Busy times – with Christina

April, May and June now (almost) gone.
It’s been really hectic, but boy, have we done a lot.
Christina arrived on the 24th of April, having completed her University years, culminating in “The Grad Show” that they had to do to show off the work of the 2005 Design Class. The show consumed here for approx 2 weeks before she came out, so she was very pleased to head off for a break.
Christina was here for 6 weeks, and it’s surprising how fast that went. During that time Tricia took her to see many things during the weeks, and we also had a weekend early on at one of the Islands in the Gulf of Thailand (Koh Chang). Christina, who had brought a school friend (Peter) with her took off for 4 days one week to another Gulf Island (Koh Samet) with Peter and Marielle (my work colleagues 21 year old daughter). Then towards the end of her stay the 3 of us (C., Tricia and I) went off to the Andaman (yes, Tsunami land) area for 9 days. We visited Phuket, and Phi Phi. Peter went off to the infamous “moon party” near Koh Samui during this period.
We had a fabulous time in the Islands; especially at Phi Phi. The Island we stayed on is one of the Phi Phi twins and the other Island (about 1km away) is the one where the film “The Beach” was filmed. The swimming around there is fantastic. Great reefs – reminded me of the Yucatan area!
There is much to say about this area and the recovery from the Tsunami, but let me just say this: Phuket has just about completely recovered by now; Phi Phi has not. There seems to be some reluctance by the authorities to clean up there, and were it not for a large, ad hoc, international group of volunteers then Phi Phi would still be a big mess. The rumor is that the authorities would rather wait until all other efforts fail, and then take over to build luxury resorts – apparently they don’t want the “backpackers” in there next time around as they can make more money from the luxury set, not least with the popularity of the area after “The Beach”! The volunteer groups were doing a great job while we were there.
More info is available at:
www.hiphiphi.com
After the Islands we were back in BKK for a week, then we were off to Canada for Christina’s graduation ceremony – convocation. This has to be one a parent’s proudest moments, however long the preparation compared to the brevity of the moment. Now of course comes the aftermath, as Christina has been trying to find a job and we have all had to prepare the house in Canada for sale (C will move into the city to take up her employment) as well as the car (C plans to use public transport). Thankfully things seem to be coming together there as Christina starts work next week, and the house is under firm offer for sale by the end of August.
After 2 weeks in Canada I am now back in BKK, nose to the grindstone again; with Tricia in Canada for 4 more weeks visiting friends and generally closing the sales etc..
Next steps will be cleaning up our e-life. Expect to see changes to our email, and web sites soon.