Hacking at the Root

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86624401281258726712024-10-24T14:45:06.119-07:00Hacking at the RootJason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-47939006281611078912009-11-25T10:51:00.000-08:002009-11-25T11:18:17.487-08:00Fresh seafood from the California coast. Or, What we do with our spare time.

Below you'll find a series of 13 videos that show, from start to finish, our prepping, cooking and eating fresh mussels, abalone, sea urchin, crab and perch. All caught by one of my roommates and her co-worker/friends.

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-85019075784707560092009-06-29T00:11:00.000-07:002009-11-25T11:02:41.419-08:00Latte in a bag

Just bought 3 Iced Vietnamese style coffee drinks for 36 THB, thats about $1.06 USD for all three. They are served in bags like you see to the left (I drank half of mine before I got to my camera). Taste is on par, with if not superior to the 'Bucks.

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-5227385837317754972008-07-26T03:19:00.005-07:002009-11-25T11:12:29.448-08:00Tokyo adventure

So heres what happened in a nutshell.29 people missed a domestic flight from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, where they were then going to get on a Singapore Airlines flight to LA.There was a mad scramble to get 29 teenagers to Bangkok, and then to book them last minute tickets to the Tokyo Narita airport, where they could catch up with their original flight.I was awake for 3 days, and ended up stranded

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-86225611335078161142008-07-12T23:08:00.002-07:002008-07-12T23:12:50.591-07:00How to eat a Rambatan

A Rambatan is a strange looking but tasty fruit you can find in my area.Below is a video of my friend Paul explaining how to eat one:

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-4058084874955365152008-07-12T06:10:00.002-07:002008-07-12T06:14:19.154-07:00Time Warp

I didn't realize my date/time stamps were still for Pacific Time. I've fixed this. I feel much better now.

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-25879279813022768692008-07-11T23:17:00.001-07:002010-03-10T18:54:53.044-08:00I've been a little sick

Last Wednesday, at about 2 am, while creating lists of incoming students and buying last minute tickets, my throat started feeling a bit sore. No big deal, getting sick is a minor inconvenience, and i'm rarely sick, so I shouldn't complain.Thursday morning I don't even notice my sore throat. At 7 am I have 4 delicious breakfast sandwiches from a cafe next to the gate. That was the last thing I

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-16595750162784124572008-07-06T06:35:00.000-07:002008-07-06T06:36:49.329-07:00The Neighbors and my room.

A look into the village from my room.

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-36744217213103633992008-06-29T06:09:00.000-07:002008-11-06T19:21:00.088-08:00Thai Visa Renewal

Tourist visas for Thailand are free, and last for thirty days. If you overstay your visa, you get charged 500 Thai Baht per day and are required to pay before you can leave the country.On Saturday, I borrowed one of the community bikes (motorcycles) and rode to Laos for lunch, and to get my visa renewed upon re-entry into Thailand.It's about an hour and thirty minutes to the border, and mostly

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-37188788524276283192008-06-23T09:21:00.000-07:002008-11-06T19:21:00.750-08:00Tutoring high school students

Before I talk about the picture, I should bring you all up to speed on what I've actually been doing.I am one of the leaders for the English tutoring community service program. I run this program with several other rustic pathways staff members. The other western staff member with me is Galen. He's thirty years old and is from San Francisco. He has tutored English before, most notably in

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-7631465703517901792008-06-23T09:15:00.000-07:002008-06-23T09:21:01.690-07:00Thai Cotton Candy Tacos

I think the bread is called Roti. It's thinner than a crepe. I'm not quite sure what kind of flour it's made from.The filling is very much like cotton candy, but a bit coarser. We can't figure out if it's made in the same way as cotton candy, or if it's super finely shredded sugar cane.Whatever it is, it's delicious.

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-50546103180186976732008-06-12T19:02:00.000-07:002008-06-14T05:56:14.845-07:00More about Buddhism and Monks in Thailand

Pee Maha ( "Pee" means older brother, and is attached to the front of the name of someone older to show respect) is one of the managers of the Rice Fields Service Base. Pee Maha was ordained as a Buddhist monk when he was 11 years old.On the way back from the orphanage (see last post) Pee Maha and I talked about both my time in the Marine Corps, and his time in the Monkhood. I found many

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-82215403664445371612008-06-11T08:44:00.000-07:002008-11-06T19:21:01.781-08:00Working with orphans in the Udon Thani area

Every Saturday, all of the students and staff at the Rice Fields service base goes to an orphanage in the Udon Thani area. We play with the children, help them do maintenance work, cook their lunch, and teach them English.The Rustic Pathways students are given an opportunity to buy various things to donate. Things like toiletries, school materials, etc. I designed the schedule for this summers

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-8518154212807913952008-06-08T09:30:00.000-07:002008-06-08T09:45:40.230-07:00Tings Parade

This is at the end of Ting's parade, where we have arrived at the temple. The parade continues around the temple for some time, and then the ceremony moves inside. My apologies for not posting the videos in chronological order.

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-81133738576047676772008-06-08T09:21:00.000-07:002008-06-08T09:23:23.966-07:00Where I am

For those who are interested in where I am, and not satisfied with just "rural Thailand", here is my exact location to within ten meters of where I am typing this:View Larger Map

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-80127239707559028342008-06-08T08:24:00.000-07:002008-11-06T19:21:02.089-08:00

I've finally taken some photos, but light conditions were poor, and most of them are from the back of a moving pickup truck, so they're a little blurry. This is in the village of Baan Chiang Yuen, near the facility i'll be working from.

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-44733181702780890222008-06-07T08:28:00.000-07:002008-06-07T08:47:56.522-07:00

On May 19th I was offered a job with Rustic Pathways. Now, I'm in a rural village called Baan Chiang Yuen, in the Esan province of Thailand, working on an international service base, and flying weekly to Bangkok to ensure our students get to where they need to be. Sweet!Heres a video of the ceremony for one of the Rustic Pathways Thai staff who just went into the Monkhood. The video is a brief

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-49446126931964934292008-03-17T23:00:00.000-07:002008-03-17T23:03:52.253-07:00I hate rhetoric...

I spoke on a panel of student veterans at a conference hosted by Cal State East Bay today, and one of the speakers uttered the following statement:“why are wounded veterans not at the top of the list for employment?”I have friends that were horribly wounded in Iraq. One of the marines in my company suffered injuries to his lower body from an IED blast. He has a very difficult time walking, and

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-3470000754941073872008-02-10T23:20:00.000-08:002008-05-09T03:50:37.491-07:00Career Development at Cal State East Bay

On Thursday February 7th, I attended a career development workshop put on by the Cal State East Bay Career Development Center. We did some activities designed to show you your interests and abilities and how they may fit in the job market. We were also given a tutorial of the CDC website where we learned how to navigate the various online job resources available to us. We were also informed of

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-47666497415308020642008-02-04T18:38:00.000-08:002008-02-04T18:40:24.608-08:00A short essay I submitted to the Horatio Alger Association for a Veteran Scholarship Program

One of the most powerful experiences of my deployment was my first close call. As with anyone who has had a near death experience, it deeply affected my outlook on life. On my first patrol in the Al Anbar province of Iraq, south of the city of Fallujah, my five man team was ambushed. We took heavy fire from an insurgent machine gun team, my team leader was wounded and support was over two

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-35115896337526467762008-01-31T00:14:00.000-08:002008-01-31T00:20:32.813-08:00"Methods of Investigation in Psychology"

One of my best classes this quarter is Psychology 2020: Methods of Investigation. Psychology 2020 is designed to introduce students to conducting psychological research, designing experiments and reporting findings. A major focus of the class is also ethics in research, and all of these things together form the basis of a good foundation in science. This is the only course I have taken so far

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8662440128125872671.post-2653015774948636542007-12-28T02:05:00.001-08:002008-04-16T14:00:50.854-07:00"so what did you do in the Marine Corps?..."

I'm never sure how to answer this question properly, without sounding arrogant. It really bothers me when people make fantastic claims about their accomplishments, which I find that service members do a lot. So to avoid ever being lumped in with those individuals, I lean to the extreme other end of the spectrum. If asked, I generally tell people that I played an infantry support role, and I give

Jason Campbellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12419697938276960030noreply@blogger.com0