Pretty in Pink

Today was out of uniform day at ISB.  On the first Thursday and Friday school days of each month, the children do not have to wear their uniforms.  Even though there are two days for out of uniform, each child only gets to enjoy it one day, as the other day they must wear their PE uniform.  

Throughout the year they alternate days between their PE and regular uniforms.  On the days that 1st, 3rd, and 5th, etc wear the regular uniform, K, 2nd, 4th, etc. wear their PE uniform.  So Jacob and Aleena are on the same schedule and will be as long as they are at ISB (assuming neither has to repeat a grade).

So this morning, Aleena was wearing her pink shirt, pink shorts, and pink shoes, when she put on her pink helmet and rode her pink bike to school.  I just laughed when I saw it.

Field Trip

Today I was a chaperon on Jacob's field trip to the Red Cross Snake farm. There were four parent volunteers. Interestingly, two of the other parents were also involved in cub scouts. Megan is now the pack meeting and training coordinator. Last year she was the assistant den leader for Jacob's den. Greg also chaperoned and is currently Jacob's assistant den leader.

Ms. Rodgers split the class into groups of four students. My group included Jacob, Tobi, Ploy and Prong; two boys and two girls.

The bus ride to the snake farm was about an hour long. Megan and I chatted to pass along the time. I haven't really made much of an effort to make a lot of friends here in Thailand, but Megan is one of the people I consider a friend.

When we arrived at the museum, the kids had a snack and then attended a presentation by the head of the snake farm. He brought out half a dozen or so varieties of snakes, and was a wealth of information about the scaly creatures. The only downside was that it was somewhat difficult to understand him with his Thai accent.

My favorite part was when he explained to the third graders that the male snakes have two sex organs. He turned to me and asked me why. A few answers popped into my head, "for double the pleasure", "cuz there are two lady snakes for every boy snake", "snakes like to party all night long and they don't make snake Viagra". Of course none of these answers were appropriate for a third grade audience, so I just shrugged. The snake expert explained that since snakes didn't have hands to help them hold on, they had a sex organ on each side so that they could copulate on whichever side was easiest. One of the mothers was laughing hysterically at his explanation. That or she was thinking of the same answers that I did.

After the presentation, we explored the two floors of the snake museum. The kids had twenty or so questions that they had to record in a little booklet that Ms. Rodgers had made. A few highlights include the number of rows of teeth pythons sport (6), the largest poisonous snake (king cobra), the eye color of an albino python (red) among others.

The kids then watched a presentation where they milked the snakes for venom to make anti-venom serum. Around this time, a group of female Thai students swarmed the place. There were probably half-a-hundred, and they all moved together. It made things a bit crowded, and there was just enough room for the kids to watch the milking. I walked off to the side and played suduko on my iTouch for fifteen minutes.

After the milking show, we ate lunch. I packed some fake-crab sushi, and the kids had sandwiches and a brownie. We took a few pictures together, and then got on the bus and returned home.

The kids seemed to have a lot of fun. Well, Prong said that she didn't like snakes at least ten times, but I suspect that she still enjoyed herself. Ms. Rogers sent out an email saying that this was the best field trip ever. I'm not sure if that was just flattery, but I do think it was a really good blend of learning and fun.

I had fun as well. Before we got on the bus, I told the kids the story about the two boys hiking in the woods. One gets bit by a snake in the behind, and the other runs back to town for help. The doctor tells the boy that he has to go and suck the poison out of his friends wound or he'd die. When the boy returns, his snake-bit friend asks what the doctor said. "He said you are going to die." Jacob and his friends thought it was funny.

This is part of what I enjoy though, getting to go on the trips with the kids. Jacob really likes it when I go. I know I had better enjoy it, because in a few years, I'll be less fun.

Thailand Connection

President elect Obama plans on nominating Federal Reserve Chief Geithner as the Treasury Secratary. Geithner actually completed high school at ISB (International School of Bangkok), where my children attend. Apparently Geithner moved around quite a bit as a child, as the newspaper reported that he had lived in several countries during his youth.

Bracing for Trick or Treaters

On Friday I am doing a Halloween activity for Aleena's class. Her teacher asks parents to do something for a holiday from their country. The Canadians snatched up Thanksgiving and the Europeans locked out Christmas with their version.

I can't say that I was too disappointed to do Halloween, as is a pretty kick butt holiday. My plan was to have the kids dress up in outrageous costumes, drink beer until they're sick, and carve pumpkins in inappropriate scenes of debauchery. Okay, not so much, but stories, crafts, and a wee bit of candy is fun too.

Apparently Halloween used to be a big event at ISB. The kids would dress up in costumes and they would have a big parade. Then the fun police came out and decided that either candy was bad for the kids, or the holiday was too American, or they were traumatized when someone laughed at their Jack Sparrow costume. Be assured, the fun police were not Thai. In general, Thai's enjoy holidays and having fun. A secular holiday like Halloween is right up their alley. To mix my holiday metaphors, the grinches are of the falang variety.

The worst part about it is that I am trying to teach the kids about Halloween and we can't go around the quad and trick or treat. Its a shame.

Despite the lack of Halloween festivities at ISB, Nichada Thani will rock out Halloween. The club is hosting a party, but most importantly, there will be a whole lot of trick or treating going on. Not only will most kids in Nichada come to trick or treat, but kids from all over will descend on our community. Unlike in the U.S. where virtually every neighborhood has trick or treating, there are very few good trick or treating communities. Before we moved here, Tim was here one Halloween with the kids. She was staying with her brother in another part of town, but they came here to trick or treat.

Last year we ran out of candy when I was out with the kids, so I really don't know how many trick or treaters that we had. On my way home from the IT Square today, I stopped by Macro to pick up some candy. I ran into about 6 or 7 Nichada moms in the candy section. One said that she was expecting 500 trick or treaters. It should be fun.

Two Wheels to Hell

Yesterday Jacob accompanied me to purchase some sheets for our "new" mattresses. On our way, motorcycles weaved in and out of traffic, sometimes taking some pretty foolish risks to get somewhere a few seconds early. I told Jacob that I was afraid that I would end up hitting a motor cycle here before I left. Ironically, today I saw Tim almost do that very thing.

We were driving from our new house to our old house to pick up some more things. Tim was driving the van, while I was in the sedan a little behind her. There was a motorcycle that had passed me in between us. When we got to our old subdivision, Tim turned left into the entrance. We drive on the left side here, so in the U.S. it would be equivalent to turning right from the right lane. The motorcyclist felt compelled to pass her at that very moment, and decided that the best way to do it was to pass on her left, directly into her turn. When I saw the guy pass inside her while she was turning, my stomach dropped for a second. Somehow the guy managed to swerve and Tim braked enough to avoid a collision.

I don't understand the guys thinking. He could have easily passed her on the right, or even slowed down a bit while she turned. Passing her on the left was just amazingly stupid.

When I picked Aleena up from school today, I was chatting a bit with her teacher and relayed the story to her. She told me that not too long ago, that her sister had done the exact same thing, but unfortunately had struck the cyclist, sending him flying through he air. Even though it was completely the cyclist fault, they paid him money just to avoid getting the police involved. Probably a good choice.

Raingutter Ragatta

Today was the Cub Scout Raingutter Ragatta (RR). The kids build a sail boat that they then race by blowing on the sail. There is a lot less construction than in the Pinewood Derby (PWD). Basically, you sand, paint, attach sail, keel and rudder.

I like the RR more than the PWD for a few reasons. As I mentioned, the construction effort is less for the RR. Additionally, the RR is more interactive for the scouts than the PWD. At the PWD do not race the cars themselves. The kids bring the cars, while the parent volunteers put them in on the track, run the race, record the times, etc. With the RR, the kids must actually provide the wind for their boats to sail. They are actually participating in the race rather than watching it as in the PWD.

They ran the RR as a double elimination challenge for each den. Jacob lost his first race, but managed to string together three or four wins in the row, and managed to finish in second place. Interstingly, Jacob finished second in both the PWD and the RR, and the first place winner in the RR also won the PWD.