90 days to Georgia

Officially have bought my ticket home! My visa is up in Thailand as of march 28, and I have seven days after that to leave the country. So I'm officially flying out of Bangkok on April 2. 

Our last week with the students is either the last week of February or the first week of March (as always, we are getting conflicting reports). Armed with that knowledge, I arranged for my friend Deanne to come visit me at the end of my stay in Thailand. My last day at Chakkham Khanathon school will be March 14 (there's grading and other preparations after finals), and I'll be meeting Deanne in Chiang Mai on March 15. We don't really have a bunch of plans set yet, but there are a couple of places I've wanted to see. We'll spend a couple of days in Chiang Mai, and then hopefully we'll be going to Sukothai (cool ruins), Ayutthaya (more cool ruins), Kanchanaburi (neat scenery), and finally we'll spend a couple of days in Bangkok before we fly out. 

Thankfully I was able to arrange my trip home with a stop in Osaka for a couple of days. I'll land there early on the morning of April 3, and fly out mid afternoon on April 6. I'll land in Georgia early April 7. I can't wait!

Doi Inthanon

It took me the better part of two hours to figure out where we were headed. Because, you know, it's easier to puzzle it out than just ask... 

The trip started at a quarter to 8 and we changed from the light blue to the yellow songtaew after the usual obligatory stop at a Wat. Not sure what yellow means but there we were.

Anyhow, we wound our way up the mountain. Alli and char were going to come but bowed out, so it's just me and 12 thai teenagers. As scary as it seemed at first, I had a blast and even though I was tired I was glad I agreed to go. I got only about 4 hours of sleep Sunday night so that made the rest of the day interesting...

We stopped first at a sort of garden halfway up the mountain. The views were beautiful but I noticed that even in the country/mountains there was a brown haze over everything. The flowers, though, were enough to distract me. There were cherry blossoms and chrysanthemums and orchids and all kinds of things I don't know the name for, but they were beautiful. We walked around and took about a hundred pictures (because that's what you do when you visit anywhere, the Thai people are firm believers in pics or it didn't happen!) and then got back in the songtaew. We stopped next at a nursery of sorts. It looked OTOP sponsored, with special areas for things like growth and demonstration of vanilla and Chinese tea and barley and other plants. Cue more photos. There was a little rose garden by a pavilion where we ate lunch. The roses were huge and smelled great. The kids had made some fried noodles and bought some chicken sausage. It was delicious and filling, and as usual, lacking in vegetables. 

I forgot to mention that on the way to the nursery, part of the road was absolutely terrifying. There were a couple of areas where there were huge holes (think car-sized) on one part of the road because the road had literally fallen off the side of the mountain. And there were humongous potholes that the songtaew had to slowly wind around.

After that visit, we went about 15 minutes back down the road and stopped again at some sort of orchid park. It was overlooking a cute pond. There were a bunch of fake large concrete orchids that were built as markers for the real orchids that were scattered among huge boulders. Cue about a thousand more photos. I went and found a large comfy looking boulder and sat for a while as the kids wandered around, and after about 20 minutes they pulled me down to join them in a different area. 

We left there and went to a place called Small Farm. It was what it sounded like, with a kind of attraction-parkish vibe. They had ostriches and horses and angus steer and sheep. There were babies! A baby sheep you could feed with a milk bottle, a couple of foals that were very shy, and 

Iittle piglets that were striped and adorable. And very smart, they kept trying to sneak out of the pen every time the door was opened. After about 180 more photos, that was it. We climbed back in the songtaew and made our way back down the mountain and came home. 

All in all, even though I was sleep deprived and felt sick at times on the way due to humongous potholes and curvy mountain roads, I had a great day. I'm glad the kids invited me. 

T minus 83 and counting

This Christmas was possibly one of the best Christmases ever. I'm not talking gifts, and I'm not really talking amazing experiences because not a whole lot happened. Part of the awesomeness may have been fueled by my homesickness and my loneliness here in Thailand. Whatever the reason, it was a fantastic Christmas spent with some of my favorite people (because I am a complete sap and also because I think y'all are the only ones who read this...), my family.

I flew 20 hours from Chiang Mai to Seoul to New York City to surprise my parents at my sister's apartment, and boy was it a surprise, despite my tired brain's efforts to give it away. I spent the week of Christmas there, and even through slight jet lag it was a relaxing and fun time with the family. It was so great to see dad, who I haven't really spoken to (since video chats aren't an option, and emails are only slightly effective). Even though Kathryn and mom and I speak every week, seeing them in person is definitely better. And Alex, who I also rarely speak to, was also a joy and a treasure as usual. We mostly wandered around the city shopping or relaxed in Kat and Alex's apartment. We went to the Nutcracker on Christmas Eve. We had our traditional fondue that night. Gift giving Christmas Day was fantastic, because I could actually contribute this year! And then we watched our traditional family Buffy marathon. A great nerdy Christmas, who could ask for more?

After the arduous 20 hour flight back, just as I was getting used to the new time zone, I spent the next three days (which included New Year's) sick in bed. Lack of sleep and dry air and sinus/cold stuff apparently don't mix. I got better, though just in time to start work yesterday. Yay?

So now there are 8 weeks left of school. Half of my classes have gotten impromptu tests as review (and so I can get a jump on my end of year grades), and the other half have gotten free time today so I could enter last semester's grades. Already I am prepared for holidays in the near future. There will be no classes next Friday (the 10th) because Chakkham hosts a yearly half-marathon, that I have been encouraged to but will not be running in. There is also a New Year's party. The 16th is a school holiday (I am not yet sure of the reason), and the next day I may or may not have classes. I'm not sure if all of my students will be at some camp or if only half of them will be. So that's three days in just the next two weeks alone. Valentine's day will undoubtedly come with fewer classes, and who knows what other fun holidays or events will pop up. 

March 12 is my tentative outta-here date. Deanne is coming to see me (YAAAAAAAAY) and we'll spend the next 2 weeks or so bumming around Thailand. I may or may not be able to afford a stopover in Japan on the way home, and I estimate being back in Macon around April 10. I guess we'll see...

Sports day and Pai

We were again on 40 minute classes all last week. No classes Thursday since we had Sports Day, the Thai equivalent of Field Day. The kids spent a month rehearsing their cheers after class and decorating their stands. Their cheerleading is mostly chants and songs, and it's pretty interesting to watch. Sadly, I got no pictures or videos of it because I was kind of on hold all day for my event and had no idea when I was going to be running. It was kind of a joke. I was on a relay team of 8 teachers, running against other teachers. Only 50 meters, and it felt ridiculously short. We got second place because one of the school directors, the last leg of my team, face planted at the finish line. He's ok, he just got a little scraped up. 

After we ran a couple of the teachers and I went to the edge of the fence where all the street food vendors set up. I was starving and got a crepe with egg, crab, and mayonnaise. Mayo here is generally very sweet and not at all like the mayo we're used to. It was a strange but delicious crepe.

Early Saturday morning Fang and I left for Pai. We got there around 1130 and met one of his friends for lunch. All young men in Thailand have to serve I think 2 years in the army, and Pai is where Fang served so he knows the town decently well. After we met his friend, we went sightseeing for a bit. We went to a 102 year old bridge that was built by the Japanese, I think during their occupation of Thailand. The sign about it was in Thai so the only thing I could understand was the year it was built, 2454. We're in Buddhist years and it makes me feel like I'm living in the future sometimes, as it's the year 2556.

We spent the rest of the afternoon cruising around sightseeing and taking pictures in the mountains around Pai. We went to Pai canyon, where I scared Fang by walking to the end of a rock path that had abrupt drops on each side. 

That night we went to visit his friend who had a booth at Pai's walking street. It was a pretty big market, lots of cool handmade things to see. And there was chai! It was delicious.

We met more of his friends at a bar after that and just hung out for the rest of the night, drinking and dancing to a Thai band. 

The next morning we got up early and went to a Yunan village (Chinese) called Baan Santichon that was just outside of Pai. It looked pretty touristy but still interesting. There was a little circle of shops with a pond and a replica of an old castle. Lots of Chinese food and crafts. I wish I'd been hungry, but it was early and I'd had no coffee yet, and entirely too much to drink the night before.

After Baan Santichon we went back into Pai proper and found coffee. Part of the reason I love Pai so much is that they have real, fresh, hot drip coffee and it is delicious.  We had our coffee and I had a croissant at a tasty little Muslim bakery. Then we went and had "real" breakfast, Fang gets a little weird about farang food. So we found him a Thai street vendor with kra pow moo and he was happy. 

We had to return our rented motorbike at noon and still had three hours until our bus, so we wandered around Pai for a bit. Fang wanted a massage so we found a nice little place with a/c and wasted an hour there. Then we went to eat again, since the bus ride is about 3 1/2 hours. We went to a little place I liked last time and I got a tuna sandwich. Fang got a burger that he couldn't figure out how to eat (it was kind of large) so it was comical watching him try to pick it up, and then try to cut it apart with his utensils. 

Anyhow, we made it to the bus on time and got back to Chiang Mai around 630. Uneventful trip home, and now I've been back in Lamphun. Thursday was the king's birthday, AKA Father's Day, so no class. Tuesday is Constitution Day, so no class then either. Two weeks til finals and not a single solid week of classes. I think I'll get used to this...  

Loi Krathong and other exploits

It is still a profoundly humbling experience to look around the room and realIze that you are the foreigner.

 In the past ten days, for the most part, not a lot has happened. Sports day was postponed for the kids so this upcoming week will be the third in which I don't see all of my classes, and in which the schedule could be variable. For the past two weeks, instead of the usual 50 minutes, we have had 40 minute classes. This means that classes are done by 230, which gives the kids time to further choreograph their "cheering," which they do by color and class. There are 5 colors, I believe: red, yellow, blue, green, and purple. Sports day is basically the Thai version of field day, so it should be another interesting experience. 

This past weekend was Loi Krathong. "Loi" means float, and a krathong is a little floral arrangement on a slice of banana tree trunk decorated with folded banana leaves and topped with incense, a candle, money, and some hair and fingernail of the person sending it off. As Fang explained it to me, it's kind of an apology to the river for using it all year. I've seen some really beautiful kratongs, and I'll try to find some pictures so y'all can see. It's held every November on the full moon. Saturday I was supposed to go to the festivities in Lamphun, but I was sick. The weather keeps flip-flopping here. During the day it can be really hot, and then it cools down quite a bit at night. It usually feels great but it keeps giving me little colds and I've had a couple migraines I think the weather change has triggered. So I just stayed home and slept.

Sunday night was the night I'd looked forward to anyway. Fang played at a place called the River Market. It was a fairly exclusive party, the tickets cost 2,400 baht apiece, about 80 bucks. Thankfully, dating the guitarist has it's perks, and so I went for free. It was a pretty great night. Before Fang played, we walked around outside the River Market and to the Iron Bridge (which the River Market overlooked) and bought some lanterns. We lit one and sent it off while we were on the bridge, and saved the other 2 I bought. The drummer, Damien, is from Australia and his mother had come to the show since she was visiting, so we thought she might like to help us light the other lanterns. 

The band played for about 3 hours, and the sets were interspersed with traditional Thai dancers. There were even a couple of fire dancers. It was a mostly farang crowd, which meant people I could actually talk to and understand! And dance with. The Thais aren't big dancers in the bar. 

Both Owen Wilson and Pierce Brosnan were at the party, since they're filming around Chiang Mai now. Owen Wilson was with who I assume were his wife and toddler, and after a while he sent them home and came and sat at a table and mostly hung around and brooded for the night. He was gracious enough to take a picture with me and Fang (who I think was the most excited to meet a celebrity). Unfortunately, I only heard after that Pierce Brosnan was there, I didn't actually see him.

I had such an amazing time at this party. There were literally thousands of lanterns in the sky, some hung with fireworks so they sparked and glittered. Words and pictures could not do the sky justice. It's really cliche, but it was magical. There was even a professional fireworks show, which looked so cool with the backdrop of the full moon and all the lanterns floating along. It's one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen in my life. 

This week was my first with my new classes. I now teach EPDP 1s and 2s. My other classes weren't told so all week I've had kids coming up to me wondering why I wasn't in class, and I've had to explain that I got swapped. Some of them have even been sad, which I thought was really sweet since I thought I've been a shit teacher. A couple of my 4s have even begun to come to me after school for help with homework, which they didn't do when I taught them. I kind of love it, I can't lie. And now instead of seeing twenty different classes of 50 students once a week, I see ten different classes of 20 students twice a week. Technically I have half of the class, and Bill has the other half. So I have a coteacher of sorts. It really does make all the difference, and after this one week I can actually definitively say I might like this. I even have a book to teach from! So I've made a deal with all my kids (most of whom actually understand me now!) that one day a week will be workbook day, which is boring. But if they're good on workbook day, they respond to my questions and cooperate, then the other day that I see them will be game day or video day, something fun. Of course it will be educational fun, but as long as they don't really notice it then we're all good. Even an English language movie will be practice for the kids, because the Thai teachers that teach them the initial English they learn often teach it to them wrong.  By the time they get to me or, god forbid, to Bill (who has a very thick English/Australian accent), they get really confused by hearing vocabulary I know they've already learned. They catch on really quickly though, and we've had a lot of fun this past week. The first day we practiced questions about Loi Krathong. "What did you do?" "Where did you go?" "How did you go?" "How long were you there?" "Who did you go with?" 

Questions are actually some of the biggest strumpers for my kids. With my regular 1s last semester, we did a listening exercise about a dog the had three balls, one red, one yellow, one blue. He chewed one, played with one, and ran after the other. So I'd read this several times very slowly, and then ask my kids. "How many balls did the dog find?" "Blue!" was one of the most common answers. 

The other half of the week this week was story time once we figured out that half the 2s have the wrong book somehow. It actually really helps the kids learn to think on their feet (since they're used to copying, memorization and repetition). Once they get going we all had a blast. I always get them to tell me the name of a person (they usually pick on a classmate) and a place. Then we get the person from their house to whatever place. We specify the day of the week, the weather, the transportation this person will use. We talk about what this person looks like. Then, along the way, the person meets A MONSTER! So we talk about this monster, what it looks like and what the person does with it. My kids are pretty violent. In one of my classes, a girl killed the monster with a shotgun and a knife. Then she fried it and ate it, and shared it with her friends. The monster was poisonous, though, so it killed all of her friends, but not her, she was magical. She did get so depressed after all her friends died, though, that she killed herself with the shotgun. By the end of the story, the whole class is usually involved and having a blast, where before it was hard to get them to answer even simple questions. I think that's going to be my rainy day activity from now on.

Next weekend Fang and I are going to Pai, and I'm really excited. It should be really fun. Hope I can convince him to go to the hotsprings...

I guess that was really a lot more to report than I'd originally thought. Well. Here's to all of you saying I don't blog enough.

Business as usual

Not a whole lot to report. Started school again a couple of weeks ago and things seem to be going as usual. Having to create lessons again, which now is a little better thanks to having a projector in most of my classes. Now to find the appropriate attachment to be able to use my iPad with it...

I would use my laptop, but see, I tried that already. And bought the wrong attachment, because the one that I need for my ancient MacBook never actually made it to Thailand. Since my laptop is 8billion years old in computer years, I'm SOL on that front. But thank goodness for my iPad, because I think I can find something for it. 

This week and last week have been interesting at school... The kids are having a Sports Day on the 21st (whatever that means....) and have been practicing their cheering in the afternoons, so we have had half days for these 2 weeks. Last week, we had all the morning classes. This week, our afternoon classes have been moved to the morning and we don't see the morning classes. Confusing? Yeah. Everyone pretty much is. 

Ben is leaving next week to go back to America for grad school in the spring. I'm slightly jealous, but I'll be back soon enough I suppose. (Come on, April! Or May?.... Maybe June..... Hmm....) There's a chance that when he leaves I will take over his lower level EPDP classes, which I think will be a good thing as I will sort of have a co-teacher. I have mixed feelings about it because I really like my M.4s and will feel bad to abandon them, but I feel these kids would be better served with me helping the classes in which more students want to learn and are younger so they'll pick up the language faster. Hopefully.

I have also now started a new job, in order to save money to extend my stay at least to the Songkran (new year/water fight) festival in mid-April. I'm tutoring elementary school kids and I already love them. I have one set Wednesday and Friday, and another set Saturday and Sunday. They're so stinkin cute and really bright. I'm trying to get them talking and playing, but I never realized I could be good with little kids before so it's a learning experience for all of us. Thankfully I have found a really good website with games that get them out of their seats and interacting with me. 

This weekend is Loi Kratong, and I'm really excited! It's the lantern festival, and there are already tons of paper lanterns being hung everywhere and kids are playing with fireworks... There are vendors for the floating lanterns everywhere, too. Part of the tradition is to make a kratong, which is basically a slice of banana tree on which flowers and incense and candles are arranged, and the kratong is floated down a river. I'll be going to the festival in Lamphun on Saturday and the one in Chiang Mai on Sunday, as Fang is playing with his bands for both occasions. Hopefully I'll have a bunch of pictures for y'all after this weekend!

On a similar note, dating a Thai has been an interesting experience. He encourages me to wear makeup and nice clothes, but I have realized that it's part of the cultural differences. I may have mentioned before that the Thais are very very heavily invested in surface appearance. Everything is "soo-ay"(beautiful) and they don't have much stock in the idea of anything being ugly. So one is expected to make themselves look a certain kind of presentable in order to provide a pleasing aesthetic for those around them. It's a point of pride to invest time in your outward appearance. I've never worn makeup this much in my life. And PJs in public? Alas, I cannot.

76 steps

Got to Bang Mun Nak safely (it's spelled, like many things in Thai, several different ways) and spent the night there to break up the travel time somewhat. We woke up around 5 and hopped the train to Bangkok, which ended up only being about 56 baht. Score one for cheap travel. It was about a 6 hour trip, and we got in around 1 and sat at a little coffee and bun shop to regroup. I found it quite odd but comforting that the coffee bun I chose reminded me of dad's sourdough pancakes.

We downloaded a map of Bangkok and decided to strike out on our own for the nearest Skytrain station, because we're cheapskates. The taxi drivers at the station seemed a little surprised and dismayed at our independence, but we shrugged them all off and continued on our way. We found the station after a short walk and got to the Ekkamai bus station ok. Unfortunately, though, we had slightly misjudged the travel times and were told that we'd be stuck in Trat for the night because things here in Thailand tend to close ridiculously early and we'd miss the last ferry at 7 o'clock. We decided to stay that nigh in Bangkok, not knowing about the sort of accommodations to be found in Trat. That ended up being a good decision, we found a nice hostel around the corner from the bus station and explored the Sukhimvit area of Bangkok a bit. I'm glad, because my previous explorations of Bangkok really did not impress me. It seemed very much like a city that can't figure out its identity.  When you're in New York, or Paris, or London, even Atlanta, they have their own big city feel of sorts, and Bangkok just feels muddled and confused. Sukhimvit area seemed much more strong and aware of the face it wanted to show the world and was fun to walk around. It is a much more new area of the city.

Anyhow, we caught the 7 o'clock bus the next morning to Trat and it seemed a near thing as we ended up crowded in the very back seat with three broad shouldered Thai men for much of the way. We pulled in to Trat around 1 and had to catch a songtaew to the ferry, which took a little bit less an an hour. The ferry itself was another hour of travel, so we finally got to Koh Chang around 3 that afternoon. We ate lunch at a little noodle shop by the pier and rented a motorbike. Apparently we picked the hostel that is almost the farthest away that we could pick, because it took us around 45 minutes to bike to the south area of the island where we're staying. As far as scenery and feel it is a great choice, but the road is a bit terrifying in a couple of places (the hairpin-iest hairpin turns on steep inclines).

Sean and I were in a little 12x12 bungalow at the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. It was absolutely beautiful and for 200 baht apiece a night, I feel we made a great choice. The nights were nice and cool so we had both windows propped open and a little fan for extra breeze. Hearing the ocean crash against the rocks below was really relaxing. 

We went to a place called Ruan Thai Seafood for dinner. Great life choice. We got crab sautéed with red curry, crab baked with vermicelli (which had cloves of garlic and fat slices of ginger), and red curry with pineapple, shrimp, and coconut. I felt like such a glutton because it was so good I could not stop eating. The shrimp and crab were fresh and so was the pineapple, absolutely delicious.

The first full day we were here, we managed to talk to the Welshman who owns the place (who was quite impressed that we identified his accent) and after asking him for advice, we kayaked to an island nearby. He gave us the kayak for free, which we later found was quite a steal because others staying here are renting them for 400 baht a day. 

The island we kayaked to was a couple of miles from where we are staying, which means Sean and I got a workout for the day. A little over 4 hours of ocean kayaking. We snorkeled a bit around the island we stopped at, which was really pretty. We saw lots of brain coral and colorful fish. I was tired for a few days from all that paddling. I cut my feet on some of the rocks on the beach, got a mild sunburn and blistered fingers. Worth it. Also cut my palm open falling on the rocks when we brought the kayak up at low tide. That was a challenge.

We wanted to go to a place we'd read about called Barrio Bonito for dinner, a Mexican place owned by a couple of expats that had gotten great reviews. Unfortunately it proved impossible to find so we ended up at a place called Ciao. It was an Italian place owned by an Irishman and his Thai wife, who was the chef. For neither of them being Italian it was some of the tastiest Italian food I have ever had. Sean got the special, which was meatballs in traditional tomato sauce with mozarella and penne. I got penne with a mushroom truffle cream sauce, and we split a vegetarian pizza and the house red wine (which was actually pretty good- a happy first for Thailand!). Somehow we ate all of it (I blame the kayaking). We had a really pleasant conversation with the owners, as well. All in all a day well spent.

Sunday we explored the east side of the island. We started our trip with breakfast on the west side at a place called Papa's bakery, where we got chocolate croissants. So delicious especially given that they are so hard to find around here. Good bread, real homemade bakery bread is hard to find. We bought a couple of sandwiches for lunch from Papa's, Italian Salami with pesto and tomatoes and Gouda on homemade toast. We went to Than Mayom waterfall, which was alright. It was pretty but very crowded. We'd heard that a couple of kings had carved their initials into the rocks at the top and wanted to climb up and see, but there was a little man in uniform that blew his whistle and fussed when anyone got too close to the rocks around the falls. The water felt great, though and it was a fun little trek through the park. After the falls, we tried to find a mangrove forest that's a sort of restoration project, but the roads and the signage were confusing and difficult for motorbike novices to traverse, so we ended up just turning around and going back. We stopped for coffee halfway up which ended up being a good decision because we got to sit out a really bad storm. 

Monday we went to a little beach near our hostel and sat in a couple of deck chairs underneath an umbrella napping and reading all day. The ocean was the perfect temperature, there were very few rocks and the water was really clear. We overlooked Bang Bao Bay and a couple of tiny islands that are to the south of Koh Chang. It was a really relaxing and calm last day. 

I definitely did not get enough pictures, sorry! And I have not uploaded all of them to Facebook. I'll get on that eventually.

Today starts my first day back teaching. Second semester, and I'm told there will be many more holidays and activities than last semester. I also now have a second job, working with Cambridge Language School to help elementary school and a couple of high school kids with extra lessons, as well as a private lesson with Fang's boss's 4-year old daughter in the works. Should be a pretty busy next four months. I'm trying to save money so that I can stay a little longer after my contract ends. Fang is also trying to get me to sing with one or two of his bands, so that may be another way to get some more cash. If I can get over all feelings of "hell no, I'd have to be in front of people!" 

We'll see how it goes....