may 29th!

Today the rainy season I strongly believe gave us a good glimpse of the weeks to come. There is a baptist Missionary group that rents out one of the spaces in the Hostel area. during the bar-b-q they were having clouds just came out of no where and within minutes it was pouring down rain. There was church today that lasted for about three hours just like last night and the night before. There were times where they would open up their bible and read something so I would open up my bible and read with them. Other than that, I had NO idea what they were talking about... I took another Motorcycle back to the Hostel. Jet lag is kicking in pretty badly but everyone here notices that I am tired and keep trying to make me go to bed... How do I explain this... I need to stay awake. They find me crazy. Today is a little better with the kids. I finally remembered how to ask them what their name is and some other phrases. There is a girl here named Saishon who is the nicest girl I have ever met. She literally cares about the people around her and has made me feel very welcome. Her friend Sukanya can speak English pretty well and so when someone wants to say something to me, they usually end up getting her to translate. Sukanya lived in Canada for a little while and was taught  some english. I do not know why she came back though. I am sharing a room with Sukanya as well as a girl named Pam. I hope it is okay with them I stay up so late. Bobby is doing good. He has been very busy trying to maintain the hostel. Tomorrow is the first day of classes so please pray that it is a success!!! God bless!!!

may 26th-28th

Arrived in Chiang Mai in the evening and Bobby picked me up from the airport. He has a hurting knee and cant go visit the doctor until later, he is also traveling to the Burma border and back to meet with people there. Please keep him in your prayers as he travels. Some of the children and teens living at the hostel remember me which is nice. There is a huge language barrier and they are all dealing with school so I dont really have anyone to talk to. I am already shy as it is and I don’t want to come off as withdrawn. Please pray that I become more open to people with an ability to learn the language. It is pretty hard trying to have a conversation. It is full of pointing, making happy, sad and sleepy faces. Went to the bookstore to buy lesson plans for the kids. There are going to be three classes.

1.) elementary- This is for the kids under 6th grade. I will be teaching them the American ABC’s and how to sound them out.

2.)6th and up Beginners- This class is for those who are older but dont know any english. They will be at a fast pace by touching base on the alphabet and then learning words and phrases.

3.) 6th and up Advanced- Some of the teens know a little bit of english. This class will be mainly for them. We will be quickly going over common words and phrases then starting with making sentences. 

Each class lasts about an hour. I hope that in teaching this class, I will be able to get to become friends with them as they get to know me. 

I am dealing with jet lag pretty bad seeing as it is about a 12 hour difference. So while I am going to bed, at home I would be getting up. I hope to attain some of the Thai RedBull soon so I can make it through the afternoon! I will be posting again soon!

VOLCANO!!!

I am currently sitting in the Berlin Airport. Upon arrival, I had no idea that I was going to be told that all the airlines are closed until further notice due to a volcano that had erupted in Iceland. Hopefully they will reopen soon if there is no more sign of volcanic activity in the surrounding countries. German camera crews, reporters and newspaper photographers are everywhere. If you are in Germany, go to a news channel and you might see me walking around in the background... lost and confused :P It’s alright though, God has blessed me with a Starbucks:) Everyone speaks fluent English here too!! Please pray that I wont have to stay overnight in the airport. I am hoping I get to Bangkok before my final flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai because it is not a connecting flight. This means I will have to collect my luggage and recheck my bag. If I cannot make my last flight in time due to this layover, please pray that I will be able to get onto my next flight free of charge. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers, I can tell that there are people that love me. Also, please pray for the people in the Berlin airport that were supposed to be traveling but now cannot. It is getting crowded and pray that they have peace of mind.

Update London-Berlin Prayer needed!

London

Thank you for everyones concerns of my trip. Your prayers have been heard... and so have your suggestions. Many of you have requested I bring mace on my trip to protect myself. This was a good idea. Before getting on The London Eye a woman was looking through everyones bag asking if we had anything that may cause danger. I pulled out the mace I was carrying at the time and gave it to the lady. She calmly took it. Taped a number to it, told me she was going to have to call the police. She said it happens every once in a while because surrounding countries as well as the USA allow women to have mace and no one realizes that it is illegal to have in London. She told me to ride the London Eye and to talk to the police when I got off and nothing further would happen. after the ride, two police officers that looked ridiculous in their outfits came up to me and first thing they did was pull out my mace and say, “we are going to have to arrest you.” Apparently it is their new policy that they must arrest, search and interview each individual that is found with mace before deciding whether they are innocent. Mace is treated like a gun in London, but only the officers are issued one. Apparently mine was stronger than theirs. They drove me to the station, searched my person, took my finger prints, the typical profile picture, and my DNA. During the interview they were more baffled than I was, mainly because when I told them I got it online in the USA for $7 they just could not get over that. Clearly I didnt mean any harm and they let me go. 

I am officially a criminal in London! 

I hope you are proud mom and dad! I love you! Don’t be mad, I’m sure I wont get caught next time :D  

Paris

Paris was lovely. nothing bad happened while I was there. I can see why everyone says that they dont like Americans though. My opinion though is that it is because we as Americans want to go to Paris to view the city of love. Focusing on the art and architecture, we ignore the common courtesies the French hold dear. Learning the basics of their language and saying hello, goodbye and thank you to the store owners in a sincere fashion is kinda all they are wishing for. The food was delicious! the most amazing food. The French men definitely lived up to their expectations when blowing kisses to pretty ladies (me) :) The laws are different in Paris as well. While walking down the street I witnessed a man literally walk to the curb, pull out his “thing” and take a leak. people just kept walking by as if it is natural to see that. I was shocked and it still haunts my mind. Please pray for those who are stuck in the every day rut of Paris and that their eyes are opened to the possibilities and hope that they can see how much God has blessed them.

VOLCANO!!!

I am currently sitting in the Berlin Airport. Upon arrival, I had no idea that I was going to be told that all the airlines are closed until further notice due to a volcano that had erupted in Iceland. Hopefully they will reopen soon if there is no more sign of volcanic activity in the surrounding countries. German camera crews, reporters and newspaper photographers are everywhere. If you are in Germany, go to a news channel and you might see me walking around in the background... lost and confused :P It’s alright though, God has blessed me with a Starbucks:) Everyone speaks fluent English here too!! Please pray that I wont have to stay overnight in the airport. I am hoping I get to Bangkok before my final flight from Bangkok to Chiang Mai because it is not a connecting flight. This means I will have to collect my luggage and recheck my bag. If I cannot make my last flight in time due to this layover, please pray that I will be able to get onto my next flight free of charge. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers, I can tell that there are people that love me. Also, please pray for the people in the Berlin airport that were supposed to be traveling but now cannot. It is getting crowded and pray that they have peace of mind.

In London!!!

Thank you for all those who have ben praying for safe travels!!! I have truly been blessed with close to perfect flights. Not much sleep has been donebut I feel like I will get the hang to it soon. London is a very multicultural city. I am pretty sure I have also seen a famous Heavy metal band of some sort as I was leaving the airport. Jokes about british people are very true!!! Everyone I have encountered talk about their tea time :) Pictures will be posted once I get into Thailand. but for now I need to save battery because my charger must have fallen out of my checked bag at some point. Please pray that I will find a charger for my laptop in Thailand! It is not a necessity, but I am praying to have contact with some of you that desire to talk while I am on skype. It would be nice to hear a familiar accent :P Other prayer requests are Just for the people of London and that their will be a revival within this city that will give people optimism and hopeAlso pray that God gives me an opportunity to serve him! f anyone wants to see if im on skyp, my account is SallyLynSommerfeldt. God Bless and Thank you for your Prayers!!!!

Anticipation

Just a few more days and I am beginning to anticipate the trip. I am so excited to travel around the world and to live on the other side for a month. It is hard not to fall in love with Thailand. The scenery is breath-taking, the people are friendly and the food is the most interesting food I have ever tried. I hope to travel a little bit while in Thailand to relive some of my fondest memories. As far as London and Paris goes, I am at a loss for words. Going to Europe has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember, going to the United Kingdom is also on my list. I am going to be riding the London eye one of the days I am in London thanks to a woman in my Spanish class suggesting I get tickets right away!! I am also hoping to visit The Louvre in Paris which holds some of the worlds most memorable paintings such as the Mona Lisa. I am so blessed that God showed me this opportunity to see the world from a different perspective. I cant wait until God shows me what he has in store for me. Please pray for safe travels and the sanity to go alone! God bless!

9 more days!!!

Hello everyone reading this! It is now officially crunch time as far as confirming flights and packing. I would just like to tell you about an amazing blessing I had while packing my carry on. I was very intimidated about packing my carry on since it is an international, multi-stop trip. In case I lose my checked bag, I must attempt to pack all of my personal belongings as well as a weeks worth of clothes, all my electronics, toiletries, books, ect. Looking at the size of the carry on bag I thought to myself, "there is absolutely no way I can fit all of this in my bag and still have space for gifts!" So I prayed that God will help me pack. Now, half of my carry on is filled and I am done packing! I now have more than enough space in my carry on when it seemed like I would have no space left. So I thank you God for making this trip easier to handle by the minute.

Success!

Thank you all that came to the Thai dinner! It was a ton of fun singing with those that decided to sing! The singing was a slow start, but after a few people showed their love for karaoke by singing a few tunes, more people got into it. The food was amazing too! Thanks to Josh Williams, there was barely any food left at the end of the night. I am well aware that God provided all of this for me and I am more than grateful for the people he has put in my life and the opportunities to be his disciple. I am leaving in two weeks from today and it is becoming more obvious every minute just how God is in control of every situation. I know God will watch over me and I pray that God will provide a safe journey for me as well as a peace of mind for those who are worried about my traveling. I had my last fundraising yard sale this past weekend. It was a small success but the weather was so nice outside, it didnt really matter!! God Bless you and please keep these next couple of weeks in your prayers as I get everything ready to go!!!!!