Tuesday, February 7, 2012

A Great Win

Wow, what an exciting Super Bowl!  Of course, it was made even better with a win by the Giants but that goes without saying!  Honestly, before the game even began, I told Kevin that I would be very surprised if the Patriots DIDN'T win.  I thought the Patriots had more "fire in their bellies" to win this game and redeem themselves from the loss to the Giants in 2008.  In fact, I read somewhere that Tom Brady was so upset by the 2008 loss that he has yet to review the game film.  I thought those strong feelings would give them an edge on the field and I really expected a blow out of the Giants. Alas, (thankfully), it was not to be.  I can drive our decked out golf cart around Nichada for a few more days and will then retire the "Giants Football" decor for what will most likely be many years.  

Unfortunately, the Super Bowl commercials were not broadcast here so I do not know if there were any good ones or not.  I could probably find them on-line and watch but it just isn't the same.  The halftime show was broadcast here (it wasn't when we lived in Australia) and I liked the performance by Madonna.  Although her dancing isn't what it used to be, she is in amazing shape for being 53 years old!  It was funny because the kids did not recognize any of the songs that Madonna was singing and I didn't recognize the other performers!  Can we say, "generation gap"?!?

Both of the kids leave tomorrow morning (Wednesday) for their grade-level field trips and will return mid-afternoon on Friday.  The 7th graders (Caitlynne's grade) are going to Keang Krachen National Park, the largest national park in Thailand at 2,915 square kilometers.  The park is located along Thailand's border with Myanmar and is about 2 1/2 hours southwest of Bangkok.  Most of the park is jungle and home to elephants, tapir, Asiatic leopards, tigers and barking deer.  During the trip, the students will also visit the salt farms and the Royal Agricultural Centre.  Caitlynne's class (about 150 students) will travel by buses and they are staying in 2 bedroom bungalows on the grounds of a resort near the park.  The 7th graders were allowed to choose their roommates & bungalow-mates and Caitlynne is happy to be with three of her close friends.


The 6th graders (Christopher's grade) are going to Khao Yai National Park, located in the Sankambeng Mountain Range, just Northeast of Bangkok.  Khao Yai is a bit smaller than Keang Krachen (about 2,000 square kilometers) and is Thailand's oldest park.  The park is almost all jungle and contains a very diverse population of flora and fauna.  More than 70 species of mammals, including elephants, tigers, gibbons, leopards and Malaysian sun bears, as well as more than 320 varieties of birds, all live in the park.  Khoa Yai is also known for having magnificent waterfalls.  The students will trek through the jungle, participate in educational activities and learn about environmental and resource conservation.  In 1992, Khoa Yai was so heavily de-forested that the Government closed the park for recovery and re-forestation.  Since it has re-opened, the Government has carefully planned the development of this area and limited on tourism and other activities that might damage the ecosystem of the park.  However, poachers continue to enter the park and illegally cut valuable wood and hunt wildlife preventing a complete recovery.  There are about 160 6th graders going and they will also travel by buses and will stay on campus at a boarding school, Saint Stephen's International School, located very close to the park.  It will be interesting to see what Christopher thinks of living in a dormitory room with 7 other boys, sharing a VERY common bathroom/shower area and eating in a cafeteria.


A photo of Christopher and his friends from the "Sleep In A Box" event at ISB a couple of weeks ago.  Photo is courtesy of isbms photostream.
Have a great Tuesday! 

2 comments:

Duke Physician Asst said...

Hi Kristen-

I am trying to find out about the schools in the Nichada area. My youngest son is 33 months old and has a speech delay and requires speech and occupational therapy. Do you know if the Rose Marie Academy has therapists at the school, or do you know of any schools in the Nichada area that accommodate for this at the 3 year old level? Any point of contact you may know of with the schools would be great. Thanks again and I look forward to reading your future posts regarding life in Thailand!

Beautifully Seaside // Formerly Chic Coastal Living said...

Great trips the kids are going on! Wow! A lot different from the bowling alley!