In the Philippines

We took holiday in Cebu, Philippines to avoid the Chinese New Year madness of Shenzhen. It was been a fine break with Eileen spending most of the time recovering from her terrible sinus infection & me getting sun burned to a crisp. I like my meat well done thank you. We took the ultra red eye flight out here as it was the only direct one available & checked into our very out of the way resort called Costabella Resort. To get here you drive about 20 minutes from the airport & see how most people live in the area & it is sobering. Our 1st room was not the best w/ ants hiking around the place & the toilet backing up. Also, it was missing some simple amenities so the management up graded us w/o cost when I brought it up to their attention. We took two trips out of our "compound" & realized, again, how spoiled we are. So tomorrow it is back to China & grind out the work & smog of the area. Oh, that last photo is NOT the plane on fire but the air conditioning prior to take off.

Off to Saudi Arabia, School Year 2012-13

Sorry for the late posting but Eileen & I were offered a gracious contract to teach with the International Schools Group in Saudi Arabia at the Dhahran Elementary/Middle School, while we attended the Bangkok job fair. The main reason we even got an interview, let alone the offer was due in part with knowing two great sets of teachers there, Eric & Jamie Brown & Jack & Coree Rundell. They paved the way for us & it came down to our interviewers asking Eric's opinion about us in which he gave his emphatic approval. So we're done with our China tour of duty & happy to moving on to a quality school. Eileen will be teaching 3rd grade & I'll be teaching 5th. We will join many from this school who have moved to that region of the world, some nearby. We consider ourselves greatly blessed. After our return we had two weeks of school where many teachers became sick with one thing or another, including Eileen, but now we have a week off for Chinese New Year. We're off to relax now that our future has been settled.

Happy New Year 2012

I'm writing from the Kingdom of Thailand. Sounds impressive eh? It's been an okay place, Chiang Mai that is. Our hotel is out there & so we awake to the sounds of roosters, dogs, & cats that inform us all through the night & early in the day the local news. We also must be close to a local hang out as we hear live music until 1am. We forgot that the traditional beds are hard so my hips are sore. Oh, our bathroom to our suite doesn't have a roof! Yep, it is an outdoor bathroom equipped w/ a shower & jacuzzi tub, sink, etc. You go out there & see the stars. It really is odd. The tough part is bugs & leaves that collect there. Eileen filled up the tub to have a nice relaxing evening & when she turned on the jets out came all this dirt & ants that held up in there. Yuck! She took it well & now we stick w/ showers. The bugs haven't been too bad but I cover myself w/ bug spray often. Boy, don't I smell different! During the day it has been mid 80s & at night a nice chilly mid 60s. You have to drive hours to get any where. We did a day trip & spent 6.5 hours in the van to see only 90 minutes worth of sights. Whoa. So we saw the White Temple w/ modern art inside, actual entered the country of Laos, & visited the Karen tribe famous for the long neck ladies. They emigrated from Burma & settled in No. Thailand. The hard part for me was all the poverty, especially the children. That bothered me greatly. The food is good & the people have been very sweet & kind, at least outside the city. In the city the civility drops a bit w/ so many tourists running around. Last night we try to walk down "walking street" in the center of Chiang Mai. We never made it to the next block. It was packed! It is this way every Sunday & I’m guessing because it was the 1st of the year it was especially crowded. We went back the next day & it was empty. A lot of expats make Chiang Mai home, about 40 thousand. Most are into small business & charity organization or NGOs. It is the next largest city in the country or so I’m told & close to the famous Golden Triangle & beautiful mountain country. I believe the highest peak in Thailand is nearby at almost 2,600 meters. The land is very Buddhist & loyal to their king. I’ve added some quotes from his New Year address. I found them interesting & worth noting. Okay, write more from the job fair in Bangkok, about the 6th or 7th.

…live with consciousness, be mindful and brace for unwanted events in the future.

Suffering, threats and hindrances will come to our lives from time to time. Nobody always stays happy.

Remain mindful by being aware of what you think and do all the time.