My 2nd Post as a Dad

So, the last time I updated this was shortly after my daughter was born. Currently, we are experiencing a pandemic- COVID-19. And because of that, I am working from home (actually between classes at the moment). I thought, "You know, I should try blogging again because I'm quite bad at it." I didn't realize how much time had passed since the last post!

Interestingly, this is the eve of the arrival of my next child, this time a son. Tomorrow at this time, I will be in the hospital with the new addition and the rest of my small family. We may have horrific air pollution in Chiang Mai right now, and there may be threat of a hard-to-detect virus spreading rapidly through our area, Thailand, and the rest of the world, but our new little sunshine will divert our attention from those stressors and towards the joy he will bring. I can't wait.

First Post as a Dad

So about six months have passed by since my last blog post. A lot has happened since then, including, most importantly, my daughter being born. Little Bella was actually a big baby, greeting first her mother and then her grandmother and me early on a Saturday morning in mid-December, completely healthy, perfect, and beautiful. After a short stay in the hospital, we went home to be greeted by so many loved ones over the next several days. My parents came to visit for about a month, meeting their first granddaughter. Both of them were absolutely smitten and immediately fell in love. She has that effect on people, it seems.

The past few months have been busy, to say the least. I've been learning to balance fatherhood, marriage, and work while trying to leave some time and space for myself. Although it is cliche, I must say it: being a father changes you immediately. This new little life has made several imperfections in my character become clear to me. It's often enlightening and sometimes frightening. Her complete innocence is an eye-opening, stark contrast to the over thirty years of development I've accumulated. I'm not ashamed to say that it has brought me to tears on occasion.

Currently, I'm wrapping up a semester at work. This will have to be a very brief post to just update any interested readers. I'll soon write about the night leading up to Bella's birth, as I think it is an interesting story. This new facet to my life will offer another subject to write about in the future. I just hope I have (read: make) time to keep up with blogging.

Sorry for not adding any pics of her. I'm still unsure how much I want to post pics of her online yet. I'm still considering that.

Peace

T Minus: Less Than 2 Months!

A few months ago, Biew and I visited family and friends in Texas. Now, we are down to less than eight weeks until our little girl is expected to make her appearance. As you can imagine, besides returning to our regular routines of work, work, and work, we have also been prepping for the new family member's arrival. Furniture, diapers, clothes, accessories, soaps.... there's so much you need for a baby! It seems like every week, we think of something else.

We are making some short- and mid-term plans on how to balance work and a baby. Variations of these plans include Biew working from home, me teaching extra hours, and Biew continuing working while the baby is at an esteemed nursery until I can pick her up after I teach so we can wait for mommy to finish working together. Prayers for guidance in these decisions will be appreciated.

So, about the baby...

We're having a girl! Her name is Jirawadee Isabella, but we'll call her Bella (maybe occasionally Izzy) for short. Our doctor told us that two Thai parents typically have a slightly smaller than average-size baby and two Caucasian parents would have an average-size baby but a Thai/Asian parent and Caucasian parent would have a larger than average-size baby. The doc ain't lying! This little girl isn't very little. Her measurements have consistently been a week or two larger than average, especially head and femur measurements. She will be tall/long when she arrives, and a little heavy too. We're not sure how fat she'll be because she's just now getting to the fat-allocating stage of development. Pictures to come in a couple months, for sure!

Another thing we have been pondering is where would be a good church for her to be raised in. We have yet to commit to one ourselves, as we have not found one that seems to have a community. We're not interested in a Sunday-only scene. Please pray for us as our search has become a little more complex.

That's all for this installment of what's going on with us. Until next time!

The last time to travel as two

We've had a busy time recently. Biew and I were lucky enough to visit Texas for four weeks, and we returned almost two weeks ago. The trip to Texas was great! We got to hang out with a lot of family, including new baby Rhett, and see some old friends. I always tell people that living in Chiang Mai is easy for me because the people and pace of life is similar to my home. Biew got to see the flip side and confirmed the similarities. She thinks living in Texas will not only be not difficult but probably enjoyable. We'll see in a few years. We plan on moving for our first child to start kindergarten. Oh, have I not mentioned that we're having a baby? Due a week before this coming Christmas! We've known for some time now. During our time in Texas, Biew started to show, so it's becoming more real for me. Now she is REALLY showing. I like it. While we were in Texas, we did a little shopping for the baby.

Now that we're back to Chiang Mai and the daily grind, which hasn't been so bad for me, we're planning for what to do after Baby Smith comes: how we will balance work and taking care of the baby, how we want to raise him/her, etc. So, much prayers are appreciated during this time of change and growth for our little family.

And here's a slightly dated photo for the little nugget growing in Biew:

Time for a visit home

Life has been busy lately. I've had lots of work wrapping up the semester, like administering and grading final exams and preparing grade reports, and handling a couple extra projects before the summer begins. Another thing has been getting Biew a visa. Last year, she tried but didn't get it. This year was a success, so we'll be visiting Texas in June for about four weeks.

Now that I've had time to breathe, I realized that the trip is right around the corner, and it's making me excited because of all the things that will happen while we are there. Mostly, I'm excited because this is Biew's first time to Texas and she will meet a lot of family and friends for the first time, especially my grandmother. The next big thing is my baby sister is having a baby! We will arrive the day before he's due. What great timing! (I bought my ticket almost a year prior.) In addition to meeting my new nephew, I get to see the two I've already been blessed with. I'm looking forward to wrestling with them. I have no doubt their jiujitsu skills are better than mine, but I have an edge because they still think I'm bigger, stronger, and scarier than they are- and I am! I also get to see my puppy, Sammy. I've visited home twice in the almost four years that I've lived in Thailand, and I think he misses me the most because it's really evident when we meet. Maybe Biew will love him and want to bring him back with us. Yeah, right... :( Lastly, I'm ready for some shopping! I want to buy a few things that I can't get easily or as cheaply in Thailand as I can in the US.

Living in Thailand for so long as really made this feel like my home. It creates a weird duality, which I noticed has existed since the first visit home after a year and a half or so of living here, but it has intensified. Right now, I'm looking out of the window of a coffee shop. I see crazy bundles of telecommunication wires hanging low on concrete polls. Diagonally across an intersection is a gold pagoda shining brightly in the sun as it towers over a graying white wall, the stacked tiled roofs of a temple standing next to it. The street is busy with traffic of mostly motorbikes, "red trucks" (a local taxi), and the iconic tuktuks, while the sidewalks contain a mix of a few locals avoiding direct sunlight and tourists wandering (or wondering?) with guidebooks and/or smartphones, no doubt using Google Maps in an attempt to get their bearings. This has become the norm for me.

In three weeks the view will change. The traffic-majority motorbikes will morph into lifted 4x4 pickups. Buddhist wats will become Baptist churches. Smiling Thai faces will instead be smiling Texans, both tan, mind you, but the former because of naturally high melanin levels and the latter from working out in the sun too long. Mountainous horizons and heavy pollution will be replaced by a flat line and big skies full of fresh air. The only thing that will be the same is the temperature- hot! However the humidity will be absent.

This will be Biew's first time to experience it, and I can't wait.

Two and a half years in the making...

It's been about two and a half years since my last blog post, and a lot has happened since then. For example, I got married... Thank you for the congratulations that you are thinking. I really appreciate it and any prayer on our behalf. I'm sure marriage will be equally challenging as it is rewarding.

I hope to write semi-regular blog posts as updates about life over here. The problem is that daily happenings seem mundane and usual to me, so I don't write about them. Let the catch up begin...

First of all, my wife's name is Jintana Manotham (just changed to Jintana Smith). If you're American and you're thinking, "How the heck do I say that," don't worry. Thai people usually go by a nickname. Hers is Biew; it sounds pretty similar to the "beau" part of "beautiful." If you live in North Texas, there's a chance you'll meet her in summer 2016. We haven't found a church home yet in Chiang Mai, so prayer for that would be appreciated. We have found a few that are interesting, but we have yet to determine where to be planted.

Secondly, I'm still teaching at Chiang Mai University. I'm finishing my third academic year, and I still enjoy it. I plan teaching at least five academic years, so at least two more, before moving on to try something new. I'm not exactly ready to come back to the US permanently (more than a month, haha), so I plan on remaining in Thailand for another four or five years. If I decide to leave CMU, I may try another university, possibly in another city, or maybe try primary or secondary education. I'm leaning to universities because it is easier to do research, which I hope to start soon. After Thailand, I'm considering moving to Taiwan or South Korea as a possibility before moving to the US.

Lastly, I have been making English learning videos with a friend and fellow teacher. It has been a fun extra activity. I'm also planning on making another blog that focuses on teaching English: mini lessons or explanations for learners, tips for teachers, and commentary about the English teaching scene from Chiang Mai to maybe even the SE Asian region. When I get it up and running, I'll post a link in an update on this blog.

I'm currently in a coffee shop. I've had too much coffee, so I will consider this a stopping point. See you next time...

One Year Reflection

     It's hard to believe I've been in Thailand for a year now. If you ask my family, I'm sure they'll say it feels like a year or longer, but for me it doesn't seem that long. I think it's because my anchor in time is my life in the States. When I left Texas, it was put on pause. This last year in Thailand has been consumed with all new things: new location with new culture and new language, new friends, new jobs, and an overall new way of living. Save for occasional updates from family and Facebook, I really don't know what to expect when I visit Texas in October. I'll press "play" and realize time never stopped to wait for me.
     I think another reason my sense of time is disillusioned is because it's always summer here. Sure, it occasionally gets "cool," but it's nothing like the seasonal changes I'm used to. I left Texas when it was hot, and I've been hot ever since. Don't get me wrong, I love it, but the lack of seasons plays a trick on my brain.
     I have missed some things from America, mostly my dog, Sammy. The hard parts have been realizing I'm missing my nephews growing up or important events in my family, such as one sister's university graduation and the other's wedding. And I also miss certain conveniences, like having a church that I already fit into and being able to by good looking clothes that somewhat fit or soaps without skin-whiteners. Missing these things was part of the deal; I knew these sacrifices were necessary for coming and staying here, so I don't regret them.

     As far as an update on "things," well, they're coming together slowly. Moving here, I credited myself with a "go with the flow" personality, something I thought would be crucial and helpful to my survival here, and it has been. But living here has also helped me build patience, something I have always lacked and probably will always struggle with. When I made my plan, I didn't have specific time goals or deadlines because I knew there was no way to tell when things should or would happen and I didn't want to feel failure and become discouraged when it wasn't really failure. (I hope that made sense.) That was definitely a good idea.
     The first goal that was accomplished was finding a place to live and a good community of friends. A Thai friend I made during my last visit to Chiang Mai said he had an open room in his house of Christian guys. However, I spent my first three months in an apartment while I waited for a vacancy. The guy that was supposed to move out by the time I arrived in August decided to stay longer (he eventually moved out the following June). After moving in, it was easier to get to know the guys and some of my other new friends. Lots of cheap Thai food can be found in my area, so there were lots of eating and talking.
     The next thing that fell into place was finding a job. Actually, this one sort of happened earlier than planned. My original plan was to wait until late September or October to apply at Chiang Mai University and other universities. Boredom from idleness got the best of me, so I decided to apply for some part-time work to help keep me busy and sane. Within two or three days of my first application I started my first job, an English camp over a weekend. It was a few hours a day, Friday through Sunday. Come Sunday afternoon, I was asked to return on Monday to observe classes to see if I would be interested in a full-time position at a bilingual school. When I showed up, I was asked to actually teach a class, partly because it would serve as a demo lesson but also because a teacher was sick and they needed someone to fill in. I got the job on the spot and finished the school year and taught some summer classes, working until the beginning of May. That's when I applied at CMU and was hired on as full-time. I've learned and am continuing to learn from these jobs, and I'm very excited to be working at CMU.
     One thing that is taking some time to accomplish is finding a church I fit in well. The English-speaking churches near me seem to be for show, an act, and therefore don't interest me. The Thai-speaking churches, well, are in Thai. I've visited a couple, and they seem very genuine, but I don't speak enough Thai to be able to understand without an interpreter. I feel bad having to have a friend translate. Sometimes I feel it can be a distraction to others or the interpreter, even though people say they don't mind. This item on my list is still a work in progress.
     Tied into the lack of a church home, is my last goal, ministry. I still don't have a clear way to contribute to others in a day-to-day basis. I think having a church home would definitely help me in developing means of ministry. I can't let that be an excuse, so I'm trying to do the best I can now. So far it has included being a good friend, to Christians and to others. From that, I'm sure opportunities will present themselves. I have been able to introduce my university students to Christian friends that can befriend them. I'm being careful with what I do and keeping the teacher-student boundaries clear. That doesn't mean I can't be friendly. I'm trying to plan a game night like a friend of mine does, who is also a university instructor. He invited his students to play games and eat food while making friends and practicing English.

     So, that's basically the last year. Now I'm looking to the future. What will it look like? The most common question I'm asked is how much longer I plan on staying here. Well, my plan was, is, five years. One down, four to go. Of course, things can change; just like everything else regarding timing, the duration of my stay can lengthen or even possibly shorten. I'm keeping five years in Thailand as the general idea of long I will be here, but it's not definite. Returning to Thailand after taking care of business in the US is also an option. During my remaining time here, I would still like to fulfill some of my other purposes of living here, such as facilitating people interested or curious about living here and possibly having some sort of ministry by hosting or helping them.

I'm going to end it here for now and find some great pictures to add below.
-Derek