Newsfree letter

The sandbanks on the river are now submerged, but we really have not had a great deal of rain so far. probably less than my UK readers have been enjoying. In fact as I write this, it is a very English April morning, cool with slight drizzle. You may not think that sounds too good, but I assure that it is a real joy.

I understand that the Underwater Olympics are about to take place in London, security concerns permitting. Why didn't the organisers contact me?  We have plenty of excess security people who are contributing little to the Public Good here and who would have relished to opportunity to see the delights of Tower Hamlets and Stratford and whose daily living expenses would have been quite modest.

One concern about the UK weather is for the welfare of a group of LEOT supporters who are embarking on the insane attempt to climb The Three Peaks next month. For those unfamiliar with this challenge, it involves getting to the top of each of the highest mountains in England, Wales and Scotland in 24 hours. I suppose it takes all kinds.
 But you might like to take a moment or two to look at

www.virginmoneygiving.com/team/leotthreepeakschallenge

If you relish the thought of a group of lawyers getting drenched to the bone, blistered and utterly lost on a British mountain (as I do) then I am sure you will want to encourage this venture. Donations, possibly in guineas, though pounds will suffice, will,unusually, find their way to our new English centre in Luang Prabang and  not to the benefit of  M'learned friends.

An equally odd way of spending one's time was drawn to my  attention by a French lady, who was struggling to make herself understood in a cafe the other day. ( I wonder if the locals, who should have a smattering of French, are getting their own modest revenge for a century of servitude under the French by refusing to understand a word that is said to them in that language?  It is in fact slightly reminiscent of the Parisians,who totally refuse to use English in any way). She was, as it happened, in a dispute about pineapples versus bananas...no wonder the locals think that foreigners are crazy. But that is not the point of the story. The point is, if there is one, that she was attending a UNESCO funded International Esperanto conference.  (Thinking about it, maybe she was talking Esperanto to the locals, with a predictable response,or lack of one.) Now I am sure that studying  Esperanto, like lace making, water divining, or tree hugging is a charming and harmless thing to be doing, but funded by UNESCO? (which, of course has already  had its funds cut off by US and halved by UK?). Is this delightful historical and cultural quirk really worthy of international funding at a time of global recession?

Whilst in Vientiane I heard the following story about Thailand. I cannot vouch for its accuracy, but then my readers have long since given up expecting accuracy to stand in the way of a good story. Apparently, when Thai Airways needed to raise large sums of capital, the government of the day (pre Taksin) agreed that it could, but only from Thai banks, not from the international money market. The result?  Thai banks themselves borrowed money from abroad at 4%  and lent it to Thai airways at 17%. ! It is good to know that the greed of banks is encouraged  by governments the World over and not just in UK.

Going about my business of buying goods and services to equip the new school I was, for some reason, struck by the thought that when my time comes,and I need to argue my case to get into Heaven, I shall ask for a Thai, rather than a Lao negotiator to present my case.There are quite interesting different cultural attitudes between such apparently similar neighbours. The Thai approach might be as follows.......

Goodness, this place must cost a fortune to run. I have a client here willing to pay for his own ambrosia and dispense with a harp. I could let you have him for just a modest payment of 1000 Baht...cash down of course. 500?  OK, it's  deal.He is on his way.

The Lao approach would be casual, more 'take it or leave it'.

Give me a million Kip and you can have this client of mine  What?  200,000? I have had a better offer from elsewhere; I'll send him there.

At this point in writing the blog I took a walk to buy a coffee and sit by the river. I was walking along when my phone told me that message had arrived. In the annals of texting history I think that this one must hold a prominent place. It was from a student in Luang Prabang and I reproduce it in its entirety.

 " Could you give me the definition of Existentialism please".

 In the weeks to come I look forward to explaining "Kapital", "Mein Kamf" and "In Search of Lost Time " in text form. The Bible and Dhammapada will follow shortly.

As if that were not enough, on sitting down in the cafe, the waiter sat down  next to me with a textbook asking me to explain why 'music' and 'tennis' have no plurals. I suppose that I should be grateful to receive such intellectual challenges, but I fear that sometimes they are a bit beyond me. Maybe I shall join the tennis club  (singular only) which I am sure must be  a haven free from intellectual challenge.

No photos this edition. Any I might have been tempted to use seem, apparently to already to have found their way onto something called  Facebook....whatever that is. I am sure it will not catch on.

ALAN