My Birthday in Bangkok !

Hello everybody,
Well I am back in the land of sand now after spending five days in Bangkok for a teacher's conference.
NESA (http://www.nesacenter.org/) "The Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools is a non-profit, voluntary association of more than 75 international schools in the Near East and South Asia region .... Mission Statement: To serve member schools by being the catalyst for their continuous improvement and for on-going innovation based on the best practices of American education." This was to be my first time at a Spring Educators conference, I have attended two Fall Administrators conferences (Dubai and Cairo) in the past two years as our consortium of NESA Virtual School System Administrators meet there every year. The only drawback to going was that I'd be going on my own. Andre took three days leave to stay home with the girls - unlike the other times I have travelled, our school was not in session and so Daddy had to be at home with them.
After a very sad goodbye at the airport, I was on my way. Flight was very full - Thailand is a popular destination from this side of the world :) A sleepless night saw us arriving in a hot and sticky Thailand 9:00am. After a bus ride to the conference hotel (Shangri-La, Thailand), check-in, registration and some lunch, The Barnhouse family took me along on a boat ride through the canals.

An amazing experience to see real river-front property !! Although I somehow doubt these homes are priced in the millions as is the case elsewhere in the world :)
The river is sooooo polluted and dirty and yet you come across scenes of happy children frolicking in the water - only a few meters away from seeing snakes entering the river, (wish I had a shocked looking little emoticon now cos thats what our faces were doing hehehe).

The beautiful ornate temples alongside wooden almost ramshackle houses, such stark contrast at times. BUT what really struck me was the graciousness of the Thai people, no matter their circumstances, good or bad, this is a spot to visit if you want to truly experience people who want to please and accomodate. Not that I have travelled the world over, but this was such a refreshing experience.
Day two - was conference time and our first Blackboard SysAdmin meetings, a good day with some new things to learn and even a chance to share some knowledge and experience with the others :) There was an gathering at the poolside for all that night and I even got to have a little ride on an Asian elenphant :) cool !! (Friends took photos so we'll have to see how they come out. Although my face is probably frozen with fear... the covering over the elephant's body was Thai silk and VERY slippery - I spent the whole time being terrified I was going to slide off and land on my .... IN FRONT OF EVERYONE - that would've gone down well hehehe). The evening ended and we were a tad hungry. Some friends wanted to go to Patpong - which among other things has a huge night market. Not keen to go and so we walked to McDonald's down the road from the hotel for a snack (11:00pm). On the way back Cindy (my first teaching partner at ISG - American) and her husband Sammy (Saudi) took me to a massage place where I enjoyed the first foot massage of my stay (photos to follow when the Knox-Al Rimaly family as seen below, return from Koh Samui).

Day Three - some more Blackboard meetings .... and then just relax at the hotel. Oh and another massage downstairs :) :) :)
Day Four - Saturday 25th March :)
Breakfast with the Barnhouse Family again - first singing of "Happy Birthday to You" and gifts. On to Blackboard meetings - second singing and wishes :)
Lunch - Third singing and wishes followed by Jana and I deciding to bunk the rest of the day and go shopping :) So Jana, Leah and I took a taxi downtown to a little government store. Loads to buy and once again loads of help - there seems no end to the lengths the Thai people will go.

Also, cool idea, there are at least four people doing jobs that just one person could do - BUT it creates the jobs and therefore does away with the need for someone to be outside on the streets begging ! Shopping done we headed down to catch the skytrain back to the hotel.
Stopping first to have a photo with Ronald :)

{Ronald - as seen here posed in the Thai greeting. We have decided to contact McD and offer our services, travelling around the world to visit all their Ronalds to ensure that as with Thailand, they are authentic to the county they're in :) we think its a fabulous idea !} You know you are never too old to have a birthday at McDonalds hehehe.
Back at the hotel Rick and Aaron joined us for a walk along to get a dress from one of the shops along the way and surprise surprise ... another massage :)

Just to complete the experience, we took a tuck-tuck back which was a little crazy too !

(Thankyou to Mommy, The Morrick Family, The Wewege Family, The Chaplin Family, The Henning Family and Angie for all your text wishes through the day, sorry didn't reply immediately and to all of you sending emails and any other means - thanks too !)
The third night of the conference is typically a huge dinner dance and so it was upstairs to prepare for this huge affair. In between dressing, I had to take a quick breath to say hello to Andre and the girls for the first time of the day - Messenger is great but the other person has to be available and it seems part of the problem with being away was time difference AND we just kept missing each other ! And so I thought the first Happy Birthday from Andre and the Girls would be the last time I'd hear Happy Birthday for the day .... I was wrong ....
When I sat down at our table, Jana continued telling/reminding people that it was my birthday, including my principal. (hehehe joke at the table was ... I was the only teacher at the table ... I was surrounded by 3 principlas, 3 vice pricipals, a superintendent, a deputy superintendent, a councelor and the chairman of our school board - comment came up that maybe all that would rub off on me hehehe)

We had dinner, all was good with the world, and then .... just before the Thai dancing was to begin, the Director of Nesa stands up to make some announcements and then hands the mic to my principal .... and somehow I knew .... Bruce proceeded to announce to the 1000+ audience that at our school we celebrate birthdays and it need not matter where in the world we are ... "and so would everyone please wish Tracy Bosch (at which time I am told to stand) a very happy birthday today !" Yes I felt like melting into a little puddle on the spot. Wait it doesn't end there, then they wheel out a cake .... (all preaaranged by my principal) the mic then goes back to David (NESA director) and while, my colleagues are wanting to sing and me to blow out candles etc. David is trying to make announcements.

All made for a very special evening, once again though the real drawback was not having Andre there to share it. Off to bed after an evening of dancing at around 12pm, decided to pack first though as the morning would prove rather busy.
Day Five - up early to breakfast and set up for my presentation .... yes the nerves were really kicking in now !!! First speaker was at 9am followed by teacher presentations, mine at 10:15. I was presenting on electronic portfolios and had about 20 people attend.
I felt like it went well but it was confirmed when we went over the evaluations people had left (by our request). Mostly 4's or 5's :) :) :) I even had a comment "best presentation I have attended this whole conference" was so heart warming - even though I recognised it as my principal's handwriting immediately :)

Had to skip the last two sessions as I needed to check out, all done, luggage stored as I was only leaving late in the afternoon, upstairs for the closing speeches.
With time to kill now that the conference was done and most everyone had headed off to whatever islands for the remainder of the break, I walked the street outside for a bit just doing some browsing - bags were popping at the seams, no chance of any extra purchases hehehe next time !!
Decided to head for the airport little earlier, good thing too cos I was so overweight, had to actually pay for it - FIRST TIME !!! damn knew I travelled with a family for another good reason, more people to spread the weight around :( hehehe
Day seemed to be feeling extra long now as we waited to board but finally on and off home I was headed. Not a good flight, very cramped, very bumpy, no sleep and delayed by almost an hour was not good but it was nice to be home and hugs and kisses from Andre and the girls were very welcome :)
And thats my story of a Birthday in Bangkok ! Would definitely go again - NESA 2008 should be in Bangkok again, but having the family along would have made and will make the experience sooooo much better !