Earthquakes

Earthquake in Bangkok?  I don't think so.  The epicenter of the Earthquake was in Myanmar, 500 miles to the north of Bangkok.  Tremors could be felt in Chiang Rai, a beautiful part of Northern Thailand we visited over Christmas.  Apparently tremors could also be felt in Bangkok.  Christelia and I wish we would have known, then maybe we could have panicked??  Unfortunately we'll just have to take it easy and enjoy the 35+ Celsius weather.  The only earthquakes we've experienced in Thailand we bought from DQ.

Yes Mom and Dad, we're safe.

Eduardo

Funny shit... I mean shirt.

Some background to start.  We are in the midst of summer school here in Bangkok.  During the regular school year, the students wear a uniform, have their hair cut short for the boys, and braided for the girls.  No one comes to school out of uniform, and if your hair is not the proper style, Master Jay will see to it that your hair is cut to a more appropriate length.  The school uniform consists of blue shorts and a white shirt with your name, id number, and grade embroidered on the left.  Summer school is a different beast all together.  Students may wear whatever they would like.  The Thai's call this "free style."  Hair is left as you want it, and you can put on whatever shirt makes you happy.

After school today I was walking my munch-kins down the stairs to be picked up by their parents.  I happened to stop and chat with Master Jay while we waited with a handful of students who's parents just don't love them as much.    I turned around and to my surprise there was a child wearing rainbow plaid shorts and a bright turquoise t-shirt with fluorescent pink letters that read:

FRANKIE
SAYS

F*CK IT

I have to admit, I burst out laughing on the inside.  This student went an entire day without a teacher or student commenting on his shirt.  I whispered to Jay that he should turn around and look at it.  He did a  double take and said "uh-oh."  Jay spoke to the kid in Thai, and I'm not sure what he said, but I would guess it had something to do with "never wear that shirt to school again."  With the kid's t-shirt in mind, I've decided to wear this t-shirt to work tomorrow to see if anyone notices...

Frankie says "have a great day!"

Eduardo

The last one there...

...is a rotten egg. Whoever made up this saying was completely cruel! What an awful thing to say to a person! This leads me to my summer school cooking story... I am teaching grade 5 home economics and we are cooking. The last time I talked about cooking with students was during October course and I had my Thai partner to help and bring in supplies. We were also cooking on the floor- not quite my style so I am trying for a little more sanitation. During summer school however, I am on my own. So this week I have had the pleasure of going shopping not only for food but for equipment as well. I am not sure how much I will be reimbursed for so I am trying to keep things simple and my costs low. While buying food, Ed and I found that eggs are never refrigerated here so we asked our friend why. His reasoning was that eggs move much quicker here. They are in the stores for a few days, then out in the street market and consumed pretty fast there for there is not much reason. But I disagree!!! Not only because of all the things I know about eggs and safety and sanitation BUT as a result of todays lab! We were making French toast (we are talking about food around the world and I am using this for France- I know this is NOT French at all and have explained that to the kids. I do feel a certain level of shame for doing this because I know so much better especially after my bread making class[ more to come on that soon], but I am working with a very limited about of equipment and supplies. We are making French toast in a sandwich maker for peat's sake!) I have the kids in groups working on their desks and we start by breaking their eggs into their bowls and then... This awful smell starts to fill the room and one group is yelling Teacher Teacher what do we do? I rushed over and found the source of the smell... a rotten egg. It had exploded when they broke it. I was all over the kid, the desk, his books. What a mess!!! I have never seen or smelled a rotten egg before so this was quite an adventure. I sent kids to clean and they started over- but the smell stayed. Telling someone they smell like a rotten egg is a pretty server insult!

Spinach, Mushrooms, and other fine dining

Last week we finally got to "take" one of our friends out for dinner to give them their Christmas/New Years/ Chinese New Years/ Valentine's Day/ whatever other holiday may have fallen in there since we asked them. We really didn't take them out since they paid- but nonetheless we got to go out with them. This is always an exciting evening because they don't really speak English and we don't really speak Thai- Our friend's wife always orders all the ingredients for us to make the soup in the hot pot, so we eat what she orders. Here in Thailand they have many vegetables that I normally don't eat; and they are always cooked making them even less appealing to me. For example they have bean spouts in almost every soup- and I don't like them- not one bit. (If you do like them then you would love them here-very flavorful) So I usually pick around the things I don't really like like - I'm pretty good at it too. I can pick even the smallest onion out and with chop sticks! But that night I felt adventurous. I decided that whatever she ordered I was going to eat. And I did...and I liked it. They had these neat little nests of spinach and what is called ear mushrooms- they look wrinkly like your ear, but are a dark almost purple color and a little crunchy. I am becoming more adventurous with food- I always let Ed try if first and then if his face is okay I will give it a try. (I learned my lesson in Japan)

Well I tell this story tonight to also share that I am starting a different food experience tomorrow! Tomorrow I start a short course at the Le Cordon Blue - Sawadee. My course is on "The Art of Bread-Making." I am so excited (and scared) to be studying at a real and very well known cooking school. I will try and post how class goes and some of the things I make this week.