AT long last we arrived in Bangkok on the 9th of February.
After many hours of travelling, it was so refreshing to step right into a Thai winter... yeah right!! They only call it winter because it's a dry season (no I'm not kidding). Bangkok has a tropical monsoon climate and the highest average temperature of any city in the world. Temperatures here regularly stay well above 30°C throughout the year (whether it's day/night/cloudy/sunshine/rainy) with an always high humidity.
This is particularly amusing to me, since it was my "secret innermost wish" that God would not send us to a cold and dreary place when we first realized we'd be settling in a foreign country... hahaha!!
FEBRUARY was with all honesty a quite challenging month for us. After our 1st week here we started with Thai-language learning.... All glorious 44 consonants, 32 vowels and 5 different tones, which looks something like this... (sorry I couldn't get it all to fit)!
We have heard from various sources that it can easily take up to 3 years before you really get the hang of it. . yikes!! Thai people also like to "motivate" you by laughingly sharing how foreigners get the tone wrong and end up saying something very different than was intended, for example:
"God, you are a great big God" (with the wrong tone used becomes): "God you are a big, fat lady".
And don't forget about this one: "God we need more patience" - becomes: "God we need more breast milk".
Needless to say we'd really appreciate your prayers....!!!
WE also had to move at the end of February, from our serviced apartment to a condominium. It was quite an interesting experience..... We walked many kilometres in the scorching sun, looking for a place to stay, and trying to communicate with basic gestures, often to no avail. After one and a half week we finally found a place close to a University (with the schoolboy error of it being on an incredibly noisy street that never seems to sleep)!
Seeing as though condominiums don't supply bedding like serviced apartments, we had to go on this adventure too. As opposed to the various convenient home stores (Mrp Home, @Home, Sheet Street, Boardmans, etc etc) in S.A, there is no such thing here. . . what!!!. . .REALLY!! You can easily find a furniture store, but home decor- nope! If you want to buy sheets/comforter/pillowcases etc you have to buy it at the supermarket (Tesco Lotus/ Big C) where the options are ghastly, poor quality and certainly not cheap, or the department store (Central Plaza), where you need a small loan just to buy a fitted sheet!! So all you S.A shoppers: next time you walk into Mrp Home and get upset at the lack of service, smile and be thankful... haha!!
Our new "valley".
REMEMBER that you can also reach us on Skype, Facetime, Whatsapp and Facebook should you wish to send us a message or talk "face to face" (keeping in mind that we are 6 hours ahead in time).
We wish you all of the best for this month of March.
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