Things we’ve been up to
After the big weekend up in Phrao, the pace of life changed pretty significantly. There was the big party on Saturday which left both Adam and I in a place of needing some down time, which we got in our respective ways on Sunday. Miriam and Adam spent Sunday afternoon catching a ride from Phrao back to Chiang Mai, while I stayed up in Phrao for one more night with my family.
On Monday morning, those of us in Phrao got up early to head back to Chiang Mai. M y mom and her siblings were gathering one last time at City Hall in Chiang Mai to work toward getting my mom her Thai citizenship back. Ya’ll…it’s a PROCESS! In Thailand all citizens have to be registered in a house book. Since my mom’s citizenship was removed when she was adopted, she was removed from the family’s house book. There’s LOTS of paperwork, translation work, bloodwork, and documentation needed for this process so that the family can prove she is indeed related to them. For my mom and step-dad, their days on Monday and Tuesday were mostly consumed with gathering all the paperwork. Her final steps will come next year when she’ll need to spend about a month in the country to get her ID card. Once that is done, my siblings and I will be able to work toward getting dual citizenship ourselves.
My mom, her siblings, and her aunt in front of Chiang Mai city hall
For the Cliffords though, Monday and Tuesday were all about getting settled into a new routine. Miriam started school on Monday, which is why they headed home on Sunday. Part of the reason we took this extended trip this year is because with Miriam in kindergarten, this would be our last year of having a touch of flexibility in her schooling. We are so thankful for her principal at New Directions Learning Community who helped us navigate unenrolling her from school for the month so we wouldn’t rack up any truancy issues.
Here in Thailand, Miriam is attending Egg Tots House, which is an international daycare/preschool facility. Because she is still under 6 (barely), we had the choice of a couple international kindergarten programs, but ended up choosing this one because they had some more flexibility in payment options. So far (she’s in week 2 as of my writing this), she is really enjoying her time in school. Teachers there speak both in Thai and English, and her classmates are from all over the world. Being the smart cookie that she is, she is figuring out how to navigate cultural differences between her and her classmates – she is definitely an American kid who comes in with her big American energy! In general, Thai kids seem to be able to match her energy from the start. European and north Asian kids on the other hand seem a bit more reserved at first, but Miriam is able to figure out how to adapt her behavior to create connection.
Outside view of Egg Tots House- there’s a door in the middle of the fence
Most days Miriam has been coming home with an art project or two, then on Wednesdays they have phy. Ed, and on Fridays there is cooking class where the students make their lunch. It’s interesting to see how many families are in Chiang Mai for just a few months. We are definitely here for a much shorter stay than other families, but we have met a Canadian family who comes every year for 3 months, then there are also other international families who seem much more established and here for the long-haul.
Later this week Adam and Miriam will share their walk to school with you all.
Other things we’ve been up to:
Adam and I made a trip to Wararot Market and the fabric district of Chiang Mai in pursuit of fabrics with Thai prints on them so I can have a set of stoles made
Adam got measured for and ordered 2 custom suits, 2 blazers, and 6 shirts from a local tailor – the price for all of that comes out to what he would pay for 1 nice suit in America. The tailor he researched and went to was highly recommended in the Reddit threads Adam was reading because of his straight-forward pricing and the education he provides on fabric qualities – perhaps Adam can write about that later this week
I made another trip to Wararot Market with my family so that my mom, my sisters, and I could purchase traditional Lanna skirts and formal Chut Thai outfits.
This past Sunday (the 12th) we visited a charming English-speaking, Anglican-rooted congregation and fell in love with the community. They’re a collection of progressive leaning expats who are in Thailand for various reasons – many of them on retirement visas. We enjoyed getting to take communion with them and then going out to lunch with them after worship as that is their weekly custom.
In general, the time since the big party was all about living our life and finding routine. This trip wasn’t about doing the touristy things, it was about learning about what it means to live in Thailand and be connected with its culture, and we’ve been focused on just that.
