International Day

Assembling for parade of nations at school

Our little USA

Les Miserables... she is now the only student left from France

The little German is our neighbor... so darn cute, they all were

Lots of kids at school are half this & half that. Ry made her flag USA on one side & Netherlands on the other. "I'm half Dutch," she's been telling everyone at school, not quite agreeing with concept of heritage vs. citizenship. "My name is Dutch, I've been there and have met my family there, I live in Holland..."  Non-Americans do get confused when they hear we're from Holland. If she can speak Dutch next year, they'll let her carry their flag in the parade

Surfin USA, drummer & plaid shorts surfer girl are ours

Headmaster on lead vocals, only one old enough to know the words

Thai dance

Korean Tae Kwan Do dance

Korean folksong

Neighbors to the north, mostly teachers

So adorable

Japanese Kabuki dance. Al's sensei is in dark robe, a dynamic teacher & favorite class

Al's good friend Reishmi is tallest in back, gorgeous Indian dancing

Thai bamboo dance

A creative mom (not me) designed this table decoration for lunch. The international feast was AMAZING

After performances, middle & high school joined up for international field games. Waterballoon volleyball was a hit

Al's in plaid shorts, her team won the games & a future pizza party

Hot day, brought friends home to the pool

Girls with Fern & Maria, also on Ry's soccer team

Ry had her first game here last week. ISE's team was down a player (stinkin swine flu), but another school loaned one to us. Lost the first game, won the second

"I've got the ball, now what do I do?"

She'd rather play goalie & takes it very seriously. Down on herself for letting one get by in first game, but proud of goal tending entire second shutout game 

Hot, a sunny 90+ at 5pm

Another busy week & weekend.  Have a sitter & going out tomorrow night with some guy named Rob and dinner by the sea.

We're planning Valentine breakfast with girls Saturday morn while we watch Olympic opening ceremonies & parade of nations. 16 years ago this weekend I blew out my knee skiing in Traverse, and we took in Olympic opening festivities with ice packs & room service instead of fancy dinner out. Memories...   

Grandpa Arrived

Grandpa & Darlene

I was tree-ed

Sanctuary of Truth, massive temple carved entirely of wood

Decades of intricate carvings are amazingly positioned just meters from the sea, salt & tsunamis

Construction began in 1981 & won't be complete till 2025

Wonder what she's thinking

Anatomy of a kiss

Lunch by the sea, tide was out

Tom Yom, SamTam with seabass, chicken wings for girls

Horseshoe crab? We declined

My Dad & Darlene arrived Friday night! Saturday morning pickup from Bangkok, stayed with us 3 nights, and now already gone. They flew north today for mountains & elephant trekking in Chiang Mai, then beaching & kayaking down in the Phi Phi Islands.  We'll see them again in about 11 days.  A bit flight weary, but they're troopers... and diving into the food. 

International Day at school tomorrow.  Surfin USA for the Yankees. Our drummer has swine flu, so Ry volunteered to fill in with the all boy band.  I'm recounting my Yamaha days & giving her drum lessons tonight.  Ha. 

Besides burgers, dogs, chili, dressed turkey & apple pie, what is American food?  It's tough coming up with "American dishes" for events like this. If you have good ideas, enlighten me.  In the beach theme, I'm making all-American potato salad.  Looking forward to what the world shares. Feel like I should be offering more than potato salad. 

Time to help decorate a surf board, you tube Dennis Wilson & slice up some spuds. 

Grandpa's Coming

Snowboarding down the pool slope with her kickboard

So glad I didn't step on this bitty frog who sneaked into our kitchen

Looking forward to my Dad & Darlene visiting this week, our first visitors from home! Staying the next 3 weeks, they'll be coming & going a lot, but I'm excited for good food, beaching, and whatever else suits our fancy... together.  I just adore my Dad & can't wait to see him.

Girls, too, though I think Allie is equally excited for the Gap order I sent to my Dad's for hand delivering to her. It's been tough finding clothes here that fit her & are age appropriate.  Must stock up when home this summer. Rob's needing new running shoes, again, 4th pair since return from France. Can't find a pair here that are nice to his feet.  Most models from home are here, but a good $100 mark-up per pair, x 4 people, 2 with weed-like feet interested in trying new sports = woe is us. Dress clothes for Rob here are kind of impossible.  His L/XL back home is a double or triple XL here and, well... the fit is not the same. We're shaped so differently from Asians, our bodies too. Even my aging eyes can always spot a Western silhouette from a hundred meters away. Haven't yet checked out the custom tailoring they do here, and I've heard mixed reviews.

Going through t-shirts like I never would have imagined. Even though it's cool season now, shirts get wet with sweat after just 15 minutes outside... even at 8am.  It's really gross, and being this close to the sun is harder on clothing than I'd previously given any thought. Yet another form of culture shock.

Our life is good and our problems mundane. Not so for the man we saw yesterday. Girls & I stopped at nearby Sunday open market to pick up dinner of mango, pork & pineapple skewers, and sticky rice.  It was raining lightly and people were packed into market aisles much like a Tokyo subway, except more smiling & fewer hurried agendas.  We nearly stepped on a muddy man pulling himself on his belly through the people & puddles. He was missing one leg, and part of the other. He had a mostly empty basket for money.  I pray nobody ran off with it like we saw once in Paris. Sadly interesting to think about how we hardly see any begging here in "poor" Thailand compared to "wealthy" France where beggars abound.  No cold weather here? More looking out for one's neighbor here, so no need to beg?

Peace to him and a world full of those who will never know the likes of education, tennis lessons, foot pain from choosing to run, or joy from jetting across the earth.