Pots and Pans…Behind the Green Wall

The Green Wall hides the daily scenes of life, but it doesn’t hide the common and culture-crossing sounds that I hear. A couple of months after moving in to our house, I began to hear the endearing and unmistakable cries of a newborn. It was amazing how quickly the cries changed to those of the recognizable 3-4 month old child. As the noises the growing baby made changed, the language of the faceless adults changed also. I could hear different sounds, tones, and patterns of conversation and I decided they must be talking directly with the baby. I also began to reflect on all the voices and faces that must be impacting this new life. Because of the Thai extended family ways of living, the life of a child from a very early age is daily influenced by both genders and people of various ages. It seems when the baby is behind the green wall, someone and quite often many different someones, are there to coo, engage and interact with the baby. Thais are extremely relational and group oriented. Perhaps it is engrained from birth.

Just recently, I began to hear the familiar sounds of a wooden spoon striking a variety of sizes of pots and pans. My how time flies! Newborn cries, growing infant coos, adult interaction with babies, beginnings of language and banging on pots and pans all cross the boundaries of cultures and location. Perhaps, they too have a drummer in the house.

Oh goodness! I can't believe we are at the end of November already and I haven't communicated anything since the end of October. We have been very busy around here killing mosquitoes. The mosquitoes love our piece of earth that surrounds our home and they find plenty of food at places beyond our dinner table...usually in our bedrooms and buzzing around our ears at night.

To be honest, mosquito maintenance is a job on the chore list, but they aren't so bad that we lose out on sleep every night. We use these clever inventions of electronic tennis rackets to zap the wee monsters. Our busyness has actually come from the onslaught of after school activities and massive amounts of homework. Scott and I have reflected on our time in high school and sports that we were involved in and know that there was a lot of commitment, but it just feels so different. Perhaps it is the Western mindset and expectations combined with Asian daily living. Or maybe it is because we are 25 years older and the parents this time. Who knows...but some days we wonder if we are coming or going. Tim, Matthew and Paul are all involved in soccer with school. Tim is on the JV (Junior Varsity) team, and Matthew and Paul are involved in the Under 11's. They all practice on different nights and have games at different times. Faith has chosen for the first time to participate in Track and Field. Her practice times are on different nights to the boys also.

I am very thankful for a recent conversation with a new acquaintance that led me to finding an English speaking piano teacher for Faith and Paul. They both began lessons last week. They can actually walk to their lessons after school and I can pick them up from there. Faith is also participating in a group that is baking on Saturdays with the children of a local orphanage. She is enjoying this thoroughly.

Since Scott's return from the USA earlier this month, we have been catching up on bits and pieces of details that need attention. We have just completed the long process of renewing our visas which meant many trips to and from the local Immigration Office. We are very thankful for Jick, Scott's assistant, in this process. She handled much bureaucratic paper work in the process. One day last week we were there and thought we had it all in order only to find out there was one more document that was needed...brand new last month. So we just placed our hands flat together in front of our faces, bowed our heads and said "khop khum kha, sawasdee kha" and planned another trip to Immigration on Monday.

We have begun to play Christmas music on the CD players. This, along with the calendar, reminds us what time of year it actually is. Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving. Our menu was: Pumpkin Soup (Aussie style), Grilled Chicken, Caesar Salad (my uncle’s homemade dressing), and Couscous (Matthew’s favorite). For dessert: Blackberry Cobbler, and Pumpkin Pie. It gets dark around 6 in the evening now and it can also be cool in the evenings and for the ride to school in the morning on the open backed song taow…so even though there is no snow or Jack Frost nipping at our noses, the temporary change in the weather is greatly appreciated. I even wore socks for the first time and jeans and closed toed shoes today for a field trip with Tim’s class. We went to see another school’s production of “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens. And that is a topic for another day’s blog. Love to All and Happy Thanksgiving! We miss you!