BANGKOK AND OXFORD - HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!

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A good American friend points out that it should be "Merrry Christmas!" because that's the usage in most places outside the UK. But I'm English and if Wiki is to be believed, we say "Happy Christmas". Either way, I hope all my friends and readers have a great one and a very prosperous New Year (I assume we ALL agree on that!).

Indeed Happy/Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year to all who read this.

2010 has been pretty adventurous for me. My travels have taken me to:

- Yemen (January February - community livelihoods development)
- Georgia (March - rural support project)
- Afghanistan (April to August - stabilization in Kandahar - come on Mr. Obama and General Petraeus, who is kidding who?)
- Pakistan (September - flood recovery)
- Tanzania (October - November - agriculture)
- Kenya (November- December - agriculture)

Not to mention short visits to the USA (Washington DC), the UK (Oxford) and of course to Bangkok. Wow!

I've tried to reflect all this in my posts.

For this one, to celebrate the two places where I have close family, I've focused on Bangkok where we went to see the International Street Show held in Lumpini Park between the 10th and 12th December and Oxford, where I arrived just before the entire UK closed down under a slight fall of snow. Lovely to be cold for a change!

At this time of year I want to remember one absent friend. Dan ("Jimmy") Saville gave his life doing his job as a security protection officer in Afghanistan. Later in the year I drove past Mount Kilimanjaro and I remembered that Dan and his partner, Chioma, had planned to climb the mountain this month. He died in the mountains of Afghanistan like so many Englishmen representing the very finest kind of soldier this country produces. I like to think that his spirit has visited Kilimanjaro anyway. Rest in Peace.

Again, HAPPY CHRISTMAS and NEW YEAR. See you all in 2011.

Thanks for reading this blog!. My statistics tell me this is read by about 800 people every month. I appreciate that so much.

Travel safely in your world.

Geoff

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Photos

STREET SHOW BANGKOK
Lumpini Park saw a fantastic street show earlier in December. All kinds of acts of which this guy is only one.

BROAD STREET OXFORD
Oxford seldom sees snow, but this Christmas is an exception, we're snowed under. But the shops are still open!

SKYLINE BANGKOK
Bangkok is one of the most exciting and dynamic cities in the world. But it can have its peaceful moments.

SNOW IN THE UNIVERSITY PARKS
And this is sight not often seen in Oxford, where it rains more than it snows. The University Parks are just beautiful!

Comments

[Seiya]

Happy Christmas & Happy New Year
Love u see those photos and I enjoy reading your blog! See u in 2011 ^3^