Usually when personal worlds collide its messy! Expectations are shattered or maybe small explosions fire from misunderstandings or misplaced words. I must admit I was a little wary of my parents joining me in this far off land that I have called home for over the past 3 years. Would the physical circumstances overshadow the joy of the random new experiences that they would see? Would the heat, odd traffic patterns, strangeness of the food, and weird smells that leave your nose hair burning and check your gag reflexes distract them from the odd beauty of Thailand? Would they leave glad they came or would they leave content and excited for what they have seen and experienced?
For our first adventure after the long flight, we walked to the market close to school so I could introduce them to the sights and smells of raw beef, dead fish, eels, hearts, pigs feet, and other various treasures hanging from hooks or sloshed in piles on top of bloody wooden tables. They made it out unscathed but with queer expressions on their faces! We then had fruit shakes with my friend Pii Oot where all my Thai friends told them how handsome and beautiful they were! Nothing like a good ego boost to improve any day! Next we had a leisurely ride on the river taxi to get to the sky train for dinner down town. I believe by the end of their stay they got to ride every mode of transportation except for the samlot…not bad!!!
We were off to Chiang Mai the next day where we rode elephants, saw an elephant show, kissed a python…well, dad and I did…mom was too wary! We went to a monkey show, saw a bunch of factories including umbrellas, wood craftsman, jewelry, silk, and carpets! We explored the night market and got taken quite a few times…all part of the Thai experience! We ate at lots of great places and met an old ESL friend of my dads. It was a blast!!
Speaking of blasts…we arrived back to Bangkok in time for the New Years bombings where we watched the story unfold on TV with the rest of you while we played Clue and Life at a friends house. It was great! The next few days were a whirlwind of downtown trips, movies, the Grand Palace, waterfalls, museums, and coming to my class and chapel! I believe I actually wore them out! We even got a 2 hour massage which was the highlight for the masseuses with all of our awkward giggles and comments!
So the colliding worlds were actually a blast! Im so glad my parents came out to enter my world and share a piece of me that only can be captured by taking in the sights, sounds, and crazy taxi rides! Now I look forward to hosting my favorite guy in all the world who managed to act even older than me by throwing out his back and being on bed rest for the past couple of weeks! So, please pray that Barrett’s back will get better by Friday so he can enjoy the uniqueness of Thailand and I can enjoy his company, something I’ve been looking forward to for 8 months!!!