Sat. & Sun. Feb. 3 & 4 Touring Bangkok and resting

Traditional Thai music at SWU. Together with traditional Thai literature and art, this is a big part of SWU's preservation of the culture. Impressive.

Saturday

Lots of photos today to document a delightful time with Amporn and Duongporn, two young colleagues from SWU. They are top notch tour guides, speak fine English, and are extremely kind and thoughtful. We had a great time.



Wat Pho, home of the HUGE Reclining Buddha and Thai massage training center

Wat Arun (temple of the dawn), famous for its tile covering

Lunch along the river, great crispy fish and shrimp hot pot soup

The Golden Palace, big royal complex with the holiest

Emerald Buddha. He's actually made of jade. The king

changes the Buddha's clothes 3 times/year, for summer,

winter, and the rainy season.

Sunday

A quiet day of laundry, then grocery shopping at the big, western dept. store, Robinson's. I felt like some western food for a late lunch, so went into a hotel dining room for chicken breast, mashed potatoes, asparagus. Just as my bread and butter arrived, the singing/guitarist duo launched into "The Girl from Ipanema," "Jambalaya," and other Hispanic tunes. Rather incongruous, but pleasant nonetheless.

I spent the evening going over my lectures, which begin tomorrow. Eeeck. There will be 40 in the workshop this week, somewhat larger than expected, I think. Details tomorrow night, when I'll be relieved that the first day of lectures is over.