In August I moved to Bangkok to study for intense Thai exam - 4 hours a day in language school and lots of reading and writing. Here's the view from the apartment I stayed at for those months:
In September my Bangkok housemate Amy got married at a beautiful wedding at the Marriot Hotel by the river. Here we are: Amy, James and I. It was fun to reconnect with old friends from ECB church and the food was amazing.
In October I went back to Udon for the weekend to "meet" Stacy, my new housemate who was staying in my Udon Thani house while I lived in Bangkok. I also visited my church, and was happy that on that afternoon a group from an area village was teaching us how to weave baskets.
In November I went to Udon again (yes, I was missing my home! I apologize for the lack of pictures of Bangkok, but, well, I just didn't do much except study and go to English speaking movies and out for Lebanese food... that's not true actually. I have some really good friends in Bangkok and enjoyed spending time with them, it was relaxing and refreshing. I also visited many churches in Bangkok and was able to connect with a lot of new people. )
But, back to Udon in November. Here's pictures from the baptism service my church held at an a pond outside the pastor's house. It was a beautiful service, although I was wondering if there were snakes in the pond...
In December I took my "big language test" - and passed! Yeah! The end of formal language school! So, I went to the US to celebrate for Christmas! (Actually, the trip was planned first and I had to wait until January to find out my score, but I still felt good about the test and celebrated anyway).
December in the US was great - I spent time in Vermont, Philadelphia, D.C and caught up with friends and family and even relaxed a bit.
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