Wedding Plans

26th June - 6 weeks to go.

Things are a bit hectic here, Katie is building up to a crescendo, every weekend there seems to be at least one crisis. Who's coming to the Hen night in London on the 'Disco Decker'? It travels round the clubs in London, picking up and dropping off in Picaddily. Sue is going - go Sue! The latest plan is for Katie and Dan to go over to France for the day to get wine and Champagne.

Katie and Sue have just spent a Mother and daughter weekend at a place called Henlow Grange which is a health Spa. "What advice can you give me for married life mum?" Hmm "Be good to your husband? (No), "Make sure there is a hot meal on the table when he gets home?" (No) "Remember that the most important thing in your life is him?" (No).... after careful consideration Sue said, "Don't take any crap".

Dan, Ben and I have been liaising over the speeches and I am already starting to get an attack of the butterflies.

Dad's get left out when it comes to arranging weddings. All I have to do is knock on the door at 11.45 to collect Katie from her room and then walk her down the aisle. After that I have to give a speech and that's me done. My suit has been picked by Dan, the venue, food wine etc. are all someone else's responsibility but I have arranged the music - 'The Harvs' and 'GR8'. The corkage is £7 a bottle for wine, £9 a bottle for champagne and £50 for a keg of beer, what a rip!

28th July (2 weeks to go)

Dan and Katie arrive after we have done breakfasts and rooms. They want to show us what they have been buying for people at the wedding, little trinkets for the children and presents for the bridesmaids, ushers and best man. The engagement ring has been cleaned and re-sized and Dan has some new Hudson shoes - very nice too. Apparently the forecast is good for the beginning of August, good!
No time to go to France for the wine so we ordered wine and Champagne from Tescos online - to be delivered the day before the wedding, a bit dodgy I thought but apparently it's guaranteed!

I have done a powerpoint presentation to loop on a projector in the marquee, not bad I think. It shows the story of Katie learning to be a good housewife, meeting the man of her dreams and preparing for the big day.

Final preparations

Katie and Dan arrived back in Lowestoft on Thursday 9th. Dan's Nan's funeral was on that day so they had a quick shower and away they went. The last couple of weeks had seen Dan's Nan slowly deteriorating, a sad time for him and his family. They got home at about 6pm after a 'fantastic wake' to quote Dan. His Grandad Len had got pretty merry and the family had all had a good time together. They felt it was just what Nan would have wanted and it helped them all to realise that death is inevitable and although it was sad, she had had a good life and they were able to celebrate it.

We went on the beach and launched a huge Thai lantern (We were hoping to let of loads at the wedding but the owners were frightened we would set fire to there crop on the field next door), Katie and Dan made a wish and off it went, disappearing up into the night sky. It was only at that point I realised it looked a bit like a flare and I half expected to see the lifeboat come racing out of the harbour!



We bought Katie a memory chest in Thailand, somewhere to keep all her little keepsakes. Funny to think back to buying it in Ban Tawai last January and then it's journey on the boat all the way over here. After Katie opened it Sue decided to sit on it and there was a loud cracking sound! Luckily there was no obvious evidence of damage.

Friday we got all the rooms ready for Katie and Dan's friends, we were full to the gunwales using the floor and even our bed! Sue changed all the beds and put clean bedding in all the rooms and left a message asking them to change them. Of course you can guess what happened - they changed the bed BEFORE they slept in them!

Some of my cousins from Oxford were arriving at the Elms (the wedding venue)in the afternoon so we set off at about 4.00pm with a load of bbq stuff to meet them. Poor old Sue had to go via Tescos because they had messed up our delivery of Champagne and ended up getting caught up in a traffic jam caused by a fatal accident. It was strange to think of the agony one family was going through whilst we were preparing for a big family celebration.

Katie stayed with us for a while but then went off with her bridesmaids to do makeup and drink Champagne. Dan, Ben and the ushers went off to the local pub for a drink and Sue and I retired early - worn out.

The big day

The quick drink at the local turned into a 'lock in'! The landlord finally drove them back at about 2.30 in the morning. A good start to the day. Ben was in a real state and he had to do a speech. He was nervous enough as it was without a giant hangover and I ended up walking him around the grounds at about 11.00, the ceremony was at 12.00 and we weren't in our suits yet. 2 paracetomol plenty of water, cross your fingers and off he went.

My room was just down the hall from Katie's and I wa due to collect her at 11.45. I got ready and then paced around in the lounge area. I could hear doors banging and laughter as the bridesmaids got her ready and then a chorus of "Byes" and off they went.

By then the chauffer had arrived - "Don't worry about the speech, just say the first thng that comes into your head" he said...... "Charley Dimmock!" where did they, I mean that come from?

I wanted some time to gather my thoughts and so I went outside. It was a gorgeous day we were so lucky. Everything seemed very still, waiting like me for the day to start. Time seemed to stop, I was never going to do this again. I was never going to wait to give my daughter away. In fact the whole day was going to be full of things I had never done and would never do again. This was the climax to my sabbatical year and something Katie had been planning and thinking about, certainly for the last two years and probably long before that. What was I going to say to her? How would I react when I saw her? Sue had already told me that she cried when she saw Katie try on her dress and I didn't want to make a fool of myself. Then time started again. This was my moment of the day.

"She is ready for you now" said this nice lady with a walky talky who straightened my buttonhole and gave me a quick check to make sure I was up to scratch. I walked along a corridor towards a corner on my left around which was a set of stairs. I could see the chauffer and photographer waiting.

There she was, my daughter standing on about the third step smiling down at me. She looked radiant, so happy, expectant, beautiful, shy and many other things all at once. I turned and these other people, the photographer, chauffer and walky talky woman were all looking at me. I don't think I said anything, I honestly can't remember. I felt a lump in my throat but I didn't cry. It was like a dream. "Will you stand next to her so we can take some photographs" someone said, and the spell was broken. Sound came flooding in things started to happen.

'Crackle' - "We are ready at this end" came through.
"OK just taking photographs and the she will be leaving"
"We are on our way, repeat on our way - all systems go, 10, 9, ...."
We were ushered into the car, the photographer clicking away. Once inside, the chauffer said "It's still not too late you know I could drive you to London" and started to engage me in a surreal conversation about miles per gallon. I concentrated on Katie, she was blowing air and feeling nervous. Funny but she had been fine until I arrived and now she was full of nerves. I talked about living every moment of the day and then we were there outside the entrance and the bridesmaids were all lined up waiting for us.

There was a brief discussion about who would go first and this strange man, who turned out to be the Registrar gave Katie and I some last minute instructions -





"Take your time walking down the aisle, it will be over soon enough" and the doors opened. The first thing I saw was my brother Nick beaming at us and then all eyes turned to look at Katie and cameras started to click. Katie held my arm and then it was done, I sat down next to Sue and events took over.

The whole day was lovely. Dan got quite emotional during his speech but held himself together well. Ben was great, he started with some silent humour, patting his pockets and then pulling various items out with just the right amount of comic timing. I could hear people whisper "Oh no he can't find the speech" and then they got it and started to laugh and he relaxed.

The music was fantastic - lots of dancing going on and, well everything you would expect from a great night.

Katie spent the whole day smiling and Dan said they felt like royalty.

I was so glad for them, it will go down as a landmark event in our family. People will remember it and talk about it, you can't buy those kinds of memories.

I am glad they wanted to do it and I am even more glad that it came off.

If you want to see more photos go to:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/katieanddanrose

Lowestoft in July

Back in the old routine. My days consist of getting up at about 7.00 laying tables for breakfast, serving breakfast, clearing up the plates, loading the dishwasher, tidying the dining room and kitchen then going upstairs with Sue to clean and change the rooms. we are usually done by 10.30. Then we have breakfast and decide what to do with the day.
Shall we go down town or go to Norwich? Shall I do some jobs - hoover the garage, clean and stain the decking?
At about 12.00 we have lunch and then 10 minutes on the settee (usually nearer half an hour). Then I check emails - nothing usually, play the guitar for a while and plan lots of other crackpot things to do such as:
Buy a bungalow for Dad - this plan almost got to signing point before Sue's 4th sleepless night in a row and the fact that Dad didn't really want to move made me realise it maybe wasn't such a good idea.
Make my own wine again - something I used to do about 30 years ago, I am going to use the bottom of the boiler cupboard as a fermentation area and make a wine storage rack in the garage that has a carpeted top, bottom and sides with a small heater in it to keep the wine warm and dark. It sounds like a bit of a fire hazard and the boiler room will stink.
Sue is making no objections as she is probably counting on this idea going the same way as all the others, but I have bought a book and am on the lookout for a hydrometer to measure the specific gravity. If you take the s.g. at the beginning and end, subtract one form the other and then multiply by 7.4 (I think) you get the % proof.
"It may taste like socks but it's 17% by volume and it only cost 50p a bottle" - bargain.
After this it's time to open a bottle of (bought) wine and think about tea, have a go at the crossword and Soduko maybe go to the pub, maybe see a friend and then bed, usually by 10.00 if we don't go out......
It's funny how now I'm home I can find very little of interest to write about, which is wierd because lots has happened whereas in Thailand nothing much happened. I guess it is just the same old 'same same' to me back here and I don't think anyone will find it interesting.
We did go to the 'Latitude Festival - http://www.latitudefestival.co.uk/home/
It was good fun, we saw a great Poet called Murray Laughlan Young - http://www.murraylachlanyoung.com/
and lounged about listening to some good bands in the Uncut Arena.
I did have an interesting conversation whilst cycling up the pedestrianised high street the other evening on my way to Tescos. It was quiet and another guy was cycling along too.
"This is the way to travel" I said.
"The last time I was on one of those bikes I was in Holland" he replied (I have a 'Giant' in the old sit-up-and-beg style) and so I slowed down to his speed and settled down for a nice chat for the next few minutes before I reached the shop.
"Did you see the arrest on the beach" he said,
"No?!"
"This young lad was giving the police some lip and eventually they got fed up and arrested him, there must have been 50 of them"
Something in the way he said it made me think he was deadly serious and probably anti police
"A bit of an over reaction you think then" I said tentatively
"I suffer from MS" he replied. "The other day I cycled up to O'Reillys (Irish Pub) and laid down in the doorway for a rest because I was tired. Do you know how many police it took to arrest me?:.... thirteen!"
"Well here we are I said, I'm going in here, nice to talk to you."

Import - Export

"There's no way you are going to get those on there". The fork lift driver sat in his fork lift looking at me expectantly, a small crowd of truckers that had gathered to see the entertainment shook their heads in wonder at the foolishness of the general public in matters of lifting and volume!

"Well I thought you could put the two big ones in and then stack the others on top?". I knew the size of the crates and had worked out that there was plenty of room. Didn't they know they were dealing with a Physicist, I know all about volume.

There was a sharp intake of breath, "ffff (whilst breathing in), can't do that, it happens all the time, people turn up with these Luton vans and we have to tell them the same thing, you can't use a forklift to stack these boxes - too heavy! We can get three on but not this last one." After a 4 hour drive to a warehouse in the middle of no-where on the south coast I was in no mood for jokes but I really hoped he was.

How did it come to this, it should have been so easy - buy the stuff in Chiang Mai, the shipping company collect it, pack it, ship it to Felixstowe and you pick it up in a hired van. Things are so cheap, surely even with the cost of shipping it's got to be cheaper than buying it at home and we had so much fun buying the stuff.

"I'll have that .... that ..... two of them"
"Look at this Sue!"
"We can furnish a whole room for under £100!"
"Don't worry about the weight the cost is done on volume"
- and the best one
"Oh, My shipping agent will collect it".

Our agent is called Adul, he is about 20 and lives in Chiang Mai near the Night Bazaar. He is a great guy and very helpful. We got to know each other quite well, mainly through email and he supports Liverpool.

Dear Mark and Sue,

The score in Anfield I can not believe it. Liverpool 0 -1 Man Utd(John Osea,90.) We assume the game 90% but can not do the score just nearly but Man Utd got free kick in the last minute and they make score.(T,T)

By the way for the paper lantern I will find and let you know the best price as soon as possible.

Have a good trip in Koh Chang.

Dear Mark and Sue,

How are you ? hope you very well.

I have some question to confirm with you

Please see picture in attachment file and confirm back those picture is your order or not ? due to this package dio not have any paper on it ,so I am not sure that this is belong to your or not ?

Thank a lot for your kindly confirm in advance

(We had never seen these before - what else would arrive in Felixstowe we wondered)

Dear Mark and Sue,

According for your cargo you can stay in our warehouse no problem but in Felixstowe Port you have free time only 3 days.

When your cargo arrive to Felixstowe Port please contact with our agent quickly and do custom clearance with in 3 days if over than 3 days they will have demurrage charge to you per day.

So please feel free to advice if you have any question.

Thank you for your reply.

Best regards
Adul

Dear Mark and Sue,

How are you ? Hope you very well.

I think you very happy for the big match( Liverpool with Man Utd ) but I'am very sad when the game finish.

Where are you now ? Take care.

My uncle and my aunt

Best regards, Adul

Dear Mark




































Please see picture of your cargo

So please feel free to advice if you have any question.

Thank you very much

Best regards,
Adul

Dear Mark,

Your cargo is 4 crates please find detail as below.

DESCRIPTION SIZE DIMENSION
Crate No.1 : 0.76 x 2.06 x 0.92 : 1.44 CBM
Crate No.2 : 1.24 x 2.26 x 1.32 : 3.69 CBM
Crate No.3 : 0.76 x 1.37 x 1.25 : 1.30 CBM
Crate No.4 : 1.19 x 2.13 x 0.69 : 1.74 CBM
Total : 8.17 CBM

And vessel schedule please find as below.

FEEDER VESSEL : BANI BHUM V.517S
MOTHER VESSEL : NYK APHRODITE V.29W19
ETD BANGKOK : 14 MAY 2007
ETA FELIXSTOWE : 10 JUNE 2007

So please feel free to advice if you have any question.

Thank you very much

Best regards,
Adul

Dear Mark

Congratulation for Premier League Champion.

Please see the price per CBM as below.

C&F from Chaingmai upto Felixstowe Port,UK.
First CBM : 8,700 BHT.
Next CBM : 4,800 BHT.

Before you leave from Chiangmai you paid the deposit 8,700 BHT.

1) Your cargo 8.17 CBM is : 4800 x 7.17 = 34,416 BHT 2)

Total for your payment is 35,381 BHT

So please feel free to advice if you have any question.

Thank you very much.

Best regards,
Adul


Bloody Hell, 8.17 cubic metres! I had imagined about 3, we had obviously bought more than we thought - 35, 000 baht is about £500, but it is still reasonably cheap (although not quite so 'reasonable' now!).

So, before we left Thailand we understood that we were going to have to pay import duty and VAT and that we had a couple of days to pick the cargo up before they started to charge for storage. I had visions of driving into the port area to a huge warehouse, you know like on the films with rows and rows of boxes piled to the roof and disappearing into the distance. We got back into the UK on 9th May, the shipment left Thailand 10th May and was due to arrive in Felixstowe about 10th June.

I have spent the last four weeks imagining my cargo battling it's way through the world's oceans to my home - round the tip of India, hugging the west coast of India or across the Indian Ocean to the Suez canal (surely not round the 'Cape of Good Hope') through the Med, the up the west coast of Europe, across the Bay of Biscay into the North Sea and the port of Felixstowe, how romantic, how I wish I was doing that journey!

On 1st June we had an email from a shipping company in Felixstowe to tell us our cargo had arrived (already!) in Southampton (where!). We would have to pay extra to get it to Felixstowe by road, neither they nor Adul seemed to think this unusual. Luckily I had 7 days free storage starting from Wednesday 6th June after it had been unloaded, so I decided to get it myself and having checked the dimensions I ordered a suitable van for Monday 11th and arranged for 2 friends to come and help me load up.

On Friday 8th I had an email to say that they couldn't release the cargo without the original 'bill of lading' (whatever that was), a fax or email copy wouldn't do. The document was enroute from Thailand so I had to cancel the van and hope the document arrived soon, the last free day was Tuesday 12th.

Tuesday 12th - no documents, so I rang the shipping company. "Oh yes, we have had a word with the people in Thailand and we have agreed to release the cargo anyway (!!)" I rang the van hire company, yes they had a van available all week. I rang off and rang the shipping company back, the charge per day was £40 but it was 11.00 by then so I decided to go on Wednesday and absorb the extra cost. I rang back the van hire company. "Oh, we have just let the van for tomorrow, will Thursday do?" That would mean an extra £80 so I said I would take it now. It was 11.30, the AA route planner suggested the trip would take 4 hours and the warehouse closed at 16.00.

I zapped down to the hire place on my bike whilst Sue made sandwiches and made sure that a) someone would be there even if I was late and b) they would help me load.

Off I went - M25, no queues, M3 no queues. I watched the time and the mileometer, I was averaging 50 miles an hour and the distance was 226 miles. At five to four I pulled up at a Post Office in the village where the warehouse was. "Oh yes, you turn left just there (pointing) and it is three quarters of a mile down the lane on the left. You go past a farm, down a hill and there it is. " I followed the instructions and at the bottom of the hill looked out for a sign. No sign but a track and at the bottom I could just make out a lorry and a shed. It was a miracle anyone ever found it!

What to do with the last crate? "I'll just have to unload it here and put the stuff on myself. Have you got a hammer and a crowbar I can borrow?"

I got an incredulous look from forklift driver and was that a guffwah I heard from the crowd. They shambled off and I set too.

When I finally broke into the crate I found that verything was individually wrapped and protected by shredded newspaper. It was quite a breezy afternoon so you can imagine the mess. I finally finished and looked round, everyone had gone and the place was locked up except for an old boy hanging around. "I've left a bit of a mess, what do you want me to do with the bits?" "Oh, just leave it there." That was a relief and I hightailed it out of there as quickly as I could before he could change his mind.

I arrived home at about 10.30pm and we unloaded. Luckily the van had a tail lift so all we had to do was drag the crates onto the lift and then lower them into the garage.

Quite a day!

This Import - Export business is not all it's cracked up to be!! Still next time it will be so much easier .......

11th June 2007 - New blog!

I have just posted a blog of my time in Prague on a CELTA course. If you are interested go to:

teflpragueseptember2006.blogspot.com

12th June 2007 - A cycle ride in the country and spring cleaning

27th May

Seeing lots of family and friends - catching up.

Went into college and everyone seemed pleased to see me which was really nice. There was a buzz about the place and this re-inforced my earlier feeling of renewed enthusiasm, I don't start until 13th August but I want to have some say in what I do next year.

There is a bbq in my Dad's barn tonight for my birthday and Sue and I have been practising a song for months, 'Wish You Were Here' - Pink Floyd, tonight's the night for our debut performance. I know I will sweat buckets and my fingers will feel like fat pork sausages, unfortunately not Segovia's!

30th May

Barn bbq called off due to torrential downpour and flooding, it's great to be back home! Finished up in the pub which was good anyway.

Found a great guitar site - nextlevelguitar.com, I think I might join. I can now mutilate American Pie, Hurt (Johnny Cash) , Drive (Incubus), Chasing Cars (Snow Patrol) and an Alice in Chains number. Next public performance opportunity will be round a camp fire at Latitude Festival 13th July. I know I am practicing a lot because I can't feel the ends of my fingers on the left hand and they have permanent grooves in them from the strings - is this normal?

4th June

Yesterday we put our bikes on the train from Lowestoft to Haddiscoe and then cycled home through Somerleyton and Oulton Broad - stopping at two pubs and a duck pond (for sandwiches) on the way. It's lovely in the countryside but there is so much traffic, I was alternating between cycling beside Sue and dropping behind to let cars pass. We parked our bikes next to an Aston Martin DB7 in Somerleyton so that when we came out we could walk towards it and bask in the brief moment when the people sitting outside thought it was ours. Inside the pub there were pictures all over the wall of local people who all have something to do with Lord Somerleyton's (or Lordie as they call him!!) estate. There was one lovely old boy holding a pair of shears as though it was a rifle. Last time we were there it was a bit run down but now there are old leather chairs, real ale and wine for sale as well as a posh restaurant.

Today I am spring cleaning the garage. That means getting everything out and hoovering everywhere, I am a bit obssesive like that. It's great because I can put everything in the middle of the garage and then find new places to store everything. That way only I know where anything is and I can justify my existance. Another reason why I am doing it is because I am going to start making wine again so I have to make a warming cupboard with a heater in it to keep the demi-johns in. Sue has banned me from the airing cupboard, remembering the last time I made wine (20 yeras ago). There was a background noise of soft 'plops' from the air locks and the occasional muffled explosion when I got carried away with the sugar and the air lock got blocked- aahh those were the days.

Another project is to make those fire tables I mentioned when we were in Chiang Dao - so much to do. so little time.....

21st May 2007 - Back on the treadmill

Well here we are back home. Woolly socks, coal fires and responsibility.

The first morning it was as if we had never cooked breakfast before. We were up before 6 o'clock (jet lag) but were still not organised by 8 and I had forgotten how the microwave worked! Al, who looked after our guest house, did such a good job that we are having to work extra hard to live up to expectations.

"Al gives us our tea after breakfast"
"Al gave us skimmed milk"
"We usually have our milk slightly warmed"
"Hang on a minute while I go and get a piece of paper to write down your varied and unreasonable requests - soused herring?!"

A broken washing machine first day meant I filled one large and 4 small washing machines at the laundrette, I didn't know we owned so many towels.

We are back into the routine again now though and thoughts are turning more and more towards our daughter's wedding on 11th August.

Kate and her partner Dan are going to be coming home pretty well every weekend between now and then. So far we have booked the music - our favourite local band 'The Harvs' and their heavier alter ego 'GR8', 'Del from hell' on the piano and a disco. I think there is going to be time for the ceremony.

I took my son to see Gary Moore (who?) last weekend. My neice's partner Steven won tickets in a competition on 'Planet Rock' (you have to say it with a husky, deep boxing match master of ceremonies type accent - Planet Rrrrock) and then realised he coudn't go, so he thought of me (thanks again Steven). It was at a secret venue in London which turned out to be Bush Hall on Uxbridge Road. Only 100 people and he was great, a virtuoso guitarist - the equivalent of Yehudih Menuhin on violin, you may not like the music but you have to appreciate the skill involved. The concert is being aired on Planet Rock (don't forget the accent) in about 5 weeks time if you are interested.

We had fun getting there. Ben and I were talking so much that we missed the turning to London out of Norwich and only realised when we were 18 miles from Kings Lynn! Luckily we had left plenty of time and we finally arrived in Uxbridge having driven right round the other side of London on the M25. We stopped at a pub,
"Do you know where Bush Hall is?"
"Sorry never heard of it",
"It's on Uxbridge Rd."
"That's a pretty long road have you got the Post Code? ... [looks in A - Z, she was very helpful] That Post Code is for Uxbridge Road, Shepherd's Bush, Central London!!"

We drove back out onto the M25 with a view to getting to the right side of London for driving home and then getting the tube back in. However my neice Karen phoned and pointed out that you can actually still take cars into London and there are parking places so why not drive to the venue? So we did. Drivers are so helpful in London, if you are not sure which lane to be in approaching a roundabout or if you momentarily lose concentration at a set of lights and don't notice that the red light is starting to fade and the green light is getting brighter, they remind you with a little toot on the horn and a friendly gesture to point out the error of your ways, God I've missed this country.

We drove out into the countryside yesterday to a street market in Bungay. We took the back roads and realised again what a beautiful country we live in, fresh green and the smell and promise of spring. Then we walked through Bungay along a street flanked by lovely old terraced houses, a scene that could only be in England - home.

Hang on, what's this? A tent outside a Thai restaurant serving:
Gaeng Kiao Wan (Green Curry),
Gaeng Pet (Red Curry),
Gai Pat Met Ma Muang (Stir Fried Chicken and Cashew Nuts)!!
Ahh those lovely familiar smells and smiley faces,
"Sawasdee Kap",
"Sawasdee Kah" - home!

11th May 2007 - Final Thoughts

We left England on October 19 2006. Time seemed to stretch before us .... all the time in the world to experience Thailand at a pace we chose, 30 weeks or 210 days.

Thailand seems like home at the moment.

I am used to the sounds -
Cicadas first thing in the morning and in the evening herald the time to get up and go to bed better than any alarm clock.
Geckos reassure us that they are patroling for mosquitoes.
In the cities the sound of tuk-tuks and dogs are ever present and on the beaches there is the sound of the waves and the long-tail boats - "boat - boat?" "Hat Rin - Hat Rin?" the boat owners ask us if we want to go somewhere.

I am used to the language -
Everywhere you are greeted with a big smile and greeting "Sawasdee Kaa (female) or Sawasdee Kap (male)". Even though I only understand a few words, the constant chatter of Thai around us is familiar now. I am picking up the sing-song nature of the language and can imagine what they are saying without having to know the details (I remember talking to Shaun Wilden, one of my tutors from last September. He has lived in Prague for many years. I asked him if he missed England and he said he had no desire to go back. On visits he finds himself swamped with background noise that he can't shut out. What is this noise? Conversation that he can understand and as a result can't stop listening to!! I wonder if I will experience the same thing).

I am used to the weather -
hot and sunny, hot and cloudy, hot and raining or hot and dark about sums it up.

I am used to the TV -
News, soaps, chat shows, slapstick, monks chanting.
The newscasters are celebrities and appear as guests on chat shows doing the same routine on one station after the other (according to an article in the Bangkok Post).
The soaps involve very young Thai girls and boys falling in and out of love and slapping each other across the face a lot. The moment when they fall in love is highlighted by misty camera shots rotating round the young couple and cartoon love hearts and bluebirds round their heads (I kid you not!).
The slapstick shows involve brilliant sound effects such as the 'boing' of a spring to punctuate a trip over a step and the rising and falling tone of a penny whistle when someone says anything silly. So tacky!
Imagine a whole channel devoted to a fixed camera shot of a monk sitting in the lotus position in his saffron robes chanting for (what seems) hour after hour. It is amazing how often we have seen TV's tuned to this station - is this a comment on their devotion or the quality of the other options!
The newscasters, chat show hosts and even the young teen idols often wear the ubiquitous yellow t-shirt (in honour of the king) which means that they look no different from anyone you may meet on the street. I really like that.
Sport - (football, are there any other sports?) is on ESPN and Star Sports with presenters such as Shebby Singh and Jamie Reeves. Jamie is the man Sue and I love to hate, he appears in an advert on TV trying to get investors to buy land in our country. He stands there like a piece of wood, next to 'Big Ben' and says "Buy UK land - I did". Another advert involves an equally wooden Steve McMahon (ex - Liverpool) and Brian Robson (ex - Man Utd).

Steve McMahon (Macka) is sitting next to Brian Robson (Robbo) on a settee watching TV and sipping a cup of tea (how likely is that!).
Macka - [Staring at television off screen] "Did you buy a PP (Profitable Plot), I did?"
Robbo - [Looking at TV and holding tea cup with little finger sticking up] "Aye Macka, I bought two."
Macka - [Turns to stare at Robbo with astonishment] "You bought two! I ony bought one."
Robbo - [Slowly turns to Macka and winks] "That's why I was Captain." (aarrrggghhh!)

Thai people are much more difficult to understand -
They are instinctively respectful and polite to each other and to us. Only Thais subjected to Western excess are sometimes cynical or impatient. They are very loyal to their King and revere the monks.
Thai teenagers hang around together, listen to rock and blues and wear trendy clothes, but you don't get a feeling of 'clannishness' of 'us and them' as you pass by. They will smile and say hello to us and will play with small children they see.

Thai people can seem childlike, in the sense that they appear to be uncomplicated, open and trusting. I remember sitting at a bar when one of the slap-stick TV shows was on, it seemd to be loosely based around the old 'Generation Game' format. An expert Thai Boxer went through a routine to show off his skills and this was followed by two 'stooges' who tried to do the same but kept falling over (boing) or missing their kick (whistle). The Thai men around me were in hysterics.

Which reminds me, we didn't get to see a Thai Boxing match (Muay Thai). Two people we were talking to went and it involved two rival clubs. They said it was definitely real. One bout stood out to them in which they went through the opening ritual of bowing and praying and then within 5 seconds one had kicked the other in the head and the fight was over. They said he was unconcious before he hit the floor, ouch. Every fight was very vicious, apparently pretty well anything goes, the only thing the ref does is to check at the start that they are wearing a 'box'! I don't think we would have enjoyed it.

However, they come from a culture that is a world away from my own. My Western values sometimes seemed far removed from those of people brought up in the East. During my reading I came across the following idea.

In Philosophy in the 'West' things have been divided into objects (external) and subjects (internal - to do with mind). This has led us to separate the external world (engineering, science etc) and the internal world (art, poetry, faith etc.). The idea that we are separate from the external world means that we may feel we can treat it as something to use and manipulate. It is not 'us', it is there for us, so we use and abuse the world around us. Life is a constant battle with nature, trying to mold it into what we want.

In the East this initial philosophical distinction was not made. Consequently, the distinction between an internal and external world is much more blurred. The Buddha taught that we are not separate from the world, we do not exist as a separate entity, there is no such thing as 'me' (This idea that we don't exist as a separate entity, we won't die because we were never born, is at the root of Buddhism). There is a 'right way' to live and that means being in harmony with the world.

I guess 7 months away has shown me that my home is in England with people who have similar memories and life experiences to me. I am going to miss Thailand but it will always be a place to visit populated by a people I will never really know.

Thailand is a beautiful place and at the moment we both feel we want to come back. I recommend it. It has been everything we could have expected:

Lush vegetation, trees, birds and lovely cool evenings in the hills of North Thailand staying at a place called 'The Nest' at Chang Rai between December and February.
Incredible rock formations and amazingly clear sea water in Krabbi Provence. West Railay was a bit 'trendy' for us - beautiful people and expensive but visually stunning. East Railay was more our sort of place, we stayed at Viewpoint, don't forget to say Hi to Lek at the massage place there.
Lovely beaches and peace and quiet at 'Sawasdee Bungalows' on Kho Chang in the Andaman Sea (not The Gulf of Thailand).
Massage courses, music, meditation, tarot, stacks of interesting people and loads going on at Chiang Mai but don't go there between March and October, the heat is punishing and the air is poor.

I have really enjoyed writing this blog and that discovery has been an important part of this experience, I intend to keep going after all there is a wedding coming up and then the trauma of going back to work.

I have appreciated the time to enjoy whatever I happen to be doing at a particular moment without having to worry about anything else, let me say that again - without having to worry about anything else..... luxury indeed and I acknowledge my good fortune.

We are both determined to avoid the temptation to fill each day with a list of goals that don't leave time for enjoyment because we are always rushing to do the next thing.

We were looking at a motorhome this morning, wondering how much it cost. I think we will go traveling again.