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.

Here are the promised 'nose apples'

Bon appétit en Thai

Bonsoir à vous tous de la Thailande, capitale gastronomique de l'Asie du sud-ouest sinon du monde (sorry à mes amis français qui se connectent à notre blog!).
Voici quelques séléctions à part les 'cucarachas' que vous trouverez ci-dessous.
C ette assiette de sourires nous a acceuilli ce matin dans notre bureau. C'était la surprise de la journée, car quelqu'un, une personne anonyme et différente chaque jour. Le jeu est de deviner qui c'est, tâche difficile car nous n'arrivons pas a retinir les noms des dixaines de personnes que nous rencontrons quotidiennement - est-ce Miou ou Meow, Piou ou Pew, Nok ou Nauk? Ils sont tous adorables et et ne peuvent pas faire assez pour nous contenter. Tous nous présentent leurs projets pour nous amener dîner, à une excursion, pour le weekend... Le seul problème est qu'ils ne se concertent pas et nous avons du mal à refuser leur gentilesse.
La deuxième photo nous fait rire. Je ne connais pas le nom de ces pommes asiatiques en français, mais un de nos amis Thai nous à dit que ceux sont des 'nose apples', en bien indiquant son nez. En realité, ce sont des 'rose apples', dénomination très poétique, qui fait partie des fruits exotiques que nous dégustons chaque jour : mangues vertes et mangues douces, jack fruit, durien, fruit de la passion, papaye, tamarin et j'en passe. Sinon, les fruits que nous connaissons font aussi partie de nos petits déjeuners et nos en-cas : fraises, ananas, melon, prunes multiples etc. (je ne vous parle pas des multiples variétés de bananes! (I hate bananas for those who don't know me)
Troisième photo - à n'importe quel moment de la journée, la nourriture omniprésente. Les Thais mangent
rarement chez eux. La nourriture est très peu 'dispendue' comme on dit au Canada! Hier soir,
pensant bien faire, nous avons invité 2 amis à dîner. La note : 206 Bhat pour 4 (faites vos
calculs - € 1 =50Bh / $Ca = 30 Bh)! Quelle générosité! Et c'était non seulement délicieux, mais nous
n'avons pas pu finir tout ce que nous avons commander car trop copieux.
Dernière photos, les champs de fraises qui dévalaient la montaigne dans le nord de la Thailande que nous
avons visité le weekend dernier (près de Fang, non loin de Chiang Rai pour ceux qui connaissent).
Les feuilles sont quand même plus esthetiques que le plastique noir que nous utilisons chez nous.
Voila, nous pouvons toujours opté pour les 'cucarachas'.
A bientôt
Eva (Evicka en Tchèque pour ceux qui ne me connaissent pas)

Sorry, les 'nose apples' ont disparu, je les ajouterez plus tard

Tuesday

Another day draws to a close and Eva and I are exhausted. We reviewed and corrected the grammar and punctuation of several more PH'D powerpoint presentations, attended meetings and then were driven to a temple for a visit. Eva and I have worked out a deal that for every shopping excursion we enjoy, we visit one temple or pagoda. This may seem a little like an act of contrition for rampant consumerism to some ,but in fact the temples here are really beautiful and full of interesting people.Today to our astonishment we discovered a tranquil area right next to the Buddha statue with a sign reading "Monk Chat"-and that's exactly what it was - several young monks sitting around engaged in animated conversations with a bunch of "firengi" -foreigners.Not sure just what they were talking about but it looked interesting. Last night we were taken to the nightly flower market where row after row of stalls were offering masses of beautiful cut flowers ,wholesale. Never ones to pass up a deal,we had a bouquet of orchids and pussywillows-an unlikely pairing,granted,but we liked it-made for us by one of the many androgenous looking people in this area.Then we kept walking and ended up in a very lively, crowded outdoor food market where every imaginable food could be had for pennies (bahts,actually-30 bahts=1dollar) Note the roasted cockroaches yours for a mere 20 baht a bag.I haven't tried those but I did eat some squid stuffed with pork and chili peppers. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.Bye for the moment, keep in touch
Jean