Two Weeks Down!

We’ve officially been in Thailand now for two weeks and I think we’re settling in pretty well! School started this week for Tim, Caroline, and Leah. It was extra exciting for Leah since she had her very first day of Kindergarten on Friday! She LOVED it and already talks about 3 or 4 of her new friends! I think she’s really happy to finally be going to school like the big kids! You’ll see some pictures below of the kids on their first day of school. They have two separate uniforms they wear – one for P.E. days (every other day) and then one for not P.E. days. The regular uniform is the red polo shirt with black or khaki skirt or shorts, and the P.E. day uniform is the T-shirt and black shorts. And every day they have to wear their hat to school. I guess the atmosphere is thinner here in tropical regions and the UV rays are a lot stronger – thus the hat. They have to wear it for P.E. outside and for recess, too, if they are playing on the field and not in the shaded equipment area.

This weekend we also went to the aquarium at one of the malls in downtown Bangkok. It was pretty neat – they had a lot of great exhibits, including a ride on a glass bottom boat where you could see all kinds of different fish and sharks. The kids got a big kick out of the jelly fish, too! In the pictures at the top, only Tim and Caroline are included...Nate and Leah were both terrified of the Shark person!

We also got shown around to some of the better Thai shopping for groceries, meat, eggs, etc. The human resources director and her husband showed us around and took us all out for dinner. They were very very nice and while we felt a little like we were imposing, I think they were also really just very happy to show us around and help us acclimate. They were very taken with the kids – especially Leah and Nate, and herded them around crowded places like a mother and father hen. It was kind of funny – they were more on top of them than we were! Anyhow, I now know many places to go shopping where I can buy things for “Thai prices” instead of “farang” (foreigner) prices.

Finally, today (Sunday) we went to the community church here in Nichada where we live, and met some new people. The kids also really enjoyed going to Sunday school and went without a backward glance – I think all the changes they’ve been through lately have made them much more comfortable with new situations.

Who knows what new experiences this week will bring!