Myanmar Revisited

Found these from our trip to Myanmar...

A Thanksgiving

 I imagine everyone back home, scurrying from one family to another to be together in that poignant Norman Rockwell way (was he a curse on our expectations of American holidays?), helping themselves to pie (hopefully pumpkin) and slabs of pale turkey meat (possibly juicy). 

Our Thanksgivings here in Malaysia are unorthodox, often celebrated with other faculty in a cafeteria complete with tablecloths, turkey provided by our principals, and Charlie Brown Thanksgiving playing in a classroom for the kiddos. It's an experience we love.

BUT this year we've been invited to the home of non-teacher friends. What a treat it was to enjoy the "adult table" and sit on couches beforehand, enjoy interesting conversation about insurance costs and past Thanksgivings while eating homemade green bean casserole.

But it's over for another year and I'll be fasting from carved turkey for a while, having eaten more than my share of that and sweet potatoes, so adieu, Thanksgiving, adieu. It's been grand.

I hope anyone listening, your Thanksgiving is good in that Rockwell way--family members or friends present, turkey golden brown, everyone in Sunday best or maybe just best frame of mind with the most comfy seat. There's nothing quite like it.

Pieces of Me

Vietnam is a magical place, with hauntings and whispering of past tragedy, of future hope, of present compassion and joy. I spent 8 days with 15 high school students, 1 other teacher (hi Will!), and three, sometimes four guides. Those days were exhilarating and challenging.

We helped build some outhouse toilets for a remote village school on an island. The children were absolutely the cutest children ever seen by humans. Smiles galore playing tag, 'cops and robbers' (go figure! in Vietnam!) and more. But most of our time was pretending to be serious construction workers. Our guides were from Phat Tire (hi guys! you're awesome!), a fantastic adventure outfit based out of Hoi An and Dalat. The toilets it took us a day to build would take two men three days, so the school saved  a bit of money by having 15 freshmen do the work.

Our time spent in Hue was eye-opening, talking about the Tet Offensive, the use of the Citadel as a battleground, the monk who set himself on fire to protest the war (he supported the North). It was an interesting look into a past that sits hazy in my mind, with my weak knowledge really based on what I've heard of the protests in the U.S. and the heroics and dangers faced by the U.S. soldiers.

This picture was taken by a student. Vietnam was beautiful, haunting, and the people kind and warm, so open to meeting strangers. I've been there before but somehow it meant more this time.

I hope to go back sometime soon, to taste the magic for another moment. A piece of me seems to still be there now, maybe waiting for me to come back and get it.

Top 10 Books

It's difficult--nigh impossible-- to come up with a top ten list of books. That's like saying, "Who's your favorite people ever?" How could you possibly decide? You like some people for their humor, how fun they are, admire others for their kindness and sensitivity, you love your mother because of her love, and of course your children are completely adorable because--well, frankly, they're like you, so how could you not think so?

But I threw caution to the wind and decided if I HAD to pick a top ten list of books, if I was strapped to a chair and denied food and water until I gave it up, this is what I'd come up with.

Not that anyone cares, but here it is all the same, in no particular order:

Jane Eyre

Pride and Prejudice

A Tale of Two Cities

All the Light We Cannot See

Middlemarch

The Bible

Unbroken

A Room of One's Own

Station Eleven
Anna Karenina

The Madwoman in the Volvo

The word Madwoman got my attention when I first saw the cover, but this was the selection for September for my book club-- a teachers' group here at The International School of Kuala Lumpur.

Madwoman in the Volvo: My Year of Raging Hormones by Sandra Tsing Loh is a fun yet introspective read. I've not personally experienced the "hormones" related to menopause, but I'm sure my time will come soon enough! (no clues here...my age is not for public disclosure. ha.) The humor and hard lessons, I could relate to in this book, and several passages had me laughing out loud on the plane as I floated above the city of Bangkok, as the pilot patiently waited for an airstrip to open.

I went to a conference in Bangkok last weekend, so late evenings in the hotel after a Thai dinner and massage proved the perfect backdrop to finishing this, at times sordid, tale.

{spoiler alert!} 
My one criticism would be that the first quarter of the book was almost too humorous. She took a very light-hearted look at the break-up of her first (very long) marriage and revealed very little of how devastated and miserable she must have been. The ending of a two-decades long marriage would result in some emotion, but it was as if a blanket lay over the experience and she wouldn't fully let us into it. The focus of the memoir later becomes the near-breakup of her second marriage, and this was treated with much more honesty and vulnerability, which was nicely juxtaposed with humor and self-deprecation. I appreciated how she didn't shy away from her flaws and faults although at times her honesty was nearly too much. {ie: are there no good people left in the world?!} 

I do wish one honest memoir would be published where the person presents themselves as noble and good, not selfish and reluctant. But maybe that makes for a boring story.

At least it's good to know when I hit that stage I can blame all of my horrible actions and feelings on my body. So 21st century.

Here's an interview with Sandra. Cool to hear her voice. It sounds like her writer's voice.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/books/review/sandra-tsing-lohs-madwoman-in-the-volvo.html