Author: ExpatAlien

Author of Echoes of a Global Life

Postcards from Thailand

Kin-na-ri (mythological half-man half-bird) in front of Thebdidon royal pantheon.

Thai Royal State Barge, Bankgok

Wat Arun Temple of Dawn, Bangkok, Thailand

The image of the Emerald Buddha under Summer season attire inside Wat Phra Keo at the Royal Place grounds, Bangkok.

1982
The Emerald Buddha Temple at night during the time of Bangkok Bicentennial

The Prasart-pradiep-bidorn in the Emerald Buddha Temple, Bangkok, Thailand

A giant standing on the ground of the Emerald Buddha Temple, Bangkok, Thailand.

The Throne with four posts and supporting a roof with spire on the grounds of the Emerald Buddha Temple, Bangkok, Thailand 

February 1985

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Do these dancers look kind of familiar to you? We saw a dancing show yesterday – many of same steps you learned. Bill took lots of pictures! It is to be 96 degrees here today. We joined the worshipers a the Temple of the Emerald Buddha yesterday – very impressive. 

Tomorrow (Bill’s birthday) we leave for Singapore for 2 days. Have a good weekend!
Love and Kisses, Mom

“Finger Nail Dance” one of the most beautiful Thai Classical Dances

October 198?

The trip over was long as usual. Got in about 11:00 pm. Just bit late. I am just lying by the pool and resting.

This hotel is very nice about like the Mandarin in Jakarta in many ways but with a larger pool!

All OK so far. Will write regularly.
Love, Bill

The Regent Bangkok, Thailand

August 1989

Good to visit old friends – not enough time. Came for the 30th anniversary of AIT – many ceremonies, graduation, even lunch and inner with the Princess. On to Hong Kong for a few days then home. Am afraid La Jolla will be too dull for words after all this excitement.

Love Bob and Gunta

February 1982

We visited here yesterday and it is all being refinished but still magnificent. We were met by Bob and Gunta on arrival and spent the day with them. They send you greetings.

Today we will shop, rest, sun and tonight travel to Karachi. It is HOT here.

Love, Bill and Va

The Emerald Buddha Temple, Bangkok

April 1988

This is such a fun place. We are mesmerized by the river traffic in front of our hotel. My new suit is heavy black silk for winter, but not for your wedding! Wish you were here.

Love, Va

The Royal Barge Procession for the Royal Kathin Ceremony at Wat Arun, Bangkok. Thailand’s fabulous royal barges will form a stately procession to transport His Majesty the King to Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) where His Majesty will present saffron robes to the monastic community.

January 1967

Hi

Arrived Bangkok on schedule in AM. Just checking in hotel. All still looks interesting.

Love, Bill

February, 1989

Dear

Greetings from lovely warm Bangkok. I hope all continues to go well in Moscow.

We go to Chiang Mai tomorrow, where I have never been before, and then back here Sunday Evening. I hope you are all warm and cozy.

Love

The Oriental Hotel, circa 1876

July 1987

Dear

The original part of the hotel still looks like this but they have a modern, lovely hotel around it. It is still one of my favorite places in the world. The flight over was long! 24 hours! With stops in S.F and Tokyo. Saw three movies – The Tin Men, Hoosiers and Burglars on the plane. Burglars was good.

Take care

July 1988

This should reach you by the time of your birthday! Happy Birthday! Our hotel is lovely! Looks quite different now than in this photo but this is more or less as it was when we first stayed here in the 50’s. Hope all is well and your trip to Boston is fine. I am having a new silk suit made.

Love

February 1990

Hi

We all met as planned at airport about midnite last nite (24 hour trip – tired). This hotel (the new version) is just gorgeous and comfortable – we are impressed. We had big slabs of papaya for breakfast in the sun along the river. Wish you were here.

Love

The Oriental, Bangkok, Circa 1876

From its earliest origin as a rest house for western adventurers, The Oriental has stood for quality of life that made it an oasis midst the hub-bub that prevails all about. As it was over 100 year ago, so it is today.

Giant Guardians at the Wat Arun (Temple of Dawa), Bangkok, Thailand

February, 1970

Dear

Greetings to you on my birthday. We are at airport waiting for plane to Singapore. I have found Bangkok and the people to be great as I expected. See you next month.

Love

Happy Sunday

Summer is back and it is a hot day but the leaves are already starting to turn. Fall is coming.

I had a small flood in my house due to a faulty shut-off valve on my furnace to I spent most of this week entertaining various workers who removed my old floor and then installed my new floor. It is an improvement. I like it.

My son came over and helped me move all my furniture back and then we went to a good Kurdish restaurant not far from my place – Babani’s Kurdish Restaurant. We started out with Kurdish bread with feta cheese and olive oil. I had a delicious lentil soup (my favorite food) and then I had Sheik Babani – Named after a distinguished man’s striped trouser, this Kurdish delicacy is cored eggplant peeled in decorative stripes and filled with spice meat and vegetables serviced with a red sauce over basmati rice.

I read a couple of books. One I read for book club – A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley. Now this book won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1991 and was adapted to a 1997 film of the same name. I personally hated the book. I don’t often hate books but I had a very negative reaction to this one. Maybe it lost something over the years and is now dated. I did read the whole thing. I usually just stop reading if the book doesn’t hold my interest but this one I read all the way to the end and after I read the last page I wanted to just throw it across the room (it was an e-book so couldn’t really do that…). Okay, what was so terrible. There was not one character I cared about. They were all terrible people. It dragged on and on and on. People did things that made not sense. If your father raped you every night when you were a little girl would you really just nonchalantly mention it to your sister and have to convince here that he did the same to her? All very odd. Anyway, yuck.

The other book I read was Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams. This one was published in 2021, and is, obviously, a spy novel. It had some interesting twists and turns and the characters were very well developed. I found it easier to read than LeCarre. It wasn’t so convoluted. Not a lot of rabbit holes. Easy to read and held my interest. Hey, it’s a spy novel, what’s not to like?

Although I am still trying to slog through LeCarre’s Agent Running in the Field. which I think is the last book he wrote. It has a lot of rabbit holes but I will finish it and hopefully everything will tie together neatly.

I met an interesting artist this week who travels the world and makes very cool art. He gave me this print of one of his pieces.

Daniel Kerkhoff
The Pros and Cons of Manipulation (the Least Among Us) 2021
http://www.danielkerkhoff.com

This week my social calendar explodes. I’m looking forward to going to see this art exhibit:
https://z.umn.edu/human-condition-umncal
“Though we come from all different walks of life, what binds us together is our humanity. “The Human Condition” explores the feelings, experiences, and connections that are uniquely human through myriad mediums and styles. Come look through someone else’s eyes, or find your own looking back at you. Works by University of Minnesota students and local artists.”

Now…. now to get a visa for New Zealand….

Taliesin

I was driving west towards Spring Green, Wisconsin. I followed the winding road through the valley surrounded by wooded hills. Amazing beauty all around. I was on my way to Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s estate. I took the two hour tour. It was interesting and the guide was well informed. However the out building, studio and main house were what you would expect. Lots of wood and stone, lots of built-ins, lots of Asian art, and unpredictable architecture. What impressed me the most was the nature surrounding the structures. The setting was stunning. What I learned was that me Wright was very in tune with nature and was conscious of the beauty outside. And of course he tried to incorporate his buildings within their surrounding. 

I think I sound a bit incoherent. I’m sitting in a Ramada Inn in Richland center after a long hot day. 

Tomorrow is another day. Enjoy the photos! Click for larger view.

My New Book is Out!

The day has finally come. It feels like I have been working on this book forever.

But now, here it is!

I have set up some pages to go with the book. Lots of pictures and videos. Praise from readers. And info on where to get it. Also info on how to get a review copy. Click on Much More Info below or on Echoes of a Global Life in the menu above.

ECHOES OF A GLOBAL LIFE by Kathleen Gamble
A story of survival from Burma to Moscow and beyond. Memoir. Travel stories. Living in interesting times.

Echoes of a Global Life is part memoir, part travelogue, part history lesson. Kathleen lives in a world of constant change. Moving from city to city she says goodbye to one and starts to explore the next. Never two the same. She is a survivor. She keeps on going. Through trauma, including a plane crash, and other scary times, there is also humor. Kathleen was born in Asia and lived on five continents before she was eighteen. She takes you to Burma, USA, Mexico, Colombia, Nigeria, Switzerland, and Russia. She weaves in parts of each country she carries with her. Her family lives through a coup in Burma, student rioting in Colombia, two coups in Nigeria, and political unrest in Russia. Sometimes things are fabulous. Sometimes they are not. She is a Third Culture Kid, rootless and restless. As an adult she lived in Moscow for nine years during the 1990’s where she witnessed history in the making and a terrifying exit. Life is never boring.

Much more info