I am happy to report that life continues to be very kind to me over here in Ratchaburi,Thailand. I am blessed with a great wife Luna, and a fine son, Benedict and we are ably assisted by Boo, our helper/factotum. Benedict gave us his first full smile on Monday morning this week. Another significant milestone and I must say he wears his smile very well. Benedict now smiles a lot and his smiles touch that chord deep in my soul. There is a little anxiety about Benedict's lack of weight gain but I am pretty comfortable about this: if you look at the baby, as opposed to the scales, I think you'll see a happy, healthy boy who is being very well looked after. Maybe Benedict is a creeper or perhaps he is a latter day Skinny Malinky. I sense he is going to be very tall. However just a wee worry.
It's hot here at the moment and while it is raining right now there has not been much rain these last few weeks. I have been busy at work which I find challenging but, in general, I enjoy. I am very pleased with the progress most of my students are making in Math and would like to see them emulate that in Science. Obviously there is a greater need for English in Science and I would concede that sometimes I have overlooked this. Some of them bombed in their mid-term exams not because they did not know the answers but because they didn't understand the questions I had set. So I am working on this now and I am learning how to combine some of the science with an appropriate level of English. This is an art form, and I am very much an apprentice, very much in my first year!
I have started teaching a class of 4 six year old kids on a Saturday morning. I am loving it. I never thought I could do something like this. it really is surreal. It is story time and I have discovered the work of Eric Carle, an American children's writer and illustrator. HIs work is awesome and I build my lesson round one his story books which are fantastically illustrated. The English is simple but functional and I find the kids get fully engaged. And it is exactly the sort of English young kids need to know...... simple, things like colours, days of the week, food, and simple sentences and questions: what do you see? If you looked into the classroom you might be shocked to see me on all fours playing with my kids. We have such fun and I am really getting into it!
It looks like my stay in Thailand will now extend beyond a year. This is largely down to securing employment and I believe we will stay here for a while now. It really is an attractive place for Benedict as well and I do not believe his health and educational prospects are any worse here than anywhere else in the world. In fact in some respects Benedict's prospects are decidedly better here. So I think this will become a very occasional blog come the beginning of October. We are almost into the eleventh month and I have to say it has been a great year.
I now have a Thai driving license as well as a fully legal and insured motor. The car is now owned by Luna, everything is in her name including the log book and insurance, and the local office of the Department of Land Transport also issued us with a new Ratchaburi plate. I have to say it was really simple dealing with the Department of Land Transport given that we were actually carrying out some fairly difficult procedures. The staff in the local office were so helpful. In fact there was a hysterical moment when the head man introduced us over the tannoy.... this is the beautiful Miss Luna from the Philippines and her handsome husband Mr Gerry from England....... in English to a packed lobby full of people trying to sort out the things you need to do to make your cars and motorbikes legal. An absolute blast!
Now that the car is completely legal I have started to drive a little further afield and that means birds. I have seen some concentrations of big birds in the last couple of weeks, the highlight being 80 (eighty) spot-billed pelicans pelecanus philippensis in the Khao Yoi Area in the company of 20 painted stork. It has been reported to the records people by Nick Upton from Thaibirding and he says he has never heard of so many. Unfortunately I did not get a pic as some dogs scared them off as I was getting my camera out. I can only say it was an awesome spectacle. They are big birds.
On Thursday late afternoon this week I returned to the same area and took the photograph above... there were about 50 painted stork in total but no pelicans. I think I will be back again early Sunday morning. That is one big learning points from recent weeks, start early. I have joined the Bird Conservation Society of Thailand and am booked to join their sea trip out into the Gulf of Thailand guided by the leading authority on Thai Birds, Philip Round. The trip is billed as speculative and exploratory with nothing guaranteed but there is the possibility of also seeing some fairly exotic marine life such as Bryde's whales, finless porpoises and Irrawaddy dolpins. That comes up mid-September and I am really looking forward to it.
OK that's it for now. As I say we are well and happy.
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