Are you sure?

"Are you sure you want to do this?" These words from the bank teller caught us off guard as they brought home the finality of the decisons we have made over the past several months. She continued, "If you close these accounts, it is really difficult to open a new one."

"In three weeks we'll have moved back to the US, so we won't need these accounts anymore," I replied, the words sliding off my tongue, betraying the turmoil going on inside me. I had to speak quickly, before the impact of what she said sunk in any further.

We had taken advantage of a trip back to Phon Phisai to go to the bank where we had opened the accounts. We saved surcharges by doing that. We had already transferred most of the funds electronically to our US account, but wanted to wait until that cleared before we closed the accounts. As we walked away from the bank with the small remainder of the funds in our hands, I felt a strange sense of unease—in just one week we would be out of our house and in about two weeks we would be back the US as residents for the first time in over twelve years.

Sunset Over the Mekong River From the Moo Kata Restaurant

We had driven up to Phon Phisai the previous day. We took the church leaders out to dinner at a "Korean BBQ" place, known locally as Moo Kata. The sun had just set over the Mekong River as we arrived. We shared stories as we watched the meat cooking on the grill.

Waiting for the Food to Come Out

The following morning we picked up some folks from the church and drove about 25 kilometers to a village named Tha Luang where a group had gathered for singing, prayer and bible study. From there we went to visit a woman who is paralyzed on one side following a stroke two years ago. Then it was off to a small roadside restaurant for lunch. Our last stop before going to the bank was a remote village named Huay Poon that had neither running water nor electricity. The land was originally given to a communist group to live about 50 years ago, but they don't have title to the land and so they can't get utilities installed. We had a time of sharing, singing and prayer there as well.

Worship in Ban Tha Luang

Sharing the Word in Huai Poon

After we finished up at the bank, we went to Cake Lamoon—our favorite coffee shop in Phon Phisai. They really developed that place since we lived in Phon Phisai. They have a much greater variety of fresh baked goods and they now roast their own coffee. Later on we went to visit some friends before retiring for the evening.

Enjoying the Bear Ambiance at Cake Lamoon

Visit With Friends

On Saturday morning we drove about 13 km to Nong Bua Ngoen. At this village, they were holding only their second worship service. They meet at the home of a village head who came to Christ in the past year. This fellow used to sing Mor Lam—a type of Isaan folk music—and now he uses his voice to sing praises to God. We were given a special farewell lunch as it would be our last time in Phon Phisai before going back to the US. It made for a long day, but it was good to bring closure to that part of our lives.

Lunch at Nong Bua Ngoen

Mor Lam Praise

A Pleasant Surprise

As we finished up teaching English on Saturday, I mentioned that it would be our last time teaching English. It seemed like no one was paying attention when I said that, but it caught the attention of Aoi.

After English Teaching
Aoi second from left.

Aoi is from one of the elementary schools, and like most of the kids who come to our classes, her family is quite poor. Still, she came up with an idea: What if the kids pitched in 20 baht each (about 60 cents, USD), they could buy a going away cake to serve the next day after our worship service. A plan was developed and a cake was ordered from somewhere locally. However, the cake was late in coming, so keep it a surprise, we were sent on an errand to delay our arrival at Ajan Nat's house. Apparently, the cake arrived about 1 minute before we did.

Tun Serving the Cake

After our worship service was over, Tun presented the cake to us. As she presented it, she actually apologized because she hasn't been particiapting in any of our activities lately. As for Aoi, she was her usualy quiet self—always helpful but not wanting to make a name for herself.

รักตายาย = Love Grandpa and Grandma (our Thai titles)

To add to all this, once Moe's mom heard that one of our favorite Thai desserts is Mango with coconut cream and sticky rice—so there was a big pot of that to share as well

Mango with Sticky Rice

We will still have opportunity to see the children before we leave Thailand, but we won't be around for the next two Saturday's. We will certainly miss this group of young people when we leave Thailand.

Stringing Norman for the Last Time

In one of my last blogs I wrote about some of the "lasts" that will happen before we leave Thailand. One thing I had not thought about was the last time I would put strings on my Norman Guitar. I hadn't really anticipated doing that this month, but I had to make some repairs to it, so I ended up replacing the strings at the same time.

Restringing Norman

I suppose it was fitting that I should have a Norman guitar since both my patrilineal and matrilineal ancestral lines end up in Normandy. But it also meant that hardly anyone else I knew had a guitar of the same make, since they are not common in the US.

I bought this guitar when we were in Canada for our fifteenth anniversary. I figured that buying a Canadian-made guitar in Canada at a time when exchange rates were favorable would be a good idea. That trip also coincided with a celebration of Canadian Thanksgiving with family there. I went guitar shopping with a friend of mine (he was the best man at our wedding), who was also a worship leader in his church.

At the time I was a worship leader at Fellowship Bible Church in Bakersfield. That church closed down a couple of years after that and I didn't play guitar so much for several years as the next church we were at I was a vocalist. After we moved to Fresno, I played mostly percussion.

During our first term in Thailand, I taught guitar in our neighborhood, but I didn't play on our church worship teams since they already had competent players.

Teaching Guitar in Chachoengsao

Then, when we moved to northern Thailand, Norman sat quiet most of the time because the churches all had worship leaders and we really didn't know anyone interested in playing guitar. Norman suffered a bit after that (maybe he was mad at me for disuse) because I left him in the case while we went back to North America for three months. The three months turned into five months and when we got back to Thailand, the guitar was moldy and the face had warped, which messed up the intonation. I cleaned up Norman, though, and I ended up using it quite a bit after we moved to Phon Phisai, because I was the main worship leader at our church and I was teaching guitar to some teenagers on a regular basis.

During this time, Norman suffered some more. I lent him out to some folks who somehow managed to strum quite hard while missing the pick guard, scraping away the finish on the face of the guitar. Since moving to Kalasin, Norman has continued to see a lot of use.

Leading Music for Our Church Gathering in Kalasin

I had decided several months ago that Norman would probably not be going back to the US with us. The guitar is not in great shape and I'm not sure it would survive the trip. I have already ordered a new guitar (pictured below), which is nearly finished and which I will pick up at the end of the month. In the meantime, I play Norman on a regular basis. Last week the guitar fell over and, even though it was in the case, the face cracked. I glued the crack so it wouldn't get worse, and then put new strings on the guitar, something I won't likely need to do again before I leave Thailand.

My new guitar is being made by Korn Acoustic Guitars in Chonburi, Thailand. So it will not only be an instrument for me to play, it will also be a souvenir of a country I have come to love.

New Guitar Almost Complete

So, Norman, it's been a good run. I don't know how long you'll hold together under new management, but hopefully you'll hang around for a few more years.

Interview Questions

Back when we lived in Wiang Kaen, there was a teenager who was particularly motivated to learn English. Lai was a Hmong girl who lived about 12 kilometers up the valley from us.

Us with Lai while she was at university

Lai's motivation was this: she wanted to apply for a scholarship for which only a handful of people from across Thailand would be selected. The scholarship would allow her to attend a special high school in Central Thailand, that was under the patronage of the Princess, for her senior year. It would also include university studies in India or Thailand.

As part of the application process for the scholarship, Lai had to do an interview in English. She asked for help preparing for this, so I tried to think up kinds of questions they might ask. I don't remember what was on the list, but it was probably things like, "What hobbies do you have?" and "What are your strengths and weaknesses?" I had her write out the answers in English, then I helped her correct any language issues. When she came back from the interview, she was all excited. She was the only applicant that did the interview entirely in English. She said that all the questions they asked were on the list that I made up for her, except for one. That question was, "What would you do if you got pregnant while living in India?" Now why didn't I think of that?

Lai won her scholarship, and while she was studying her senior year in high school, she was one of six students who appeared on national television with the princess. In the end she opted to do her university studies in Thailand, because she could find a better program for what she wanted to study than in India.

I praise God for the wisdom He gives us to be able to help people like this. As we read in James 1:5 (ESV), "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him."

For the last time

About 8:45 am we walked into the bank. We were there to get documents we needed to renew our visa. According to the immigration rules, these documents have to be prepared the same day one applies to renew the visa, so one hopes the visa renewal process goes smoothly so that one does not have to repeat the process (and having to pay another ฿300 bank fees in the process). We had to wait a bit to see the person who could prepare our documents, then it took about 1/2 hour to prepare them. Altogether, we were there about 45 minutes.

From the bank, we drove a couple kilometers to the immigration office. We always go with a bit of trepidation, because we don't know if the rules have changed since the previous year, which would require us to prepare more documents than listed on the website. This time around they didn't give us any extra copies back, so at least I got that part correct. We did have to sign one extra form, which they didn't have us do last year but which we did have to sign in years prior to that. We only had one snafu in that they wanted our landlords phone number. They had never asked for that before, and we didn't have it since we usually contacted her using an app on our phones. I was able to find a number for her employer though, and got hold of her assistant who got the number for me. We walked out of the office at 10:45. Not bad, 2 hours for the whole process, plus a couple hours the previous day preparing the all the papers.

Then it was off to celebrate, this year we went to Boonme Coffee.

Celebration at Bounmee Coffee

Custard Cake

This has been our annual ritual for the past several years, but it was a bit more poignant this year, because it will likely be our last time doing our annual visa renewal here in Thailand. Twelve years prior, almost to the week, we landed in Thailand to make this tropical paradise ou new home. Now, in the coming year, we are looking at making the transition back to North America. While we have been thinking about this for a while and have already begun the process of planning for the transition, this visa renewal routine reminds us that things really are changing—the first of many lasts that will happen over the year.

There will be a lot more lasts coming up over the next few months. There will be the last time we sleep in this apartment. The last time we drive to Khon Kaen. The last time we buy a huge bag of lettuce for 50 baht. The last time leading worship at Tha Ban's house. The last time bicycling through the rice paddies. The last time we get a moccha frappe for under $2. The last time we go unwind by winding down the twisty farm roads of Isaan. And so many more.

The reality is, though, that we often don't know when our last of anything really is. Jesus told the story of the man who invested all his energy saving for retirement; then the day finally came that he retired and he died without ever being able to enjoy it. (Luke 12:16-21) None of us know what our future will bring or when we will take our last breath.

There are some things about Thailand I know we will miss. We don't know when we will experience the last of these things. Of some, the last may have passed already. But here are a few:

Mango Season

Rice Paddies

Sunsets Over the Ponds

Storm Chasing

Longan Season

Ubiquitous Inexpensive Coffee Shops

Windy Country Roads

Church in a Circle

Tha Ban's House Church

Caves Everywhere

Sam Roi Yod and Other Beaches

Dipterocarp Forests

Banana Trees and Many Varieties of Bananas

Flambouyant Trees

Asian Openbill Storks

Plumeria Trees

Rain Trees With Their Beautiful Spreading Canopies and Pink Powderpuff Blossoms

Rain Tree Blossom

Crazy Tourist Sites

The Trails, Geology and History of Phu Phrabat Park

Pink Water Lilies

Rambutan Season

Karst Mountains

Cheap Cell Phone and Internet

Grilled Salted Tilipia

Stir-fried Asian Kale for less than $1.50

We can get Khao Soi in the US,
but here we can afford it

Bic C Shopping Experience

Rubber Plantations

Mekong River

Fishing, Thai Style

Grey-headed swamphens with their huge feet
that hang out at our local ponds

Bronze-winged jacanas
that try to disguise themselves as water lilies

Charcoal Kilns

Water Buffalo

The Thai Brahman Cattle
That make my wrinkles look not so bad

Fresh Markets

Even with this, internet is faster, cheaper and more reliable than in the US

Traditional Festivals

Colorful Fishing Boats

Scary-looking Beetles

Big Rhinoceros Beetles

Shiny Jewel Beetles

Printers with refillable ink tanks

Rolling Hills of Corn

Rice Drying in the Road

Wild Monkeys

Connecting With Youth Through Music

Crazy Times at Camp

Visiting Teams Bringing Joy to Kids

People Eager to Tell People About Jesus

The Smiles

Mountain Flower Parks
(I'm taking the prettiest flower with me)

Rainy Season Sunrises

I'm especially fond of flowers in the ginger family (Zingiberaceae) and spiral gingers (Costaceae). There are many species in these plant families throughout the tropics. We will miss seeing all of these in various gardens and in the wild.

First the Ginger Family

Alpinia malaccensis

Alpine purpurata - red ginger

Alpine siamensis - Galangal

Alpinia zerumbet - shell ginger

Boesenbergia Licata

Boesenbergia rotunda

Curcuma alismatifolia - chocolate tulip

Curcuma latifolia

Curcuma sp.

Etlingera elation - torch ginger

Globba sp.

Globba sp.

Globba sp.

Globba winitii

Globba winitii

Hedychium flavescens

Kaempferia parviflora

Kaempferia sp.

Kaempferia sp.

Zingiber officinale - true ginger

Zingiber spectabile

Zingiber zerumbet

Unidentified Zingiberaceae

Next the Spiral Ginger Family

Crepe Ginger

Costus lucanusianus

Costus sp.

Bamboo Ginger

Scarlet Spiral Flag

Tapeinochilos sp.

We will miss our orchids as well. Here are some that we currently have or have had in some of the places we lived.

Orange Vanda Orchid

Laelia orchid

Dendrobium bigibbum

Dendrobium bigibbum

Dawson's Staurochilus Orchid
This is a species that fell out of a tall tree and that we transplanted around our home, first in Wiang Kaen, and then bringing with us to Phon Phisai and then to Kamalasai