We'll be back.

January is approaching fast and the Jeaneva team, accompanied by Robert will be back in Thailand for another month. We are counting the days to be back with our Thai friends and colleagues as well as to share with you our new adventures.

What wonderful memories

I keep on looking at photos and going back to the blog, remembering the fabulous time we had. If anyone out there in cyberspace was part of our stay in Thailand, thank you again and again for making it a totally unforgettable experience.

A bientôt

E

GOODBYE

So, this is it-March 3rd, 4:45 pm -time to leave for the airport-time to say goodbye .
Yesterday, we saw elephants painting and of course we each bought a painting to bring home. A new baby elephant had just been born the day before - you can see the fuzzy little thing on your right. Lunch was an experience in itself as we sat on a terrace overlooking a lush tropical forest with rapids swirling far far down below us. The group at the next table included a handsome Thai male movie star and his many beautiful friends. More shopping, of course, at the Sunday Bazaar . This morning we picked up a large number of made -to- measure silk suits, skirts etc- incredible deals- I had two 3- piece suits made for less than 300.00 cdn!
Lunch with all the friends we made at the university topped off the morning- and then a final dash to buy an extra suitcase each to accomodate all our treasures. Eva, by the way, evolved into an avid shopper- the word "temple" was barely uttered in the last week-and she found 3 new pairs of shoes with her name on them on the way to the luggage shop!
And there you have it- we have had the best of times-and the nicest thing is that a friendship of 45 plus years has been reinforced with a month of living and working in this wonderful country-
an experience we 'll never forget.
Goodbye from both of us - see you at home.
Jean and Eva.

goodbye

So,

Here they are. A teacher's delight.
For the past week, we have been working with the students from CAMT, the faculty of Communications and Media Technology of Chiang Mai University. We had previously selected 12 of them out of a potential 55 candidates to travel to Montreal and Toronto, Canada.
They have been a pure pleasure : intelligent, industrious and with a wonderful sense of humour. With them, we worked to improve their English through their knowledge of Canada (yes, there is more to this great country other than Niagara 'Water'falls and polar bears and no, it is unlikely that there will be snow in May) and'survival English' or how to get by in certain situations through games and role play.
They were asked to make presentations and they came up trumps with excellent research and a good knowledge of the use of IT.
Despite the fact that it was the first week of their summer break and they still had the aftertaste of exams, they were on time and keen to learn each new day.
Thank you to you all. Have a good rest before your new adventure begins.
Thank you for being you.
Mrs. Stafford and Mrs. Morrison

The Dream Team's Team - The nicest kids in the world

The Dream Team

Yet another wonder of Thailand

No, this is not a fireworks celebtation! We just wanted to let you know that you can leave your comments on our blog by clicking on 'Comments' at the end of each entry. We would love to hear from you.
E + J

Just a few words and pictures about our 3-day visit to the province of Mae Hong Son in the northwest corner of Thailand........

Our first night was spent in Pai , a city with a slightly tarnished reputation which the government is eager to reverse.
We saw nothing except a small town full of young backpackers and 1960's -like hippies selling homemade jewellery in the streets. However,we were speechless the next morning when, right in the middle of breakfast on the terrace of our hotel, we watched a group of elephants saunter by in the river below on their way to work!
The next day,we visited the cavernous Tam Lod caves. There's a river running through them and we were taken into the darkness on bamboo rafts manned (actually womaned) by our pigtailed guide. She's the one holding the lantern in the picture. Standing beside me is Jon, the ex- monk who works at the university and accompanied us on this trip. The limestone formations were astounding, as were the many many bats flying around.
Next we took a riverboat ride up the Pai river to a Long Neck Karen village tribe. The practice of elongating their necks is making a comeback for the purpose of attracting tourists and there is much controversy in this country about the ethics of this: some call it exploitation while others claim it provides the tribe with an easy and welcome source of income. It seemed a little sad to me although the women were gracious and welcoming.
The following day we made our way , with a military escort, high up the mountain (these are the foothills of the Himalayas, folks!) to a remote coffee plantation/village which sells it's product to Starbuck's in the States.They get 100 bahts /kilo-just over 3 dollars cdn. and seemed pretty pleased by that-there were quite a few satellite dishes attached to their leaf- roofed houses.
On the final day we went to the Burmese border and met Kara in one of the little stores there-she showed us how to prepare the bettle nuts many rural Thais chew (seems equivalent to chewing tobacco) and I bet Eva 5 bucks that she wouldn't try it. Never one to back away from a dare, she popped it into her mouth and chewed tentatively. Nothing left to do but pay up, but she thought I had said 5 baht -about 14 cents- and never one to pass up a bargain, I quickly dispatched my debt!
Jean

Thai Temples

Greetings to you all:
Here are just a few pictures to give you a taste of the beauty of Thai Temples, or Wats as they call them here. The one on the top right was taken in a temple in Lamphun, about 70 kms. southeast of Chiang Mai. This photo tells it all, the beauty of the nature, the elegance of the temple architecture, the adoration of the king of Thailand in the yellow flag that we see everywhere (half the population seems to be dressed in the same yellow polo-necked T-shirts bearing the king's crest) and the nationalism with the red, white and blue striped flag.
The black Buddha was taken in Chiang Mai and depicts one of the many different aspects and poses of the Buddha, always kind, always mindful and always beautifully cared for. When venerating a Buddha, one brings three basic offerings: a candle that is then lit that represents teaching and enlightenment, incense because the fragrance and smoke are ephemeral and a lotus flower, which despite its beauty, grows in muddy waters and is short-lived.
The white chedi (stupa) is in the Burmese style as the Thai chedi are gold. This was taken in a wat in the northwest corner of Thailand in Mae Hong Son, perched high on a hill above the town, surrounded by the rolling foothills of the Himalayas that form the border between Thailand and Myanmar (Burma). The moon was full, the clouds were pink and it was a truly magical moment. The lady walking around it (3 times) with a pot of flowers in her hand is me. Jeannie is running in front of me. Yes, she was there for those of you who might be in doubt. Worry not, there was a shop within the grounds where she managed to drop a few baht.
The last is the flower of the Sala or Bohdi tree which is so important in the story of Buddha. One story relates that when Buddha lay dying after he came down from the mountains after 6 years of deprivation and meditation, his first sensation in semi-consciousness was the fragrance of a petal of a Sala flower that had fallen onto his cheek. Budha also finally reached Enlightenment while meditating under a Sala tree. Which brings me back full circle as the 'umbrella' (sorry, I have forgotten the correct name) that you see in the first picture is a representation of the Sala tree.
There you have a little piece of one of the 'delicacies', in the truse sense of the word that I so love in Thailand.
Eva

A few words from me before we call it a night......
Today Eva, Nok, Peter (a visiting prof. from Ryerson University) and I visited an elephant training centre and hospital where these huge mammals are housed,trained and cared for. We had the opportunity to see them bathe in a river and show off the skills they used to use in the logging industry. Machines have taken over their work as loggers now and caring for Thailand's 4,500 mostly unemployed elephants has become somewhat of a costly proposition. I've included a picture of a patient in their hospital whose foreleg was badly injured when she stepped on a land mine at the Burmese border.
Later we visited a large ceramics factory which supplies Pier 1 in Canada. We came away with many samples. The picture shows us happily displaying our ceramic bird houses which we'll somehow have to bring home in our hand luggage, I guess. On the way home to Chiang Mai from these 2 places in Lamphang, we stopped at a local fresh food market. Among the fascinating foods being offered for sale were plastic baggies full of live gigantic frogs. No, we only bought fried bananas ! We were too tired upon our return to go to the humungous weekly Sunday night market-I can't believe I said "uncle" on that activity. There's always next Sunday!
Tomorrow we get down to work-we've interviewed 51 students and chosen 10 who will be going to Canada in April .They're to spend 2 weeks at the LBPSB school of international studies working on their English and then 2 more weeks attending various classes at Ryerson University in Toronto. One of our jobs here is to prepare them for this trip. As well, on Monday afternoon Eva, Nok , Peter and I will travel to Mae Hong Son province at the northeastern tip of Thailand to scope out it's tourism potential .We'll get back here on Thursday and let you know how it went. Talk to you later.....
Jean

Not enough hours in a day

Our days have been so full that we haven't had the time to keep you up to date with our activities. Each and every moment is filled with surprises, changes of plans, another aspects of the beauty of Thailand and its wonderful people and customs. We met a very interesting Buddhist British-born artist, visited a gorgeous boutique hotel where we had a wonderful dinner to the sounds of the rapids in the river just below our table and the cries of the wild peacocks and cuckatoos. We were shown the grounds and its magnificent spa, decked out in sumptuous silks, antiques and gold leaf. I even got Jeannie into a couple of temples and despite the fact that it was against her carthegian mind, she released the caged birds bought at the temple entrance for that purpose, only to have an afterthought about the possibility of contracting bird flu.