Differences in Factor Endowments: The Brits have Royalty and Castles

This has been a busy month--with travels and actually having to be a student again.

I'll begin with an update from last time: HRH, the Queen. Not only did LSE get Her Majesty but also HRH The Duke and I believe a Princess, though I did not recognise her. But the most important part: they came to a lecture about Climate Change Affecting Africa and one of my professors (my favourite prof, actually, a German who, without meaning to, makes us laugh all the time) was on the panel. So I attended the lecture and got the best seat in the house. I was in the row directly behind the Queen! I could have reached out my arm and patted her on the shoulder! Of course, the man with the sword standing to the side probably would have chopped it off, but still! Anyway, I'm still excited about that, and it gives me great street cred. with Brits. Their Queen and I are basically buds, now.

This meeting took place during one of the busiest, and best, weeks ever. We stayed up all night on Tuesday, the 4th of November to watch the election, which I must say I hope I remember forever. About a hundred of us, a mix of Europeans, Brits, and Americans, sat around the TV cheering on every electoral vote. I slept about 2 hourse before racing to campus to see the Queen. Meaning, of course, that her visit took place on the 5th of November--a date important to British Historians as well as V for Vendetta enthusiasts: Bonfire Night (aka Guy Fawkes Night--when, in the 1600s, a man tried to blow up Parliament and was stopped). Actually, I think this was a highly ironic day on which to see the Queen, but such is fate and the LSE. Also, it meant no sleep that night as we had to take part in English culture--partying all night. So by the time Thursday rolled around, I was fairly spent. But very, very happy.

And travels! I've been taking advantage of family and weekend busses to see as much of the island as possible. I spent a long weekend with the Groebners in Wales--it's a beautiful part of the country, but the beauty is rather buried underneath ever-prevalent rain and clouds. Still, I had a great time. We climbed around the Castle in Cardiff, which dates back to the Romans. And went out into the major nature reserve and hiked about a bit, not too much as the mud would have eaten our shoes. And Michael gave me a tour of his...well now, former...factory. Which I must admit was really cool. I've always been interested by huge machines and he uses massive machines to build other massive machines. I will certainly miss them when they move back to the Continent, but I'm sure to visit quite a bit, haha.

My programme (really, my computer has forgoteen it's American) organised a bus trip to Bath. We left early on a Saturday morning and got back that night, so just a perfect amount of time to spend out in the oh-so-princial Bath. This was the day we (my American friends and I) realised we had become rather snotty Londoners. The rest of the country is very pretty. And good for short trips before a return to London, the centre of the Known Universe. The Roman baths are great to see, but in my opinion ruined by a massive interpretation centre built on top of them. Though, seeing Jane Austen's house and the Assembly Halls where so many of her stories are set--and indeed where most of the British aristocracy was married off--was particularly satisfying. A side note, I took lots of pictures of Wales and Bath--on other people's cameras. When I get the files, I'll post a few on here.

An academic update: I'm pushing along. No major problems yet. Economic Analysis of the Environment is my favourite class, and also my smallest. Only 35 people in lecture, with a professor who is both pragmatic and engaging. Incidentally, anyone who has heard of the much attacked(back home) and respected (here)'Stern Report' on global warming and its economic costs will be interested to know that Lord Stern is a professor here, and is the head our Institute for Global Climate Change or something like that. My lecturer works with him, but is not a Lord...haha.

I really like Finance--though it's rather a poor time to discover it. 20,000 bankers were fired in a single week in the City Mile. Less than optimal job market, so I'm happy to still like Economics rather more than Finance. International Economics makes me think, but teaches a whole new and contradictory model every week. So far free trade had been good for all, bad for all, good for either labourers or capitalists, and good for one type of capitalist but not the others, labourers indifferent. The only actual agreement I've found is that everyone is proud of Krugman for winning the Nobel, apparently Internation Trade Theoriests have won in a while. I love history as a subject, but my British History class ended up being only a British Empire since 1780 class. I like seeing the administrative aspects of governing a quarter of the globe, but not as much as I would have liked a Renaissance or Reformation course. So, I keep tying all my essays back to prior historical events. I don't think they mind--as long as I'm careful never to be too critical of the Empire.

I'm off now to work on the Uni Newspaper. I seem fully unable to escape from InDesign. My best to all, and sorry for the greyness of this post. Pictures are coming sometime, I promise.

Maximising Utility in Response to a Change Mechanism

Hello, all. Sorry for the long delay. I'm in school in London, but most of the time it still feels like being at any other school; the mindset is to get readings and practice sets finished, then sleep as long as possible. Possibly with a few pints in between somewhere.

So where to begin? Rather than a chronological account of my last month, which knowing me would take 5000 words and be longer than even a loving grandma could stand to read, I've decided to just sort of reflect on things as they stand so far. Actual information will be scattered amongst the following:

London is everything I was expecting--and as many of you know, I had rather high expectations. The city literally has everything. I've eaten every type of food I've ever had on my travels all within this city: Turkish doeners, German sausages, Indian curry (and somosas!), Thai chicken, Vietnamese soup, and of course 10 types of pasties. And that's just the first month. We have West-End musicals and fringe independent plays. And I don't care if its provincial, I love the old, slightly grimy British pubs. With the regulars who you think are parts of furniture until you go to order and they make recommendations--or at least I think that's what they're saying. For all the over-quoting of Shaw, the UK and the US really are two great countries separated by a common language. I spent a weekend in Surrey on a 'home stay' with a real-life English family. Great time and I got to go to Windsor Castle (the Queen was in residence! Though she didn't invite me in for tea; not quite sure why...), but my 17 year old host brother had a strong south English accent, and he would mumble, so I never knew what he was saying. I spent the whole weekend hoping he didn't ask me anything important. The family as a whole was very inviting and informative. Friday night they gave me the most traditional/popular English dish: Indian takeaway chicken tikka. Seriously, at any given meal time, more of the English are eating Indian takeaway than anything else.

AND speaking of HRH, the Queen: My school is opening a new building which is very eco-friendly and so she, with her husband, Prince Phillip, are coming to campus for the dedication! All of the Americans are planning on getting there REALLY early. They will have a section of the road cordoned off for students to stand and cheer.

So back to personal information: I live on the South Bank of the Thames. In an....interesting area. It's not that I feel unsafe or anything, just that school, or plays, or clubs, or really any kind of food, is at least a 45 minute walk. BUT, I have my own room and bathroom, so no complaints so far. Except, the dorm is all grad students and Americans, so it's quite difficult to make British friends. I went ahead and joined lots of societies (clubs), so hopefully will begin to meet new people.

Also, I am cooking for myself. Every day. So far, only one really failed meal. And, I have to brag, last night was the best meal yet. I defrosted a chicken breast the night before, and rubbed in lemon juice, pepper, and 'assorted herb mix' and pan fried it in olive oil. Then I took a dry soup mix and added very little water to make a sauce to put over plain rice. And rewarded myself with a glass of wine. Basically, watch out Emerill. And Rachel Ray. If this whole college thing doesn't work out, I can now make something like 5 different dishes.

Hope everything is going well in the States. And if I don't post before Nov. 4, everyone go vote!

Mike

p.s. Please note the post title. You should expect lame Econ jokes all year. Just so you know.

The sun never sets...when you're flying with the sun.

Hello! I have arrived in London for my year of study. I actually arrived a week ago, but Internet has not been so accessible. In fact, it is still not working in my residence hall, so this is arriving from a public pc. Hopefully it is not hacked. (Please be advised that I will not be selling any magic vitamins or opening Nigerian bank accounts, so if that post should show up here, it's fake.)

So far, the weather has been wonderful. Blue skies with around 60 degree weather. Much better than the locals say is usual. I have yet to register with the school or do anything official, so more information and maybe some pictures of my...cozy...dorm room soon--as soon as I get Internet.

Really hope no one was holding his breath...

I am SO sorry. I realize anyone who waited for my "I arrived home safely message" and didn't assume the best must by now have called my house frantically. But rest assured, I arrived back home with no problems and with remarkable comfort.

I am still trying to find a way to load my final pictures. I had a bit of a mix-up involving the only digital copy of my pictures ending up in TX while I'm rather further north. Hopefully it will be resolved and I will have a large picture post soon. If not, I assure you that Thailand is a beautiful country full of historic, massive monuments. All of which are available on Google Image Search.

For those of you who don't know, I will be with my family until late September when I will head off to London for what I expect to be a life-changing year full of interesting anecdotes I look forward to sharing with you here. Until then, krap kuhn krap and sawatdee krap! Thank you and Good bye!

Quick Note

Hello, all. Yesterday's blog entry was a real update. Today I just want to let everyone know that I'm heading out tomorrow to return to the States. It will be sad to leave a country I've come to love, but I'm ready to get back home and see family and friends. And to work a bit--too much time on the beach would probably ruin me, haha. I will post again to let ya'll know I'm back safe and sound.

I'm a livin' for the weekend...

Hello, all. I have taken a couple of excellent trips the last two weekends, and thought I'd share, though I have no way to upload pictures at this point. So a less interresting, yet more informative post.

Last weekend I went to a beach called Pattaya. It is often called, deservedly, the "Armpit of Asia." It's only about an hour from Bangkok and is on the mainland, so the water suffers from being much to close to the city. I arrived Saturday afternoon (and checked into the Best Western--in Pattaya, Thialand!) and immediately set out looking for lunch. The whole city is like a giant crescent up against the Gulf of Thailand and the whole northern half of the cresecent--where I went for lunch--is completely Russian. Now I'm told that Nice, France is also highly Russian in nature, but let me assure you, this is no Nice. Though lots of large LARGE Russians without proper swimming attire. It was really a cool site to see all the official signs in Thai first and Russian underneath. Of course, I can't read either of those languages, so I spent a lot of time being lost. But they sure did look cool. That night I sat on the beach (I had to rent a chair for 30baht--about a dollar) and watched the sun set. It was a great sight, but I missed the tide rising. So all of a sudden my feet got a bit wet--and started to burn. I dried off, but my feet itched the rest of the day. So moral of the story: Place known for being really sketchy and dirty generally are dirty and sketchy. Still, it's a very popular part of Thailand and I had to experience the city.

This weekend, however, could not have been a less likely story. I just finished one of the best weekends of my life. I went with a friend from work, his Thai girlfriend, and two of his friends from college in California. My friend and his girlfriend had both been the island before, so they knew their way around and knew where to find great accomodations. They had all gone down on Thursday but I couldn't go until Friday. So I took a bus, and then hopped a ferry and then hiked across the island to find they had already booked bungalows right on the beach. Seriously 15 feet from the ocean. Of course, no air con or real running water, but who cares? It was the perfect version of camping. On the ocean, with solid housing. And hundreds of other tourists, Thai and farang, all just chlliing in the ocean all day and hanging out on the beach at night. We saw a show of firethrowers. It's really a big part of island culture, firethrowing, and is a very respectable occupation. And we met up with some other American and British tourists and taught them the game BeerPong, which was great until they started winning... We also explored the town, though I use "town" rather loosely. Rather than attempting imagery or description, which I've never quite mastered, I'll just wait and post pictures of most of these places.

So life in Thailand had been pretty great lately. And only a few days left!

Vietnam: Part Saung (Thai for two)

Be forewarned, this post will be long. Even for me. So maybe make popcorn.

Before finishing my update on Hanoi, I figured I would share a bit about my more recent goings-on. I have moved downtown to stay with a very generous friend-of-a-friend from work, so no more hour and a half commute each way. Amazing. Work is giving me a chance to meet lots of very interesting people. I've taken to asking everyone I meet how they arrived to work in Asia--it's always fascinating. Many came over for short contracts, to visit friends, or on vacation, and just never left. They found a way to stay--often for decades.

Work is also letting me follow some of my nerdier pursuits. Large masses of survey data keep pouring in (three in the last two weeks), and I get to compile the data, run the basic math, and write up summary reports that go out to the different committees or to the Thai government. And as everyone knows executive summaries of survey data from non-profits are usually critical to all public policy decision, I feel quite influential (ha!). Really though, I do like the work. Just to give an idea of one of my days (those of you not related to me might find this boring, but I know my mom cares...):

Tuesday, July 15. Had a 7:30am meeting with the ICT committee (Bringing 3G technology--bascially iPhones) to Thailand. Left immediatley after to tour Klong Toei (the biggest slum in Thailand) schools. We went through three: the foundation is donating new e-learning centers and we had to figure out which schools were the most in need. Raced back to the office to trend survey data that had just come in. At 2:00pm we held a press conference of a new Thai/US art exhibit. Got back to the office at 5 and wrote up a summary of the now-trended data. At 6:30 had a meeting at another hotel, this time Marketing. Back home at 9:30 and crashed, b/c 7:30am the next day was another meeting. To summarize: I feel like I have a real job.

Tomorrow begin Asarnha Bucha--a Thai holiday sort of like Lent. So no work for two days. A four day weekend is great, but of course the whole country is shutting down--even the bars. I think I might go to a rather sketchy beach with some friends from work. Not yet sure.

Anyway, some more information on Hanoi. I'll attempt brevity. The center of Hanoi, at least the historic section, is a big lake with islands and temples in the middle. (Incidentally, it's where John McCain's plane crashed--and they then dragged him out, with something like two broken legs and a broken arm.) At night, the whole city congregates there. So I went out by myself and, dodging the thousands of motor scooters, got myself ice-cream and walked around the lake. I swear the whole city was there, doing the same. So peaceful and still once I got around the other side. And in the night air, actually cool weatherwise--for southeast Asia, anyway. I repeated this walk every night, and would gladly make a tradition out of it if I lived there. The temples are all lit up in the middle of the lake--just very cool. I wish I had pictures, but I purposefully didn't take a camera. Just immersed myself in the whole feel of the city.

As for touristy sites, we visited the mausoleum of Ho Chi Minh, or Uncle Ho to the Vietnamese. Unfortunately, we got there at 11:30, and it closed at 11 (weird times, honestly). So we did not see his preserved body, which used to be annually shipped to the USSR for fresh embalming. It's now done in-house. To be honest, I was less than dissapointed. From a distance, it looks strikingly like the monument to Ataturk.

We visited Le Maison Centrale, which was a French political prison full of Vietnamese. After the revolution, it was emptied. And then filled with American POWs. John McCain was there for years. The Vietnamese really really love McCain right now. I know it seems ironic, but they have his name and picture everywhere and always mention the campaign. The head of the prison back when McCain was there gave an interview endorsing the leader and calling him a friend--one I don't know that he'll publicize. They have his jumpsuit from when they pulled him out of the lake:

I don't want to give the wrong impression. A very small wing of the prison is dedicated to the American POWs. Most of it is about the French. And the Vietnamese hero/patriots suffering under the French. There are pictures, statues, movies, and even a full-scale reproduction of a guillotine. Another irony: the courtyard had been dedicated as a memorial to those Vietnamese who suffered there. I don't know if this picture does it any justice, but it looks REALLY similar to the Vietnam War Memorial in D.C. Eerily similar. Same rock at an angle with the shine finish and engraved information.

That's all for sites. Vietnamese traditional building are quite recognizeable: ridiculously skinny and tall. It's like they took me, and made a building. All over. I don't know how these things stand. They must have zero seismic activity. Ironically, this building sells Thai silk. "K" and "T" are pretty close.

The street that had my hotel was only a block from the city center (the lake) and was great. Email me if you want the information--a whopping $30 a night--for their nicest room. This is the street looking away from my hotel. It's so cliche Asian/Vietnamese that I had to include this photo. Note how the building do have a slightly European feel.

That's all for now. Really, without the pictures, this post wouldn't be that long... I'll be home rather soon and miss you all, Mike.

Hanoi: Who'd have thought?

Hello, all. I have finally been able to load a few pictures from Hanoi, though not all of them, so consider this Hanoi, Part I.

I guess a bit of an introduction is in order. I got to spend the last weekend in June in Hanoi, Vietnam. Though the trip was just a weekend and began as a visa run (my original visa in Thailand was only for 30 days, so I had to leave the country), I fell in love with the city. Really. Hanoi is now one of my all-time favorite cities. I would recommend it anyone and would love to live there one day.

It would be untrue to say I felt no trepidation on first planning my trip. How would the Vietnamese, especially those in the north, react to me? Politics aside, we didn't re-establish diplomatic connection until the mid 1990s. But the man who gave me most of my information about Vietnam has lived in SE Asia for 30 years and told me not to worry. He told me they view us as just another invader, following the Chinese, the Japanese, the British, and the French--so no specific hard feelings. And he mentioned the many American business connections now in Vietnam, and said the two countries are truly becoming close. Besides, in the south, he said, many of the older men fought alongside Americans. They are always eager to re-engage with the culture they spent so much time around.

I certainly wasn't expecting much--capital of a Socialist Republic, former American bombing target and all that. But the appeal of Hanoi is its blend. It was built mainly during the French colonial period and hence feels both European and Asian. So European architecture, but with Asian politeness and service. A perfect mix. It is a major city, but feels rural, with rice farms literally touching the borders of the urban centers. Ancient Chinese temples sit next to modern skyscrapers (since the mid-1990s, the Vietnamese borders have opened and the economy has been thriving).

So, we left Bangkok around 6am Saturday morning, landed in Hanoi at 8, and had our luggage and were through customs by 8:30am. (Air Asia is...interesting. Their motto: Now everyone can fly. And by everyone, they mean 5 feet tall Asians. Not 6.5 foot tall Americans.) We dropped off the luggage and began the sightseeing. First was the Temple of Literature, which is the first temple (and university) in Vietnam dedicated to Confuscious (I've seen five ways to spell that, so I'm assuming nothing can be wrong) and his teachings and dates back to the 1000s. Today it functions as a park/historic site in the middle of the city's large historic section. This might be the most amazing spot I have ever been. Completely serene. The weather was in the lower seventies and slightly grey. You could just imagine the students sitting and studying in the shade of the trees. Here is the front gate, leading into the Temple garden.
Here is the gateway from the front garden into the second garden.
The second garden is flanked by two large pools, overgrown with lilypads.

Once you cross another gate to exit the second garden, you enter the main university complex. A large pool stands in the middle, and is surrounded by what look like giant tombstones on turtles. The large stones are actually lists of every doctoral candidate to have passed the royal exams (literally standing in front of the king while he grills you on history, philosophy, religion, etc.) over the centuries. So back in the 1000s, they had the comps! The turtles are one of the traditional sacred animals to the Vietnamese. Proof I was there:


I know this was a lot of information on the Temple of Literature, but it was a fantastic spot.

A bit more on Vietnam. It is a rather cheap place--the currency is 17,000 to 1. So I withdrew 800,000 dong ($49) and it lasted the whole weekend. Also, American money was accepted everywhere, as it's just easier to handle. The entrance fee to the Temple was 5000 dong for 2 of us--about 15 cents a person.

As for the people, they are rather quiet. I've had multiple ex-pat men tell me Vietnamese women are the strongest, hardest working people on earth. They had to be; generations of men were lost. The population is also quite young, for the same reason, and so is quite dynamic--another reason why American companies are investing at rates comparable to China. (Interesting commentary on Americans investing in Communist countries aside, it really is a great investment environment as the government is following China's example, for better or for worse.) Back to the story: to summarize transportation in Vietnam:


Now imagine that times a million. Yamaha's greatest market is Vietnam. EVERYONE drives a scooter (they have replaced the bicycle). The streets are just unreal. Road lines are useless, as the scooters outnumber the cars easily 100 to 1. And everyone honks constantly. I gave up on not getting hit and had a decent amount of scratches half-way up my calves by visit's end.

One more thing stop I'd like to mention on the first day: After the Temple, we stopped off at a cafe/restaurant called Koto. It was started by a Vietnamese man to help orphans. It is totally non-profit, and staffed by the orphans. They choose between training in back-house or serving, and are provided housing, food, education, English lessons, and healthcare for their two year training program, at the end of which a job is found for them in the service industry somewhere in the city. So the orphans gain careers, the restaurant is self-sustaining, and the hotels and restaurants have well-trained staff. All of the tour busses make a point of stopping by. I got some kind of fruit drink--I wouldn't be able to say the name, let alone spell it. If anyone is ever going to Hanoi, send me an email and I can give directions and details. It really is a must see.

More later, Mike.

I feel so old...

Note: This post should be about last weekend, when I visited Hanoi, Vietnam, which is now one of my favorite cities in the world. But I took a thousand pictures and have no way to upload them, so that post will have to wait. For now, my birthday:

Hello, all. I'm writing now as a twenty year old. Two decades. No longer a teenager. I feel so responsible and mature. HA! It's actually been a lot of fun, teasing my bosses about feeling old, as they're all 35 and older. For my birthday, Friday the fourth, I left work at 3 to meet up with Ted. He took me to get measured to have a few shirts made. Bangkok tailors are apparently very detail oriented--and they picked out fabrics they swear will look good in London. A good thing, too, as when they handed me four books, each with about a hundred fabrics, I just started laughing. So then they showed me just four and I chose three--a much better system. I go back tomorrow (Monday) for a fitting.

After the tailor's shop, we hit a few sports bars, and then tried to meet Meg for a traditional American meal at the Great American Rib Company, but unfortuneately, in addition to being my birthday, apparently the Fourth of July has some bigger meaning and everyone American in the city had already reserved the restaurant. Who'd have thought? haha. So we went towards another rib place, but the traffic was so bad, we though we'd ditch the driver and just walk to the Sky Train. Great idea, until two feet of water fell in 30 minutes. Not exeagerration. Well, maybe a little. I have never been so soaked. But it actually was great fun. And when we finally arrived at the restaurant, I had a big rack of ribs, a full corn on the cob, and a bacon-loaded baked potato. All-in-all, delicious Fourth of July Feast.

Went to bed early, as I had to be up at early the next morning to be at the fair grounds at 8am for the American Independence Day Picnic. I was decently excited, as about 3/4 for my internship thus far has been the organization of this event. Lets just say 16 hours later, I was hot, sweaty, muddy, and tired as ever, but very satisfied with the 2500 person attendence record, the sale of all 6000 of the booth prizes I gathered the last month, and the fireworks display coordinated with a Blues band.

Thanks to all that sent Birthday wishes. They are much appreciated. I have about 3 1/2 weeks left in Thailand, and will hopefully have many more adventures, or at least stories, to share.

Exploring On My Own (with a guide paid to arrange everything and a driver to keep the AC running)

The title really says it all for this one. Saturday was actual independence. After having a lunch with the others at Central Market (a huge department store--think Marshall Fields, but with 5 times the money), I took the Skytrain by myself a few stations down to the MBK center. The MBK center is really like nothing I've ever seen. It is six or seven floors (I never did figure out how many) of completely random merchandise. A whole floor, that literally spreads for what feels like all of downtown Galena, full of cell phones. Another floor of all fake American, Italian, and British name-brand clothing. I'm not usually one for shopping, but I did enjoy myself. I bought a Coka-Cola shirt, except the writing is all in Thai and a soft, all cotton cut shirt similar to the one I wanted to buy in Turkey and that Uma tried to get me in India.

Sunday was more non-traditional tourism. I spent the day traveling to Ayudhya (spelled one of at least six different ways), which was the second capital of Thailand. It dates mainly from the 14th to the 17th centuries and was conquered (read: burnt almost to the ground) by the Burmese--a fact many of the Thai people seem quite unwilling to forget. I must recommend my method of travel to all. I had a private tour guide who led me around and told me all the history, and a private car and driver to quickly shuttle from one ruin to the next--in full air conditioning. The AC was actually necessary, as this was the hottest I have ever been in my life. My Lonely Planet guide highly recommended Ayudhya, but said to avoid it from 11am to 4pm, so of course I arrived there at 11 and left at 4--you all know how I love to follow directions. I have never been so sticky or grimy--ever.

The sites are, like so many things here, indescribable. They are so much larger than I imagined. And so much grander. We began actually outside of Ayudhya, in the Summer Palace--a name not really fitting as Thailand has no summer and the palace has no set scheduled use. It is still sometimes used by the royal family and was built by King Rama V aka King Chulalonghorn (the eldest son in the King and I--in case anyone was wondering, that working is almost entirely fictional). Running water and canals run through the whole complex. Here is the observatory:



We then traveled to about seven of the major ruined temples. (This was, in fact, quite impressive. Most people only see about four--I've finally acclamated to the weather, and the private driver helped, too.) Some temples are still used by the Thai people, many are not. This one is, and is Traditional Thai style:

An abandoned temple in the Cambodian style:

You'll have to forgive me not namig or going into too much detail. The names are all blending together, and I think anecdotes more entertaining anyway. Me at the most famous of Ayudhya's temples, whose three matching pagodas are the symbol of the city:

We had lunch at a traditonal Thai outdoor restaurant. Great food, and right on the lake. And by lake, I mean non-moving water where mosquitoes breed the size of owls and eat small children. The whole surface was covered by water hyacinth, so this picture really does no justice.







My guide spent some time as a Buddhist nun and strongly believes in the many Buddhist and Thai superstitions. I know now (and quite like) many of them. Each day has a color associated with it. I was born (I now know) on a Monday, which makes my color yellow and makes me a charming person. My corresponding sign of the Buddha is him standing with one outturned palm, calling for peace. (Incidentally, the King of Thailand was also born on Monday, and hence, most of the Thai people wear yellow on Monday.) I am great friends with those born on Wednesday (Green) and should marry someone born on Friday (I've forgotten the color) and should avoid those born on Sunday (Red). So those of you born on Sunday, stay away; those from Friday, let's have dinner.

We visited a temple where a statue's head has grown into tree roots. Legend claims it was hidden there from the Burmese, and raised by the tree.



To close, I would like to share a rather amusing, if embarrassing, story. My guide's name was Pudge (she was actually a tad large, at least for a Thai woman) and hence the nickname. I, however, have never been that good with names, and kept calling her Chub and Chubs, which, in my defense, are really very similar to Pudge. I don't worry; her English was not good enough for her to understand my mistake. The driver was also great fun--he spoke no English, but would laugh along with ol' Pudge and I every time we joked, though he had no idea of what we were saying.

That certainly got long. Best to all and keep in touch, Mike.

A not-so-quick (in the making) note.

This was going to be a long, detailed update. I just spent an hour trying to upload six photos. Let's just say Blogger and I are not getting along--and I think I scared the dog. Anyway, look for a real post sometime soon.

So I remember which pictures I chose: 54,55,63,71,81,88.

Sneak peak: The title of the post is "Exploring On My Own (with a guide paid to arrange everything and a driver to keep the AC running).

Sightseeing and some photos

Hola, all. Or more fittingly, Swaddi Krap! I spent the weekend continuing my over-run-with-Americans-almost-getting-run-over-by-tuk-tuks sightseeing tour. Saturday was quite action packed:

We got up early and had the driver take us down to a "port" on the Chao Phraya River (the river that runs through Bangkok). We took hired a long boat and sat VERY low in the water while traveling downstream.

This was our actual boat. As you can see, the river is nearly as clean as the Mississippi. Anyway, we took the boat down to the flower market, which my mother would love. Even I found it rather interesting--note that a bunch of these bright orchids is 35 baht, oh about $1. (Hopefully you can click on a photo to make it larger.)

After exploring the flower market, we hired a tuk-tuk which took (haha!) us to the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace was built by King Rama I in the 1700s. Each subsequent king has taken the official name Rama (we are currently on King Rama IX). The name is for the hero of the Ramayana, a particularly popular (and LONG) traditional story.

Our tuk-tuk. Please try and note the amazing sound system: He seriously bungee corded speakers to the roof.

The Grand Palace was really too much to try and take in--sooo many colors and sooo much decoration. No picture could ever do it justice, though of course I tried.

So longboat--> flowermarket--> tuk-tuk-->Grand Palace, and though the weather was much cooler and more breezy than usual, I was still completely worn out. When we got home, I took a nap.

To end, some pictures from last weekend, as promised. These are of Wat Po.

The End of My First Week

To begin, I've been getting a few emails about the political situation here in Thailand. Everything is perfectly safe, and to be honest, not that "tumultuous" or whatever the media has been calling it. Here is an article that explains the situation well: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7427309.stm Basically, the military and some others overthrew the government in a coup last year. A national election was called, and then the same people were put back in power by a large majority, again, so most analysts think the military will not step in, as it is clear these guys are who the people want. We have seen some of these "mass protests." About 150 people wearing yellow (the king's color) marched downtown, very quietly chanting. Most people here don't think a coup will occur again, and even if it did, it would most likely by calm and peaceful.

Well, for my life here: I've finished my first week here in Bangkok. It went very well. I am really enjoying my internship. My first week entailed finishing my tax report, and then working with the Executive Director and and another intern to write up an investment and trade review. Basically, I spent hours with charts and a calculator figuring up Foreign Direct Investment (yea Model UN research) and import/export trends and then working with others to write up the results. Looking back on what I just wrote makes the job seem boring, but I really like it. I get to actually use lots of the information my Economics and Math classes have shoved down my throat.

On Saturday, we went to Wat Po. Wat means temple, and Po is the type of tree under which Buddha reached Enlightenment. It is a huge temple most famous for its reclining Buddha statue (the Buddha is 138 ft. tall). I took pictures, and then my camera promptly died from lack of batteries. So, as soon as I get more batteries, I will upload some pictures for those of you who would like to see a Buddhist temple/massive statue. It was extraordinarily hot, especially because I had to wear pants and real tennis shoes out of respect.

On Sunday, we were headed to the Grand Palace (another of Bangkok's major historic destinations) when a major storm hit, so instead we went to the mall to see a movie. The mall is called Siam Paragon and it is the largest mall I have ever seen, and of the same caliber of North Park in Dallas (that means something to most of you, to the others think Woodfield). It has seven floor of regular mall space, a food court the size of Kennedy Mall in Dubuque (Midway mall in Sherman) and an entire floor dedicated to luxury cars. We're talking Ferrari, Maserati, and Lamborghini. The movie theatre was also ridiculously nice. We arrived too late to get the "nice seats" so instead we sat in the "cheap seats." I use quotation marks because our seats were still leather reclining seats with big headsets. Incidentally, the Indiana Jones movie was much better than I was expecting, though I wasn't expecting much. Everyone is right, it has nothing on the first ones, but is still worth seeing.

That does seem to be rather long, so best of luck to all,
Mike

AMCHAM or, Getting Kicked Out of a Cab

I have now finished two days of my internship at the American Chamber of Commerce, affectionately called AMCHAM. My first day began meeting at the office at 6:45 am. I quickly met my boss and the two other interns and then hopped in a government van. We were going to the dedication of a school which AMCHAM and a private company had helped renovate near Rayong on the coast. The hour and a half long drive took three hours (we got lost--three or four times). However, my first act as an intern was to tour the school. It was actually quite impressive. Not by Western standards maybe, but 70 students (K-6th grade) with 5 teachers. There were computers, separate classrooms (including a music room), and bathrooms. We got to play with the students--the counted to 10 in english and then said the english ABCs--very impressive for 2nd grade Thai students. Then we had a brief lunch of Thai fruit and fried rice. (Very sweet and very strange looking--google it sometime). We only got to stay about an hour an then headed back to the office for real work. (I actually have spent the last two days researching and then compiling a report summarizing the tax codes of 6 southeast Asian States--lots of fun.)

This morning was early again: Left by 6:45 to go to the ambassador's house. He and his staff gave a briefing on Thai politics and business. Very interesting and I met lots of business leaders from around Bangkok. Then back to the office.

My last story for now: I had to take the taxi back home by myself today for the first time. It's about a 30-45 minute trip, so I was a bit intimidated. The drivers here do not speak much English--no matter what the guidebooks tell you--so I was operating off a short list of words (turn right, go straight, etc.). Anyway the instructions given to me by a friend were a bit vague, so I ended up not exiting the highway quite properly. I got the driver to turn back around and then we missed the turn for the small access road again. Rather than turning around again, the driver just kicked me out of the taxi. Anyway, I crossed the highway, ran down the highway a few yards (I have no idea why there were no sidewalks or even greenery), and then ran down the access road, all in a suit, and made it to the right neighborhood. I was sticky and scared out of my mind (cars here drive FAST), but I made it--and entertained the locals sitting under the mix master who were watching me.

All in all, a very good couple of days. I do like hearing from people, so feel free to leave a comment. You can always use anonymous comment and just sign it at the end...at least you could back when I was always bothering Ellen. Best wishes to all, Mike.

Thailand: The Land of Smiles

Hello all. I originally did not plan on creating a blog. When I sat down to email updates, however, I realized that 20 individual emails was a bit much, so here I sit.

For those who do not know, I am in Thailand for the summer on an internship. I arrived late Friday night, safe and sound. Saturday was my first real day. I woke up at nine (so far I'm beating Jet Lag) and got to see Nichida, the part of Bangkok where the Ridgways live. It is just beautiful. Everywhere is green. The plants are the tallest I have ever seen and are literally everywhere. We scooted around Nichida in a golf cart (it's burnt orange with a hook-em horns on the front...courtesy of Megan), going for groceries and a tour. You cannot imagine how beautiful everything is. All of the houses are massive, but very well designed. They fit well with the natural geography and are landscaped to remain rather hidden in shade.

In the afternoon, Megan and I went out on her scooter for massages. There is a little store near the school where I got an hourl ong Traditional Thai massage for 350 baht (about $10). Tradiational Thai massage uses some basic yoga combined with stretching and pressue point manipulation to basically work over all of your major muscle groups. For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massage#Thai_massage

The massage was amazing and unkinkied all of my airplane tensed muscles. Then we went to a little outdoor bar and tried Thai beer. It's very light but rather good, though I was so relaxed I doubt anything would have bothered me. Also we had Thai food: some kind of fried pork with a spicy sauce. We came back to the house, changed (I really keep showering quite a bit...), and then went out to dinner: Italian food.

I have not yet left Nichida and the closely surrounding area, but everything seems here: the school, shopping, massage, restaurants, etc. We go everywhere either on the scooters or in the golf cart.

Tomorrow I begin work down at AMCHAM, the American Chamber of Commerce. I have not yet met any of the people from AMCHAM but have heard only good things. I'll write when I have a description of my job, as it will be the main part of my summer--though we also are already planning trips to Singapore and the islands in southern Thailand.