Schools back

Sawadee Khrap

Haven’t had a lot to say lately – that’s apparent with the low entry of posts I’ve made – busy and resting.

Got another stomach bug infection, took 5 days on antibiotics to get rid of them, I know better than having drinks with ice in them here – you never know just where the water came from to make the ice, so it’s always better to have your drinks direct from the bottle – except booze, it kills the little buggers so little or no problem – but I don’t drink and so have to always be aware of what I am drinking – last time I didn’t and suffered the consequences.

Tonight Nu arrives on the train from his home town and tomorrow we, his Uncle and I, will take him to the school in Mae Taeng to register for the coming semester.  Then he will return to Chumphon (Southern Thailand near Surat Thani – On the Gulf of Thailand) and come back later with his Aunt.  She went down with him in Dec and was supposed to come back with him mid Jan but she broke her foot while there and has to stay till she mends.  He had to come back by himself to register and will go back to help her return in about 3–4 weeks  – plenty of time before school starts.

The monks have returned from their 15 day meditation retreat at Tha Ton

IMG_4190-Fang-07-10-07- Here’s a shot of the area.  I showed these shots in another post on my trip North from Chiang Mai to Fang, Mai Ai and then to Tha Ton,  This is a shot from one on the temple look-out areas there.  This is in the area where it used to be Burma but the border movement here increased the Thai position and now the local city is fully in Thailand – check out the earlier post to see what I mean – great pictures there on the whole area.

We will begin going over the monk’s blogs on Wed. and Wat Suan Dok has hired a manager to oversee the latest projects, Boyd will be responsible for all their projects including the Lak Tang – One Baht School Project.  I will start helping him set up the PowerPoint presentation for that project next week too —

Never a dull day here in PARADISE. 

Ciao

Expats Meeting, Children’s Day

Sawadee Khrap

Let’s see,

Saturday was the Expats Meeting at the Orchid Hotel – right down the street from my place – easy walk.  Guest speaker was Consul General Michael Morrow.  He’s been in this position for about 5 months now and will serve a 3 year term here.  His speech , stories, and question & answer period was really worth attending.  Well spoken and seemed ready to share – had a great time.

IMG_7604First a shot of cleaning the sidewalk in front of a local small restaurant on the way to the Hotel.  Then the Expats meeting.

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After the meeting I went over to the Shopping Center to see what was set up for the kids.  Today across Thailand is “Children’s Day”.  Same as done in the States – children at the workplace, special things at the malls – etc.  Here are some shots and a great one of a couple of young men grabbing a bite to eat at a favorite German restaurant I like in the Center.   enjoy – I did.

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Sunday

First I went to Wat Suan Dok and a meeting with several monks who are learning how to set up their blogs. I’m helping them learn HTML/Java and how to use Blogger and BlogSome to make their own personal blog sites.  They are going to put pictures of their villages, homes, and family (Cambodia, Lao, Burma and some from Thailand), their home Temples, why they became monks, and what are their plans for the future.  This should really be some great reading – and it helps them learn English, programming and share their thoughts to the world.

The balance of the day was spent preparing for a “Workshop” for the Chiang Mai Photography Club.  Every 3rd Wednesday of each month I will be running a 2 hr. workshop on photo image editing software, such as LightRoom and PhotoShop CS3.  So I am preparing a PowerPoint to use for the first meeting introduction.  The first part is for beginners and then we will explore the more advanced Photoshop capabilities – so far sounds like it will have a good turnout.

Well that’s about how my time is being spent – fairly busy for a retired guy.

 Ciao

Saturday 5th 2008

Wow, 2008 already – going on 3 years I have been in Chiang Mai – Oct 3rd to be exact.  Doesn’t seem that long.  It’s a little different now that I’m single, but as they say – Life goes on – unless you stop, and I’m not stopping.  just got back from doing some shopping at Care-Four and Rimping’s market.  Little stuff I needed, new shower curtain, cleaners, baked beans to eat in a pinch, soap — isn’t it exciting.  I did meet several of my friends shopping – that was very nice.

The most pressing problem I have now is deciding what and where to eat – alone I presume, no dates set – next week some dinner dates are set, but this weekend I’m by myself.  Maybe cruise the Shopping Center too – nice eye candy and I can get a great 1 hour foot  massage for just $3 US — or 120 Baht to round out the evening.

Sunday is MonkChat and web code teaching – the monks have started their blogs on Blogger and we will work on them and how to make major changes using HTML/Java code.  6 monks so far have started their blogs – Thai, Lao and Cambodia monks – with pictures of their villages, family, country, and life as a monk – I’m sure they will be great reading and viewing.  Each will be linked to the main MonkChat web-site so I’ll post it here when they are active. 

The Main MonkChat web-site is being completely revamped and we should have it fully running about the latter part of next week – It really looks great so far.  It will also contain audio and video clips of the MonkChat Radio program and celebrations/teachings that are being held in the Temple.  It’s really been a lot of fun watching the sparkle in the monk’s eyes as they see what they can do – now the world is open to them, but better yet their family can also stay in contact by going to their local Internet Cafe and checking out their son’s blog – that’s powerful.

Well – Sawadee Pee Mai – Hope your having a Great New Year.

Ciao