Thanksgiving

I asked the boys what they were thankful for this thanksgiving, and they said "pie" and "being able to go on sabbatical."

This is indeed a year in which we have much to be thankful for.

Reading the News

Is it a good thing, or a bad thing, to read the news about unrest in the countries to which one is traveling? I'm thinking in particular of the stories this morning about how the Bangkok airport has been shut down by protestors. Our flights take us through Bangkok several times over the course of the trip. I'm sure the airport will be open by then, but I wonder how unstable the country will be. The prime minister is being urged to resign, and call new elections. Hopefully any government turnover will be peaceful.

That said, there was a brief note that the protestors are mostly wealthier members of society who want to move away from a western style electoral system, and permit only members of certain professions to choose elected representatives. What a great homeschooling question. So much more real than a textbook discussion of democracy.

Hecticness

All is hectic here in the land of the lucky. What with homework, packing, and cleaning, I feel like I hardly have any time to my self. This feeling was not helped by the fact that my parents commandeered my room so they could put stuff in my closet this weekend :(

TTFN,
Aidan

Rat

Bizarrely enough, rat is one of the things I'm looking forward to eating. Even though I'm a normally picky eater, I've heard that rat actually tastes good. 10,000 tons of rat meat is produced in Vietnam alone! Rat is probably consumed on every continent except maybe Antarctica. Also rat inhabits every continent except Antarctica.

Paperwork

It's astonishing how much paperwork needs to be done before we go, very little of it really connected to the travel itself. Travelwise, both Richard and I need a document which gives us permission to travel internationally alone with the kids (in case something happens and we need to split up), as well as permission letters for various grandparents to travel alone with the kids (in case something horrible happens and they need to come pick them up).

There's the rental agreement for the house plus all the house directions (ranging from the location of the water shut off valve to what to do if the burner on the stove refuses to light), and transferring the utilities.

Then there's everything connected to school: letter of intent to homeschool, letter of intent to bring the kids back to school, power of attorney to Julie to enroll the kids for school next year, the accompanying school enrollment forms, letters to each of the school principals plus the district describing our plan and all the other letters.

And let's not forget taking care of financial stuff--powers of attorney, extra signatory on our bank account, all the directions for checking our accounts online, spare checks, new credit cards, travelers checks.

I keep telling myself that failing to get any of these done will not be the end of the world, but a little voice reminds me that not getting it done will probably prove quite inconvenient during the trip.