Ok, so I know Daniel isn't quite as famous as this redhead and I know that Thai people are, of course, different than Japanese people, but I still kind of hope that people react to him like this when he gets here on Sunday.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Happy Birthday, America!
I explained the 4th of July to my Thai coworkers by telling them it's America's birthday. That's also how I explained it to my students, when I was teaching them about the 4th of July 2 YEARS AGO. When did we get so old?
Anyway, the U.S. Consulate and the Chiang Mai VFW chapter (Side note: Who knew the VFW existed abroad? To me, the VFW is the place where we had all our cheesy middle school dances.) were kind enough to have a big fair for the 4th. It was great! There were potato sack races, watermelon seed spitting contests, and live bands playing everything from "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" to Jimmy Buffet to Billy Ray Cyrus. They even brought in American beer. Who knew I'd be so happy to see a Coors Light?
Even more exciting, they imported some Ball Park hot dogs!
American mystery meat >>> Thai mystery meat.
Uncle Sam made an appearance, though he was much older and much shier than I expected him to be.
There were even fireworks! I mean, they didn't cost half a million dollars and they weren't perfectly timed to music, but they were real fireworks, not just someone holding a sparkler.
Ironically, my hometown, which is infamous for its 4th of July celebration, didn't have fireworks this year because of the recession. So if I had been home, I wouldn't have seen any fireworks.
In other news:
DANIEL IS COMING TO VISIT AT THE END OF THIS MONTH! YAY! How many Thai desserts do you think I should make him eat under the guise of new cultural experiences?
My lack of any kind of domestic gene has been conclusively proven - I have somehow killed my pet cactus.
I'm trying to solidify my plans for when I finish (end of Sept.) and they will likely include a visit from AV, a trip to New Zealand with Madre, a solo tour of Australia, popping in to see Kiran, and stopping in London on the way home. Anyone want to come to Australia with me in November?
Anyway, the U.S. Consulate and the Chiang Mai VFW chapter (Side note: Who knew the VFW existed abroad? To me, the VFW is the place where we had all our cheesy middle school dances.) were kind enough to have a big fair for the 4th. It was great! There were potato sack races, watermelon seed spitting contests, and live bands playing everything from "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" to Jimmy Buffet to Billy Ray Cyrus. They even brought in American beer. Who knew I'd be so happy to see a Coors Light?
Even more exciting, they imported some Ball Park hot dogs!
American mystery meat >>> Thai mystery meat.
Uncle Sam made an appearance, though he was much older and much shier than I expected him to be.
There were even fireworks! I mean, they didn't cost half a million dollars and they weren't perfectly timed to music, but they were real fireworks, not just someone holding a sparkler.
Ironically, my hometown, which is infamous for its 4th of July celebration, didn't have fireworks this year because of the recession. So if I had been home, I wouldn't have seen any fireworks.
In other news:
DANIEL IS COMING TO VISIT AT THE END OF THIS MONTH! YAY! How many Thai desserts do you think I should make him eat under the guise of new cultural experiences?
My lack of any kind of domestic gene has been conclusively proven - I have somehow killed my pet cactus.
I'm trying to solidify my plans for when I finish (end of Sept.) and they will likely include a visit from AV, a trip to New Zealand with Madre, a solo tour of Australia, popping in to see Kiran, and stopping in London on the way home. Anyone want to come to Australia with me in November?
Monday, June 1, 2009
How I Spent My Memorial Day Weekend
Being born and raised in Jersey, Memorial Day weekend means one thing to me - the shore.
This year, here's where I spent the regular, 2-day weekend:
At a small village doing a situational analysis to gather background data of the community, and its school, that is joining the project I work with. It's that small clump of houses in the middle of nowhere on the right side of the photo.
It was a 2-hour drive from Pang Mapha (which is already 4 hours away from Chiang Mai and more rural than Nan) to the village, through beautiful mountains on unpaved roads that are completely inaccessible in the rainy season.
We spent most of our time at the school because improving the school is the focus of our project. (That isn't a volleyball net that's shorter for kids. Thai people play a game called "takraw" which is like volleyball but with your feet.)
This is the view the school looks out on.
There was no electricity in the village, and because it hadn't rained there recently, also no water. Oh, and also - no white people. One 60-year-old teacher told the others that I was the first foreigner he'd ever seen, and the children were afraid of me. I sat next to a little girl who was playing with some toys we brought, and she stood up and ran out of the school grounds all the way back to her house. After that, I tried to keep a low profile and not spook any more children. As Madre pointed out, thank goodness I'm Thai-sized and not 6 feet tall.
The situational analysis took 2 days, so we stayed overnight in the village. This is where 3 of us slept. The single light bulb is being powered by a battery that was charged during the day by solar panels. The Thai government has a program to give solar panels to people in remote areas where it's hard to have electricity. Your move, Obama.
We were in the house where the family we stayed with stored (and I think dried) their vegetables. No Cullens were getting in because the ceiling was covered in garlic.
While highly effective at preventing vampire attacks, the garlic was sadly completely ineffectual at stopping the what-sounded-like 8,000 roosters crowing at 5:30 am. They were accompanied by a noise I couldn't identify that I was later told was the rice-sifting machine. When I finally gave in and got up at 7, there was a crowd of people looking in at us because the door of the house was now open because the mother of the family was cooking us breakfast over the open flame inside the house in the designated kitchen corner and she was trying to let some of the smoke out.
Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Just when I think Thailand doesn't have any surprises left for me.
This year, here's where I spent the regular, 2-day weekend:
At a small village doing a situational analysis to gather background data of the community, and its school, that is joining the project I work with. It's that small clump of houses in the middle of nowhere on the right side of the photo.
It was a 2-hour drive from Pang Mapha (which is already 4 hours away from Chiang Mai and more rural than Nan) to the village, through beautiful mountains on unpaved roads that are completely inaccessible in the rainy season.
We spent most of our time at the school because improving the school is the focus of our project. (That isn't a volleyball net that's shorter for kids. Thai people play a game called "takraw" which is like volleyball but with your feet.)
This is the view the school looks out on.
There was no electricity in the village, and because it hadn't rained there recently, also no water. Oh, and also - no white people. One 60-year-old teacher told the others that I was the first foreigner he'd ever seen, and the children were afraid of me. I sat next to a little girl who was playing with some toys we brought, and she stood up and ran out of the school grounds all the way back to her house. After that, I tried to keep a low profile and not spook any more children. As Madre pointed out, thank goodness I'm Thai-sized and not 6 feet tall.
The situational analysis took 2 days, so we stayed overnight in the village. This is where 3 of us slept. The single light bulb is being powered by a battery that was charged during the day by solar panels. The Thai government has a program to give solar panels to people in remote areas where it's hard to have electricity. Your move, Obama.
We were in the house where the family we stayed with stored (and I think dried) their vegetables. No Cullens were getting in because the ceiling was covered in garlic.
While highly effective at preventing vampire attacks, the garlic was sadly completely ineffectual at stopping the what-sounded-like 8,000 roosters crowing at 5:30 am. They were accompanied by a noise I couldn't identify that I was later told was the rice-sifting machine. When I finally gave in and got up at 7, there was a crowd of people looking in at us because the door of the house was now open because the mother of the family was cooking us breakfast over the open flame inside the house in the designated kitchen corner and she was trying to let some of the smoke out.
Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Just when I think Thailand doesn't have any surprises left for me.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Reunions
Not making it to reunions this year? LAME.
Finding the PERFECT shoes for reunions next year?
PRICELESS.
Have a beer at the tents for me!
Finding the PERFECT shoes for reunions next year?
PRICELESS.
Have a beer at the tents for me!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Hanoi
An American/Japanese/Indonesian sage recently quoted a NY Times article, saying it "provides more incentive for all of us to keep on the blogging: 'While friends can run errands and pick up medicine for a sick person, the benefits go well beyond physical assistance; indeed, proximity does not seem to be a factor.'"
That's lucky for me because living in Asia does not provide a lot of proximity to friends. At least until April 5, it didn't. Look who got off the plane in the Hanoi airport!
Hi, friends! Our 2-week adventure began in Hanoi, where we wandered through the city exploring the streets, some of which were themed. Here's shoe street.
Walking through the city required avoiding walls of motorbikes that didn't follow any traffic rules.
But fortunately, we had delicious coffee
and barbecued meat and noodles to sustain us.
We felt only slightly sketched out by the street food when we saw a man literally sharpening his knife on a curb.
Well-nourished, Willie and Meg felt up to the challenge of some physically-demanding sports.
What are all those Vietnamese people doing in the Forbes basement?
And why is everyone so under dressed for the Quad Speechwriters Semiformal?
I apologize for the quality of the photo, but you don't understand how SERIOUSLY ping pong was taken in that place. I was too afraid to use the flash. Sadly, there was no singing.
That's lucky for me because living in Asia does not provide a lot of proximity to friends. At least until April 5, it didn't. Look who got off the plane in the Hanoi airport!
Hi, friends! Our 2-week adventure began in Hanoi, where we wandered through the city exploring the streets, some of which were themed. Here's shoe street.
Walking through the city required avoiding walls of motorbikes that didn't follow any traffic rules.
But fortunately, we had delicious coffee
and barbecued meat and noodles to sustain us.
We felt only slightly sketched out by the street food when we saw a man literally sharpening his knife on a curb.
Well-nourished, Willie and Meg felt up to the challenge of some physically-demanding sports.
What are all those Vietnamese people doing in the Forbes basement?
And why is everyone so under dressed for the Quad Speechwriters Semiformal?
I apologize for the quality of the photo, but you don't understand how SERIOUSLY ping pong was taken in that place. I was too afraid to use the flash. Sadly, there was no singing.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
I'm Bad at Blogging
…but good at traveling.
Even though I only have 10 vacation days this year, as opposed to whole months at a time off like last year, I’m still managing to check Southeast Asian countries off of my list. I’m debating trying to get to all of them. Maybe if the Philippines were cooler, or if I could find Brunei on a map.
Thailand? Big check.
Laos? Check. Check.
Cambodia? Check. (Hi, T! Loved the elephant picture.)
Singapore? Check. (Hey boo, been outside today?)
Indonesia? Check.
Burma? Unofficial check. I went out to the field last week to visit the schools our project works with. One of the schools is in a village so close to Burma that the border between Thailand and Burma literally runs down the center of the road you drive on to get there. So we drove there in Thailand and drove back in Burma.
Vietnam? In 2 weeks. WITH MEG AND WILLIE!!! SO EXCITED. I’m meeting them at the Hanoi airport on April 5th. We’ll travel around northern Vietnam for 5 days and then back to Thailand for the country-wide water fight that is Songkran (Thai New Year). Please feel free to follow their example.
Even though I only have 10 vacation days this year, as opposed to whole months at a time off like last year, I’m still managing to check Southeast Asian countries off of my list. I’m debating trying to get to all of them. Maybe if the Philippines were cooler, or if I could find Brunei on a map.
Thailand? Big check.
Laos? Check. Check.
Cambodia? Check. (Hi, T! Loved the elephant picture.)
Singapore? Check. (Hey boo, been outside today?)
Indonesia? Check.
Burma? Unofficial check. I went out to the field last week to visit the schools our project works with. One of the schools is in a village so close to Burma that the border between Thailand and Burma literally runs down the center of the road you drive on to get there. So we drove there in Thailand and drove back in Burma.
Vietnam? In 2 weeks. WITH MEG AND WILLIE!!! SO EXCITED. I’m meeting them at the Hanoi airport on April 5th. We’ll travel around northern Vietnam for 5 days and then back to Thailand for the country-wide water fight that is Songkran (Thai New Year). Please feel free to follow their example.
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