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.

More Goodbyes

Here is Bun Young. Bun Young recently returned from Thailand and brought us each the yellow jackets shown in an earlier post. Bun Young has given us a note to show in case we have any difficulties in the province of Issan. He is fairly well known at the various Wats in the area. We call it our special "Bun Young Passport". All of the monks have been so very kind to us in the past few months. We will sorely miss them all!

Can you tell that it is cold in the South today? The Abbot is pictured here in the kitchen wearing his cold weather gear. We have learned many things about living in the Thai community from the Abbot. His patience with us has been wonderful! We feel quite inept when we try and speak Thai but all at the Wat do their best to understand us and not laugh toooooo much. It has been fun.

This is Nit. Today she was one of the ladies at the Wat who came to prepare a wonderful lunch for the monks. John and I contributed green and purple grapes. We figured that we couldn't go wrong with fruit. But by the time we return we hope to be able to prepare many tasty Thai dishes.

Kim was there too. You should be able to tell from her photo that she is the life of the party! As with other members of the Thai community Kim was eager to help us learn new phrases. These new phrases will be very helpful as we become acclimated to the spicy foods we will find in our new home. "Not too hot" is said phonetically as -- nit noi pet pet. If you prefer to have the spices brought to the table and put them on yourself you say -- mai pet. I am going to practice both!

This is Chob. Chob is Nit's niece. She also helped making lunch. We all pitched in to take the food to the table. When approaching the table I crouch down just a little. To put a plate for the monks to eat they place a piece of cloth down and we put the bowl/plate on the cloth. Ladies never touch a monk but John was able to shake hands with Bun Young. I was able to do a "wai" with my hands and say -- Na masa gan la kah. We learned that this is a special way to say goodbye to a monk.

I don't think I will spell this dear lady's name correctly but she said her name is Tv. She told us to remember her whenever we turn on our TV. She also made some dishes at home and brought them to add to the monks lunch. TV spent some time translating words for Bun Young when he came to speak with us. He can read, write and understand English but is not comfortable speaking. So in addition to our "passport" he also wrote in English "Good luck every day in Thailand." He has promised to come and visit us. We look forward to that and hope by the time any of our US Thai friends come to say Hi we will be able to respond in Thai.

Dinner with Two of Our God Children

Dinner with two of our god children and vivacious Amy, their Mom. Missing are the four boys - our god sons. Their names are John and Jacob (twins), Joshua and James (two of the three triplets and June is the third). It was great to be able to spend some time with them before we leave on Saturday.

June ordered a "fudge martini" for dessert. As you can probably tell, she was impressed once her dessert was delivered. She ate about half and Amy finished it off for her. (Oops! Maybe I shouldn't have told you that part!)

And here is Georgie. I remember clearly the day she was born. And now she seems to get prettier each time I see her. Not only that, she is now taller than her Mom!

Goodbyes Can Be Hard

Here are Loretta and Bill. Loretta and I have shared a lab at work for 10 years. She has been my ever so patient teacher, mentor, confidant, sounding board, and friend. Oh how I will miss her. Bill? Well, Bill was our lab-mate. Loretta and I were happy in our half but somehow we often seemed to find ourselves cleaning up his half. But he has a big laugh and an even bigger heart. John and I will miss them both.

We had a great dinner. Then we were all really bad and each of us ordered dessert!

Bunyoung's Gift

We received these beautiful jackets as a gift from Bunyoung. He is one of the Monks we met at the local Wat. He returned to Thailand for a two month visit and brought the jackets back for us. Note the crest on the pocket. It is a crest that honors the King of Thailand. A very popular color for shirts with this crest is yellow. However, the King recently was discharged from the hospital and came out wearing a pink jacket. It looks as though the king's color may be changing soon. Or maybe we will now have two colors to choose from to show our appreciation for the King.

A close-up of the crest that we think represents the royal house of Thailand. It is beautifully embroidered and brilliantly colored.

Each time we wear our jackets we will be thinking of the kindness and warmth we found in the Augusta, GA Thai community.

Many Have Asked - Why The Peace Corps?

Here is a photo of my Dad (he is the one in the middle). At the time he was 68 years old. This is about the only picture I have of him taken during his service in Western Samoa as a Peace Corps volunteer. All of his photos were taken as slides and they have pretty much been lost. Did he think the PC experience was worth it? You bet your bippy he did! So here we go - off to Thailand in 12 more days. I only wish Dad were still here to share our adventures with us - by reading this journal, of course. If he were alive he would be 93 years old.

Our Eldest and Our Youngest

A snapshot of our eldest grandson. Handsome as his Dad and always has a smile for the camera. Resettling all of your furniture amongst the offspring does have some advantages. We are now getting visits on a regular basis. It is great!

And this is a photo of our dear youngest child. She is only a short stretch away from her BSN. We are such proud parents. And she is such a beauty too! She came to pick up her portion of the "goods" and had to get back to her studies and her job. She is full time at both. Youth is amazing!

Yep. This is the proud Momma with her youngest baby.

Friends to Remember

This is Lois and Bill. They have been a big part of our family for a long time. Lois is the founder/director of our local Suzuki Strings organization. She has taught one or another member of our family in her home for at least 12 years. John and I have each served in various volunteer positions in the Suzuki organization. In preparation for our trip to Thailand we met Lois and Bill for lunch a while back. We promised to do it again before we leave. Unfortunately, we lost Bill on Christmas morning. He was very loved, active in the community and a friend to anyone who may have had the privilege to meet him. We will miss them both and Lois is in our prayers.

Dinner with the Bolieks

Here is a photo of two people we both love with all of our Harts. This is Betty and Paulwyn Boliek. We have known them for what seems like 100 years and will miss them more than we can say. Our 5:30 dinner date lasted until 9:00 pm and we had to drag ourselves away from them. Ever know someone that you could talk to forever? Well that is Betty and Paulwyn. The dinner was good but I can hardly remember what I ate. We were both too busy drinking in the conversation.

We talked about old times, current times and future times. It will be great to visit with them once we return and can share new tales. Goodbye for now Bolieks and God Bless you both.

Goodbye Wat Santidham

Today is New Year's Eve. We went to visit our friends at the local Wat. We received a copy of the Wat's annual calender. This is the cover page. At this point we cannot read the words, but we hope that will change soon!

This is a photo of the large sign that stands by the roadside in front of the Wat. The monks are travelers in life much as Peace Corps volunteers are. I only hope we can be as gracious and kind as they have been to us.

We scanned the month of January to show some of the international features. We are not certain, but could it be that this year is the year of the rat, or maybe the year of the mouse. There is a little creature pictured in the first box for the month. New Year's Day is highlighted as well as Martin Luther King Day. But also note the small image of The Buddha on the 1st, 7th, 15th, 22nd and 30th. We think these notations may be in tune with the cycles of the moon but still have to research this.

Today we brought gifts to the monks of some fresh fruit. We cannot do justice to Thai cooking as yet, so fruit and dessert are generally a safe bet. Oranges, raspberries and blueberries are kind of neutral - or so we hoped. After the monks have eaten all who are present are invited to share in the bounteous offerings of dishes. To the very left you can see a Thai pumpkin. We were told that you steam it first and then serve it with either sugar or sweet coconut as a topping. We have received much encouragement from all those who attend the Wat. Today I related a gaff I made while in New York at the Thai restaurant. We all had a good laugh. One poor lady was in tears she laughed so very hard! I would relate the error I made with the language but it was a little too salty for this journal! My face was red needless to say.

Here is one of the sweetest monks. He was walking through the kitchen area carrying clean robes that had been laundered. I told him I wanted to take his photo, so he put the laundry down, wrapped himself in his shawl (after telling me that this is what the monks in Thailand do when they are cold) and stood still for the photo.

I said to the monk, "Are monks not allowed to smile?" Very seriously he said not very often. Then he gave me this big smile. He laughed too when I mentioned to him that his "serious" look with the shawl was not enough to hide the bright yellow football jersey he was wearing to keep warm here in Augusta, GA. He said that monks in Thailand do not wear football jerseys.