Once I get to the office I write down what I'd like for lunch (usually chicken fried rice or khao soi), put my lunch money in the jar (equivalent to $1.16), and grab a cup of coffee. I head upstairs to my desk, saying hello (sawadeekaa) to whoever I pass along the way.
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| Artist depiction of our office building, which is actually a house. Government officers come about every other week to audit us/our volunteers. |
If I'm the first one in the open area that serves as my office space, I open the blinds and window (though in another couple weeks I'll be turning the air-con on instead of opening the window). I sit down at my desk, log into my computer and get started on emails.
I attempt to answer people's visa and work permit questions, I check to see if anyone's recently applied, I follow up with placements, I review applications/job descriptions/references, I pass along relevant visa/work permit information, and review where incoming people are in process to hopefully ensure we don't miss anything.
There's a good chance that I'll have at least one meeting during the week with someone who is interested in joining our foundation, or will have an orientation for new volunteers with the foundation. Tuesday morning is our HR development meeting - where I learn what steps have been taken in creating our new HR database and user interface. Wednesday morning I participate in the CCF (Chiangmai Christian Fellowship) staff and prayer meeting. Thursday afternoon is dedicated to working with our Thai visa staff ... either providing computer training or collaborating in order to update our new HR database.
Depending on the day/what else is going on I leave the office between 3 and 5pm. One of the greatest things about the work I do is the flexibility I have with my schedule. It truly is a blessing. Most evenings I go to the market for dinner ... very rarely do I cook for myself. If I do I have pasta or salad ... it's just cheaper for me to go to the market or a food stand than it is for me to buy the individual ingredients and cook for myself. It also saves me time and means less dishes to do.
The first Wednesday of the month is the "Connection Meeting." Everyone within a FCF project is supposed to attend, with few exceptions. My job is to prepare and print the attendance sheet the day before, make sure everyone who is present signs it, then enter the attendance into our database. We started taking attendance a couple months ago to try and show the government that we are a unified entity - not just some organization that provides work permits. These "Connection Meetings" provide space for us to worship and pray together as a foundation. It is also a time when we participate in a training of some sort, and have an opportunity to hear and share about what's going on in different projects. The meeting ends in a free lunch, which is always great Thai food and a wonderful time of fellowship.
Almost every Tuesday night I go to "Garcia Night," which is a delicious dinner for single foreigners in the area. There's usually 15-20 of us, but there's always plenty of good, home-cooked 'Merican meals (we're talking breaded chicken with rolls and salad, lasagna and garlic bread, chili, breakfast for dinner, burritos/tacos, etc) with coffee and a delectable dessert to follow.
Wednesday nights I help out at the youth group for CMCC (Chiang Mai Community Church). Usually this just means hanging out with the students before and after, though sometimes it means I have to think of a joke or some bad poetry to share.
I have Saturdays and Sundays off. Depending on the weekend and what I've done during the week or the previous weekend I might go to a movie, do laundry, clean my room/house, get a massage, sleep in, read, go to a youth group event, watch tv/movies on my laptop, go to a "cultural event" (ie Flower Festival, Chinese New Year), go shopping, etc. Most Saturdays I like to keep close to home.
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| These are pictures from different weekend events I've gone to Top Left: Chinese temple decked out for Lunar New Year. Top Right: Tradtional Thai dance preformance at Tha Pae Gate for the Flower Festival. Bottom Left: CMCC Youth group "Gross Night" challenge ... take a bite of a cooked pig stomach (it smelled awful and was disgustingly tough - I know because I tried it). Bottom Right: Lighting and sending up lanterns for Loi Krathong. |
Sundays are spent in town. I go to CCF in the morning and every other Sunday I'm in with the senior high youth group. The Sundays I'm not in youth group I tend to run the powerpoint for the service (I also put the worship 'powerpoint' together as soon as the worship leader for the week sends me the order and songs). After church I go out to a 'foreign' food restaurant - usually with my neighbors and usually to a Mexican food place. After lunch I find a coffee shop to hang out in until it's time for CMCC. Every other Sunday there I leave when the kids and junior high youth group are dismissed, before the sermon, to help out with junior high discipleship class. Those same Sundays I stay after the service for the senior high discipleship class. Currently, we're using the senior high discipleship class time preparing for the mission trip to a Muslim village outside Hat Yai in southern Thailand.
And that's a fairly typical week in my life!
