Today is Monday, and I have been in Thailand since Thursday. Many on you are probably wondering how we did on the flight. Fortunately, everything went quite well. My daughter was obsessed with the movies –everyone had their own personal t.v. and could change it to the movie of their choice. The baby slept really well on the flight, and my 3-year old was awesome as well.
Tai airlines is a wonderful airline. The attendants are incredibly friendly and helpful. They gave us drinks the entire flight, snacks, and wonderful meals. They also were very helpful with the children. Not to mention, the attendants wore beautiful traditional outfits. If I ever get the chance, I hope to use their airline again.
As I mentioned the flight went really well, however, the last thirty minutes were a little scandalous. We were getting ready to land, so were not allowed to get up. Right at this time, my 3-year old woke up in a horrible mood and then his ears started hurting. Then he decided that he had to go to the bathroom. I am not sure how my two older children could have planned every bathroom break around take off and landing, but somehow everytime we are on the plane, they are sure that is the best time to “go potty.” At this time when my son started howling at the top of his lungs. Then he peed all over me –through a pull up – I might have to make a complaint with Huggies. Then, the other two also began crying as well. This went on for the last thirty minutes of the flight and the entire time we were getting our bags. But, considering it was 4:00 am for them, I would have to say that they did better than I expected.
Things are going really well here. We are staying at a college ministry house. There are quite a few college age Thai students living here. Most of them are Christian. Some of them received Christ through this ministry to college students, and others have come from Christian families. I am very impressed by the work they are doing here in Bangkok.
It is a little bit tough though here for the kids. The five of us are in a room that is about 12 x 10, and we are sharing a communal bathroom. Needless to say, the kids have had quite a few “accidents” with going to the bathroom. They are still getting over jetlag and are getting up before 6 am and wanting to go to bed for the night at 3:00 in the afternoon. It is a little difficult because I get embarrassed by their behavior, especially when they are tired. Everything is new and different for them, so of course it is hard for them to be really good. They are used to being able to run around everywhere, and they just don’t have that option here. The young people here are not parents, so I am not sure if they can understand that my kids really aren’t bad, they just are adjusting and doing the best they can despite different circumstances. – I also am used to being able to work in another room while my kids play together – I am not going to lie, this is trying on my patience, and I am not exactly winning the battle.
Saturday though, some of the girls who are working with us this summer played with my kids for about an hour – it was so nice to be able to breathe for a few minutes. OK so enough of the complaining. This should be a great time with my family. They are learning to get by with just a couple of toys, not watch so much TV and play together. Just pray that everyone calms down a little bit and that I can be patient and not get so embarrassed – it really does not help anything. I know that God is really going to use this in my life this summer; I just hope that I will bend my neck and learn from it. I am thankful for the opportunity to learn through embarrassment, tight quarters, and complete unfamiliarity.
The Thai language is also extremely difficult to learn. The people are friendly and merciful as I butcher their language on an hourly basis. Today I hope to get someone to give me a little bit of help with the language. It should go better. We have seen 3 elephants walking down the road so far. The food is amazing. They have coffee stands all over that would put Starbucks to shame –especially since they only cost 80 cents. So, this is a huge blog today. But, hopefully it will be shorter next time and with some good pictures since I am now getting settled in. Thanks for everything
Tai airlines is a wonderful airline. The attendants are incredibly friendly and helpful. They gave us drinks the entire flight, snacks, and wonderful meals. They also were very helpful with the children. Not to mention, the attendants wore beautiful traditional outfits. If I ever get the chance, I hope to use their airline again.
As I mentioned the flight went really well, however, the last thirty minutes were a little scandalous. We were getting ready to land, so were not allowed to get up. Right at this time, my 3-year old woke up in a horrible mood and then his ears started hurting. Then he decided that he had to go to the bathroom. I am not sure how my two older children could have planned every bathroom break around take off and landing, but somehow everytime we are on the plane, they are sure that is the best time to “go potty.” At this time when my son started howling at the top of his lungs. Then he peed all over me –through a pull up – I might have to make a complaint with Huggies. Then, the other two also began crying as well. This went on for the last thirty minutes of the flight and the entire time we were getting our bags. But, considering it was 4:00 am for them, I would have to say that they did better than I expected.
Things are going really well here. We are staying at a college ministry house. There are quite a few college age Thai students living here. Most of them are Christian. Some of them received Christ through this ministry to college students, and others have come from Christian families. I am very impressed by the work they are doing here in Bangkok.
It is a little bit tough though here for the kids. The five of us are in a room that is about 12 x 10, and we are sharing a communal bathroom. Needless to say, the kids have had quite a few “accidents” with going to the bathroom. They are still getting over jetlag and are getting up before 6 am and wanting to go to bed for the night at 3:00 in the afternoon. It is a little difficult because I get embarrassed by their behavior, especially when they are tired. Everything is new and different for them, so of course it is hard for them to be really good. They are used to being able to run around everywhere, and they just don’t have that option here. The young people here are not parents, so I am not sure if they can understand that my kids really aren’t bad, they just are adjusting and doing the best they can despite different circumstances. – I also am used to being able to work in another room while my kids play together – I am not going to lie, this is trying on my patience, and I am not exactly winning the battle.
Saturday though, some of the girls who are working with us this summer played with my kids for about an hour – it was so nice to be able to breathe for a few minutes. OK so enough of the complaining. This should be a great time with my family. They are learning to get by with just a couple of toys, not watch so much TV and play together. Just pray that everyone calms down a little bit and that I can be patient and not get so embarrassed – it really does not help anything. I know that God is really going to use this in my life this summer; I just hope that I will bend my neck and learn from it. I am thankful for the opportunity to learn through embarrassment, tight quarters, and complete unfamiliarity.
The Thai language is also extremely difficult to learn. The people are friendly and merciful as I butcher their language on an hourly basis. Today I hope to get someone to give me a little bit of help with the language. It should go better. We have seen 3 elephants walking down the road so far. The food is amazing. They have coffee stands all over that would put Starbucks to shame –especially since they only cost 80 cents. So, this is a huge blog today. But, hopefully it will be shorter next time and with some good pictures since I am now getting settled in. Thanks for everything
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2 comments:
hi jen...it's cindy quan - wow, 20h flight with 3 kids...pretty amazing!! we took our 3 m old daughter on about the same length flight when we flew from san fran back to sydney - she was awesome...but when we go back to visit when she's 13m, i'm not sure how that's gonna go.
i've only glossed your blog - so you're in in thailand for the summer? are you guys thinking of leaving oaxaca or are you just thinking of sending out missionaries to thailand/northern india?
ah, i wish i were in bangkok again - the street food is AMAZING and the massages are real cheap! (of course you'd have to find time with 3 kids!)
hope adjustments don't take too long
I am so thankful that the kids did relatively well on the flight. I have heard kids scream for 2 hours on a domestic flight in the middle of the day, so considering the length and all that - wow! I will be thinking and praying for you as you all adjust to new surroundings. And I will keep reading your blog to learn of your adventures! :)
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