Whoda Thunk It?

That's right. I'm doing a double post today, but I sincerely believe this post is worthy. Today was the last day before New Years break and I stepped into my last class of the day only to discover that only 2 students out of 40 had shown up. Instead of leaving the class and going home, I decided to stay and talk to the students who were there. I had my laptop with me so I decided to show them pictures of places I have traveled to, and pictures of my friends and family. With about 20 minutes left in class, the 2 students just started laughing and looking behind me. I turn around and the entire rest of the class is standing there with a big sign that said "Happy New Year Teacher!!!" and then they started to sing a happy new year song to the tune of happy birthday. I was in total shock and couldn't believe that my students did this for me. They all started laughing and smiling, and I too had the biggest smile on my face, and I couldn't even control it. For the first time since I have been here teaching, I really felt like appreciated and that I had some sort of connection with my students. And for that brief moment, I had forgotten about all the troubles I had been through in the past with them and just focussed on the now. And the now was making me very, very happy. I spent the remainder of the class just casually talking with my students and showing them more pictures from home and they all seemed very interested, and I was just so happy that I didn't have to yell or be mean. I felt like I was just being myself in the classroom for the first time ever and I was enjoying the hell out of it. I left the class on a positive note, the year had ended well for me in school and gave me hope that these next 2 months are going to really be something special if I want them to be. And I really do want them to be. I know its a cliche, but I really think I learned a valuable lesson today... don't judge people too early, sometimes they will surprise you.

Ring in the New Year.... Where???

Tomorrow is New Years Eve and I'm still not sure where I am going to be. Most of my friends are down in Ko Phi Phi, ready to ring in the new year on a beach almost too beautiful to be on earth. Originally, I was going to go down there as well, but I never booked anything and before I knew it, it seemed too late. I figured I'd just save some money and stay in Bangkok and go down south when Josh and I are backpacking. But, things change and as you all know I am very easily persuaded. My friends talked me into coming down there with them, problem is, I can't seem to find a way to get down there. After unsuccessfully searching the internet for bus or train options to get to Phuket, I decided my best bet is to just go to the bus station in Bangkok and hope I can find a bus that has at least one seat available. It's a long, 12 hour bus ride down there, but at least it's overnight so hopefully I will get some sleep. If I don't go to Phi Phi for the new year, then I will just stay here in Bangkok with some other friends that will be here, and then I think I might go off on a solo adventure for the remainder of my long weekend. Not sure where I would like to go yet, but I'm packing for multiple situations so I'll be ready to go anywhere. Here's hoping I end up in a good place.... and those aren't hard to find here in Thailand.

On an unrelated note, Josh has been taking care of Elliot while my sisters are away on vacation. And he just posted this picture on his blog that I just couldn't resist posting here as well. It makes me very happy to know that 2 of my favorite living creatures are spending such a wonderful time together.

New Best Friends?

So, who knows where I will be this time tomorrow. I guess only time will tell... HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

So, You Think You Know Thailand?

This is something I have been meaning to do for a long time, but have yet to do it until now. Aside from blogging about my weekend as per usual, I would like to talk about the little cultural differences I have noticed here in Thailand.

Thai Time- Thai’s are always late for everything. I haven’t met a Thai person since I have been here that has been on time for anything. And I doubt that I ever will. I have waited for someone as little as 5 minutes, or as long as an hour. They do not call you to tell you that they will be late either. They just expect you to understand “Thai Time” and that when they say a certain time, it really doesn’t mean that at all. I am finally getting in this mode.

Mai Bpen Rai- The most used expression in Thailand. Essentially meaning, “No Worries.” Thai people will find a way to use this phrase in almost every single conversation they partake in. It’s used in restaurants, in school, in taxis. Every situation seems appropriate. It’s a good way to look at life, I suppose. It's optimistic and showcases Thailand's positive attitude.

OK- Another expression used frequently here. I swear, I must hear "OK" a hundred times a day. They are constantly saying it. I have even found myself saying it more often during conversations, even to other Americans.

Same, Same- And one more expression that you will frequently hear in Thailand. I'm not sure why they add that extra "same" on there when they could just as easily say one "same" to agree with you. But they do, and that's just the way it is here.

7-11- You never would have thought this before coming here, but there are 7-11's on every single corner on every single street here. I think I heard that there are somewhere near 6,000 7-11's in the whole country. It's a good thing though, if you ever need to charge up on junk food, cheap beer, or the most delicious tuna sandwiches you'll ever have (I'm not kidding, they have awesome tuna here).

Smiles- They don't call it the Land of Smiles for nothing! While my students might be the most annoying little brats I've ever come across, the rest of Thailand is not really like this. You can't help but smile at people as you walk down the street, and you will always get a smile in return. They smile in any kind of situation, good or bad. To agree, or disagree. I've run into a few rotten apples who don't fit this description, but on a whole, this country loves to show off their teeth.

Shoes- This should come as no surprise as it is common in many Asian countries, but when you enter someone's home or go into a Wat, you must remove your shoes as a sign of respect. Students at school must also take their shoes off in class, which often results in me trying to block out the smell of 40 dirty socks per class.

Animals- Back in the day, I'd get so excited whenever I saw an animal that I wasn't used to seeing on a day to day basis. Here though, I am used to having geckos in my room, in my bathroom, on my balcony, just everywhere all the time. I now know the noise that a gecko makes, and believe me, it's different than you would think. I am used to seeing 4-6 foot long Monitor Lizards every single day on my morning bike ride to school. They are like squirrels to me now. I'm used to seeing exotic looking birds, stray dogs, and cats with short, stumpy tails every single day. And oh yeah, I now have a passionate feeling of hatred for pigeons as they "coo" and wake me up much earlier than my 6:45 alarm does every morning. Many have set up shop on my balcony and poop on my clothes when I hang them out to dry. Which brings me to...

Laundry- Man, do I miss dryers. Everything is air-dried here. I should have expected this, but I never really thought about it before I left. It really makes you appreciate just how great dryers really are. Air-drying leaves your clothes feeling stiff and itchy, often times they are very wrinkled, and every time you do a load, they get stretched out more and more. Also, you can't really get rid of stains with the laundry here. You can make them smell nice with some kind of laundry powder, but try to get a grass stain or a food stain out of your nice khakis and I'm afraid you're all out of luck cause it ain't gonna happen.

Confusion- I can't tell you how many times I have been put into a situation where I have absolutely no clue what is going on. You get put in a room with a bunch of other Thai people and they are all speaking in Thai and probably talking about you, and you are just sitting there with a blank stare on your face. Or maybe this happens on the street when you try and communicate with someone by asking directions in broken Thai and they respond to you by speaking in Thai very fast. I'll usually just say "OK" and walk away. Pictures sometimes work, I often find myself drawing pictures of things, or maybe doing charades to act out what I am trying to say. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. When it does though, a great feeling of accomplishment pours over me.

The Stare- I have been here now for over 2 months, and I'm still not used to people staring at me wherever I go. More in my town than anywhere else, but you'd think after 2 months that they'd get used to seeing me everyday. You would think wrong. When I go to the food market every night for dinner, I can feel the eyes all on me, staring. I guess in time I will just learn to zone it out and not focus on it, but still, it's hard to try and order your pad thai when you know that behind you there are 20 eyes glaring to see what you are going to do next.

Food- I'm just gonna put this out there. The food in Thailand isn't as great as I thought it was going to be. Sure, I have had some unbelievably delicious dishes such as coconut milk curry with pineapple and shrimp, and I've had some real tasty pad thai, but on a whole I have been let down. The Thai food you get at home at places like Tara Thai or Thai Pavilion, is NOT Thai food. I mean, it is... but it's not. It's the Americanized version of Thai food, which I guess is what happens to lots of ethnic foods when they are brought to America. But the food here is spicy like whoa, very greasy, and almost everything is fried. I must have consumed about 1000 lbs of rice since I've been here, and if I never ate another single grain of rice ever again, I think I would be ok with that. However, that is obviously not going to happen, and I'm just going to have to start pretending that rice is something else, like Fruity Pebbles or peanut butter cups. Also, they LOVE fish sauce, my goodness do they love fish sauce.

Alright, well that's about all I can think of for right now. I'll try and post some more as time goes by and I think of more. In the meantime, I hope this will hold you all over and give you a little insight about what it's like living in Thailand.

I would also like to apologize for seriously lacking on my blog updates this month. I was gone for a long time at Ko Samet, and I haven't been to any cool places since then so I haven't had much to write about. I've also been quite sick the past few days, and I'm just starting to get better now. So there really hasn't been anything too exciting to post lately, which is why I thought now is the perfect time to tell you all a little about Thai Culture.

And one more thing. It is official, JOSH HAS BOOKED HIS FLIGHT TO THAILAND. That's right friends, the dynamic duo will be reunited come March 1st for a 2 month Southeast Asian Backpacking Adventure. Our goal is to hit up Thailand (obviously), India, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam with possibilities to explore other countries such as China and Indonesia. Who knows what kind of crazy adventures we are going to get ourselves into! This one is going to go down in the history books!

A Weekend in the City

Sorry for the late posting of my weekend, but I haven’t had much internet access this week. After school on Friday I took a van to Bangkok for my programs mid-semester holiday reunion. I figured it would be a good time to see some people I haven’t seen in a while and get a free dinner. After an engaging conversation with my taxi driver in Bangkok where we communicated the best we could despite our language barriers, I arrived at the restaurant where the reunion was. To my disappointment, there were only about 20 or so people that actually showed up, and most of them were people that I see almost every weekend anyway. At least I got a free dinner out of it. The ironic thing is, I paid for my transportation into the city from my school for a free dinner. So, I actually ended up paying more than I would have if I had just stayed at home. But I will take any chance I get to get out of my boring town, and Bangkok is always a good time.

After dinner, we went to our hostel and had an extreme altercation with the lady who runs it. There are too many ridiculous details to go into it all, but basically she accused all my friends and I of trespassing and stealing a room key, she started screaming at us, calling us “low level people” and telling us never to come back again. We never even did a single thing wrong. We showed up with our passports ready to check in and then all hell broke loose. At 5am, she came into our friends room shaking and screaming at them that they were trespassing and that she was going to call the police. We got the heck out of there the next day, even though we paid for another night, and we found a much better hostel down the road with an extremely nice owner from Georgia, who was such a relief after that nightmare of a lady.

That day we kind of took it easy. We were staying close to the largest shopping mall in Southeast Asia, which just happens to have an English movie theater. I was determined to see a movie, since I hadn’t seen one since I had been in Thailand. We decided to see Avatar in 3D, and I really like it. Afterwards, I went with one of my friends to do a little shopping and then headed back to the hostel to get ready for the night. We showered, changed, got ready, etc for the nights activities. And after a very nice dinner at a very Christmased out restaurant called Gullivers Travels, our night began.

Our first stop was the famous Bangkok Sky Bar on top of the Lebua State Tower. This place is amazing. Some 60 stories high up in the air, you can pretty much see every single rooftop in Bangkok. Everything is lit up, and you really get an idea of just how giant and wonderful this city is. Drinks were super expensive though, so I only had one. A whiskey coke, quite out of character for me. Next, it was off to some smaller, less expensive pubs back on the ground until we met up with the rest of our group. Everyone wanted to go to a club, so we ended up going to the most famous club in Bangkok, Bed. All the Thai celebrities and rich Americans come here, but I found it to be a bit overwhelming and not all that fun. Pretty cool atmosphere though. By the end of the night it was 3am, and I was tired. On our way back to the hostel, we stopped to get some pizza. And as great as it was, I really wished it was Jumbo Slice.

I didn't take this picture, but this is the view from Sky Bar

Ilan and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

It's only 10:30 in the morning, and this has by far been the worst day of teaching so far. As great and amazing as last week was, this week has been basically a total nightmare. I don't know why the students are being even worse than usual this week, but they are and I am not happy about it. Today started off when I woke up and wasn't feeling too good, my stomach was a little upset and I had a bit of the shakes. I felt a little better after I showered and ate, but still not 100%. I rode my bike to school, and as soon as I locked it up I felt this unbelievably intense pain on my right elbow and I look down and see this GIANT black wasp stinging the living daylights out of me. I swatted it away but it just flew up and stung me above my right eyebrow. The pain was almost unbearable and I could feel my eye and elbow swelling up like crazy. I ran to the bathroom and put cold water on the stings but it was too late, they were already swollen and throbbing. I went to the nurses office and she gave me some medicine and put some cream on the stings and the swelling went down, and so did the pain, but it still really hurt. I walked into my first class feeling pretty awful, but hopeful the class would go well because I prepared a game of Bingo to play. It did not go well at all. The students didn't seem to care about the game, no one really played, and I just stood up there looking like an idiot. Then, to make things even worse, my coordinator Pat came in and asked me to talk about an incident that happened with a student yesterday in one of my classes. This student, who is the worst student I have in any of my classes, came in 20 minutes late, sat down and started talking. I asked him to stop repeatedly, but he just ignored me and continued to talk and disrupt the class. I told him that if he didn't stop talking, I would ask him to leave. At this point, he just got up and left the class. I guess he went home and told his parents that I "kicked him out" of the class, so they came in today to complain about me. So, I had to sit there and explain to Pat what really happened so she could explain to his parents. I am not in trouble with the school or anything, but it just sucks and I was really upset that it happened. This kid is a problem in all classes it seems, Pat told his parents that he has repeatedly been in trouble with other teachers, not just me. I still have 4 more classes to get through today, then I have to do private tutoring tonight. I cannot wait for this day to be over. Tomorrow I'm going to Bangkok for my programs mid-semester reunion and I can't wait to get out of here and see some familiar faces.

Best. Week. Ever.

I don't even know where to begin on this one. So much has happened this past week. I would like everyone get comfortable and park it, because this is going to be a long one. I feel like I am going to have some trouble summarizing the past week on a whole so I'm just going to write things out as they come to me. Pardon the randomness, and if it doesn't make sense just keep reading, I'll try to get myself back on track. It all started 2 Fridays ago when we had to judge an English speaking and singing competition. Pretty boring stuff actually, sat around all day listening to Thai students talk about the effects of global warming and its impact on Thailand. Interesting topic, but every student said almost the exact same thing, and it got old real fast. Every now and then a student would come up who just froze and didn't know what to say so they just stood there awkwardly for 3 minutes, staring at the audience. The singing competition was not much better, but a little funnier. They love Celine Dion and that Titanic song of hers, I think I heard it about 20 times in the span of 3 hours. After our duties as judges were over, Jon and I ran back to our apartment real fast,

changed and hopped on a van to Bangkok. We got a really nice, new, and modern hotel room on the infamous Khaosan Road. It had a great view, if not a little noisy. We met up with some people from our program and enjoyed some drinks and pad thai until about 2am, when we realized we should probably go to bed since we had to be up in about 5 hours. And up we were, bright and early, I took a hot shower (the first I've had in who knows how long) and had a quick breakfast, and quickly got in a cab heading off to Si Racha, and then off to our final destination of Ko Si Chang. It took about an hour to get there, and then we took a ferry to the the island of Ko Si Chang. It felt so wonderful being on that ferry, surrounded by clean, blue water, finally on my way to a Thai island. Once we arrived on the island we met up with the rest of our friends who were already there and we immediately went to the beach. I got a floating tube and just went out into the water and lied there in the sun all day long. It wasn't a huge beach though, very different than other Thai islands, but it had sand, it had water, and that's all I needed to be happy. After being out all day, and staying to watch the sunset, we went back to our boathouses that overlooked the water and got ready for dinner. We ate at a famous restaurant on the island called Pan and Davids, and I had wine for the first time since I've been in Thailand. It was fantastic. I forgot how great a nice

glass of red wine compliments a dinner. Expensive, but totally worth it. I woke up really early the next day and watched the sunrise come up over the mountains and it was really something. The sun was radiating, and the colors in the sky were surreal. The day continued and was basically a repeat of the day prior, but we did do an island tour on a tuk-tuk. It took us around to various sights worth seeing on the island, and it was fun to see some parts of the island you normally wouldn't see. Ko Si Chang has the look of a European/Mediterranean beach town, not a Thai town. I swore, sometimes I felt like I was back in a small Portuguese fishing village. We stayed at the beach and watched the sunset again, and enjoyed another nice dinner at Pan and Davids that night. We ended up just hanging out on the boat house, talking for a while before we went to bed. The next morning Jon and I said our goodbyes to the group and left early. Even though everyone had to get back to school the next day, we still had a week off because of a school fair. So it was off to Ko Samet for us, the 2nd leg of our journey on the Thai islands.

Friends.

It took about an hour to get to Rayong, which is 100k south of Ko Si Chang. And we quickly got onto a ferry that would take us to Ko Samet. Ko Samet is more of what you would expect from a Thai island, although it is still different than the islands in the south. It has bigger beaches with sand so fine you feel like you are stepping on air, water so clear you can still see your feet underwater 30 feet out into the water. We spent most of the first day hanging on the beach, I did a lot of reading and finished Shutter Island, which might be my new favorite book. For dinner, I splurged and had my first pizza in Thailand AND a Panang Curry and it tasted real darn good. A quick stroll on the beach at dusk and a few drinks later, it was time for bed. We crashed early and got a good nights sleep. After all, we had a whole day of nothing to do the next day. The next 2 days were almost the exact same thing so I won't bore you with the details as I realize this entry is already really long and I'm barely halfway through my week. To sum it up, we found a nicer, smaller and more secluded beach further down the island that we spent

all our time on. It had a great restaurant and a raft out in the water that I spent most of my time on. Jon left Wednesday afternoon to go to Chiang Mai, but I stayed the rest of the week, because more friends were coming the next day. I met some really cool people while I was on my own though. They were from Belgium and they all had interesting stories about places they had been and where they wanted to go next. We went to watch the sunset on the other side of the island on these cliffs, and it was really nice because there were no other people around. We parted ways later in the night and I walked around and took pictures for a while before I went to bed. I had so much trouble falling asleep that night though because my hotel was right next to a club and it was blasting music and thumping bass until 4am. My bed was actually vibrating from the bass and I really thought I was going to kill someone. Eventually I fell asleep. My friends came at around 3 the next day and it was good to see them because they are all really fun people and I knew we were going to

have an awesome time together. It was a different group than my friends from Ko Si Chang, but just as fun. Basically to wrap up the next 4 days, we spent loads of time on the beach down the island with the raft. Went on an ill-fated squid fishing trip that might have just been the most hilarious/bad idea we have ever had, and really made us question our own judgement. We ate lots of good food, we watched fire shows, something Ko Samet is famous for, and we partied every night. We went to this place called Silver Sand twice, which was a dance club right on the beach. The nights were young and so were we, so we danced the nights away till 4am. We danced on tables, danced on chairs, and occasionally the floor. Everything lights up at Ko Samet at night and the whole beach looks like a world of neon. Every bar is blasting techno

music, has a fire show out front and everyone is either dancing, smoking hookah or drinking. It is a place of sensory overload if I have ever seen one, and I loved every single moment I was there. I believe that it has taken over from Albufeira as my new favorite place in the world and I really cannot wait to go back there again. I had such an amazing time with my friends this past week, doing nothing on the beach, watching the sunsets on the cliffs, going out dancing, getting very tan and just plain old hanging out. It made me realize that I have made some lifelong friends already in the short 2 months I've been here. I feel like I have known all of them forever. It was really sad when I had to leave yesterday, and as I watched the island get further and further away as I took the ferry back to the mainland, I couldn't help but think of Ko Samet's slogan..."Heaven on Earth." Yeah, that sounds about right.

Sarah and Lauren throwing rocks off the cliffs at sunset on Ko Samet

Work in Progress

In my spare time, I've been playing around on Photoshop, trying to think of new screen printing ideas for when I get back home. I thought I'd get back to my space routes on this one, with the help of a mannequin, of course. Art friends, critique? This is a very rough design right now and I'm open to suggestions!

Life Plans

I've made a decision. I am not staying at this same school next semester. I honestly do not think I will be able to take another 5 months of screaming, misbehaving kids. BUT, I am at least partially open to switching schools. I have talked with a few other people from my program at other schools and asking what their situations are like. For the most part, it seems that their kids are more behaved than mine are. I have a couple of requirements before I make a decision on whether or not I would like to stay. First, I NEED to have younger kids, at primary level or lower. That way, if they are bad, at least its fun and I can just give them a coloring book and they will be glued to their seats. Second, I would like to be in the Bangkok area. I need a city life. Having nothing to do here during the weekdays is starting to really take a toll on me. I just have nothing to do once I get home from school and end up sitting around for a good 8 or 9 hours. And finally, I need to be placed at a school with other teachers. I cannot be on my own. I only seem my roommate for about 2 hours at the end of the day, because he teaches university and his classes go later. More than anything, I just need some basic human interaction with other English speakers. However, even if i find another school that suits these needs, I am not necessarily going to stay. This is where I would like all of you guys to pitch in. Please leave a comment and let me know what you personally think is the right decision for me to do. Stay in Thailand or come home to America? I realize most of you don't really know my situation or what it's like here, but I'm just asking a basic question on what you think you would do, or what you think would be best for me. I've got lots of thinking to do, and I need some advice from my friends. I need to make this decision very soon, so help me out! What should I do???

***UPDATE***

I reread this post and it comes off like I am absolutely miserable here. This is not true! I really love Thailand and I'm having a great time here, I'm just not crazy about the teaching part of it. I just wanted to make that clear, carry on.

Monkeying About Town

Lop Buri. A place where monkeys run the town and the locals protect themselves with long wooden sticks. A place where sunflowers stand tall in fields as far as the eye can see, backdropped by mountainous landscapes. This is where I spent my weekend. Getting there wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do though. A 2 hour long bus ride to Bangkok followed by a 2 and a half hour long train ride to Lop Buri, and I had to stand the whole time. When I arrived, I met up with my four favorite people from my program: Ian, Lexa, Joe, and Deb. We've been close since orientation and have stayed in touch really well. I checked into my hotel and then went off to see the town. It's a small place, mainly just one street with hotels and restaurants along it, smaller streets off to the sides and end-capped with the famous monkey temple where they all congregate. From outside my hotel room window you can see the monkeys hanging out on power lines, telephone poles, and on the monkey cages that protected the room. I even had a tug of war with a monkey over a bottle of water through the cage. We quickly went over to the temple, and almost immediately this happened to me....

That's right. I was surrounded by monkeys and a few of them even jumped on me!

We met up with a few other people, making our total 8 and hopped in the back of a pickup

truck, setting off to the sunflower fields. It felt great being in the back of that truck. Sun on my skin, wind in my face, and scenery you'd have to see to believe. Really one of the best moments I've had in Thailand so far. We arrived at the fields and spent lots of time walking around, and posing for cheesy pictures. I mean, really, what's more cheesy than being in a field of sunflowers? Afterwards, we hopped back on the truck, went up the mountain to a Wat and prayed with a monk. No one knew what they were saying obviously, we just repeated what the guide told us to say. An unbelievably cool experience nonetheless. On the way back into town we stopped at one more sunflower field, not as big as the other one, but the flowers were much more vibrant in color.

We went back into town, met up with a whole bunch of other people, most I hadn't seen since orientation ended. There were probably about 30 or so people there from CIEE. It was a little overwhelming to see so many of them. I had the same conversation with most of them, "How's teaching going, etc..." It was really good to see some people though. We ate dinner, had some drinks and then went off to a bar, but I was exhausted and I actually fell asleep in the bar. I rested my head on my hand while I was sitting in a chair, and I must have just passed out. I woke up when my roommate Jon tapped me and told me to go back to the hotel. So I did. The

next morning was the start of the big monkey feeding festival. There were people everywhere and everything was all set up for the monkeys to feast. It was quite funny to watch the monkeys binge eat on junk food and soda but it got old kind of fast. After about 45 minutes, I had enough. I left Lop Buri with Ian, Lexa, Joe and Deb. We hopped on a bus back to Suphan Buri, where they lived and where I would catch another bus to my town. Once in Suphan Buri, ate lunch and then went to the big Wal-Mart-Esque store called Tesco Lotus. They have them all over Thailand but this one was the biggest I had seen so far. It had everything, but I only wanted one thing... Peanut Butter. I got myself a big jar of Jif, extra crunchy. I also picked up some Nutella and bread, and my goodness was I excited. We said our goodbyes and I caught a bus back to Kamphaeng Saen. I had a peanut butter and nutella sandwich when I got home, and it was just as gloriously wonderful as I could have hoped. Next weekend I'm meeting up with the same group and heading off the Ko Si Chang and then to Ko Samet for a week of beaches and sunshine and relaxation. The weekend cannot get here soon enough.

Thanksgiving- Thai Style

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I wish I was home for just one day to celebrate and eat lots of tofurkey, corn bread, stuffing, and drink David Gordon's pineapple soda. Instead I am in Kamphaeng Saen, went to the outdoor food market and ate pad thai and drank a watermelon/apple smoothie for dinner. Not really the same. Oh well. A bunch of us are going to Lop Buri this weekend for the infamous monkey festival, so I am sure all us crazy Americans will go out and have a nice dinner to celebrate the holiday. I also can't believe I am going to miss the football game this year! This will be the first time in many years that I have not participated in the yearly ritual... the VB's better win again! Good Luck friends! Anyway, I hope everyone has a great holiday, eats lots of tasty food and has fun at the awkward family reunions. Enjoy!

My Brush with Death

I got a new bike. Cost me an extra pretty penny, but at least it won't fall apart on me like the last one did. The night I got it, I took it out for a nice ride around campus, but it was dark and I couldn't always see where I was going. This resulted in one of the most truly terrifying moments of my life. I had accidentally biked near a house which is the stomping grounds for a pack of wild dogs. At first it didn't appear to be a problem, I saw one dog barking but I wasn't concerned because there are dogs barking everywhere here. But slowly, one by one, more dogs came, barking louder and louder, and pretty much blocking off the road so I couldn't bike by them. I'd say there was about 7 or 8 dogs barking at me at this point, and they were staring me down much like a Mexican Standoff. This is where panic mode kicked in. How will I get by them? Will I get by them? Am I about to be torn to shreds by wild dogs in Thailand? These are the questions I asked myself before I decided to just go for it. I could out bike them, couldn't I? I was about to find out. I saw a clear patch of grass to the right, where I thought that if I pedaled fast enough I could get by them with ease. Off I went! Pedaling faster and harder than I ever have before. With my fear at an all time high, thinking I was about to be torn to bits by crazy dogs, I sped past them. I quickly turned around and saw that it was not over yet, the dogs started chasing me. So there I am, riding my bike down a street in Thailand, being chased by dogs. This was probably the most hilarious thing in the world to anyone who saw this happen, but for me, this was truly one of the most terrifying situations I have ever been in. Eventually, the dogs backed off and I rode home, heart beating like crazy, and my legs sore. But I emerged as the victor from the showdown... and if those dogs ever come around my territory I will give them a taste of their own medicine. And by that I mean hide in my apartment and look out the window until they leave.

Malfunction on 2 Wheels

So I got a bike last week. I was excited to finally have some freedom to go where I want, when I want. I was looking forward to leisurely rides around campus, wind in my face, music in my ears, and just some good old fashioned exercise. Some things are not meant to be, however. First, the chain came lose on the bike, which made it impossible to ride, so I took it to get fixed. 20 Baht later, I was back on the bike, and ready to start over again. The next day, the chain broke again, but this time it just came totally off, falling onto the pavement. At first I didn't even realize what had happened and I was just pedaling really fast and realizing that I wasn't really going anywhere. I turned around and saw the chain just lying there. I was not pleased. So, again, I took it to get fixed at the bike shop. They told me I needed a new chain cause the one I had was a piece of junk. 2 hours later, and 100 Baht less in my pocket my bike was rejuvenated once again. Another 2 hours go by and I've enjoyed a ride around town and I'm heading back to my apartment when the pedal breaks off, so I pick it up and start pedaling with the one remaining pedal. About 1 minute later, the seat gives out and I fall off the back of the bike. But I have to say, the bike mechanic did a heck of a job fixing my chain, because that didn't break at all this time. So, in conclusion, I bought the biggest piece of junk bike in the entire world. When I get a new one, I want to beat the old bike to a pile of metal scraps with a baseball bat, Office Space style.

A Week in Review

Hello all, nothing really too exciting to report today. The past week has been pretty boring. I didn't go on any trips this weekend, had to stay in and save up some money for this coming weekend and every other weekend after it. I honestly can never stay in my town again on the weekends, there is not a single gosh darn thing to do. So, I have already booked myself every weekend until New Years.

Luckily, I did go on a couple quick journeys this weekend so I would be able to keep my sanity. Friday night, my roommate Jon and I went to Nakhon Pathom, met up with our friend Lauren and went back to our favorite restaurant, Lullaby. We had a nice dinner, made plans for future trips, and then went to a cool bar which had live music. For a moment, it almost felt like I was back in DC, hanging out with Josh at a concert at the 9:30 club. Oh, memories. Sunday I went to a floating market and tried some delicious Thai desserts, walked around, and explored a little bit. I came across a family of kittens that I wanted to keep, but I thought that I couldn't bare to part with any more cats after my emotional goodbye with Smelliot. I started to walk away, but they followed, and as I looked back I wanted to scream something dramatic and emotional to make it easier. You know, something like "Go on, live your life! You are better off without me! Be free!" But I didn't, I just walked away, and that was that. When I got home, I spent about 5 hours grading 360 students tests, not my idea of a lazy Sunday.

One of my kitten friends.

Today has been good so far though, I've had two classes already and they both went really well. I started teaching them about life events, like being born, graduating, buying a house, falling in love, etc. We played a scavenger hunt where students had to ask each other certain questions to see what they have done or want to do in their lives. It seemed to work well and the students enjoyed themselves. I also noticed lyrics to a certain Spice Girls song written on one of the desks in the classroom, evidently the students in Thailand still think its fun to sing this...

If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends,
Make it last forever, friendship never ends,
If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give,
Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is.

I'm not kidding. This was really written on a desk. Someone needs to give the kids in Thailand a pop-culture lesson. A few weeks ago, one of the students told me their dream was to meet Michael Jackson, but I didn't have the heart to tell them the truth.

...28 Days Later

I have now been in Thailand for one full month. But instead of rage infected man eaters like the title of the post suggests, I have prepubescent wild Thai kids. Today I gave my first test to a class, and caught two kids cheating. I walked over to them, pulled out a big red pen from my pocket and drew a giant zero and wrote FAIL on their paper. Then I simply said, "don't cheat," and walked away as they put their heads down in shame. Yesterday, I joined the art club at school and helped monitor all the little primary school kids as they made little paper mache bowls. I may have made one too. I can't wait till next monday when I get to paint it!

I find it interesting that after a month of being here in Thailand, I no longer think of myself as being in Thailand. I don't know if that makes sense, but it seems like the novelty of it has worn off. Don't get me wrong, I love it here and the places I have been so far are beyond awesome, and I'm sure I will go to dozens of equally awesome places. But it seems that I have just accepted that I live in Thailand now, and I can't really imagine it being any different. I wake up in my apartment every morning, try to chase the geckos out of my room, take the trash out cause it's covered in ants from the one microscopic piece of food that was left in it, and I shower, get dressed, and go to school. I have fallen into a routine, and even though I am in this new and exciting place, I no longer really think about it. I'm just in Thailand, this is where I am right now. I'm sure my friends back home who have traveled and lived in foreign lands understand what I mean when I say this, and I am by no means saying I don't like being here. Honestly, I can't even imagine leaving anytime soon. I'm starting to doubt that I will end up staying an extra semester here at the school, but I have no intentions of coming back to America any time soon.

To mark my one month anniversary here, I am going to watch the Leonid Meteor Shower tonight. It should be a dazzling spectacle for the eyes as hundreds of meteors will whiz by the night sky, and then quickly burn up in the earths atmosphere. Try to catch some stardust.

Into the Wild

Another weekend, another adventure... but such is life here in Thailand. It all started when I arrived in Kanchanaburi at about 5:30 Friday evening. Checked into an incredible little guest house on the Kwai River called the Sugar Cane. All the rooms are built onto a dock over the river, so you walk outside of your room and you're immediately on the river. There were some amazing views of the sunset, and everyone knows that I am a sucker for sunsets. I don't think I have ever seen sunsets like these though, the sky looked like it was red with fire, and the reflection on the water really added that little something extra.

I met up with a bunch of other people from my program, and I had the most delicious Panang Curry you could ever imagine. We had an early morning, so the night didn't last long, a few beers

and some relaxing times went by quickly. Up early the next morning at 7am, we took a bus to Erawan Falls and hiked up the 7 levels of waterfalls. Along the way, swam in crystal clear water, fish nibbling at my feet. Stood under a towering waterfall, soaked up the sun, ran into a family of wild monkeys, and had some delicious American french fries.

The next day was unlike anything I have ever experienced. Off to the Tiger Temple we went. A place where they rescue endangered Tigers and help breed them with the hopes of increasing the number of Tigers in Asia. Currently there are about 1,200 Indochinese Tigers in the whole continent, down from about 80,000 not too long ago... The place was well organized and the tigers seem genuinely loved and cared for by the monks who run the temple. It was an unforgettable experience being so close to these massive animals. I got to put my head in between a sleeping 7 month old tigers paws, posed for pictures with many adult tigers, and watched them play and exercise. These gigantic cats are really no different than your average house cat, they love to play and jump at things dangling in front of their faces. Seeing the tigers really made me miss Smelliot back home, and I laughed at the idea of her playing with these tigers that are about 10 times her size.

Enjoy the video below of the tigers playing and exercising at the temple. And don't forget about the Leonid meteor shower tomorrow night! It's going to be a pretty awesome display of shooting stars... don't forget to make a wish when you see them! Catch you all on the flipside.

Office Hijinks

It is friday, and it is the end of my 2nd week of teaching. I would have to say that this week was overall considerably better than the last. I've got this teaching thing down, and the kids seem like they might be starting to pay attention. I guess I will see how much they actually learned when I give my first test next week. I assigned a homework assignment this week, and in 9 classes with 360 students, about 25 students did the assignment. So, what do they get? They get a test a week early! They didn't seem too pleased about that, but hey, it's their own fault, right? The students that did their homework get an automatic 5 bonus points on the test, which resulted in many of the other students trying to do their homework super fast to get the bonus points. No dice though, too bad for them.

I thought I would share with you some funny things that have happened in my office the past week. One of the other English teachers from South Africa consistently goes on YouTube throughout the day and listens to crank phone calls. The way he laughs at them, is certainly one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. But wait, it gets better! There is a teacher here named Ajaan Egg (Ajaan=Teacher), who has a very limited knowledge of English, but has a passionate love for classic American rock. The other day he comes strolling into my office and asks if I like John Denver, before I could even reply he starts singing a John Denver song in a stereotypical American Western accent. I almost died laughing. He probably had no idea what he was singing, but he knew all the words, and you know what, he wasn't half bad. His next song was You've Got a Friend by James Taylor, which was if possible, funnier than the song before it. I don't know if he knew I was laughing because I was enjoying it, or because I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever heard. Probably a mix of both, but he didn't seem to care either way. He told me that he sings on Wednesday nights at a place called "Cowboy Land" here in town. He dresses up like a cowboy and sings western songs for a couple of hours. This is something I simply cannot miss. The picture I have in my mind already has me on the floor laughing.

Oh yeah, one more thing... My coordinator Pat told me that her favorite singer is Lady GaGa. Keep in mind that Pat is over 50 years old.

The Silent Treatment

Over the course of the past 2 weeks, I have done more yelling and screaming than I have ever done in my entire life. My throat was bound to get sore sooner or later. Well, it happened sooner. This morning I woke up with an incredibly sore throat and it was not easy to speak. I was worried because today is my busiest day of the week with 5 classes throughout the day. How would I be able to teach 200 kids if I can barely speak? I'll tell you how... force the students to run the class. I took it easy today and made the students do most of the work for once. And in the process, I learned an incredibly powerful new way to discipline the students when they misbehave. The Silent Treatment. Any time they were out of control during a class, instead of yelling at them, I just sat down in a chair, stopped talking, and stared at the students who were misbehaving. Basically what happens is a chain reaction, one student sees that I am staring, then they tell another, and another, and another, until the whole class is dead silent. Apparently, Thai students hate to make eye contact, and they have no idea what to do if you just sit there and stare at them. This means that my voice should be better in no time, and the silent treatment has become my weapon of choice.

PS- Today at the food market, some (well behaved) students ran into me when I was wearing my street clothes and they told me that I looked cool. Huzzah!

History Lesson

Friends, followers, admirers, devotees, and dreamers... this was the best weekend yet. After a long, tiring and stressful first week of teaching I was ready to get as far away from school as I could. Far away turned out to be about 2 hours northwest, but my goodness, was it ever far enough. It all started when I took a bus up to the province above me, Suphan Buri, to meet up with my friends who I had not seen since orientation. We had a quick catch-up and then we hit the road. A private van we hired picked us up and off we were to Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand, which fell as the Southeast Asian superpower a little more than 300 years ago. A seemingly ordinary ride quickly took a sharp turn towards awesome when the driver turned off the lights, cranked up the music and turned on the party lights. That's right, we had a mini dance party in a van cramped tight with 9 people. Flashing disco lights, techno, fun times and the occasional cheese and cracker quickly ensued and lasted until we arrived at our destination.

We stayed at a beautiful home-stay called Baan Are Gong which was right on the river that surrounded the island of Ayutthaya. We checked in, unwound, jumped on the bed, and had a nice dinner along the river. We awoke the next morning ready for fun, ready to learn about the history, ready for anything. We went to Wat after Wat after Wat, each one in ruins, each one amazing to admire. I couldn't help but think to myself how magnificent this place must have been in its heyday. The things that went on here, the battles that were fought when the Burmese tore it down. Many important decisions of Thailand were made here, and many important people of Thailand made them. It's strange to think that now this

ancient and strong capital is relegated to a tourist attraction, full of people and their cameras, snapping away.

The day ended as we relaxed at the foot of the final Wat we went to, hanging out and taking mid-air jumping pictures (my new favorite thing to do), and watching the sun set. Later that night, we had dinner at a market, and then took a boat ride around the island and saw some of the Wats lit up with dramatic light, something I won't soon forget. My camera wasn't working well with the darkness and the swift movement of the boat. It didn't matter though, I put it away and just admired the wonderfully lit Wat's for their pure magnificence, and it was kind of nice not clicking away at my camera. I was a mere observer looking at them, but we quickly moved on and I only had the pictures in my mind to remember them.

The next day was short and sweet. We went to 2 more Wats that were located off the island. Highlights include the biggest ancient Buddha in Ayutthaya, and a 7 meter long reclining white buddha wrapped in a yellow fabric.

We ended our excursion at a floating market and munched on the most delicious food that I have had so far in Thailand. However, as all great things do, the trip had to come to an end. We took a bus back to Suphan Buri and said our goodbyes, luckily I will see them all again next week when we go to Kanchanaburi to see the Erawan Falls and go to the Tiger Temple.

Finally, left all alone, I hopped on a bus back to Kamphaeng Saen, and

finished reading "The Lovely Bones," a really fantastic book. When I arrived back to my apartment, I immediately looked at pictures from the weekend and wished we had just one more day there. Many, many good memories that I wish I could relive, but I am excited and ready for the new ones that have yet to come.

Living the Dream

A students dream house:

20 Rooms in the house

10 Pools in the yard

5 Cars in the garage

4 Gorillas in the bathroom

2 Elephants in the closet

Also, an older student came up to me today and asked me this question...

"What does I am so wasted mean?"

The New Printshop?

Today I met the art teacher at my school, and before I could even properly greet him with a Wai, I saw a screen. Words cannot describe how happy I was to see that photo emulsion coated screen sitting there, propped up against the wall.

Do I smell late nights printing till sunrise, music blasting and hanging out with Jstrom? Probably not, but one can dream...

PS- Who is this new person, Books On My Shelf, following my blog? Speak up! Who are you??

Bunch o' Tricksters

Today I played a game of hangman with my students. They tricked me into writing "S.E.X." on the board.

I guess the joke was on me.

Survival

Well, I've done it. 2 days, 8 classes, and 320 students later, I am officially an English teacher in Thailand. It has not been an easy road, however. There are about 40 students per class, all between the ages of 11-16, and only one of me. They do not listen to me, they do not seem to have a strong desire to learn English, they hit each other with rulers, and they love to do math homework and sleep while I am trying to teach. Today was better than yesterday though, I feel like I am slowly learning how to gain control in the classroom. Although I have just been doing basic introduction lessons so far, the students do seem to understand English pretty well. Apparently, the students do not respect foreign teachers such as myself, but get them behind a desk with a Thai teacher at the front and they act like they are in the military. If it sounds like I am complaining a lot, I have to apologize. I have actually really enjoyed teaching the past 2 days, I just think it is going to be a lot more challenging than I had originally thought. A lot of the students are very friendly and want to learn English, they shake my hand and say hello, eager to please me. They Wai me (a Thai bow) as I walk through the school grounds, and say "Hello new teacher!" Probably the best thing that has happened so far in class happened earlier today. A student farted, rather loudly I might add, and then all the other students jumped back, knocking over desks and chairs pointing their finger at him and yelling "STINK!" I tried my hardest not to laugh and regain order in the classroom, but I must have let out a slight laugh or two. After all, farts are always funny. Last night I went to the Loy Krathong Festival in Nakhon Pathom, where Thai's place a candle in a boat made of banana leaves and ask for forgiveness for polluting the rivers. It was quite the spectacle to see, and it made me look forward to other festivals to come. Oh yeah, I also accidentally ate a banana yesterday, which I wasn't aware was in a Thai dessert, and I almost threw up.

Banana boats float down the river at the Loy Krathong Festival

A ladyboy strikes a pose at a beauty pageant

Lullaby and the Whale

I am back from my quest to the Northeast, a trip complete with old ladies with no teeth who spit blood, wild roosters, a lovable pup and really hard mattresses. The ruins at Phanom Rung were really something though, lots of interesting Hindi architecture and great views of the Northeast valleys.

Proof I am really in Thailand

The long ride back to school was not an easy one. Andy drives slow and talks a lot, a whole lot. Jon and I haven't spent any time with any other Westerner's since we left orientation so we were very eager to meet up with the 3 other people that are in our province. We needed a break to let loose a little bit, get some space from Andy and see some familiar faces. We met up with Kaitlyn, Lauren, and Jenny in Nakhon Pathom, and spent time around the Phra Pathom Chedi, the largest Buddhist monument in the world, and it's surrounding markets. In the late afternoon we set off to find a restaurant called Lullaby for a place to hang out and have a couple beers and get some grub. After an ill-fated cab ride, and lots of wandering through narrow streets and alleys, we finally found it. Beer never tasted so good. We spent a lot of time at the restaurant and also spent some time by a small pond nearby as the sun was setting. None of us knew how we were going to get back to our towns so we just decided to get a hotel for the night. After very sneakily getting all 5 of us into one hotel room, we went back out and hit the town again, I even got to talk to Josh on the phone!

Nights by the pond

We realized it was Halloween, and decided that costumed were in order. Funny looking glasses, regular looking glasses, army hats and bubbles quickly made our night even better than before. Nights have to end however, and we headed back to our hotel, The Whale, and fell asleep almost immediately. This morning we finally moved into our new apartment, bought some stuff to furnish the place, and have just been relaxing all day. Tomorrow is my first day of teaching, and I'm really excited but also really nervous. I'll keep those wild Thai kids in order.

The pond outside my new apartment

Hey There, Mr. DJ

A baby Elephant stays close to its mother

Bamboo rafting down the River Kwai

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, but this is the first time I have been able to sit down at a computer in quite a while! Orientation is over, and I am now in small hotel in Northeast Thailand and there is a gecko loose in the room. I'll do a quick recap of the past few days here in the Kingdom of Thailand... We left Bangkok on the 25th and took a bus ride up to Kanchanaburi, about 3 hours west. It's a beautiful province with big green mountains and flowing rivers, and how can I forget the Bridge over the River Kwai. There, I went bamboo rafting down the river and although hesitant at first, rode an elephant on a short trek through the jungle. The nights in the resort were spent hanging out in the pool after hours and talking with all my new friends. On the 2nd night, the resort opened up the bar, complete with a DJ booth and a dance floor. Long story short, I made my way on to the DJ booth and plugged in my iPod, and suddenly I was providing the night's entertainment. Most of the 90 people on our program were there dancing and having a grand old time, while I was on stage with a smile on my face having the time of my life. We danced the night away for a couple hours but were forced to stop when the workers turned on the lights, which made everyone chant, "One More Song!" Alas, it didn't happen. The next morning was the last day of orientation and we headed back to Bangkok, where we were all going to be picked up by our coordinators and driven off to our respective schools. Andy and Pat picked me up a little later than the rest, but that gave me time to say goodbye to everyone. The ride to Kamphaeng Saen was extremely bumpy (even though the road was smooth), and I still haven't had the chance to see much of the campus yet, but it seems huge. This morning, Andy took Jon (my roommate) and I up to Northeast Thailand to meet his family, which brings us to where I am now. Tomorrow we are going to see some ancient ruins in the mountains at a place called Phanom Rung. I keep on feeling like I am in the middle of nowhere, far away from any trace of civilization, but I found myself remembering a quote I once heard... "Every nowhere is somewhere to somebody." And then I see things a little differently.

Words of Wisdom

Found on a wall in a restaurant by Wat Pho...PS- Happy Birthday Dad!

College Orientation?

Hello friends and followers. The past few days have been a throwback to the early days of my college youth. Meeting new people, trying to remember everyones name, asking where they are from and where they are going. I have met some really incredible people so far, and with 90+ people on the program, I am sure that I will meet many more. The days have been filled with long, 2 hour classes ranging from Thai Culture and Language to Teacher Training. Some are more interesting than others, and they all kind of blend together after a while. Yesterday we took a trip to the Grand Palace in downtown Bangkok and saw the famous Emerald Buddah and walked around the 60 acre complex for a couple of hours. It was hot and humid and I was sweating like crazy but everything I saw made me so excited to be there that I didn't even care. I don't think it's really hit me yet that I'm even in Thailand, it feels like I'm at Disneyworld at the Thailand part of Epcot. That will all change next week when I'm sent off to my school in Nakhon Pathom, about an hour west of Bangkok. It is going to be sad to leave some of the friends I've made already, but luckily a lot of them are around the Bangkok area, and can easily be visited on the weekends by a short bus ride. I met my coordinators, Andy and Pat last night at the Welcoming Dinner, and they were just as great as I hoped they would be. Andy wore a colorful plaid blazer, which immediately made me like him, and Pat is a really nice lady who I found out enjoys a good Jameson on the rocks. I'm excited to get to know them better and to start teaching, but I'm not quite sure I'm ready for my college orientation redux to end quite yet...

A Slice of Thai Life

Welcome to the Land of Smiles

Sawatdee! Wow, what a crazy couple of days. I've now been in Bangkok for 2 days and boy have they been an experience. This city is crazy. It's dirty, it's noisy, it's crowded, but it's full of life and I love it. The past 2 days have been spent zipping through the crowded streets on tuk-tuks, and admiring Buddah, after Buddah, after Buddah. And I'm not complaining. Each Buddah statue seems more impressive than the last. The Reclining Buddah probably being the most amazing of them all. The Wats which house the Buddahs are equally incredible. Each one filled with ornate Oriental architecture, mainly in colors of gold, red, and white. The Golden Mountain in the middle of the city was great, with a giant Stupa at the top and offering a 360 view of the whole city. A sight to see, thats for sure. The highlight so far has been Wat Arun, a Buddhist temple made up of several tall towers by the river. Very different than other Wats. Steep steps that are quite the task to climb, and smiling children running around without a care in the world. I just met up with 6 other teachers from my program, all from different parts of the U.S., and all with their own stories to tell. We went out to dinner and I had my first authentic Pad Thai, and let me tell you, it was better than I could have ever imagined. We then went out to a bar called "Bar 'r' Us," a place trying to look modern and cool, but ended up looking like it's from the 70's. We played a few rounds of pool and got to know each other. Tomorrow is my last free day before orientation, and I'd like to see what else this crazy city has in store for me.