this week has been a wonderful, restful week at home in bangkok. we had three days off of school this week for the mother's day holiday (Happy Mother's Day, MOm!), we're back to school tomorrow. i hemmed and hawed about going somewhere for the five-day break, but decided to stay in town and see some sights. i saw a lot of the malls (free air con!), i saw a movie (Bourne Ultimatum... the second one was better), i got a one-cup COFFEE MAKER for my apt (score!!), bought an external hard drive, saw the gym several times, saw an awesome band called Futon (and made friends with them, they're SWEET!), made some new thai friends, and finally (finally) went to the Grand Palace (it was really hot and hugely beautiful)... not too shabby! i messed with my sleep schedule so much that i'm giving myself a bed time tonight. 11 pm. i'm firm on this because i stayed up until 3 am the other nights. RiDICulous! i had to peel myself out of bed three times this morning... and ended up going back for "another half hour"... made it to the gym by noon... not too bad. i'm pumping, like, 180 at the gym these days... you won't even recognize me when i get back to MN. kidding. they have an awesome training staff that keeps us all in tune with a good program and i'm no longer afraid of the weights/machines... but still get weirded out by the huge weightlifter guys (they make the STRANGest noises when they Pump Iron. *shiver*)
i'm really looking forward to all the visits from various friends and family over the next six months. mom comes first and i'm beaming with joy! i can't WAIT!
this coming weekend i will attend the Gwen Stefani show with some friends/collegues!!! i'm so pumped! we went and had shirts made... one letter each to spell BANANAS. (refers to one of her songs). she's an old favorite of mine from the days of No Doubt, so i'm excited to see her live again (for the fourth time!!)... this will be the first time i've seen her solo act. i'll have a full report of costume and set changes. she's so cool. i should figure out how to get backstage! *yea, put that on the to-do list!*
still praying for everyone at home. it makes me feel more and more relieved with every body and vehicle removed from the river. bless you all!! did you see that a bridge collapsed in china and another one somewhere else prior to mpls collapse?? seems a little strange to me. somethings not right there....
much love. enjoy the day!
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Sunday, August 5, 2007
thoughts of gratitude and comfort
what a shock to receive news of "a bridge collapsed in minneapolis, beth. you're from minnesota right? you might want to check that out." my american friend, mike, told me on (our) wednesday morning as i entered the teacher's room. he'd seen the story online and let me know as soon as he saw me. he was then kind enough to stay with me while i panicked as my mobile phone claimed every one of my family and friend's phone numbers were busy. luckily i caught my best friend online, thank god for skype ANd nicolle! she was kind enough to phone my parents and my anxiety was dimly relieved. there were still so many questions and just the general shock, which remained with me for days. how? why? wHA-?
i still haven't heard from all of my friends and family to know if anyone was hurt... but i can rest assured that they are accounted for from the news stories and videos that i obsessively watch to catch the names of the perished. it is beyond the scope of my mind to understand what all of the most important people in my world are dealing with... my mind has trouble wrapping around what happened. like the rest of you, i'm sure. however, other than the internet news that i read, it effects my life not at all. my commute to work is uneffected. my trip to that cozy restaurant over the river is uninterrupted. i love being here, but all week what i wanted (and still would like) is to be there to share hugs and show support. so instead, i send out an imaginary hug to every one who reads this and i am so grateful you are safe. please send me a little message if you haven't already, just so i will know you're okay. i love you! can't say it enough!
let's lighten things up a bit! thailand is good. i'm still in 'holiday' mode... choosing to remain in a state of bliss about the ease of my days. the work week was short, as you know, and i enjoyed seeing the boys again. we have so much fun. i love work! it is utternly enjoyable to witness the boys gaining confidence in their English abilities. their personalities are coming out ten-fold and i enjoy every moment. i have to announce that i have a teacher's pet... or more like a wannabe. he's the second smallest boy in the class and the most precise child i have ever met. he is SURE to let me know, at 7 in the morning in my office, if i have forgotten even the slightest detail of his day... whether it be to change the schedule or that we didn't do the calendar and the date is wrong... he will let me know of any part of his routine that i have interrupted or forgotten. he is darling and it always makes me chuckle to see the top of his little head trying to peer into the teacher's room window to find me. he is the same boy who spends a chunk of his worktime "informing" me of the other boys' misbehaviors... "miss beth, green group is talking. talking a little loud. should be quiet workers. green group," with discrete hand gestures towards poor green group who's just helping each other with their assignment.
he is the same boy, i may have told you about, whose father told me, on parent day, that his son "talks like you at home. he stands at our whiteboard and says 'orange group? are you ready orange group? okay, they're ready, good job, one point for orange group. oh, yellow group is talking. they're not ready. green group, good boys! green group is ready, they get a point!'" i had such a laugh with his dad because that IS how i talk to the boys, it was so accurate! he also told me that his son "makes his grandfather sit in front of the whiteboard and do math problems, so i know how you teach math, too." i asked his father if T.P., we'll call him, wants to be a teacher and he answered, "i don't know but it seems like it!"
the same boy declared to me on friday that he is only interested in speaking English all day, at school and home. "no thai for me speaking. i only speak English. only thai for thai class and chinese in chinese class. i speak English." it is extremely difficult not to take him into my grips and squeeze the breath out of him with a hug. he's just so darling and so excited about what i'm selling! i've had to nip the bossy thing in the bud, though. I... I Miss Beth am the teacher and will decide when green group is talking too loudly. i did go to college, T.P., and that degree in my desk was rightly earned, thank you very much. haha. it's nice to have a protege. i would give my kidney for a video of him in action at home... hey, i should request such a video... hmmm.
next, my fellow americans. next. have i got a treat for you! i have discovered australian football (footie as those silly aussies call it) and i am ALL about it! mmm hmm, it's AWESome! it's not american football, it's not soccer, it's not rugby, not basketball, not dodgeball... but seems to be all of them in one. it's almost, at some points, like watching the four year old boys on the soccer field all chasing the ball when you know they have positions (but they don't)... and they're just following that ball around. it's action-packed, fast paced.. and these fellas tackle.. withOUT pads.
since we're now on the topic of their uniforms i must admit (i can admit it) that the uniform is what motivates me to watch in the first and last place. it is decidedly the best uniform in any sport, on any planet. it's HOT. sleeveless shirts and short shorts. no helmet, no pads. it's delightful! see for yourself. . . merely because you are interested in this game and how could it exist without your knowledge? (because i don't know any american who knows anything about aussie football... and if you did already know about it and were keeping it from me, it's best not to admit it.) joking aside, it's a fast-paced game that is really interesting to watch... they have a circular field with odd rules. what's not to love? really>!?
i'm currently reading bill bryson's (hysterical) book about australia (one of the top ten best authors ever). i've come to the assumption that i purchased the aussie or british translation of the book because he keeps spelling words with the british ou... like harboUr, neighboUrhood, and coloUr... and there are phrases here and there that just aren't quite right. (i tried to find them, but it seems impossibly too much re-reading). anyhow, i'm learning so much about australia's history (they were founded by the british who used australia (the world's largest island) to dump their criminals so they would be rid of them. so historically, austrailians are criminals. put that one in the memory bank for mr DAVE! the aborigines were there first and i learned that they now "own sydney", i just heard from a collegue on friday.)
i'm not on a quest to "sell" australia, not by any means, but i thought i should educate myself about them since they claim to "know" so much about us americans. pff. they've got another thing coming! (did you know that they lost a prime minister??! he "vanished" into the water one night walking along the beach... in 1967. they LOST their president!? huh. i wonder how we could do that...? kidding.)
i hope that you are all well and good. off to another great week in thailand!
i still haven't heard from all of my friends and family to know if anyone was hurt... but i can rest assured that they are accounted for from the news stories and videos that i obsessively watch to catch the names of the perished. it is beyond the scope of my mind to understand what all of the most important people in my world are dealing with... my mind has trouble wrapping around what happened. like the rest of you, i'm sure. however, other than the internet news that i read, it effects my life not at all. my commute to work is uneffected. my trip to that cozy restaurant over the river is uninterrupted. i love being here, but all week what i wanted (and still would like) is to be there to share hugs and show support. so instead, i send out an imaginary hug to every one who reads this and i am so grateful you are safe. please send me a little message if you haven't already, just so i will know you're okay. i love you! can't say it enough!
let's lighten things up a bit! thailand is good. i'm still in 'holiday' mode... choosing to remain in a state of bliss about the ease of my days. the work week was short, as you know, and i enjoyed seeing the boys again. we have so much fun. i love work! it is utternly enjoyable to witness the boys gaining confidence in their English abilities. their personalities are coming out ten-fold and i enjoy every moment. i have to announce that i have a teacher's pet... or more like a wannabe. he's the second smallest boy in the class and the most precise child i have ever met. he is SURE to let me know, at 7 in the morning in my office, if i have forgotten even the slightest detail of his day... whether it be to change the schedule or that we didn't do the calendar and the date is wrong... he will let me know of any part of his routine that i have interrupted or forgotten. he is darling and it always makes me chuckle to see the top of his little head trying to peer into the teacher's room window to find me. he is the same boy who spends a chunk of his worktime "informing" me of the other boys' misbehaviors... "miss beth, green group is talking. talking a little loud. should be quiet workers. green group," with discrete hand gestures towards poor green group who's just helping each other with their assignment.
he is the same boy, i may have told you about, whose father told me, on parent day, that his son "talks like you at home. he stands at our whiteboard and says 'orange group? are you ready orange group? okay, they're ready, good job, one point for orange group. oh, yellow group is talking. they're not ready. green group, good boys! green group is ready, they get a point!'" i had such a laugh with his dad because that IS how i talk to the boys, it was so accurate! he also told me that his son "makes his grandfather sit in front of the whiteboard and do math problems, so i know how you teach math, too." i asked his father if T.P., we'll call him, wants to be a teacher and he answered, "i don't know but it seems like it!"
the same boy declared to me on friday that he is only interested in speaking English all day, at school and home. "no thai for me speaking. i only speak English. only thai for thai class and chinese in chinese class. i speak English." it is extremely difficult not to take him into my grips and squeeze the breath out of him with a hug. he's just so darling and so excited about what i'm selling! i've had to nip the bossy thing in the bud, though. I... I Miss Beth am the teacher and will decide when green group is talking too loudly. i did go to college, T.P., and that degree in my desk was rightly earned, thank you very much. haha. it's nice to have a protege. i would give my kidney for a video of him in action at home... hey, i should request such a video... hmmm.
next, my fellow americans. next. have i got a treat for you! i have discovered australian football (footie as those silly aussies call it) and i am ALL about it! mmm hmm, it's AWESome! it's not american football, it's not soccer, it's not rugby, not basketball, not dodgeball... but seems to be all of them in one. it's almost, at some points, like watching the four year old boys on the soccer field all chasing the ball when you know they have positions (but they don't)... and they're just following that ball around. it's action-packed, fast paced.. and these fellas tackle.. withOUT pads.
since we're now on the topic of their uniforms i must admit (i can admit it) that the uniform is what motivates me to watch in the first and last place. it is decidedly the best uniform in any sport, on any planet. it's HOT. sleeveless shirts and short shorts. no helmet, no pads. it's delightful! see for yourself. . . merely because you are interested in this game and how could it exist without your knowledge? (because i don't know any american who knows anything about aussie football... and if you did already know about it and were keeping it from me, it's best not to admit it.) joking aside, it's a fast-paced game that is really interesting to watch... they have a circular field with odd rules. what's not to love? really>!?
i'm currently reading bill bryson's (hysterical) book about australia (one of the top ten best authors ever). i've come to the assumption that i purchased the aussie or british translation of the book because he keeps spelling words with the british ou... like harboUr, neighboUrhood, and coloUr... and there are phrases here and there that just aren't quite right. (i tried to find them, but it seems impossibly too much re-reading). anyhow, i'm learning so much about australia's history (they were founded by the british who used australia (the world's largest island) to dump their criminals so they would be rid of them. so historically, austrailians are criminals. put that one in the memory bank for mr DAVE! the aborigines were there first and i learned that they now "own sydney", i just heard from a collegue on friday.)
i'm not on a quest to "sell" australia, not by any means, but i thought i should educate myself about them since they claim to "know" so much about us americans. pff. they've got another thing coming! (did you know that they lost a prime minister??! he "vanished" into the water one night walking along the beach... in 1967. they LOST their president!? huh. i wonder how we could do that...? kidding.)
i hope that you are all well and good. off to another great week in thailand!
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