Alternative Sources of Protein, as Recommended by the U.N.?

Not long after we moved to Chiang Mai I stopped to shop in Makro, one of the local big-box stores, like a Costco, where food and other goods are sold in bulk and one must have a membership to take advantage of the savings offered there. I was thrilled to see the size of the frozen food section, large by any standard, and significantly larger than any I have seen so far in Asia. I thought to myself "surely in a frozen food section of this size I will find a large selection of chicken nuggets, frozen pizzas and french fries, the children's preferred cuisine." I walked among row after row of the cases and soon found that this was not to be. (Fear not, my healthy eating friends, in the absence of said foods I have resolved to start making more from scratch. Cheaper, healthier, a bit more time consuming, but definitely worth it in the end.)

According to a May article in the Washington Post titled "Should we eat more insects? The U.N. thinks so" by Brad Plumer, the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization has recommended that "insects are healthy, nutritious alternatives to mainstream staples such as chicken, pork, beef, and even fish". The article further argues that "edible insects are environmentally friendly - farmers don't need to clear acres of forest to raise them and the bugs produce fewer planet-warming greenhouse-gas emissions than, say, cows. It could be a sustainable way to help feed a growing world whose demand for protein is soaring."

Most of the articles that I have found on the report are quick to point out that, given the Western aversion to eating bugs, perhaps the U.N. leaders sponsoring and publishing the report should lead by example but I can safely say that Chiang Mai is already on the bandwagon. In all those cases of frozen goods I found no pizza, no chicken nuggets and only half a case full of french fries. What I did find is the following: (You may need to enlarge the photos to get the full effect)

No, "Grasshopper" is not a brand name, it is the contents of the package.  Perhaps you would prefer SaGu, which appears to be big, fat, roly-poly (perhaps some would say "juicy"?) grubs.

 Better yet, perhaps some caterpillar?

And last but not least, for your gastronomic pleasure, some free-range "Giant water bugs" that look large enough to carry off a small child, if not properly supervised when thawed.

Sadly, I realize that I did not get pictures of the freezer full of about 4 different kids of frozen frogs. (There actually was a "No Photographs" sign up, I just pretended I was using my phone to write a text and oops! snapshot!) Although I do have to say that I think the kids find the supermarket here to be a bit boring. Used to be, while living in China, they asked to be parked in the fresh "fish" section while I shopped in the adjacent fruit/veggie section, so that they could watch the live fish, turtles, frogs and eels swirl around their tanks. I think perhaps they just thought "Hey, Carrefour has a pet section". I don't know if they realized that the people picking out that big turtle were not taking it home to name it Myrtle. They never asked, I never offered.

Perhaps this is not the time to insert my usual plea for visitors. But if you promise to come visit us, I promise not to serve you grasshoppers. Or Caterpillars. Or giant waterbugs....Quite seriously, the bugs found in the freezer cases aside, is Thailand not known for it's awesome food? Come for a visit and we'll treat you to some GREAT food!

Hugs and love to you all~

School Days, Part 4; August 2013

I've written a lot about school so far: three times, it seems. This episode is very special in its own right as it is the first time we have participated in an official "first day of school". Very exciting for all of us! This one is also very important as Daddy is traveling so we will try to share the day with him as best we can with our pictures.

For Vivienne, the day was full of the familiar: as a preschooler, she returned to the same room and building with the same teacher and many familiar friends. For Conrad, it was a move upward, to the "big school" as his new classroom is now in the main building! A year ago, when we started our homeschooling project, Conrad was sad about not actually going to school so Miss Rebecca had helped us put together a Schultüte to make his "first day" more special. Typically, though, the Schultüte is only for first graders. Last June the school had a special meeting to share information with the parents of the incoming first graders and to give us materials to put together a Schultüte for their first day in August. I presented it to Conrad at breakfast and he brought it to school for the opening ceremony on Tuesday.

Conrad in front of his new classroom, with his Schultüte.

This first day was more of an "Opening Day", mostly a "Meet your teacher" day with an opportunity for the kids to see their classrooms and where they will sit, and informational meetings for the parents regarding yearly schedule and available after-school activities. We arrived early and took our seats. The younger students had reserved seating, with a special place dedicated to the First Graders.

Conrad sits next to his best friend, Andrew

The ceremony started at 10:00 with a short service by one of the local pastors and then Principal Liebold spoke.

Conrad in the crowd

The first graders were called up on stage, carrying their Schultüten, and were introduced to everyone by their teacher, Herr Tetzel. It's a bigger class then they expected: 11 kids!

I am so proud of him; he looked so grown up. It was a nice ceremony, a nice way, I think, for the students to start the year. But I have to say that these are the moments when I find myself feeling...apart. The Biggies, the milestones; the times that you would usually celebrate with those around you. Yet family and all of the familiar feel very far away. It was a bit difficult for me because it was all in German, naturally, and I understand about one word in 5; just enough to have no idea what is going on. Which unfortunately translates into an overall feeling of isolation from the school. I always imagined myself as a "Room Mom", someone intimately involved in the social and academic aspects of my children's education. I'm hoping I can remedy that issue, and am working towards that aim but it certainly brought a level of bitter-sweetness to the day, for me. 

The following day, Wednesday, was the first full day of classes. The morning sun is very bright in Thailand! Off they went in their new school outfits (Thank you again, Aunt Vickie -Love, Vivienne) and I wondered all day long about them and how they were doing.

They arrived home tired and ready for a first-day-of-school icy cold treat. (Aunt Vickie, you might also notice the bunny-ear ice pop molds! You are with us every day!)

Before I even had a chance to ask, Vivienne informed me "Conrad says his school is boring! It only has tables and chairs!" Welcome to the big leagues, kid! He seems to be mourning the passing of Kindergarten harder than I expected him to but it's still early. We're working out the schedule, hoping to get him involved in after-school soccer and chess activities. He seems to have made some more friends, as the first graders are in the same room as the second graders, so I think he is starting to warm up to the idea of full-time "real" school.

We've got the first week under our belts and are feeling better about having a routine, finally. And with them in school now, I can finally focus on finishing the house and then focus on my own education with Thai and German lessons. It is certainly never dull in our world!

Thanks for joining us as we embark on this next layer of our adventure. Our love to you all~

The Anti-Cheating Helmet

Seriously, I can't make this stuff up. I just received my newsletter from ThaiVisa.com in my inbox and this was the headlining article, courtesy of Coconuts Bangkok:

Bangkok university makes students wear anti-cheating helmet during mid-term exams
Followed by this picture and this story:

"In an effort to curb rampant cheating Bangkok's Kasetsart university has created an anti-deceit paper helmet for students to wear during their midterm exams.

The device, which resembles horse blinders made out of computer paper, was unofficially unveiled on an alumni Facebook page.

Shortly after being uploaded the photo was quickly taken down, but not before a loyal Coconuts reader Thanut Udomhirun captured a screenshot of the helmets in action.

Coconuts is still searching for more information on the helmet. It's not clear how many classes use the device or how long the university has taken such extreme measures. Thanut mentioned that in addition to the helmet, there were two versions of the test given out to students.

If you have any information on the helmet, please let us know via our Facebook page."

I tried to do some checking to see if the story was legit or satire. I had recently seen a similar picture posted also on Facebook, although I can't remember the context. I didn't find anything online in English to support or refute it's veracity, but I did find info indicating that apparently cheating is a very big problem in Thailand overall. Some speculate that the overcrowding in test-taking sites does nothing to discourage the problem. 

Either way, it gave me a good laugh. Again. Thailand's innovation at it's best? How do the proctors hand something like that out? And who assembles them? Things that make you go "hmmm?".

In The Rainy Season

We've been back from our vacation in the States for over a week now, (not yet long enough for me to figure out which side of the car I'm supposed to get in before I open the wrong door-again!) and it's taking a bit of time to settle back in to any kind of routine. Perhaps I'm still in denial that our awesome time in New York with the family is now in the past. Perhaps I'm still in denial about how disorganized my house feels and how much work still needs to be done. Perhaps I am just waiting for the kids to start school next week so that we can finally get back into a real routine. Regardless, life goes on and errands need to be done.

Here in Chiang Mai we are in the heart of the rainy season. Now, it rained a lot while we were in New York; caused a change of plans more than once or twice and many of our pictures included umbrellas and rain boots.

Watching Zach play baseball in the rain 

Walking the streets of New York City with Uncle Smitty

Getting ready to make a mad dash for the car as the Independence Day parade has been rained out

But for the most part we could trust that the roads would be passable when we finally did make it to the car, drowned as rats though we may have been.

Today, back to reality and the business of everyday life, I had a few errands to run. The rain had begun about an hour before I left the house and it turned out parking would be the least of my problems. I had left behind my familiar routes as I tried to find the quickest way from where I was to where I needed to be, when suddenly I was confronted with this:

and this

 I managed to navigate my way out

and eventually made it back to drier roads. But the rain continued while I was out and about, and life went on in spite of it. 

The Coke gets delivered rain or shine, no matter how big the puddles get. No one here seems to wear rainboots.

It floods from the back door in, in some of the shops.

I'm very relieved my front yard doesn't look like this:

Or at least it doesn't yet. Check back with us tomorrow...

One rule for the rainy season:
Never leave the house without your umbrella.

Probably a good idea to being a friend as well!

Stay dry!