Chumpon at last!

Chumpon, Thailand
Thursday, December 29, 2011

For a whole year we dreamed of returning to this place. Peaceful, lovely beach, nice pool, friendly staff, good food...

It's not easy to actually get here, but we are here at last!

Food good enough to make one cry

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Sunday evenings in Chiang Mai the streets near our hotel are PACKED full with a night market: vendors of all types, lots of people, and food good enough to make you cry. The hardest part is deciding which food to try. All the temples in the area of the Sunday Market also open their grounds to food vendors. I finally decided on a noodle soup with beef balls. The broth was just spicy enough not to make me cry--except with happiness.

Total contentment.

Chiang Mai marathon

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Frank got up at 3:15am this morning for a 4:00am start to the Chiang Mai marathon. He was still going strong when he crossed the finish line at about 4 hours, 48 minutes. Nice job, Frank!

Along the Mae Ping river

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Friday, December 23, 2011

We spent the morning on a lazy boat trip on the Mae Nam Ping River here in Chiang Mai. The hour or so boat ride ended with a tour of a so-called fruit and herb farm. Kind of a dilapidated place, but it was interesting to see a semblance of village life. But putting along low to the water for a couple of hours was very relaxing. In any case, A loved the boat trip.

At the "farm": Star fruit in situ and rose apple flowers

What IS a rambutan?

Bangkok, Thailand

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Ever wondered about rambutans? In the video below, A explains all about this tropical fruit...

Meat on a stick

Bangkok, Thailand
Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Another chance today to revisit some of our favorite food stalls here on Sukhamvit, Soi 11. Today it was the fellow who sells satay sticks with a divine hot sauce and small bags of sticky rice. We also visited the mango seller and the lady who makes a to-die-for green papaya salad.

So much good food, so little time...

Frosted symmetry

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Today was the last day of our unit on Frieze Patterns. To test my students' knowledge of the seven frieze types, I decided we'd do a bit of cooking decorating in class.

First, the students got to decorate their own cookies--but no eating! Next, I arranged the cookies in various frieze patterns. (That's Type VII on the right.) Before the students could retrieve their cookies for eating, they each had to correctly identify the frieze types.

Strange, how concentrated they all seemed!

The world is white

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Weird weather this weekend left all trees, plants, fences (everything, really!) covered in a thick, frost-like layer of ice crystals. Meanwhile this weekend I also learned from friends how to make these wonderful snowflakes out of paper.

The whole world is white...

Christmas baking

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Saturday, December 10, 2011

As the season approaches, I decided it was time to do some Christmas baking with help from friends and neighbors. Mixed up two batches of cookie dough, and we got down to work. Some of my favorite results (for which I cannot take credit) were when folks started mixing doughs--see the Christmas tree, rabbit and bells.

Flex!

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Friday, December 9, 2011

Once again it's time for paper flexagons in math class. One of my students quickly found all (?) 18 patterns by creating a very fun set of designs. Next week we'll hold our annual Flex-Olympics in which students will compete to see who can find all the faces in the fewest flexes.

Click the video below to see the designs in action...

Here's a link to my favorite hexa-hexa-flexagon numbering system.

Sewing club

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Thursday, December 8, 2011

My sewing activity is soon over for the quarter. All the girls finished at least one nice quilt square and some even had time for an iron-on project (see the tree at right).

My favorite part about running these activities is to see what the kids come up with when I let them loose with some fabric and a few ideas.

Castle building

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Sunday, December 4, 2011

It's the weekend and more time indoors. This time we devised a plan to build a castle for A's dinosaurs. Lots-o-fun!

Pieten diploma

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Saturday, December 3, 2011

We spent the morning at friends of friends practicing to be Sinterklaas' helper, Zwarte Piet. Activities included jumping from rooftops, wrapping packages, drawing pictures for Sinterklaas, and eating a lot of gingerbread cookies. Tomorrow is the Big Day when the old gent himself will arrive in UB on his white horse.

While the kids were practicing their helper skills in the next room, the sly fellow slipped in and snuck some candy in the kids' boots...