Arrival

Hi,

The fog was back this morning, but had burned off by the time we hit the streets. We revisited the DMV, attended an art exhibit opening, dined out, and shopped at the mall.

So far, no one has offered a title or group name for 'Song of '91', but there's still time. Here's the chorus:
"That's me in the corner. That's me in the spotlight, __ __ __, trying to keep up with you and I don't know if I can do it. Oh no, I've said too much, I haven't said enough."

This morning we went back to the Department of Land Transport, which is the equivalent of the DMV in California. I learned that today during the hour-long training film we had to watch. Not only was it long, it was informative, funny, and almost put me to sleep. Before we watched the film we had to take the eye and reflex tests. The eye test was actually a test to see if we saw red, green and yellow. The tester pointed to dots and we told him what color it was. For the reflex test we sat in a chair with a box on the floor in front of us. The box had gas and brake pedals. Across the room a green light came on when we hit the gas. When the red light came on we hit the brakes. Did you know that it is very impolite to splash water on a pedestrian? If you happen to do this, you should apologize immediately. Hmm, OK. There were many things that a motorist shouldn't do that were not against the law, just not very courteous. It turns out, contrary to popular belief, that pedestrians in a crosswalk do have the right of way. Honking to make someone move over is very impolite. In the end, we both got our licenses that are good for one year. That was a surprise, but it's because our visas are good for one year. Makes sense to me.

This afternoon we went to Chiang Rai Rajabhat University for the workshop closing ceremony and opening of the exhibit which we now understand to be something about Artists of the Mekong River Basin. The gathering was outside across a road from the university gardens. The ceremonies began with some traditional Thai dancing. There were lots of speeches in Thai and Chinese, a Koto solo interlude, speeches, a song by two of the Thai artists, a classical guitar solo, some presentations and then a dramatic opening of the exhibit. On the roof over the entrance to the gallery, there were rose petals that had been spread during the dance portion. A sign flipped up, dumping the roses onto the ground while fireworks shot up into the evening sky. It was quite dramatic.

The gallery is made up of at least five separate rooms. Because there were two themes for the exhibit, the works were divided into sections. One room had landscapes and village life, another had images of The Buddha. There was a room devoted to art with images of The King and one room had sculptures and assemblages. Lisa's piece was in the King's room and drew a lot of interest. Each artist was given a packet with four of the catalogues for the exhibit. This was another very memorable experience here in Thailand.

Instead of eating in a dimly lit area next to the gallery, we decided to go back to town and eat healthy at S&P at Big C. Then we went across the highway to Central Plaza for necessary shopping. We still haven't found a digital clock that we can see in the dark. Tonight we realized we need to ask for an LED clock. We'll probably have to get it in The States. Speaking of which, the countdown has begun. Next Wednesday morning we fly to Bangkok for our Thursday departure to America.

Have a Thrilling Thursday.

Peace,
Danny

"You might not know what you lost before it's gone.
On the other hand you might not know what you're missing until it
arrives."
~Unknown

Gettin' Funky, Thai Style
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http://blog.risingstardom.com/
www.lisamosesgallery.com