Being cloistered away in an office, video studio or voice recording cave didn't allow me to absorb enough Korean culture in my first year. Second year in Daegu, I'm teaching Elementary 4,5,6 and Middle School 1,2 at the same academy and really enjoying the daily surprises while at the head of the small classroom. I'm already a bit weepy about the reality of leaving South Korea in several months.
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Don't Steal This Buddha Head.unless you're an artifact dealer. like the guy in that Thai warrior movie - Ong Bak! SO good! Dave and I watched it in Sukhothai, sadly, without subtitles. I'll have to return to the states to watch a Thai movie and understand it fully.
The King Calendar.not the swimsuit edition, thankfully. The king calendar can be spotted on the walls of most Thai convenient stores, DVD rentals, and museum ticket offices.
Buddha for Toddlers.Rolling around beneath the golden upright Buddha at a wat. Just another day, feeding the monks, holding the incense and giggling with fellow ankle-biters.
The mum moment.BEAUTIFUL! unearthly! here's your blog-ly photo mum.
Only a foot tall.Dave commented as he snapped the photo. What a knee slapper.
Roti Saimai (Say-may)tastes like cotton candy, but feels like hair until it touches your tongue and begins to dissolve. Wrap it in the roti (thin pancake) so that it doesn't get on your hands. The pancake also helps to calm down the sugary sweetness. It was first made in Ayutthaya, and you can find Roti Saimai stands every half mile on the main drag of the island.
just like hair!quite obsessed with say-may, so I needed to include several photos of it. "yes, yes, yes, the ruins are fun, but this hair-candy is legendary!"
Buddha in Lotus Leaf.In the Thai/Laos culture lecture we attended at our hostel in Laos, the manger told the group of us that Lotus flowers are very common as statues or decoration in wats because they signify the difficult circumstances that a person has to overcome to reach a higher state of being - they have to grow up and out of the mud, and then out of the water to reach the sunlight.
Famously Ayutthaya.Most guides to Ayutthaya have a nicer version of this photo as their cover. Theoretically, thieves were stealing the heads off the statues but were discovered during the night, and one head was dropped near the base of this tree. And since this second capital of Thailand was deserted, the tree had no difficulty claiming the head as its own.
