The Long Haul to School

Since the end of April I have been rather busy with travel and a few other things. The journey of a thousand miles began on Sunday, April 29, with a visa run from Ubon Ratchathani to Chong Mek, Thailand. I had to cross the border into Laos for a few minutes, and then return to Ubon, where I caught a bus for Pattaya. The visa run took about five hours, and then I had an hour-and-a-half wait for the 13 hour bus trip to Pattaya.

Earlier in the month I signed on with AYC-Thailand, an intercultural exchange program that places English teachers throughout the country. The orientation was held at the Furama Hotel near a beach in Jomtien, and officially started on Monday morning. The orientation was better than the one I attended three years ago in Kanchanaburi. On Friday, I got my school assignment to a kindergarten in Yasothon, about three hours NE of Ubon. Saturday we said our goodbyes and went to our schools. My group stopped in Khon Kaen for the night before setting on for Yasothon. About ten kilometers out, we got a call saying that my school wanted a female teacher, and so I would have to wait for a reassignment. It was on to Mukdahan for the other two teachers.

We got the teachers placed, and spent the night in Mukdahan. While one teacher was shown some apartments, I took a walk to the Mukdahan Tower, on the south side of town. Ho Kaeo Mukdahan, the Thai name for the tower, was built to honor the 50th anniversary of the coronation of the king of Thailand. It is about 65.5 meters tall, and offers a spectacular view of the Mekong River and a nice view of Suvannakhet, Laos and the Friendship Bridge #2 that links the sister cities.

Monday afternoon we left Mukdahan for home and I arrived back in Ubon sometime around 3pm.

By Wednesday I was ready to start printing resumes and hit the local schools, but I got a call from AYC asking me to come to Bangkok for my reassignment. Thursday night I had my stuff ready to go, and I hopped a train to Bangkok. Friday morning I ate breakfast at a Subway Sandwich Shop near Khao San Road, then went for a walk carrying an overloaded backpack, book bag, camera case, and two small bags filled with notebooks, dictionaries, and pens and pencils, and a few other things. I took a break at the National Museum, and then went to the AYC office. I spent the night in Bangkok, and on Saturday morning we left for the new school. One new teacher was dropped off at his school, and then the van driver got lost. We ended up near Chon Buri, and lost about three to four hours.

My school assignment is in Simahasot, Prachin Buri, Thailand. Simahasot is a spectacularly small town located on Hwy 304. The school is behind a 7-11 and a market area. I am currently living with two teachers from China who have degrees in teaching Chinese as a second language.

Sunday I crossed the border for the first time into the Kingdom of Cambodia. I was there for about a half hour on a visa run. It looks like an interesting town to visit, but probably does not compare to Siem Reap or Ankor Wat. Over the next year, I hope to visit these locations.

My classes started on Monday, and it promises to be the best experience in teaching since leaving South Korea. I like it here.

Today is the 57th anniversary of the opening of the school. To celebrate, the school is closed, and preparations are being made for a school reunion this weekend. Yesterday evening, an English teacher from India took me and a German teacher of English over to the temple where the school was started. The original school building still stands, elevated well above water level for when the river overflows its banks. It is rainy season now for SE Asia, and many are hoping it won't be as bad as it was last year.

I hope to be able to share a lot more about my experiences here when I find the time and an available computer at school.

Lost Photos and Travel Plans

I am way overdue for a post. Sorry about the delay.

I used to use a photo sharing site called Image Cave. Without any warning, the domain disappeared. With it are all of the photos I had posted here. I do not know how many photos are lost forever because of the irresponsibility of the "fine folks" at Image Cave. I have many pictures saved on both Facebook and on Myspace, but the ones I shared here on Xanga were posted through the missing website. It's a drag. I had a number of photos saved to various storage drives, but two are forever gone, and a third appears to be shot, as well. So far only the thumb drives have any kind of resiliency. I carry two Kensington 4 gig drives and one 1 gig drive with me everywhere I go. They are second generation USB drives about the size of your thumb, maybe smaller. I also have a third generation USB drive that is very small. In the future all photos will be stored on thumb drives. External hard drives are an epic failure to me. As for photo sharing sites, the experience with Image Cave is negative enough to where I doubt I will use them in the future.

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I am preparing to attend teacher orientation in Pattaya one week from today. I have never been to Pattaya, one of the more famous tourist traps in Thailand. The orientation begins on Monday and goes through the week. After the orientation, there will be paperwork to pick up to take to the Thai embassy in Laos so I can get a non-B visa and work in the government school. I should be gone for about a week-and-a-half. School starts in less than a month. Just need to get some money ready for the trip.

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Last weekend Thailand celebrated the new year by splashing hundreds of thousands of gallons of water on each other. The three day holiday was enjoyed by everyone, especially the ones who stayed inside and didn't get wet. Songkran is not my favorite holiday.

updates

I will try to update within 24-48 hours. 

See you then.

Commandments, Laws, Statutes and the Subject of Meditation

Last night I blogged on another site on the subject of character of the heart. I expressed several ideas as to how the Ten Commandments were a reflection of God's character. You can read it here.

I have been trying to focus more on my relationship with God, and sometimes I know I am not doing all I can to maintain that focus. I know what God wants me to do regarding diet, health, and other changes I need to be making in my life. With this in mind, I understand the weakness of mind that Jesse Ventura spoke of when he criticized Christians. Yes, I am a weak-minded Christian. The difference I see in myself is that I want to have the mind of Christ, and to have His character embedded in my heart. I know my point of view. There are times when I do not agree with God. There are times when I get angry at Him. There are times when I don't want to talk to Him. Such is the level of my selfishness. I need to have the mind of Christ so I can understand just what it is I am up against. I am up against me, and that battle between being selfish and being selfless is insane. No one can hurt me the way I hurt myself. So I need God's character in my heart and mind. 

The Psalmist wrote of his meditations being focused on God's commandments, laws, statutes, and desired greatly to have them written upon his heart. When David was weak, he fell into bed with a married woman. After he got her pregnant, he did all that he could to cover up his sin, going so far as to have her husband abandoned in battle to be killed. It was a decision that would destroy the lives of many of his sons, including Absalom. David may have been king of Israel and a man after God's own heart, but when he lost his focus, he made critical errors in judgment. I do not want this in my life, and yet, there are things in my head that make me wonder if I am doing what is right.

I focus on Jesus' prayer life and see my own shortcomings. I do not pray enough. I do not focus enough on God's will for my life, let alone the needs of family and friends and coworkers and church family. Often I see my prayers being too much about me me me. I need to change this. Let God's will be done regarding me me me. I can live with His decisions. I just want to be as patient with Him as He has been with me.

Have you ever considered Jesus' words to Peter concerning the things that are loosened on earth will be the things that will be loosened in heaven? It's about character development in this world, becoming what you are to become in this world, which is what you will be for eternity. I look at my behavior. Is any of it any good? Let's put this in light of judgment. A day is coming soon when a voice will declare the following: "Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.” (Revelation 22:11 NIV) On that day God will end His striving with the human race. Sin will have run its course to its fullness, and every human being will have made a final judgment concerning God. One will say that God is worthy of worship, to be honored as Father, and to be loved for all that He has done. Another will say that God is not worthy of worship or honor or love. When Jesus returns, He brings His reward to give to every person according to his or her works. (Revelation 22:12) One is taken to meet the Father, and the other is left behind. 

Every day for me is a day of judgment. God shows me where I got it right (only because I let the Holy Spirit lead me), where I get it wrong (because I prevented the Holy Spirit to lead me), and all I can do is confess my sins and together we both work on repentance. In the first commandment shows us a God who delivers His people from bondage, from slavery. I do not have to be a sinner. I can live a sin-free life IF I let God work in me those things that He desires to bring forth. Right now I see myself as a sinner saved by grace. The day I long for is when I am no longer a sinner, but I am simply saved by grace. I hate my sin, I hate my weakness, and I long for the day after the lake of fire burns itself out completely so that this world can again be perfect. My only ambition as a Christian should be simple: "Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect." - Jesus Christ - (Matthew 5:48) 

Can you understand why David meditated on God's commandments, laws and statutes? This should be what every Christian should be doing now. 

We are not saved by the keeping of the law. The law shows that we are sinners to be condemned. If we are in Christ, the law has no judgment against us. The judgment is in our favor. Works do not save us, but by our works God judges us fit for eternity with Him. I know myself, but not as well as God does. He sees what I can become if I let Him work through me. That is the person He wants to see in heaven, but first He wants to see him on earth. There is so much to learn, and much to fix in my character.

I am not yet a fan of meditation. I don't completely understand the practice, particularly when it comes from T'ai Chi. I don't agree with the definitions of energy or the source for that energy as defined by Eastern philosophy, so that puts a barrier up right away. The only connection I need is with Jesus Christ and that comes through the Holy Spirit. I can stand in one place and focus my attention on religious themes, carefully breathing in and releasing the breath, and in my mind pray about the things that concern me. Perhaps ten minutes later, I am ready to move along. I don't feel any energy come out of the ground and into my feet and up my legs to the rest of the body or into my head. If anything, it is only an exercise in the concept of "peace, be still." I know He is God. But my calm is so easily damaged sometimes. My prayer life needs to be more active. 

I know what I am looking for. It will take time to find it. I need to be as patient with God as He has been with me. I know I am on the right track in my life. It is now just a matter of finding the joy in the journey, but knowing how to find a true rest along the way. 

too much time on my hands

Tomorrow at breakfast I am going to start a list of stuff I got in my head that needs to be written for the blogs I have. Too much free time. Time to be writing. More later.