Sports Day is actually two days, Thursday and Friday. Thursday is more of the dress rehearsal day for the cheerleading stuff, and then Friday is the actual performances. Jacque brought her adorable son Uri to hang out with us for the day.
Steph and I went down and watched some of the rehearsals for a while, and chatted with students nearby. A few of my students from last year were sitting near us, and Mook had a soda in a recycled liter bottle, cut in half!
I had to get me one of those.
The sun came out for a while, and the sweet angels held an umbrella over me :D
They did, however, also have several volleyball matches on Thursday, and we got to play! Not sure who won, but we had a great time.
Florian, from Germany. Flo arrived Thursday, the 28th, two days after Bryan had left. Met with him at Chatuchak Park and took the buses back to my place to let him get settled in. We chatted for a while, got some ice cream, then headed back into Bangkok for an evening at The Saxophone. Friday Flo headed out to wander Bangkok while I went to work. Unfortunately, even though I had a short day at work, my stomach was in miserable knots, and prevented me from going out anywhere that evening. Saturday I sent Flo off with Stephanie and Tina to Koh Kret while I was in Bangkok hosting the baby shower, and we met back up at my apt that evening before heading to Tommo and Kim's engagement party. Sunday we both slept in, then he headed off to the weekend market and I left to grab some roti and coffee before church. Monday was a slow day; Flo spent the day in the city again while I worked. Tuesday, however, was a good day. Flo joined my coworkers and I in our weekly game of football(soccer), and did really well! It evened out our teams for a 12 player 6-on-6 game. Flo left early Wednesday morning. I was sad to see him go; he was fun to talk to and got along great with my coworkers, but off he went to Koh Chang, and then to finish his trip in Vietnam.
As if I wasn't busy enough with my couchsurfer(see next post) and the baby shower, Tommo and his fiance Kim's engagement party was Saturday night at the Mexican restaurant in Champs. It was a good turnout; I brought my couchsurfer, and most of the other farangs that live in Champs were there. We carried on into the wee hours of the night, finally sauntering back to our respective apts and collapsing in exhaustion. The food was delicious(Steph and I split some scrumptious nachos), and we popped the top(and emptied) our prize bottle of wine from quiz night.
The Happy Couple Kim,Sunny, and Brenda(who's moving to Phuket to start an awesome new job) Goofy Colin Stephanie Me and Steve Mexican Restaurant owner in front Just a few of us
Saturday was a BUSY day for Miss Amelia! I woke up at 6:30, gave my surfer "instructions" for the day, and was out the door by 7:30 and on my way to Katie's apt. Got to her apt at about 9:45, and by 10:10 we were on our way over to Mae and Ken's to finish the final shower preparations. We hung the last of the decorations, prepared the sash that Ken made for everyone to sign, signed the group card, then made a quick run to the store for the punch ingredients, lunch, the cake topper cookies, and balloons. Guests were just starting to arrive as we got back, and they all arrived on time(1pm) as explicitly requested. Everything was set.
Oh didn't I tell you? This was a SURPRISE shower! Of course that made it a thousand times trickier to organize, but we pulled it off! Katie and I first came up with the idea back in March while riding the escalator at CentralWorld during the French Film Festival. We enlisted Mae's help because she's got experience with event organizing/planning, and is AMAZING at these things(and she made super delicious treats for the shower). We spent weeks sneaking around, sending top secret emails, and swearing Kent(Mr. Smitha) to secrecy - and I'll admit, he did an awesome job not letting on that he knew about our plans and getting her to the shower without her figuring it out). Kent brought Smitha promptly at 1:30, and we were ready for her!
The Prep: Smitha's Arrival:
Games:
Presents: The Lovely Group of Ladies: Unable to attend but sent their love: Pookie, Charis, Mary, Malinee, Becky
*On a side note, Sunday afternoon, the day after the shower, Smitha's father passed away in India after a series of difficult health issues. Unfortunately Smitha is too far along in her pregnancy(starting her 9th month) to travel, so she isn't able to be there for her mother and family. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Our two teams ruled Pub Quiz Wednesday night! Our team got the bottle of wine, and the other team won first prize, the case of Paulaner Beer. Good job, everyone. :) As you can see, our team was in the lead for while! Luckily, it was short-lived, and we settled nicely into our "get the wine" groove. lol
As I mentioned a few posts ago, I finally have shin guards. Well, I have very cheap, minimal coverage shin guards, but they serve their purpose. We hit the field again last Tuesday, and as the game progressed, I began to realize I was best off being goal keeper, so that's exactly what I did. Steph and Liam facing off Steven(the one who kicked me the first week) David and his new bright orange cleats lol
So of course I HAD to ask him to cook something. Originally it would've just been for he and I, but I mentioned wanting quiche, and not having an oven, and asked Smitha if we could cook at her house(and feed them too), and then Katie said she'd bring dessert, and one thing led to another, and we ended up with about 6 of us. But he was fine with it, and we had a blast. Monday night seemed to work best for everyone, so after work I headed to the Asok area in Bangkok, met up with Bryan at Tops Market to pick up our groceries, and then promptly walked over to Smitha and Kent's apt. We were going to try to do it without a crust(because Bryan insisted that "baking wasn't his forte" and it wouldn't turn out), but we found a "just add water" mix for two flaky crusts, so I said I'd make the crust. Thank God for Betty Crocker. The quiche was going to take about an hour to make and bake, so Kent poured us each(except Smitha) a glass of wine, and we snacked on the delicious fruits(mangosteen and ranbutan) that Pookie brought over. After what seemed like an eternity, the oven buzzed and we all sat down to our amazing food. I scarfed down FOUR pieces. The quiche was SO good. Mmm, mmm, MMM!
