Hoo!! Where do I start... with the brand new Bangkok airport that I landed at, or the two days of being heavily jet lagged, or the stressful couple of days it took to set up my internet connection? It seems like I better not put those bad experiences in detail because I let go of them already. Instead, I present you with a short story about a little life, my friend's son who has been the center of her life now for a year and two months. This little boy quickly become a central part of my life and our business too since I arrived. At every new task, every step of business, we have to him first. Even the simple tasks take much longer, which means my deadlines have already begun to slip. Although I cannot help but feel my frustrations boil up sometimes, I choose to look at the positive side. I am glad that my friend chooses to put her son's welfare before our business, in spite of her feelings of guilt that she cannot be as dedicated to our business as I am. I told her that she is doing her best, and with that we will be just fine.

Traveling from one place to another in Bangkok can be difficult and time consuming too. The traffic is tremendous, many times worse than that found in Arizona. It seems like the beginning of my trip is all about adjusting myself with respect to time. I am so used to being able to set my schedule and push it as hard as I can because there are not so many barriers in Arizona. It looks like I will have to divide my estimates for accomplishments by two or even perhaps four. Those aspiring to be parents take note, bad traffic plus a baby equals a slow down of four at least!

Despite initial setbacks, the goals that were planned to be accomplished for this trip are still in effect here at Attapinya. We will have new product designs and updated inventory on some of our existing products, all to be reflected in the Attapinya website. A very exciting development will be the opening of a new store located in Bangkok. It is a lot of work on the horizon, but step-by-step, I know we will complete it all.

As promised, I will continue to document our experiences and stories as we progress through our ambitious list of projects. In sharing this with you, I hope we can appreciate life together.

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