Work has been slog for me for a while. Which I guess is okay, but given that it was supposed to be connecting with my passions, that's troubling ( Read more... )

Where’s Jodi? Jodi is now a research fellow at the University of Melbourne Faculty of Business and Economics. I’ll be focusing for the next 3 years on measuring the benefits of social investments -- those investments intended do social good and (possibly) turn a profit at the same time, ranging from philanthropy to microfinance to partnering with ( Read more... )

I wish these people had office hours posted. I keep "stopping by", and they're never in. Or ajarn Yos was having a meeting w/ his office, so I fled with apologies.

I finally got in touch w/ Ajarn ping kaew, and made an appointment to see her next wednesday.

When I arrived at the center, mark was having a meeting w/ Ae and another 30-something woman about a research project on children in the sex trade, apparently for some UN-type organization. It's instructive to listen as he describes the research task that lay ahead in layman's terms. It sound much more straight-forward and do-able than "locating ( Read more... )

went to the museum, saw Ajarn Gai's abstract prints. Simple, but the addition of gold leaf made them interesting. The museum was smaller than I expected (although the building was quite large), so it only took about an hour. lunch at Suan Dok vegetarian restaurant (18 bht). One of the dishes was just flat-out too spicey and I couldn't eat it ( Read more... )

Meet w/ Ajarn (professor) Jamaree Chiengthong. I gave her a brief spiel on what I'm looking at, and let her talk for a while. Thai women speak quietly, and there's always fans, AC, whatever in the background, and so I found myself struggling to understand her. In addition to Ajarn Anan, who Mark had already mentioned, she told me to see Ajarn ( Read more... )

I met up w/ Mark this afternoon for about an hour. He gave me tips on where to get coffee, where to "hang out", where to find guinness (damn expensive, but maybe if I'm overcome...), where to eat breakfast, etc. Then he took me by the Sociology department, where he introduced me to Janmari, who does sociology of development. I made an appt to ( Read more... )

This is too good to be belived ( Read more... )

I have a long list of stuff to do this week while Allyn's gone. Some of it trip related, some of it social. I make a point of staying up late, since the laying in bed alone is the worst part :(. I have to meet with a couple of professors, have 3 different people over for dinner, meet for drinks with a friend who just dumped her boy, with another ( Read more... )

weather dropped 20 degrees today. go figure. Met a friend for lunch, and talked about the fine art of smiling, nodding, and having no clue what's going on. I'm sure it will be finely honed by the time I get back from Thailand. I'm kind of a control freak and I don't like to confess ignorance (my preference is to sit my the sidelines and observe ( Read more... )