It has been just a short 30 hours out of quarantine as I write this. I made to another rung on the ladder before entering my new home. With every ride (passengers on the left side of the car), every market, every bit of stimuli, I realize I know nothing! I am a farang (white, westerner). It is a new experience to not have something to “do” here every day. No class to teach, yet, just life. Life, without knowing how to drive on the left side of the road, yet. Life with fumbling through the limited vocabulary in the language. Life seen back through the eyes of a small child. Everything is new, leaving me with thousands of questions. May I never lose that perspective here. May I never lose my wonder of learning.
I am continuing training here, just with more hands-on, but really hands-off experiences happening. While in quarantine, my interactions were limited to 45 minutes a day in the “culture”, with most of the interactions with foreigners that all spoke English. Now, when I can hear a word said that I recognize, I jump for joy, because I understood one thing in the millions of other words. I actually read a word in Thai script, yesterday on a sign! Of course, reading something and pronouncing it is a great start, I still had to ask the meaning of the word. Again, with that small child mindset. However, there was a little victory celebration there! I share this story because that all happened in my first day out in the culture. I look around and just want to know more. I desire to understand. I don’t want to be reliant on someone to translate for me. I know it won’t always be like this. May I never lose my wonder.
Staying Power
Training this afternoon was talking about the things that are going to help me keep “staying power”. Things to do to help me not burn out here. Aside from the self-care, growth mindset, scheduling wisely and not overloading; one really stuck out to me: Pace Yourself.
Pace yourself for the “long game”. God isn’t rushed. Neither should we.
Crossworld2 Home Office Staff
This is something I will have to be continuously reminded of. I am not going to learn everything overnight, not even in two years! I will have to figure out how pacing myself is realistically lived out here.
- Pacing with language learning
- Pacing with cultural understanding
- Pacing with learning how to teach effectively in this environment
Though training is something that can be heavy at times and a little overstimulating, I was able to do some fun things as well. One of them being a muaythai workout class!
Muay Thai And Massage
This morning I experienced a muay thai workout class at Thaitan Muaythai Circuit in Chaing Mai.3 Intense is the only word that comes to mind (well other than sweaty…). Muay thai is a form of martial arts that contains boxing techniques. It is known as the “art of eight limbs” because it uses the fists, elbows, knees and shins. I cannot wait to see the bruises on my feet, shins, basically all over my body. Do not get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed this grueling experience! However, I am not sure it will become one of my regular hobbies here. Too bad I had gotten the massage a day prior to this class!
Yesterday, I continued my tradition of getting a massage. When in Asia, you must go! They are way cheaper than the ones in the States. This time, it was a foot massage. An hour of massage from feet and legs, ending with a pretzel-like stretch with your arms, neck, and back! It was serene and relaxing. It brought up many cultural questions, which I will touch more on in many posts to come, as I learn more.
The reason I am cautiously in writing about culture, is because I am new, I am a foreigner, and I will always be a learner here. I look forward to coming to some answers and understanding in the future, but I have a while to go. I have repeated several times in this post, may I never lose my wonder. May that be my prayer throughout my season of life here.
Reference Information
1 Wonder by Amanda Cook
2 For more information on Crossworld, please visit http://crossworld.org/
3 For more information and photos from the muay thai experience, please visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/thaitanmuaythaicircuit/. If you are ever in Chaing Mai, Thailand, be sure to check them out.
Lauren,
I hear you and I can easily enter into what you, as a cultural neonate, are experiencing these days. Your story reminds me of where I have been in a number of my cultural transitions over the years. The wonder of God’s amazing love and concern for his sheep who have wandered so far away from Him and His original design is so important to return to….. often. The initial stimuli of a new culture can be overwhelming. And then He brings us once again into the wonder of God’s amazing love for all mankind!
So I took a moment to listen to your recommended “Wonder” song. It’s Beautiful! This message is so central to pacing our lives and expectations for the long haul.
It is also amazing to me that here I am, at my desk, reading your personal letter from the other side of the world, listening to a song that reminds me to stop and enter into “Wonder” once again. And, at the very same time, seeing instant messages popping up from my Crossworld Kansas City colleagues in the lower right corner of my screen. While our dear Lauren is now deployed on the other side of the world our role here remains the same: to identify, assess, encourage, resource and care for our friends, our colleagues, all over the world. Every day what can seem like mundane work continues on with patience, intentionality and love for God and for people. I thought: “God must be smiling right now” as He looks down on his church, his “friends” (Jn. 15:15) who know Him and patiently and consistently work to carry out His “Father’s business” (Jn. 15:15) day after day after day. All of us are now “friends” of Jesus, our brother, who has made known to us His purposes, and we are doing our best to carry them out among the broken nations of the world. I know that the “Wonder” of the gospel and who He is will continue to provide the energy all of us need (neonates and all) to pace ourselves well over the long haul, generation after generation, until He returns.
With you,
Paul & Kim
Just love that you are sharing your journey with us and that you are approaching everything with “childlike eyes”…. pure joy, pure hope and pure need for leaning into understanding,. So excited for you and can’t wait to read on!!
In prayer,
Joan and Kevin