The conference started on February 1st. All the teachers gathered at different locations to take the buses up to the Suan Bua Thani. It was an hour or so ride out of town and up this windy mountain road. I got motion sickness from that ride. I think it's because all the touring buses in Thailand or so high. It's not a very comfortable feeling.

The Suan Bua is a resort buried up in the hills near Chiang Mai. It makes for a nice retreat away from the bustle of the city. Of course, it's hard to get the snacks you might have wanted though. Everything is a little more expensive when you're away from convenience. But the surrounding area and the resort grounds were very nice. There's an international school right behind the hotel. It had a great, quiet campus. It was beautiful. I took one afternoon to just relax by myself on a swinging bench. It was great. The grass was well-manicured and there was a clean swimming pool. It was very serene.

The conference was held almost everyday. Only the Friday and the Sunday were our "free" days. We had required sessions in the mornings with administrative stuff. Then the afternoons were filled with optional workshops. They helped me to think about how to teach better. I wish I remembered everything better, though.

Some of the more interesting extracurricular events included KFC Night, Swing Dancing (didn't do that), Square Dancing (did do that), and a Talent Night. Some of the things I enjoyed more than others. Some days and nights, I just felt like being by myself. After being a little isolated for the past little while, it's hard to adjust to such a large group.

Another extra event was Excursion Day. That was the Friday we were there and it was definitely the most memorable day of the whole conference. I went on an excursion that included an Elephant Ride and Show, a Snake Show, the Orchid Farm, the Umbrella Factory, and the Gems Factory and Gallery.

I had already ridden an elephant, so it was easy this time. People could also buy bundles of bananas and sugar cane to feed the pachyderms. It was all very interactive. Well, while I was riding my elephant, it could eat whenever and whatever it saw. There was one time that it started speeding up for some reason. I was wondering why this elephant was going so quickly all of the sudden. Then I saw it. This unsuspecting lady was holding a bundle of goodies off to the side of the track. The elephant had made a B-line to the prize. When the elephant grabbed it with its trunk, the lady started struggling with it. Then she finally realized what she was doing--fighting with an elephant. I think she understood that size matters here and surrendered her food. Good idea. Don't you think so?

The elephant show was kind of interesting, but it's kind of hard for me to watch trainers whack these creatures with these sort hooks on sticks. The elephants did "handstands", bowed to the audience, played the harmonica, and even played soccer with a huge soccer ball. Cool, but I didn't want to take any more elephant pictures. I had enough from my one day trek.

The snake show, though, was very exciting. A man would get into this small circular arena and demonstrate his prowess. The guy is either really brave or really stupid. The job probably requires a little of both. The announcer kept saying, "Be very careful." One of the performers was toying with two cobras. He'd stick his knee out to tease the snakes and would draw it back just before the snake attacked. There was also a python you could take pictures with. I politely declined. Jumping snakes were one thing I had never heard about, but there they were. They can jump up about 3 or 4 feet. There was one part when the performers were bringing out new snakes that one of the guys threw a rope into the audience. The woman it landed on just screamed. I can't say I blame her.

The orchid farm was the next stop. We had lunch there in this lucious floral environment. It was extremely relaxing. After we finished eating, we'd just walk around and look at and smell the orchids. My mother would've loved it. They were absolutely exquisite to the eyes and nose.

Equal to the orchid farm was the umbrella factory. Now, they don't just make umbrellas there, but a variety of things that are made with this special paper. The paper is made at the factory and is a specialty of the region. They would make fans, cards, art, and almost anything else you can think of out it. There were even fridge magnets. What people make for a tourist's buck. Although, I must admit that this tourist did give up some of those bucks in exchange for their souvenirs.

The last item on the trip was gem factory and gallery. If you love jewellery, you would have loved this place. The ladies were all taken up with looking at all the pretty stones, gold, and silver. Even I was very interested in all the jewellery there. I am normally bored in any jeweller's shop, but this was actually exciting. I tried to learn some stuff about rocks and bands and semi-precious stones and precious stones. Just a week earlier, Shannon had gone with Brian to look for an engagement ring for his fiancee, Akiko. He had proposed without a ring. They got one at the same place. From what I hear, he wasn't the only teacher from our midst to take advantage of the low cost of jewellery in Thailand.

The best part of conference for me was not all the socializing or the workshops or even the excursion day. The best part was just talking to people one-on-one. I had some really great conversations. Some of them were fun and frivolous. Others were hard, gritty, and challenging. I want to give credit to Lois Ingles, Pam Seto, Paula Kwan, and Brian Fisher for some of the most encouraging and supportive conversations I've had.

In the end, conference was fun and educational, but really tiring and stressful for me at times. Just making sure I don't foul up the administrative stuff that I needed to do was a little unnerving to me for some reason. On the last night, a lot of people were hanging out at the ice cream bar soaking in the atmosphere of the last night. I was there for a while. I had my Oreo sundae, but I couldn't fight off my fatigue. Off to bed I went and that was the end of conference.

The rest of my Thailand pictures