Rice Grains

Today was going to a "free day", a day to catch up on odds 'n ends around my apartment. Funny how things change. First, Kitti's wife, Ruung, called up to me to see if their 11-year-old son Gop could come study English for an hour this morning. We set the time to be 9:00, though he apparently decided to sleep in and arrived in my room about 10 or 10:30.

We studied for an hour, and I wasn't very sure how much got through (he was very distracted); but when it was time for him to leave, he didn't want to leave, so he looked at pictures on my computer, and then he decided he wanted to play Scramble, a fast word game on Facebook (a bit like Boggle). Hence, my scores on a game or two aren't exactly high.:) But it was fun.

Finally, I needed to go, as Pen, one of my other students, had invited me to lunch at her apartment down the street. I was to be there by 12:30, but considering I didn't ask Gop to leave until then, I arrived late for lunch. But Pen and I had a really nice time all afternoon eating and chatting together.

She showed me a magazine commemorating the 60th anniversary of the king's reign. It continues to amaze me how he is such a respected man everywhere in Thailand. But he has done a lot for all the people. Pen showed me the picture below and related a touching story. The woman in the magazine was 103 years old and had traveled very far to the province where the HM the King was to make an appearance.

She arrived about 6:00 in the morning, clutching a lotus flower which she intended to give to the king. She waited in the hot sun for 6 hours before the king came. When she gave him the flowers, they were already wilted, but he graciously accepted them from her with respect. After she met the king, she lived another 2 years, I believe, before dying at the age of 105.

The other picture in the magazine that I found interesting was the page showing the king's many dogs. Thai dogs, as they're called, i.e. stray dogs.:) He apparently rescued quite a few to be his pets, and as they belong to HM the King, they are referred to as "Khun............", whatever the name might be. "Khun" is typically the polite title by which to address people.:) Fun little piece of trivia.:)

So, as for the rest of my day, I came home for an hour or two, after which Lak, Kitti and Ruung's older son, came up for his English lesson. He is very much getting into studying English--a real switch from the past. We studied together for about 1 1/2 hours, when my tummy was beginning to growl (7:30 PM); but before he left, he asked me if he and Gop could come here again tomorrow morning to study. So tomorrow they will study for about an hour before I have to get ready to go to The Well and study Thai the remainder of the day.

Saturday will serve as a free day for me in the sense that I will be traveling alone on a nice tour bus to renew my visa in Cambodia. So I think that will be refreshing; I actually do enjoy that trip and that time to myself (though sometimes I have a chatty seatmate:).

I must go do my Thai homework now.:) Or maybe I will call my mom!;)