New Ransel (randoseru)

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On a trip down to Bangkok last month, we found a shop selling randoseru (Japanese school bags; link) in Pak Chong. We had been thinking about importing them for some time, because they are supposed to be good for posture, and the kids have to lug a ridiculous number of textbooks around. They had a pink one and a black one, so we didn’t even have to agonize over color choice. The kids love ’em, and a lot of other parents now want them, too.

Somdet Phra Theppharatratsuda Chao Fa Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Ratthasimakhunakonpiyachat Sayamborommaratchakumari

AKA Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, Thailand’s Princess Royal, came to our university to open my faculty’s new building today (Official title: The Local Knowledge Learning Center). Pretty much every Thai staff member/teacher wears an official white uniform to these ceremonies, so it was fun being the only person in a black pinstriped suit (those not wearing dress whites wore white or black suits, but nobody else had pinstripes – I’m so happy I had this one made all those years ago because it’s BOSS). There was much discussion leading up to today’s event about where the best place to enter the campus and park would be, with some teachers coming in hours before the ceremony started, but I snuck in through an unguarded back gate on my scooter and talked my way past three roadblocks five minutes before assembly time. Then I sweated through the next three hours, happy I had an undershirt and a folding fan. It was glorious.