Roughing It

I can't start this post without wishing my dear DAD a happy, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! If you didn't know, he is the best dad in the world!

JUNE. Already June?! Where did the past 9 months go? 5 weeks from now we will be breathing Saskatchewan air.

I just returned from a four day "camping" trip with my grade 7 students and some high school students. I say "camping" because at no point would the trip pass as a camping trip back home. No tents =  not camping. However, the resort (yes, I said resort) we stayed at insisted on calling it camping. They even went as far as saying the students slept in tents. Hah. (See pictures).
Anyways. It was great fun, and I would give up another weekend to do it all over again (no joke)!

The three of us teachers who went were treated like royalty. I am not afraid to admit that I loved every second of the special treatment. We stayed in this four bedroom, three bathroom, two living room, two kitchen house.

Of course the only time it rained was when the students had to haul their stuff to their "tents" (our bags were carried, obviously).

Dance party while waiting for the rain to stop.

The sun soon came out, and fortunately stayed out the entire time.
Here are the so-called tents the students stayed in. Complete with lights, air conditioning, a shower, a sink, and a flush toilet.

We went to Wangdum Mountain Camp, a resort and renewable energy learning center. The camp is located about 2.5 hours from Bangkok, in the province of Kanchanaburi (a place I love- I talked about it here and here).



It was nice to escape the polluted air of the city, and get in touch with nature again.

Since the field trip was science based, we toured the Srinakarin Dam.

Everyone! Our guides (and my heroes who made me lift not a single finger or bring out my teacher voice the entire time) are the characters in the front.

We stopped to check out the bridge on the River Kwai for a few minutes. In the 25 minutes we were there, the students managed to do some shopping at the nearby market- buying beer t-shirts and pocket knives. Oops?

We also stopped at the war cemetery, which interested the students 0%. The cemetary is associated with the victims of the Burma Railway. Over 6,000 prisoners of war are buried here. The majority being Australian, British and Dutch. The oldest person I could find buried there was 46 years old.

Another day was spent at a bamboo farm.

We learned many things, including how to properly hack off a bamboo shoot to make food with.

Picking mangoes.

Learning about solar energy at our camp.

Meat being dried in a solar dryer. Note the glistening hair still attached.
We ate this for supper.

A man-made waterfall.

The swimmable pond was a lovely surprise. Teachers vs. students is always the best.

On the last day, we walked an entire 3 minutes into the forest where the students learned to build a fire and cook rice in a bamboo shoot.

They also cooked eggs.

Best field trip ever!!

Hug Your Family

These past two weeks have been quite an emotional roller coaster, and rather difficult to get through at times.

As my mother worded it... with extremely heavy hearts we have laid our beautiful cousin to rest.
At the age of 23, my cousin Brittany became an angel. She lost a very tough battle with cancer. It is hard to accept the fact that she is no longer with us on Earth, but reassuring to know that she is pain-free and looking down on us from Heaven.

Losing someone so young is a reminder of how precious life is, and that every day spent with loved ones is a blessing and time to be cherished.

I was blessed to spend time with Andy on his 27th birthday this week.

I made him carrot pumpkin cake with cream cheese icing. All from scratch, even the pumpkin purée! I know it doesn't look very appetizing (Andy was hesitant to try it) but it tasted delicious if I do say so myself. (Sushi candles = fun)

Cherishing Every Moment

T minus two months and counting until we are back on Canadian soil.. to stay. As our time is winding town in Thailand, we have been trying to enjoy the food, our friends, and the sites as much as possible. I am starting to feel really sad about leaving, but also really excited to be back in Saskatchewan.

Crispy catfish caught from the river, a surprisingly mouthwatering dish.

We sent home a bamboo sticky rice cooker so we can enjoy one of our favourite foods back home whenever we want a taste of Thailand.

Best hilarious teacher mug I have received yet. I must admit, another thing I am going to miss is the luxurious teacher gifts I have received, like designer handbags (teaching at a private school definitely has it's perks...shhh).

This week the elementary students went on a fieldtrip to the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.

Nine floors of some neat stuff.

Some of us even had a chance to meet one of the famous local artists (the Thai man in the middle).

Art from pencil shavings.

This street drummer is amazing. Every time I see him I am mesmerized.



We also went ice skating on our field trip!

Only in Thailand do you become the world's coolest teacher if you know how to skate.

My students were SO nervous to try skating for the first time. Some of them even faked sick to get out of coming. After an hour on the ice, I could not get the kids off! They LOVED it, and even planned a Saturday outing to go back on the weekend themselves. Success.

First lap around. Too scared to let go.

A baby Zamboni.

To start the weekend off, we went to a chili potluck.

I know this does not look appetizing, but after have a two year hiatus from eating chili (due to the lack of affordable ingredients in this country) it tasted like heaven.

Andy made cream cheese filled chocolate covered strawberries.
Sorry ladies, he's mine!!

Another sunset in Metro Park.