Thailand is still a fun a place for me. I'm seeing lots of movies at the Bangkok International Film Festival. I just saw The Motorcycle Diaries. I'm going to see The Aviator tonight. Thursday I'm going to see Hotel Rwanda. Saturday I'm going to see an Israeli movie called Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi. Sunday I'm going to see Ray; it's about Ray Charles the blind musician.
In the coming weeks I might have an opportunity to work with Habitat for Humanity to rebuild houses of victims of the Tsunami.
My kids are making slow progress in learning English. None of them are making great strides from class. I've noticed a few of my kids are more confident to speak to me in English. That's something. I think I've helped the kids that I tutor to learn a bit.
I haven't been learning Thai very much. It's hard. It takes a lot of time, practice and concentration. I have been too distracted and tired to really try to learn. Tan has taught me a little. But we normally talk about other stuff instead.
A friend of mine asked what kind of music I hear in Thailand. I hear American music all the time. Thai people love it. The most popular band in Thailand right now probably is Linkin Park. I'm not kidding. They love Western music. Most of them have no idea what they are saying, but they don't care. Some of my students come into the English office and borrow a cd player to listen to Linkin Park Live in Texas. They like to shout and scream along. It's funny and annoying. It's really easy to buy almost any cd I want. There are music stores like cd Warehouse in huge malls and lots of illegal cd sellers on the streets. The police are trying to shut them down. Good luck to them. Bangkok is a city of malls and places to shop. Not to mention the 7-Eleven stores that are on almost every corner. The malls are huge and numerous. I could never go to them all.
But back to music. I've heard lots of different kinds of Thai music. Most of it sounds like Western pop music with Thai. Thais love pop music and love ballads. They sing them all the time at karaoke booths. I don't like much modern Thai music, but I've heard some that is okay. I bought a really good cd by a Thai rock group called Moderndog. They remind me a little of Incubus, the Strokes and ethan durelle. I've heard Thai hip hop. It's interesting, but I haven't bought any of it. I might get some just for fun. I like some classical Thai music played with classical instruments like the xylophone and the kim. But I really can't stand the Thai music played during traditonal plays like the Ramakian (Ramayana in India). The singing sounds like a cat screaching. They are singing in the ancient tradition of Buddhist monks with the Pali language, which comes from India. It's horrible. I heard it during a Thai puppet show.
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