Farewell preps back to Laos until . . . the 911 call

Posted on September 8, 2025 by connieinasia

My incredible 1-month Stateside vacation with my 91-year-old mom was coming to a close. What an energizing visit I’d had back in my hometown, Marshall, Illinois, after 1 ½ years settling into my new position as Director of the Suntisouk Language and Vocational Center (SLVC) in Laos.  I felt rejuvenated and refreshed, ready to tackle the new school year. By my side at the Center were office manager and teacher Santi (Laos), intern Shaloom (Pakistan) and full-time, live-in caretaker Suher (Laos), all with whom I’d been in constant communication during my time away.

Eagerness in returning to my teaching and administrative position was evident, not only for myself but the Center’s students.

Our 3-month term was to begin September 7, with  4 different levels of language learners taking classes from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. These four levels were:  ABC learners, Level 1 primary school, combined junior high/high school and finally, adults.  Registration was about to begin upon my landing. I was convinced we 3 teachers would have at least 40 (our highest number yet) due to the WhatsApp messages I’d been getting from parents and students alike.

“Teacher Connie, when does the new term begin? My son wants to join again and bring his cousin.”

“Teacher Connie, this is Nok.  Will adults meet for free English talk again on Wednesday night?”

“Teacher Connie,  I miss you!  Can we learn more songs this term?”

To all of the above, my overly zealous, geared up self raced, “You bet! Let’s go for it!”

Preparing for my August 28 Flight

With 30 years of experience in overseas departures behind me, by the 26th, I started early in my packing. All those Amazon orders of gifts, educational supplies and whatever else I felt I could stuff into 2 suitcases were finding their way into my suitcase. Bridget (my rescue dog from China, living with my mom) guarded my treasures from atop my pull-out bed.

  

I next made sure all my farewell pictures with friends and family were recorded. This included my mom, my brother in his downtown office (lawyer Paul and his law partner, Joe), a visit to my 2 China rescue dogs, brought to the US after Covid and adopted by PJ, my aunt and uncle (my dad’s younger brother and his wife), my niece visiting from Hollywood and numerous other friends.

           a          

So many great memories, plus excellent photos to put together for a visual power point journey to share with my students back in Laos.

Yes, I was hyped.

The 911 call:  Yikes!!

But what I wasn’t ready for was my mom’s Monday night, 2 a.m. call for help.

My mom, Priscilla, always in excellent health, (a daily walker, active gardener, independent house-owner,  avid reader, sharper-mind-than-myself woman) woke me up with, “Connie, I think I need to go to the emergency room.  My heart is racing, it won’t stop, and I have traveling muscle aches. Am I having a stroke?!  I feel very strange.  Call 911.”

Thus I was plunged into wake-up call mode, in more ways than one.

My Mom’s First Hospital Experience Commences

 

Scrambling to pack an overnight suitcase of some sort, I managed to do so while waiting for our local 911 paramedic team to arrive.  Off my mom went with me following behind in the car to Terre Haute’s Union Hospital, 20 minutes away.  Once there, we waited 15 hours for a bed to open up.  My brother arrived to the emergency room after finishing his scheduled court cases around 2 p.m.  

Thank goodness I was still home!

 That initial hospital stint, I was able  to assist, support and deal with medical staff (excellent, by the way) who performed numerous tests and exams.  By that time, her heart had stopped racing but she was feeling tired, achy and foggy.  She was admitted later in the day into a hospital bed where she spent the night until a doctor could finally see her.

While waiting, my mom took this photo of her adult children, my brother and myself, focused on the tasks at hand:  My brother was checking on clients; I was trying to figure out changing my air tickets while alerting my higher-ups of a possible compassionate leave request.  (This was granted, by the way, which I am so very, very grateful to have had approved.)  

After being sent home with little more than an “All your test results appeared great” and “Take an aspirin if needed,”  she had another emergency hospital run the next day with the exact same symptoms.  The difference was this time around, those topsy-turvy heart palpitations insisted on  stretching themselves out numerous hours, with no signs of slowing or calming down.  

That made a believer out of her assigned doctor.  He prescribed medication, with a follow-up office visit in 2 weeks, so I’m waiting around to make sure the treatment holds fast.  So far, so good.

Directing from afar until  September 21

At present, aside from helping my mom, I’m doing my director duties from afar via WhatsApp:  Re-organizing teaching assignments so we can start on time, writing agendas for our meetings, checking daily with my Center staff, making sure enough reimbursement and money advance forms are signed by me (over 30 are still left), approving of immediate language center needs (electrical outlet repairs, roof leaks, book copying for our new students, tree trimming, safety checks), reworking my classroom power points and lessons, not to mention thanking everyone continuously for their cooperation,  understanding and “stepping-up” willingness.  

As I type this, they are at our weekly Monday meeting, which I am not able to attend.  Shaloom has been assigned to carry out my written agenda, along with writing the minutes, until I return. (See what’s on my agenda list for September 7, below)

So what about Winnie?

             

Also included on my re-arrangement list has been Winnie’s extended kennel stay.  I was fortunate that there was room for her.  In fact, she’s gained an added skill due to my extended stay:  She can swim!  Roasting temperatures have pushed her into the large doggie pool and smaller tub provided by the kennel staff.

As you can see, she’s having the time of her life.  

 

Stay tuned for more reports

As I close this off on a Sunday evening in America, modern technology keeps me in touch on a 24/7 basis with everyone in my Southeast Asia home. I have numerous Laos stories to share which took place this past week.    Some heartbreaking, some surprising, some rather dangerous and others just plain hilarious.

I’ll be reporting on those next, along with pictures, so check this space again soon.

Connie in Marshall, Illinois

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It’s Winnie Time!

Posted on August 24, 2025 by connieinasia

It’s 3 a.m. and my cell phone is exploding with what seems like a million dings.

Who in the world would be sending me messages of such quantity at 3 in the morning while I’m trying to enjoy my USA vacation time?

Blame Winnie, my adopted dog in Laos. Or rather, blame her current caretakers.

Dog Kenneling in Vientiane

Yes, these daily wee-hours-in-the-morning announcements are all due to Winnie being kenneled in a facility on the outskirts of Vientiane, Laos’ capital city where I reside.

Some might be wondering what I did with Winnie, my adopted dog, while I’m away on my USA vacation. Well, Winnie is spending her time at Vientiane Dog Paradise, a kenneling service which was recommended to me last year by some foreigners with pets.

Leena (a Laos native) is the woman in charge of this amazing business. Her kennel and dog training center is located outside of the city, down a road in a vast farmland area.

Her services not only include kenneling pooches but also sending them overseas. For clients willing to pay for her expertise, she’ll do all the necessary travel documents and complete all overseas’ requirements for your special little or big pup to make it safely and soundly to your home country.

Before I left, Leena told me she’s been working on sending a 1-year stray to someone in Germany. The story of her longer-term residential dog is as follows: Last year, while on a 2-week business trip, a foreign gentleman saw a starving stray hanging around his hotel. He began to feed him every day, looking forward to seeing his little companion leap with joy and happiness upon seeing someone who finally cared.

Our streets in the city, in fact all over Laos, are filled with strays or even homed animals that are just let loose to wander on their own. Few are vaccinated or have what we would consider decent care. Most are full of fleas, ticks and have numerous skin and health issues. It’s very difficult to pass them by, especially when watching them scrounge desperately for food. Thus this kind man, whose attachment to the mutt had become quite strong, searched to find a place for his rescue to stay. He found Vientiane Dog Paradise, contacted Leena and placed the canine there until he could get the dog to his home country. Leena arranged all vaccinations and health check-ups during his stay. Now he’s about ready to depart.

As for Winnie . . . .

Before leaving, I prepared all of Winnie’s supplies to be used while I’d be gone. Or rather, I over-prepared.

I left far more food than was needed for her stay but better too much than not enough, although Leena assured me they wouldn’t let her starve to death if they ran out. (Better not!) They’d buy the same product I had given to make sure there was no strange deviation from her usual dogfood.

The day I departed for the States, I delivered Winnie via my midnight blue Honda Scoopy motorbike, or scooter.  I will say I was holding my breath the entire way on that dirt road, now very treacherous due to our daily rains, but we made it.  (Whew!)

So what’s this explosion of Winnie time?

The staff have gone bananas sending pictures to me via WhatsApp of my dog’s daily outings along with her other kenneled buddies.  I’m getting 30 to 45 per day, including videos.  Gracious!  Good to know she’s safe and enjoying socialization time with others but that’s a lot of continuous dings on my phone, folks.  Thank goodness for the silent mode.

Now that is one lucky Laos dog.  Sure beats sitting in my office, waiting anxiously to go home on my motorbike, as seen below.  

                     

Hard to believe our back-to-normal routine will be taking place soon.  Yes, it’s just a a few more days until my return to Laos.  At present, I’m finishing up the last of my shopping ventures, including filling suitcases full of gifts along with much-needed items I can’t find in the city I live in.  

In the meantime, I continue to get Winnie updates during those midnight hours. She has so many friends now,  one wonders if she’ll want to rejoin me.  Not sure I would.

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A Trip Down Memory Lane: A Hometown DQ Visit

Posted on August 22, 2025 by connieinasia

Note: I posted this on Facebook a few weeks ago. I’ll add it here for those who are not big Facebook fans.

For those who know me, I am an avid swimmer. I started at 3 years old and never stopped: summer swimming team, teaching private lessons and lifeguarding during my high school years, college competitive swimming and onward thereafter. In Laos, for my first day of classes, I introduce myself via a power point presentation. While I cater to each level, this slide is the one that remains a constant. The look on their faces, seeing a young Teacher Connie, is priceless.

Even at 60, I still get in my daily 2-hour workouts, no matter where I am in the world. Here in my hometown, I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the adult 2-hour lap time early mornings, 6 – 8 a.m.

In fact, I started to gain a fan following. Before school started last week, public swimming lessons began at 8:30, usually while I was just finishing up my warm-down.

One of the grandparents, Chris Jones, brought her grand-daughters every morning for lessons and they’d watch me as I completed my work-outs. When it came to the last morning for public lessons, I received a surprise treat from the family. I was presented with a DQ (Dairy Queen) gift certificate for a small ice cream sundae!

Here are the visuals below. Chris kindly paused for a selfie with me, then I grabbed the grand-daughters for yet another photo. Harper, with dark hair, is on the left and Evelyn on the right. (I’m holding the certificate.)

A Similar Gift to My Laos Students

My Laos staff and students all know my favorite dessert in the entire world is ice cream. If you follow my stories, I did a full 2-week English lesson with my elementary ed students on visiting our nearby ice cream chain store, MiXue. The finale of that lesson was going to Mixue to order ice cream cones in English, which the Laos staff all spoke due to the foreigner-based clientele we have in my language center’s area of the city. (3 embassies are within walking distance).

And would you believe in Laos, we have Dairy Queen? It’s quite popular in the capital city I live in, Vientiane, but extremely pricey compared to other ice cream shops that are more local.

Dare I trust my USA Dairy Queen gift certificate would be usable in Laos? I wasn’t finding out.

I quickly headed off to my hometown’s DQ and put my gift to good use right away, as you can see below.

Comparison Prices to Laos

It had been many years since I had a DQ treat, and while I certainly enjoyed that trip down memory lane, I was a tad taken back by my goodie’s cost now-a-days: $3.59. Yikes! That certainly wasn’t what I paid growing up.

And just for fun, I looked up the current DQ prices for a small ice cream sundae in Laos: Only 15,000 Kip, which would be about 71 cents.

I guess when it comes to a trip down memory lane, looks like I’ll be tripping a lot more in Laos than in America.

In Closing

I have just one more week to go, then it’s back-to-school for me in Laos, my Southeast Asian home. Keep checking this space for more updates. There will be many to come, that’s for sure.

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An Overwhelming “Welcome back!” from My Small Town

Posted on August 10, 2025 by connieinasia

My arrival to my USA home was full of glee, from my mom and older brother to even my mom’s dog, Bridget, one of my street rescues from China.

But the greatest welcome came from my small town.

A Special Friday Night Evening

“Connie, you’re back!”

At almost every turn, as I walked the town square a week ago Friday night, numerous people greeted me with smiles, surprised expressions, hugs and sit-downs for chatting.

Why so many out and about in downtown Marshall, my hometown for 4,000 people?

It was my town’s National Road Night.

The National Road was the United States’ first highway in my country to be built by the US government. This road was built from 1833 – 1856, from the east coast of America to my hometown area, over 591 miles (951 km). It went straight through my hometown and is still used today in America. Over a week ago, my town celebrated this highway. We had the National Road Day celebrations which are held every year.

There were numerous activities all around the courthouse.

The Marshall high school cheerleading squad painted faces and handed out twisty balloons of various favorite animals and shapes to all the kids.

Bouncy houses and slides dotted the courthouse grass lawn.

Our police and emergency rescue vehicles were present for “Touch-a-Truck”. (For my Laos readers, Touch-a-Truck events are defined as community gatherings where children and adults can explore and interact with various types of vehicles, including construction equipment, emergency vehicles and more. The events offer a hands-on experience, allowing attendees to climb inside, touch, and learn about different trucks and the people who operate them.)

You’ll notice a helicopter included below. No touching the county’s emergency helicopter but it did take-offs and landings after flitting about the town as a means of showing what it had to offer our community for policing the town.

The Lion’s Club popcorn wagon was busy handing out free popcorn to all who wanted it.

An ice cream social by the Marshall Optimist Club had their yearly fundraiser, selling pieces of pie, cake and ice cream to those wishing a great dessert at a very reasonable price.

     

The Biggest Draw for National Road Night

The highlight of the evening’s entertainment, our summer weekly city band concert. The Marshall City Band is celebrating its 150th year. The Marshall city band began in 1875 and was originally formed by men who had musical talent and a wish to start a band. What was just a few men 150 years ago has over the years blossomed into numerous community residents and alums of our Marshall high school band, people of all ages, who enjoy playing all summer and for special events. For 150 years, the Marshall City Band has been going strong. It’s currently under the direction of Heather Setzer, our Marshall High School band teacher. So many came out that night for a great showing of our local talents to enjoy good music, good company and an all-round good community vibe. As you can see below, this was a spectacular event and welcome back for me, having just landed from Laos.

While the in-person was so much better, here’s the best I can do to share with you via pictures. Enjoy! You know I did.

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It’s Vacation Time! A Visit to America

Posted on August 1, 2025 by connieinasia

Well, folks, the Center’s classes have ended so I am off to America for my vacation time.

One of my adult students,Alat, graciously volunteered to take me to the airport for my midnight flight. I prepared a small gift bag for her thoughtfulness.

Her mom came along and treated us to a lovely meal near the night market.

And since we had time, we traipsed about the many rows of sellers and their wares, selling anything from clothing to jewelry to Laos souvenirs to underwear and bras. You name it, the night market has it. And lucky us! No rain.

My drop-off complete, Alat and her mom left me to await my late-night check-in.

Flight was to Korea first, then America next. My only sadness in this departure was not seeing Alat when I return. She will leave on August 18 to study English in New Zealand for 2 years! We’ve had such fun during our evening classes these past 3 months. I will miss our time together. I will have to see her off in spirit rather than in person for her new overseas adventure since I will still be gone. Take care, my dear friend! You will truly shine in your new home, I am sure.

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Our Term has Ended!

Posted on July 27, 2025 by connieinasia

What an amazing end to our term!

Last week had Shaloom, Santi and myself busily preparing our students for their closing ceremony performances which took place last Thursday evening. Some were squirrely and energetic, like my 8 all-girl class of lower level English learners. Our performance was composed of classroom chants and silly “Thank you. Bye-bye!” antics.

Santi’s ABC beginners were just plain excited to show their magic tricks, a genius idea which Santi thought of several weeks ago. All 6 secretly had been practicing for over 2 weeks, mastering their crafts as magicians but not revealing their talents to others until it was showtime.

Then we had Shaloom’s higher level elementary ed learners along with his junior high class, all in a funk. As older students, with attitudes, there was a lot of eye-rolling, sighing and slowly meandering into the classroom. Most were just wishing the end would come so they could enjoy the rest of their summer holidays in peace, total freedom, without having to spend it in a classroom, even if for an hour.

I will say in the end, most came together with a spirit of “Yeah!” and the performances went well. Our students enjoyed watching their classmates on stage.

Certificates were handed out, pictures taken, fun English language reward pencil gifts distributed (thank you to my many USA donors who have given those over the years) and all departed with cheerful hearts.

And we teachers? Sigh of relief to have everything over and done with for the summer, ready to close up shop, clean classrooms, tidy up and have a break . . . finally. While the Center remains open, no classes will be held until September 1 when we open for registration. We are already prepared with our outside signage, as you can see below.

In the meantime, if you want to see the videos, go to our Suntisouk Language and Vocational Facebook page. The performances will be posted next week. The far above still shots for those who are checking here in this space, a teaser for what’s to come. https://www.facebook.com/suntisouklvc

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“If one’s good, two’s better”: My mother’s favorite idiom comes in handy during rainy season

Posted on July 13, 2025 by connieinasia

My mother taught me: “If one’s good, two’s better.” This phrase , which often refers to the benefits of collaboration and partnership, I have found comes in handy as a consumer of goods. With my mom’s love of shopping, which was passed on to me, the above idiom I found also goes for purchases made of basic needs items, or even not-so-basic needs items. Some of my first buys in Laos revolved around what people told me would come in handy. Among them was a rain cape for motorbiking about town. During the rainy season, this apparel would be my staple to keep me dry not only as I motored to and from the vocational center where I teach, but zipping about on errands throughout the city. Rainstorms come up suddenly. Bright, sunny mornings disintegrate into torrential downpours in the afternoon. Preparing for such weather inconsistencies means always keeping your rain gear with you 24/7.

With this in mind, I purchased my first rain cape as soon as I bought my Honda Scoopy scooter. Following my mom’s “if one is good” advice, I had my seller go to the back of her store and dig out 3 more capes. A discount was given and I confidently took my 4 capes knowing they surely would eventually prove a wise spending of my money. One was for me, the second going to Shaloom (our 2-year Global Mission Fellow teacher from Pakistan) and 2 more kept in the Center’s office for staff use. Those 2 have been staying in their original wrapping, unused, for almost a year now. In fact, they were just found stuffed in a drawer a few weeks ago. “Why did you waste your money on 2?” one of the staff recently commented with a frown. The answer came last week, for our free Wednesday night adult class.

If you didn’t know, it’s rainy season now in Laos. The rains come suddenly, with little warning aside from fast-gathering black clouds. They hit in sprinkles or downpours, lasting minutes or hours. We all know, as motorbike riders, to stuff your rain gear under our bike seat or in our bike basket at all times. But there are times we forget. This was the case with Moukie , who works at the China ice cream chain store, Mixue. She came for our weekly free Wednesday night English sharing time at 7 pm. At that time, we had semi-clear skies but by 8:30, as the our time with the group ended, the rain hit.

It had been a long day. She was tired and wanted to go home but with no rain cape, and a 20-minutes journey along busy streets to get home, she was going to be stuck with us until it subsided. Everyone else was gleefully perched astride their 2-wheeled vehicles, or getting in their cars (yes, we have 2 with cars) but not poor Moukie…. until I whipped out my sneered-at “if one’s good, two’s better” office rain cape.

Moukie’s look of gratitude and relief was quite apparent when I handed it to her. She and our other attendees were able to leave together and arrive home at a decent hour. Moukie returned the cape the next week. It is awaiting another borrower, whom I’m sure will be just as appreciative and thankful. How it pays to listen to your mom’s advice and let it guide you through your life journey, right?

Anyone else have stories to share of this common idiom? Send a note! Always eager to hear.

From Laos, here’s Connie staying dry and happy (That includes Winnie, of course.)

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The last lesson of the previous term continues to bring us rewards

Posted on June 19, 2025 by connieinasia

Toward the end of April, I had just completed the last lesson of the Book 2 Let’s Go series which our Center uses for our younger learners. Book 3 was next on the agenda but starting it with only 2 weeks before we closed off our 12-week course was not the best option. Better to start Book 3 with the new term.

Naturally, my 8 girls (no boys) were giggling with delight, thinking for the next 8 classes they’d have nothing to do before the certification day and Laos New Year holidays. On Monday, March 30th, they gleefully entered the classroom expecting me to either do review activities or maybe they could just go outside to play in the courtyard area.

Think again, kids!

What none had realized was that I’d been working for several weeks on creating, what is called in my field, an authentic language learning experience. This is where we use the language not in a classroom situation, but in real life.

The Center’s neighborhood is full of embassies, meaning foreigners live and work in our area. Restaurants, Laos shops and small grocery stores all have English-speaking staff to accommodate us whose Laos skills are quite poor or non-existent.

One of the most popular of these stores is the Chinese ice cream and cold tea drinks’ chain, MiXue.

MiXue is the largest cold drink chain in the world, having even surpassed McDonalds and Starbucks in the number of establishments. Their first store in Laos opened in 2021, serving affordable, high-quality cold drinks in the region.  Food is not offered but numerous cold tea drinks, fruit juice concoctions, ice cream cones and ice cream sundaes.

All throughout this capital city of Laos, Vientiane, and also in larger towns in the country, MiXue storefronts can be found in our popular city malls or scattered along various streets. When it comes to the Center, we have a MiXue just 1 minute’s walk from us. It’s one of the first stops for many of our students as they saunter away from schools and make their way to us fro their English classes.
We have a strict rule about no food or sugary drinks in the classroom. A majority of our students are starving after school, naturally, and can’t resist grabbing up food items before class. They often come sauntering through our gates for their 4:30 or 5:30 p.m. lessons quickly eating their roadside stall goodies (skewered sticky rice balls, chicken drumsticks, French fries), spooning in their ice cream treats or sucking down their fruit drinks before class begins. Those that aren’t finished either quickly share with friends, entering the room later, toss what’s left in the trash or ask Suher (our caretaker) to place in the Center’s big refrigerator for after-class pick-up.

When Suher asked me if this was OK, I said, “Of course! But they must ask you in English: ‘Ajan Suher, can I please keep this in the refrigerator?’ No English; no fridge use. “

Now even our 7-year-old ABC beginning English students can say that phrase at the drop of a hat.

Ice Cream Customer and Cashier Dialogues Learned, Practiced and Memorized

As for my students, the two ice cream dialogues I created took several days to learn. After my 8 completed memorization of both being a cashier and a customer, who was ordering vanilla, green tea or mixed ice cream cones, I arranged a visit to Mixue during our class time.
“My treat” was one of our new phrases and, naturally, this was indeed my treat!

Before we visited, I had a sit-down with the manager and 2 staff concerning the necessary use of English for these young learners. They received our dialogue and knew the time and day we were coming.

For my class, it was Connie’s instruction of “No English? No ice cream!” that put them on their best behavior.

As you can see below, the success of the venture was felt by all involved, even the staff whose manager was pleased by their language efforts.

A Thank you To the Staff

As a thank you to the staff and manager for their help, I brought cookie gifts the next day to present. Mookie, one of our cashiers, received my offerings. She mentioned how much she enjoyed learning and speaking English but there were not many opportunities for her to do so.

My Ice Cream Lesson leads to Free Classes

Due to her remarks, and Shaloom’s enthusiasm for teaching higher level adult learners, both of us decided to plan a special weekly free English evening to begin in May. This was to be only for adults who wanted to improve their language skills. We planned to have two sessions running simultaneously: Shaloom would have higher level learners who would be led on debating topics.

I would be doing lower level learners with discussion topics. See below an example of my session, an English Corner of sharing. (Click on all below images if you want to see them enlarged)

Santi, my office manager and teacher of the ABC learners, created an amazing flier for us.

This was posted on Facebook as well as sent out via our WhatsApp channels to all our friends. We even made hard copies which Shaloom, Santi and I began distributing around college campuses, restaurants we patronized, barbershops and beauty parlors we passed on our motorbikes, international hotels and guesthouses in the city, and various shops we often visited. I even handed out my advertisements at our village’s government office center as well as in my neighborhood’s outside market where I do my vegetable and meat shopping.

The result?

We are into Week 4 of our free classes and we now have anywhere between 10 – 15 adults joining us, mostly women. Not bad for a small vocational center. Plus the word is spreading and those attending will be bringing friends, if they haven’t already.

And who is diligently a regular attendee? None other than Moukie, our Mixue employee who so kindly greeted my students and spoke to them in English.

Now that is a successful language learning experience, one which reverberates onward long after the lesson is over.

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Mango Mania

Posted on April 29, 2025 by connieinasia

                                   

Laos has exploded in mangos.

All throughout the city Vientiane, numerous mango trees offer their flavorful items.

These tropical juicy gifts dangle by the thousands from leafy branches. They litter the streets, sidewalks and courtyards. They crash to the ground, splitting and spilling mango mush we slip and slide on as we walk

Yesterday evening, a huge wind and rain storm littered the entire metropolis with this sweet fruit. This morning on my way to the Center, I found myself maneuvering my midnight blue Honda Scoopy around so many of these littering my apartment’s access alleyway not to mention my roadway route on outer streets leading to the Center. Suher, the Center caretaker, enjoyed picking up the best of the lot before discarding the rest. This morning, he shared with me his haul. These are just 3 out of about 20 he shoved into bags to share with his friends and brother, who is studying at a local college here.

                                 

Even Winnie was intrigued by these elongated tree droppings.

Yes, Winnie is a regular at the Center. When students are here, she gets her fair share of pets.

Spring Courses About to Begin for Santi, Myself and Shaloom

Speaking of students: The Laos New Year is now over so I’ve been busy preparing for the new term. Look at my office whiteboard, full of all the things that need to be done: order a new grass roll for outside area, prepare PPTs of behavior and classroom rules, send emails about what our USA volunteer team of youth will do (more on that later), register new students . . .

I am slowly marking things off my list.

Thursday is a holiday, May 1st’s Internationl Labor Day, which means I expect we’ll have quite a few coming at the last minute to register their kids. We have a limited number of slots in our classrooms. Only one room can accommodate larger numbers, 16, and the rest are a squeeze at 8.

Today, Santi (my office manager and also a teacher for the ABC class) signed up 2.

                               

Yesterday was 4. We are expecting a total of 34 if all come back. Cross your fingers tomorrow and Friday will have them racing to join us once again.

So far, all the 7 – 8:30 p.m. slots are fully open for adults. We’ve been advertising diligently but so far, it’s been very quiet from that age group. Last term, we had 5 with one private.

Wouldn’t that be incredible if our enrollment for these next 3 months matched the number of mangos on our trees!

One can only hope.

From Laos, here’s wishing you a fruitful upcoming Month of May.

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Facebook Page Links for our Center: Enjoy!

Posted on April 14, 2025 by connieinasia

Sharing two Facebook Links below:

Easter Celebrations at The Center: https://www.facebook.com/connie.wieck.5

    End-of-Term performances: https://www.facebook.com/suntisouklvc

    More to follow as Laos New Year is upon us. My 3-day holiday began today. My goodness! What a wild and crazy time with streets erupting in water fights, us motorbike riders being doused with buckets of water as we go by and tons of inflatable pools lining the streets as people splash about in the excessive heat.

    More to follow.

    Connie in Vientiane

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