Potluck Home Party

Lately, I've become a bit of a social butterfly. I'm not sure why or how it happened, but I keep getting invited out to parties and other events.

This one was for Toastmasters members who usually meet up every Friday evening. We spent time eating and drinking at a member's home.

It was a "pot luck" party, so everyone had to bring some food...

The table view left...

...and right.

There was even a tall Christmas tree, which made me feel a little homesick...

I enjoyed some red wine produced in Thailand too...yum!

A woman brought an unusual snack from China. Can you guess what it is...??

(answer: ginseng!)

I enjoyed lots of delicious food. Here's a view of my first plate....

...and my second. You can see the dish I prepared for the party: apple pie! ^_^

I enjoyed chatting with my friends and listening to stories. We had a "joke telling time", and I listened to a really funny one from a Thai guy. Here it is:

Man: "I got into an argument with my wife and she ran away. I ran after her and when I caught up to her, I gave her a big hug."

Friend: "If you were fighting with your wife, why did you hug her?"

Man: "If I didn't hug her, she would have gotten the gun!"

(laugh) I really like this joke. ^_^

Snooker Lesson #1

So....I started studying how to play snooker. I know how to play, but I wanted to learn how to really play.

A member of my Linguistics group plays on a semi-professional team and offered to teach me. The first lesson was held at Sports Academy on Sukhumvit, in Nana.

Shop sign:

The first lesson consisted of some basics -- how to make a good "bridge" and different bridge styles. I took two photos...

Basic bridge:

Loop bridge:

Next, I learned to keep my body low, eyesight even with the cue, and the cue low and level while shooting.

The next part of the lesson was quite intense. I learned various ways to strike the cue ball, and how to create good "leaves" (setting up the cue ball for your next shot). The techniques I learned were:

• English shot (making the ball spin left or right)
• a follow shot (making the cue ball "follow" the color ball you strike)
• a stop shot (the cue ball stops dead after striking a color ball)

I could do the stop shot quite easily, but English and Follow shots are a little harder to master. I will have to practice.

I'll attend another lesson in a couple of weeks. I'm very lucky as my condo has a snooker table for residents to use (free!), so I will practice when I can. ^_^

Sports Academy is located 2F, above Ruamchitt Plaza. Sukhumvit, just before Soi 15. BTS Nana. Price: 240 Baht for one hour (¥700/$7). Between 4~6pm, the pool tables are FREE!

Thai Sayings | สํานวนไทย [sam naan thai]

I attend Thai language classes twice a week. I love learning languages -- this is my fourth. ^_^ (I have studied French, German, & Japanese) One of my favorites lately is idiomatic expressions.

I learned a funny one in Japanese:

結婚は人生の墓場。[ke-kon wa jin-sei no hakaba]

= marriage is like a grave.

I wondered: "Do people from other cultures feel the same about marriage?" So, I asked my Thai teachers. It's similar! In Thai, we say:

แต่งงานเหมือนซื้อล้อตเตอรี่ [deeng naang suu lottery]

= Marriage is like buying a lottery ticket (Women say)

When a woman gets married, the man may be a good man or he may turn out to be bad. It's like buying a lottery ticket -- you might win or lose. (laugh)

Thai men say this about marriage:

แต่งงานเหมือนติดคก [deeng ngaan muan dit khuk]

= Marriage is like jail. (Only men say)

I can understand their sentiments... (laugh)

How do I feel about marriage? Hm. It's tough to answer. I am very happy with my current life...I love to have fun & be carefree. It's easy to be my friend, but it's almost impossible for a guy to "catch" me. What can I say? I run fast. (laugh)