Jacob and I just got back from a weekend cub scout camping trip at Klog Sai. This is a campsite just outside Khao Yai national park, two hours outside of Bangkok. The trip was a lot of fun.
Jacob and I stayed in a small cabin instead of a tent. The main reason for this, aside from my lack of affection for sleeping in a tent, was my concern that we would have hot, muggy and mosqito filled nights. I was actually wrong, as the temperature dropped into the 70's at night and was quite pleasant.
We arrived at the camp site on Friday evening and departed on Sunday morning. In between, the kids had a whole lot of fun. There were lots of physical activities to keep them busy. One of my favorite memories of the trip was Jacob on the rope bridge. There were two perpendicular ropes suspended over a creek. The kids (or an occassional adult) would cross by walking on one rope and holding the other rope with their hands. The crossing was made more challenging by the fact that some of the older kids were bouncing up and down on the rope trying to dislodge would-be-crossers. As Jacob made his way onto the rope bridge, I noticed that he almost had to stand on his tippy-toes in order to reach the top rope with his hands. I thought that he would have a really difficult time making it across, but he actually managed two out of three times. By contrast, a lot of kids never made it across at all. While his height was a a disadvantage, his weight (or lack of) was a definite advantage. When his feet slipped, he could hold himself up on the rope with his arms very well. That was a bit harder for some of the heavier boys.
I think the highlight for the kids were the water activites, the glow sticks turned light sabers and the marsh mellow roasts. Jacob and I also went on a hike in Khao Yai national park. It was a fairly nice walk, but we spent almost as much time driving to and from as we did hiking. I had an interesting conversation with one of the scout dads who is also a trustee of ISB.
Tim and the girls ended up driving on Saturday and visited the park. After a few hours, they stopped by and saw Jacob and I for a bit and then headed home.
I took some pictures that I will post soon.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Politics, Thai Style
I've neglected to give an update on Thai politics in a bit, as I've been focusing on the U.S presidential race. Another reason is that I was in the habit for quite a while of reading the paper at breakfast for updates, and I've slacked off that lately.
The PPP party did manage to form a coalition government with the former Bangkok mayor and always interesting Samak Sundaravej as Prime Minister. Unlike in many western democracies, the civilian government here does not have complete control over the military. The reassignment of military personnel for example, is not within the purview of the PM. He is part of a group that consists mostly of high ranking military officers which decide such changes. This is important, because the success of a military coup is highly dependent on the loyalty of officers at the level of colonel.
There is some also some non-elected body that retains some power here. I'm really not certain of how it all works together as I've never read a good explanation.
One thing that is certain is that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej didn't take long to stir up controversy. For those of you not in the know, Samak is an old political veteran called in to lead the PPP, the successor to the now defunct Thai Rak Thai party which was led by deposed PM Thaksin. Samak has a reputation for losing his cool with reporters and saying some pretty outrageous statements.
In a recent interview with CNN, Samak declared that only one person had been killed in the 1976 anti-dictatorship protests staged by students at Thammasat University. The official police count of deaths resulting from the protests is forty-six, although students claimed it was well into the hundreds. Samak has been accused by many of having stirred up anti-communism sentiment that led to the massacre. Interestingly, some of the student leaders of the protests are Samak supporters.
The first Samak quote of interest that I heard was around bribes and election fraud. He stated that it wasn't really that serious of an issue because people didn't die because of bribes and fraud. Personally, I think that in a country with extreme poverty, institutional corruption perpetuates poverty, ensuring that decisions are made for the personal gain of those with power instead of for the best interest of the people. In other words, how many people die of starvation because project A was chosen over project B because project B's owner paid someone off.
The PPP party did manage to form a coalition government with the former Bangkok mayor and always interesting Samak Sundaravej as Prime Minister. Unlike in many western democracies, the civilian government here does not have complete control over the military. The reassignment of military personnel for example, is not within the purview of the PM. He is part of a group that consists mostly of high ranking military officers which decide such changes. This is important, because the success of a military coup is highly dependent on the loyalty of officers at the level of colonel.
There is some also some non-elected body that retains some power here. I'm really not certain of how it all works together as I've never read a good explanation.
One thing that is certain is that Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej didn't take long to stir up controversy. For those of you not in the know, Samak is an old political veteran called in to lead the PPP, the successor to the now defunct Thai Rak Thai party which was led by deposed PM Thaksin. Samak has a reputation for losing his cool with reporters and saying some pretty outrageous statements.
In a recent interview with CNN, Samak declared that only one person had been killed in the 1976 anti-dictatorship protests staged by students at Thammasat University. The official police count of deaths resulting from the protests is forty-six, although students claimed it was well into the hundreds. Samak has been accused by many of having stirred up anti-communism sentiment that led to the massacre. Interestingly, some of the student leaders of the protests are Samak supporters.
The first Samak quote of interest that I heard was around bribes and election fraud. He stated that it wasn't really that serious of an issue because people didn't die because of bribes and fraud. Personally, I think that in a country with extreme poverty, institutional corruption perpetuates poverty, ensuring that decisions are made for the personal gain of those with power instead of for the best interest of the people. In other words, how many people die of starvation because project A was chosen over project B because project B's owner paid someone off.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Cables Fixed
Well, it looks like they finally fixed at least two of the four the undersea cables that were cut. My understanding is that an abandoned anchor was the culprit. In any case my download speed for usenet is back to a respectable speed. Files that were taking as long as 45 minutes are now downloading in five or less. Definitely an improvement.
Six Months
I've been in Thailand a little over six months now. If we stay according to plan, that's one quarter of the time that we are going to spend here.
While I have certainly had my share of frustrations, overall the experience has been pretty pleasant. It was obviously a big change, not only moving to a different country with a very different culture (albiet one with which I was not completely unfamiliar), but also changing my role from the primary breadwinner to the primary child care giver (with help from a nanny).
A few more numbers:
156 - The approximate number of days I've been here
113 - The approximate number of days since I've played wow
75 - The percent chance that I'll visit the U.S. this summer with the kids
40 - The birthday I'll celebrate this year
19 - The number of years since my first date with Tim on 2/10/89
8 - The birthday that Jacob will celebrate in March
6 - The number of days a week that Tim generally works
5 - The number of times I've been the mystery reader in Jacob and Nalin's class
2 - The number on a scale of 1 to 10 that I'd rate my photography skills
While I have certainly had my share of frustrations, overall the experience has been pretty pleasant. It was obviously a big change, not only moving to a different country with a very different culture (albiet one with which I was not completely unfamiliar), but also changing my role from the primary breadwinner to the primary child care giver (with help from a nanny).
A few more numbers:
156 - The approximate number of days I've been here
113 - The approximate number of days since I've played wow
75 - The percent chance that I'll visit the U.S. this summer with the kids
40 - The birthday I'll celebrate this year
19 - The number of years since my first date with Tim on 2/10/89
8 - The birthday that Jacob will celebrate in March
6 - The number of days a week that Tim generally works
5 - The number of times I've been the mystery reader in Jacob and Nalin's class
2 - The number on a scale of 1 to 10 that I'd rate my photography skills
So Thai
Recently, a number of people have quit my wife's company. What's notable about it is the way they do it, it’s so Thai.
In the U.S. of course, professional employees generally tend to give two weeks notice before leaving. Here, not only don't some people give advance notice of quitting, they don't even actually notify you that they are quitting at all, rather they just stop showing up for work.
After consulting my expert in all things Thai (i.e., my lovely and talented wife), I realized that there were two reasons for this. First, unlike in the U.S., prospective employers are often not going to call previous employees as a reference. So the "price" of leaving without notice is fairly small, at least for the one leaving.
The other reason boils down to the essence of being Thai; avoiding confrontation. In a much more class conscious society, telling the person who is your boss that you are quitting could be a bit daunting. After all, until you quit, this is a person to whom you show extreme deference. To possibly displease that person with news that you will no longer work for them is a type of confrontation that many Thais would prefer to avoid. So some just stop showing up to work. They will then refuse to pick up the phone to confirm that they have quit.
Of course from my falang perspective, I'd rather just get it over with and tell my boss that I am leaving. Not only am I willing to endure this confrontation, in some ways I enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, I don't sit and rub my hands together maniacally and laugh, but there is a certain satisfaction in telling your boss that you've effectively "fired" him or her. For a Thai though, its s situation often best avoided.
In the U.S. of course, professional employees generally tend to give two weeks notice before leaving. Here, not only don't some people give advance notice of quitting, they don't even actually notify you that they are quitting at all, rather they just stop showing up for work.
After consulting my expert in all things Thai (i.e., my lovely and talented wife), I realized that there were two reasons for this. First, unlike in the U.S., prospective employers are often not going to call previous employees as a reference. So the "price" of leaving without notice is fairly small, at least for the one leaving.
The other reason boils down to the essence of being Thai; avoiding confrontation. In a much more class conscious society, telling the person who is your boss that you are quitting could be a bit daunting. After all, until you quit, this is a person to whom you show extreme deference. To possibly displease that person with news that you will no longer work for them is a type of confrontation that many Thais would prefer to avoid. So some just stop showing up to work. They will then refuse to pick up the phone to confirm that they have quit.
Of course from my falang perspective, I'd rather just get it over with and tell my boss that I am leaving. Not only am I willing to endure this confrontation, in some ways I enjoy it. Don't get me wrong, I don't sit and rub my hands together maniacally and laugh, but there is a certain satisfaction in telling your boss that you've effectively "fired" him or her. For a Thai though, its s situation often best avoided.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Who Is Reading This?
Okay, I have a confession to make, I'm kind of in the dark here. I was mentioning to a friend the other day that I really don't know who is reading the blog. I'd really like to know for a few reasons. First, it would be nice to know if my blog is actually being read, or is just a bunch of dusty ones and zeroes sititng on a server somewhere. Secondly, knowing who is reading might affect what topics I chose to write about.
One of the ways bloggers learn about their readership is through the comments. At the bottom of each blog entry is a hyperlink with a number and the word comments, i.e. 3 Comments. The comments section can really turn a blog into a discussion as opposed to a monologue. Since I restarted this back in October, there have been no comments.
I'm asking readers just to add a comment to this (or another) blog so that I know who is reading. It can be as simple as "I'm reading...Mom" or "Maybe we'll get lucky and you'll get thrown in jail so you can blog about something interesting...love, Cousin Freddie"
Adding comments are easy. Just click the comments link at the bottom of a post. This will take you to a form with a comments box. Just fill in your comments. You can use your google account (if you have one when posting), give a nickname (i.e., Mom, Dad, The Guy you owe money to), or post completely anonomously.
If you want to let me know you read my blog, but are too embarrassed to admit it to others, then I would appreciate if you drop me an email at edwardbrianvogel@yahoo.com.
Thanks!
One of the ways bloggers learn about their readership is through the comments. At the bottom of each blog entry is a hyperlink with a number and the word comments, i.e. 3 Comments. The comments section can really turn a blog into a discussion as opposed to a monologue. Since I restarted this back in October, there have been no comments.
I'm asking readers just to add a comment to this (or another) blog so that I know who is reading. It can be as simple as "I'm reading...Mom" or "Maybe we'll get lucky and you'll get thrown in jail so you can blog about something interesting...love, Cousin Freddie"
Adding comments are easy. Just click the comments link at the bottom of a post. This will take you to a form with a comments box. Just fill in your comments. You can use your google account (if you have one when posting), give a nickname (i.e., Mom, Dad, The Guy you owe money to), or post completely anonomously.
If you want to let me know you read my blog, but are too embarrassed to admit it to others, then I would appreciate if you drop me an email at edwardbrianvogel@yahoo.com.
Thanks!
Presidents By the Numbers
Again, I'm off my typical topic to talk briefly about the U.S. Presidential race.
A lot of Republicans are seeing red, although not the kind of red you see on an election map. No, they are furious that Senator McCain is the front runner for their party's nomination. Led by the right side of the radio dial, they deride Senator McCain as less than a true conservative and have attempted to label him with the "M" word, moderate.
Two big issues seem to be his stands on immigration and taxes. Senator McCain supported a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. I understand that this angers many Republican voters, but Senator McCain's position was the same as or very close to President Bush's, the Conservative in Chief.
Conservatives also have complained that Senator McCain broke rank with conservative principles by opposing tax cuts that did not have offsetting spending reductions. I am at a bit of a loss though how promoting spending cuts is no longer considered a conservative principle. Does anyone believe that the U.S. budget is so lean that there is no spending that we could do without?
So what is an angry conservative to do about this interloper? Well, one option is to vote in the primary for another candidate, like Governor Huckabee. Some angry elephants have gone further, and pledged that if McCain is the nominee, they will punish the Republicans and vote for Senator Clinton (or perhaps Obama). They claim that since McCain is really a Democrat in Republican clothing, they might as well vote for the real McCoy. It has been said that McCain is no better than Clinton when it comes to upholding conservative principles.
Now I certainly don't want to get in the way of a good temper tantrum, but when my conservative brethren stop holding their breath and jumping up and down, they might want to consider the numbers 82, 8 and 9. These are the lifetime ratings of Senator McCain, Senator Obama and Senator Clinton from the American Conservative Union (ACU), an organization that has rated Congress members on conservative principles since the 70's. A perfect conservative score is 100, while a 0 indicates a liberal pinko commie :D. So while Senator McCain votes for "conservative" principles eight out of ten times, Senators Clinton and Obama do so about one in ten times. Now while I never finished my first semester PhD statistics course at Boston College, I do seem to remember from some where that 8 of 10 is a lot higher than 1 of 10.
Another interesting number is three, which pundits predict will be the number of Supreme Court nominees that the next President will have the opportunity to appoint. I'm sure the appointments of a would-be President Hillary Clinton would be very much in line with Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck's audience. Well, maybe not, but it would give them a lot to complain about, and when it comes down to it, isn't that the most important thing?
A few other comments…
The other day I saw a friend of mine who is a big Hillary supporter pulled over to the side of the road filling her gas tank with a plastic red jug. She saw me and yelled “Don’t you say a word!” I just smiled and couldn’t help but wonder if her predicament was a metaphor for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. As Obama wins primary after primary, I can’t help but wonder if she running out of gas?
I am an admirer of President Ronald Reagan. I think he was an excellent president, the right man at the right time. While some might think the righting of the economy and the destruction of the Soviet Union were inevitable, I think that they would have occurred much later, if at all, under a second Carter or first Mondale presidency.
Despite my admiration for President Reagan, I found the constant invoking of his mantle by Republican candidates this season not only annoying, but bordering on idolatry. Am I the only one that finds the near worship of a human being by members of a party that claims so many fervently religious members ironic?
The whole Reagan mantra thing kind of reminds me of an old game show I watched called the Liar’s Club. They would have 3 guests, who would all say they were the same person. The contestants would get to ask them questions, and then had to guess which guest was telling the truth. At the end they would say “Would the real [Joe Blow] please stand up” at which time Joe Blow would stand. If the candidates were playing it, when they said “Would the real heir to President Reagan’s mantra please stand up”, the candidates would all jump to their feet, point at each other and yell “he’s a moderate” or “he didn’t support Reagan until 1978, he’s a Johnny-come-lately”.
A lot of Republicans are seeing red, although not the kind of red you see on an election map. No, they are furious that Senator McCain is the front runner for their party's nomination. Led by the right side of the radio dial, they deride Senator McCain as less than a true conservative and have attempted to label him with the "M" word, moderate.
Two big issues seem to be his stands on immigration and taxes. Senator McCain supported a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. I understand that this angers many Republican voters, but Senator McCain's position was the same as or very close to President Bush's, the Conservative in Chief.
Conservatives also have complained that Senator McCain broke rank with conservative principles by opposing tax cuts that did not have offsetting spending reductions. I am at a bit of a loss though how promoting spending cuts is no longer considered a conservative principle. Does anyone believe that the U.S. budget is so lean that there is no spending that we could do without?
So what is an angry conservative to do about this interloper? Well, one option is to vote in the primary for another candidate, like Governor Huckabee. Some angry elephants have gone further, and pledged that if McCain is the nominee, they will punish the Republicans and vote for Senator Clinton (or perhaps Obama). They claim that since McCain is really a Democrat in Republican clothing, they might as well vote for the real McCoy. It has been said that McCain is no better than Clinton when it comes to upholding conservative principles.
Now I certainly don't want to get in the way of a good temper tantrum, but when my conservative brethren stop holding their breath and jumping up and down, they might want to consider the numbers 82, 8 and 9. These are the lifetime ratings of Senator McCain, Senator Obama and Senator Clinton from the American Conservative Union (ACU), an organization that has rated Congress members on conservative principles since the 70's. A perfect conservative score is 100, while a 0 indicates a liberal pinko commie :D. So while Senator McCain votes for "conservative" principles eight out of ten times, Senators Clinton and Obama do so about one in ten times. Now while I never finished my first semester PhD statistics course at Boston College, I do seem to remember from some where that 8 of 10 is a lot higher than 1 of 10.
Another interesting number is three, which pundits predict will be the number of Supreme Court nominees that the next President will have the opportunity to appoint. I'm sure the appointments of a would-be President Hillary Clinton would be very much in line with Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck's audience. Well, maybe not, but it would give them a lot to complain about, and when it comes down to it, isn't that the most important thing?
A few other comments…
The other day I saw a friend of mine who is a big Hillary supporter pulled over to the side of the road filling her gas tank with a plastic red jug. She saw me and yelled “Don’t you say a word!” I just smiled and couldn’t help but wonder if her predicament was a metaphor for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. As Obama wins primary after primary, I can’t help but wonder if she running out of gas?
I am an admirer of President Ronald Reagan. I think he was an excellent president, the right man at the right time. While some might think the righting of the economy and the destruction of the Soviet Union were inevitable, I think that they would have occurred much later, if at all, under a second Carter or first Mondale presidency.
Despite my admiration for President Reagan, I found the constant invoking of his mantle by Republican candidates this season not only annoying, but bordering on idolatry. Am I the only one that finds the near worship of a human being by members of a party that claims so many fervently religious members ironic?
The whole Reagan mantra thing kind of reminds me of an old game show I watched called the Liar’s Club. They would have 3 guests, who would all say they were the same person. The contestants would get to ask them questions, and then had to guess which guest was telling the truth. At the end they would say “Would the real [Joe Blow] please stand up” at which time Joe Blow would stand. If the candidates were playing it, when they said “Would the real heir to President Reagan’s mantra please stand up”, the candidates would all jump to their feet, point at each other and yell “he’s a moderate” or “he didn’t support Reagan until 1978, he’s a Johnny-come-lately”.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Karaoke
Thai people have an irrational love of karaoke. While I don't know if there are as many karaoke bars as massage parlors here, there are certainly a lot of them.
I must confess that I am not a fan of karaoke. I certainly don't want to sing karaoke myself, and listening to others express their inner Whitney Houston is not one of my favorite pass times.
My own voice is hardly melodic. One of the few times that I have sang in public was during my senior class play many years ago. As the villian Judd Fry in the musical Oklahoma, I had one solo song, and a duo with the lead Curly. Roger Heck (interestingly, there were 55 people in my freshman class and two of them were named Roger Heck), who played Curly had a much nicer voice than I. After the show the director told me that during our duo, she slightly turned my microphone down so that his voice would be more prominent.
A lot of the karaoke establishments here are more than just bars; they might be accurately described as a karaoke restaurant. Tim had a dinner for her company employees last night at one such establishment. The place was an outdoor restaurant and bar with a number of private karaoke rooms. Our party was in a room that held about fifty or sixty patrons and sported a large screen TV hooked up to a karaoke system. The wait staff would bring the food and dishes into the main room. As we had the kids with us, we left early and they hadn't started singing yet.
Lest you think that I've not heard the sweet crooning of a number of would be Thai idols, let me assure you that I have. At my brother-in-law's birthday party, at least eight or nine people made their way up to the stage to demonstrate their talents. While some had decent voices, a few of them on par with American Idol contestant William Hung.
My most bizarre karaoke experience came the other morning day when I was out shopping. I stopped by an IT mall to try to find some paper and cartridge for my Kodak printer. At approximately 11:00 a.m., I was walking through the food court when I heard some really bad singing over the speak system. I looked over and saw a small stage in the corner of food court on which a middle age Thai man was singing karaoke while a couple of patrons looked on.
At first I laughed wondering why someone would sing karaoke in a nearly empty food court in the late morning. Then I thought about it, if I ever have the overwhelming compulsion to sing karaoke, I guess I’d rather do it in front of a few people who I might never see again.
I must confess that I am not a fan of karaoke. I certainly don't want to sing karaoke myself, and listening to others express their inner Whitney Houston is not one of my favorite pass times.
My own voice is hardly melodic. One of the few times that I have sang in public was during my senior class play many years ago. As the villian Judd Fry in the musical Oklahoma, I had one solo song, and a duo with the lead Curly. Roger Heck (interestingly, there were 55 people in my freshman class and two of them were named Roger Heck), who played Curly had a much nicer voice than I. After the show the director told me that during our duo, she slightly turned my microphone down so that his voice would be more prominent.
A lot of the karaoke establishments here are more than just bars; they might be accurately described as a karaoke restaurant. Tim had a dinner for her company employees last night at one such establishment. The place was an outdoor restaurant and bar with a number of private karaoke rooms. Our party was in a room that held about fifty or sixty patrons and sported a large screen TV hooked up to a karaoke system. The wait staff would bring the food and dishes into the main room. As we had the kids with us, we left early and they hadn't started singing yet.
Lest you think that I've not heard the sweet crooning of a number of would be Thai idols, let me assure you that I have. At my brother-in-law's birthday party, at least eight or nine people made their way up to the stage to demonstrate their talents. While some had decent voices, a few of them on par with American Idol contestant William Hung.
My most bizarre karaoke experience came the other morning day when I was out shopping. I stopped by an IT mall to try to find some paper and cartridge for my Kodak printer. At approximately 11:00 a.m., I was walking through the food court when I heard some really bad singing over the speak system. I looked over and saw a small stage in the corner of food court on which a middle age Thai man was singing karaoke while a couple of patrons looked on.
At first I laughed wondering why someone would sing karaoke in a nearly empty food court in the late morning. Then I thought about it, if I ever have the overwhelming compulsion to sing karaoke, I guess I’d rather do it in front of a few people who I might never see again.
School Days
Tim and I had the chance to go to school today to see the kids. Jacob's class put together a movie for the parents. Well, Ms. Souza (his teacher) did the video production, and the kids were the stars. It was a lot of fun.
I'm amazed at how comfortable that Jacob is in speaking in front of people. He really knows how to use tone and to project his voice when he speaks. I really admire his confidence. We signed him up for an after school drama program so he can further develop this skill.
On Monday, Nalin's teacher Ms. Willis returns back from her three month maternity leave. Today there was a "farewell" party for Ms. Stacey, who ably filled in during Ms. Willis' absence.
I've read to Nalin's class a few times, chaperoned a field trip and see the kids most every day when I pick up Nalin. When I've read the past few times, I brought a puppet with me.
Dermit is an orange frog puppet whose cousin is a famous Muppet that I'm sure you've heard of before. Dermit is a bit cynical and frequently makes sarcastic and other "witty" comments while I talk to the kids. He has brought them cookies (which he claims have flies in them). In a lot of ways, Dermit is like the real me, while I am playing nice in front of the kids. Well, one difference is that Dermit has a much higher voice than I, so I just love talking in Dermit's voice for an extended period of time. In any case, the kids know Dermit pretty well, and are very fond of him.
So at 1:30 about 7 or 8 parents go into the classroom to surprise Ms. Stacey. Of course I've brought Dermit along, but I've got him in my backpack because I don't want to detract from Ms. Stacey's moment. When the kids see me, I hear someone say Dermit is here. In less than a minute, twenty-one first graders are chanting "Dermit, Dermit". I felt a bit bad because I really didn't want Dermit (or me) to be the center of attention. The other parents were a bit puzzled at what the kids were talking about.
The kids had to wait a bit for Dermit to actually make an appearance. Poor Dermit had to undergo the constant grabbing of six and seven year old hands, while I fended off the "can I have Dermit" pleas. The party was nice, and the kids really enjoyed eating the cake, cookies, chicken, and other treats brought in by the parents.
I'm amazed at how comfortable that Jacob is in speaking in front of people. He really knows how to use tone and to project his voice when he speaks. I really admire his confidence. We signed him up for an after school drama program so he can further develop this skill.
On Monday, Nalin's teacher Ms. Willis returns back from her three month maternity leave. Today there was a "farewell" party for Ms. Stacey, who ably filled in during Ms. Willis' absence.
I've read to Nalin's class a few times, chaperoned a field trip and see the kids most every day when I pick up Nalin. When I've read the past few times, I brought a puppet with me.
Dermit is an orange frog puppet whose cousin is a famous Muppet that I'm sure you've heard of before. Dermit is a bit cynical and frequently makes sarcastic and other "witty" comments while I talk to the kids. He has brought them cookies (which he claims have flies in them). In a lot of ways, Dermit is like the real me, while I am playing nice in front of the kids. Well, one difference is that Dermit has a much higher voice than I, so I just love talking in Dermit's voice for an extended period of time. In any case, the kids know Dermit pretty well, and are very fond of him.
So at 1:30 about 7 or 8 parents go into the classroom to surprise Ms. Stacey. Of course I've brought Dermit along, but I've got him in my backpack because I don't want to detract from Ms. Stacey's moment. When the kids see me, I hear someone say Dermit is here. In less than a minute, twenty-one first graders are chanting "Dermit, Dermit". I felt a bit bad because I really didn't want Dermit (or me) to be the center of attention. The other parents were a bit puzzled at what the kids were talking about.
The kids had to wait a bit for Dermit to actually make an appearance. Poor Dermit had to undergo the constant grabbing of six and seven year old hands, while I fended off the "can I have Dermit" pleas. The party was nice, and the kids really enjoyed eating the cake, cookies, chicken, and other treats brought in by the parents.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Brief Update
A little fishy
On Sunday, Tim and I bought an aquarium and some fish for the kids. We stopped at some large outdoor market. The market is organized by products, and their was a fairly large section of fish and aquarium vendors.
We bought fresh water fish, as we have heard that they are easier to care for. Unfortunately, we have lost an average of a fish a day since we got them. May have to pull the rest and try to clean the tank.
Everybody Bang Sai
Yesterday Nalin's class took a field trip to Bang Sai and I was a chaperone. I ended up with 5 kids, 3 boys and 2 girls. I was the only one so fortunate to get more than four kids and two boys.
Overall the trip was okay. Bang Sai is an area with some crafts, and a really impoverished aquarium and aviary. The thing the kids liked the most was being able to spend the 100 baht they were allowed to bring in one of the many shops.
Service with a Smile
Today, Jacob and Nalin started their tennis lessons. They have an instructor for one hour per week, and the cost is only 700 baht per session. That's about $23 U.S.
The kids had an absolute blast. The instructor was recommended by one of Jacob's friend's mom, and he is very good. He makes learning fun for the kids. Nalin was asking if she could come back tomorrow. I wanted to have two lessons per week, but his schedule was too full. Some pictures are here.
On Sunday, Tim and I bought an aquarium and some fish for the kids. We stopped at some large outdoor market. The market is organized by products, and their was a fairly large section of fish and aquarium vendors.
We bought fresh water fish, as we have heard that they are easier to care for. Unfortunately, we have lost an average of a fish a day since we got them. May have to pull the rest and try to clean the tank.
Everybody Bang Sai
Yesterday Nalin's class took a field trip to Bang Sai and I was a chaperone. I ended up with 5 kids, 3 boys and 2 girls. I was the only one so fortunate to get more than four kids and two boys.
Overall the trip was okay. Bang Sai is an area with some crafts, and a really impoverished aquarium and aviary. The thing the kids liked the most was being able to spend the 100 baht they were allowed to bring in one of the many shops.
Service with a Smile
Today, Jacob and Nalin started their tennis lessons. They have an instructor for one hour per week, and the cost is only 700 baht per session. That's about $23 U.S.
The kids had an absolute blast. The instructor was recommended by one of Jacob's friend's mom, and he is very good. He makes learning fun for the kids. Nalin was asking if she could come back tomorrow. I wanted to have two lessons per week, but his schedule was too full. Some pictures are here.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Birthday Party
Last night we went to Top's birthday party. They hosted it at the Radison, and there were probably more than 100 guests. The fortune teller group of which he is a member put together the party. There were three photographers plus some people working a film camera. My pictures are here. Unfortunately, my flash died which limitted the quality of my snaps.
They had a buffet with Chinsese food, which was pretty decent. There was a lot of entertainment. They had four or five acts including traditional Thai dancers, acrobats in monkey suits (from the epic story Kohn story), as well as some male dancers dressed as females. These were not katoeys who were trying to pass themselves off as female, rather they were a comedic act and made very, very, very unattractive women. It was actually a pretty funny show.
I can't remember if I've mentioned before that Thai people love karaoke. There aren't as many karaoke bars as massage shops, but there are a lot of them. The reason that I mention it is that after the real entertainment, guests came on stage and sang karokee. Some were decent, others average, and some bad. Tim gathered the kids and had them go on stage and sing happy birthday. At that point, all the guests started filing out and the singing ended. Tim voiced my sentiment when she said that we should have sent the kids up earlier.
Overall we had a good time. It was a pretty big celebration for a 41st birthday, but I guess Top is the CEO of a pretty decent sized company. Its funny, I've known Top for almost twenty years now, since the Thomas More College days. In fact, although I didn't know him well, I probably saw him around campus before I met Tim (she started two years after him). He's always been a good guy, and I'm glad to have him as a brother-in-law.
They had a buffet with Chinsese food, which was pretty decent. There was a lot of entertainment. They had four or five acts including traditional Thai dancers, acrobats in monkey suits (from the epic story Kohn story), as well as some male dancers dressed as females. These were not katoeys who were trying to pass themselves off as female, rather they were a comedic act and made very, very, very unattractive women. It was actually a pretty funny show.
I can't remember if I've mentioned before that Thai people love karaoke. There aren't as many karaoke bars as massage shops, but there are a lot of them. The reason that I mention it is that after the real entertainment, guests came on stage and sang karokee. Some were decent, others average, and some bad. Tim gathered the kids and had them go on stage and sing happy birthday. At that point, all the guests started filing out and the singing ended. Tim voiced my sentiment when she said that we should have sent the kids up earlier.
Overall we had a good time. It was a pretty big celebration for a 41st birthday, but I guess Top is the CEO of a pretty decent sized company. Its funny, I've known Top for almost twenty years now, since the Thomas More College days. In fact, although I didn't know him well, I probably saw him around campus before I met Tim (she started two years after him). He's always been a good guy, and I'm glad to have him as a brother-in-law.
Internet Disruptions
As you may have heard on the news, three cables connecting Europe to South Asia have been mysteriously severed. At first, I didn't know that Thailand was impacted, as most news reported that it mainly impacted India and the Middle East.
I had noticed over the last few days that my download speed was very slow. I'd run the adsl test in Thailand, and my speed was usually just under 2 mbps, but when accessing some sites in the U.S., it was 10% of that. After doing a little digging, I found out that they are rerouting a lot of the traffic impacted by the severed cables through what it described as Thailand's already inadequate infrastructure.
The good news is that the cable is supposed to be repaired in a week.
I had noticed over the last few days that my download speed was very slow. I'd run the adsl test in Thailand, and my speed was usually just under 2 mbps, but when accessing some sites in the U.S., it was 10% of that. After doing a little digging, I found out that they are rerouting a lot of the traffic impacted by the severed cables through what it described as Thailand's already inadequate infrastructure.
The good news is that the cable is supposed to be repaired in a week.
Friday, February 1, 2008
New Tripod
I went shopping yesterday and bought a new tripod. I didn't get a dirt cheap tripod, as I'm trying to pick up pieces of gear that will last me a while. Still, I didn't go crazy and spend several hundred dollars on one.
Speaking of Birthdays...
Not only is today Tim's brother Top's birthday (see previous post), but February 1st is also my brother Eric's birthday.
Happy birthday Eric! Happy birthday Top.
Happy birthday Eric! Happy birthday Top.
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