Teacher Appreciation

This week I was able to be part of a ceremony in honor of teachers. This was a first for me; A ceremony honoring me! Teacher appreciation in the past  has come from the building PTA. They would arrange lunches, coffee machines and at one school I taught at a massage chair in the teacher's lounge. I have also worked at schools where the day goes unnoticed due to no one wanting to organize it. The biggest difference between my past teacher appreciation events and the one in Thailand, was this one had a huge emphasis on respect.

The profession of "teacher" in Thailand is held in the same consideration as doctor and lawyer. Parents and students hold a high honor for what we do and have to say. One way of showing this regard is through the wai (bow).

Orchids. Love them.

Part of teacher appreciation is the Wai Kru. This is a special ceremony in which students present flowers to their teachers by sitting on the floor with a bow in deep praise. They then promise to try their best and be good students.

It was a special thing to be able to be apart of this custom. I wish my fellow teachers in the States could feel the way I did after the day.  Maybe I need to bring this tradition back to the American school system when I head back.

Jasmin leis.  My house smelled awesome.

I have decided I need to have fresh flowers around more often.  They are also cheap to buy.  Less then a $1 for a bunch.

Sri Lanka

Children like predictability, schedules/routines and familiarity. When you travel, all of that goes out the window. It can cause some pretty stressful moments where you no longer like them (love them of course). But when you live in an area where getting places you can only imagine is super easy and fiscally reasonable, you book trips in hopes this time will be different (the definition of insanity).

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Just call Wade and me crazy, we just took our two little ones on a nine day trip around Sri Lanka. We had the time off, we were looking for an adventure, so it all made sense. With late nights, missing naps, changing hotels and traveling the kids did great okay. We survived and one day we will look at the trip with fond memories. In the meantime, we are taking these next couple of days to lay low and recover.

We started our trip in Columbo. From there we headed south to the beaches ofHikkaduwa and Galle/Unawatuna. We saw aDutch fortress, went on a safari and found our safe haven to be the beach. Our best day of the trip was learning to surfin Weligama from my cousin Josh and spending the night eating, laughing,singing and dancing with family. The highlight of the trip was meeting our newbest friend Sampson, a tuk-tuk driver in Galle. He took awesome care of us for four days. He waited at our guest house each morning,took us where ever we wanted, arranged tours and was always there.

By the end we longed for Bangkok and everything we knowthere. It was like when we longed forthe US when we first moved abroad.

Absence truly does make the heart grow fonder.

More pictures from the trip:

Beach time.

Oh some of the thing we saw...

Being blessed at a temple

Sea turtle hatchery.

A hike to a hidden beach then lunch at a popular one.

Having fun with cousins. It was so nice to see family!!!!

Safari in Yala National Park.

Thai Price

Most visitors to Thailand probably don't realize that most things here have two prices: one for Farangs (foreigners) and one for Thais. As an expat living here, it can get discouraging knowing that you are paying 50% or more than your Thai neighbor. I just remind myself that an average Thai does not make much and it helps to keep it fair (maybe).

However, there is a silver lining to it all for us. We were told to wait until I got my work permit before doing some of the local attractions. It was because you just show a copy of that and you got the Thai price.

It is true.

For the cost of one outing, we have been able to go on three and have still saved money over our holiday break. I feel that I am in some secret club when I go to these attractions (water park, zoos, aquarium,...) and get a better deal than the Farang beside me.

The little joys of living abroad.

Enjoy some pictures from the water part of Siam Park. It cost us $10 to get in, instead of the $33 ;).

He LOVES Magnum ice cream bars.

World's largest wave pool.  It is in the Guinness Book.

Wade's softball teammates call him Mr. December.  I wonder why?  (the guy doesn't wear a shirt unless he has too).

We took our neighbor Anna with us.  Wade was glad to have a friend to go on the big slides with :).

Curls for the Girls.

Liam finally got his first haircut. I was going to just let it grow, but it wasn't growing as even as I hoped. He was starting to develop a curly mullet.

Our neighbor's nanny is a trained beautician. She came over after dinner one night and trimmed up the back. I had to bribe him with marshmallows to keep him still. She was able to trim the back and sides, but he got sick of eating and sitting and the top stayed longer.

He still has some curl left on top. What a handsome boy!! He is turning more boy eveyday.

Christmas

Being away for the holidays, we had to figure out how to continue some old traditions, but also start some new ones.  I think Wade and I were pretty successful in making this season a "magical" one for the kids.  Amelia is already on countdown for next year.

SA-WAT-DEE!  I didn't think I would be doing Xmas cards this year.  However, my friend Amy told me that there was an app for that.  I didn't send as many as I have in the past, but it was fun to take our annual picture and share it with friends and family.

Christmas Eve (day) we decided to go downtown and see what we could find.  It ended up being a good day and hopefully a new tradition while we are here.

We first went to Ocean World.  It is a pretty amazing aquarium, with tons of fish. 

We found tons of hints of the season.  Bangkok was decorated with lights and trees.  The kids loved spotting them.

We went looking for another place to eat, but found The Outback Steakhouse.  Steak and ribs were a good taste of home and a break from Thai food.

Amelia and I went to Christmas Eve Mass with friends. 

 Having three weeks off and it being so easy to travel, it was tempting to take off this week.  But one tradition I want to continue no matter where we live, is Christmas morning at home.   The kids woke to what Santa had brought them and we opened gifts in our PJs.  Thanks to family who sent money, I was able to make a playroom.  Ikea was a blessing this season.

Opening gifts

Santa came.  My friend Amy helped me make the kid's stockings.

Merry Christmas.

Safari World

I am convinced that nothing we do here will be without it being an adventure. When we head back to the states with the kids, they will be bored with the rules and regulations placed on every aspect of their lives.  In cars they will be shocked they have to be buckled up, on motorcycles they won't understand why a family of four can't go for a ride and without helmets and so much more. In Thailand, there seems to be no rules (even though there is.  You are not supposed to buy alcohol from 1-5pm every day.  Leave it to Wade to find the stores that will sell it to him) and we experience things here that would never happen in the US.

Enjoying a show drinking a Singha at 11am.  The kids had milk.

A prime example of are the zoos here. 

A couple weeks ago we had a Wednesday off for the King's birthday and Thai Father's Day.  We decided to spend it at a zoo that is really close to us called Safari World.  We had low expectations of what it was all about, but left saying we will be back.

The first thing about the zoo was that animals are not caged to the extreme as we have seen before.  Yes they are in cages, but you can still touch the animals through them.  You lose an arm, that is your fault.  There is no suing here.   The second, you are going to see the animals.  Zoos I have been to in the past only have a couple animals per exhibit.  This is not the case here.  PETA may have some issues, but each area is full of species so you will have a sighting.  Lastly, part of the zoos here was making it an interactive experience.  No high costs, no set times, just show up and feed or play with some animals.  We fed giraffes for about a $1, birds climbed on us for free and if we had our own car to go through the safari part, we could have done so much more. 

For anyone who visits Thailand/Bangkok, you need to make a zoo trip part of your itinerary.

Giraffe feeding.  Their tongues are really long a black.

Safari.  Liam was in awe the whole time.  Next time we are renting a car so we can go at our own pace and keep the windows open.

Just a zebra crossing the road.

This bird landed on me.

Elephant show.  Wade wanted to buy one of the paintings the elephants did.  It was about $15.  Maybe next time.

Making it Christmas

Notice my wine bottle roller.

When I was packing to move here in July, the last thing that crossed my mind was the holiday season.  I honestly didn't think about the stockings, Fart (Elf on the shelve) and special decorations.  They all got boxed away and put into the Tetras game we call storage.  At this point, even if I had someone go try and find some stuff to mail me, it wouldn't do any good.

I had to let it go an move on.

Thank goodness for  Ikea, friends and Pinterest we have been able to feel the season when we turn Christmas lights on, turn the lights low and blast the air con.

Cutters from Ikea

Amelia's teacher, Miss Anne, gave us her family tree to use.  She was raised here by teacher parents, but they have all moved on to Hong Kong where she would be spending the holidays.  I am not the biggest fan of fake trees, but there is no real ones here, so I knew that is what we were going to get.  The tree she  has lent us is one of the nicest fakes I have seen.

Liam loved playing with the dough.  

 There is also not a lack of holiday decorations to be found in Thailand.  For a country that is Buddhist, the Thais still like their Western traditions and Christmas is one.  The decorations aren't the highest quality (think 70s plastic), but we were able to find lights and the basics.  Thailand also got Ikea last year where we bought the Christmas tree starter package.

This leaves us making our home one of memories and homemade goodness.  Pinterest saved us there.  I decided that I was going to have the kids make dough ornaments.  I researched recipes (I decided on one with cinnamon.  Not only does it smell good, but it keeps ants away,  I HATE ants). and we got started. The kids and I made the dough, cut out the shapes and baked them.  We then took them to a friend's house where we had an ornament making party.   It was a fun evening and now our tree is a little more personalized.

My oven.Yes, I do cook dinner it this every once and a while.  It actually works pretty good. 

All painted and drying.

Now all I need to do is get some stockings made.  That was my plan this weekend, but time got me.  I have fabric that a friend gave me.  I hope to cut the pattern out and take it outside our neighborhood where there is lady with a sewing machine.  I have heard I can get them sewn for around 100 bht, about $3,  They may not be the personalized ones we have from Pottery Barn, but Santa will still be able to fill them.  Hopefully not with coal.

Merry Christmas

Fingerprint snowman

Amelia's ornament she painted.

Popsicle sticks never looked so good.  Amelia HAD to have hers all pink and purple.