Thailand: My First Night In Pattaya
It was seven-ish and I was sitting in a nice-enough room overlooking the front entrance to the pub above which I had just moved in. The pub was the Pig and Whistle on Soi 7 in Pattaya. Across the way was a big hole, which they were hoping to construct a hotel in and next door to that, right opposite me, was a small bar with one lady sitting on a stool outside it. Not that there was a wall there, it was open on two sides. The Soi was nice and peaceful, I thought. I also thought that I might go and sit in that little bar and talk to that woman, if my friend was late, because I would definitely see him arrive from two metres away, the width of the Soi.
So, I went to the bar in the pub at 19:15 to await my friend who said he would meet me at 20:00. It was much busier than thirty minutes earlier but not noisy and I sat at the bar. The first thing a barmaid did was say hello, give me a menu and step back. I did not really want to eat, I only wanted a beer as I presumed we would be dining together later, but I wanted to read the menu anyway.
‘A pint of Boddington’s’, I said. It arrived and the girl started laying a place for me. I tried to say that I was not hungry, but it was no good. Like in Spain, most people eat and drink at the same time. All the while the girl was smiling at me. Then she said: ‘You live upstairs? My name Charli. What you want to eat?’. So, I gave in and ordered something and rice.
‘You first time in Thailand? You no can eat. Too spicy’, she said with a grin. ‘Oh’, I replied, ‘but I want to try. ‘I put only 50-50 for you’, she declared and was gone.
I struggled through that meal and it took a Boddingtons and a bottle of water. Charli had been accurate, it was too hot for first-time foreign visitors and she had reduced the chilis by 50%. I have always heeded a Thai’s guidance on food ever since.
I changed seat to by the window to see what was going on as it was dark by 19:30 and I was curious. Within thirty minutes Soi 7 had transformed itself completely. I could see hundreds of ladies and tourists walking about. I wanted to go out and join in or at least sit in the quiet bar across the lane, but I’m ashamed to say that I was too frightened, so I sat put, rivetted to the Pig like a rabbit in a hunter’s flashlight.
My friend arrived on time and after we had been chatting for an hour, he said: ‘Drink up, I have someone I want you to meet’. This was it, we were going into that mele. A waitress held the door for us and the noise and the heat were tremendous. Especially the noise. Every metre at least two or three girls would yell: ‘Hello, sexy man, you want a drink’. Trying to say no courteously to each call was impractical, so I just stuck close to my pal.
Fortunately, we only had about fifty metres to walk and we sat down in another bar. My friend said hello to several ladies and then said, this a girl I have been going out with for some time. I was astounded as I had never heard him talk about her, ever. She was gorgeous, but could not speak English, so I sat in the din in silence. Not for long through, as my friend said, I have a blind date for you and he introduced another girl to me who was equally beautiful, but with whom I could speak a little. She was captivating and I was captivated. The din seemed to pass away, but it was only because I was listening to my new friend. The four of us had the best time and the best food I had ever had in my forty-nine years of existence.
Avoiding Burnout In Home Schooling
No matter if you are teaching in a traditional school or in a home schooling environment, there will come a time when you will experience burnout. This is something that you must avoid so that your learning progress is not affected.
Here are a few useful tips that you can make use of in order to avoid an occurrence of home schooling burnout:
Know your limitations. From the very start, you should already know your limitations and your child’s limitations. You must be capable of taking things slowly sometimes, especially if your child is still young since you have to consider your child’s learning capacity. Most students are average learners, obviously, so you have to take the lessons based on your child’s learning pace. Never expect your small child to read complicated reading selections nor your teen to ace SAT exams.
Don’t follow strict schedules, as this can put undue pressure on your child. You should simply set an interesting routine for your child to follow. Children spend most of their time doing routine activities like getting up, eating hearty breakfasts, reading books, practising writing, doing light jobs about the place, etc. You must ensure that they finish their routine activities before they can go outside or play with the computer. Even these routine activities change from day to day, but you have to ensure that your child completes these routine activities. You can throw in occasional incentives or fun activities if they finish their routine tasks earlier.
You should enjoy home schooling with your child. This is one way you can develop a good relationship with your child and if you and your child can relate to each other, you will find it very easy to handle curriculum struggles and motivation problems later. Aside from motivating and guiding your child, you can also pursue some of your own interests like gardening and cooking. If your child sees you enjoying your own interests, then he or she will also be motivated to do the same.
Since your child is in a home schooling program, you should not attempt to copy a traditional schools environment. Try to use non-conventional means when teaching your child. Home schooling is also about flexibility and creativity, so if you can create an easy-going but firm atmosphere, you can more than likely prevent burnout.
Just always try to remember that with home schooling, you don’t have to structure your teaching methods in the normal way. You can simply do things in an enjoyable way especially when teaching very young children, so that they learn naturally. Ensure you keep the day in the right balance to prevent burnout. Although your children might forget some of the day’s lessons, that’s all right too because somehow children develop their intelligence as well as their stature.
Of course, your children will always cherish your moments together and remember fondly how well you treated them. The song goes: “… there’s no place like home” and for little students this is the best place to learn their first lessons in life. If your teens are already in high school or in college, they too can still pursue home schooling if they want to. That is also a good decision because you get to monitor your offsprings’ performance.
Parents always try to look after their children’s best interests, so, if after careful consideration, you still think that home schooling is the right option for your family, then run with it. Just follow the advice stated above in order to avoid burnout. Make time for enjoyable activities from time to time in order to avoid monotony, which could lead to burnout.
Burning Belly Fat
Trying to burn off your belly fat is probably the most common reason for dieting. Next is trying to lose excess weight from one’s arms and legs, if you want to lose weight and get a trimmer body. Diet alone does not work well enough to get a flat abdomen, and many people are searching non stop for new techniques to try to complement their diet.
Occasionally the battle you have to fight takes years, while in more fortunate situations, you’ll be able to burn belly off fat in a few months. The time span necessary for such an achievement varies according to a series of personal factors: first of all it depends on how big the fat deposit is around your waist.
Then, your age, your health and certain other personal factors affect the rate of weight loss significantly. You can burn belly fat at a more rapid pace if you stick to a training routine consisting of a series of well-determined exercises that include not only body crunches but also full body work.
Twists for example, have a great reputation for the toning of the abdominal muscles and the creation of a slimmer waistline. While you can maintain your calorie intake under control by carefully monitoring your diet, you can only burn your current deposits of fat with physical exercise.
Nutritional supplements can help you burn your belly fat off without having to suffer the consequences of a crash diet. Some of the most valued remedies for accelerating the metabolism include green tea extract, Garcinia Cambodia, pineapple extract, seaweed and other herbs with a stimulating impact on the digestive tract.
Be very cautious with appetite suppressants because they do not burn belly fat like the rest of the supplements do, but rather they engender a sensation of satiation which tells your body that there is no requirement for it to long for food. However, if such a situation gets out of control, the user of these weight loss supplements could develop anemia because of poor nourishment.
Do not try to burn your belly fat within a severe, predetermined time frame. Setting seven or ten-day goals could put a lot of stress on the body, and besides a flatter stomach you may end up with serious health problems. Every body has its own way of adapting to diets. For example, one’s level of activity alters with programs intended to accelerate the metabolism.
If things are not done slowly but surely, the body could respond aggressively to the new stimuli, creating all sorts of discomforts such as diarrhea, exhaustion, anxiety, poor concentration and the so forth. Therefore, choose those ways to burn belly fat off that best suit your condition, age and physical structure.
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