Rupees and Bhats

In India the rupee has a picture of Gandhi on it. In Thailand the baht has a picture of the king. The king is revered here. His picture is everywhere. People wear polo shirts with the monarch's emblam on the front. His name is Bhumibal Adulyadej, and he is among other things a jazz fan who has composed and performed a number of songs. He has been the monarch since 1946 and from what I have read he has done quite a bit for Thailand. I say this knowing that I need to do much more research including listening to the CD of songs that he wrote. And, of course, trying to learn them on my flute. ha ha

I will be leaving for the Philippines tomorrow where I will start by teaching at Bontoc High School then going to Libas High School. I am really looking forward to it.

I am continually thinking of things I would like to see in our curriculum about Asia and several things come to mind. For India, of course, learning about the life of Gandhi is really crucial. He did a huge amount for India, but he also had a big influence on America in terms of ideas about non-violence. For the Philippines, Jose Rizal is a national hero who students really should know about. His book Noli Me Tangere was the book for which he was executed, and it was the reason the Philippines fought for independance from Spain. Having students learn about Thailand's monarch, I think, would be fascinating because today monarchs are seen as such anachronisms, but this monarch really does seem to have changed the course of Thailand's development. In Korea the amazing leader to me is the king who had his scholars totally re-invent the Korean symbols for writing. This may not seem important, but it really lead to a much more logical way of communicating and allowed so many more people to become literate.

I will finish with a few funny observations.

In India the amazing thing to see is cows wandering through the streets including highways. In the Philippines one is jarred awake by the sound of roosters. They are used in cock fighting. In Thailand the amazing thing to see is the number of stray dogs wandering the streets. If you can imagine the Loop with a dog on each block you get the picture.
Throughout Asia, the really remarkable thing I have noticed is the number of open air markets everywhere. There is practically no unemployment here, and the presence of these markets is probably one reason.

Got to go. I have a chance to run twice a day now that I have left Bangkok and I am using it. Ha ha