Back to Shanghai

 The Thai Buddha statue greets the Chinese Quan Yin Goddess and you notice the differences in colors and also architecture in the temples.

We were back in China and I still had another month off from my school. First we celebrated Easter, and Aidan and Taylor enjoyed coloring and decorating eggs.  The next week was the Storybook Fair and parade at the boys school... more costumes! Aidan went as "Tin-Tin" with his dog Snowy and Taylor as "Woody" from Toy Story.

Sadly my China visa would soon expire and it was time for me to leave Shanghai and the cherry blossoms in full bloom. Time to return again to Thailand and my teaching...I will miss my super hero grandsons who will be businessmen before you know it. Well not really, they have a few years yet!

I am so blessed to have had the months of March and April to spend with with my grandsons, Aidan is 7, and Taylor is 4. They truly light up my life.       
Remember to light a candle for someone you love...Share your happiness

April in Phuket

The International School in Shanghai had Spring break the first week of April, and we all went to Phuket, Thailand... yes, from China, to the quiet Meridian Resort on its own private beach. It was fun being together for a family vacation. Of course we went ocean swimming and petted a baby elephant.  Then we rode BIG elephants.

We also enjoyed a day at the zoo where we saw a monkey show, a tiger show, the alligator show and elephants dancing and painting...

Visiting the famous temple in Phuket was on my list so we all went to see Wat Chalong

A blessed family with the white string bracelets tied and blessed by the monks

Beautiful sunny warm days, yummy food and spectacular sunsets... that's why I love Thailand.

I was so fortunate to be able to share it with Carrie, John, Aidan and Taylor.

Blessings from the land of sunshine, sunsets ans smiles. 

Ides of March

Hang onto your hat!

A rose for Teacher Rose

Some students so happy and some so sad to see school end...

March 2nd was Graduation Day for my first Kindergarten class at Rayong English Programme School in Ban Chang, Thailand. What a contrast to last March when I was in Northeast Thailand and we had a  graduation ceremony for the senior high school students that I taught.

The next day I left for China to visit Aidan and Taylor. My first assignment was to design and make Saint Patrick's Day outfits for the "Mefford Boys"... (Daddy John included) as they has an Amazing Race competition and it had to be in IRISH costumes. It was a bit of a challenge finding supplies in Shanghai as I didn't know where any thing was...however I was able to find wigs and hats to decorate...AND the boys were willing to wear them!   Amazingly they WON the costume competition and placed third in the scavenger hunt race.

The Irish Red-Rocker O'Meff Boys Band...You guys rocked!

Beauty and the Beach

Daily from sunrise to sunset I am living in constant gratitude for my many blessings.

As I awaken to birds singing and roosters crowing,  I look forward to seeing the smiling faces of the children I have been entrusted to teach. 

 

Musical chairs and homemade coconut ice cream are our favorites!

I love that every morning at school the children sing the Thai National Anthem and have a prayer.  I love the overall respect for elders and education. Last week we took a field trip to see the sea turtles released into the ocean. It is a conservation program run by the Thai Royal Navy. They find the endangered eggs and let them hatch and the babies grow to all different sizes.  The students were fascinated with the program.

 

 

 

I have been in Thailand a little over one year now and I still marvel every day at the kindness and beauty of this country.  As I walked along the narrow dirt road to school yesterday, I stopped to take in the sheer simple magnificence of brilliant flowers blooming everywhere alongside ripening bananas and coconuts in the trees.

  Then at school we watched caterpillars cocooning in preparation for their annual transformation into butterflies. What a metaphor for life as we let go of last year and prepare to transform our lives in 2012.

Our school year ends the beginning of March and begins again in May, just in time for the butterflies. I am happy at school and lucky to be only minutes away from some of Thailand’s magnificent beaches so I have decided to stay and teach another year. I will spend March and April in China visiting my wonderful Grandsons, Aidan and Taylor.

As I stand on my small balcony to look at the warm golden pinks of sunset and wait for grandmother moon to rise, casting her brilliant glow on mother earth, I silently send forth waves of gratitude and appreciation for all this beauty.

It’s Valentines Day so I am sending you all my love and a bunch of Roses

New Years in Chiang Mai

HAPPY NEW YEAR...A few hours drive south from Chiang Rai and I was again in one of my favorite Thailand cities, Chiang Mai, the perfect place to celebrate the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012. Marcia, a friend from Wisconsin was in Lao and decided to join me. We went to the Night Safari where we saw white tigers and a fabulous water show.

                    

 The next day we spent hours at the Thai Royal Flower Show, with so much to see it was overwhelming, and pictures hardly do it justice.

At the floral exhibit I bought a beautiful parchment paper hand painted parasol with a Dragon as 2012 is the Chinese year of the Dragon, and also my birth sign. New Years Eve we found the famous Night Market where streets are blocked off and vendors sell their unique handicrafts. My prize this time was a small hand-hewn wooden mortar and pestle to crush garlic and chilies for Thai cuisine. After a yummy Pad-Thai dinner we entered into the Chiang Mai tradition of sending gas lighted lanterns into the sky and watched fireworks at midnight. 

 On New Years Day Carrie met us and we all took a Thai Batik painting class. Learning to draw lines with hot wax proved a bit challenging, however after lunch the second one seemed a bit easier. Adding color to my Goddess was the fun part. After class with two completed batiks each, we journeyed to the Sunday Walking Street Market to look, eat and shop!

                   What else would three blonds in Thailand do???