It's taken a bit of time but I think (think) I've finally made some Thai friends. Not easy to do up here. I had so many contacts in Phanat Nikhom, I thought I was losing my touch.  
 
Firstly, I spoke with this amazing high school student on the songtaew a week or so ago. He spent a year in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and delights in practicing his English. He runs over to me whenever he sees me and seemed overwhelmed that I remembered his name (Wan.) Overwhelmed may be a bit of an exaggeration, but he was at least whelmed. I do enjoy talking to him.

Then, I put an ad on a Thai website looking for a Thai tutor and got a reply that this particular person's friend, who is a lecturer at MSU, would be willing to tutor me. More to follow.

Then, then, I had mentioned in my blog that there was no real coffee up here and a girl named Christine posted a comment saying she could show me a good spot for coffee at the university as she is working there for 3 months. More to follow.

Then, then, then, I'm sitting in church and three ladies come in , one walks over to me and says, "Welcome to Thailand," and hands me a box of candy. Now I'm thinking word must spread fast around here 'cause I don't know this lady from Adam. Turns out she is a pharmacy professor at MSU and P'Noon told her to look for me. Her name is Pom, her one friend is Tam, a Pharmacist downtown, and her other friend is Arm, a doctor. All very nice. They gave me a ride to the Serm Thai shopping center after church and insisted on putting their names on my phone "in case I ever need anything."  I was so taken with this gesture. Kelly and I had recently had a long discussion about how hard it was to connect with the Thais here.

So new members of the lonely hearts club? Or more Thais to appear and disappear? Who knows? Like I said, more to follow.

I'm hanging out because Steve, Kelly, and I are going out at midnight to see the Lo*** meteor shower. It's supposed to be clearly visible over Asia  between 12-4 am, and not this vivid again for 100 years. We'll have to see about that.

My students are becoming increasingly more enjoyable. Now that I can recognize and name (most of) them, they have distinct personalities. They are extraordinarily polite, obedient, and respectful, yet at the same time they have a penchant for fun and laughter. Even my droll (I wanted to say /pus/ /ee/ but it looks too much like another word. How do you spell it? Maybe only one s) medical students are coming around to my style of teaching.

As expected, the pool is open and the weather turned cool again. Although cool is such a pleasant sensation here. I miss cool. (I also miss rye bread, but we won't get into that here.)

I had an enjoyable Skype with Diane Dein yesterday. I told her of my adventures buying a blouse in town. First, the lady showed me an XL (Asian) , probably a M at best in Western sizes. No, "Yai, Yai", I say. (Big, big.) She pulls out a 3X and lo and behold, it's a perfect fit. (I tell you this in strictest confidence, of course.) But as she pulls the blouse out from the back of the rack, I notice a huge cockroach resting on the neckline. I point it out to her, she dutifully flicks it into the street, and completes the purchase. JCPenney, take note. This level of service is simply not available in the US.