One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster...

At last I arrived in Bangkok to find Panpim, Natedaow, and Nune waiting for me.  The flight from MN to Tokyo was the longest (13 hrs) but the final leg to Thailand (6 hrs) was like childbirth...terrible to endure but quickly forgotten once reunited with these folks!

Srinakharinwirot University (SWU) has changed since 2009 with lots of new buildings. I'm staying at Swutel which is the university hotel and international college all rolled into the same place.  I have a suite which includes a queen bed, bathroom, living room, TV, and kitchen.

 Green tea - I'm in a tizzy lately because my blood pressure was slightly high at the dentist's office last week. I've read that 2 cups of green tea a day can help, so what better place to drink it than in Southeast Asia!

I needed to get a visa for my passport because we're taking a 4 day class field trip to Laos on Thursday. These 3 SWU students were assigned to take me to the Laos Embassy. It was only 7 km away but took 30 minutes driving through the crazy Bangkok traffic. They took me to a mall (their favorite pasttime) to wait while the visa was being processed.  This is Lee, Pat, and Palm.

 Some happy Budda fruit.

Guava

Yum

Maybe I'll get to try some tongue fish while I'm here.

Palm told me that some Thais like to use this instant whitening cream to lighten their skin.  The grass is always greener on the other side, isn't it?

Me and my Thai soulmate, Panpim.  The building where I'm staying and working is the multicolored building which is right behind me.

Tom: Should I take a tie to Thailand? Barb: No, there are plenty of Thais in Thailand.

This picture is from February 2006 when I first went to Thailand with Bob and Sandy for 10 days. Malin and Tpong were our guides. Malin later went to ISU and earned her MS degre.

In the above picture Dan is pouring an IPA from his sister's apartment in Boulder. One of her apartment-mates brews for a local brewery and they keep a kegerator...a college student's dream.

These are some of Dan's nice friends at his house.

More friends and some familiar faces!

Smiling sibs

I'm so tired of freezing cold walks in IL. My friends in Thailand say they have 3 seasons: Hot, hotter, and really hot. I will be there for HOT!

Here are my bags for 1 month. The blue bag (carry-on sized) and my day pack.  I'm checking my blue bag - it's so small they don't even charge for it.

How many people does it take to fix a windshield washer?

 Hmm, what seems to be the problem?

Yep, it takes 4. One to work and 3 to watch.

Slip sliding down the ski slopes of Colorado, among other things...

Back in October we got to watch our friends' son, Maddox, while they went to a wedding in IN.  He had a blast driving the combine and doing all the harvest chores. He is a friendly young fellow who loves big boy toys.

 The jammin' Schlatter brothers.

We got to wish Joel a Happy Thanksgiving via Skype. Only 3 months to go before he wraps up his doctoral data collection in Paraguay and can return to the Estados Unidos.

"Wait, what key are we playing in?"


















Armed with a Wegmans' shopping cart, one should not get in my mother's way in Johnson City, NY.
 Kurt holding court at the Schlatter family Christmas in Chicago. Lots of great food, fun, and family togetherness!

Keystone, Colorado - we rented an AirBnB for 4 nights over Christmas with Dan. It was lots of fun cooking dinner together after stumbling around the slopes at 12,000+ feet high.

 Arapaho Basin - the snow, sky, and mountains were incredible.

 Loveland Pass at nearly 12,000 feet.

 Ten days before our ski trip Dan sprained his ankle.  Why mothers go grey.

 We skied at Keystone, Breckenridge, and Arapaho Basin.

Tom (right) loved the lounge chairs.

Taking the wife out for dinner...

Farmer talk:  I overheard Tom ending a phone conversation with another farmer saying, "I better go, taking the wife out for dinner."

Tom made some machinery upgrades this season including the combine and bean head in this picture.  To the ROW (rest of world) these are better known as big boy toys.  Actually, I'm looking forward to riding in the new combine later this afternoon!

Ken and Kathy's son Ben married Courtney at Red Rocks outside Golden, Colorado last weekend. It was a beautiful wedding, and lots of fun to spend it with gang from IL!

We all decided we need to go back to Red Rocks for a concert. What a venue!

 My work colleagues in Las Vegas before our successful accreditation hearing.  Our program has now enjoyed accreditation for 30 years!

We're giggling because Brent made a hilarious (aka, inappropriate) comment as we were posing with our new accreditation certificate! It's such a blast to go to work everyday with people you enjoy.

Our students won first place in the nation in the "Park of the Future" contest. Tracy was their mentor.

 Beata, Paul, and Patricia were visiting ISU from Opole University in Poland. They spent the night at the farm to enjoy some home cooked food and pie.

 Kenny invited the Poles, Tom, myself, and Mark to ride the trails at Oliver's Crossing on the 4-wheelers. This was a highlight for the Poles.  The only problem was when I encountered a bridge that was a tad too narrow for me and my machine, and so the 4-wheeler and I kind of fell through the bridge.  Here are the guys coming to the rescue.

Riding the trails!

Picky, picky...