December 9, 2005 - Four Degrees Less Than Six

6 degrees of separation…I’m a believer now.

I had planned to meet Harlene in Bangkok, a very warm person who I met during a layover in Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport a few months ago. It just happened that she was going to be in Bangkok as my sister and I were going to pass through on the way to Bhutan. She wanted to introduce me to Krisda who she referred to as her “Thai Son”. Harlene had met Krisda several years ago and she has been very supportive of his education over the years. Harlene and Krisda was at the Bangkok Airport when we arrived from Chiang Mai and to our surprise, Krisda looked unusually familiar. We looked familiar to Krisda as well. It turns out that we had met each other in Cambodia about a week ago. My sister and I were just leaving a cello concert at the Children’s Hospital when a young man asked if he could share the taxi ride back into town. We had a short conversation (it wasn’t that long a ride back into town) and learn that this young man was traveling through parts of Southeast Asia. We said our goodbyes. That night, the ride was so short we didn’t have the opportunity to learn that the young man’s name was Krisda. I hope that our paths will cross again and we will have a chance to sit down for a chat.

We did visit the home of Dr. Sa-ard this evening, an extremely accomplished man and a good friend of Harlene. His business card needs an appendix. Dr. Sa-ard graciously welcomed us into his very impressive home which was as impressive as his resume. There was certainly a great deal of history collected…signs of a very distinguished career.


It was a pleasure seeing Harlene again and I very much appreciated her guidance in exploring a small corner of Bangkok.

Dinner at the Cabbage and Condom was delicious (and educational). As their brochure states…the C & C “was conceptualized in part to promote better understanding and acceptance of family planning and to generate income to support various development activities of the Population and Community Development Association”. I would agree. What better way to promote something than to pair it with good food?



I thank Harlene for the lovely conversation and sharing a bit of her extraordinary life with us. I wish her safety on her travels as she no doubt will continue to enrich the experiences of many others.

Clara, my sister’s roommate in college and long-time friend has joined us for the Bhutan-leg of this trip. It is a reunion of shorts, but with the element of new surroundings. The unions and reunions experienced on this trip may perhaps be the most important component of this adventure.