Thailand Letter
November 5, 1997
Bangkok, Thailand
Dearest Family,
Yesterday was a "DAY TO REMEMBER" - I'll write about it later in my letter.
Bob - thanks again for keeping us up to date with your WONDERFUL news!!! We truly do appreciate that - it was on the computer last night and we read it but Virginia wanted to re-read the article about the Olympics and write a letter so I went to bed and now it is a day later and I'm just getting to the computer.
JEANNIE - your pictures came today and they are WONDERFUL!!! I will take the ones of the Sacred Grove, the Hill Cumorah and the Statue of Liberty to church with me to share. They are unusually good pictures and I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. You all look good enough to eat and I have a hard time thinking about Ricky being on his mission when I get home - wouldn't it be wonderful if he could be sent to Thailand - with his name he will go to Germany - Ha!!! Thank you just millions for sending them to me.
Virginia's brother-in-law, Bob Hales, is the church's representative for the Salt Lake Olympics committee and he and his wife are in Japan now on assignment for that calling. Her brother is in "Security Business" of some kind in Salt Lake and is also assigned to the Olympia's committee and he is in Japan too so she was very interested in reading the Olympia's article. Do you all think the USOC will have too much power over Salt Lake - in reading the article I felt that was the general feeling. Will Mr. Joklik be as good as Tom Welch - I didn't know he had resigned? I hope Utah won't lose money as so many other places have.
I didn't know that Boeing was that big in Salt Lake - I hope people won't lose their jobs. I asked someone if Thailand made anything technological and they said they "assembled chips" - I'm assuming that is like Micron makes. It sounds like Hussein is still causing problems - that's pretty scary if they have barred American inspectors from their country. Shaquille O'Neal hitting Ostertag of the Utah Jazz Basketball team - I hope he got suspended for many games!!! Will the Jazz have a good team this year?
I would have LOVED to go to the Vernal Temple Openhouses - I had letters from many friends who went. Pres. Hinckley is SO cute to allow some children to help put mortar in for the cornerstone. I can't believe it cost 7 million dollars to reconstruct that - the article said that was much higher than it would have cost to have built a new building.
The article on homework blew me away. THE EDUCATORS ARE REALLY TRYING TO IMPRESS UPON PARENTS THE IMPORTANCE OF HOMEWORK AND ESPECIALLY WITH PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT. I agree that the teachers really only have time to teach the concepts and the real practice needs to be done in the home but wow, that is hard for many parents - especially the single parent homes.
We started in our new district yesterday and just when I say I have seen it all, then I see more. The first school we went to yesterday was huge and very beautiful with all the modern equipment and lavishly furnished in the director's office and all over AND A HUGE SWIMMING POOL!!! The assistant director who is showing us around took us to a big walkway that is lined with all kinds of gorgeous plants and then he turned on "the mist" - Virginia and I laughed as we felt our hair and said, "Well so much for looking nice for the wedding reception tonight". The school is only 4 years old and the Princess came when it was "dedicated" or whatever they do when it is finished and they built her a special "toilet". I laugh when I think about it - all the others are "squatters" so I assume hers is a Western style one. It was locked so we didn't get to see it but they had a big blind like curtain with a big rose painted on it in front.
We met the teachers there and then went to another school and it wasn't nearly as nice but nicer than most of the schools we have been in since we came here. We told our driver we wanted to be home by 4:30 so we could go to the wedding reception so we left about 3:30 and just barely made it home by 4:45 and they picked us up at 5 to go to the reception.
The wedding reception beats anything I have ever been to in my entire life - including all the fancy things Daddy and I went to at the Greenbrier. It was held at the Sheraton Hotel and there were roses, and all kinds of flowers all over but the most lavish thing was the banquet hall. They had an ice sculpture of the bride and groom at the main table and then they had at least 20 other tables just filled with all kinds of foods and waiters passing constantly with glasses of champagne and soft drinks. I really have never seen such beautiful and delicious foods - they had little cream puffs in the shapes of swans filled with crab meat. They had Thai soups, curry, shrimp, bacon, pork and chicken shish kabobs - I could go on and on. The Crown Prince had performed the marriage ceremony on Monday at the Grand Palace. They had many toasts given and they were in Thai but ended with "Hip Hip Hooray". Everyone was dressed in elaborate Thai silk gowns and the bride's dress was just exquisite (sp.?) One of the principals in our area and his wife took us and they were so sweet to us. The bride's parents gave as souvenirs, coins with the pictures of Rama V and Rama 1X on them and they were in gold bags. I'll save mine along with the invitation to bring home. I don't know if the other English Teachers are being invited to things like this but I'm glad we are. As a matter of contrast - when we went into the restrooms we found little linen cloths to dry our hands - many of the public restrooms where we go we find vending machines where you can buy toilet tissue if you want it - it is NEVER provided.
Today our driver picked us up at 8:30 and we went to two more schools. They are nice but quite different from the first one and the teachers will take some "getting used to". We taught in about 8 classrooms and the students absolutely don't know one word of English and it has been taught since 1st grade. They can read some words but they don't know how to say them correctly and they don't know the meanings of them. I hope we can help them.
Bob - I believe you will go to Mexico this weekend. I will be SO anxious to hear about it and I know you will be safe but be extra careful!!!
John - I will check with the Mission Office tomorrow and see if I have any money and then I will let you know.
Our neighborhood group will come over in about an hour for an English Lesson so I will close for now.
Thank you all SO much for helping me. I love you all so very, very much. Please be very, very careful. Grandma B