Wow, exactly one month ago I landed in Vientiane. Time flies. August was mainly coined by a constantly-thinking mind and tonnes of new impressions that kept tumbling down on me. And, unfortunately, my first tropical parasite which stopped me for an annoyingly long amount of time.
Now, routine is slowly settling in.
Indeed, I mean Obama. He is going to visit Vientiane next week for the 11th ASEAN Summit. As the first American President EVER. The summit is usually big enough by itself but with the additional, immense security effort concerning Mr.Obama, Vientiane’s main roads will all be locked down for a week and even schools will be closed. This will be interesting…
Anyway, this circumstance made me deal with the Republic’s politics sooner than I had expected. In fact, I just found two short articles in the Laotian Times that I consider worth sharing. Read here if you want to know why America is interested in strengthening the bond to this small nation:
Sabaidee means “Hello!” in Lao đ
I figured it was about time that I showed you some pictures of the city. They are a bit random, but more will follow soonish! Now that I’m finally able to leave my bed again, I promise I will take my camera with me whereever I go.
Finally. Today is the first day on which I’m feeling significantly better. I never imagined that it would take me so long to regain my strength. I’m fairly slim now and constantly hungry. A good sign, I guess.
But don’t worry, I’ll give it another couple of days of rest and bland diet before chasing after the next adventure. Promised đ
Well, since people kept asking me over the years what I usually take with me, I thought I might as well start with my planned packing lists. Note: There are a few things I did not include because they are obvious; such as personal documents (passport, information about travel insurance, vaccination certificate, emergency contact details, international drivers licence, credit card – if you really want to be on the safe side, make copies and keep them in a different piece of luggage or even better: scan those documents and keep them in your Dropbox!), spare cash, clothes, toiletry items, âŠ
I guess my 15 must-pack items vary a little depending on the duration and destination of the trip but the majority of the things listed below accompany me on ALL journeys. Make sure that you bring yours đ P.S.: This account might bore the seasoned travellers among yous but help some noobies…
Excuse the cheap pun – I do not mean to make a train announcement. Today, I’d like to introduce an awesome tool to you guys: Gapminder.
It allows you to create a great number of statistics and charts based on a huge variety of reliable, current data (very often based on UN organizations). So basically, it’s all about illustrating the widening gap between rich and poor. You can compare many nations in regard to e.g. annual income, gender equality, literacy, …
Da ich selber zur Zeit nur spannende Geschichten ĂŒber die eiernde Rotationsbewegung meines Ventilators an der Schlafzimmerdecke erzĂ€hlen könnte, dachte ich mir, ich verwende einen Text meiner ASA-Tandem-Partnerin. Bella arbeitet nicht bei KM8, sondern im Ministery for Education and Sports in der Innenstadt. Ihre Arbeit dort ermöglicht ihr einen umfassenden Einblick in das laotische Bildungssystem, den ich persönlich sehr spannend finde. Hier also ein Text fĂŒr die Fans von hĂ€rteren Fakten unter euch đ
As I have already mentioned in my last post: I am a terrible patient. I hate going to the doctors and remembering last yearâs injury on my ankle â I usually do it too late. Needless to say, I didnât even call in sick at work this week, but kept pushing myself to the limit. But even I decided that 10days of symptoms, severe vertigo and the loss of roundabout 4kg body mass was enough. I was more angry than concerned, however: My time here is too short and my wanna-do-list too long for any bug to keep me company any longer. Thatâs why I went to the doctor today.
You gotta appreciate the absolute randomness of KM8’s library. The magazine delivers what it promises: 48 pages of “Just Justin” – in his sexiest years! Made my day.
Truth be told:
I am an impatient person. I confess it.
Not, when it comes to teaching. And not when my adorable nieces beg me to play a 50th round of hide-and-seek. And no, not even when our ancient Lao kettle takes forever to boil water for my morning tea.
But I am terribly impatient when it comes to realizing plans or acquiring new skills. So I arrived here two weeks ago, learnt about my official duties and settled in quite smoothly. It only took me about a day to plan a handful of lessons and tell everyone that I was ready to start. But neither did I anticipate the thick wall of administration I was about to hit; nor the Lao âwork ethicâ which is quite different to what Iâm used to.
Feeding Fernweh 