February '11 Fun Times

February is two to three days short of being a full month but we managed to pack a full month, and then some, of fun into this abbreviated month.

We enjoyed a Super Bowl Party at some other Americans' house.  We had all been sworn to no peeking at Super Bowl results as we were viewing the game 12 hours after the actual air time.  (As you know Super Bowl is played on Sunday evening, which is Monday morning here.  Everyone works on Monday morning so the Super Bowl party was Monday night.)  The celebration was much like celebrations in the US except there was one fan yelling in Korean when his team wasn't performing to his standards, the Canadians were wanting to find a hockey game on TV, the Brit was questioning the whole motive in calling the game "football", and the Germans were hogging the beer.   We were happy to celebrate a very American tradition in a very international way.

Soccer Weekend

or as the previously mentioned Brit would call it,

Football Weekend

I.S.E. hosted the Mekong Region International Schools Association high school soccer tournament this year.  Students came from Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos to play in the tournament.  Families were asked to host players in their homes for the weekend.  Our family hosted five high school girls from Vietnam.  (Five high school girls in the house with a high school boy.)  They were very nice girls and we had a great time watching them play soccer and taking them to McDonald's.  McD's was their request since Ronald has yet to make it to Vietnam. 

ISE boys take 2nd place in the tournament

ISE girl's team took 4th in the tournament

Our girls we hosted in our home from International School Ho Chi Minh City

Confirmation Weekend for Chloe

Chloe went through several months of preparation for Confirmation.  About three weeks before the Big Day we learned that the date fell on the same weekend that Chloe was to go to Hanoi, Vietnam to play in the MRISA middle school volleyball tournament.   Fortunately there was a boy from Chloe's school that was in the same predicament.  After talking to the school, one of the coaches offered to fly home on Saturday night to escort Chloe and Tim so they could be in church on Sunday morning to be confirmed by Bishop Siripong Charatsri of the Chonthaburi Diocese.

Koh Samed

The kids had a long weekend off from school.  We packed a few clothes and some swimsuits and headed for a little island off the coast of Rayong.  Rayong is about 50 minutes from Pattaya and is close to where Robert works.  We took a boat from the mainland to the island.  We checked into a very Thai resort and then just kicked back and enjoyed a long relaxing weekend.

Dinner on the beach at a Mexican place.  They spoke Spanish too!

These young boys, who told us they were 7 and 10, entertained us by twirling fire batons and and fire balls on chains.  Smyth commented, "I wasn't even allowed to strike a match when I was seven!"

We stayed in the upper portion of this Thai house.

No, it's not Comet (our beloved Golden that we miss so much) but by the end of the weekend this dog was very attached to us as we were to him too.  He belonged to the resort where we stayed.

We booked an afternoon snorkeling trip.  We snorkeled in two locations and saw a lot of coral and tropical fish.  This was our first time to snorkel and we loved it.  The tour also included a trip to a turtle farm.

Fresh fruit smoothies for breakfast before we head home.

As mentioned, February was a fun-filled month for us as we experienced a sacrament of our church in another country,  we met wonderful international students from another school, and we visited an island we hadn't been to before.  We hope to have many more months like this during our time in Thailand.

 



January '11 A New Year

Back Home In Thailand

What a welcome we had when we returned home!  Our driver and our maid provided the beautiful flowers, fruit, and New Year's cards to welcome us home. 



January always seems to be a month where we recover from the holiday frenzy and get back into a normal everyday routine with work and school.  Even being here in beautiful Thailand we still had that everyday feeling of a routine.  We had very few events this month and took even fewer pictures. 

Robert's plant that is currently under construction had an open house that we attended where we got to tour the plant before the start up. 

Smyth and Chloe went on their Thai culture field trips during January.  Smyth went to Koh Chang, an island off the southern tip of the eastern gulf coast of Thailand, very close to the Cambodia border.  Smyth was challenged by a ropes course and got to do a lot of snorkeling, where he was excited to see clown fish and many other tropical fish.  Chloe went to an area on the west coast of the Gulf of Thailand where the strip of Thailand is only 8 Kilometers wide.  She did hiking, visited wats (Buddhist temples), and dug a salt lick for elephants.  And after hours of waiting they saw one elephant come to the salt lick.

We attended Robert's company holiday party where a drag queen performed.  Apparently this is quite common for Thai parties, to have a drag queen perform.  I can say it was quite a show that we won't soon forget.

The biggest event for January, of course, was Smyth's birthday.  Smyth turned 17 on the 18th.  Back in the US Smyth would have been driving alone for a whole year now.  Here in Thailand the driving age is 18 so to bridge the gap a little for him we bought him a new bike.  Which he seems to like well enough although he still has hopes of getting a Ferrari for his 18th birthday.  And Robert and I have hopes that he will get his head out of the clouds and join the real world.

And of course a season of the Simpson's is always a big hit.

Random Street Scenes

Here are a few pictures I've taken while being out and about. Sights that were so unique and startling to me in the first few months in Thailand have simply become part of everyday life to me now.   

 Here is a guy who makes banana roti (much like a crepe)  on a grill that is connected to his motorbike!  We can find him most every night in the parking lot of the 7-11 that is 2 Kilometers from our house.  Always good for a late night sweet.

Motorbikes are quite a popular form of transportation here in Thailand.  Here are a few parked along the soi (small street).

This chef's specialty in street fare seems to be corn on the cob.

Tuk Tuks, a three wheel alternative to a standard orange or pink taxi as seen in the picture, get their name from the noise their 2-stroke engine makes.

December '10 Tropical Island and Ozark Mountains

Koh Larn

Koh is the the Thai word for island.  Koh Larn is only a 45 minute ferry ride from Pattaya.  We spent the first Saturday of December at this island.  It was not really great beach weather as we encountered some rain and cloudy skies.  However the water was warm, the people were friendly, and the food was delicious. 

 It is so easy to spend a day at the beach here in Thailand compared to the US.  When we lived in Texas we would plan a beach trip and pack up the car with the essentials, umbrella, blanket, towels, ice chest, food, drinks, toys, chairs, and a lot of other stuff we would need.  Here in Thailand, we say, "Get your swimsuits on we're going to the beach"  We grab some towels and we're off.  We get to a beach and we find some chairs, and table that aren't in use and we drop our stuff.  A woman comes up to us and says "100 Baht for rental" (apx 3.00 USD).  We pay.  Then she asks, "What you want drink?"  He tell her, and for 5 drinks, 2 of them being beer, we pay another 100 Baht or less.  In an hour or so the kids start wanting ice cream and a guy appears carrying an insulated bag of Walls Ice Cream treats.   Three ice cream treats run us about 90 Baht.  Lilli and Chloe like to have pedicures on the so we give them 100 baht each and they go get their pedicures.  Everything is so reasonably price there is no need to pack up everything and haul it ourselves.

Koh Larn

Back in Pattaya after a day at the island

Christmas in Thailand

We were quite surprised when the kids came home from school and told us the dates for their Christmas programs and concerts.  It seems that in recent years in the U.S. schools can no longer use the word Christmas nor celebrate it in anyway.  Here in a Buddhist nation though, our kids had an elementary Christmas program and a high school band Christmas concert. 

Lilli plays the tambourine during Jingle Bells

Chloe and Smyth's band concert was outside of Central Festival Mall in Pattaya on Friday December 10.  The mall was decorated beautifully for the season.

And there is Chloe on the jumbo screen!

(on the right)

The high school band.  Smyth is on the back row second to the left.

December 11

I turn 25.... again.

My birthday fell on a Saturday this year.  Robert booked Saturday and Sunday night at the brand new Pattaya Hilton.  The kids spent the day with us at the Hilton, we went to church Saturday evening, the kids went back home and then came back to the Hilton on Sunday for more swimming and lounging by the pool.

Necklace from Robert's parents

Ordinarily I would not post a picture of me in a swimsuit, but since this was the first time I have ever been able to have a pool party for my birthday I felt I should post it.

I really didn't need pepper on my food but I wanted to see them use this behemoth pepper mill.

This was truly one of my best birthdays ever.  Robert did a wonderful job planning the evening and organizing the kids' schedules so that all I had to do was sit back, relax, and enjoy.

Home For the Holidays

As much as we were enjoying our Christmas celebrations in Thailand we did long to be among family for the Christmas season.  We flew to Arkansas December 18.  We spent the first night and next day in Fayetteville and Bentonville with Robert's sister, Patricia, and Robert's brother and sister in law, Bill and Dee.  I have to note that whenever we travel home to Arkansas inevitably one of us ends up at a Medi-Quick clinic or an emergency room.  The first day we were in Arkansas Lilli was playing with a stray cat that had recently adopted Patricia.  The cat bit Lilli, so off to the clinic we went.  We were happy that we got the clinic trip done early in the visit and we did not have to go again for the remainder of the trip.

First holiday celebration was at Bill and Dee May's home.  They have an annual "Thanksmas" party, their family get together between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

LtoR:  Lilli, Elizabeth May, Smyth, Bill May, Richard May

The still "newlyweds" Michael and Alyssa May

Richard May, Ryan May, Ann May, and Sloan Breazeale

Hemmed In Hollow

The first hike Robert and I ever did together was the Hemmed In Hollow hike in the Ponca Wilderness Area of the Buffalo National River.  We first did this hike back in 1985 and have done it a few times since then.  We had a beautiful sunny, but cold, day while in Arkansas and decided to hit the trail.  Chloe and Robert's father joined us.  



This was our first time to do the hike in winter when all the leaves were off the trees.  The views were spectacular.

 

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa May's Home

Chloe is excited over her new computer.

Lilli is happy with her inline skates.  Robert's sister, Patricia.

Grandma and Grandpa May

Christmas at Grandma Ruth Ann's

We spent our second week in Arkansas at my mother's house in Johnson County, near Clarksville.  My dad, Gerry, and his wife Terri came up to Mom's house for the week.  My brother and sister in law also came to see us while we were at Mom's.  We enjoyed riding 4 wheelers, playing Scrabble, and shopping in Fort Smith for American stuff to take back to Thailand. 

Smyth's girlfriend, Shannon Brokaw, flew in from Portland to see him for a few days.

Christmas at Grandma Ruth Ann's

New Year's Eve

Sadly, I did not get enough pictures while in Arkansas and none of New Year's Eve.  My mother, and her friend, Mike, and Robert and I went to dinner in Paris for New Year's.  That would be Paris, Arkansas.  We had a nice dinner together and enjoyed the Christmas lights around the courthouse square.  We then returned to Mom's house and had a wild night of Scrabble.

And at the stroke of midnight we said goodbye to 2010 and welcomed in 2011.