Sea to Sea

After a great weekend, this morning I'm headed to my first day of New Teacher Orientation at AISB. We are supposed to bring an artifact representing us and our home country to share with the other new staff. I'm bringing my Sea to Sea devotional book.

Image taken from Sea to Sea's official website, http://seatosea.org/

Sea to Sea is a cross country bike tour across the United States. Riders raise money to go towards world relief efforts to end the cycle of poverty. The tour started on June 21st in Los Angles, CA and will end in 3 more weeks in New York. Many of the riders do the entire thing! Greg's dad is doing the last 3 weeks, Grand Rapids, MI to NYC.

Grand Rapids is the 7th city stop on the map. 

The devotional book I'm bringing to school today is set up to be used by supporters and riders alike. Each day there is a short devotional story, an elevation map of the daily route, and even a quote about biking in the bike short section. While Greg and I haven't read it every day, I except we will to see Doug's journey.

Doug out on a training ride.

We'll be checking his blog to see his updates,  http://macleodseatosea.blogspot.com/ and checking Sea to Sea's site to see daily route changes. We hope you join us in praying for him, the other riders, and the purpose of this ride. 

We're Back!

June 22nd was moving day at our home.

We've been back in Thailand for just over 5 days... it's hard to believe we are back! Here's an update:

We are currently staying in a hotel/apartment in a neighborhood just off the subway system. It's a neighborhood that we thought we might want to live in, but now we know it's just a little bit too Thai for us. Although it's growing on us. Nonetheless, we're blessed have a bed to sleep in, a fridge to keep our coconut yogurt cold, a decent Internet connection, a clean room, a Tecso Lotus nearby (Wal-Mart type store), and of course a 7-11 just across the street.

Picture taken from Internet

After a LONG flight (I really had forgotten how long you have to be seated in an airplane to get here) we have enjoyed getting back into the groove of city living in this wonderful country. Besides for some $20 bills Greg has stashed away for travels back to the US, we have converted all of our cash to Thai Baht. This was useful to do things like top up our train passes to get around the city.  On Saturday and Sunday we explored neighborhoods we thought we might want to live in this go around. A highlight on Sunday was taking the train to the Silom area, where we enjoyed a sushi dinner and an evening of worship at ICB. We're so happy to call International Church of Bangkok our home church again.

One big difference about being back, is that the people we had formed friendships with are mostly all gone. We did make it back just in time to be invited to a going away party for a young couple at church this Saturday that we knew back in 2010-2011. We do know this city has people coming and going all the time and we know we'll meet some new friends soon!

Monday and Tuesday we spent house hunting with a representative from a relocation company. In 2 days we saw around 20 places. We had unique requirements, Greg needs the expressway and I need the train (or be within walking/taxi/motor taxi distance) to get to work. We were told that our old building, Amanta Lumpini (that met our requirements) did not have available units to accommodate tenants bringing their own furniture. At the end of day 1 we thought we had it narrowed down to two places (one in our old neighborhood and one in a new area), but weren't excited about either of them too much. Our hearts longed to go back to our old building. So....

Long story short... On Monday night Greg emailed our old landlord to see if he had anything open in the building. Tuesday he emailed back to say, "Yes, your old unit". Tuesday afternoon we went to go see it again (a very weird experience!) and since the price has gone down a bit... we agreed to go back. Same building. Same unit. Even though we said we wanted to try something new...we know we will love it. We know our things will fit perfectly!

In our guest bedroom. 

Wednesday was a day spent together enjoying the best of what the city has to offer. First, we needed to purchase g a dry rack and do our first load of laundry. Our hotel has coin laundry for $1/load.  We then headed to lunch at our favorite Bangkok Bagels, followed by  foot massage. Ah, foot massages. We concluded our afternoon with a movie ( Turbo in 3D is cute Dreamworks movie) and walking around one of the latest shopping centers near our hotel. Today Greg was picked up in a van to travel to work and I'll meet some of my co-workers at my all day Thai-Culture class.

 We're back and we're happy to be here!

Learning to Speak Australian

As I type this there are 6 movers packing up are things to head to Thailand. (insert sounds of packing tape and paper). Soon I'll get kicked out of my spot on the sofa, but for now I'm doing some important research to get ready for my new job.

As I mentioned before, I'll be working at The Australian International School of Bangkok (AISB). Just a few days ago I received an email with a variety of documents to help me prepare: Introduction to Bangkok (a very helpful 14 page document to get re-acquainted with the city) , Orientation Schedule for AISB (including agendas for my week of orientation), Staff Assignments (I'll join other the American, New Zealander, Aussies, Brits, Canadian, and South African teachers on staff of which 7/18 are new) , and my Class List (9 different nationalities, 11 students total).

While looking over the staff assignments, I realized that the classrooms all have names. (If you remember, I had the Rabbit Class at Mulberry House)  At AISB the classroom all have animals names. Animals from Australia- animals that I'm not too familiar with... so it's time to learn how to speak some Australian!

Nursery 1 (starts with 18 month olds): Platypus and Possums. These two I knew!

Nursery 2 (Up to the age of 3): Rosellas, Tasmanian Devils, and Cockatoos. Isn't having a classroom called the Tasmania Devils just asking for trouble?!

Kindergarten 1 (ages 3-4): Numbats, Emus, and Wombats. I think the wombats are very cute!

Kindergarten 2 (ages 4-5): Wallabies, Dingoes, potoroos, Koalas (clockwise starting in upper left)

Year 1 (ages 5-6) : Kookaburras and Echidnas (this is my class, spell checker wants to call them enchiladas)

Year 2 (ages 6-7): Kangaroos and Quokkas

Year 3 (ages 7-8):  Bandicoots          Year 4 (ages 8-9): Red Backs. 

I hope you enjoyed this lesson in Australian animals! 

Moving Update

1 Week from today the movers will be here packing up our things to head to Thailand.
10 days (7/25/2013) from today we leave for Thailand.

While we have made great headway on getting ready, this last week will be busy. Right now we are still in the mode of making piles and getting ready

• Shed- Things we want to keep, but not bring with us to Thailand. This pile is already being transferred to our shed.
• Donate- With moving so often, I'm not sure how we still have things to give away! As I type, my car is filled with a load to take to Goodwill.
• Air Shipment- We are allowed to set aside 500 pounds of things to arrive in Thailand a bit more quickly. Things in this pile include our air mattress, bedding, towels, some clothes, a few plates/cups/silverware, and our card table. . The basics.
• Garbage-Of course, some things just need to be pitched!
• Sea Shipment- Everything else will be loaded into a 20' or 40' container to arrive about 2 months later!

Since returning from the middle east, we have been blessed to say goodbye to many friends and family in person. We've see so many people that we feel as if everyone is updated on our plans! However, we realize that isn't the case, so here are some general updates in no particular order! 

We saw family and friends up north over the July 4th weekend. We all enjoyed the new dock, swimming and fun!

• I (Mary) have a job teaching Year 1 at The Australian International School of Bangkok. I was able to line up this job while traveling in Turkey and Lebanon. It's truly a blessing to know I have a job!
• Greg and I both have our visas to allow us to enter Thailand and then receive our work permits.
• We both will begin work duties in Thailand on August 1st.
• We will stay at a hotel when we arrive and then condo hunting our first days. 
• We are working with a property management company to rent our home while we are gone. (everything but the shed in the backyard that will be holding some of our things!)
• We have sold Greg's car and are very optimistic about selling mine this week!
• We want YOU to come visit! I'll be working on posting my school calendar on the calendar linked to our blog so that you can plan your visit! Let us know when to pencil you in!
• We plan to come back around Christmas for a short visit.
• We plan on returning to Eau Claire in August 2015!

Want to see the pictures from our adventures in Turkey and Lebanon? Check out the links under the FYI section to the right!

Ok, back to work!

Welcome Back and Our Trip to the Middle East

For those of you who haven't heard... We're headed back to Thailand! The MacLeod Thaimes is back in business!

At the beginning of June Greg accepted a position with his company to rejoin the HTO staff for 2 years as a Technical Development Specialist. The decision was not an easy one to make... we now have a house, cars, new friends, closer to family and live in a city we love. However, we also remember how much we loved living in Asia... easy travel to amazing places, great food at a great price, and living in a large city. In the end, we picked Asia. We leave July 25th. 

I'll update you guys more about our plans to move in later posts... To get the ball rolling again on sharing our latest adventures, last Friday we returned to Eau Claire after spending a fortnight (ok just 13 days, but almost) touring Istanbul, Turkey and areas of Lebanon.

Our trip was filled with incredible sightseeing through many historical places. You name the ancient empire- they have once ruled the area now called Istanbul. Grand churches turned mosques, like Hagia Sophia, and once forgotten cisterns, Underground Cistern, were some of the sites that had us in awe. The city has been on the news recently for protests, but luckily for us they were broken up just before we arrived. Even luckier for us, the protests made many tourists cancel trips. Not so lucky for the restaurant owners who explained to us that their tables were usually filled in June.

Hagia Sophia, so large that the Nortre Dame Cathedral could fit inside

Blue Mosque, simply beautiful inside and outside. We ate a dinner of doner and apple tea  on the benches out front while watching the sunset (and all the people!) one evening.

Views from our day cruise up the Bosphorus Straight to the Black Sea. 

Underground Cistern, Greg said author Dan Brown described them perfectly in his new book, Inferno. Greg read the entire book on our trip. 

Our second hotel was only a 10 minute walk from the Galata Tower, which offered panoramic views of the city. 

Exploring on our last full day. Grand Market, Spice Market, Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent, and Istiklal Street

Our last evening on the roof terrace at our hotel with the Bosphorus in the distance. Isn't that one of the cutest little mosques you have ever seen?

Istanbul book-ended our trip, with time in the middle spent visiting longtime friends The Goodrich family. I met Andrea in the dorms at University of Iowa my sophomore year and we've been friends ever since. Andrea and Paul, along with their adorable daughter Lenora, have been living in Lebanon for just over a year. They work in Sidon, Lebanon along with their team of about 10 or so. A usual day for them consists of activities such as Arabic study, building relationships with neighbors and others they have met, and of course general day to day errands. I was with Andrea on a visit with a neighbor when she was asked (she explained this to me later in English) why they were in Lebanon. She explains that they are there to study Arabic and study the Bible in the land that prophets once lived. Many of the people that they have been able to share with are Syrian refuges. With only a few friends and most without jobs, they welcome the opportunity to talk in the afternoon, which makes it no problem at all to drop by unannounced. 

Andrea and Paul put their normal schedule aside during our visit to be amazing hosts. Highlights for us included exploring an old sea castle, ancient ruins with Biblical ties, and the old market area in their city. On a day trip through the mountains we took in sweeping views of the countryside as well as a stop to hike through the cedars of Lebanon that are also mentioned in the Bible. Our last days included seeing a bit of Beirut as well as one of the coolest natural creations we've ever seen, Jeita Grotto. Unfortunately  we were not allowed to take pictures there... so you'll have to go see them for yourself someday or at least click on the link to see Google images!  

Sea Castle in Sidon, Lebanon

Temple of Jezebel Ruins; Lenora found her own throne, but in the center of the upper right hand picture is the real ancient throne

The back streets of the old market (still very much alive and vibrant) a perfect spot to enjoy a falafel and Arabic coffee

The Cedars

Happy Birthday Greg!

Pigeon Rock Beirut, Lebanon

Our trip is one that we'll never forget! I'll work on posting more photos on a link soon! Thanks for reading again and have a Happy 4th of July!

Semi-Retiring

The MacLeod Thaimes has seen better days. I had big plans for blogging the past 6 months, but it just hasn't worked out as planned. The MacLeod Thaimes documented Greg and I's time spent moving to, settling in and living in, and leaving Bangkok, Thailand. It was an outlet for both of us to share adventure.

Our adventure has now led us to Eau Claire, WI! While The MacLeod Thaimes is not going away (who knows where we will end up one day!) however after today I doubt it will be updated in the near future.

I (Mary) have taken the time this past week to start a blog of my own. Midwest-Girl is my own blog to document life in The MacLeod household. It will be similar to The MacLeod Thaimes, but may include more recipe and school related posts. 

If you enjoy The Thaimes, I think you will enjoy Midwest-Girl as well. I've made a few posts already and I invite you to check it out. If you want sign up for email notifications for new posts look in the upper right. If you want to become a follower, look farther down on the right as well.

Thank you for reading The MacLeod Thaimes and I hope to see you at Midwest Girl (click to go there now!)

Pictures

Look for a new link to all of our pictures from Cambodia and Vietnam on the right. I'm not sure why they are all mixed up, but I tried to put captions on the bottom if you get confused.

There as been many requests for pictures of our new house. We hear ya! We are working on some and will post some soon.