Hi!
In the past several months I've been greeted by several people who I haven't seen for a little while with the comment that I look thin. One of my friends in Lampang has commented on this twice and during my weekend visit to Chiang Mai, one friend and my host mother both said the same thing. Now, I don't know how exactly to take this. I haven't really had anyone comment on my weight in the past - it's never really come up. But in the past few months, several people have commented on it. Now, I haven't lost weight. After these comments this weekend, I went to one of the scales they have in the shopping malls and weighed myself (just to be sure) and I haven't really lost or gained weight. Maybe it's my shirts or some other factor, but I guess that there is something that, on occasion, is making me look thin. The second day I was with my host family, my host mom then mentioned that I didn't look thin that day. Which I guess was reassuring because I wasn't thin anymore, but then at the same time what exactly does that mean? Oh boy...
Anyway, I thought it was interesting and thought that someone out there in the electronic world might find this slightly humorous.
Until next time,
RM
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
Translating
I mentioned a few entries ago that I'm going on a school trip with some of the students. This is going to be a really neat trip and should be a blast. Last week, when I found out I was going, I was given a schedule and guidebook for the trip which is absolutely wonderful, except that it's all in Thai. So, being the studious and proactive person that I am, I have taken it upon myself to translate it! Now, before any of you start thinking that I'm fluent, let me tell you that I am not. My writing and reading abilities are not anywhere close to fluent, but I've been working on them for a while. I've tried to translate children's books and other things for a while, but haven't really gotten into it. I decided to to this and really got into it and spent about 7 hours this past week translating it. I've finished about a page of it (and there are many more pages to go), but I've really enjoyed it. I'm learning a lot of Thai and sentence structure and so on and plus I now have a schedule in English. The guidebook also has information about the different places that we will go to visit, so I'll be able to learn more about those places as well. But, it's surprisingly fun for me translate. The first night I stayed up until midnight translating because I was so excited that I was actually reading Thai. Anyway, it's just one of those silly little things that I got excited about and felt the need to publish on the Internet for all to see. Oh, it's also something that I can do instead of studying for the GRE and still be productive and feel like I'm doing something worthwhile...so maybe that's the trick.
RM
And a little postscript. It's raining here. It hasn't rained since October and this means that the seasons are changing. It's no longer cool and wonderful weather and it's starting to get hot. It's in the 35-38 degree Celsius range this week (which is is the 90's Fahrenheit). The air-con has been off since about November as well and it's been on in the afternoon for a while but today marked the first day that we turned it on in the morning. I can't imagine what it'll be like in April when it is at the hottest.
RM
And a little postscript. It's raining here. It hasn't rained since October and this means that the seasons are changing. It's no longer cool and wonderful weather and it's starting to get hot. It's in the 35-38 degree Celsius range this week (which is is the 90's Fahrenheit). The air-con has been off since about November as well and it's been on in the afternoon for a while but today marked the first day that we turned it on in the morning. I can't imagine what it'll be like in April when it is at the hottest.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
High School
Greetings!
The last entry that I wrote was about the last day of school and I wrote about that day because something stood out about it and at the time I couldn't place it. But as the day wore on, I began to realize what it was...it was reminding me of high school when I was a student. At university, there wasn't that same concentrated euphoria when school was out. People finished at different times and just went on there way, but in high school, you knew when school was out and summer had started. Walking across the campus here brought me back to my last days in high school and it was a strange feeling to be back there again. The atmosphere was the same and so was the weather. The only difference was that this time, I was a teacher (well, and I'm in Thailand). But it was an interesting feeling and I guess one of the side effects of being a teacher.
The last entry that I wrote was about the last day of school and I wrote about that day because something stood out about it and at the time I couldn't place it. But as the day wore on, I began to realize what it was...it was reminding me of high school when I was a student. At university, there wasn't that same concentrated euphoria when school was out. People finished at different times and just went on there way, but in high school, you knew when school was out and summer had started. Walking across the campus here brought me back to my last days in high school and it was a strange feeling to be back there again. The atmosphere was the same and so was the weather. The only difference was that this time, I was a teacher (well, and I'm in Thailand). But it was an interesting feeling and I guess one of the side effects of being a teacher.
Friday, February 23, 2007
The end of the year
Greetings!
Today marks the last official day of class for the 2549-2550 (2006-2007) school year. As of 3:20 today, I have officially completed my second semester of teacher and will not teach again until May 14 when the school year starts up again. It really is just now hitting me that this is the end of the year. Earlier this week, I was frantically putting together my final tests. I have to create six different tests for the students to take this week and next. Half of the tests are knowledge-based tests (i.e. a test of what the students have learned this semester) and they will be given next week and half of the tests are reasoning tests (i.e. a test of how the students think scientifically) and I gave those this week. I have learned a lot about creating tests in the past year and am proud of my final tests, particularly the reasoning tests. For those of you who can remember the ACT, there was a science reasoning section and my tests are very similar to that (in fact, I adapted several questions from a sample ACT problem). I have already given these tests to the students and they did really well. I was worried that they would get anxious and worried since they couldn't use a dictionary or study for this test (and many were), but in the end they all did great. The class average was actually higher on this test than on any other test of the year. And I've become sidetracked again...the point of this post was the end of the year. So, today is the last day of classes and I've spent the past few days reviewing with the students and so today was simply our last day together. This morning I spent time with my M3 students. In Thailand, the students are grouped into classes and they stay with that class for three years. They become a class during their M1 year and that class stays together for the next three years. So my M3 students have been together for three years. After the M3 year, the students are rearranged and the classes are changed. Some students will leave Bunyawat and go to technical colleges and others will go to more rigorous specialized schools for math, science and technology and others will continue their studies at Bunyawat. And so the classes are reorganized and after spending three years together, these students will no longer be in the same classes. A tradition has developed here that is similar to the yearbook tradition in the US. About a month before the end of school, the M3 students start to create a scrapbook of sorts. It's their own creation and they can include whatever they want. Mostly it's a chronicle of their time spent at Bunyawat over the past three years. There are pictures and drawing, poems and stories, and of course a section for their friends to write messages and notes. The books have been floating around for a while, but this week they have come out in force. Today during class students had me write in the books and others had brought in their school uniform and were having students write messages on their uniform. So I spent about an hour this morning writing in books and signing uniforms and it finally hit me that the year was over. The atmosphere in the classroom and the school was very light and celebratory...you'd almost forget that the students had exams next week. But for the moment that didn't matter and they are simply enjoying being at school and being with their friends, and I was happy that I was included. And so the students are here and simply enjoying that before going home and having to get back to work and study for their finals. But they all know that after Thursday of next week, they are done for the summer. As for me, I will head off with a group of students for an end-of-the-year camp to different parts of Thailand. It really is simply a sightseeing tour and we'll see some really neat things (more to come on this) and that'll take place from March 2-6. After that, I will take the GRE in Bangkok on March 7 in preparation for my eventually return to graduate school. The following week (March 12-16), I'm back at school and am teaching the incoming M1 students a week of summer school. It's designed to get them used to us before classes actually start and should just be fun and relaxed. After that, I'm free. There are rumors that I have to stick around until the end of March to sign in each morning, but hopefully can get around that and then I'm off traveling to who knows where until I have to show up for school on May 8. I'll be sure to keep you posted as to where I end up.
At the brink of yet another transition,
RM
Today marks the last official day of class for the 2549-2550 (2006-2007) school year. As of 3:20 today, I have officially completed my second semester of teacher and will not teach again until May 14 when the school year starts up again. It really is just now hitting me that this is the end of the year. Earlier this week, I was frantically putting together my final tests. I have to create six different tests for the students to take this week and next. Half of the tests are knowledge-based tests (i.e. a test of what the students have learned this semester) and they will be given next week and half of the tests are reasoning tests (i.e. a test of how the students think scientifically) and I gave those this week. I have learned a lot about creating tests in the past year and am proud of my final tests, particularly the reasoning tests. For those of you who can remember the ACT, there was a science reasoning section and my tests are very similar to that (in fact, I adapted several questions from a sample ACT problem). I have already given these tests to the students and they did really well. I was worried that they would get anxious and worried since they couldn't use a dictionary or study for this test (and many were), but in the end they all did great. The class average was actually higher on this test than on any other test of the year. And I've become sidetracked again...the point of this post was the end of the year. So, today is the last day of classes and I've spent the past few days reviewing with the students and so today was simply our last day together. This morning I spent time with my M3 students. In Thailand, the students are grouped into classes and they stay with that class for three years. They become a class during their M1 year and that class stays together for the next three years. So my M3 students have been together for three years. After the M3 year, the students are rearranged and the classes are changed. Some students will leave Bunyawat and go to technical colleges and others will go to more rigorous specialized schools for math, science and technology and others will continue their studies at Bunyawat. And so the classes are reorganized and after spending three years together, these students will no longer be in the same classes. A tradition has developed here that is similar to the yearbook tradition in the US. About a month before the end of school, the M3 students start to create a scrapbook of sorts. It's their own creation and they can include whatever they want. Mostly it's a chronicle of their time spent at Bunyawat over the past three years. There are pictures and drawing, poems and stories, and of course a section for their friends to write messages and notes. The books have been floating around for a while, but this week they have come out in force. Today during class students had me write in the books and others had brought in their school uniform and were having students write messages on their uniform. So I spent about an hour this morning writing in books and signing uniforms and it finally hit me that the year was over. The atmosphere in the classroom and the school was very light and celebratory...you'd almost forget that the students had exams next week. But for the moment that didn't matter and they are simply enjoying being at school and being with their friends, and I was happy that I was included. And so the students are here and simply enjoying that before going home and having to get back to work and study for their finals. But they all know that after Thursday of next week, they are done for the summer. As for me, I will head off with a group of students for an end-of-the-year camp to different parts of Thailand. It really is simply a sightseeing tour and we'll see some really neat things (more to come on this) and that'll take place from March 2-6. After that, I will take the GRE in Bangkok on March 7 in preparation for my eventually return to graduate school. The following week (March 12-16), I'm back at school and am teaching the incoming M1 students a week of summer school. It's designed to get them used to us before classes actually start and should just be fun and relaxed. After that, I'm free. There are rumors that I have to stick around until the end of March to sign in each morning, but hopefully can get around that and then I'm off traveling to who knows where until I have to show up for school on May 8. I'll be sure to keep you posted as to where I end up.
At the brink of yet another transition,
RM
Friday, February 16, 2007
Valentine's Day
Hi folks!
Well look at this...it's only been two days since Valentine's Day and I'm already writing about it! I think that is a new record. As you all know, Valentine's Day was this week and it was celebrated over here in Thailand. There was little leading up to it, but the day arrived with a bang! I got to school in the morning to see numerous rose/flower vendors lined up along the street across from school and hundreds of students walking around with flowers. I thought back to my days in middle school and high school and don't remember that many flowers on Valentine's Day - there were some, but not this many! Everywhere I looked there were students with flowers. Some students brought them to give to their friends and other brought them to give to their significant other and some even brought them to give to their teachers! Yup, us in the English Program office received several roses from students ;-). Later in the afternoon there was singing and poetry reading but the day passed by without too much activity. Later that evening was when the party really started. I was driving through town and the entire town had turned into a red, white and pink party! There were balloons, lights and flowers in every restaurant and shop and people all about dressed in red and white. It was quite the sight. I spent the evening with some teachers from work (my director and several other teachers) and while that was not the ideal Valentine's celebration, it did have its perks. First, we were treated to dinner and drinks and second, we drunk cognac. I'd never had cognac before, but enjoyed it. If only the Thai's weren't so fond of drinking everything with water it would have been fantastic. Cognac and water...whiskey and water - I just don't really enjoy that. But, I was rewarded with yet another opportunity to see how many people my director does know. After 30+ years of teaching at the same school, he knows quite a few people and those who saw him at the restaurant came up to say hello. One even gave us chocolate. And that marked the end of Valentine's Day and in the end it was just another holiday. Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day.
RM
Well look at this...it's only been two days since Valentine's Day and I'm already writing about it! I think that is a new record. As you all know, Valentine's Day was this week and it was celebrated over here in Thailand. There was little leading up to it, but the day arrived with a bang! I got to school in the morning to see numerous rose/flower vendors lined up along the street across from school and hundreds of students walking around with flowers. I thought back to my days in middle school and high school and don't remember that many flowers on Valentine's Day - there were some, but not this many! Everywhere I looked there were students with flowers. Some students brought them to give to their friends and other brought them to give to their significant other and some even brought them to give to their teachers! Yup, us in the English Program office received several roses from students ;-). Later in the afternoon there was singing and poetry reading but the day passed by without too much activity. Later that evening was when the party really started. I was driving through town and the entire town had turned into a red, white and pink party! There were balloons, lights and flowers in every restaurant and shop and people all about dressed in red and white. It was quite the sight. I spent the evening with some teachers from work (my director and several other teachers) and while that was not the ideal Valentine's celebration, it did have its perks. First, we were treated to dinner and drinks and second, we drunk cognac. I'd never had cognac before, but enjoyed it. If only the Thai's weren't so fond of drinking everything with water it would have been fantastic. Cognac and water...whiskey and water - I just don't really enjoy that. But, I was rewarded with yet another opportunity to see how many people my director does know. After 30+ years of teaching at the same school, he knows quite a few people and those who saw him at the restaurant came up to say hello. One even gave us chocolate. And that marked the end of Valentine's Day and in the end it was just another holiday. Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day.
RM
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
How do you say "whoops" in Thai?
Hello folks,
Well, if you're in need of a laugh, then please continue to read about Ajaan Ryan's most recent adventure here at Bunyawat Witthayalai School in Lampang. I made a small little blunder today which caused me a little embarrassment and I thought that I would share that with the world and make it public knowledge - that'll be my public service for the day. At school, we are gearing up for the end of the semester. In less than three weeks we will be finished with the second semester and finals are looming on the horizon. For the M6 students (12th grade), this is also a time for exit tests and other tests which impact their future. Those tests began this week. So in a effort to keep the noise levels down and since the M1 students share many of the same buildings, the school cancelled all of the M1 classes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. As a M1 teacher, I was impacted by that decision and when I first heard the news I was disappointed because that meant I wasn't able to do several neat things to wrap up the end of the year, but having now taught here for a while, I knew to expect these sorts of things and moved on. I came to school today with the knowledge that out of my normal four hours of teaching, I would only teach for one hour. I sat in the office and worked diligently (well, I sort of worked, but also chatted online and read the news) and did other productive tasks until my hour of class. Because of the altered schedule, my Tuesday took the shape of my Thursday where I don't have class until 1:30 in the afternoon. As I wasn't teaching and being a creature of habit, I ideally sat by in the office as the hours ticked by until 1:30 and off I would go to teach. I even mentioned my 1:30 start-time to several colleagues in the office. At 12:40 or so I walked downstairs to head to lunch and was greeted at the bottom of the stairs by several of my M2 students (those student I was to have in class later that day). The first thing out of their mouth "You forgot to come to class!". And I was shocked. I didn't forget to come to class, I told them. I have class with you at 1:30 - I have my lesson all prepared and ready to go. As I told them, they continued to insist that I had in fact missed class. As I began to put the pieces together, it suddenly clicked - I had forgotten to go to class. On Tuesdays, I teach at 11:50 not 1:30 as I had thought and had thus missed class. It was not Thursday, but Tuesday, and Ajaan Ryan was a delinquent teacher. I struggled to save face (something one does when in Thailand) but to no avail and the students (and rightfully so) gave me a hard time. I don't expect to hear the end of it for a long time. And with that, they headed off to their next class (which hopefully has a teacher who doesn't forget about class) and I continued on to lunch as per usual, only with my cheeks a bit more red than normal. And so it was on February 13, 2007 that Ajaan Ryan did not show up for class and asked himself, "How do you say 'whoops' in Thai?"
RM
Well, if you're in need of a laugh, then please continue to read about Ajaan Ryan's most recent adventure here at Bunyawat Witthayalai School in Lampang. I made a small little blunder today which caused me a little embarrassment and I thought that I would share that with the world and make it public knowledge - that'll be my public service for the day. At school, we are gearing up for the end of the semester. In less than three weeks we will be finished with the second semester and finals are looming on the horizon. For the M6 students (12th grade), this is also a time for exit tests and other tests which impact their future. Those tests began this week. So in a effort to keep the noise levels down and since the M1 students share many of the same buildings, the school cancelled all of the M1 classes on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. As a M1 teacher, I was impacted by that decision and when I first heard the news I was disappointed because that meant I wasn't able to do several neat things to wrap up the end of the year, but having now taught here for a while, I knew to expect these sorts of things and moved on. I came to school today with the knowledge that out of my normal four hours of teaching, I would only teach for one hour. I sat in the office and worked diligently (well, I sort of worked, but also chatted online and read the news) and did other productive tasks until my hour of class. Because of the altered schedule, my Tuesday took the shape of my Thursday where I don't have class until 1:30 in the afternoon. As I wasn't teaching and being a creature of habit, I ideally sat by in the office as the hours ticked by until 1:30 and off I would go to teach. I even mentioned my 1:30 start-time to several colleagues in the office. At 12:40 or so I walked downstairs to head to lunch and was greeted at the bottom of the stairs by several of my M2 students (those student I was to have in class later that day). The first thing out of their mouth "You forgot to come to class!". And I was shocked. I didn't forget to come to class, I told them. I have class with you at 1:30 - I have my lesson all prepared and ready to go. As I told them, they continued to insist that I had in fact missed class. As I began to put the pieces together, it suddenly clicked - I had forgotten to go to class. On Tuesdays, I teach at 11:50 not 1:30 as I had thought and had thus missed class. It was not Thursday, but Tuesday, and Ajaan Ryan was a delinquent teacher. I struggled to save face (something one does when in Thailand) but to no avail and the students (and rightfully so) gave me a hard time. I don't expect to hear the end of it for a long time. And with that, they headed off to their next class (which hopefully has a teacher who doesn't forget about class) and I continued on to lunch as per usual, only with my cheeks a bit more red than normal. And so it was on February 13, 2007 that Ajaan Ryan did not show up for class and asked himself, "How do you say 'whoops' in Thai?"
RM
Sunday, February 04, 2007
My New Years Story
So, as per tradition, it usually takes me about a month before I post on any significant event and seeing as New Years was about a month ago I thought that I would write about my New Years experience. I have already written a bit about the New Years tradition, so here I relate more my experience than anything. After having celebrated New Years at Bunyawat during the day with the students and then at night with the teachers, I headed to the bus station to take the overnight bus to Bangkok to ring in the New Year there with Yui. The bus ride was uneventful. I arrived early in the morning and began the process of finding a guesthouse. I knew where I wanted to stay and made my way there slowly as I had to wait for the different forms of pubic transportation to open (I did arrive at about 4:45 am). I made it to where I wanted to stay and found that most places were booked. It being New Years weekend and all, I should have assumed that much, but didn't. After haggeling with a few owners I was able to find a more expensive guesthouse for that night and then a cheaper one for the next couple nights. In the end it worked out alright, but as you'll soon see it was all for naught. I met up with Yui and spent the day (now this was December 30) walking around town and shopping. That afternoon, I wandered over to the National Stadium and bought myself a ticket for the championship game of the King's Cup Football (soccer) Tournament which would be played later that evening. I had been following the King's Cup for a bit and knew before I left that the championship game would be played and would be played across the street from my guesthouse. So, I was really excited to go check out the game. The game was between Thailand and Vietnam and proved to be an exciting event. I have always wanted to go to a game in Thailand, Europe, South America - anywhere where soccer is more popular than the US. I wandered over a few hours early to buy my ticket and found that the place was already packed with people who came to take there seats already. There were banners, flags, noise-makers and people all over the place. So, I stayed. I found my seat (I purchased the 200 baht ticket which got me a seat with a back in the middle of the stadium...the 100 baht tickets were seats without backs in the middle of the stadium and the 50 baht tickets were seat without backs on the edges of the stadium) and sat down next to a father and his son who had come to cheer on the home team. He had convinced his father to buy him a noise-maker and was happily toot-tooting on that long before the game even began. The game started with little fanfare, but the fans were dedicated and before long there were chants of "Thailand! Thailand! Thailand!" and not long after that the wave began. It wasn't a great match - both teams didn't really put up much of a fight. The game carried on and despite the rather mundane game we were watching the fans responded to every little thing which seemed to carry the Thai team forward. The first goal came in a rather ordinary fashion, but again, the crowd responded with tremendous enthusiasm. Between the rest of the crowd and at the urging of the little boy sitting next to me, I found myself with a Thai flag in hand and was shouting "Thailand! Thailand!" like the rest of them. It was quite fun. After that first goal, someone somewhere unfurled a huge Thailand flag which was stretched out and passed above the heads of the fans in the stadium. The flag was at least 20 people by 20 people and flowed like the wave from hand to hand across the stadium and back several times. The game moved on and Thailand put in their second goal of the night which Vietnam responded to and soon the game was 2-1 going into the late stages and that's how the game finished. Thailand 2 Vietnam 1. Thailand had won the Kings Cup. Prior to the end of that game candles were passed around and shortly after the game was over and the trophy was presented people began lighting the candles and the stadiums lights were turned off. The stadium was filled with the glow from the candles and several songs were played and nearly everyone was singing along. It's was quite the moment. After the songs finished and to the delight of the crowd, a fireworks show began above the stadium. When that finished, it brought an end to the night and the crowds dispersed and made their way home. And as others struggled to get taxis and fight the traffic, I walked leisurly along the sidewalk and made my way back to my guesthouse and was there in 10 minutes. What a night! Here are some pictures from the game.
And so that brought an end to the 30th of December. The next day, New Years Eve Day, saw me heading crosstown to meet Glenn Fee for lunch. Now, for those of you who know Glenn, there is no need to explain, but for those of you who don't Glenn is someone I worked closely with at DU. I traveled with him to Dharmasala, India and he is the one who first introduced me to Thailand and put the idea of me studying there in my head. He had again gone to India and on his way back to the US, he stopped of in Thailand for a little vacation and so we were able to connect and have lunch together. It was great to see him and chat about his most recent trip and my experiences here. It's always good to see a familiar face. After that, I headed back to the guesthouse to rest and relax before meeting Yui to begin the evening. Our plans were to meet near the guesthouse and go grab dinner somewhere before heading off to a countdown party in near the center of town. I met Yui and as she approached she was on the phone - normal and not anything out of the ordinary. After she gets off the phone she tells me that her dad had just called and told her that there had been bombings in Bangkok (I'll write more about the bombings in a little while). After attempting to gather as much information as we could, we decide to change our plans. The countdown party was out as was riding the LightRail to a restaurant for dinner. We decide to go watch a movie in the mall and then eat dinner at a really nice little restaurant in the mall overlooking the city (this is a nice mall...tourists come to see this mall it's that nice). We bought our tickets and went in and sat down and shortly after the previews the movie stopped and the lights were turned up and we were told to leave because they were closing the mall because of the bombings. At this point, any desire to stay out in the city left and we decided that we just wanted to be home. Yui called her parents and they invited me to come and stay with them and wouldn't have to stay in the middle of the city (which was very nice of them). Yui and drove back towards her house stopping for dinner on the side of the road. We arrived and began watching the news reports of the bombings. Countdown parties all across the city were canceled and most people went home to celebrate there. We rung in the New Year in front of the tv and shortly afterwards the news reported that two more bombs exploded in the city and had injured more people. Yui and I looked at each other and were very glad that we had come home because the blasts were at the location of the countdown party we were planning on going to. And with that, and a few more phone calls home to my parents, I said goodbye to 2006. The next morning we woke up and had breakfast and Yui and her parents went to Wat Phra Kaew (the temple inside the Royal Palace) to make merit according to Thai tradition and I stayed at home. I was flipping though the channels and came across CNN and was able to watch New York's New Years Eve Party. It was a bit odd as I was watching it at noon and it was light out. Nevertheless, it was neat to see and again with more phone calls home, I rung in the New Year yet again.
And so that brought an end to the 30th of December. The next day, New Years Eve Day, saw me heading crosstown to meet Glenn Fee for lunch. Now, for those of you who know Glenn, there is no need to explain, but for those of you who don't Glenn is someone I worked closely with at DU. I traveled with him to Dharmasala, India and he is the one who first introduced me to Thailand and put the idea of me studying there in my head. He had again gone to India and on his way back to the US, he stopped of in Thailand for a little vacation and so we were able to connect and have lunch together. It was great to see him and chat about his most recent trip and my experiences here. It's always good to see a familiar face. After that, I headed back to the guesthouse to rest and relax before meeting Yui to begin the evening. Our plans were to meet near the guesthouse and go grab dinner somewhere before heading off to a countdown party in near the center of town. I met Yui and as she approached she was on the phone - normal and not anything out of the ordinary. After she gets off the phone she tells me that her dad had just called and told her that there had been bombings in Bangkok (I'll write more about the bombings in a little while). After attempting to gather as much information as we could, we decide to change our plans. The countdown party was out as was riding the LightRail to a restaurant for dinner. We decide to go watch a movie in the mall and then eat dinner at a really nice little restaurant in the mall overlooking the city (this is a nice mall...tourists come to see this mall it's that nice). We bought our tickets and went in and sat down and shortly after the previews the movie stopped and the lights were turned up and we were told to leave because they were closing the mall because of the bombings. At this point, any desire to stay out in the city left and we decided that we just wanted to be home. Yui called her parents and they invited me to come and stay with them and wouldn't have to stay in the middle of the city (which was very nice of them). Yui and drove back towards her house stopping for dinner on the side of the road. We arrived and began watching the news reports of the bombings. Countdown parties all across the city were canceled and most people went home to celebrate there. We rung in the New Year in front of the tv and shortly afterwards the news reported that two more bombs exploded in the city and had injured more people. Yui and I looked at each other and were very glad that we had come home because the blasts were at the location of the countdown party we were planning on going to. And with that, and a few more phone calls home to my parents, I said goodbye to 2006. The next morning we woke up and had breakfast and Yui and her parents went to Wat Phra Kaew (the temple inside the Royal Palace) to make merit according to Thai tradition and I stayed at home. I was flipping though the channels and came across CNN and was able to watch New York's New Years Eve Party. It was a bit odd as I was watching it at noon and it was light out. Nevertheless, it was neat to see and again with more phone calls home, I rung in the New Year yet again.
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