Sunday in Patong

Green Season:  We are in what is called the “green season” here.  It extends from June to September, and it is the monsoon season.  It has just begun.  Obviously, it is not the tourist season, but I get the sense that Phuket is doing everything it can to up their visitor totals this time of year.  80,000 people on the island work in the tourist industry.  The European languages are heard everywhere; now, it seems the Thais want to encourage more Asian tourism.  Here’s a riddle for you:  A new Center for Language Skill Development has just opened up here on Phuket.  It is offering free language classes to those 80,000 workers.  What five languages will initially be offered?  (I’ll tell you later.)  My assessment is that English is neither well-understood nor well-spoken here.  Part of the problem, I think, is that so many languages are spoken by the tourists who populate this island.  English, though, is spoken by more than Brits and Australians; it is spoken by everyone else who visits (a slight exaggeration) as a second language.  Then, there is the international language of the global corporations which communicate in signs and symbols.  They offer a heavy dose of Western culture but often try to tailor it to local sensitivities.  What is difference about Ronald here on the beachfront in Patong?

They Fed Me:  This was the hardest Sunday for picking a church to attend; in fact, I was first told there were none in Patong (the largest town on the island).  I couldn’t believe that, though, so I hit the Internet and found the House of the Lord Church, which advertised itself as an international church.  It was close, half a block from the beach in an arcade of shops and restaurants.  It had occupied this space for a year, and there was room for maybe 40 people.  The service lasted two hours (yes!).  In fact, we stood to sing for so long that half the congregants sat down half way through.  It was spirit-filled singing with a guitarist and song leader up front.  Words were projected onto a video screen (including their English translation).  I had a surprise, though.  All visitors were called one by one to the microphone to tell a bit about themselves.  I was the first.  Then the Australian woman, then the Swiss man married to the Brazilian, then the Finns who were on their honeymoon.  Then, the Australian man said he would pass; I talked to him later, though, and he told me to call him when I got to Australia.  He didn’t seem to be shy.  No one seemed to be in a rush, including the preacher.  The sermon was on Jehoshaphat, but I caught only bits and pieces.  It was delivered in Thai, then translated into English by a Thai man who goes by ‘Joseph.’  This is the first church that handed out lunches (fried rice with fried egg on top) after the service, so we all sat around and talked for a while. 

Geographically yours,

D.J.Z.