Adventures

  • Adventures

    An Unplanned Trip to Laos

    I don’t believe in luck or in jinxes, but whenever my mom says that we have to take a “short” trip to the Immigration Office, it seems we are actually in for a whole lot more. For example, this last trip was supposed to take “maybe two hours” if we get there early enough to be first in the queue line. I mean, we’ve done this kind of extension before and it was fairly simple. Mom was even hoping we would get home early enough to have a normal day of school. So, we left at 6:30 A.M. and got home at midnight. Here’s how it went: (read in a James Bond British accent, if you have one)

    It was an early Thursday morning. The weather, some of the nicest I have seen since the Big Move. We all got into clean, respectable clothes, for this was the standard. We left as the sun was coming up, shining the world in its eerie light. We were some of the very first to arrive, acquiring queue numbers that would set us among the first to travel to the counter. We had some time before the counters would open, so we found the necessary forms and filled out the paperwork needed for this visit. Then, paperwork completed, we sat in the empty plastic chairs, and waited about 45 minutes before the counters opened. By then, there were no empty chairs and people were forced to stand.

    After a kind gentleman came out to tell the novices (a category the likes of which we are not in) how to proceed, our queue number was called. My mother, my sisters, and I went to the counter and confidently passed them our passports and paperwork. They were supposed to look at them and verify the validity before handing them back and sending us on to the next set of chairs and row of counters with a new queue number in hand. But our life is not one of ease, for when we spoke to the dear officer behind the counter, he informed us we could only be permitted another 30 days in the fine country of Thailand if we first left the country at the border. So, accepting our ill-timed fate, we left and sat on the steps of the office, waiting for my father and brother to get their situations worked out (fortunately for them, they have VISAs of a different sort). My father then needed to stand in yet another line at yet another window for yet another process. While waiting for him to finish, my mother, siblings, and I went to the nearest 7 ELEVEn (which is, in fact, spelled as such) to get some snacks to satisfy our grumbling stomachs. This was the second time getting our sustenance from a petrol station that day, for we had earlier purchased fruit from a stand at a petrol station for our morning meal.

    Our father met us, and from there we all left for another unexpected adventure. We piled in the car and left town to drive through the mountains of Chiangmai. By and by the hours went, though we all knew we still had several more kilometers to go. We stopped at a third petrol station to use the loo and to find our lunch. Fortunately, this was one of the fancier PTTs. Fancier meaning there was the popular KFC in addition to the Five Star Chicken vendor, Dunkin’ Donuts stand, Cafe Amazon, and, of course, 7 ELEVEn. Yet again, we ventured forward, this time making a dreadful mess in the car with a huge bucket of fried chicken in the middle seat.

    Fast forward the hours passed. After several devices died and our only entertainment was staring out at the mountains, and we finally got to the border. Memories filled our brains from our previous failed trip to the Laos border (that fateful trip, we ended up turning back empty-handed and flying to Malaysia the next day). When we stepped out of the car, we immediately coughed and gagged for fresh air for the dreaded smoky season had already hit that region quite hard. We walked the short walk to the border from the parking lot and got in line behind the small hoard of backpackers that were there ahead of us. Leaving the father and brother behind, we journeyed to a new country. We each, in turn, handed the men our passports, scanned our fingerprints, and stared awkwardly at the face-surveying camera, before walking to the bus stop.

    After a small wait, we climbed into the bus and drove for a singular minute over a wide river before stopping at another structure exactly like the one we had just left: that one in Thailand, this one in Laos. Leaving the bus, we stood in yet another line behind yet another counter. Upon discovering it to be the wrong line, we began again: another line, another counter. After handing over a pile of cash in exchange for Laotian VISAs and entry stamps in our passports (the likes of which would prove we left Thailand for a few minutes) back to the bus stop we headed. We were done standing and waiting, now we could sit and wait. After 30 minutes or so, we could board the next bus headed for Thailand. The scenery was beautiful for we were right by the mountains and they looked right out of a painting, especially with a film of smoke covering everything the naked eye could see. We boarded the bus and ventured back to Thailand.

    Everything went rather smoothly after that. We drove another grueling 5 1/2 hours home in the dark, with leftover fried chicken and 7 ELEVEn for our supper. We did have the good fortune to find a 7 ELEVEn with an ice cream cooler, so our day was topped off with Thai quality ice cream for dessert.

    We came home at midnight and immediately fell asleep. That was the end of it. Ha! It might never be the end of it. Nevertheless, this adventure is over, and a new one is coming. I can feel it.

  • Adventures

    My Passion

    Autobiography Part 4

    I have been dancing since I was 3. However, I have been clogging since I was 4 years old. I love clogging and I am really good at it! My mom taught clogging and took me to my first competition in Tennessee when I was 5 years old. At that competition, I got third place in my short solo. After that I went to lots of competitions with my team and I loved it so much. 

    Then 2020 covid happened and the studio closed which made me really sad. I just knew I wasn’t done clogging. My mom told me that there was a studio in Lincoln that we could look into. I knew which studio she was talking about because I had seen them a competitions, and I loved that idea.

    I went to LUXE Dance Academy which was four hours away. The instructors had recognized me from competitions and said I could join the team. I took private lessons with the teacher for about two months on zoom to learn the dances and then went to my first class. Most of the girls recognized me and were really excited to have me on the team. My first competition with LUXE was Nationals!  I was so nervous, but I also had lot of fun. After that season my mom asked me if I wanted to keep doing it and I said “yes, for sure!” 

    The next year we got new dances and I also had two duets and a solo. We went to two dance competitions (which are different than clogging competitions because there are all different types of dance). I did really well and they even called me back for one of the competitions to go to their national competition. I was the only one who went, and I got 1st place in my solo.

    Next, my whole team went to Silver Dollar City in Branson Missouri to qualify for nationals (to qualify you have to 1st,2nd,or 3rd).  I got first in almost everything and so did my team! Since we qualified, we got to go to the National Clogging Competition in Nashville! 

    My team and I knew that this was going to be my last competition since my family had been called to Thailand and so we knew we had to do the best we could. We worked super hard and when Nationals came around I felt really good about how we did.

    I always say that I like to set and achieve goals. Dancing is my passion because being a good dancer is a goal I set and long time ago, and I got to achieve it. All of my teachers and friends have pushed me to be the best dancer I can be and now I am a National Champion Dancer and always will be.

    It was really hard to say goodbye and I miss dancing with my team so much. I still keep up with dance here in Thailand and I hope that someday I will be able to dance with my team again!  

    I made a video slideshow with some of my favorite dance memories. Click here to watch the video on our YouTube channel.

  • Adventures

    A Murder in Malaysia

    We saw a murder on the street in front of the Royal Thai Consulate in Penang, Malaysia. I wasn’t able to get a good picture but that wasn’t the only crazy thing we saw. We also saw two (or three, we aren’t sure) wild monkeys walking on the telephone lines and eating by the trash cans. We did get some pictures of them:

    While we went to Malaysia to apply for a new visa, the best part of the trip was seeing all the wildlife from the window of our hotel. We were on the eighteenth floor of a 29 floor apartment building. We watched the dirty river below us as giant monitor lizards, at least 5 feet long, swam. It made it a little scary to see people working (clearing a fallen tree) and playing in that river with those dinosaurs in the water.

    We also watched a Brahminy Kite swoop down and grab dead fish floating on the surface. We watched a couple of bright blue–I mean bright blue–Kingfishers fly from tree to tree. There were small white Egrets walking along the shore. My dad kept seeing Blacknaped Orioles flying below us, but I never saw them. Even though we saw all of these cool tropical birds, my favorites were these small, green and blue parakeets flying all over the trees. They might have been Monk Parakeets (my dad had a pet one growing up and thought they looked the same). Dad has told me about a lot of his pets growing up but he always held Buddy (the parakeet) as his favorite.

    I did not expect to see so much wildlife on this quick trip to a big city.

    P.S. Did you know a flock of ravens is called a Murder?

  • Adventures,  Doxology

    Dance, Friends, and Fun!!😁

    I went to a camp called Discovery Youth Camp. The camp was hosted by people who came from Hong Kong to Chiang Mai. The camp started and 8:30 a.m. and ended at 5:00 p.m. every day for one week. In the morning, we went in for worship and a message.✝️

    After worship we had a snack that was usually watermelon and yogurt with cereal in it. Next we came back inside and divided into groups. Before the camp started we got bracelets with different colors to tell you which group you were going to be in. I got red. In our groups, we talked about the message and got to know the people in our group. Then we would head back outside for lunch. For lunch there was always something spicy, something not spicy, and rice. After lunch we had free time, though for me free time was just waiting for free time to be over to we could do breakout sessions😏. The breakout sessions were by far the best part of camp!

    The breakout sessions were the reason I wanted to sign up for camp in the first place! When we signed up for camp, we got to pick which breakout sessions we wanted to do. There was drama, vocal training, worship band, and urban dance. Obviously I picked dance!😉 The dance was really fun to learn and really fun to perform. The teacher was a man from Argentina who was a competitive dancer. It made me feel special that he put me in the front of the formations and gave me a special part! Here is a video ⬇️ (I am the one in the braids):

    (If you like this video, please make sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe to our YouTube Channel!)😋

    After the first breakout session, we would eat another snack (this one was usually just a bag of chips and a juice box) and then we would head out to our second breakout session. Instead of the same breakout session every day, this one was different every day. The first day I did arts and crafts, the second day I did bracelet making, and the third day I did arts and crafts again. I was expecting to do the same craft both days but the last day we actually did a different craft so I was lucky.

    That’s how it went for the first three days, but the last two days were a bit different. On Thursday, we watched a movie instead of our breakout sessions (I personally would have rather done breakout sessions but it wasn’t my choice). That night we stayed for dinner and a worship concert. I was able to invite friends and all of these friends were able to come with me!

    On Friday afternoon, we did rehearsal for the show. On Friday night, my family and friends came to watch me perform (that’s why I have a video that you saw earlier). These are the people that came to my show!

    I had a lot of fun at camp and I am really glad I went. I think my favorite part was performing since I haven’t performed in awhile and I LOVE doing it!!!😍 But I also think that one of the coolest things about this camp was that about 75% of the kids who came to camp were from another country where they aren’t supposed to worship God. When I asked people were they were from, I found out that some of them came to Thailand just for this camp. Even though English is their second language almost all of them were fluent in English: FLUENT to the point where I couldn’t even tell that English was their second language! Even the 8 and 9 year olds! That really inspires me to work on my Thai so that maybe some day will be able to speak Thai like they spoke English!

  • Adventures,  Family

    Joni & Friends International Special Needs Retreat

    A few weeks ago we went to this family retreat and I was chosen to tell you about it. We heard about it from our friends and they told us it’s the highlight of their year. The camp is for families with kids with disabilities or special needs. This one was specifically designed to support Missionary families. We got to go since Tallulah has Down Syndrome. Four other kids at the camp also had Down Syndrome. There were fifteen families there from all over the world (South Africa, Taiwan, Cambodia, and all over Thailand) and all of them had kids with disabilities.

    The retreat was Tuesday evening until Saturday afternoon. It was at a resort on a mountain and it was really nice. We shared a duplex cabin with another family but we had the bigger side. As soon as we looked around we found out we would be sharing the cabin with tree frogs and hundreds of ants but that isn’t very different from our house in Doi Saket (trade the frogs for countless geckos) so we didn’t care too much after we took the tree frog off the wall of Mom and Dad’s room. Although the frogs outside the windows every night were extremely loud. During the day, the frogs sounded like small dogs yapping from inside a house.

    The camp is designed to give the parents a break, so every kid had an assigned buddy to spend the week with. Right when we got there we met our buddies.

    As you can see, Tallulah loved her buddy Leighanna.

    My buddy Andrei was was sixteen and liked reading and playing games. He did not enjoy dancing and that was completely fine with me. We watched the dance party together.

    Jeremiah had a lot of fun with Nathan and Selah loved Brenna.

    We were with our buddies at every meal, devotions, and during afternoon activities. After breakfast each morning, we would go to the meeting room and worship. After the parents left for their morning sessions, the teens would go into the neighboring building. There we would play games, watch videos, and make silly reenactments to bible stories. After morning activities we went back to the main building for lunch. Then from 1:00 to 4:00 we had free time to do what ever we wanted with our buddies: swimming, hike up to the cafe, play games, or just talk. Then the buddies would have time off for an hour to shower or change before dinner.

    After dinner, we would go and do a group activity. One night we had a huge Minute to Win It competition. Tallulah had a ton of fun playing the Hungry Hungry Hippos game. Having people cheer her on while she mopped up the floor with her shirt was sure Tallulah’s idea of a good time. Jeremiah’s very flexible nose was put to good use in the cookie face challenge. Selah played a good toilet paper mummy, and dad finally put his skill of balloon blowing to good use.

    The next night, there was a formal dinner for the parents while the kids had dinner and a dance party.

    The last night was a talent show. There was everything from singing to reciting things from memory (like basketball players, car models, or pi) to magic to comedy skits! Selah and Tallulah did a clogging dance. There was also a Dad Joke Contest….and my dad won.

    Overall it was a ton of fun and we will definitely go next year.

  • Adventures

    Our Malaysia Trip

    We went to Malaysia last month because of our visas. If you don’t know what a visa is, I will try to explain it. We are American citizens so we have to get permission from the Thai government so we can live here. When we first came, we had permission to live here for a little while, but then it expired. We needed a new one. The first time we renewed our visa we went to Burma. The second time we went to Burma, too. The third time, we went to Malaysia to get a whole new kind of visa so we could stay longer this time. When we went to Burma we just walked across the border, but when we went to Malaysia we drove to the airport and went on an airplane to Penang, Malaysia. Well, two airplanes to be exact.

    To get our visas we had to go really early in the morning and wait in line. I don’t even know what we were waiting for, but it wasn’t very fun. But I am glad we got it all done quickly: just two days.

    After we got our visas, we got to play in the ocean.

    We stayed in a hotel room really far up and we could look far out at the ocean. We were on the 24th floor of our hotel, but they called it 23A because they think the number 24 is unlucky.

    It was really fun and I am glad we got our visas so we can stay in Thailand longer. See you later!

  • Adventures

    แมงมุม! (SPIDER!)

    Living in Thailand has its privileges but it also has its downfalls: like sharing our home with unwanted guests. We have found countless geckos and ants in our kitchen, but everyone (in my family) can agree that geckos are better than these disgusting, eight-legged fiends that trespass into our dining room.

    แมงมุม was very smart and hard to kill, even with the state-of-the-art bug smasher my mother created with my father’s shoe and a broom.

    Somehow we got it trapped in a container and set it outside. And, while we were still freaking out, Dad came home, shook up the box, dumped the spider on the road, and stomped on it.

    P.S. Just know that if God ever calls you to Thailand you will have unwanted critters in your house. No doubt about it.

    P.P.S. My mom is not sure about the factual basis of that final statement. She still has hope that it is not true.