Okay, here comes some news.
First, Sung is currently en route to Laos. He left yesterday morning at 6. As of noon today, he was in Thailand.. though I haven't heard from him and probably won't until next week. He is going to be practicing as a monk in a Lao Buddhist temple. Essentially, 500 villagers will be celebrating his arrival and will help to shave his head and put him in Buddhist monk clothes. He will then spend the next 7 days praying and living in the temple. Every morning at 5:30 he will wake up and have to walk down the dirt roads of the village holding a bucket in which the villagers will give rice as an offering to Buddha. Sung will get breakfast and lunch, but will have no dinner. Sung's biggest worry though seemed to be that he had to poop standing up over a hole. Okay, that does sound a little tricky. On the 7th day, he will be given tasks such as cleaning the "toilet" to show that he is ready to live on his own. Then, his sister, Sang, will prepare a HUGE noodle dish for all the villagers. At this point they will drink lots of Lao Lao, the countries beer, and party till all hours. Pretty wild! I can't begin to tell you how excited, scared, and proud I am of Sung. For his parents, doing all of this will bring a tremendous amount of good Kharma to his family. The weeks and days before his departure he was very scared. I tried so hard to be strong and brave for him. I'd often say things like, "No worries. Lots of men do this." Of course, the truth is I'm scared out of my mind for him. This is one piece of information I read right before he left:
Travelers should also be aware that between 2004 and 2006, seven Lao- and Hmong-American citizens were murdered in northern and northeastern Thailand near the border with Laos. During the same period, a number of non-Americans with ties to Laos were murdered in this region of Thailand. In addition, in March 2006, a Hmong-American disappeared from his residence in Chiang Mai along with seven other individuals. In most of these cases, no arrests have been made. If U.S. citizens, particularly Lao-Americans or Hmong-Americans, must travel to these areas, they should exercise caution and remain vigilant with regard to their personal security. It is recommended that persons wishing to travel to border areas check first with the Thai Police and the U.S. Consulate General in Chiang Mai or the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok or the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane. In addition to these cases, three Hmong-American men went missing in August 2007 after reportedly going on a business trip to Xieng Khouang Province in Laos. The Government of Laos stated that the three departed Laos for Thailand, but none of the three has contacted family members in the U.S. since they were last seen in 2007.
Little scary to say the least. I am just unbelievably proud of him that he got a plane (something he absolutely hates to do), is traveling days to get to Laos, and will spend most of his time without anyone he knows because he knows that it is so important to his parents. What a powerful role model for our own children.
So.... now onto life back in NH. We're moving! Yup, a week ago we got an offer (only $5,000 less than asking!). Appraisal and inspection were done on Monday. Everything came back positive so we will be closing on the 28th of this month!! Crazy! Sung will be back only 3 days before! So, while my husband spends the next 7 days practicing as a monk, I will be diligently packing our house. We spent a day last week looking at houses to rent (no time to buy right now) and just got approval yesterday for the townhouse we wanted. Amazingly, there were TWO other people trying to rent this one place! It's in Manchester off of Bodwell Rd. Not an ideal location, but it'll be fine. Here's a link to it... http://www.beangroup.com/real_estate/listings/Condos/NH/Manchester/622159
We are really happy and excited for the move! Oalin really likes our new house. When we toured it, the tenants had a "Lightning McQueen" car which probably plays a big part as to his positive outlook:) So, there's our news!!! Here's a picture of the boys! You gotto love that they can be so happy at 5 in the morning! I couldn't help but wake them up to say bye to Daddy. Look at Kheenan John!!! He's sitting up now!
First, Sung is currently en route to Laos. He left yesterday morning at 6. As of noon today, he was in Thailand.. though I haven't heard from him and probably won't until next week. He is going to be practicing as a monk in a Lao Buddhist temple. Essentially, 500 villagers will be celebrating his arrival and will help to shave his head and put him in Buddhist monk clothes. He will then spend the next 7 days praying and living in the temple. Every morning at 5:30 he will wake up and have to walk down the dirt roads of the village holding a bucket in which the villagers will give rice as an offering to Buddha. Sung will get breakfast and lunch, but will have no dinner. Sung's biggest worry though seemed to be that he had to poop standing up over a hole. Okay, that does sound a little tricky. On the 7th day, he will be given tasks such as cleaning the "toilet" to show that he is ready to live on his own. Then, his sister, Sang, will prepare a HUGE noodle dish for all the villagers. At this point they will drink lots of Lao Lao, the countries beer, and party till all hours. Pretty wild! I can't begin to tell you how excited, scared, and proud I am of Sung. For his parents, doing all of this will bring a tremendous amount of good Kharma to his family. The weeks and days before his departure he was very scared. I tried so hard to be strong and brave for him. I'd often say things like, "No worries. Lots of men do this." Of course, the truth is I'm scared out of my mind for him. This is one piece of information I read right before he left:
Travelers should also be aware that between 2004 and 2006, seven Lao- and Hmong-American citizens were murdered in northern and northeastern Thailand near the border with Laos. During the same period, a number of non-Americans with ties to Laos were murdered in this region of Thailand. In addition, in March 2006, a Hmong-American disappeared from his residence in Chiang Mai along with seven other individuals. In most of these cases, no arrests have been made. If U.S. citizens, particularly Lao-Americans or Hmong-Americans, must travel to these areas, they should exercise caution and remain vigilant with regard to their personal security. It is recommended that persons wishing to travel to border areas check first with the Thai Police and the U.S. Consulate General in Chiang Mai or the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok or the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane. In addition to these cases, three Hmong-American men went missing in August 2007 after reportedly going on a business trip to Xieng Khouang Province in Laos. The Government of Laos stated that the three departed Laos for Thailand, but none of the three has contacted family members in the U.S. since they were last seen in 2007.
Little scary to say the least. I am just unbelievably proud of him that he got a plane (something he absolutely hates to do), is traveling days to get to Laos, and will spend most of his time without anyone he knows because he knows that it is so important to his parents. What a powerful role model for our own children.
So.... now onto life back in NH. We're moving! Yup, a week ago we got an offer (only $5,000 less than asking!). Appraisal and inspection were done on Monday. Everything came back positive so we will be closing on the 28th of this month!! Crazy! Sung will be back only 3 days before! So, while my husband spends the next 7 days practicing as a monk, I will be diligently packing our house. We spent a day last week looking at houses to rent (no time to buy right now) and just got approval yesterday for the townhouse we wanted. Amazingly, there were TWO other people trying to rent this one place! It's in Manchester off of Bodwell Rd. Not an ideal location, but it'll be fine. Here's a link to it... http://www.beangroup.com/real_estate/listings/Condos/NH/Manchester/622159
We are really happy and excited for the move! Oalin really likes our new house. When we toured it, the tenants had a "Lightning McQueen" car which probably plays a big part as to his positive outlook:) So, there's our news!!! Here's a picture of the boys! You gotto love that they can be so happy at 5 in the morning! I couldn't help but wake them up to say bye to Daddy. Look at Kheenan John!!! He's sitting up now!
2 comments:
Wow! We will keep Sung in our prayers and you as well. I am sure it will be an emotional time for all of you.
I am so happy that your house sold...I know how difficult it can be. Congrats!!! Now, instead of cleaning everyday, you get to pack!!! :)
hey there! I love love this picture :)I've finally caught up on your blog, and spent the last hour that I should have been working looking at all your pictures and stories. I must admit I'm a little sad to hear all of this on the web and not over a cup of coffee, why don't you move to NYC instead of Bodwell st? I miss you!!! And the boys look so big. But I'm glad to see that you're still finding time to play with pumpkins. I carved some with the youth group and your came out much nicer!
Hope to talk to you soon! And see the new place:) Much love, Diane
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