I am leading an after school activity this year called "Round Square Movie Making". I have twelve students who are learning how to make movies, and in doing so, are learning about a particular leader in our world. The first one that we finished was Hyun Bi's video. She is a year 3 student, who chose Martin Luther King Jr......

So many options!!!!

Sorry I have been enjoying my summer so not too much to put up here. I will give you this photo though. Won't be posting again till August!!! In regards to the picture, you think this is extreme, but we see this all the time. Pretty sure they qualify for the car pool lane!

It would seem to me as I look back on my life that there were times where I was right where I was supposed to be, and couldn't be happier, and then there were other times where I was where I shouldn't be. My mind has been shifting around lately trying to figure out where it is that I belong. The classic Michael W Smith chorus sums it up well:

Looking for a reason, roaming through this life to find my place in this world, my place in this world.
Not a lot to lean on, I need your light to help me find my place in this world, my place in this world.

The truth is that over the last six years of my life I have been trying to find out who I am, and at the end of those six years I still have no idea. As I have spoken to my friends about this I have found that this is not at all uncommon, but that many people feel long periods of this. The church I worked in in Saskatoon wasn't a great fit for me, and had some tough results, mostly of my own doing. The type of person it takes to work on the oil patch (long hours, mechanical nature, spending lots of time alone in a truck away from people) was the complete opposite of my nature and thus it didn't really fit either. Here in Thailand, I am again looking to make myself fit in (PGCE training to become full time teacher, ASA co-ordinator application, new culture) and am again asking myself....am I trying to make a square peg go through a round hole by doing all of this. Is this who I am? The truth is that I love Thailand and could easily see myself staying here for a long time, and coming home every summer or Christmas to see family and friends, who we do miss a lot. But Jazzy isn't excited about that prospect. And if we move back to Canada, again the question keeps coming up in my mind..."Where do I belong over there?"

By no means is this meant to give off the impression that I am depressed or dejected, because frankly, I am not. These are just the thoughts of a wandering soul over in Thailand looking into the future with some questions. Many people have them. Lots of people go from job to job, house to house, friends to friends, church to church, looking for their place in this world, and sometimes with minimal results. Spiritually speaking, my faith lets me know where I belong, but that isn't always a comfort for day to life as I know it should be. I think that is ONE of the reasons that I enjoyed "LOST" so much because it was a show that examined the lives of a group of people struggling to find out where they belonged. And there are times in my life where I have, and do, feel lost. And there have also been times where I have said to myself, "this is exactly where I should be." The trick I guess, as Paul said, is to "learn to be content in any situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in need or in want."

One of my friends students was wandering around the hallway a while ago when he was supposed to be in ICT class. When she saw him, she asked, "Sonnu, where are you supposed to be?" His answer...."I am here!" Perhaps that was a silly response for that time, but on a pragmatic level, perhaps is was quite deep. Maybe we shouldn't always be looking for tomorrow or next week, or next year. Perhaps the best way to look at life is in a mirror, rather than through a window. "Scott, where are you supposed to be?"

I am here.

So it is hard to believe but we have been in Thailand now for eight whole months. It feels like just yesterday that we stepped off that plane into this new world, and now we are already at the end of March. Unreal. There is so much to be thankful for as we look back on these eight months, and in a way, it still feels like we are getting our feet wet. I thought I would put my own little top ten on here of things we love about Thailand, and the things we have loved so far about moving here to commemorate our eight month anniversary. Here goes:


10) Riding an elephant. For me this was amazing. I kinda have a weird fascination with these crazy creatures. They are so huge, and their heads are gi-normous and hairy. There trunks are very calloused and they eat an amazing amount of food a day. Still, they are completely friendly, gentle animals who enjoy being taken care of. (I am not saying they wouldn't enjoy the wild more, but certainly they like being fed so much.) We rode one in Koh Chang with my parents last month, which was a wonderful experience for all of us. We also got to jump into the water with one and climb on it as it sprayed us. Pretty sweet. Love those elephants.





9) The travel. There are a lot of places to go here, and a lot of ways to get there. Riding motorcycles is an absolute treat, considering there are no rules and you can do what you want. The traffic here is chaotic at best, but it is so fun. I can't really explain this to you, you just have to get here and see it. When mom and dad came, we went to a restaurant on the ocean for our first meal. There was buses lined up for miles and we had a blast ripping around them on our bikes, getting to the front of the line while they had to stay and wait. Tuk Tuks are little motorized carts (found mostly in Bangkok, I think) that act like taxis, only much cheaper (see picture below). Boats are fun, as are ferrys. Song Tows are like truck taxis which rip you around town, and no matter how far you go they only cost 10 baht, unless you hire one to take you somewhere specific, in which case you barter the price. There are taxis and minivans to take you to places long distance, and these are crazy cheap as well. Thailand is very fun to travel in.





8) The Food. Okay, this may sound strange, but I haven't really eaten that much Thai food. I don't really have to. There are tons of restaurants out here with lots of Western Options. I will say this proudly however. I used to hate rice, and now I love it. In fact Chicken Fried Rice (Kow Pat Gai) is one of my favorite meals. I just had it tonight in fact. The thai food is very good and reasonably cheap. There is also really posh restaurants with great food and western prices, italian, mexican, indian, irish pubs, salad bars, and burgers to satisfy every craving. And of course, the markets, which are amazingly cheap and quite tasty, filled with fresh fruits, vegetables, and thai dishes.








7) The condo. So you want to go on vacation hey. What are you looking for? A hot country with nice beaches, a new culture to experience, perhaps being able to lay on a beach or by a pool and read. Perhaps cheap laundry service and a maid. Yeah, THATS WHERE WE LIVE. Our condo is quite nice and has all those luxuries, plus. And all of our close friends live here. Its brilliant. So after a nice thirty minute bike ride home you can shower off and jump in the pool, enjoy a drink or two, and chat with your friends about your day. Then dry off, and go upstairs to your room where the maid has cleaned your place and your laundry has been returned washed, dried, pressed and folded, ready to go. Lovely. We do like our place a lot.






6) The students. Okay, so to be honest the school we work in has some challenges. Okay, a lot of challenges. But no matter where you go, kids are kids, and they are pretty easy to get attached to. We have a wide variety of kids at our school. Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, English, Canadian, American, Indian, Armenian, Chinese....and the list goes on. They do funny things, get questions way wrong, have English language challenges and behavioural issues. But they are still great. It is quite cool to watch how all of these kids with cultural diversities get along. They don't just tolerate each other. They actually like each other and value the differences between them. I know we get a little bit of that in Canada, but not like this. I think when we leave here we are definetely going to miss the kids. See how cute they are....





5)The sun. This morning as Jazzy and I biked to school we watched the sun rise over this beautiful palm tree in the distance. And anytime we want we can sit on the ocean and watch it drop over the horizon. No matter where you go in Thailand, the sunrise and sunset will leave you speechless. Add to that the other scenery and the fact that it never snows here, and you have one happy Scott.





4) The shopping. So you want cheap stuff, hey. Well Thailand is your place. From clothes to watches to nick nacks, to purses to tv shows or movies to suitcases to backpacks to jewlery to furniture to food to wood carvings to flowers to disco balls to thai lotto tickets, Thailand has it all. And you can barter for a lower price too. Sometimes you don't even have to go out. You will just sit in a restaurant eating your chicken fried rice (see earlier) and people will walk up to you with mercandise for sale. Plus, we have a place called Tut Com where you can buy dvds and games for super cheap. I just saw that they had the ten seasons of Mash ready to roll out if you want it. Its quite a place. The shopping here is quite amazing.





3) The Lifestyle. We have so many options here. Here is a list of what we have done so far: Badminton, Tennis, Biking, Mountain Biking, Jungle Run, Football, Basketball, kayaking, Fitness Gym, swimming, elephant riding, fishing, beach time, frisbee, etc. So far we have gone to Bangkok, Koh Samet, Koh Chang, Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, Krabi and soon Chang Rai. We are also excited to go to Chang Mai and Northern Thailand. We also plan to go to Japan, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos and hopefully Australia. All of these are close and quite cheap to get to. Its an amazing place to be sure.


2) The weather. Always hot. Even the rain is cool, and fun to be in. One year ago today I was out in -40 weather trying to unthaw oil that had frozen in a hose. Now, well, I don't do that anymore....Ah Thailand!


1) Life is a funny thing. Have you ever wondered how the small decisions you make lead to big things. Like when Jasmine and I were deciding whether this was the year to go overseas, or whether it wasn't. As we were deciding last year, my truck broke down and the oil patch died, taking with it most of the jobs it had to offer. These two events sold my mind into the decision. Jasmine also agreed now was the time. We had offers from Korea, as well as another place in Thailand, but after alot of thought, we decided on Regent School. So too, did another group of people who have now become some of our closest friends. Without these people, are lives here would look very different. My parents were here a few weeks ago, and they made the comment to me "You and Jasmine are blessed, because no matter where you go, you seem to make quality friends." Its true. The friends we have here are of the highest quality, and they are an amazing blessing to us. Without a doubt, the number one highlight of our top ten list is our friends. Over the next couple of months I will tell you more about them, but for now here some pictures.

So every year we have "International Day" to celebrate the diverse cultures present at our school, and indeed our world. It is actually quite a cool event, with the football oval decked out in games and contests, as well as big inflatables for the kids, and the school itself is set up in pavillions from around the world. You recieve a passport and go to each station to get it stamped and look at stuff from all around the world. (Much like folkfest in Saskatoon, only student run, for the most part). This year, in the program, we Canadians sang the good ol hockey game to the crowd, standing up for the best sport in all of the world. It was a great day. It was also cool because Mom and Dad were here so they got to see our school on a very fun day. Here is the video and some pics of the day.

I don't know where to start, because we have done so much already. In the last two days we have covered alot of ground. The flight were fantastic. I felt safe, although I probably shouldn't have worn jeans. We arrived safe and sound even though it was a very long journey. Some of the highlights so far are as follows:

1) Our first meal on the ocean with Scott and Jasmine. They took us to a place called "The Lighthouse" which was in Pattaya.

2) Making a big perogy dinner for 15 people for some of Scott and Jasmine friends. Most of them (from England) have never tasted a perogy before, and they didn't know what they were. By the end, everyone knew, and there wasn't much left.

3) International Day at the school. This was the best way to see Scott and Jasmine's school. We saw their classrooms, and then enjoyed a day of festivities much like Saskatoon's folkfest. The Canadians sang "The Good Ol' Hockey Game" in the program. It was fantastic.

4) Went to Bangkok for a few days. Went shopping on Khao San Road and enjoyed the markets. We toured the Kings Palace. You cannot go into the palace unless you have long pants. I was the only one who had proper attire. I was stuck watching some tourists drop their backpacks and change into their pants right in front of me in public. I have never seen so many different kind of gotch in my life, and in front of a Kings palace none the less.

5) Went to the Baiyoke Tower (28th tallest building in the world) and enjoyed a wonderful supper and a panoramic view of Bangkok.

6) Koh Chang....still enjoying this....so will post more later......

Apologies for not writing for so long. Its hard once you get into a routine to keep updating this blog, but I know many of you read it so I thought I would tell you what is going on. The big news...mom and dad are coming tomorrow. Thats right. All the way from Canada we are getting our first visitors. They will be here for 17 days. We have an amazing couple of weeks lined up for them too. They will see our lives here, as well as Bangkok, Koh Chang, Koh Larn, fly though the jungles, sit by the beach, eat the best food of their lives, get a great tan, see our schools "international day", try motorbiking, cook perogies for all of our English friends, go fishing on the ocean, get massages, try snorkling, get pampered at a massage, see a movie in a thai theatre, and have the best holiday of their entire lives....just to name a few things. We are super excited for them to come, and this trip seems to have taken forever to get here, but they will be on a plane in less than 24 hours, which is super exciting. I will post pics as soon as I can.

Since we work at a British school, we hang around with a lot of people from the motherland. Thus we have learned a lot of terms that we generally don't have back in Canada. Here are ten of the words or phrases that have come up the most frequently...

Fun In Phuket!

It was January 1st, and we had just got back from Bangkok after a lovely night of bringing in the New Year. Our little kitten was happy as a lark, and we were getting ready for bed. "I am thirsty, " I thought to myself, "and I think I will go and get a drink of water from the fridge." So off I went to the kitchen. The lights were off, so I turned them on, as is my custom of doing when the lights are off. I took the pitcher from the fridge and had myself a little drink of water. I put the pitcher of water back in the fridge after my thirst was quenched. "My leg is itchy," I thought to myself, as I reached down to scratch it. In doing so, I also looked down. That is when I saw the biggest spider I have ever seen in my life resting a couple of inches from my big toe. I jumped away from it, and it didn't even move. I told Jasmine that she had to come in and look at the massive girth of this spider, which she politely declined. I then took my trusty broom and killed it. Would you like to see this spider? Ok.....