In The Land of Smiles

This is our PC physician. It is difficult to grasp the depth of concern our physician and PC staff have in regard to our health and safety. Beyond being of service to our host country I believe the PC overriding mission is to keep us safe and healthy. I know many loved ones back home are concerned for us - put those concerns to rest. We are so well cared for it puts me to shame as a mother!


Do you know how to wai? Here are some PC staffers helping us learn the proper etiquette for greeting peers, seniors and VIPs. Sure am happy I am a "senior".
:-)


Here is a wai in progress. The younger of the two initiates the greeting. The hands of the younger go higher to the face while the "senior" responds with a wai at about chest level.


Here we are happily anticipating our dinner out. The food was great!


On the way to the restaurant. It was a little too far to walk so we all rode in bright red busses. As you can probably tell from the expression on these people -- we were having a good time.


The restaurant we visited is located in the middle of rice fields. They grow their own fish in a pond and have nets to contain them and make them easier to spear for dinner. We all ate outside.


The young people in our group are so very nice to us "seniors". Here is a big smile from the handsome fellow who offered to take our photo (the one in this posting).


Ever hear of karaoke? Here is a photo of a song in progress. This is a very popular pass time and it is our understanding that sooner or later EVERYONE WILL participate. So I am trying to brush up on Happy Birthday.


This is some of the PC staff relaxing before our meal. Can you see the two ladies taking a photo of each other. Cameras and the taking of photos seems to be everywhere!


Some more of our group on the bus happily anticipating our dinner. Yum yum!


You can see John on the right. On the left is our senior most volunteer and she is delightful. She can (and does) run rings around me!

Welcome to Thailand

This photo says it all. Every person we have met or worked with has greeted us with a welcoming smile and a "wai" with their hands. Yesterday we learned some of the etiquette associated with offering a proper wai to be polite and proper. But the emphasis is always on the "smile."

Hello Volunteers and Welcome!

The PC staff made a greeting card for each and every one of us. They read what we call our "aspiration statement" which is basically what we hope to accomplish while serving. Based upon what we wrote the staff member created a welcome card for each one of us. So each one is very different and personalized. What a great idea to make us feel welcome! This is mine, needless to say. I think it is pretty darn clever!


Had to show you the inside of the card. Whoever made it has a future maybe with Hallmark or American Greetings.

To The Hotel!

Our necklaces are so beautiful I just had to take another photo of them. In the shot you can also see the new dictionary each of us received upon arrival and getting our welcome kits.


This is our room. It is comfortable, roomy and even came with a in-residence husband!


Here is one of my fellow volunteers before she fell asleep. Glad I managed to take a couple of photos before the sandman arrived.


Another fellow traveller before she closed her eyes for a little nap. Although she looks fresh and wide awake we had just travelled half way around the world and most of us did it with no or little sleep during the interim.


The buses we were provided for the ride to the hotel were really neat. AND more importantly, very comfortable. They had an upper as well as lower passenger seating. This photo is of the bottom area. I sat at the table and it was comfortable. Although it was the middle of the night, I could not sleep because even with the darkness there was soo very much to see. Out of Bangkok there were not lots of lights so the stars were very clear and the moon shone down on us giving us its blessings.

Arrival At Last

Hello Tokyo and Hello Kitty! Ever seen a Hello Kitty Jet? Ok. Here is your chance. We spotted this plane as we landed in Tokyo for a 3 hour layover. (Can you tell it was raining?)


This is Dr. John. Upon first seeing him I thought he must be a diplomat or maybe an Ambassador. He has the presence of someone you would see in the movies. Dr. John is our CD. (Peace Corps loves acronyms - it means country director) What a neat guy. He came to the airport at half past midnight just to say welcome to us.


Each of us was presented with one of these wonderful orchid necklaces by our program director. Aren't they beautiful?


Here is John asking a question. Can you see the person to the right of him holding up a sign? It says CBOD. That is the acronym for the program he will participate in.


Getting ready to claim our baggage. Get out your claim checks everybody!


Here are some members getting ready to fill out their special baggage tags. The operation went so smoothly it was unreal. Our bags traveled on a truck. By the time we got to the hotel (maybe 2:30 am), checked in and collapsed we could hear the bags being set down outside of our door. Hope I will be able to work on my project as efficiently!


The camera situation was kind of crazy. We wanted to take photos of the PC greeters and they wanted to take photos of us. There were cameras everywhere. Although this photo is a little dark you should be able to see a PC staffer on the left diligently trying to get a crowd of volunteers to hold still long enough for a photo. If you want to see it more clearly just click on the photo and it will enlarge.


And here are two happy Harts in the Bangkok airport wearing their orchid necklaces. Home at last in the "Land of Smiles!"


We heard lots of whooping and hollering. "What could that be" we asked each other. Well it was our PC staff members saying Welcome!


Is this a photo of enthusiasm or what

Here We Go!

This is just a small snapshot of the piles of luggage in which we all put things we absolutely could not live without. Like what? you may ask. Well it certainly does vary. . . a guitar, a flashlight, Burt's Bees lipbalm (12 sticks is supposed to last her 2 years!), the list goes on. It all adds up to a whole lot of luggage moving!


Got 5 minutes to spare while waiting for your flight? Break out the old laptop and cruise the WEB. Dale thinks that's a great idea while sitting in the SF airport.


Pat and Jenn prefer perusing the day's headlines. Guess it helps being patient if you are occupied. We all can hardly wait till we actually are on our way.


While some were occupying themselves with their laptops others, as you can see, took a moment to grab some sushi.


Kelly with the ready smile. We are all excited about going to the "land of smiles".


A glimpse of some of our group patiently waiting with oh so much carry-on baggage. And it is oh so heavy!


Can you spot the item this young lady could not leave home without? Yes friends, it is her teddy bear.


Goodbye SanFrancisco -- See you in 27 months. Of course that is unless we re-up for another hitch or move on to another country for a little touring.

Orientation - The First Day!

In an earlier entry we shared the view from our room at night. This is a photo of our view during the day. If you look carefully you will see the tops of the Golden Gate bridge and the green hills beyond.


This is a member of our staging team. She is welcoming us to the first session of our orientation. There are more than 50 of us all together. We are truly a cross section of the U.S. Our group has representation from Alaska to Florida and from Montana to Texas as well as from California to Connecticut. AND we found at least two other people from Georgia! One just graduated from Berry College.


Here is another member of the staging staff. He and his wife served as a couple. Each staff member here has served as a volunteer at least once. Others have served multiple times. Having a staff member that participated as half of a married couple is great for us. If we have any questions or concerns about serving as a couple here is a ready source of information!


The first thing we did was sign in. At this table we were given a list of 60 questions that served as our ice-breaker. We were to move around the room and get as many of the questions answered as we could. The trick was that each person we approached could only sign the list once. Questions ranged from: Visited China? Has 2 sisters? Plays ultimate Frisbee? Is a vegetarian? Knows someone from Thailand? Is a Karaoke fan? (Karaoke is really big in Thailand) Decided not to bring a laptop computer? And so on. This approached worked miracles for our large group. I think everyone spoke to everyone else at least once.


We sat at large round tables. Each table became a team. We were given a topic and the table would discuss their take on the topic. Then key words on the topic would be put on large sheets of paper and we elected a representative or two to present our results. This presentation represents perceived items of concern as well as what excited us most about our coming service.



Here we are being presented with each group's ideas as to the key elements for development. Although many of the concepts were the same from each group there were also differences brought up that benefitted us all.


Can you tell what this group is communicating about what their concerns might be? The picture kind of speaks for itself! If you click on the photo, or any other photo in this journal, it will become large enough for you to see the details - like what is on the paper being held up here.


This group is psyched about having the opportunity to teach. Although this was not my group - I whole heartedly agree with their thought!


After we were finished for the day a group of us went out for dinner. Originally there were 12 of us but we were just a little too large a group to fit in one restaurant during the busy dinner hour. So 7 of us wound up at a Japanese restaurant. None of us ate the same dish but all were delicious. The menu was varied and reasonably priced.


Here we are in the Japanese restaurant for dinner. We had lots of lively conversation. The ice-breaker was "Why did you join the Peace Corps. Three of us were 55+ while the rest were under 25. It was fun.

The last goodbye.

Consi drove us to the airport. She is the last of the kids to say goodbye because she took our last car. Actually we sold it to her for $1. This photo was taken prior to her meltdown at the airport. Saying goodbye to parents can be hard I guess.

And here are mother and daughter. Almost exactly 30 years apart. Poor thing - now she knows what she will most likely look like in 30 years. Scary.

Getting ready to take off for Salt Lake City, Utah. Had a 4 hour delay in Atlanta due to the snow. We are taking turns talking to one of the kids.

A gorgeous sunset seen from about 35,000 feet up. The layers look so very distinct!

The view from our 16th floor SF hotel room. Pretty close to heaven even though it is about 3 a.m. EST and we are not yet ready for bed. Have to clean up and pick out clothes for tomorrow. You know, first impressions.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Remember that old song? We are living it here in the Atlanta airport. Bangkok is looking better by the minute! Sure do hope our flight gets properly de-iced before we try to take wing!

We Are On Our Way!

Whoopie! Here we are in the local airport and we are actually on our way. Unfortunately due to bad weather somewhere in the country our connecting flight has been cancelled. Rather than a direct path from Atlanta to SF we will by going into Salt Lake City (3 extra hour layover in Atlanta) then after a SLC layover then on to SF arriving at 10:30 pm. But we are on our way no matter what! The screeners in the airport here in Augusta said they think we have set the record for items in buckets that had to go through the x-ray machine. All liquids have to be in quantities of 3oz or less. No problem, we did that. But we did not know that all liquids of 3 oz or less must be in their own plastic bin. Each computer - its own plastic bin. Shoes for two, jackets for two, fanny packs for two, and backpacks for two. Wow! And of course John cannot go through the walk-through screening device due to his pacemaker so June has to herd plastic bins for two while John gets patted down by hand. Flying since the pacemaker is definitely an adventure! I don't think we will have to go through again but if we do . . . . we will!

Our Star Students

Today was the last day we could meet our favorite students for lunch. Duong (in the middle) is originally from Thailand (Issan) and Suk (on the right) hails from Korea. They both faithfully attended our sessions at Augusta Tech on Monday and Wednesday nights. In addition each of them go to day classes on Mon, Tue and Thurs at tech to improve their English. John and I have learned more from them than we can say. Grace under fire, determination, kindness and gumption are some good adjectives that apply. We will miss them and all of our students.