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Our half day tour of Phuket ended with a trip to the Big Buddha located at the highest point on the island of Phuket. It was quite sight. The trip down the mountain afforded us a nice view of the sunset. We ended the tour with a drop off at the Hard Rock Cafe in Phuket. It was a good day.
Our half day tour of Phuket included a stop at a cashew nut factory. It was very interesting and tasty. We learned that cashew nuts grow on trees and are just the small tip of a large bulb that grows on the tree. The cashew nuts are harvested by hand and then they are shelled by hand. That is why they
are so expensive. The Thailand produce is so interesting. Some of the items we have encoutered are: cashews, mango, papaya, jack fruit, bananas and even rubber trees.
On our tour of Phuket our driver took us to what he considers to be the most beautiful Buddhist Temple in Phuket. We went to the Wat Chalong Temple. It was very ornate and beautiful. The primary religion in Thailand is Buddhism however, it was interesting for us to learn that
about 35% of the population in Phuket are Muslim. Here are some pics of our visit to the temple.
For our fourth day in Phuket we thought it would be good to take a break from the sun on the beach and go on a tour of Phuket Island. At the "tour desk" in our hotel I (Ryan) inquired about a half day tour around Phuket and the lady said that I could pay to go with a large crowd in a bus or pay ten dollars
more and have a driver from our hotel take us around in an air conditioned Toyota van...on the same tour.
So, needless to say, we paid for the private tour. It was a blast and we made a new friend. His name was Pik and he was our driver for the day. He took lots of family pictures for us and we heard the stories and saw the sights of the city on our time table. We traveled down the West side of the island and up the East side of the island. Phuket is a beautiful and amazing place with lots of tropical foilage,
mountains, breath taking vistas and ocean beaches lining its perimeter. Here are some pics from part 1 of the tour of Phuket.
So far these vacation days have been filled with lots of vacationing. We are enjoying the warm weather and the cultural experience of Phuket, Thailand. On Christms Eve we went to a compulsory Gala (that means we had to pay for it whether we attended or not) that was held at our hotel. It was a buffet dinner with a hotel band
playing songs from the 1970s. It was a fun time and a memorable experience, but we ended up leaving shorly after dinner and were in bed by 9:30 p.m.
We have done a bit of cruising around the town in tuk-tuks (Thailand taxis). We have enjoyed some shopping and some sightseeing. So far the days here are hot and humid and each evening it rains for about an hour. We are all very red from our time at the beach, but no one has a serious sun burn.
We are not going hungry here in Thailand. Each day we are enjoying the delicious Thai food. There are also lots of opportunities here in Phuket to eat European food, but we are sticking with the Thai food. So far, we haven't met another American here in Phuket. It seems that Phuket is a popular beach destination for Europeans and the streets, beaches and restaurants here are filled with people speaking French, German, Russian, Swedish...and many other languages. We are thankful for this beautiful time, place and experience.
We flew out of South Korea on the 22nd of December headed for Phuket Thailand. We got on a bus in Daejeon at 4:30 a.m. and finally walked into our hotel room in Phuket at 8:30 p.m. that evening. It was a long day of travel made even longer by a two hour delay in Bangkok. We are thankful for safe travel and for the opportunity to spend a few days on the beach.
Our first full day in Phuket was also Dina's birthday. It was a good day spent mostly playing in the waves and sitting on the beach. It is very warm here. Our hotel is across the street from the beach and is a nice place to hang out. We spent the afternoon floating around the pool and enjoyed a cold drink "in" the pool.
In the afternoon we did a bit of walking and shopping for the birthday girl. We enjoyed some delicious Thai food and ended the day with some mango and sticky rice. It was a fun day and memorable 45th birthday for Dina.
23 years ago today I married my best friend. What a privilege and joy it is for me to journey through the seasons of life with Dina.
I love her and I thank God for her. --Ryan
During the Thursday and Friday of what was for many, "Thanksgiving Break," the faculty and staff of TCIS and GSIS has the opportunity to attend the International Christian Educators Conference (ICEC) in Suwon, South Korea. The international conference is sponsored by the Asssociation of Christian Schools International (ACSI) and is an educational conference that is held every two years that assists numerous Christian schools throughout the East Asia and Austral-Asia region of the world. Two years ago I (Ryan) attended this conference in Hong Kong.
This year's ICEC conference was hosted by Central Christian Academy (CCA) and Gyonggi Suwon International School (TCIS's sister school). Dr. Penland (our headmaster) and Dr. Kim from CCA were the coordinators and hosts for the event. It was a grand time filled with inspiring and informative presentations and lots of good interaction between the 900 Christian educators that were in attendance.
Dr. Penland asked me (Ryan) to put together a team and lead the music and worship portion of the conference. It was a distinct privilege for me to participate in the conference in this way. I pulled together a team a folks from GSIS and TCIS (of course I had my buddy George Zickefoose play the drums--he is the best) and we went for it. It was a blast and exists as a precious memory. Here is a short video clip of one of the services:
Sarah is in high school this year and that means lots of homework, sports, good times and, ....school dances. Last week was the Sadie Hawkins dance. Sarah asked Tanner to go with her. They are good friends and had a good time together. They got matching outfits, but Tanner threw in a last minute curveball with eye makeup. He thought Sarah would be wearing eye liner so he wore some too, to "match." His sister put the make up on for him and needless to say, it didn't quite match. But, it was good for a laugh. They had a good time at the dance.
On a last minute whim Alexandra and Gentry ended up going to the Sadies dance together. They didn't have time to buy matching outfits, but did try to go with the orange theme. They had fun too.
Becca didn't go to Sadies this year. This year her date fixed her dinner in his dorm RA's apartment (the RA and others were present) and then they went and hung out at a coffee shop. A good meal and a good time were had by all.
Counting Stars
Andrew Peterson: Counting Stars
Great music!
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