Hello!
This is my official holiday message to you all out there reading this and people everywhere. I wish nothing but the best for you all this holiday season.
I've been trying to come up with a message for my family and friends and could not piece it together in any coherent way so I'll leave you all with thoughts that have been on my mind the past few weeks during Christmas and New Years. These thoughts are a reflection of my being away from home during the holidays, being in a foreign country over the holidays and other things happening in my life.
1. Take the time this holiday season to think about the things that mean the most to you in the world and hold on to them.
2. But also use this as a chance to try new things and embrace the unknown.
3. Take a risk and don't be afraid of failing.
Happy Holidays!
Ryan Marks
P.S I'll be posting more about my holiday adventures soon so be sure to check back in soon.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Friday, December 22, 2006
A little bit of home...
One of the things that I've always prided myself on is my ability to withstand the cold. Having grown up in the mountains of Colorado, I was accustomed to cold weather and have been know to play in the snow in shorts (there are pictures to prove it). I'm a mountain boy - cold weather is in my blood. But it appears that my blood is thinning and this warm and tropical climate that I find myself in is converting me. Here is Thailand we are officially in the cold season and the weather has markedly become colder in the past two weeks. I heralded the official arrival of the cold season in the middle of October as a break from the hot temperatures of the rainy season and in November basked in the brilliant temperatures - the mornings and evenings were very pleasant and the days were warm but bearable. The air-conditioner was turned off and I was cooled by a nice breeze blowing through the office and the classrooms. It was wonderful. But the start of December brought with it a cold snap that has left me chilled to the bone. The first sign that it was becoming too chilly was the wind chill I felt as I rode my motorcycle around at night. What was once heralded as a blessing has now become a miserable reason to limit my travel as much as possible. It's been cold for about 2 weeks now and I've just started to remember to wear a jacket when I go out. Because the weather is still pleasant during the day, the thought of having to carry a jacket around all day only to wear it for 10 minutes on my way home was unappealing. So, I grinned and bared it and suffered through those miserable rides home in the evenings and mornings. After all, I'm from Colorado - if I can't handle a little cold weather, I'd never live it down. So bucking the jacket for the sake of convenience and my pride, I continued to ride in shorts and short sleeve shirts and shouted,"take that cold season" as I rode about town. I lasted about 3 weeks until one particularly cold trip early one Saturday morning sent me straight into bed (clothes and all) after arriving at home. As I lay there shivering for a good 10 minutes before I warmed up I resigned myself to wearing a jacket.
So for the past couple weeks I have donned the jacket as a part of my daily attire and nicely store it beside my desk during the day. For a few days it was still regarded as essential attire only for the motorcycle ride, but the past few days however have given me reason to wear the jacket most of the day. We have been hit by what appears to be the annual cold snap and (brace yourself...) it is cold. For a country that spends most of the year above 70 degrees Fahrenheit, temperatures in the 40's are cold. Houses here are not built to keep heat in, quite the contrary they are designed to keep them cool. The government has declared a national emergency in several of the northern provinces because of the extremely cold temperatures (which in some places at or below freezing). Here in Lampang we are seeing night and morning temperature in the 40's and 50's and that's cold enough to send me to the store to buy another blanket for my bed (my house doesn't have a heater or any source of heat other than the gas stove I use to cook with and I've decided that it's a bit risky to use that as a source of heat). So, for the past few days I've bundled up and have worn my fleece jacket around pretty much all day. At night, I crawl into bed with my clothes on and wrap myself in my blankets and attempt to stay warm as the temperature plummets and upon waking have to force myself to get out of bed and into the shower. That takes about 20 minutes. While I do have a hot water heater on the shower, the water only reaches about 90 degrees and needless to say my showers have gotten shorter and shorter and I'm thankful for my longer hair now which means I can get away with only washing it every other day. As soon as I've showered I dry off and it's back into bed for a few minutes to warm up and then into my work clothes and jacket before I cook breakfast and devour my steaming hot bowl of rice porridge. This morning I even went as far as to dig deep down into my trunk and pull out the gloves that I brought that I never thought I'd use and wear then. I've even bundled myself in both my jackets (my fleece and soft shell) for the motorcycle the past few days.
As I mentioned, I was hesitant to admit that temperatures in the 50's were cold, but recently I've been thankful for the cold weather as it's assisted me in transitioning into Christmas. What would have been unheard of without these cold temperatures (hot cups of tea in my cold hands, bundling up in my jacket and gloves, wearing a hat to bed and other such cold weather activities) have transported me back to the cold winters in Colorado. As much as I resisted this transformation into warm weather person, I have enjoyed being able to live in the cold again. Especially after hearing about the incredible winter that they are having in Colorado and the feet of snow being dumped on this as I write. While I still hold to the statement I've made many times that I'd much rather have cold weather and snow to cold weather without snow, I'll gladly take this short cold snap were having here and use it as a vehicle to take me back to the winters of Colorado.
Shivering and shaking,
Ryan
So for the past couple weeks I have donned the jacket as a part of my daily attire and nicely store it beside my desk during the day. For a few days it was still regarded as essential attire only for the motorcycle ride, but the past few days however have given me reason to wear the jacket most of the day. We have been hit by what appears to be the annual cold snap and (brace yourself...) it is cold. For a country that spends most of the year above 70 degrees Fahrenheit, temperatures in the 40's are cold. Houses here are not built to keep heat in, quite the contrary they are designed to keep them cool. The government has declared a national emergency in several of the northern provinces because of the extremely cold temperatures (which in some places at or below freezing). Here in Lampang we are seeing night and morning temperature in the 40's and 50's and that's cold enough to send me to the store to buy another blanket for my bed (my house doesn't have a heater or any source of heat other than the gas stove I use to cook with and I've decided that it's a bit risky to use that as a source of heat). So, for the past few days I've bundled up and have worn my fleece jacket around pretty much all day. At night, I crawl into bed with my clothes on and wrap myself in my blankets and attempt to stay warm as the temperature plummets and upon waking have to force myself to get out of bed and into the shower. That takes about 20 minutes. While I do have a hot water heater on the shower, the water only reaches about 90 degrees and needless to say my showers have gotten shorter and shorter and I'm thankful for my longer hair now which means I can get away with only washing it every other day. As soon as I've showered I dry off and it's back into bed for a few minutes to warm up and then into my work clothes and jacket before I cook breakfast and devour my steaming hot bowl of rice porridge. This morning I even went as far as to dig deep down into my trunk and pull out the gloves that I brought that I never thought I'd use and wear then. I've even bundled myself in both my jackets (my fleece and soft shell) for the motorcycle the past few days.
As I mentioned, I was hesitant to admit that temperatures in the 50's were cold, but recently I've been thankful for the cold weather as it's assisted me in transitioning into Christmas. What would have been unheard of without these cold temperatures (hot cups of tea in my cold hands, bundling up in my jacket and gloves, wearing a hat to bed and other such cold weather activities) have transported me back to the cold winters in Colorado. As much as I resisted this transformation into warm weather person, I have enjoyed being able to live in the cold again. Especially after hearing about the incredible winter that they are having in Colorado and the feet of snow being dumped on this as I write. While I still hold to the statement I've made many times that I'd much rather have cold weather and snow to cold weather without snow, I'll gladly take this short cold snap were having here and use it as a vehicle to take me back to the winters of Colorado.
Shivering and shaking,
Ryan
Thursday, December 21, 2006
A Mother's Disbelief
Good morning!
I just had a real neat/funny encounter with a student and I thought it fit to share. My M2 students had taken a test last week and on Tuesday I had told them what their scores were. I wasn't able to return the tests since two students were absent and were going to take the test Tuesday afternoon. One student, a student who has struggled, did particularly well on his test compared to his previous performances. He was thrilled about his score and so was I. We had been working together on his note taking and would meet once a week to chat about the material for that week for the past month and I was very interested to see how he did on the exam. When I graded his test and I saw that he did well, I couldn't wait to tell him. I told him and he was very excited and that evening he told his mother. He came in this morning and asked for his test back and I told him that I was planning on giving them back in class on Friday. He politely asked again if he could have it today because he wanted to show his mom because she didn't believe him. So I gave it to him. Anyway, that just made me laugh and happy and I thought that I would share that with you all. Enjoy!
RM
I just had a real neat/funny encounter with a student and I thought it fit to share. My M2 students had taken a test last week and on Tuesday I had told them what their scores were. I wasn't able to return the tests since two students were absent and were going to take the test Tuesday afternoon. One student, a student who has struggled, did particularly well on his test compared to his previous performances. He was thrilled about his score and so was I. We had been working together on his note taking and would meet once a week to chat about the material for that week for the past month and I was very interested to see how he did on the exam. When I graded his test and I saw that he did well, I couldn't wait to tell him. I told him and he was very excited and that evening he told his mother. He came in this morning and asked for his test back and I told him that I was planning on giving them back in class on Friday. He politely asked again if he could have it today because he wanted to show his mom because she didn't believe him. So I gave it to him. Anyway, that just made me laugh and happy and I thought that I would share that with you all. Enjoy!
RM
Monday, December 18, 2006
My Christmas Tree!
Happy Holidays from Thailand!
As promised here is my Christmas tree that was transported home on the back of my motorcycle. It's a pretty small tree, but I don't have that many ornaments to decorate it with, so it works out quite well. My parents sent out a box with the presents you see there (and anyone who doubted that my family loved me look at all the presents they sent). They sent a few with the tag "open ASAP" and so as per their instructions I did and found that they had sent out a few CD's with Christmas music, a few ornaments for my tree and The Night Before Christmas storybook. I went out to buy the tree and picked up the lights and a few more ornaments (which are few and far between given that this is a 95% Buddhist country...but they are out there). I even found an ornament which reads in Thai "Happy New Year" which I was thrilled about! After planting my tree and a few Christmas songs later, I had my own Christmas tree and had effectively created a new Thai/American tradition of my own...the only thing missing was the eggnog. Boy, eggnog...if anyone knows how to get that in Thailand or has any ideas as to how to get that to me let me know! Anyway, there's my Christmas story.Despite all of the Christmas related activities described above, it appears that Christmas has once again snuck up on me and it's hard to believe that it is that time of year again. The past few months have flown by and I can't believe it's December much less a week from Christmas. This month marks the several anniversaries for me and I thought I'd write a bit about them to as it's been hard for me to grasp that these periods of time have elapsed already. This week is the middle of the second semester of classes here in Thailand - that means I have 9 weeks to go until I'm on summer holiday. It's been 5 months since I left for Thailand and last was in the US and saw my family. December 9th marked my 1/2 birthday and December 10th marked 6th months since I graduated. It's unfathomable that I've graduated already much less that I've been out of school for 6 months now. I can't believe that much time has passed since then but when I think about trying to write an essay I can't believe that it's only been 6 months! How quickly we forget! Today, December 18th, is the day I left Thailand last year and began the journey home (and some would argue began this journey that I'm on right now).
So there's that entry! I hope you all enjoyed it!
Until next time,
RM
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Pictures of my new house!
Hello!
As promised I'm posting some pictures of my new house! These were taken the day I moved in so there is some stuff still lying about so please don't mind that. It's much cleaner now and my bed is made! It's a wonderful little house and I'm really enjoying myself here. It's great to have a bit more space to spread out and it really feels like I'm home when I'm here as opposed to the apartment where I just felt away from school. It's real quiet and peaceful here. The weather right now is quite pleasant and the evenings are perfect. I was surprised the other day when I woke and was actually cold in the morning and had to add an extra blanket. But I guess that's why they call it the cold season. I've been cooking and have really enjoyed that and going to the market is also wonderful. There is a great vegetable and fruit market about 2 minutes from my house so I've been there a few times to buy vegetables, eggs and other assorted items. It's wonderful to attempt to cook Thai food and expand my menu as well as make some classic favorites from home. I just made spaghetti the other night and it was wonderful. I love Thai food and really enjoy eating and cooking it, but there is something about spaghetti and food from home...it's hard to describe, but that spaghetti tasted real good and I was transported back to the US for a bit. I've had the same experience with the Christmas cookies that my Mom sent out to me in the package that my family sent. I turn on the Christmas music, take a bite of a Christmas cookie and close my eyes and I'm back in my living room in Conifer over Christmas break with my family. The mind truly is an incredible thing and it's amazing how our sense of smell and taste are so closely tied to memory. It appears that I've gotten a bit off track for this entry, but that's OK. Here are the pictures as promised.
As promised I'm posting some pictures of my new house! These were taken the day I moved in so there is some stuff still lying about so please don't mind that. It's much cleaner now and my bed is made! It's a wonderful little house and I'm really enjoying myself here. It's great to have a bit more space to spread out and it really feels like I'm home when I'm here as opposed to the apartment where I just felt away from school. It's real quiet and peaceful here. The weather right now is quite pleasant and the evenings are perfect. I was surprised the other day when I woke and was actually cold in the morning and had to add an extra blanket. But I guess that's why they call it the cold season. I've been cooking and have really enjoyed that and going to the market is also wonderful. There is a great vegetable and fruit market about 2 minutes from my house so I've been there a few times to buy vegetables, eggs and other assorted items. It's wonderful to attempt to cook Thai food and expand my menu as well as make some classic favorites from home. I just made spaghetti the other night and it was wonderful. I love Thai food and really enjoy eating and cooking it, but there is something about spaghetti and food from home...it's hard to describe, but that spaghetti tasted real good and I was transported back to the US for a bit. I've had the same experience with the Christmas cookies that my Mom sent out to me in the package that my family sent. I turn on the Christmas music, take a bite of a Christmas cookie and close my eyes and I'm back in my living room in Conifer over Christmas break with my family. The mind truly is an incredible thing and it's amazing how our sense of smell and taste are so closely tied to memory. It appears that I've gotten a bit off track for this entry, but that's OK. Here are the pictures as promised.
Friday, December 15, 2006
An unexpected skill developed
Hello folks,
Well, the past few weeks I have been moving into my new house and that involved moving everything I owned from one place to another using my only means of transportation - my motorcycle. During my time in Thailand, I have seen just about everything on a motorcycle. People here literally grow up on them and are often driving as soon as they can reach the handlebars and foot pedals. I'm still a bit unnerved seeing what appears to be a 10-year-old driving a motorcycle on the highway. These modern beasts of burden are used to transport people (up to 4 people have fit on a motorcycle...5 if you count the baby they sometimes squeeze in there), food and merchandise (it can be carried in the basket in the front, by the person riding, dangling from the handlebars, held in one hand while using the other to drive or tucked in between your legs as you drive) and any thing else one could imagine (rice, wood, chickens etc...it's all been seen before). These little motorcycles (more aptly called motorbikes) are an all-purpose machine and every last cent is milked from them.
As I began packing, I contemplated my options for transporting my stuff from the apartment to my new house (which is about a 10 minute drive from the apartment). It turns out that initially I was in luck - the owner of my new house offered to help me move and use his truck. Problem solved. But being the procrastinator I have the tendency of being when it comes to packing, I wasn't completely ready by the time he arrived. So I moved my trunk and suitcases in his truck leaving what seemed like only a little amount behind to be transported on my motorcycle later. A good plan I thought at the time. The next day I dragged a fellow teacher back to the apartment and we planned to move the rest of my stuff. I was going to drive and she was going to hold things on the back. Well, I had a bit much and here is what the motorbike ended up looking like...there was a large backpacking backpack on her back and my smaller day pack on mine, she had a chair in one hand and a large plastic bag full of stuff in the other and wedged in between my legs was another bag of my junk. It was quite the site and after a little thought about our safety (see Mom, I did think twice) we decided to give it a shot. New experiences like this are what living abroad is all about. We took of and it was a bit shaky at first, but much less so than I thought. As we got going it became easier and the drive was a breeze and we were rewarded with looks of confusion and astonishment from our fellow drivers on the road. I like to think they were a mix of "what are those foreigners doing?"and "wow, I didn't think foreigners could do that!". We arrived at my house unscathed and incredibly proud of ourselves. Unpacking was simple and that was that - I was moved in to my house!
But no, it did not stop there - there was actually one item that I forgot at the apartment. Before leaving I had asked the owner if I could store a folding table I had acquired in the storeroom until I could figure out how to get it to my new house. She said yes and there it sat for a few days. She gave me a call to remind me that it was still there and not having figured out any better alternative I set out for the apartment with the intention of riding back with the table. Now, this is not a huge table but it is by now means something that will fit in the basket of my motorbike nor did I have someone riding with me. That meant that the only option was to hold the table in one hand and drive with the other following the example of countless others. Now, I've driving one handed before around town and it's enjoyable and I'm comfortable doing so, but I've never attempted to do so with something in the other hand especially something that would provide additional air resistance. But I did it anyway. Again, like the first ride it was a bit shaky at first, but as I got going it was much easier. The one challenge to this was the fact that the table wanted to act like a large wing and I had to constantly wrestle with the table to keep it in the most aerodynamic position or face the real possibility of it flying back out of my not-so-tight grip. Again there were more looks and smiles and I gave them a huge grin back and I eventually made it home safe and sound without dropping the table once.
My skills were tested again as I went shopping for all the household essentials I needed to acquire to make my house a home. Yui was in town that weekend and came with me and we shopped like we had a car. While we were shopping we gave little to no consideration to the fact that we came by motorcycle and made many purchases - some of which were bulky (sheets and pillows) and heavy (sauces and pots). We arrived at the bike and were honestly a bit stumped at first and we both had our doubts about our ability to get all of this home at once. But after a few minutes of reorganization and shifting we managed to get everything on the bike and were off. Again, there were bags in the basket, in Yui's hands, dangling from the handlebars. The pillows and sheets were between my legs and the rice cooker was in Yui's lap wedged in between the two of us. We made it home, but as we got closer to my house the number of cars on the road decreases as do the number of street lights and it became very obvious very quickly that my headlight was blocked by the bags in the basket. But Yui (the incredible person that she is) found a way to add the bags to her load and off we went and we completed that last 2 minute drive without any problems.
At that point I felt like I had successfully completed my motorcycle training and was officially "Thai" on my motorcycle. It was a wonderful feeling and another step/accomplishment during my adventures here.
Now with that extra confidence and experience nothing seemed like a challenge. So the most recent adventure on the motorcycle happened today as I went shopping for my Christmas tree. My parents had just sent a package out and they had included a few Christmas ornaments and few other assorted ornaments and presents and it seemed very appropriate to get a Christmas tree (plus I just really wanted a Christmas tree to celebrate however I could...more to come on this later). Knowing that I could get a real tree like at home, I stopped at a plant market on my way home from school. I found a perfect little tree (I'll post a picture when it's decorated) to be my Christmas tree and another tree which was just really pretty. So I bought the two of them for about 100 baht (or $5) and began the process of getting them home. But after buying them, the owner brought out the two pots and two bags of soil that I had also purchased and proceeded to ready my motorcycle. He first placed the two trees in the basket and made sure to spread them apart so I could peer out from behind them as I drove and them placed the soil in a larger bag and balanced that between my legs. Finally, he flipped the pots upside down and tied them to the seat where the second passenger should sit and I was ready to go. I jumped on and placed the soil between my legs and I was off Christmas tree and all! The looks this time were a bit different and a young boy couldn't take his eyes off of me but it was simple and almost normal.
So that's that. I do realize that I just talked about carrying things on a motorbike for a while, but thought it appropriate for the blog and plus I wanted a written record of it. Plus it's my blog and I can write what I want (and I'm really not sure if anyone is still reading this).
RM
Well, the past few weeks I have been moving into my new house and that involved moving everything I owned from one place to another using my only means of transportation - my motorcycle. During my time in Thailand, I have seen just about everything on a motorcycle. People here literally grow up on them and are often driving as soon as they can reach the handlebars and foot pedals. I'm still a bit unnerved seeing what appears to be a 10-year-old driving a motorcycle on the highway. These modern beasts of burden are used to transport people (up to 4 people have fit on a motorcycle...5 if you count the baby they sometimes squeeze in there), food and merchandise (it can be carried in the basket in the front, by the person riding, dangling from the handlebars, held in one hand while using the other to drive or tucked in between your legs as you drive) and any thing else one could imagine (rice, wood, chickens etc...it's all been seen before). These little motorcycles (more aptly called motorbikes) are an all-purpose machine and every last cent is milked from them.
As I began packing, I contemplated my options for transporting my stuff from the apartment to my new house (which is about a 10 minute drive from the apartment). It turns out that initially I was in luck - the owner of my new house offered to help me move and use his truck. Problem solved. But being the procrastinator I have the tendency of being when it comes to packing, I wasn't completely ready by the time he arrived. So I moved my trunk and suitcases in his truck leaving what seemed like only a little amount behind to be transported on my motorcycle later. A good plan I thought at the time. The next day I dragged a fellow teacher back to the apartment and we planned to move the rest of my stuff. I was going to drive and she was going to hold things on the back. Well, I had a bit much and here is what the motorbike ended up looking like...there was a large backpacking backpack on her back and my smaller day pack on mine, she had a chair in one hand and a large plastic bag full of stuff in the other and wedged in between my legs was another bag of my junk. It was quite the site and after a little thought about our safety (see Mom, I did think twice) we decided to give it a shot. New experiences like this are what living abroad is all about. We took of and it was a bit shaky at first, but much less so than I thought. As we got going it became easier and the drive was a breeze and we were rewarded with looks of confusion and astonishment from our fellow drivers on the road. I like to think they were a mix of "what are those foreigners doing?"and "wow, I didn't think foreigners could do that!". We arrived at my house unscathed and incredibly proud of ourselves. Unpacking was simple and that was that - I was moved in to my house!
But no, it did not stop there - there was actually one item that I forgot at the apartment. Before leaving I had asked the owner if I could store a folding table I had acquired in the storeroom until I could figure out how to get it to my new house. She said yes and there it sat for a few days. She gave me a call to remind me that it was still there and not having figured out any better alternative I set out for the apartment with the intention of riding back with the table. Now, this is not a huge table but it is by now means something that will fit in the basket of my motorbike nor did I have someone riding with me. That meant that the only option was to hold the table in one hand and drive with the other following the example of countless others. Now, I've driving one handed before around town and it's enjoyable and I'm comfortable doing so, but I've never attempted to do so with something in the other hand especially something that would provide additional air resistance. But I did it anyway. Again, like the first ride it was a bit shaky at first, but as I got going it was much easier. The one challenge to this was the fact that the table wanted to act like a large wing and I had to constantly wrestle with the table to keep it in the most aerodynamic position or face the real possibility of it flying back out of my not-so-tight grip. Again there were more looks and smiles and I gave them a huge grin back and I eventually made it home safe and sound without dropping the table once.
My skills were tested again as I went shopping for all the household essentials I needed to acquire to make my house a home. Yui was in town that weekend and came with me and we shopped like we had a car. While we were shopping we gave little to no consideration to the fact that we came by motorcycle and made many purchases - some of which were bulky (sheets and pillows) and heavy (sauces and pots). We arrived at the bike and were honestly a bit stumped at first and we both had our doubts about our ability to get all of this home at once. But after a few minutes of reorganization and shifting we managed to get everything on the bike and were off. Again, there were bags in the basket, in Yui's hands, dangling from the handlebars. The pillows and sheets were between my legs and the rice cooker was in Yui's lap wedged in between the two of us. We made it home, but as we got closer to my house the number of cars on the road decreases as do the number of street lights and it became very obvious very quickly that my headlight was blocked by the bags in the basket. But Yui (the incredible person that she is) found a way to add the bags to her load and off we went and we completed that last 2 minute drive without any problems.
At that point I felt like I had successfully completed my motorcycle training and was officially "Thai" on my motorcycle. It was a wonderful feeling and another step/accomplishment during my adventures here.
Now with that extra confidence and experience nothing seemed like a challenge. So the most recent adventure on the motorcycle happened today as I went shopping for my Christmas tree. My parents had just sent a package out and they had included a few Christmas ornaments and few other assorted ornaments and presents and it seemed very appropriate to get a Christmas tree (plus I just really wanted a Christmas tree to celebrate however I could...more to come on this later). Knowing that I could get a real tree like at home, I stopped at a plant market on my way home from school. I found a perfect little tree (I'll post a picture when it's decorated) to be my Christmas tree and another tree which was just really pretty. So I bought the two of them for about 100 baht (or $5) and began the process of getting them home. But after buying them, the owner brought out the two pots and two bags of soil that I had also purchased and proceeded to ready my motorcycle. He first placed the two trees in the basket and made sure to spread them apart so I could peer out from behind them as I drove and them placed the soil in a larger bag and balanced that between my legs. Finally, he flipped the pots upside down and tied them to the seat where the second passenger should sit and I was ready to go. I jumped on and placed the soil between my legs and I was off Christmas tree and all! The looks this time were a bit different and a young boy couldn't take his eyes off of me but it was simple and almost normal.
So that's that. I do realize that I just talked about carrying things on a motorbike for a while, but thought it appropriate for the blog and plus I wanted a written record of it. Plus it's my blog and I can write what I want (and I'm really not sure if anyone is still reading this).
RM
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Happy Birthday to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej!
Today marks the 79th birthday of His Majesty King Bhumibol and celebrations have occured all over Thailand as it is a full moon tonight (an auspicious sign) and this is the 60th year of his reign as King. Schools were closed today in honor of his birthday and today is also Father's Day so children made cards and presented them to their fathers along with the ratchapruek flower (a yellow flower and symbol of the King).
Here in Lampang they celebrated Thai style with a parade down the middle of town with yellow shirts stretching for kilometers intermixed with school marching bands and students.
Happy Birthday HM King Bhumibol!
If you're interested in reading more about the king and his rule check out Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhumibol_Adulyadej)
Oh, neat trivia or fact or something like that...the King became the King on June 9, 1949 which is my birthday (well, June 9th is...I was born in 1985). But anyway, I thought that was interesting and thought I would share that with you all - that is if anyone still reads this.
Long Live the King!
RM
Here in Lampang they celebrated Thai style with a parade down the middle of town with yellow shirts stretching for kilometers intermixed with school marching bands and students.
Happy Birthday HM King Bhumibol!
If you're interested in reading more about the king and his rule check out Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhumibol_Adulyadej)
Oh, neat trivia or fact or something like that...the King became the King on June 9, 1949 which is my birthday (well, June 9th is...I was born in 1985). But anyway, I thought that was interesting and thought I would share that with you all - that is if anyone still reads this.
Long Live the King!
RM
Monday, December 04, 2006
Check this link out for pictures
Hello!
Well it's about time I started posting some pictures and found this really neat website that allows you to share pictures, add captions and audio clips so I put my pictures up there. Follow this link for pictures of Peter's visit and our travels around Thailand!
Click on "This album" link on the bottom or the pictures themselves to view the album!
Let me know if the link doesn't work
Another update coming soon!
RM
Well it's about time I started posting some pictures and found this really neat website that allows you to share pictures, add captions and audio clips so I put my pictures up there. Follow this link for pictures of Peter's visit and our travels around Thailand!
Click on "This album" link on the bottom or the pictures themselves to view the album!
Let me know if the link doesn't work
Another update coming soon!
RM
Friday, December 01, 2006
Parade interrupts class and students shouting "don't sell roti!!"
Good morning all!
I've stopped regularly updating the blog because there is so much that I have to catch up on and wanted to return the regularity to the blog, so I'm going to resume that and add my adventures in as I write them. So, it's going to loose a bit of the flow that it's had, but you'll be more up to date!
School is going well. I'm a bit more than a month into the second semester and things are going really well. This semester has been much more enjoyable as I feel my lessons are planned more quickly and easily. I also feel like I'm having much more fun in class with the students and can shift the mood of the class as I desire (which make it easier to joke around and have fun and then get back to work). Those two things combined have made for a very enjoyable semester. I've been teaching a Cell unit to my M1 students and just this week switched over to an Ecology unit which I'm really looking forward to. In M2, I've been teaching an Earth Science unit and will continue that for a while. I've been teaching plate tectonics and everything related to that and have moved into rocks and minerals and will stay there for a bit before moving on to soils (thrilling, I know - but we've had fun so far). In M3, I've been teaching kinematics and that's been really neat. It's been wonderful to teach the theory, do demonstrations, have the students experiment and work through problems all in the same unit. I've enjoyed teaching this unit more so than any other and will be sad to end this unit, but I've still got a lot more to teach before I call it quits for this unit.
As for the subject of this blog 'Parade interrupts class', there was a parade in the street in front of the school during my class and classes across campus stopped and all of the students went down to watch the parade which lasted for about 45 minutes! It was neat though, as I went down to join them. It was a parade put on by the Chinese-Thai residents of Lampang and lasted all day. It was a special day in China (no one could translate exactly what the celebration was all about) but there was some celebration. People would walk down the streets and would pray in front of people houses (mostly Chinese-Thai families) if they had laid out a red table with offerings. There were dragons and water being sprayed and general merriment during the parade and so it was neat, but it put a big hole in the middle of my class. The next subject of the blog ' students shouting 'don't sell roti'' during class is a bit more confusing. While I was teaching, one of the students quietly asked me to not sell nuts. I was confused and I asked him what he had said. He repeated it and I asked him what it meant trying to figure out what exactly he wanted. Of course, everyone in class was now listening and eventually the whole class was trying to explain to me what he meant by that. It was ridiculous. I couldn't understand anything they were saying cause they were all talking at once. First the students tried to explain the nuts part of the expression. "People who sell things sell nuts", they said, "they also sell roti (a crepe like dessert that is sold in stalls along the street)". Since I knew roti and understood that they started shouting "Don't sell roti!". I still didn't understand why and eventually one of the students was able to explain that the word for 'sell things' is similar to the word for 'block' in Thai. So the student was trying to tell me to not block the board so that he could read what I wrote and take notes. But the whole thing was hilarious and several of the students where almost crying they were laughing so hard...I thought it was funny, but not that funny so I think I was missing something else. Anyway, it made for quite the class.
I've begun teaching an extra class to 5-year-old students this semester as well. I started about 3 weeks ago and it has been an adventure but I'm absolutely loving it. First, I'm teaching English which is very different than science and it's neat to have the opportunity to teach English and see what it's like. Second, they're 5 and fun and have a ton of energy. Third, it's also an opportunity for me to learn Thai (not speaking with them, though I do, but making sure I know the words and lessons in Thai before I teach it if we have problems and so they can double check to make sure they're getting the right word). I teach 2 little kids, a little girl and a little boy. I come to class and we play games and use flash cards and right now they repeat everything I say. Mostly I've been teaching the alphabet, pronouns, colors and numbers. I started with a few verbs the other day and soon maybe we'll get a sentence or two!
Other news, I've moved into a house! I found a place to rent and have moved out of my apartment into the house (today actually). It's a great little house outside of town. It's a brand new one bedroom house with a bathroom and kitchen. The owner built the house for himself as a weekend getaway and retirement house, but wanted to rent it for a while (lucky me!). It's fully furnished with new and nice furniture and the owners are really nice. It's a beautiful little brick house out on the edge of a village outside of town so three of the four sides of the house don't face other houses. One side is a little field/meadow and the others look out onto rice fields and the mountains in the distance. It's perfect! I'll be sure to post pictures here in a few days once I get settled.
I've stopped regularly updating the blog because there is so much that I have to catch up on and wanted to return the regularity to the blog, so I'm going to resume that and add my adventures in as I write them. So, it's going to loose a bit of the flow that it's had, but you'll be more up to date!
School is going well. I'm a bit more than a month into the second semester and things are going really well. This semester has been much more enjoyable as I feel my lessons are planned more quickly and easily. I also feel like I'm having much more fun in class with the students and can shift the mood of the class as I desire (which make it easier to joke around and have fun and then get back to work). Those two things combined have made for a very enjoyable semester. I've been teaching a Cell unit to my M1 students and just this week switched over to an Ecology unit which I'm really looking forward to. In M2, I've been teaching an Earth Science unit and will continue that for a while. I've been teaching plate tectonics and everything related to that and have moved into rocks and minerals and will stay there for a bit before moving on to soils (thrilling, I know - but we've had fun so far). In M3, I've been teaching kinematics and that's been really neat. It's been wonderful to teach the theory, do demonstrations, have the students experiment and work through problems all in the same unit. I've enjoyed teaching this unit more so than any other and will be sad to end this unit, but I've still got a lot more to teach before I call it quits for this unit.
As for the subject of this blog 'Parade interrupts class', there was a parade in the street in front of the school during my class and classes across campus stopped and all of the students went down to watch the parade which lasted for about 45 minutes! It was neat though, as I went down to join them. It was a parade put on by the Chinese-Thai residents of Lampang and lasted all day. It was a special day in China (no one could translate exactly what the celebration was all about) but there was some celebration. People would walk down the streets and would pray in front of people houses (mostly Chinese-Thai families) if they had laid out a red table with offerings. There were dragons and water being sprayed and general merriment during the parade and so it was neat, but it put a big hole in the middle of my class. The next subject of the blog ' students shouting 'don't sell roti'' during class is a bit more confusing. While I was teaching, one of the students quietly asked me to not sell nuts. I was confused and I asked him what he had said. He repeated it and I asked him what it meant trying to figure out what exactly he wanted. Of course, everyone in class was now listening and eventually the whole class was trying to explain to me what he meant by that. It was ridiculous. I couldn't understand anything they were saying cause they were all talking at once. First the students tried to explain the nuts part of the expression. "People who sell things sell nuts", they said, "they also sell roti (a crepe like dessert that is sold in stalls along the street)". Since I knew roti and understood that they started shouting "Don't sell roti!". I still didn't understand why and eventually one of the students was able to explain that the word for 'sell things' is similar to the word for 'block' in Thai. So the student was trying to tell me to not block the board so that he could read what I wrote and take notes. But the whole thing was hilarious and several of the students where almost crying they were laughing so hard...I thought it was funny, but not that funny so I think I was missing something else. Anyway, it made for quite the class.
I've begun teaching an extra class to 5-year-old students this semester as well. I started about 3 weeks ago and it has been an adventure but I'm absolutely loving it. First, I'm teaching English which is very different than science and it's neat to have the opportunity to teach English and see what it's like. Second, they're 5 and fun and have a ton of energy. Third, it's also an opportunity for me to learn Thai (not speaking with them, though I do, but making sure I know the words and lessons in Thai before I teach it if we have problems and so they can double check to make sure they're getting the right word). I teach 2 little kids, a little girl and a little boy. I come to class and we play games and use flash cards and right now they repeat everything I say. Mostly I've been teaching the alphabet, pronouns, colors and numbers. I started with a few verbs the other day and soon maybe we'll get a sentence or two!
Other news, I've moved into a house! I found a place to rent and have moved out of my apartment into the house (today actually). It's a great little house outside of town. It's a brand new one bedroom house with a bathroom and kitchen. The owner built the house for himself as a weekend getaway and retirement house, but wanted to rent it for a while (lucky me!). It's fully furnished with new and nice furniture and the owners are really nice. It's a beautiful little brick house out on the edge of a village outside of town so three of the four sides of the house don't face other houses. One side is a little field/meadow and the others look out onto rice fields and the mountains in the distance. It's perfect! I'll be sure to post pictures here in a few days once I get settled.
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