Productive Bangkok January

Just back from the International Recruitment Center conference in Bangkok, exhausted and reassured -- 10 interviews, 9 different schools, all encouraging and polite.   Most firm offer from Yongsan International (Christian) School of Seoul, Korea. Barb would continue in first grade, and I would teach Grade 9 English.
I am aging out of technology relevance; but in English, age (presumed wisdom) is a benefit.   I came to dread the question "How do you keep up with developments in technology?", as that felt like the undertow of stereotypical gray-haired irrelevance.   What would a 25-year-old respond to that question? or would he be asked the question in the first place?
Yes, I find that many people, including tech types, get mired in expectations borne of past mistakes and find it difficult to shift mentally to new paradigms.    The good Calvinist reminds us that we all are sinners and must be constantly on guard against the human tendency to repeat past mistakes.

Bangkok was delightful, though we were focused on job-hunting. The SilkSuite Hotel was small but pleasant, particularly their roof garden.
Link to photos

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Fleeing Trump, Americans go to Portugal

Fleeing Trump, Americans go into exile in Portugal. “I'm afraid to go back” Not only minorities feel threatened by the Trump administration. Three couples, a mother and an academic tell us why they chose to live in Portugal. Some say: the American dream is over. The above is today's headline article in our favorite trusted newspaper in Portugal, O Publico . It's a centrist newspaper, owned by a big supermarket corporation. Let's combine this with the recent news that Portugal's Air Force is now shifting away from its planned purchase of F-35 jets. Even though Trump has not even mentioned Portugal in his various diatribes against former allies, Portugal and the rest of Europe are reeling from the attacks. We hope it has the ironic effect of freeing Europe from American dominance and improving the chances for centrist leadership (against Trump-like parties that have been gaining prominence). The original text follows: Em fuga de Tru...

EUA: tanto estrago em tão pouco tempo

As part of my effort to learn about Portugal, both the country and the language, I'm subscribing to the centrist newspaper, O Publico . There are plenty of newspapers: conservative tabloids, and socialist and communist-sponsored daily papers; I find O Publico to be most sober, with consistently interesting columnists and opinion pieces, in addition to some local (Porto) news, with just enough sporting news to keep me chatting with the taxi driver. Today's opinion piece sums up, I think, European pundits' view of the U.S. government. As the title puts it: so much damage in so little time. I shudder at the rank incompetence and corrupt behavior, demonstrating a cynical attitude toward public service, showing indeed that the cruelty is the point. What scandal, what damage will be the tipping point to collapse this government? And what will it take to recover from the damage? Who will be able to trust the US government again, ever? Only ni...

Captain America dominates the news, in many ways

KoreaTimes newspaper of April 5, 2014: the front page features five items: a photo of the Avengers2 film shoot, with Captain America posed on the set; four stories with these headlines: Japan adopts absurd claims in textbooks ; Obama plays favorites ; Ortiz’s selfie makes White House uneasy ; and ‘US knows japan at fault on row with Korea’ … all about America and Japan! (Obama is said to be favoring Japan -- he even supposedly pressed the Virginia governor to veto the bill requiring Virginia textbooks to add the name “East Sea” to Sea of Japan!). And the Avengers2 filmshoot dominates public talk -- students and teachers alike discuss sightings of the film crew or actors, and the resulting traffic delays at the bridges in use. But it is considered worth the effort, to show the world that Korea is a hip, modern place, worth the effort for Captain America to defend against the villains (from the north, perhaps?).

Thomas journals

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