Contract for an Alien

Greetings to you all from Tak, Thailand! I have been here five days now and am delighted for the opportunity to write to you today. Some may say that the adventure is just beginning, but really, the journey to teach in South East Asia started in Thunder Bay, Canada, this past spring when Connor and I began asking God where He wanted us to be this year. As mentioned in my last posting, Thailand was certainly not on my mind, but I am thankful that His thoughts and ways are greater than mine (Isaiah 55:9) which is why we find ourselves here now.

About one month ago I eagerly awaited the email which would contain my very first teaching contract. Looking forward to reading the details of the teaching position, I opened the email with great excitement and stared at the page. The contract was in Thai. Not only could I not read what it said, but I also could not read any of the symbols of their alphabet. From that moment, I knew this experience would be a challenging one.

About three weeks later (yes, one week before leaving Canada), I received my English version of the contract, titled in bold black lettering: Agreement for Employment of Alien. I then knew that the challenges of this experience would also be a whole lot of fun. My favourite clause of the contract reads: “In the case where the employee suffers injures through violence or loses any organ...”, I did not realize teaching ran the risk of organ loss.

Tak is so very different from Canada and Namibia. Everything here is a new experience and can be quite challenging. There is very little English spoken here and many shops, restaurants, and other places have no English signs so communicating is really not easy. There is lots to figure out: ordering food, bartering with tuk-tuk drivers, using squat toilets, finding classrooms, understanding currency, etc. The learning curve is steep, but it is good.

Thursday evening Connor and I were still a bit jet-legged and also very tired from our first day teaching. We were both very hungry and neither of our apartments have a kitchen (very common in Thailand since buying food is so cheap and it is too hot to cook) so we prayed that we would be able to find someplace close and did indeed take a walk in the right direction because we happened upon a huge beautiful outdoor market of vendors not 4 minutes down the road which opens only on Thursday nights. It was delicious and cheap ($3 CAD for two meals). God hears and answers prayer! Friday evening came and though I was still tired out from all the adjustments, I was also excited and said to Connor, “I wonder how Jesus will provide tonight?”. Even closer than the market was a little tin shack where we were warmly received and graciously served a tasty two course meal for $1 each and then shared dessert for $0.17. We are experiencing such blessing and provision from Jesus. I'm reminded constantly here of my dependency on God for my daily needs, but it is so good to have peace amidst all the unknown. I know that He is a loving Father, He is faithful, and He provides. I'm reminded of the reality of this verse from scripture:

“And my God will meet all your needs according to 

His glorious riches in Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:19

There is so much more to share with you, but for now, I will pass the pen over to Connor and write back again soon.

Thanks again for reading,

~Heather

Cultural Tidbits

- The Thai Alphabet has:

• 44 consonants
• 28 vowels
• 4 tone markers 
• The vowels are written to the left, right, above, or below the consonants
• In Thai writing, there are no spaces in between words

• ที่ฉันสามารถซื้อข้าวทอด is Thai for “Where can I buy fried rice?”