One thing we've noticed already in our 6 weeks in Bangkok is that malls are happening places. It's tremendously hot (and often rainy) here so anywhere with AC is a big draw. We have a mall near our house that is 7 stories tall. It has most of what you need from office supplies to groceries, like a really spread out Target. A lot of extra curricular fun happens at malls too. Two weekends ago we decided to take Forest to do something fun, and noticed that most of the kid's educational or play places were located in various malls throughout Bangkok. We decided on the Ocean Life Aquarium in Siam Paragon Mall, which was pretty crowded on the Saturday of Chinese New Year, but still had some great displays.
My favorite were the sea turtles whereas Forest, as always, loved the penguins and snakes. He rushed through the displays because we made the mistake of mentioning that this particular mall was where the LEGO store was housed.
Forest got to go to the LEGO store, Jonathan got to peruse the various luxury car dealerships also housed in this mall and I got to eat legitimately good Mexican food at La Monita Taqueria (other than the queso being a bust- in all my travels I still haven't learned the lesson to never order Queso outside of Tex-Mex territory).
After eating a scrumptious Mexican lunch (biggest craving this pregnancy!), Forest spotted a McDonald's and said 'There's McDonald's, where we should have eaten.' He's so my child. We love the Ronald McDonald statues in the wai position (bowing with hands clasped in traditional Thai greeting).
Such a perfect East meets West example. Last weekend was a long weekend for F's school so we went on our first adventure outside of Bangkok. We had an amazing time exploring Chiang Mai with some friends who moved there just a few weeks before we took the ex-pat plunge ourselves. Stay tuned! Here's a pretty incredible sneak peak:)
Also, one thing I wasn't prepared for with this move is that Forest basically became a 'school aged kid' versus a preschooler. He's still in "PreK" but attends school 5 days a week versus his old Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday schedule. This means our fun local excursions happen on Saturdays with the big crowds, versus on a quiet Thursday morning. And since not every weekend is a long weekend anymore, we are relegated to traveling during school holidays, also a bit more crowded. I'm glad we really took advantage of travel opportunities when we had more flexibility. The good thing is there seems to be a long weekend every month remaining of the school year, plus a week for the Songkran holiday. We have Cambodia booked in March and a trip to the Maldives for our last big 'pre-baby' spring break. It is definitely exciting to get to see a new part of the world!
***** So I wrote this ages ago and meant to post it on Dec 7 but you know...life. So enjoy this post from our Bucket List trip to Pearl Harbor in October, when we were still living in America, I wasn't pregnant and Forest was a 4 year old. Incredible how 3.5 months can really feel like a lifetime ago.**** We knew when we decided to return to Oahu that visiting Pearl Harbor was an absolute must. We skipped it when Forest was a toddler because he was completely feral and I didn't trust that he could be calm and respectful for the 15 minutes of silence at the memorial. At age 5, I was still unsure of F's capabilities in that department, but since he's such a pro at 'library rules' I figured he'd be able to transfer the skill to the USS Arizona memorial. With him falling under the weather for the excursion, he did even better than expected, especially since the memorial itself is currently closed for repairs and the tour just consists of a very noisy boat ride around the site.
Before the boat ride, everyone views a movie detailing the context for the Japanese attack and the aftermath. I was struck by the fact that afterward Forest said 'I know why all those boats sank- there was a big storm with lots of black clouds.' I tried to explain that it wasn't a storm, it was bombs that made those clouds and he was so confused. "Why would they do that? Do you think God wanted them to do that? I don't think God wants us to use bombs on each other.' I realized he has absolutely zero context for understanding war and I'm so thankful for that.
It was a humbling experience and I'm so glad that we were able to pay our respects during this trip to Oahu.
A lot has happened in the past month of living in Bangkok, andour air shipment FINALLY arrived which means I have my computer. Yay!
Our internet is spotty (randomly disconnects despite having a good signal) and I've realized that when blogging on my new Mac it doesn't actually display pictures (quickly remembering why I swore off Apple computers 10 years ago) so I still have some kinks to work out but fully plan to start blogging again regularly very soon. For now here's just a group of random updates about settling in here and first impressions. The ex-pat community here is great. People have been friendly and welcoming and eager to help us find our feet. The Thai people here are also friendly and despite a language barrier and very willing to assist us with a smile. They love children and Forest is an attention getter everywhere we go. Many people take his picture, a few touch his head, but it's all been good spirited and respectful. Especially in this area, the locals are pretty used to seeing western kids. I had my first OBGYN appointment (oh yea- I'm pregnant with baby # 2!) and I was very impressed with the hospital, doctor, and facilities. Five star all the way, especially compared to Aberdeen. More on the whole 'pregnant in Thailand' (and 'pregnant in the first place') in a later post. Forest is slowly adjusting to school. He's definitely had some hiccups in getting started, there have been way more tears than I ever expected, and he is showing anxious tendencies again, but in the past week he has started to easily leave my side in the mornings and runs off eagerly to play with friends, so I'm hopeful he is really turning a corner. The teachers frequently post videos of class time and at first he was so reserved and looked completely shell shocked. The last video they posted he was leading the charge in a math small group and back to his bossy confident self. I definitely feel like Forest's social struggles have been such a lesson in faith for me. I have to constantly remind myself how the Lord has fought for him and not freak out anytime he slides backwards a little bit. I mean, we just moved across the world, away from a school where he was thriving, where his grandparents lived a mile away, where he loved his little soccer, tennis, swimming, and bible programs. We were happy and settled. Now the rug has been pulled out from under him. He's attending a huge, bustling school with lots of new rules, procedures, and accents, he's jumping in to brand new activities with brand new kids and navigating language and cultural barriers.
Of course, ideally he would have adjusted right away without a hitch. That's what I hoped for, but is it what I expected? Not at all. Even his Prek teacher in Texas said 'You will probably see him regress, but don't worry, he'll get back to where he is now.' It's sad leaving behind a school who saw how far he had come and who celebrated milestones like him reading a story to the class in circle time (when he went a nearly year without uttering a word). But anyway, things are on an upswing so I'm hopeful that he'll keep gaining momentum socially and show everyone that bright and boisterous personality of his.
Driving in Asia is bonkers, so Jon's company helps us hire a driver. Our driver is incredible! He speaks great English and has been so helpful in translating for me when I need help doing things like buying air purifiers. We also have a golf cart which we use in our neighborhood and on a few of the surface streets just outside of our community. Several restaurants are within golf cart range, as is the mall.
The mall has many American comforts such as McDonald's and Baskin Robbins and it also has a big grocery store and movie theater. There is also a big Ikea near us which is nice for storage stuff. We are hiring a live-in 'helper'. Helpers here provide an extra set of hands for cleaning, cooking, and child care. We've found a great fit and she'll start working full time in a week or so. For now she just works a few hours a few days a week while she finishes up with her previous family. I am mostly having her help with cleaning but once the baby is here I'm sure I'll need more assistance with child care. Forest loves her (and vise versa!) so that's pretty heart warming.
It's not the same as having my parents nearby but it is helpful to have a sort of assistant. I've been a little shocked by the Air Quality issues here. There are many days when the air outside is 'hazardous' and they even cancelled school last week due to pollution. We're definitely not in Scotland anymore!
Ok, well that'll do for a quick update. I promise more to come in the near future!
