Where to Begin…

Hello friends & family (take your pick!);

Well, it's been two weeks since I returned to GES from being back in Canada, and to be honest, I don't really know what to say about my experiences thus far in 2008. January has been an exceptional month—exceptional in that it has broken away from the ordinary way things have happened before & exceptional in that it's been pretty much amazing.

Let me tell you a story about something I've come to appreciate even more throughout this past month. Week one of school having resumed, I had no homework to grade—it was amazing! I mean, talk about free time... I never really knew how much time the masses of homework I assign consume, when it comes to marking them, until I had a week free of any red-penning. I mean wow. I got to spend time hanging out with the staff here, which was a delightful change... That isn't to say that there was no down-time. On the contrary, it turns out that many of the teachers I work with are more of the "last minute" & "past due" deadline people—something that was beaten out of me in my Theatre training in University—which meant that while I was living it easy & lacklustre throughout the week, many of my peers were struggling through the work that they were supposed to have finished before the week even began.

As a result, I usually turned in early; heading to my bedroom by 9pm. There, I'd spend time hanging out with God for a good hour before calling it a night. From this experience, I re-learned something that I must've forgotten in the busyness of my so-called life. It turns out that the more sleep I get, the easier things are the next day. Not only are things easier, but they also tend to take less time to complete—meaning less work that needs to be done (well, I guess it's not less work per se, but less time spent on the same amount of work). On top of that, there seems to be a direct relationship between how much time I spend seeking the face of God and how much more effective & efficient I am at my daily tasks. If I'd spent an hour devoted wholly to praying & reading my Bible, the other activities in my day seemed to breeze by, whereas those days where I slept in an extra half-hour, or decided to watch a movie in place of meeting with God, my efforts seemed to accomplish so much less. I think Martin Luther was on to something when he talked about praying an extra hour on those days when he was really busy.

My problem students seem to be turning over a new leaf these days. I had a chat with one of my students, Soda, grade 10's rambunctious, emotional and defiant drama-queen, on the first day back to school because of her poor attitude. After letting her know that the choices that she makes have consequences & that the biggest force in shaping her life is how she chooses to make decisions, not much really changed. However, because of her previous behaviour, she served an in-school suspension on Thursday last week, and then, the next day she was denied participation in our Games Day because of skipping school. Since then, her obnoxious outbursts have all but disappeared. Her disruptive behaviour has dwindled to almost nonexistent levels, which is amazing. Because of it, my other non-motivated students have started to do their homework—along with, perhaps, my newly instituted punishment of bathroom cleanup for students who fail to complete assignments. It's amazing: kids who've been averaging 18% because of uncompleted homework & / or from using tests as doodling paper instead of academic assessment have now begun to get 50%s and 60%s—even on tests! It's a significant turnaround, especially in a country (and a school) where having enough baht buys you a passing grade, essentially negating much of the external reinforcement schedule inherent in the grade-level education system. Let's just hope that this continues...

Other things of note, besides the amazing positive benefits of seeking God above & before all things, besides delinquent students' behaviour turning toward rectification, and besides having more sleep... We have yet to have had a full week of school this month! Last week Friday, GES held a "Games Day" in lieu of Thailand's Children's Day, which was held on Saturday. Instead of learning, the whole school ditched the books and had lots of fun, from tug-o-war matches to water fights to Mennonite dancing to potato sack races to even threading a frozen banana through people's clothing. It definitely was good times.

In response to Children's Day, Thailand also has a Teacher Appreciation Day, which fell on Wednesday this past week. Classes were (surprise, surprise) cancelled and a dozen of us teachers went to a park in downtown Bangkok to play a friendly game of Ultimate Frisbee. After 2 hours of play and two litres of shedding sweat, a good portion of us were sunburnt [I know, I know: what a horrible thing to happen in January, right? ;) ], which heralded the end of our excursion to the park. The bunch of us stopped off at a nearby mall to munch on some delightful sushi before heading back to the school to do our respective things—of which, mine was marking. And that brings us to today.

To be honest, I'm not really sure if these past two weeks are representative of some sort of switch being flipped in my brain, where school is all of the sudden easier, whether it's due to my desire for a heavier reliance on God or whether these two weeks are just a 'blip' in the normal progression of teaching at GES. The time back has been too short to be able to tell one way or another yet. What I do know, though, is that I'm excited about a couple of things that we've started up since the new year began. A couple of us teachers have begun to play corporately for the school, the students & the staff every morning before our workday begins & we've been in the process of starting up a Friday evening time of informal worship & prayer. Both activities are going along great, and as is typical with such activities, attendance is exceptionally small. That doesn't matter, though: I've continued on in even as little as one-person prayer meetings at schools before—it's not about the numbers, it's about the heart and the desire to seek Him. Our God doesn't limit blessing and surely doesn't limit the execution of His power based on numbers, which is an encouraging thing. And, than being said, I'm glad that there are at least a handful of people over here who share a desire to meet together with me to seek God's face as a community, eager to know Him better. Our prayer is that, through the transformation and the vitality teeming from our lives as we centre our whole beings on the One & Only, those around us will see the positive difference, and as a result will want to press into God as well. Relational evangelism, in my opinion, always seems to be more effective than preaching at people who are uninterested in different philosophical arguments.

So that's January. It's over in 11 days already; hard to believe. Those of you interested in getting in on the revolutionary activity known as prayer, I'd ask that you seek God in these things for us:

•Pray for teachers who don't know what the crap they're going to do after this year's done. Pray that they would seek God & that they would be willing to submit to His will, whatever that may be & wherever that may take them.

•Pray that these final 9 weeks of the academic year would be fruitful—not only in the dissemination of knowledge, but also in the advancement of the Kingdom of our God, who is Love.

•Pray that barriers to truth would be broken down, that strongholds of fear, strongholds of spiritual oppression and strongholds of idolatry would be torn down in Thailand, and that strategic inroads would be made by all Christians here—whether foreign or (ideally, and more effectively it seems) native Thai.

I'll let you know what else is new in a couple weeks!

Thanks for listening & thanks for your prayers.

A Brief Rendition of Life on the Tuk tuk Timeline

I apologise to all you who have been waiting eagerly for an update from me in Thailand. December (and November) has been a busy month, and it seems that it ended almost before it began. I find myself now in January, the day before our 2008 session begins, with a mere 12 weeks left before the school year ends. That being said, there still is a lot to be done & a lot to tell. I will do my best to be brief here; if you’d like more details, feel free to e-mail me.

Alright. So, where to begin? I think that my last update left you hanging in the middle of November, about a week before our staff had a “spiritual retreat” weekend in Pattaya during our one PD day for the school year. I’m sure that the administration had good intentions with the whole expedition, but instead of feeling recharged & refreshed, I know that I myself left the weekend on the beach feeling stressed & discouraged. Being away from Bangkok for 2.5 days when you have a week of teaching to prepare for really isn’t my idea of relaxation or recuperation. Imagine having been given a huge deadline on Friday at work that you need to complete on time for Monday morning, or face being fired & then being told that you have to go to a beach resort for the weekend a part of a staff-development initiative where you can’t bring any work with you—oh, and that the huge deadline is still set. Doesn’t rest very well with you, now does it? Well, at least it didn’t for me. Instead of having my usual weekend time to spend getting the work out of the way, so that I’d at least have something to teach on Monday & the following schooldays for the week, I had to sit on a beach, trying to reflect on staff unity & getting in tune with God. Unfortunately, the blaring burden of work kept itself high on my conscience’s back, leaving me with little to think about but how the heck I would have to manage getting all my work done on Sunday, so that my students wouldn’t be left in a lurch for a week.

That weekend and the following week coming and going, we soon found ourselves entering into December, and the first Tuesday in December just happened to be my birthday. It was the best birthday that I have had in a long, long time. The day started off like a typical morning, heading off to work at 7:10 am, getting ready for the instructional day. After doing some paperwork & starting my photocopying session, I left the copier to do its thing and made a quick run to 7-11, just down the street for a caffeine fix. I passed a couple of teacher who were getting coffee shakes at one of the street vendor’s, and on the way back, I ran into them again. One of them thrust a large cup filled with frozen brown liquid toward me and said, “I remember you saying one time that you wanted one of these, so… happy birthday!” It was a coffee shake, and for those of you who know me even a little bit, you know that I tend to steer very clear of the bean juice. I said thanks, and then almost sheepishly admitted that I really didn’t like coffee—but that it was awesome that they thought of me. Out of courtesy, I at least tried the chilled bevy, and to my remarkable surprise, it tasted amazing! I let the teacher know that it was actually really good, and she gave back a knowing smile, “Yeah, they are pretty good, aren’t they? They’re sometimes a bit too sweet, but I get them to make mine with Splenda, so I don’t have to eat all that sugar.”

By the time we had walked back to the school, it was time for our Tuesday morning staff meetings. At staff meeting that morning, I was surprised by an impromptu “Happy Birthday” rendition by the teachers, as they whipped out a couple boxes of donuts for the staff to have (where in the world did they get donuts so early in the morning in Thailand?!), and then when the rest of the day progressed, we were ordered by the King of Thailand to clean up garbage for the first half of the day—less teaching equals less planning on weekends which equals awesomeness. The best thing of all, though, was that the King’s birthday just happens to be the day after mine, and it’s a national holiday which also means no school: super awesomeness.

The night of my birthday wasn’t all that amazing. The girls had a sleep-over planned, which made birthday festivities markedly difficult to get people in on (especially when they tell you “It’ll always be ho’s before bro’s, man!”), and in joking retaliation, it just so happened that a bunch of the male teachers decided to have a pizza & video game party, which left only two teachers who wanted to come & celebrate my birthday with me, which was better than nothing ;-). We headed down to the (in)famous Khao San Road to go eat some Israeli food and enjoy some cold beverages. During the past weekend, we all had decided to have tailored tuxedos made, so we took the opportunity to go to the shop & have our second fittings before we fought to get back to the school.

I say “fought to get back” because the next day was the King’s birthday, and Khao San, being close to the royal palace, was literally flooded with people & lights & fireworks & festivities. We tried hailing taxis for 45 minutes, and every single driver laughed at us before driving off. It didn’t occur to us why they all were so reticent to drive away from the area until we tried to catch a cab at the other end of Khao San. We took a little walk towards the main thoroughfare and then realised what was going on: the typical traffic flow on this street was 5 lanes each direction, but because of the King’s birthday, 4 of the outbound lanes were now being filled with vehicles trying to get in towards the palace. That’s right: a gridlock of 9 lanes of traffic in one direction, with a tiny trickle of vehicles in one lane going the other way. It was nuts.

We finally were able to convince a taxi driver to take us out of Thailand’s Mecca, and after weaving through back alleys, side streets and through lanes and lanes of opposing traffic, we finally left the congestion behind us. It took 40 minutes to travel 12 kilometres, and by the time we arrived back at GES, the fare was double what it usually is to get back from Khao San. Sheesh… what a night!

The following weekend boded GES’ annual Christmas programs—one for kindergarten to grade 3 & one for G 4 – G 11. Essentially, it’s one big party with food and live entertainment performed by the students on a huge outdoor stage that goes on & on for hours. The female teachers performed an original dance routine with practically every style of dancing that you could imagine, and us guys… we serenaded the audience with a stunning performance of Country Roads—all of us in the most elaborate attire that we could muster from our wardrobes. It was a spectacle, for sure.

Saturday marked the end of the Christmas program, but I had decided the weekend before to try & do something special for our staff before everyone went their separate ways, as the Christmas program was the last weekend that we’d all be together before the break. That Sunday, we got together and had a nice Christmas feast of dishes inspired by one of my previous workplaces: Ginger champagne salmon, peach tea marinated pork tenderloin and poached chicken breast with an apple cider / shitake mushroom reduction sauce complete with two salads, garlic mashed potatoes, rice pilaf and finishing with a dark chocolate caramel torte with strawberry compote—a meal like none other you would ever find in Thailand. It was spectacular. We all sat around, ate and enjoyed each other’s company for hours: a delightful change from the ordinary weekend activities of lesson plans & leftovers. Mind you, it didn’t really set up the last week of teaching before the break very well :-).

Again, I was surprised by the rest of the staff: while I was busy prepping the meal, they had decided to all get together & write some notes of appreciation in a small journal, and after the meal was served, they presented me with this token of their gratitude along with a simple bouquet of flowers. I must say, it was the first time anyone has ever given me flowers, and it was one of the most thoughtful things that has ever been done / given to me. I’m pressing a few of the blossoms in the journal to keep as a tangible reminder of that excellent evening.

The next week flew by, and I soon found myself riding to the airport with four girls who were heading to India an hour before my plane to Canada took off. 18 hours of flying and practically zero layover time had me looking out of a window on snowy, grey Alberta, with its patchwork parcels of farmland stretching out as far as the eye could wander. Looking out over Alberta felt light and refreshing, and for the first time in months, my spirit within me felt invigorated and free—as if a cloak of darkness, or a cloud of fog suddenly had been lifted off my soul. There was a tangible feeling of spiritual legacy and the life-promoting spiritual atmosphere that only (in my experience) accompanies Christian dominion, almost as if I had entered a bastion of light and love—an environment that I hadn’t lived in for six months. It was an amazing feeling. Without even any prompting, my soul within me started to sing songs of worship again, something that I hadn’t actually found myself doing at all in Thailand, but something that tends to be a regular occurrence with me while living in Canada.

I touched down and wandered out of the Edmonton International Airport, only to be met promptly by my family, waiting for me. Some of their first words to me were, “Don’t turn sideways, or else we won’t be able to see you anymore.” Apparently, I had lost a lot of weight. My brother was certain that I was suffering from malnutrition, and my family’s response was to whisk me away quickly home to start feeding me. And for the next nine days, I did little more than hang out with family & friends and feast until I was stuffed to the gills.

Canada was an excellent time, one filled with refreshment, joy, reconnecting & celebration. I had the chance to see friends from Calgary, friends from Edmonton, extended family from up north in Alberta and even a cousin of mine who lives in New York, who I haven’t seen in over ten years. I met some new friends and caught up with old ones. Did I mention that I ate a lot? Yes; I ate a lot and often. Mmm… there’s nothing quite like delicious Alberta beef—Thailand’s beef tastes like newspaper mulch.

I was really blessed by my time in Canada. I’ve been living like a pauper in Thailand, due to my mandatory student loan payments, and having the opportunity to eat lavishly with people—often at no expense to me—was an amazing treat. Furthermore, my family was exceptionally generous this Christmas, as I had expected that my plane ticket home for Christmas was the only thing they’d be able to pass my way. Man, was I wrong. Not only that, but the Alberta government had sent me a health care refund cheque back in June for all my premiums that I had been paying (but didn’t need to, since I’ve never made enough money to qualify for paying premiums) and had I not been back that week, the cheque would have expired. It turned out well, especially since my driver’s license expired on my birthday, and had I not been back, that may have proven to be a bigger deal to renew in May (if I even would have remembered or noticed).

Talking about time flying, the nine days that I had in Canada flew by like the jets that were taking off at the airports. The next thing I new, I was back in the Edmonton International, checking my luggage and flying across the Pacific on my way back to Bangkok. And now, here I am, 18 hours before school begins again ,writing this little update as to the life & times of yours truly in Thailand.


The Future

There are a few things that are filling my brain these days. One of them happens to be the impending return of students tomorrow. I don’t feel completely ready to return to teaching, and I really hope that I don’t end up being stuck in the same dreadful workload that I have been experiencing over the past 6 months. I can’t say for sure, but it’s likely that I’ll be stuck with 80-hour work-weeks until the end of March. It’s something that I definitely am not looking forward to, but it’s something that I know has to be done.

Something that I’ve learned / realised over the past few months is that just because God calls us to do something doesn’t ever imply that it will be an enjoyable experience. Actually, looking to Biblical examples, it seems to rather be usually the opposite: Noah was called to build an ark, and in so doing, he became the laughing-stock of his community only then to be proved right and watch all his friends and associates drown in the judgement of God. Abraham was called to leave the opulence and luxury of Ur to go live in unsettled, “barbarian” territory that was promised to him by God, yet not once in his life did he see it established as his own land. Instead, his wife was taken by kings on more than one occasion, his nephew was kidnapped & almost killed and the son that God had promised him was then subjected to be sacrificed on an altar (which, in the end didn’t actually happen, thank goodness). Joseph was almost murdered, sold into slavery and thrown into prison under false accusations before he rose to power. Moses was forced to live as an exile from Egypt for 40 years, and then was hated by the Jews when he came back to “liberate” the people from Egyptian dominion before crossing the Red Sea. David had a bounty on his head for years and had to pretend that he was insane just to stay alive before becoming king. Jesus was publicly executed before rising again. All of the apostles, save John, were executed. And the list goes on. To be honest, I really don’t think that any of these people thought that these things that happened to them were ‘fun’ or ‘enjoyable.’ Nonetheless, they were following the will of God and walking according to the paths that God called them.

Now, I don’t know why, but I know that I was called to serve here in Thailand. Here I am stuck teaching advanced Math to students who mostly couldn’t give a rip about learning, and I’m stuck having to teach myself the material so that I’m proficient enough to regurgitate it to them. What do I get it return? Umm… well, not even so much as a thanks or even an attempt by the majority of my students to do the required homework assignments.

The time’s quickly approaching for me to decide whether or not to stay on board for a second year, and I know that the choice isn’t mine to make. It has to be God’s. I cannot live my life following my own path; I know that I necessarily must follow His. It turns out, though, that it seems He wants me to stay another year—I just hope that that doesn’t mean I have to teach Math again (please Lord, no!).


Items for Prayer

For those of you who read this & are of the praying breed, please consider the following:
o Pray that I wouldn’t become exhausted by all the work that needs to be done.
o Pray that I would have (make) the time to spend deliberately seeking God.
o Pray that the students would be open & receptive to the word & life and love of God.
o Pray that the staff would be united in pursuing Christ first.
o Pray that the staff here would pray first, do second—something that we’ve seriously been lacking in these past several months.
o Pray that God’s name would be glorified in everything that we do over here, and that we would be sensitive enough to the Lord to follow His leading, even when it’s difficult to do so.
o Pray for tomorrow—that we as a staff would all be ready & energised for the last 12 weeks of instruction.

That’s all I got for now. Thanks for hanging in there. Sorry again for the lack of correspondence over the last few months. Hopefully, the trend stops here [another thing that you could pray about ;-)].