roger leaves for language school before 8 am and after he leaves Asher and I get started with our day. I try to get the laundry started as early as possible (our laundry line gets the best sun early in the day) and then Asher and I head off for our morning language learning walk. We basically walk all around our part of the city practicing all of the Thai that I know. It isn't a lot, so all of my conversations are pretty short. I usually pick up some Thai iced tea (yummy!) and if I need anything from the store we stop in and shop.

We spend the rest of the morning cleaning and doing stuff around the house. Before Roger gets home I try to get showered and ready for the day.

Roger gets home around lunch time. We usually eat Thai food from a restaurant near our house. Around noon I leave for language school and I get back around 3 pm. While I am gone Asher naps and Roger usually cleans the floors.

After nap time we go up to the park to practice Thai and meet new friends. We stay there until dinner time most nights. A lot of times we get dinner from the food vendors at the park and bring it home with us. The rest of the evening is spent playing outside with water, walking around the neighborhood or just hanging out.

Asher goes to bed at 7:30 pm and then Roger and I don't do much. We read, play on the internet and do our Thai homework. Once a week I go to a local coffee shop to practice Thai and work on homework.

There it is! Right now our job assignment is to learn Thai, so we literally spend all of our time doing that. Of course this will all change next week when our language school schedules change and then it will change a lot more when we finish school.

baiyoke sky hotel

Last Saturday we went to the Baiyoke Sky Hotel to check out a great view of Bangkok. At just over 300 meters tall it is the tallest building in the Kingdom (of Thailand).

On the 77th floor there is a great indoor view of the city and lots of cultural things to experience. While Asher enjoyed playing with the tuk-tuks, I enjoyed posing like a princess.

We took some pictures of Thai writing.

I can't believe that soon we will be able to read this stuff!

Here's another fun picture that we took while we were looking around.

After exploring the 77th floor we headed upstairs and outside to the 84th floor. This floor is a revolving observation deck. It was pretty neat and it was definitely funny to watch Asher on the revolving floor. He kept walking away from us, but he never got very far. We snatched him up for a family photo.

Here's a small glimpse of the massive city we live in. It goes on like that in every direction, it's hard to imagine what all is out there.

roger's birthday

Last week we celebrated Roger's birthday with some cake and a night out in the city. I got a new recipes for chocolate cake and peanut butter icing and decided to try it out. It was a very tasty cake, but it definitely was not much to look at. Our oven is too small for a cake pan, so I decided to make a two layer cake. In the process of assembling the cake it got a little messy, I did my best to cover it all up with icing.

After Asher went to bed our friend Eric came over to our house and Roger and I headed out for dinner. We went to a fancy restaurant and had some yummy pasta. After that we just walked around and enjoyed the city.

city life

We are loving life here in our BIG city.

There are people everywhere, selling everything you can imagine.

The smells, the sounds and the traffic can be overwhelming.

Everyday we are amazed that we get to live here.

We are still meeting with a language tutor several times a week and spending the rest of the time practicing Thai while exploring the city. Our house is wonderful and we are slowly getting furniture and other things to make it feel like home. Several times a week we are going to the park so that Roger and I can run and Asher can play on the playground. We are starting to get to know the people that live and work near us. Finally we are at home and we are so glad that home is in Bangkok.

what we did today

Today was our first day of language tutoring. This month we are each meeting with a tutor 3 days a week to prepare us for language school next month. For the most part our time today consisted of us making sounds, much like the sounds that Asher makes.

After tutoring (and nap time) we went to check out a park near our house. The playground equipment wasn't fabulous, but the park was full of people and had lots of open spaces. We saw lots of people jogging there and Roger plans to join them soon.

Green space right in the middle of the city.

During our walk around the park we found a place for people to play takraw. Imagine playing volleyball, but only using your head and your feet. The ball is made of rattan and the guys playing today looked pretty amazing.

Asher was mesmerized by the takraw.

At the end of our walk we finally found the playground for little kids and Asher spent a little while running around chasing other kids. We can't wait to go back and play some more.

How We Survived

Here's how we survived a trip from North America to Southeast Asia with a very sweet (and active) 16 month old baby boy.

Actually Asher was great, so it wasn't really survival. It definitely wasn't fun, but that kind of trip is never fun.

I started taking pictures the afternoon before we left and tried to chronicle our journey from Vancouver to Bangkok.

Waking up from his last nap in Vancouver, we finally had to wake him up after almost 3 hours of sleep.

Our arrival at the airport in Vancouver. Final tally on the luggage: 3 trunks, 6 large duffel bags, 2 car seats, 1 guitar, 2 backpacks, 1 carry on suitcase, 1 small duffel bag, 1 diaper bag and 1 stroller.

Once we strolled through security we let Asher loose so he could burn off some energy before the long flight. The airport was practically empty at midnight, so Asher had plenty of space to run.

He did set down to rest for a few minutes before climbing down and discovering the moving sidewalks. We spent about 15 minutes going the wrong way on one of them.

Hour One.

On the plane and settled into our seats, Asher was exhausted, but wouldn't sleep. The lights were all on and a meal was served right after take-off and that kept him up even longer. He finally crashed about 4 am and slept for about 4 hours.

Hour Eight.

Drinking milk and talking on the phone, Asher seemed to be unaware that anything was different about today.

A video update of Asher's Airplane Adventures. There's something all over his face, I have no idea what it could be. Considering he ate Teddy Grahams almost constantly for 14 hours there's a good chance it could be crumbs.

Hour Ten.

Another video update. Asher took a good nap, he slept from the beginning to the end of, "The Informant." I was holding him at this point and appreciated his thoughtfulness and willingness to not wake up until the credits had started. When he woke up he was quite excited to see that Daddy was nearby.

Hour Twelve.

Almost there and Asher is still happy playing with Daddy, one last video update.

Hour Fifteen.

We made it to Hong Kong and raced through the airport to make our connecting flight. Roger and I were having some serious caffeine withdrawal, but didn't have time to stop for coffee. Asher kept his hands above his head the entire time we were in Hong Kong. I think this is his exhaustion pose.

Hours Sixteen - Eighteen.

Asher and Roger slept almost the whole way from Hong Kong to Bangkok, I read a book. Sorry, no pictures, we were all looking pretty rough.

Hour Nineteen.

Arrival in Bangkok. After being an angel for nineteen hours of travel Asher lost it while we were in line for immigration. Perfect timing. An immigration official came and got us from the back of the line and took us through to the front. Asher is amazing.

Hour Twenty.

Luggage collected and trip over. We finally made it to our new home. Somehow by the end of all of this Asher ended up with a baggage tag on his arm.

Pictures from Bangkok and the new house coming soon.

Bangkok

Hey Bangkok....

We're here!!!!!!!!

Goodbye Vancouver

Tomorrow we are leaving for Bangkok. That's so crazy. Living in Bangkok has been a dream that Roger and I have had for the past few years. I think it first came up on our honeymoon, but we really never thought it would happen. It was just a dream.

A few years ago we thought living in Thailand might be an option, but then we ended up in The Islands.

Then while job hunting a job popped up in Bangkok. We were looking everywhere but Bangkok for jobs, we didn't think we would be lucky enough to get to live in Bangkok.

But here we are, on our way to Bangkok with all of our bags and precious son.

We are finished with our training in Vancouver and have had fun exploring the city.

After four months of rainy Vancouver we are ready for sunny Bangkok.

Our Canadian Church

During the past four months we have been a part of a small Laotian church. The church has welcomed us into their family in a very literal way, this church is made up mostly of one big family. After a few months we are finally starting to figure out how everyone is related.

Roger has had the opportunity to share with this church and he has also been leading worship there the past few weeks. Asher and I hang around during the worship time and then head upstairs to the nursery to play.

We shared with the church that this was our last week before moving to Bangkok and they decided that was a good reason to have a potluck. They even surprised us at the end of the service with a cake.

The pastor was kind enough to explain to us that the cake didn't mean, "We are praying for you Phil," but it actually meant, "We are praying for you. Philippians 1:6." I'm glad they clarified.

Asher made some new friends and he was not intimidated by the fact that they are all in elementary school.

Asher was chowing down on some rice and trying to use a spoon.

There was a ton of food and a ton of family. We have had a great time being a part of this church while in Vancouver. A lot of the church members visit Thailand regularly to see relatives, so we are looking forward to seeing them in the future.

How We Spent Our Christmas Vacation

Do you remember in elementary school having to write about your Christmas vacation when you returned to school in January? Well, here's our report.

Mimi and Uncle Mel came to visit us during Christmas. We had a week to show them around Vancouver and let them experience what we see everyday. Of course, we also spent a lot of time just hanging out at home playing with Asher.

Our first destination was Granville Island, we did a little bit of shopping and enjoyed the views of downtown Vancouver.

Asher had fun exploring the dock and chasing the birds. He didn't enjoy it so much when the birds started chasing him.

We walked around downtown Vancouver and saw the countdown to the beginning of the Winter Olympics.

Our other big trip was to see Whistler Mountain, the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics. We walked around Whistler Village and then took a gondola up to the top of Whistler Mountain and another gondola from the peak of Whistler Mountain to the peak of Blackcomb Mountain.

Amazing.

Asher loved the snow and we all loved the views.

This is the Inukshuk on the top of Whistler Mountain, it's the symbol for the Vancouver Olympic Games. We tried to get a family picture in front of the Inukshuk, but Mimi was too afraid she was going to fall down the mountain and Asher did not like being held.

Here are a few more pictures from Whistler.

The rest of their trip was spent hanging around our apartment and teaching Asher to talk. He learned several new words while they were here.

In case you don't speak Asher, he says: Mel, Mimi, Asher and car.

Christmas Cookies

We have been spending quite a bit of time with our neighbors here in Vancouver. I love having friends that live close by because that means we don't have to get out in the cold to see them. In the apartment next to ours are three college students from China, we have a lot of fun when the come over.

Since it's Christmas time we decided to invite them over to make and decorate Christmas cookies. It was also a very convenient time to share the real Christmas story with them.

Asher tries to act shy when people come over, but that lasts for about five minutes and then the Asher Show begins. This particular evening he did some dancing, some chest thumping and a lot of ball throwing before leaving the party to go to bed.

After Asher went to bed we got serious about the cookies and ended up with some masterpieces.

It was a very successful evening, cookies were made, cookies were eaten and most importantly our neighbors were able to hear a story about why we celebrate Christmas.

My Favorite Canadian Thing

So, Canada is a lot like the United States, at least where we live. I mean, we live a mere 20 miles from the U.S. border.

But there are some differences.

People here say "eh" and they don't have biscuits at McDonald's, they call their mom "mum" and have a weird different accent.

They don't have marshmallow creme and when UK is playing UConn all of the televisions at the gym are showing curling.

One great amazing difference is the bulk section of the grocery store. When I was first told about the bulk section I immediately thought of Sam's and stopped paying attention to whoever was talking, we never eat enough of anything to justify buying 48 boxes of it at once. But when I tuned back in to the conversation I realized the bulk section was something completely different. Something completely wonderful.

See this? It's the bulk section. There's a whole other aisle on the other side.

Cumin? Got it. Cajun seasoning? Got it. Flax seed? Got it. Ground cloves? Got it.

Aisles filled with almost any spice or grain you would ever need. It's perfect (especially when you are not staying here very long and hate to buy big, expensive jars of spices).

I love the bulk section. I think it's the greatest grocery store innovation of all time.

After 79 days of living here I think it's the thing I love most about Canada.

Christmas Decorating (Part 2)

Here is our family Christmas picture. Thanks to Roger's wonderful camera, a tripod and Roger's creative lighting I think it turned out pretty good. Asher's not smiling, but it's hard to make him smile when there is nobody behind the camera.

We actually ended up with a pretty nice tree this year, I didn't want to spend a lot and fortunately we got a great deal at IKEA. To make it even better we were able to get our friends that have a car to go with us so we didn't have to carry a Christmas tree home on the bus.

Only our special ornaments made the move with us and as a result the tree was looking a little bare until Roger came across some Christmas stuff someone had left in the laundry room. Our tree does look a little odd because there are no ornaments on the bottom third of the tree (this helps Asher stay out of trouble).

Here are some pictures of Asher helping us decorate the tree.

Asher hanging his new ornament from this year. It says Dasher, but we both thought it said Asher at first. Either way it still works, he gets called Asher Dasher a lot these days.

This is Asher's ornament from last year, his first Christmas. I love the photo frame ornaments, we have few other ones, but they don't have pictures in them yet.