Odds and Ends

Pedicure anyone?
One of the interesting sights we saw in Chiang Mai night market was this specialty pedicure.This didn't look like the kind I would like, but there were many who seemed to "enjoy" the treatment, and it drew many observers. Just put your feet in the water and let the fish nibble off the dead skin. No kidding!

They mow the lawns (any size) with weed eaters. I still haven't seen a lawnmower in Thailand. In this picture, our guard and outside handyman is edging the grass--with scissors! The cost of labor in Thailand is really cheap, so apparently the price of equipment isn't cost effective.

Here is an example of the installation of a water heater and water pipes into a house. The water is warmed by the sun in this blue tank and the water pipes are run along the outside of the house and then a hole is drilled into the wall where they need the water to a faucet, shower, etc.

Businesses consider the sidewalk in front of their building as part of their usable space. Most local restaurants and stores use the sidewalk to serve, sell, collect, build--whatever they need to do. Many of them tile the sidewalk from the building out to the street so it is easier to keep clean. The tile also identifies their section of the sidewalk.

This sign company is always building huge signs out front like this.

The Thais love colorful buildings. This is the bakery where we buy our bread. It was started by a Swiss man married to a Thai woman. He passed away, and the wife continues to make all kinds of delicious bread. The young elders and sisters love it when we share with them.

Ray was interested to see this drilling rig. It's not as up-to-date as the ones most of our customers have, but apparently it gets the job done.

This fish farm is right in Udon. There are many such fish farms and shrimp farms, as well. We have a family in one of our branches that owns a shrimp farm. They serve them in their own restaurant, and also sell to others. They always fix us a big plate of cooked shrimp with a fabulous dipping sauce when we go to visit them.

The temperatures dipped into the 70's and people were dressed for winter. They were all complaining about the frigid air, and we were enjoying the cool air. They would be shocked to see Ray going to see the Christmas lights on Temple Square in the snow without a coat.

A typical looking neighborhood in Udon.

A procession lined up in preparation for a wedding at a hotel we had just checked out of. The people were very friendly and seemed filled with anticipation for the event.

Thought this was interesting. No matter how little people have, they can find money for what they feel is a priority.

Some of our former English students came back to visit during school break. We were so happy to see them--we love these kids! Two of our English students have been baptized since we've been here. Kwan, on the far right, is the most recent about two weeks ago.

We don't have TV in our apartment, but one night when we stayed in a hotel. we switched it on to see what there was to watch. This was one of our choices. It even had flutter by flutter, peck by peck  announcers! It was amazing to us that people could get so excited about two birds trying to kill each other.

We still haven't figured out the significance of these characters, but they were part of the Christmas celebration in Central Plaza, the big mall here in Udon. They drew quite a crowd and lots of cameras--including ours.

Still think they are a little strange. What do you think? Christmas?

All of the missionaries went to Swenson's for ice cream. This is what one of the Thai sisters ordered. Yes, that is corn on top of the sundae, and it's not a special order item. It's on the menu! She loves it!

One of our English students has a school where he teaches English and abacus math to children. He has about 150 students. He invited us to come visit and talk to some of his classes, mostly eight and nine-year-olds. They were a little intimidated, but some of them asked us questions. We showed them pictures of our family and of Evan and Lydia sledding down the hill of snow. They thought that was pretty fun to watch. It was fun to see Mongkol use some of the skills we have been teaching him.