Postscript

I forgot to mention two very important things in the last posting. Number one, my parents will be here in exactly two weeks. That will be fun. I'm looking forward to showing them around immensely. Gonna start making a few reservations this week, as we are in the tourist high season here...
Secondly, today marks the one year anniversary of the tsunami, as I'm sure any of you not living in a cave on a deserted island know by now. There is a big memorial planned for today. It has been criticized, as the memorial is a very expensive event. Many are saying that the money for this memorial should go to rebuilding houses and lives rather than this big event. But it seems to be Thailand's way of saying to the world, "hey, we're back..." So it's rather interesting...
Received more loot from my students today. Got a tuk tuk made of Singha ( a local beer) cans, a stuffed cow autographed by the students who gave it to me, a comic book, a keychain that says "ABAC ENG II" (the course that I teach them) and "World's Greatest Teacher" (definitely not the case, but fun anyway,) on the other, and a piggy bank that is a ceramic cow wearing a football helmet (they know how much I love football.) It's been a fun few days. Yesterday was loads of fun, as we all had a great dinner at an Italian restaurant. It was a full four course meal, and while it cost me about 750 Baht (about $19.25, very expensive by local standards,) it's not bad at all considering that included desert, wine, an appetizer, and an impressive bowl of pasta.
Thinking I may head to an Island for New Year's, as I have a four day weekend. I guess we'll see. Hail progress!