International Day

On Saturday we had "International Day". It's a misnomer. It should be called "Nationalism Day."

All the parent groups promote their national cultures. But I'm an oddball: I think the idea of nation-states is an outdated relic from the European Age of Empire. This is the Year of the Environment. Shouldn't we be promoting internationalism, not nationalism? How many wars have been fought over ridiculous nationalist ideologies? How many rivers sucked dry, and ecosystems destroyed, because one nation wants to get all the water before the river passes an imaginary line into a different nation?

Fortunately, there is always some good Swiss or German suasage.

Unfortunately, this time I was unable to taste their beer, since I had Jason for another six hours of child care. Jason absolutley loved it. He loved the play structure, but he was even more happy in an air-conditioned classroom, playing with triangles and calculators by himself and scribbling on the white board, than he was in the sweaty, sweltering Bangkok heat, playing with spray-cannisters and standing in queues.

That's my boy.