Aloha!!! The friendly Hawaiian greeting was heard all over the island during our trip. It was often followed by Mahalo, which is Hawaiian for thank you. We flew into the city of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. Our trip included beach bumming on Waikiki, surfing, biking, stand up paddling, and was capped off by visiting the picturesque north shore of Oahu. . . . Hang Ten in Hawaii Click Here to watch the Video
Upon my arrival to Thailand I was immediately inundated with friendly faces. The amount of those faces only increased during my sojourn in Thailand. This is a short video of some of those great faces. . . . The Friendly Faces of Thailand Click Here to watch the Video
Amazing it was to see people marinating in 46 C (115 F) degree water and conversing so effortlessly. As I have always been a fan of natural hot springs, I glided up to the 4th and hottest level of the springs looking forward to the challenge. I placed my foot in and without consciously moving, I looked down to see my foot had jumped out of the water and was back on the side of the pool. After a short delay, the temperature finally registered with my brain. It was the kind of hot that feels like bee stings. I […Read More]
My travels to northern India included visiting the cities of Uttarkashi, Rishikesh, Gangotri and a trek to Gaumukh Glacier (one source of the Ganges river). Here is a video journal of my experience. . . . Northern India Click Here to watch the Video
One year of teaching under my belt and I now want to go back and apologize to any of my teachers that I gave trouble to. The great human beings that have been teaching 5,10, or 30 years I am in awe of you. Of course teaching is one of the most rewarding professions as well. Developing a relationship with students and watching them mature provides unparalleled fulfillment. Knowing the ideas and images you impart can transcend your lifetime is a great feeling but moreover, one that I have learned requires a profound magnitude of responsibility.
What started off as a quiet festival where water was sprinkled on the hands of family members to wish them luck, has catapulted to annual water warfare on the scale of 2 submarines fighting for the last watering hole in the universe.
Security. Advancement. Good salary. Am I really going to quit this good paying engineering job? These were just a few of the many thoughts whirling through my mind around this time last year. Leaving my job was uncomfortable, but deciding to leave my job, the States and everything I’d known for the past twenty-eight years was just crazy. Amidst the farewells and the going away parties I’d sometimes think, it would be cool if I could bring my friends with me for a while. Several of my friends and family said “We’re coming as soon as you get settled.” I […Read More]
“So how many of y’all coming?” “Six!” I grinned and thought to myself the more the merrier. So what do you do when six friends come to visit you in Thailand? Well the team captain, Jocelyn, did most of the work so I can’t take any credit. The pictures above capture some of our experience.
The activities included:
“Teacher, teacher, catch it, catch it.” “It’s not catch it’s hold,” I corrected her. They then proceeded to yell, “HOLD” in unison. “Wish, wish, teacher.” Everybody closed their eyes and made a wish before we let the khom go. The khom is a type of floating lantern used in Thai culture for the celebration of several festivals, one of which is Loi Krathong. Loi krathong is an annual Thai festival where people thank the Goddess of water, Phra Mae Khongkha. People participate in the festival by placing intricately decorated “floating crowns” in a body of water or releasing khoms into the […Read More]
As with any decision in life, sometimes it simply does not turn out to be as great as you expected. I spontaneously went to Singapore while on holiday recently. A clean, sprawling, and somewhat expensive metropolis were characteristics shared with me by other visitors I had met while on the road. Add a free place to stay, thanks to a fellow Aggie Alum, and it would have been sacrilegious not to go check out all the hype about Singapore. I had read that Singapore was expensive but experiencing the costs was the equivalent of paying back a student loan for […Read More]