COMING SOON

Before her death, the Kings' Mother made a request to Boonthan Mahavan to do anything necessary to improve the standard of living for the hill-tribe people in Northern Thailand. One of Boonthan's projects is a small school near Mae Chaem that houses around fifty hill-tribe kids. The kids come from various groups such as the Aka, Lisu, and Hmong located near the Thai-Myanmar border areas.

I had a chance to visit this amazing school and spend a couple nights at Boonthan's house. In the next few days I will attempt to piece together a series of posts that highlight the school and various projects created to improve the life of these amazing people.

The Good Old Daze

An old friend recently tracked me down via the internet and sent me some photos from the early 90's.

The Magic Van, buried in snow, was me and Brown's home for a couple years in the mountains of Colorado. It had recently snowed a couple feet on my property and Brown didn't mind at all. The silence of winter was beautiful up in the hills.

Great BIG? World

On my way to take a TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) Certificate course at Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

“It’s a great big world out there,” we were told back in the days of 55 mph speed limits, broadcast television, and green and black computer screens. Heck, it wasn’t long ago that most people believed the earth was flat and the universe revolved around the flat Earth. Oh my, how things have changed.

Just after flying over Duluth, Minnesota and Lake Superior, which holds about one-fifth of the planets fresh water, I was served up a nice hot meal. (yes, international flights still serve food…for free!) I had chosen a Korean dish since I was flying Korean airlines, and settled in for the 14-hour trip from Atlanta to Seoul.

On the side of the tray, holding several small covered dishes, I was humored to see a single pad of Land O’ Lakes butter. The Native American Indian maiden on the front of the red, yellow and green label was very familiar to this Minnesota boy.

The organization was incorporated on July 8, 1921, as the Minnesota Cooperative Creameries Association. In 1924, the association decided to expand its butter market, and a search was made for an appropriate brand name and trademark. A contest was announced to choose a name. To tie in with the golden color of butter, $500 in gold was offered as prize money.(www.landolakes.com)

I chuckled how this little pad of butter from Minnesota, and a Minnesota native, were flying over Duluth, where my mother was raised, on their way to South Korea.

As I panned further around the array of food, I found several countries were sharing my plate. Japan had the seaweed soup. Korea had the hot sauce. China had the dinner wear. America had the water and butter, and I guessed the bread. Columbia had the coffee.

The well-kept and polite Korean stewardess smiled and asked (in English) if I would like some wine, (from Italy), or tea (from India). I stuck with the Americas and had a coffee and Sprite.

The native Thai man next to me asked the stewardess for a wine, (in Korean) then looked at me and said, “Cheers, here’s to a short flight.”

I assumed the plane would handle enough Middle Eastern fuel to get this hodge-podge of passengers to wherever it was we were all going. It seemed most ethnicities were represented on this 747 jumbo jet. And like the little pad of Land O’ Lakes butter, we were all crossing this ever-shrinking planet sharing little bits of our cultures.

8.14.08 - Time To Fly

The time has arrived when I put down my carpentry tools and embark on another journey into the vast world outside the confines of my home country. I use the word “confines” not in an unruly or condescending manner, but in the reality that, for me, Americanism has the ability to overshadow the amazing things that happen every day at all corners of the globe. Although the computer age has given us the ability for virtual travel through news and travel websites, it just isn’t the same as experiencing foreign countries first hand.

One of my favorite hobbies when traveling is to keep an eye on the newspapers and foreign news broadcasts. It is interesting to see perspectives of current issues from various cultural viewpoints around the world. These perspectives give me the tools to help evaluate my own viewpoints and inevitably cause a revamping of my opinions.

Over the past few months I have brushed up on my Thai language skills. My new repertoire includes numbers, a vital aspect of survival. I am also now able to string together some simple sentences. It will be exciting to test my new skills in daily life around the country.

During this new journey to Thailand and beyond, I will again use my computer and camera to note some of the things I find interesting, practical, funny, amazing, or just beautiful. I will try to add posts on a regular basis over the next few weeks; I hope you have a chance to check in.

Great Quote

Once, a king visited the Buddha and was astonished to see how calm and happy His monks were. So he asked, "Venerable Sir, the monks of other gurus constantly look as if they're in pain.  But your monks, Sir, radiate such peace and happiness. Tell me, how do they did it?"

The Buddha's answer is one of the most beautiful things I've ever read. He said, "They have no regrets about the past. They have no worries about the future. They are at peace with the present".

That's it. The whole secret of daily happiness is in these three simple sentences. It's so profoundly beautiful.

From The Daily Enlightenment on buddhanet.net

Just another Day

Just another Day

The farmers across the street load their scooters with milk cans. Cattle are prodded through the streets to their new location. Chickens crow out in the orange glow of the morning sun rising over the mountains, while patrons go in and out of the little corner shop selling sweet and spicy Thai food for breakfast. It’s just another day in rural Northern Thailand.

For me, it’s my last – at least for a little while. I pack my bags leaving behind several things which I hope to return to next fall. On the list; a pair of tennis shoes, two pairs of jeans, a couple shirts and some books. The first leg of my journey will only allow a maximum load of forty pounds.

Tomorrow I will fly from Chiang Mai to the international airport in Bangkok, hold out in a hotel for the night, and leave early the following day on my thirty-hour trip back across the planet.

Thailand hasn’t changed much in the five years since my last visit, and hopefully, it won’t change any time soon.

Sawadee

Broadcasting, Thai Style

Around seven in the morning, the daily news rings through the rural countryside via massive loudspeakers mounted on concrete utility poles. Throughout the day, there will be information such as election results, updates on the Royal family, and village meetings sent through the system.

Election Day was drawing near when I arrived in Thailand; a good opportunity to put the loudspeakers to work. This time, mounted on the top of trucks covered in campaign posters, the sound went mobile.

Every hour or so, I detected a faint noise in the mountain valley, which slowly became louder and louder, until the deafening sound passed by our front gate. The use of loudspeakers, along with vote-buying, seems to be the preferred method of campaigning around Mae On village.

Talking with local people, around 400 baht (around 12 dollars), seemed to be the going rate for the two biggest political parties. The local people we spoke with, to took the money, but did not vote for the party who coughed up the cash.

I wondered why vote-buying wasn’t exposed by the media since it was widely known by the public. The most common answer I got – the media would be in big trouble if they decided to report on this without concrete evidence, and currently, the people are not willing to come forward if there is media involved. So today in Thailand, as in many other developing countries, vote-buying stands.