Eagles Fly to Bangkok

Joseph Hsu

 What’s better than playing baseball and softball on a school day? Playing baseball and softball on a school day in Bangkok!

On Thursday, March 16, the Dalat varsity men’s baseball team and Dalat varsity women’s softball team traveled to Bangkok, Thailand for a weekend of games against the International School of Bangkok and other schools, being from within the area or even from Japan. While the baseball team was unable to win any of their games and the softball team only won one, the athletes still enjoyed their weekend in Bangkok, eating delicious local or western food, strolling through malls and night markets, and watching Beauty and the Beast.

When Beauty and the Beast was released, Malaysia banned it in their cinemas, leaving many disappointed. But the softball team, took the opportunity to enjoy the new release at the cinemas in Siam Paragon Mall. In the words of Felicia Teoh (12), “Beauty and the Beast was such a great movie, and what made it even better was that we got to watch it when it's banned in Malaysia.”

On the last night of the trip, both teams walked a mile to the nearest night market. After indulging in local food, Noah Graves (12) and Teddy Zimmer (11) bought toy guns from the supermarket and ran around the mall playing like toddlers. They wondered how they would take their toys back home. Suddenly, a local kid ran up to the team from out of nowhere, attracted by the toy guns. Graves and Zimmer entertained the kid and played with him. Moments later, the boy brought his friend to join. The chuckles and shouts of joy from these boys filled the streets—and brought happiness to the entire team. Before the baseball and softball teams returned to the Alliance Guest House, Graves and Zimmer thought about how excited the kids were and dashed back to the supermarket to give their toy guns to the children. Graves said, “During part of our free time, Teddy Zimmer and I purchased plastic guns and we were able to give them to two young Thai boys. Seeing the joy that these simple toys brought them was one of the best parts of the trip.”

Although the varsity baseball and softball teams did not perform as well as anticipated, the bonding time, the delicious food, and the joy that Graves and Zimmer brought to the Thai boys made the trip enjoyable and memorable.