My Love/Hate Relationship with Thailand
I suppose no matter where you live, there are things you love and things you hate. That certainly is true of living in Thailand. Overall, my experiences and life here have been wonderful. I'm thankful for this land that has taken us in and allowed us to live and work here. But there are a few things I just can't seem to get past.
Things I hate about Thailand:
1. Mosquitos that hang out in my bathroom, trying to attack me when I’m at my most vulnerable and give me Dengue Fever
2. The open drains that invite cockroaches to make themselves at home in my house
5. Thailand is way too far away from Mid-west USA and the people I love there.
12. There’s no Walmart.
Things I love about Thailand:
1. The smiles – Thailand definitely lives up to its nickname, “The Land of Smiles”
2. The people behind the smiles, who are just so beautiful
3. Teaching English to my Karen students
4. My international church family and the new friends I have there
12. Leading worship with my family and friends at church and at conferences
13. The cool season, when for 2 or 3 days you actually need a sweater! Well, in the morning...
14. Every gas station is full serve.
Things I hate about Thailand:
1. Mosquitos that hang out in my bathroom, trying to attack me when I’m at my most vulnerable and give me Dengue Fever
3. Deranged car and motorbike drivers that endanger all of our lives every day
4. The never-ending trickle of sweat running down my body
6. Scary looking soi dogs that roam wild on the streets – they look like dingoes, and I was never a dog person to begin with
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| The very noisy and annoying Greater Coucal |
7. Jungle birds that freak me out with their monkey howls
8. When the huntsman spider doesn’t stay outside
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| Huntsman spider - and no, that is not my hand! |
9. The teeny tiny ants I can never seem to get rid of
10. Centipedes, cobras, and scorpions - there is something waiting to kill you around every corner. Although I have never actually seen any - but I have heard stories from friends!
11. No one puts their shopping carts away - they leave them behind other people's cars. Not cool.
Things I love about Thailand:
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| Smiling Siloam students |
1. The smiles – Thailand definitely lives up to its nickname, “The Land of Smiles”
2. The people behind the smiles, who are just so beautiful
3. Teaching English to my Karen students
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| My wonderful students |
5. Meeting and worshipping with people from countries all over the world
6. The low cost of living (which means a date night with the hubby every week!)
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| Let's go for a ride! |
7. Tuk-tuks (a great way to get to the night market… or the day market… or any market!)
8. Adorable Thai children – they are just too cute!!
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| A Karen cutie surrounded by beautiful Karen clothing |
9. Beautiful Karen hand-woven and embroidered clothing
10. Thai milk tea – oh my goodness, it is so delicious! (It’s probably the sweetened condensed milk they put in there…)
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| We love our Thai teachers! |
11. My Thai teachers and learning to speak Thai – even when it is really hard, and I can’t remember anything, and I fail miserably, I still love learning to communicate in Thai.
13. The cool season, when for 2 or 3 days you actually need a sweater! Well, in the morning...
14. Every gas station is full serve.
*You may be surprised that Thai food isn’t on my “love” list. There are several delicious dishes that I really enjoy; however, a lot of Thai food is either spicy and/or seafood, and those really aren’t my thing. So, unfortunately, I can’t make a blanket statement saying I love Thai food.
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