At our language school, we
have 5 levels of classes, and 2 weeks ago we were pushed up to the third level. We have been in Thailand for 4 months
now, and everyone else in our new class has lived here for over year. David and
I stand out quite a lot, which we are proud of. We are the only ones in our
class who go home and practice speaking Thai every day; we usually sit outside
and talk with our neighbors on weekdays and our friends from church on Sunday. It’s
amazing how easy it is for us, as a Christian couple, to stand out. Our
teachers already refer to us as the good students and good people. We have been able to tell our teachers little things about our faith, so they all know that we worship God and Jesus and go to church every Sunday. Also, everyone in our new class is a
single, white, older man. I was so disappointed that there wasn’t at least one
woman or a married man.
Also, all of teachers are
beautiful, single, Thai women. You can probably guess how this is a problem.
The men in our class constantly make inappropriate comments and laugh about it.
For example, one man was talking about olive oil, another man jokes “was it
extra virgin” the men laugh, and then another man jokes “There are no virgins
in Pattaya.” All the men laugh while David and I are disgusted. Our teachers
are completely used to this, and it doesn’t seem to bother them. This week, one
of our teachers talked about getting dressed up and going out, and told our
class about how a Farang (Foreigner) came up to her and just said, “How Much?”
The oldest man in our class then shared how a man should always chit chat with
a woman before asking for a price, ask their name, where they are from, etc.
David and I were horrified that this British man honestly thinks he is a prince
charming compared to most men here in Pattaya. All these men do after class is
go to the bar, drink beer, and meet Thai girls. That is all they talk about and
it sounds to me like a pathetic life, but these men brag every day and are so
proud of themselves and their lifestyle.
Other than the other
students, we love our school. Our teachers are fantastic and the curriculum has
made learning much easier for us. We feel so blessed to be enrolled in this
school because learning Thai has been faster than we had expected.
Christmas in Pattaya has been
interesting. Pattaya has many international foreigners living here, and we also
have many malls with American and European stores for shopping. When we go into
the mall, it is covered with Christmas trees and decorations. There is soft
Christmas music playing in the background and Christmas sales at most of the
stores. We have discovered that most people do not know that there is the word “Christ”
in Christmas. Thai people love holidays, so Christmas is just another reason to
be off work and have time off with family. All of the malls and hotels here
have shrines for people to offer gifts to the spirits, and usually the
Christmas tree would just be set up next to the shrine. As we have been
learning more Thai, we really wanted to go ahead and buy a bible in Thai. I
knew that bibles were not common here, but I thought if we went to the biggest
book store in all of Pattaya, which was in a mall, they would have at least
one. They did not. So while we are surrounded by Christmas trees and
instrumental Christmas music playing, we realized there are absolutely no
bibles for sale in our entire city. It is very obvious that most people here
have never had the chance to hear about the story of Jesus. Fortunately, the churches
planted here by TMM have been hosting community Christmas parties, and we are
excited to share about them with you in our next blog post!
We know December is a big
time for giving to ministries. Please be thinking and praying about how you can
help support this ministry this year.
