Travel 12 - Chiang Mai - 2014

This year, I accepted a position to teach as a volunteer at the North Chiang Mai University in Thailand.  The schedule was open-ended, and I chose to start in July.  Although this was during the semester break, I was assured that there would be many students still present who would value interacting with a foreign language teacher.

North Chiang Mai University Entrance

This was not quite true as most of the students that remained were there for personal reasons and learning a foreign language was not one of them.  In fact, when the new semester commenced, there were few students able to speak English, and even those majoring in the subject were few and far between.  It was also notable that an unusually-large number of the faculty were not bilingual.

One of Many

My overall, and general, opinion was a culture of laid-back students, and an easy-going population as a whole.  I came to the conclusion that history had something to do with it, and there was a distinct difference when compared with other Asian countries.  The subject for a useful thesis, no doubt.  Nevertheless, a very friendly and peaceful community.

Old City Moat

The result, for me, was the unnecessary 2 kilometre, rough gravel, trudge from/to my small apartment, and the opportunity to take time off to visit the interesting city of Chiang Mai.

Director of International Affairs and his wife, with Me

The notable feature of Chiang Mai is the ancient walled old city surrounded by a moat filled with water.  The Buddhist religion (or philosophy) is obvious everywhere because of the numerous golden temples (new and old) and the many monks in their saffron-coloured robes.  One odd sight was the number of 7-11 convenience stores that, at times, seemed to equal the number of temples.  I visited the Buddhist University at Wat Chiang Man which, interestingly, did not confine itself to theological subjects but excelled in modern subjects such as Computer Engineering (Fees not required for monks).  The advent of the digital camera with a 1,000-picture memory was essential, and I felt quite sorry for those visitors with 35mm film cameras.

Monks at Prayer

Entrance to Wat Chiang Man

There are many good hotels and guesthouses within the walls of the city which I recommend, and prices start at approximately $15 per night, rising to $100 per night for sheer luxury (I would suggest booking for the first night and, then, looking around for the best value ... as if $15 isn’t good enough).

One of Many Processions for One of Many Holidays

It was certainly an unforgettable experience.

Click each photo to enlarge.

Politics 11 - Dual Citizenship

It’s the weekend and, again, I am left with reading the newspapers to justify my wide knowledge of world affairs.  Stretched wide and, thus, thin on substance.  But there are some subjects that inspire forceful discussion, and one of them is dual citizenship.  Therefore, I searched this Blog and, to my surprise, realized that I had not written on the subject before, apparently.

I have been traveling quite a lot recently and, each time, I think back many decades to my first international journey as a dual citizen (Montreal Mirabel to London Heathrow).  I departed Montreal Immigration with my new Canadian passport and, upon arrival in London, I was confronted by a short Green line for U.K. citizens, and a Red line stretching to the distant horizon for the rest of us.  Quickly, I took out my U.K. passport and, with a smug smile, joined the Green line.  Of course, when the officer studied my passport he asked, without looking up, “Where are you from, sir?”  Not noticing any sign of humanity in his eyes, I carefully answered, “Canada.”  “There’s no Canadian stamp,” he said, looking at me as if I was deliberately concealing something.  “No,” I replied triumphantly, “I decided to use the Green line.”  “That’s illegal,” he said, as he officiously stamped my quickly produced Canadian passport.  “Don’t do it again.”  (In other words, use only one passport for each round trip).

That’s when I discovered that dual citizenship does not provide equality, and I remembered this as I read about someone being wrongly imprisoned in Egypt today.  Human rights activists are pouring out of the woodwork to decry this case, but I must tell them that not all rights are equal.  In China, innocent, peaceful people are prosecuted for their religious beliefs (for example) and end up being forced to donate their organs for transplant.  That is an obvious and horrible example against human rights.  But if an Egyptian-Canadian travels to a country rife with danger, and uses his Egyptian passport, then, he becomes an Egyptian in that country and is, obviously, looking for trouble ... and Canadian Foreign Affairs can do little.  Equally, if a Syrian-Canadian travels to Syria as a self-declared freedom fighter (terrorist) the same danger applies ... and if he returns to Canada, he should be arrested, and jailed, for contravening the rules of immigration.

I do not want my country to become a hideout for religious extremists.  Do you?

Video — Book Design

I have decided to increase the diversity of this Blog by introducing interestingly thoughtful videos.  The purpose of my decision is an attempt to increase readership (Believe me, not to increase my ego) such that others may feel that they have personal comments to make and, by doing so, cause discussion ... the original reason for the creation of the Blog.

Today, I have copied a video from TED Talks that a few of you have seen already but, I feel, should have a wider audience.

Please enjoy.

http://www.ted.com/talks/chip_kidd_designing_books_is_no_laughing_matter_ok_it_is

Quotation — "If ...."

Recently, I listened to a TED Talk about the meaning, or relevance, of poetry in our lives, and while reading some of the Internet commentary that followed, I noticed that someone had included the poem "If ...." by Rudyard Kipling.

Having a personal passing relationship with Rudyard Kipling (Born during World War II, I lived in one of Kipling's houses in Sussex which he permitted to be used by mothers for the safety of their new-born children from bomb-ravaged London), and the belief that he is the equal of all others that I have quoted and included in my posts, I must include this poem, written to his son, here.

Rudyard Kipling (1865  - 1936)

An English short-story writer, poet, and novelist. He was born in Bombay, and was taken by his family to England when he was five years old.  Kipling is best known for his works of fiction, including The Jungle Book.  Henry James once said: "Kipling strikes me personally as the most complete man of genius (as distinct from fine intelligence) that I have ever known."  In 1907, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

If .... 

If you can keep your head when all about you       

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,   

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,    

But make allowance for their doubting too;   

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,    

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,    

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;       

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;   

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster    

And treat those two impostors just the same;   

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken    

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,    

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings    

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings    

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew    

To serve your turn long after they are gone,   

And so hold on when there is nothing in you    

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,       

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,    

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute    

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,   

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,       

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

P.S.  Read to all young sons ... and daughters.

Travel 11 — On-line Reviews

From my research, it seems that when people travel, they have no idea of what to expect when they arrive at their chosen hotel, and I would really like you to tell me why you think this is.

Of course, tourists come in a variety of costumes and age groups but, in my opinion, the type of tourist should not be significant to the way they write reviews.  In fact, I wonder if there ought to be a subjective analysis of these people.

For example, let us start with a hotel search.  I believe that today most people search on the Internet, either on their own or with help from a travel agency.  There are many Websites available, for example, hotels.com, expedia.com, and booking.com, and each site permits a selection of search choices, for example, star rating, review score, etc.  Therefore, why do so many tourists, upon their arrival, become dissatisfied.

Let us look at my personal experience:  We recently stayed at the 3-star Himalayan Deurali Resort in Pokhara, Nepal.  It was chosen because we simply wished to ‘stop the world and get off’.  The Website described a resort situated remotely in the mountains and a long way from the nearest town.  The photos showed unbelievable views of the snow-capped Himalayan mountains;  the accommodation looked very comfortable, and there was a restaurant ... what more did we need?  Nothing.

Everything on the Website was accurate, but there was no mention of the national power cuts that took place more than once each day, and the resulting effects.  But the effects were understandable and, in a sense, beyond the control of the hotel.  Nevertheless, should it not affect the star rating and the review score.

For example, someone wrote, “ It is the most excellent hotel in Napal, including the view, service, food, room, and cost-effective (sic) ... (Edited) ... Even I cannot show the fact put into words. You need to know to your cost (sic).”  A rating of 10/10 was awarded, and this person was not alone.

I doubt if this Chinese person was related to the owner, therefore, what was on his mind?  There are numerous 5-star hotels in Nepal, and many better hotels in Pokhara.  The view was excellent, but only on rare cloudless days;  the service was very friendly but the effort just average, during our long stay, the carpets were never cleaned, in fact, the hotel did not own a vacuum cleaner;  the food was acceptable, considering the location;  and the room, notwithstanding the power cuts, was very good.

I awarded 7.1, but the average was 9.3.  And I guarantee disappointment if you expect perfection when you go there ... I am not saying that one should expect perfection at a 3-star hotel, but .... 

This was not the only hotel that we stayed at, and the same comments apply there too.

This leaves me wondering if people search for reviews with only a 10 score and, thus, are obviously disappointed (unless it is a 5-star hotel), or do we have a group of people who get joyful satisfaction in causing travellers to suffer during their well-earned vacation.

I have no idea.  Should I return to my place in the world?