Shared with dVerse – Who has a sweet tooth?
Sigma – 25th July 2025
Tag: candy
Born of the sugar babies,
The Truants – 4th March 2024
We found our place, a gathering stone
A place to hide and smoke cigarettes
To tell each other dirty jokes
And stories of first-love fumbled sex
Hidden away from prying eyes
Though all knew where we were
Once a month, rounded up
To the headmaster’s wrath incur
It was our heaven in quiet times
To laugh and joke and sing
Away from all the realities
That our wasted lives would bring
Submitted to Crimson’s Creative Challenge, inspired by the picture above.
11th Apr 2024 – Submitted to RDP Thursday
Today I’m feeling:
Pretty relaxed and happy. A little tired as Amy kept me up late when she got home last night, tired and emotional, overthinking about family things.
Today I’m grateful for:
The jelly candies that I bought in Mae Sai last month. I’ve been eating them myself because they are delicious but they are also a good candy to give to my students as treats. They mostly prefer them over the fruity Mentos.
The best thing about today was:
Having my students read one-on-one and two-on-one in my classes today. I was happily surprised by a couple of students’ improvement over the last twelve months. I like this time of year for the relaxed attitude towards study.
I’ve thought before that it would be good if it could be like this all the time but when I think deeper it is perhaps because of all the pushing and hard work during the year that they have gotten more comfortable with their study.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
In the morning Amy told me she wanted me to come home between classes to take Cap to the vet. I wasn’t into this idea because I wanted to chill at the cafe, catching up on reading and also because with the change of plans at the weekend it meant driving to the city and back twice instead of once. Her plan for today would’ve meant another two trips in one day.
I suggested it would be better to wait until we got the truck back and then she can take Cap at her leisure. Thankfully she agreed to this idea before I left for school.
Something I learned today?
I saw a headline about a Palestinian mother’s newborn twin babies who were killed in an Israeli airstrike. She had been waiting ten years to conceive.
Zionists sure know how to inspire hatred. This will not end well.
25 THINGS ABOUT LIFE I WISH I HAD KNOWN 10 YEARS AGO – 24. Never Look Back Too Long. Reflecting on the past is only good for one thing: Learning.
I am taking a lot of time looking back these days as I go through putting information into this blog. I am sometimes nostalgic but as the life lesson says, I am using this information for learning.
I’ve almost fully given myself over to my students and Amy these days. I’m less inward-focused in my day-to-day life even though I do do a lot of thinking.
I’m happy where I’m at though not sure where I am going just now.
Lesson In Peace – 24th January 2024
The art of war is a lesson in peace
The politics of life to make the violence cease
The finest swords will all eventually rust
To build a legion is to gain their trust
Today I’m feeling:
Happy and positive though I have a nagging tiredness throughout my body. This could possibly be from pushing myself too much with exercise but the benefits of it outweigh this. Some of the things going on in the family are getting me down a little. This is connected with cultural differences but it’s hard not to judge a situation when something is so clearly unfair. No details to share here as yet. Perhaps if and when the situation resolves or is in the past.
Today I’m grateful for:
Finding the candy lady outside of school. Miyor and KhaoFang were walking around the park after classes and I bumped into them and they offered me a bag of candy of a type that I’d never seen before. I took one and it was tasty so I asked where they got them and they pointed to one of the stalls so I went to investigate and there was a cornucopia there! It was also a pick and mix so I picked out a couple of each to try the range. I didn’t eat any yet – I’m saving them for the weekend.
I was laughing to myself today about it because it feels just like when I was at school as a teenager. I always skipped lunch, saving my money to buy records instead. Then I would scrounge pennies off friends and buy candy from the van that pulled up in the playground every lunchtime.
The best thing about today was:
Getting my work permit so quickly sorted that I had time to grab another coffee before my class started. I guess it doesn’t take long when you’re handing over 6,000 baht.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
After making copies of my work permit I headed over to the office. It was only while I was there that I discovered that I have to fill out the visa application and pay another 2,000 baht for the visa when I take it to immigration next week. I thought that whole process was already done when I was at immigration at the end of last year but it seems that I was just on a bridging visa. Amy was not impressed to hear this, especially as I don’t even have 2,000 baht left this month.
Something I learned today?
This evening I found out that the 6,000 baht will get refunded next month. Woohoo!
Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10
I sat and helped a couple of students again, taking the time to work with them and encourage them.
Every morning now, when I arrive at school, I join Baipad, Jan and Apple and talk with them for a few minutes. Sometimes it’s a struggle to get them to look away from their phones but slowly they are opening up and chatting a little bit. I can especially feel that Apple is more relaxed now to speak English.
25 THINGS ABOUT LIFE I WISH I HAD KNOWN 10 YEARS AGO – 4. Don’t Start A Relationship If You’re Not in Love. I’ve done this more than once. You kind of like someone and think: “We might as well give it a shot.” Not a good idea. You’re either in love, or you are not. Don’t fool yourself. It’s not fair to you and the other person.
The difficulty with this is when growing up and learning about love. Our societies don’t emotionally prepare us as children for the consequences of love. It’s quite noticeable here in Chiang Rai, Thailand that a fair percentage of teenagers are not so much into the idea of romantic relationships yet. They might have urges and desires but many are still learning about how to make good friendships amongst themselves. I used to think that this was somewhat of a downside to the kid’s development and that they were growing up too slowly but now I see it as a benefit. In the West we are not aware of all the privileges that we have just by circumstance, to be able to grow up so quickly, whether mature or not.
In my own experience, I thought I was in love many times as a teenager but I was just in love with the idea of love, without knowing what it really was. My first relationships were rough on my partners as I had no clue how to treat them, having been told through society that chocolates and flowers could fix anything. It wasn’t until my mid-20s, meeting Bronwyn that I first felt what I consider to be true love. And then even that was not enough to keep us together.
It’s way too easy to say ‘Don’t fool yourself.’ We fool ourselves all the time without knowing. We do have to go through the process – love, lose and learn. Not many people get things right the first time.
Now I try to teach my students to guard themselves somewhat, to protect themselves from the huge emotional twists and turns of young love. When they break up, to encourage them not to dwell on something that wasn’t meant to be. To stop feeling like it is the end of the world. But I know, it feels just like that and words are sometimes little comfort.
Utopia Around The Corner – 10th January 2024
We should be living in a paradise by now
Yet wrapped in realities that ground our flight
Utopia hides, beyond the hillside brow
Amidst the chaos, in a darkened night
Around the corner, this dream quietly shines
A realm where peace sings a hopeful tune
Utopia beckons and yet this hope reminds
The journey will not be completed soon
In that elusive place, worries disband,
A sanctuary where souls find their rest,
Utopia calls from its promised land,
An oasis waiting, only found in death
Today I’m feeling:
Not too bad considering I woke up wanting to sleep more. The abs exercises hurt as I was doing them and I can feel all the work that the muscles around the rest of my body had to do because my abs are still weak. I’m now pretty convinced that my weak abs and connections to the hips are the cause of most of my body stress/weakness, down to my calves and up to my neck. Slowly slowly.
Today I’m grateful for:
The Downy fabric spray that is trying to counter the smell of cat spray on the sofa and isn’t quite succeeding.
The best thing about today was:
My grade 10 class who were interested in learning, in the topic and discussing it as best as they could in English but mostly in Thai. Having a keen, attentive class is a joy.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
Yesterday I got a message that today was a meeting for the foreign teachers to meet with the director but I sent a message to Kru Tang saying that I had class at that time and she was fine with that.
Later I got an assuming message from Nancy saying that it was a bit sad that I didn’t go and that I felt differently to the team! FFS!
I told her that I had planned my lessons and that this one was quite important for my students this time and that if it was a different class then it might have been possible. There was no reply after that.
That has upset me a little but I’m happy knowing that I’m doing the right thing for my students.
Something I learned today?
Today is Nomsen’s birthday. Every day seems to be someone’s birthday. Nomsen told me that she turns 14 but I’m not sure if she was counting correctly as another student in the grade above told me it was her 14th birthday today.
Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10
I comforted little Nicha who got reprimanded yesterday for having earphones in during class yesterday. Instead of just being asked to take them out the teacher made a big deal of it and if she gets in any more trouble they’ll kick her out of school. That seems a bit harsh considering what some of the other kids get up to. Understandably she was a bit down.
I started my lessons on relationships for the grade 10s as Toon in that class requested it. I made them Thai translations so that they could understand better the meaning behind the content. In this case, I found that I wanted their understanding more than just using English. Toon said she was happy with the lesson, so I’m glad about that too.
Tonaor reminded me that yesterday I told her I would give her a candy today. She caught me just as I was about to leave and I honoured my word, went to the car to get another candy and gave it to her. She was happy.
Little Shi – 9th January 2024
Little Shi was making his own plans
Putting his destiny in his own hands
From the fields to the city streets
Amongst the learned he competes
In the trees, he’d monkey around
Exploring the minutiae of life he found
Every little step that he was taking
Expanded the world he was making
And while those around studied well
They learned little that he could tell
He found a different meaning to success
Found his own way to progress
The things his father had been denied
Would not stop this little dragon’s rise
As the littlest kid he stood above
Remaining humble and sharing love
Until to the mountain, he climbed alone
All the horizons became his home
Inspired by a true story in Zachary Mexico’s China Underground
16th Nov 2024 – Shared with Poets and Storytellers United
Today I’m feeling:
Happy and positive though starting to flake a little now it’s lunchtime. My first class was a little chaotic and frustrating but hopefully the afternoon classes will be more uplifting.
Today I’m grateful for:
Having a bag of candy again that I can gift to random students when I feel like it. Am I the Candyman? A little bribery goes a long way.
The best thing about today was:
Being able to control myself when pushed to the edge of my patience several times.
It helps that I like the kids so much and they make me laugh a lot but sometimes I wish I was just teaching the more mature students. Sometimes I feel embarrassed for myself, wondering what other teachers might think if they came into the classroom when children are noisy and not paying attention.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
I wanted to go to the hospital on the way back home but the traffic was busy and getting out of the hospital with a car now is a pain in the ass since the U-turn has been closed off because everyone was using it to skip the traffic lights. I was too tired to bother coming back out on the motorbike so will try again tomorrow when I can leave school a little earlier and hopefully, there’s a little less traffic.
Something I learned today?
Jerry Lewis made a controversial film called The Day The Clown Cried in 1972 and it was never released and has been hidden away ever since.
A couple of years before he died he agreed that it could be released but only after he and those that were critical of the ideas in the movie had probably died too. So then it was decided to be released in June 2024. The movie’s story sounds interesting and thought-provoking. I wonder what it will be like.
Review your acts, and then for vile deeds chide yourself, for good be glad. — Discourses 3.10
As my grade 8 students were reading the text I gave them I let them try to pronounce the difficult words and gave them positive feedback when they got them right.
I followed up with Paen that she was feeling ok as I didn’t see her on Friday and she didn’t reply to my messages since then. She said she was sick but I’m not sure if something happened with Praew that has upset her.
I was going to punish Program for being late to class without communicating with me but I decided to show him that that was my intention, but this time I will not punish him though he must remember to let me know why he is going to be late.
Remember that this is the kid who ended up sitting in my class before doing nothing because he had picked up another student’s bag and lost his own…. I have since noticed that despite his clownish behaviour he is pretty good at English.
Tonaor randomly messaged me for advice about a logo design for her online store, which is the first I’d heard of it but I’m not too surprised.
Kids of 13 or 14 are getting smart about making money using the internet these days. I was happily surprised that she asked me for advice though.
I Was A Ghost, But I Was Real – 7th November 2023
When I was a ghost, my eyes were never met
Unknown, unspoken, unseen, unheard
There I stood, three monkies wiser
Until hearing the whisper of the magic word
A name on a page, a name in lights
Is that me, is this real?
Does a grain of sand on life’s beach
Really understand what the ocean might feel?
You can see me and I can feel you
Alone but never lonely, loneliness lost
Spaces filled with words and chatter
To balance it all comes at a cost
Tides are changing, shores are filling
Days and nights are both illuminating
The stories brought here remind me
Of the sandcastles we’re all creating
Inspired, borrowed, and butchered from this post at Spinning Visions (yet again!)
13th Jun 2024 – Shared with dVerse – liminal
31st Oct 2024 – Shared with What’s Going On – ghosts
Today I’m feeling:
Better than yesterday though still not quite awake, I feel. I had fun with all the kids at the flag ceremony this morning but need this first coffee for my first class.
Today I’m grateful for:
All the people who handled the parcel of records that got delivered safe and sound to me today from Turkey.
The best thing about today was:
Spending time and effort with one one-on-one reading with my grade 8 students. Both yesterday and today’s classes are a challenge and I think it is beneficial to spend even just five minutes one one-on-one as often as possible. I can only do this with about 6 or 7 students per one two-hour class though.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
My final class of grade 7s was disrupted somewhat as one student told me that a few of them were supposed to go for football practice. I told them that they could go when they finished their work but unfortunately they struggled with the work and then as it rolled past the time they asked to leave they struggled with their attitude. Many students ended up 20 minutes late for their vans as I wouldn’t let them go unless they at least attempted the work.
The kids don’t know how to help themselves and the other classmates that understand are reluctant to help now as their kindness has worn thin. The students that slacked last semester will struggle this semester as I ask them to think more about their own ideas, beliefs and feelings. Things that they can’t ask the answers from other students.
I managed to remain mostly patient throughout all this. Mostly.
Something I learned today?
I just realised that the candy I’m eating right now have little tidbits of information on them and so I just learned that crocodiles can’t stick their tongues out. Fairly useless information for 99.5% of people on Earth but there we are. I learned that today.
If I could change one thing about my life, what would it be?
I can imagine that this would be something ridiculous like not having to sleep or being able to party without hangovers! Or not die until I’m ready!
Or that I still had youthful boundless energy.
If I could change one thing about my life I would have done it already.
Which side of the bed do you sleep on?
It seems that I am always the one closest to the door so that if anyone ever breaks in to try and kill us they will go for me first. I don’t know if this is a subliminal thing on Amy’s behalf or why that makes her comfortable but it doesn’t bother me. I can sleep on any side of any bed so long as it is comfortable.
Right now we each sleep in the middle of our own King-sized beds which is both ridiculous and amazing.
I’ll Start Life Tomorrow – 15th September 2023
I still want a bowl of ice cream for breakfast
To burst my pimples onto the mirror
My floor will forever be my wardrobe
And three-day-old socks may get one more chance
I love the delicious pain of peeling scabs
To reveal the gloop of the human inside
Doodling nonsense when time drags its hands
A daydream may be the best part of today
Sniffs of cigarettes and beer
Deny both my health and wealth
I laugh at the cars racing by
With fist shaken out of the window
I’ll happily kick a stone along the road
And score the winning goal for my team
This tree was made to climb
And my feet to cushion the jump
Racing a friend for no reason
All rules are there to be broken
Today I’m feeling:
Happy to have arrived at Friday. I feel better this week than last. Hopefully, all this exercising is providing me with a little more stamina each week.
Having said that I’m expecting to enjoy a sleep-in tomorrow morning.
Today I’m grateful for:
The candy that has been in my kitchen for about six months. It’s not that I don’t like it but just haven’t thought about eating it recently.
As I had run out of candy that I usually kept in the car earlier this week, some of my students were left disappointed when I had none to give them so I grabbed a handful from the kitchen this morning. The students were happy to receive a treat as they were waiting in line to get a vaccination before classes started. Some students used this as an excuse to go home early (the vaccination, not the candy!).
The best thing about today was:
Talking one one-on-one with some of my grade 7 students again, like I did last year. It’s always revealing to get little snippets of what they really think, especially about each other. It’s also easier to give them individual encouragement.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
The thing I complained about yesterday with one class not helping themselves was repeated again with another class today. So maybe the fault is with me. I need to come up with a better way to get these kids focused and engaged. It’s a constant challenge.
Something I learned today?
There are still 80 million unexploded bombs in Laos, dropped by the USA after bombing raids in Vietnam. If their planes had bombs left on board it was safer (for the plane crew) to drop them rather than trying to land with them. The USA has never been held accountable, along with many other atrocities they have committed around the globe. What a despicable, fucked up country the USA is.
Who do I miss from my past?
Those that have died. Steve, my mum, Kimi.
I don’t feel like I miss anyone who is still alive as it is relatively easy to contact just about anyone. This connects with yesterday’s prompt about taking things for granted though. One day these people will die and I may regret not contacting them when I had the chance.
I miss the feelings I had with certain people as certain times in past. I cherish the emotions and the meaning of those times more than the idea of talking to the particular people involved again.
The Tree Bows To The Water – 30th April 2023
Today is a party, tomorrow is a wake
That’s the way we all go, make no mistake
We’ll raise a fist to the big blue sky
And give a significance as to why
Some of us will bend and some of us will break
Today I’m feeling:
Pretty good today though a little subdued due to it being a cloudy day. What is it about blue skies that make us feel happy?
Today I’m grateful for:
These Mentos soda mix candies that I chew on each evening for the last week. I love the mouthwatering fizz they give me. Can’t stop my sweet tooth.
The best thing about today was:
Eating a big juicy mango that I bought at the local market yesterday. It was so big that I got tired of eating it. I managed to eat it all though. I have another stashed away for tomorrow. They were just 38 baht for both.
What was out of your control today and how did you handle it?
Talking with Hayden again today and he was still down and depressed. I encouraged him as much as I could but worried a little about him. I texted with Bronwyn and hopefully, we can both guide him to getting past it again. Hayden is a sensitive person. Whatever the reason for his feelings and actions I have to try and help him.
Something I learned today?
I found out that the Internet Archive is being sued for copyright infringement. It looks like they violated some laws around books being copied and loaned digitally. I think they are in the wrong but at the same time, I don’t want their business to get affected as there are so many more worthwhile parts of their online presence such as the web archive and legitimate historic music and fanzine files.
What were the highlights of this past month?
There have only been lowlights this month, unfortunately. I look forward to having highlights again one day.
Sweets – 20th March 1988
I will eat just any sweets
Bounty’s, Mars and Treats
But there is one that drives me loopy
You just can’t beat those Tootie Fruities
20th March 2023 – Trying to remember what Treats were it appears that they were actually called Treets and seem to be a superior version of Peanut M&Ms. I actually never really liked Mars bars, preferring Marathons (as Snickers were called then). As for Bounties I really loved the Dark Chocolate one but for some reason, they were really hard to find.
Looking up a picture of Tootie Fruities I see that they have now been discontinued in 2019! Sometimes I would just pour the whole pack into my mouth, sometimes with a few sips of black tea to soften them up, then enjoy the mixing of the mad flavours as they galvanised into a huge chewy clump. Other times I would tip them out and eat them in ascending order of favourite flavours. This is something I didn’t really consider about other people who had siblings and would have to eat them in descending flavour order. Has this affected my personality? I think so! I can easily defer satisfaction and enjoy the anticipation.
After moving to Australia in 1994 I really missed British candies. Australia has less variety and is more Americanised. Eventually, one or two stores did specialise in sweets from the UK and I would enjoy a nostalgic 50 grams of mint imperials or midget gems, often spending way too much on a haul.
My absolute favourite sweets were from the local shop in Horton, Dorset and were only available for a short while when one shopkeeper was running things there. I guessed they were some kind of local mix but they were the best ever though I’d be hard-pushed to tell you exactly what they contained, except there being things of a green apple flavour, which whilst more common now was very unusual then.
Getting distracted with looking on Google Maps, it seems that the Horton shop is no longer there, Holt shop too – just as the Gaunts shop had closed when I was still living there. I wonder if, but doubt that, they still make the magazine Country Life which my grandparents often had around the house. Is it this feeling of simpler times that has led me to country life in Chiang Rai?
I still visit the lolly shops whenever I’m back in the UK and there’s no chance of finding anything like that here in North Thailand.
1994ever 