Finally it came - the day we had been training for x2 per week for the last month: the BNI Northern Region 2 Football Friendly.
10 Thai Business International Clubs (BNI) competing in an all-day 6 match tournament for supremacy. Everyone is a 5 years plus business owner and entrepreneur, learning to build a wider community of connection and trust. Team building and trust are a huge part of making great business together, especially for entrepreneurs who maybe have lost some of those team-working skills by being isolated and too independent. Why the commitment to training? To build new skills, enjoy being life-long learners together and to make sure we didn't look like utter losers on the field in front of a large audience of our peers. 🤣⚽️
I will turn 57 years old in the coming days - not only was I probably one of the oldest on our BNI Believe team, but I was the only blonde in a sea of dark haired Asian people. I was happy to also be one of the fitter players on our women's team.
I learned a lot... like how to do a little power dance before my penalty kicks. Without worrying about looking like an idiot.
I increased my Thai vocabulary quite a lot and can now happily shriek from the sidelines - appropriately - in Thai. 😆
Quite a big part of the day was spent watching the guys' team in their matches, and rooting from the sidelines:
Cultural faux pas of the day? Wearing my fav Vietnamese red star communist cap during a time of Thai political upheaval. 😝 After an hour and finally working out what all the puzzled glances were about, off it came!! Thankfully most Thai people think of westerners only in terms of being tourists and customers, and so no one took it personally or as a political statement.
The cheering-cheer-leading thing? I got even better at it in Thai after some beers and a bit of pro-active coaching from Khun Beam.
Cultural assimilation is a HUGE issue in being able to be successful in any business and it stretches far beyond only language and food. It has never been more important than post-Covid. Thailand has no local Covid and is beginning to open up to other no-low-Covid countries, most likely with lighter or no quarantine, but the chance of us seeing white western tourists any time in the next 12 months is pretty slim. And so we adapt, localize, renegotiate who our customer base is and how to reach them. And that starts with new relationships and trust.
Team Believe is aptly named - to Believe that WE are the agents of our success, and that we are not dependent on external circumstances. To Believe that we can, and will, adapt and thrive.
So how did our Believe Women's Team do? We came a very respectable 2nd out of 10 clubs in the region!
The decision has been taken to have a BNI mini-league every 3 months, to build connections, fun and playfulness in what are seriously tough times for entrepreneurs in a country without pensions or unemployment benefits. What did I like best about the day, apart from conquering some personal "I can't" demons after many years of serious bone disease and walking with crutches? I like the way EVERYONE was part of it and the photos and messages shared online in the aftermath today were about being brothers-sisters and better friends, rather than who sucked at football or who didn't get enough on-field time.
We had a brilliant, if exhausting, day!! Lots of Thai street food, laughter, beers, companionship and getting to know one another. My legs, hips and feet today? Ouch!! More about that in another post.
Enjoy the moments, Live by choice.
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Enjoy, sure looks like a whole load of fun and certainly much needed post Covid! How awesome that there's no more Covid in Thailand! We're all missing the contact with our fellow people, we still have to be careful here as the cases are rising slightly.
Have fun:)
Borders have been tightly closed for 8 months and the regime uber-stringent early on. People here have a sense of the greater good and are not as much into the ME, ME, ME culture that enables Covid to thrive.
All good... yes, it's fun and wonderful being with and connecting with people.
Stay well and happy. And fit. That fitness thing matters more than masks and hand sanitizers!!
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ENGAGEtokens.Wow you came second!!! Woooooohooooooooo!!!!!!! Congratulations on being totally awesome. ❤️ Training paid off huh? 😀
WOOO HOOO is right!!! Yup - the training DID pay off and it also helped to grow some new friendships and build some bonds.
When will we be seeing your sporty content Ma'am?
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ENGAGEtokens.That just looks like really great fun on several levels. It's really cool that you were a full part of: Big Kudos.
In about '71 a friend and I went to pick up another friend who we were teaching to play American football-we were part of a 'sandlot' league and Tony wanted to play in the worst way, but he'd immigrated from Poland just in time for High School and had never played.
Anyway, we went to pick him up and my buddy was wearing a 'Mao' cap that was very fashionable and may have been a political statement. When we got to the door Tony's father answered and said "Weaver. You can not come in my house with that hat." Weav put the hat in the car and we went in. In broken English he explained that that was the hat that the guards wore in the forced labor camp he was in during WWII. It was that night that we found out that Tony's dad and mother had both been married with young families when the war broke out and all of both their families were killed. They met and married and had Tony after the war. Their miracle.
We drank a lot of beer that night, and never did make it to practice. Tony ended up being a pretty damn good defensive lineman.
Which is a lot of words to say I understand the hat. Sorry about the length but sometimes I just have to tell stories of people I've known so that they don't die with me.
What a beautiful story. My mother has a similar aversion to black riding boots, since she spent 4 years in a basement in Holland. She spent YEARS seeing the German boots at eye height as a young girl.
How lovely that the connection people make STAYS WITH US. They can be shared and the feelings somehow DO reverberate and echo always.
Tony's parents sound amazing and remind me somewhat of mine - they also met in a resettlement housing area in Holland after the war (my father a white Indonesian interned by the Japanese). And yes, like Tony's family they emigrated to give us a better life in Australia.
How strong are symbols right? That the sight of something like the Mao cap can evoke horror. Funnily enough here in Thailand, they have to have public announcements explaining to people that dressing for Halloween as Hitler is bad taste for ex-servicemen - Thai people simply have no connection or interest in WW2, having had no active role other than to create a Treaty of Passage for the Japanese.
Life is rich and fascinating and I'm glad Tony learned how to play and became a good defensive lineman. 😍
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ENGAGEtokens.Not bad for someone who has been through the health-scenarios you've faced I'd say. A great effort indeed.
It's good to see people getting out and active, especially since the pandemic scenario has forced people apart rather than together. Nice work from you, the team and Miss 16 for the images.
Thai people are communal and social by nature, and love having fun. "Not bad?!" Your aussie tendency towards understatement is showing. 🤣 Funnily enough got a note on social media that our next activity is basketball. Luckily enough for me I used to play at quite a high level and I stand 6 foot 2 inches - amazonian proportions here in Thailand. I think the women's basketball team are only competing in free throw since not enough teams with women who know how to play. At least I shall not be short of Hive content anytime soon... 🤣
The snaps are actually taken by multiple people and it was too hard to identify them in Thai... Miss Ploi is a steady happy-snapper but wasn't her strongest game this week. 😆
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I had noted that you stood about 27 feet taller than the next tallest person in those photos...I think you'll ace it at basketball...And full expect to see some posts about it of course. :)
haha... I often FEEL 27 feet tall in Asia. 🤣 6 foot 2 is in the normal range for a woman in Holland ... but felt like a freak in Australia as a migrant teenager. In Asia? The proportions are laughable and I've stopped caring.
Yes, I'm pretty good at the ol' basketball.
Yeah, you'll be dunkin' and doing lay ups...And that's the extent of my basketball terminology. 🥴
ENGAGEtokens.Such a great team! You’ll be going to World Cup soon!
Very promising career as professional footballer in Guinness book of record!! Hahaha.
Haha... I will be happy if I can walk without limping tomorrow. 🤣 I WAS stiff and sore afterwards!!
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Oh! You need some massage oil and a warm bath. That infrared thing would be handy! Very brave and crazy to become international footballer in one month!! LoL
ENGAGEtokens.Thanks for the tip!
Awesome Post!
The photos give You a "real feeling" if being there. Along with the words with as always are priceless!
I really read everything a few times, and having lived in Europe for 21 years I know exactly what You mean about the culture, and assimilating. 😉😊😁
Wish You an Awesome Late Eve!
👍🏼😊🐝🌴🐝😊👍🏼