27 January 2013

Coming Up Next...

...it's our trip to America!  In approximately 51 days and 9 hours we are heading back to Kentucky for our Stateside Assignment. Basically, every couple of years we get to go to America and reconnect with everyone. I'm dreading the trip and anticipating the destination. Being locked in airplanes with Jack Hampton for 29 hours sounds like a nightmare. It also makes me thankful that we are only 29 hours from the US and it's a much easier journey than the trip home from Indonesia. We will be living in Paducah until December and hopefully doing a bit of traveling around the area as well.

In other news, Jack maybe has a broken leg. He fell a week ago and hasn't walked since. The doctors can't find anything on the x-rays, so we are just waiting...I think. Either way, it's not a lot of fun to carry around a 2 year old in the Bangkok heat, but at least he doesn't have to wear shoes and that saves me a few minutes every time we leave the house.

We are keeping busy getting all of stuff ready to go into storage. It's a great time to get rid of stuff, so I have been cleaning out closets and throwing away as much as I can. One benefit of moving so often is getting rid of stuff I don't really need, but moving is a lot of work. I consider myself an expert 50 pound suitcase packer at this point and I will soon be testing my skills again.

20 January 2013

Things That Probably Don't Happen At Your Preschool (Part 2)

Last week was traffic and bicycle safety day at Asher's school. I'm not really sure what all they talked about because Asher said that he had a hard time understanding the policemen.

I think they learned a little about road signs and maybe how the policemen direct traffic. During the busiest parts of the day in Bangkok policemen will be at most intersections stopping traffic during green lights and generally adding to the chaos in the streets. Maybe now the preschoolers understand why?


After the safety lecture they all headed outside to practice what they had learned. Asher evidently had fun waiting for his turn to ride the bikes.


They practiced safely crossing the road (or maybe they let the bike riders get an early start on scaring pedestrians dumb enough to try and cross the road).

There were also stoplights and different traffic signs set up around the courtyard, so I think they had to follow directions and try to not break any of the rules. Asher was unclear as to whether or not traffic violations resulted in needing to pay a bribe.

Overall it seemed to be a fun day and Asher really liked it because there was very little time spend learning to write Thai letters that day.

The odd part of the day came out later on when he kept talking to me about the policemen and their bags. I finally asked him what he was talking about and this is what he says: "Well, Khruu Wen (his teacher) told us that if we stood up or talked while the policemen were talking they would hit us with their stick and put us in their bag and take us away."

Asher sort of scoffs at this sort of thing and doesn't fall for it, but it's a pretty normal for people here to tell their kids things like this. We have a friend in a different part of the country that finally realized one day that all of the children in her church were scared of her because their parents had been telling them that foreigners bite kids.

Just another day at school, living in fear of policemen sticking you in a bag for standing up when you are supposed to be sitting down.

18 January 2013

Things That Probably Don't Happen At Your Preschool

There are a few things that are different in a Thai preschool. Let's look back to the end of July and see what happened on Fire Drill Day 1, Year 2555.

In order to make it more realistic they actually started a small fire inside the school.


And then they rolled the fire through the hallways.


Of course, there is the obligatory group picture.


Like all good events there was a special sign made just for that day.


Okay, I admit, the sign is a little creepy looking.

Asher seemed unmoved by the whole experience. He was unimpressed by the fire in the hallways, but he was quite taken with the small flags that the teachers carried. For some reason he calls the flags castles and for months talked about seeing castles all around the city. We didn't know what he was talking about for the longest time. I still haven't figured out why he thinks flags are called castles.


So, what do you think? Are we likely to run into these types of fire drills when we are in the US?

01 January 2013

Project 365: 358 - 366

Day 358

Roger played tour guide and took everyone to Ayutthaya to see the old temples and ride elephants. Asher had a blast, Jack and I stayed at home and Roger posed on an old temple.

Day 359

Happy Birthday Baby Jack!

Day 360

Merry Christmas! And let's mention how these four could not sit still for a picture. Every single picture has Asher frozen in this pose, Jack running away, Ellie being held in place by Asher and Aedan looking he's just fed up it.

Day 361

We followed up an exciting Christmas with two sick boys and lots of laundry.

Day 362

Daddy and Asher relaxing in the glow of the iPad. More than likely it was Asher showing off how great he is at Fruit Ninja.

Day 363

Roger and I went out for the evening and I had the opportunity to model my Christmas present.

Day 364

I took Roger's mom out for a foot massage, it's the best way to end a day of walking around the city.

Day 365

Jack had Asher's sunglasses and Asher's bike. You can imagine how well Asher took that.

Day 366

Asher got a guitar for Christmas and he loves to sit on the couch strumming some chords and making up songs.



And that's it. An entire year in pictures. I'm glad that I did it and I'm glad to be done.