I wanted to write last week but I was having internet problems for a few days and then left for the south Wed on the night train. I just got back this morning, took the night train back. Not sure if anyone saw the news about a
train wreck outside Hua Hin that happened early this morning. There were 4 of us who left on the 6:30 train. There were 11 on the train that crashed, many who work at Bethel. Fortunately only 2 of them were injured but ok. The branch sent a van down to pick them up. I must say I'm quite shaken by it. But I'm sure a good nights sleep will help.
The DC itself was really good. All the new releases were also released in Thai. I had my doubts about the new book, seems like it'd be the biggest job. But we have it! There were about 360 people in attendance. There are 5 circuits in Thailand (South, North, Northeast and 2 in Bkk). Each has it's own DC except for Bkk which combines the 2. The South is the smallest but too far from anywhere else to combine. I'm really impressed at the effort everyone puts into having the DC. Most speakers had 2-4 talks in addition to demos. So much work!
In sign, our highest number of deaf was 6. But 4 of them that came are progressive students and regular meeting attenders. That makes all the effort worth it. It was also nice to see about 30 others who sat in the sign language section wanting to learn sign.
I also interpreted talks for the first time. I usually just help out with interviews and demos. So I was really nervous about being able to understand Thai clearly. Things went ok. I was able to prepare well and listen to talks someone recorded from DCs in the states. So I knew the info well enough to understand what the speaker was saying. It's not over though, I have some more interpreting at the DC in Bkk in 2 weeks.
