Chiang Mai

The Inside House hotel

From Singapore, I did a quick trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand. It was great.  We went to a Hmong village (which was oriented toward tourists, with a street of little stalls selling crafts, etc.), and a beautiful temple on top of the mountain. We also spent a morning at an elephant sanctuary (Elephant Nature Park) where we walked around near the elephants. And we went to the night market and enjoyed some delicious mango sticky rice.  

Hmong Village at Doi Pui

Traditional Hmong outfit

The temple (Wat Phra That Doi Suthep)

Adventurous food at the market

The sanctuary rescues all kinds of animals

Food for the elephants

Elephant Nature Park

Afternoon tea at the hotel

Done with Middle School!

 Done with eighth grade, and on to new adventures!

Moving Up Ceremony

 

The school had the 8th grade Moving Up Ceremony at the end of May.  (They do it a while before the end of school, I guess because the last couple of weeks are exams for the eighth graders.)  The boys both won awards:  Matthew won Excellence in Health and Leadership, and James won Excellence in Social Studies, Outstanding Effort and Attitude, and Academic Excellence.  We are very proud of them!  (Matthew was also happy to be nominated for two peer awards -- Most Likely to Participate in Class and Most Likely to be President. He didn't win, but he said the people who did deserved them!)

They also had the eighth grade party. Matthew said the most fun part was the foam room (a huge bubble machine that filled the room with foam).  He said the only downside was that it was hard to see, so it was easy to trip over people!  (And he ended up getting soap in his throat, but said it was worth it.)

Singapore Scenes

 I am teaching in Singapore again this summer, and it's hard to believe that the six-week classes I'm teaching are almost at their halfway point! I haven't been doing too many tourist activities, but here are a few photos.  

A tower of cars!

Little India is crowded on Sundays

The atrium of our Singapore campus

Ramen

Lilies at the apartment complex