What is in your cup?

[lucasfernan89]

Icy cool water.

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

So coffee in me cup as a read up on more medical sites. Son is NOT getting better even though removed all the supposed bad foods and have him on the allergy meds.

Children are supposed to be able to run , play and be nut cases and not deal with this junk. Grrr.

So sorry to read this. We have been through severe allergies with our son up to 2 years ago, when we finally moved and he is doing much better, but the problem was "only" due to pollens, not food. Hugs to your little guy !

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

Ok so Hubby's shelves full of Asian ingredients just collapsed. No damage done but I am off to home Depot to get better shelf supports. I did discover that he has 10 bags of various dehydrated hot peppers. This includes dehydrated bhut jolakia, devil's tongue, one gallon bag of Thai super hot, and other varieties that are at the same potency. So figure ten bags of dehydrated hot peppers ranging from 150,000 scovilles to 1,000,000 scovilles. The scary thing is that we grew more then half of them last summer.

Not to mention three types of rice powder, rice flour, and a bunch of other bags that I cannot reach. Oh and 6 different types of noodles.

I have got to get him back cooking and playing less tennis....

Prof, if you are in a big "cleaning and reorganizing" mood, get ready for the baby. The "nesting syndrom" is often a clear sign, as soon as you're done you might very well have the first contractions. I have seen that happen many times.

[ProfCrash]

I have heard about the nesting. I have been in organize mode for the better part of a month. With the hubby gone, I have the space and time to handle the bigger stuff. And I don't have to worry about his complaining. (grins)

At 37 weeks I could very well go into labor though. Baby boy is breech and was not putting any pressure on the cervix two days ago so I will be surprised if I go into labor tonight but I am keeping an open mind. He has been moving a lot today so who knows.

[Stitchawl]

Morning has broken
Like the first morning,
Black bird has spoken
Like the first bird.
Praise the singing!
Praise for the morning!
Praise for them springing
Fresh from the Word!

Sweet the rain's new fall
Sunlit from heaven,
Like the first dewfall
On the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness
Of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness
Where His feet pass.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0TInLOJuUM )


Good morning, everyone! It's a peaceful Sunday morn, and I've started it with a big mug of Ahmad's "English Breakfast" tea, and a plate of croissants. I've decided that today I will do NO work at all, and perhaps we need to take a motorcycle ride in the hills. Just some easy, peaceful rolling along winding roads through the cedar forests...

Originally Posted by ProfCrash

How long are you going to Thailnd for?

If all goes as planned, this will be our last move. We have no plans to leave Thailand other than for dive travel to other S.E. Asian and South Pacific areas.


Stitchawl

[SandyHarper]

I have no cup. Finished my coffee about 2 hours back.

[CRussel]

Finished up the day with a nice glass of Talisker 10 yr. Nectar of the Gods.

[aceflor]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Morning has broken
Like the first morning,
Black bird has spoken
Like the first bird.
Praise the singing!
Praise for the morning!
Praise for them springing
Fresh from the Word!

Sweet the rain's new fall
Sunlit from heaven,
Like the first dewfall
On the first grass.
Praise for the sweetness
Of the wet garden,
Sprung in completeness
Where His feet pass.

( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0TInLOJuUM )


Good morning, everyone! It's a peaceful Sunday morn, and I've started it with a big mug of Ahmad's "English Breakfast" tea, and a plate of croissants. I've decided that today I will do NO work at all, and perhaps we need to take a motorcycle ride in the hills. Just some easy, peaceful rolling along winding roads through the cedar forests...



If all goes as planned, this will be our last move. We have no plans to leave Thailand other than for dive travel to other S.E. Asian and South Pacific areas.


Stitchawl

How did you decide for Thailand ? Indiscreet question, I know, but having moved from one country to another ourselves, I am interested in hearing other stories. Met a woman yesterday on the beach with a story very, very similar to ours, but although they moved here a year ago she does not speak much spanish, nor does her husband, they only really socialize with other expats. She was compaining that the spanish family she met at school are not trying to integrate them. I told her she needs to speak spanish, or an integration will never take place. Time will tell I guess.

So anyway, when are you guys moving, and when and how did you decide ?

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by aceflor

How did you decide for Thailand ?

I was a university prof in Japan for many years, and would spend vacations traveling all over Asia and the Western Pacific. I had a LOT of vacation time, and would always spend a month or so in Thailand every year, first diving in southern Thailand, then trekking in the jungles of Northern Thailand. When I finished at the university, we decided to move there. I ran a photo safari/commercial photography business there for 10 years. Love the people, the place, and the food, but finally got really, really tired of dealing with governmental bureaucracy and corruption relating to a foreigner trying to run a business there, so we moved back to Japan.

Now that my wife is finishing her work here, we can return to Thailand on retirement visas, and not have to deal with the bureaucracy of trying to run a business in a foreign country. We can have the people, place, and food, and not need to hassle with paying 'tea money' to every cop who decided to walk past my studio...

Met a woman yesterday on the beach with a story..............I told her she needs to speak spanish, or an integration will never take place. Time will tell I guess.

Being an ex-pat most of my adult life, I'd say time already told... She will NEVER fit in unless she learns the language. I know too damn many expats who insist that the locals speak English to them, and then wonder why they don't 'know' any locals. Of course, many are quite content to live within their little local ex-pat circles, eating at KFC or McD's, or looking for the best place in town that serves a traditional English Breakfast, but then, why do that in a foreign country? "If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home."

So anyway, when are you guys moving, and when and how did you decide ?

We decided about a week ago, because my wife finally had enough of the stupidity of the Japanese Education board's refusal to change to meet the needs of today's students.

There is no 'punishment' in Japanese schools. No 'being kept after school,' no 'write your name 1000 times on the blackboard,' no detention, so suspension, nothing. If a child misbehaves, all they need to do is apologize and all is forgiven. If little Yoshi takes his slingshot and breaks every window in the school, all he has to do is apologize and that's the end of the story. His parents don't even have to pay for the new windows... That's the way it's always been... before Japanese kids learned about Western ways....
Now, Little Hannko (in 7th grade) want's a new Louis Vuiton bag, so she joins a 'telephone club' list. Men pay for a list of girls names and numbers, calls her up, takes her to a love hotel, pays her $300-$400, and now she has money for her new bag. In Japan, for under-aged girls, this is not prostitution. No... this is called 'Enjo Kosai,' Compensated Dating... The govt doesn't want to stigmatize the young girls by calling them prostitutes...

Three weeks ago some parents complained because their kid stabbed a teacher with a pair of scissors.... Do you see something wrong with that sentence?

And of course, as there is no punishment for students, this same kid bashed another student over the head last week with a chair. So now both sets of parents are suing the school and the teacher for not teaching the kld good behavior. And still no one is disciplining the kid... Fortunately, my wife wasn't the teacher. But she has decided that she's had enough, and will end work at the end of this school sememster in July.

I'll probably go in August, and spend a few weeks or months finding just the right place for us to live. I know the area quite well, have lots of friends, both Thai and foreign who will keep an eye out for exactly what we want, and we won't need to rush into anything. Last time we moved there, we were living in a fancy hotel for two months before we found something, and it turned out not to be quite what we really, really wanted. We don't want to make that mistake again. This time, going alone, I'll stay in a cheap backpacker guest house and not feel rushed. And my wife has a lot of stuff that she wants to clear up before she leaves Japan, so she probably won't come until the new year.

At least... that's the way things look today. Who know what tomorrow will bring?

But now, I need a cup of tea... maybe some unbranded Keemun... and about an hour of guitar playing... Good Sunday afternoon stuff!


Stitchawl

[wyndslash]

orange juice

and that's really messed up, stitch o_o here, the kid will get a good thrashing by the parents and at least a suspension from school

[pdurrant]

Coke Zero #1.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

orange juice

and that's really messed up, stitch o_o here, the kid will get a good thrashing by the parents and at least a suspension from school

If someone doesn't learn, at an early age, that they are responsible for their actions, as they grow up and their actions impact others more forcefully, the results can be quite dramatic and create a lot of tears for a lot of people.

Little Hannako never learns that turning tricks to make spare case might have a negative impact on her adult life. Little Yoshi has been shoplifting candy for years, gets older and bigger and starts rolling drunks staggering home from the station, and can't understand why the policeman doesn't just accept his apology when the drunk refuses to hand over his wallet and Yoshi stabs him.

I don't advocate corporal punishment in schools if handled by the individual school, but I can appreciate what a tribunal can decide for a child regarding corporal punishment. There is very little juvenile delinquency in Singapore, with its caning rules... You do NOT want to shop lift, break window, or draw graffiti in Singapore. That 'cane' is a five-foot long, one inch thick rattan bat!

In America, if a student stabs a teacher, the police take the student away and lock him up. No detention for that. Not even suspension. Suspension is for fighting with another student (without weapons) and smoking in the bathrooms is good for a week of detention. If course, parents are called into the school for these too. I spent many a week grounded, denied TV, required to stay in my room (no computer games or X-box in those days. If a one-eyed razorback barbarian warrior was chasing you with an ax, you just
had to hope you could outrun him.) There were plenty of times when I couldn't sit down so comfortably... Eventually I learned to behave responsibly. Almost.

In Japan, many parents think it's the schools responsibility to teach their children how to behave in public, which is why the parents of the boy who stabbed the teacher want to sue the school and the teacher. They don't discipline their children at home, and the kids run amok! Now, this is not ALL parents. Unfortunately, it is the majority in some areas...


Stitchawl

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

In Japan, many parents think it's the schools responsibility to teach their children how to behave in public, which is why the parents of the boy who stabbed the teacher want to sue the school and the teacher. They don't discipline their children at home, and the kids run amok! Now, this is not ALL parents. Unfortunately, it is the majority in some areas...


Stitchawl

It is becoming that way here in America. One counter to that here at least in the region I am in is the rapidly growing homeschool movement. Personally I would feel I had failed my son, and my God, if I let the state raise him but I see it every day.

For example, I had on mom tell me "I can not wait till I can get my daughter in kindergarten because they will know how to deal with her and fix her."


No, raising my son is my wife and I's problem, not the state's. It is one thing (and a good one) to ask for help if needed, but responsibility must fall squarely on the parents.

[wyndslash]

well, i was the product of corporal punishment. i don't think i'd employ that method if i ever had kids, but it did help in some ways. i remember my mom used to slap me whenever i cursed, and a good spanking sure did wonders...

i think it's a shared responsibility. it's not right for parents to rely on teachers solely, who also have limited authority in lots of cases. otherwise, why bother being a parent if you won't accept the responsibility...? jeez...it's not all fun and games.

they should come out with a poster similar to the one for pets about pets not just being for christmas

it's getting tougher raising kids. i'd probably never have any; too expensive and too much trouble. too many bad influences in society. i think what scares me also is how America (as i understand from an outsider's POV) has almost stripped its parents of their authority to handle their kids.

[pdurrant]

Coke Zero #2 in my cup, after a morning spent mowing the lawn.

Putting my moderator hat on for a moment, I feel that the discussion of the merits of corporal punishment might well start edging into political territory soon, and so should probably be kept for the (opt-in only) P&R forum.

[Stitchawl]

I had beer tonight with dinner! First one this year! Asahi Draft. Tasted pretty good... for beer. I still prefer German beers.

Originally Posted by VydorScope

It is becoming that way here in America.

So I have heard.

For example, I had on mom tell me "I can not wait till I can get my daughter in kindergarten because they will know how to deal with her and fix her."

That sort of thing really frightens me. Why is she still allowed to be a parent? We have to learn how to drive before we get a license. We have to learn how to do a LOT of things before we are allowed by law to do them. Why don't they make parenting one of those things!

No, raising my son is my wife and I's problem, not the state's. It is one thing (and a good one) to ask for help if needed, but responsibility must fall squarely on the parents.

Absolutely! In fact, I'm in favor of the courts punishing the parents for the behavior of their children, as well as punishing the children.

Originally Posted by wyndslash

well, i was the product of corporal punishment. i don't think i'd employ that method if i ever had kids, but it did help in some ways.

When I say 'corporal punishment,' personally I do think that Singapore oversteps the line. Being beaten with a big stick is very different from being switched with a thin birch rod. You do NOT walk away from a Singapore caning... You are hospitalized for several days. That is not my idea of punishment for children. (I do think it's a good idea for adults...)

i remember my mom used to slap me whenever i cursed, and a good spanking sure did wonders...

My mother was a 'slapper' too. Just once or twice at any given 'crime,' and always in the heat of the moment. But as you said, it did get the message across. My parents never used any belts or hairbrushes, always their hands, and frankly, that hurt enough.


Stitchawl