Dear Friends,
I hope that you enjoyed our Obama for President rally last week. It is great to see the enthusiasm of the Obama Brigade here in this provincial Thai capital. We had over 100 enthusiastic Obama supporters FIRED UP and READY TO GO!
In the enthusiasm of the rally I mistakenly gave away two Obama posters. These are of great personal value to Gary Suwannarat, the Asia-Pacific Regional Vice-Chair who brought them back with her from the convention. They are both on hard cardboard with a blue background. One is "Obama-Biden" and the other is "CHANGE". If you have either of these posters or know who does, could you please e me back as soon as possible.
Thank you so much for your kind cooperation and your enthusiasm which will see the election of President Barack Obama!
Best wishes,
Steve
Asia-Pacific Regional Vice-Chair
Democrats Abroad
I have the "CHANGE" one... but they said we could have them. I'll think about giving it back, but it's worth 5 cents, and if she's so important, I have a feeling she can get more, since it's a cheap piece of flimsy recycled cardboard...
looks like morals: 0 obama poster: 1
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
White Water Rafting
Guess the biggest thing that has happened in the last couple weeks is White Water Rafting. Four other teachers and myself went out for a day of rafting, about an hour or so drive from Chiang Mai. Funny thing, after the drive out there, we stopped at a place to wait for some more people to meet up with us, and then drove to a Riverside Hut.
This hut is the exact place, 6 months ago or so, I ended a Hill Tribe Trek with Johanna and Dave, at the tail end of our SEA travels. Little bit of nostalgia...
Anyway, we drove from the bottom of the river 10 km upriver (the same 10 km we would be rafting later) standing up, for spacial purposes, in the back of a land rover. It was bumpy, muddy, and trees whipped you in the face. Typical Thailand, I guess :)
Once our arms, hips, sides, and chests were properly sore from holding on the the metal railings for support, we ended up the the river hut. We had a phenomenal lunch of fried chicken, salad and spring rolls. We got a safety demonstration, got fitted into out life jackets and helmets, and put into boats. The five of us had one boat, with Captain Tommy, our 17-year old leader, and one of his friends, to even out the weight on the boat. We practiced paddling up and back, turning, and he held us against the current. Then he jumped in and we were off! The beginning trip wasn't too bad, probably some 2-3's, nothing too crazy. We did get hit around, and splashed and walls of water hit you in the face. The front was very fun, but as I weighed too much, he made me move back... which probably worked out better in the long run... you'll know why in a second
We had to get off the boat at one point, and travel a little down by road, as the river was too swollen from the days rain and it was too dangerous. We called his bluff, but when we got back in the river, looked up at the section we would have just come from, we realized he was right. It looked pretty gnarly, but we still through we could have done it.... That's why Tommy is captain, and not us.
We started again, dodging rocks and avoiding large bamboo poles all floating down the river in a furious rage. When things got too ruff, he yelled "Get Down!" which means hop into the boat and hold on for dear life.
"On the job" means hop back up, lock your feet in position (into cracks to help keep you in) and start paddling hard.
A couple "get down's" and "on the job's later" we got to the best part, and biggest rappid. Paddle! Paddle! Harder! Faster! Harder!!!! GET DOWN!!! ON THE JOB!!! GET DOWN!!! HOLD ON!!!
Next thing you know i feel a body slam on top of me. Assuming it was my friend Paige, who was sitting across from me, I was just glad she didn't fly out and smash on to a rock. When i could see, I noticed it was Captain Tommy,who had flown from the back of the raft on top of me and was scrambling to get back to his post. At the next seccond, I hopped up, and was ready to paddle, only to see Paige get sucked back by water and pulled off the boat. Where we had crashed was a spot where the water swirls, and so we were not moving, and able to jump over the edge and help Paige. Tommy was the only one who helped (we were told not to be heros) but then he yelled for me to help, which worked out well, as we pulled Paige back in the raft, only her shorts and suit sagging low. Thailand has never see so much ass.
We got her in, and paddled like hell to get out of the rapids. It was crazy. It was so much fun. After the rapids, we stopped downstream a little to wait for everyone else. The next two boats came through fine, and the third was missing two people. The fourth was ok. Guess one of the boats had thrown most all of them out, and one guy had to swim to the banks, the other girl I think was grabbed by a rope, and the first two somehow made it back in the boat. Gotta love it
It was such a great day, and after a couple more rapids, and some easier stuff, we made it to camp. It was so much fun, and I forgot how much fun rafting was, and simultaneously dangerous. Good thing we're all ok. a little sore, but nothing serious. And Paige got to flash some people... all in all a successful day!
That was our saturday day, the night we went to a wonderful bar called Samo that served all you can drink beer (heavily iced and watered down) for 3.5 hours. Drink fast enough and it's a good deal. We watched the Liverpool ManU gamee, to which Thai's are obsessed, and then began a good night out.
The night was so good I spent most of Sunday laying around. Then it was Monday, and back to work.
Three more weeks of work, and then Morgan (a teacher from Asian U, the summer camp Johanna and I worked at) comes to visit for a week, and then I go to LAOS!!! for a week and a half backpacking trip. I am beyond excited. It's been too long since I have been a backpacker.
Hope this was a good update. Guess you guys all heard Shelley's getting fat. It happens. Be nice to her, fat robotic cyborg.
This hut is the exact place, 6 months ago or so, I ended a Hill Tribe Trek with Johanna and Dave, at the tail end of our SEA travels. Little bit of nostalgia...
Anyway, we drove from the bottom of the river 10 km upriver (the same 10 km we would be rafting later) standing up, for spacial purposes, in the back of a land rover. It was bumpy, muddy, and trees whipped you in the face. Typical Thailand, I guess :)
Once our arms, hips, sides, and chests were properly sore from holding on the the metal railings for support, we ended up the the river hut. We had a phenomenal lunch of fried chicken, salad and spring rolls. We got a safety demonstration, got fitted into out life jackets and helmets, and put into boats. The five of us had one boat, with Captain Tommy, our 17-year old leader, and one of his friends, to even out the weight on the boat. We practiced paddling up and back, turning, and he held us against the current. Then he jumped in and we were off! The beginning trip wasn't too bad, probably some 2-3's, nothing too crazy. We did get hit around, and splashed and walls of water hit you in the face. The front was very fun, but as I weighed too much, he made me move back... which probably worked out better in the long run... you'll know why in a second
We had to get off the boat at one point, and travel a little down by road, as the river was too swollen from the days rain and it was too dangerous. We called his bluff, but when we got back in the river, looked up at the section we would have just come from, we realized he was right. It looked pretty gnarly, but we still through we could have done it.... That's why Tommy is captain, and not us.
We started again, dodging rocks and avoiding large bamboo poles all floating down the river in a furious rage. When things got too ruff, he yelled "Get Down!" which means hop into the boat and hold on for dear life.
"On the job" means hop back up, lock your feet in position (into cracks to help keep you in) and start paddling hard.
A couple "get down's" and "on the job's later" we got to the best part, and biggest rappid. Paddle! Paddle! Harder! Faster! Harder!!!! GET DOWN!!! ON THE JOB!!! GET DOWN!!! HOLD ON!!!
Next thing you know i feel a body slam on top of me. Assuming it was my friend Paige, who was sitting across from me, I was just glad she didn't fly out and smash on to a rock. When i could see, I noticed it was Captain Tommy,who had flown from the back of the raft on top of me and was scrambling to get back to his post. At the next seccond, I hopped up, and was ready to paddle, only to see Paige get sucked back by water and pulled off the boat. Where we had crashed was a spot where the water swirls, and so we were not moving, and able to jump over the edge and help Paige. Tommy was the only one who helped (we were told not to be heros) but then he yelled for me to help, which worked out well, as we pulled Paige back in the raft, only her shorts and suit sagging low. Thailand has never see so much ass.
We got her in, and paddled like hell to get out of the rapids. It was crazy. It was so much fun. After the rapids, we stopped downstream a little to wait for everyone else. The next two boats came through fine, and the third was missing two people. The fourth was ok. Guess one of the boats had thrown most all of them out, and one guy had to swim to the banks, the other girl I think was grabbed by a rope, and the first two somehow made it back in the boat. Gotta love it
It was such a great day, and after a couple more rapids, and some easier stuff, we made it to camp. It was so much fun, and I forgot how much fun rafting was, and simultaneously dangerous. Good thing we're all ok. a little sore, but nothing serious. And Paige got to flash some people... all in all a successful day!
That was our saturday day, the night we went to a wonderful bar called Samo that served all you can drink beer (heavily iced and watered down) for 3.5 hours. Drink fast enough and it's a good deal. We watched the Liverpool ManU gamee, to which Thai's are obsessed, and then began a good night out.
The night was so good I spent most of Sunday laying around. Then it was Monday, and back to work.
Three more weeks of work, and then Morgan (a teacher from Asian U, the summer camp Johanna and I worked at) comes to visit for a week, and then I go to LAOS!!! for a week and a half backpacking trip. I am beyond excited. It's been too long since I have been a backpacker.
Hope this was a good update. Guess you guys all heard Shelley's getting fat. It happens. Be nice to her, fat robotic cyborg.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
More Updates
To be honest, the daily life here is the same. I wake up, I teach, I go to bed.
Beyond that, on some weekends we try to get out and do things:
Doi Inthanon (2 weekends)
--This is a national park about an hour and a half drive from Chiang mai. It is the highest peak in Thailand, at about 7,000 or so feet. We spent two different weekends up there, with two different groups of people, and it's a great park. It's cold, which is weird, so you bring sweatshirts for the night time. If it's not raining (which is does a lot) there are some really cool waterfalls and trails and things to see. It's pretty cool.
Another weekend we also went to a resevoir, lake thing, where you take a little boat out to floating houses (its more like a shitty motel on water) but attached is 7-8 little rooms (with only a bed and fan) restaurant, bathrooms, and some platforms to jump off of into the lake. The surrounding mountains and scenery are really quite spectacular. I have to get pics from some people, but it's some really great stuff out there, and it's only about an hour away.
The best part of Chiang Mai so far is the abundance of cool weekend trips possible within a couple hours. The downside is we only have 2 days to travel, see and do everything, to get back in time for work, which is beginning to bore me, but that'll happen with any job, i guess.
I think the only problem I have with my job is that there is no one to speak English to (fluently) all day, so I sit alone for hours and hours and hours doing nothing but sitting on the internet, listening to music or trying to "plan" in advance. I mainly zone out and stare at the wall... but we'll see how things change in the next couple months, since my boss wants to add 10 minutes to all of my classes, and I am going to start just leaving campus when i have lots of dead time, and see what happens...
Other than that, really nothing goes on new anymore during the week. It's the same M-F, and the weekends are the great escape from society.
Guess that's all I got for now, come october I should be traveling for 2 weeks so I'll have more interesting things to talk about rather than what I do with 6 hours of dead time in a single day... (like today)
Love you all
Beyond that, on some weekends we try to get out and do things:
Doi Inthanon (2 weekends)
--This is a national park about an hour and a half drive from Chiang mai. It is the highest peak in Thailand, at about 7,000 or so feet. We spent two different weekends up there, with two different groups of people, and it's a great park. It's cold, which is weird, so you bring sweatshirts for the night time. If it's not raining (which is does a lot) there are some really cool waterfalls and trails and things to see. It's pretty cool.
Another weekend we also went to a resevoir, lake thing, where you take a little boat out to floating houses (its more like a shitty motel on water) but attached is 7-8 little rooms (with only a bed and fan) restaurant, bathrooms, and some platforms to jump off of into the lake. The surrounding mountains and scenery are really quite spectacular. I have to get pics from some people, but it's some really great stuff out there, and it's only about an hour away.
The best part of Chiang Mai so far is the abundance of cool weekend trips possible within a couple hours. The downside is we only have 2 days to travel, see and do everything, to get back in time for work, which is beginning to bore me, but that'll happen with any job, i guess.
I think the only problem I have with my job is that there is no one to speak English to (fluently) all day, so I sit alone for hours and hours and hours doing nothing but sitting on the internet, listening to music or trying to "plan" in advance. I mainly zone out and stare at the wall... but we'll see how things change in the next couple months, since my boss wants to add 10 minutes to all of my classes, and I am going to start just leaving campus when i have lots of dead time, and see what happens...
Other than that, really nothing goes on new anymore during the week. It's the same M-F, and the weekends are the great escape from society.
Guess that's all I got for now, come october I should be traveling for 2 weeks so I'll have more interesting things to talk about rather than what I do with 6 hours of dead time in a single day... (like today)
Love you all
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Sports Day, Basketball Tournament and Pie
So a couple of things have happened worth mentioning for you.
Sports Day is a day where all the kids (separated by Matyom (grades 7-12) and Pratom (grades 1-6) are divided into colors and groups and makes giant floats and does a parade with skits and songs and dances... it lasts all day. I believe they actually do a couple "sport" like things, but I only had time to stay for the 2 hours of parades in the morning. It was pretty funny.
There was a basketball tournament, which I did not watch... But they did have cheerleaders and chant squads out to do performances, which is hilarious. Thai people don't really understand talent. If they were to ever watch a cheer squad or dance team from the US, they would be shocked. They do lots of weird "Thai" movements, obviously taken from Thai dance... but their costumes were hilarious! Thats the only reason I went to go watch... it was pretty funny
This past weekend a couple teachers from PRC went to Pai, a lazy mountain town about 3-4 hours by motorcycle north of Chiang Mai. It is a town known for its hippy and very laid back attitude. It was gorgeous. The drive was really fun, as we rented bikes and drove up and through some windy mountain roads and the city was really chill. We got little huts right on the river, nothing special, shared bathroom, lots of bugs, but its quiet and peaceful and only 5 bucks a night per room. We spent the days hanging out, checking out waterfalls, going to hot springs, driving around the countryside, and the evening sitting outside and relaxing (also all the bars were closed due to the holiday) but that worked out nice. It was a great weekend and very relaxing.
However something happened to me the last night, and now I'm sick. I blame Malaria and Dengue, but it's probably just a flu like bug, only hot/cold flashes, cramps and diarrhea... nothing new :)
hope alls well back home. counting down the days until the cruise!
Sports Day is a day where all the kids (separated by Matyom (grades 7-12) and Pratom (grades 1-6) are divided into colors and groups and makes giant floats and does a parade with skits and songs and dances... it lasts all day. I believe they actually do a couple "sport" like things, but I only had time to stay for the 2 hours of parades in the morning. It was pretty funny.
There was a basketball tournament, which I did not watch... But they did have cheerleaders and chant squads out to do performances, which is hilarious. Thai people don't really understand talent. If they were to ever watch a cheer squad or dance team from the US, they would be shocked. They do lots of weird "Thai" movements, obviously taken from Thai dance... but their costumes were hilarious! Thats the only reason I went to go watch... it was pretty funny
This past weekend a couple teachers from PRC went to Pai, a lazy mountain town about 3-4 hours by motorcycle north of Chiang Mai. It is a town known for its hippy and very laid back attitude. It was gorgeous. The drive was really fun, as we rented bikes and drove up and through some windy mountain roads and the city was really chill. We got little huts right on the river, nothing special, shared bathroom, lots of bugs, but its quiet and peaceful and only 5 bucks a night per room. We spent the days hanging out, checking out waterfalls, going to hot springs, driving around the countryside, and the evening sitting outside and relaxing (also all the bars were closed due to the holiday) but that worked out nice. It was a great weekend and very relaxing.
However something happened to me the last night, and now I'm sick. I blame Malaria and Dengue, but it's probably just a flu like bug, only hot/cold flashes, cramps and diarrhea... nothing new :)
hope alls well back home. counting down the days until the cruise!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
The Rainy Season is Coming!!!
So, it's been a while... yet again.
Update. I moved into an apartment. 2 bed. 2 bath, 10th floor, so some nice views of the city. TV, couch, chairs, table, fridge, sink... what more could you want? It's nothing special, but it's much bigger than the old place, and I moved in with a fellow teacher from PRC, Ms. Paige Allbritton. So far it's nice to have a larger space to hang out in, the pool is larger also, which is nice. We got internet, but only one cord, so we fight over who gets to plug in their computer... we hope to get a splitter or even better wireless soon..
Teaching is about the same. Long hours, tiring lessons. This week is COLORS... i know, im really stretching their little heads... but they have to match up the spelling of the color to the actual color to color in a worksheet. this is near impossible for 50% of them, who just color everything the same color...
I don't think there is any news update. I spend M-F teaching, and going to bed at 10pm...
Friday and Saturday I spend doing adult things, usually sleeping in, and going out to have fun till the wee hours of the morning, thus sleeping all day...
Just wanted to say hi, and i love you all!!
Update. I moved into an apartment. 2 bed. 2 bath, 10th floor, so some nice views of the city. TV, couch, chairs, table, fridge, sink... what more could you want? It's nothing special, but it's much bigger than the old place, and I moved in with a fellow teacher from PRC, Ms. Paige Allbritton. So far it's nice to have a larger space to hang out in, the pool is larger also, which is nice. We got internet, but only one cord, so we fight over who gets to plug in their computer... we hope to get a splitter or even better wireless soon..
Teaching is about the same. Long hours, tiring lessons. This week is COLORS... i know, im really stretching their little heads... but they have to match up the spelling of the color to the actual color to color in a worksheet. this is near impossible for 50% of them, who just color everything the same color...
I don't think there is any news update. I spend M-F teaching, and going to bed at 10pm...
Friday and Saturday I spend doing adult things, usually sleeping in, and going out to have fun till the wee hours of the morning, thus sleeping all day...
Just wanted to say hi, and i love you all!!
Thursday, May 22, 2008
End of Asian U, Beginning of Chiang Mai
It's been an extremely long time since I have posted, and since I am on my daily 4 hours of "prep" be completely bored time at work, I thought this would be an ample time to describe as much as I can about what is going on out here.
Asian University Summer Camp #2 was a blast, really a good time. It was a little shorter than the first camp, so I was only sad to see some of the kids go. They were a very cute and fun group, with a lot of energy. They were great... So we finished the camp, and then started our long process of goodbyes. One girl went back south to live with her husband (shes been in Thailand for 5 years). Two of the guys went to live in Bangkok and work a couple months before going home. Johanna spent a week in Bangkok, then flew home. Kelly spent a couple days in BKK, then she also went home (both to america). Everyone split up, and I move dout to Chiang Mai, all alone. It was hard at first, because I missed everyone from the summer camp, and knew that I was leaving Jo for good, and that I wouldnt see Morgan or Kelly for at least 5 months...
So I moved up to Chiang Mai, after getting a job at Prince Royal's College, a K-12 Private Christian school, teaching English to Anuban 3, or babies, as I like to call then. They are all about 5-6 Years old. Its kindergarten... I took the job because I wasnt really sure what level I wanted to teach, and I figured with the kids, the lesson planning would be easy, but it would be hard in class, since you have to run around and scream and jump and act like a fool to keep them interested and motivate. As long as they are having fun, they will respond to the learning. The school is actually HUGE and they have kids, as I said from K-12. They have over 400 kindergarden students, and I think over 6,000 students in all. Its HUGE! I work on the kindergarten campus, off alone, behing the sports complex and near the High School. I am the only farang (white) person in my campus/building. I work with all women (TA's around 18-25 i think, teachers around 40-60) All women, and 400 kids. It is chaotic and loud. I teach in the mornings, M-F.
I get to school at around 7:30, then we have the flag raising ceremony at 7:45, followed by some "aerobics" (meaning simple little dance moves) and the kids go to their classes to do something... My first class starts at 9:10. If I have a full day, I teach until 11:20 (40 minute lessons, and thats pushing it for these kids' attention spans) at 11:20 we play in the playground, or I sit in my room exhausted. 11:45 we eat lunch. I watch the kids eat, they sit in a little area with long tables, all crammed in. They sing, then they pray, then they eat. Then we get to eat. Its usually not the best, and somedays pretty gross, but its food. By 12:30 I go back to my room, and sit there waiting to be able to leave at 4pm. The kids nap until 2pm, then play in their rooms until 3 pm, then if its not raining, they play outside until 4, or whenever their parents come to get them. Sometimes I just sit in my room and stare at things... its pretty boring (but better than lessons ni the afternoon as well...)
Starting in June I will be tutoring the Thai TA's Teachers, and the Assistant Director and Head of the Kindergarten program. Im very nervous about that, but all of the teachers and TAs are really nice, and I think Ill just follow a Tha-English phrasebook I have, and teach them everything I can out of that, since its what I use when I want to learn Thai.
I live in a hotel just 5 minutes on bicycle down from the school. I have rented a bicycle and use it to get everywhere, which is actually quite nice, though I sometimes break out into uncontrollable sweating if I have to do some agressive cycling through traffic (i have to ride like im on a moto, which can be dangerous, and difficult to cut off cars and trucks and busses and motorcycles, all on a bicycle...)
I am a 10 minute ride into the main little park of town, with lots of shopping, food, and entertainment, but can always tuk-tuk anywhere I need to get, for only a couple dollars (50-100 Baht).
I am planning on moving across town, into a 2 bedroom apartment with a friend I met (one of just a few) so that we have more space, and a living room, and a place to be able to hang out on evenings and weekends if we dont want to go into town.
So far its fun, extremely tiring, but very fun. The kids are absolutely adorable, and cling on me, since Im pretty much a huge white playtoy.
To give you an idea of what I do in the classroom, this weeks new lesson was
1) The alphabet- review, and singing the song
2) Story- I just point at pictures in a book and say the words, they repeat everything you say. Everything. Even "so, yeah" "um" "hmm"
3)Commands- stand up, sit down, make a circle, come here, make one line, make two lines (then yelling them out and letting the kids scramble to do what I asked)
4)Vocabulary- classroom objects, book, penicl, backpack, ruler, glue, eraser
5)Boardslap- i yell out a word (1 boy vs 1 girl) try to run and slap the board at the apporpriate picture... (this is very hard for them)
next lesson will be a continuation of the game and words, practice writing out simple sentances "it is a book. It is an eraser." review on "what is your name? My name is..." and Days of the week!!! Whoohoo!
When I woke up this morning is was sunny and hot. I just heard some thunder, and realized there is nothing but dark clouds, and think it will begin to rain heavily soon... which means no outside playtime for the kids, which means they will be running around screaming in the rooms... I should probably go. Hope this was a somewhat sufficient update on what is going on!
Hope all is well!
Love you all (mom and grandma, who I assume are the only people actually following this!)
oh, Ill try to get some photos uploaded on facebook, and ill let you know when, so you can see my school. and pics of the kids
Asian University Summer Camp #2 was a blast, really a good time. It was a little shorter than the first camp, so I was only sad to see some of the kids go. They were a very cute and fun group, with a lot of energy. They were great... So we finished the camp, and then started our long process of goodbyes. One girl went back south to live with her husband (shes been in Thailand for 5 years). Two of the guys went to live in Bangkok and work a couple months before going home. Johanna spent a week in Bangkok, then flew home. Kelly spent a couple days in BKK, then she also went home (both to america). Everyone split up, and I move dout to Chiang Mai, all alone. It was hard at first, because I missed everyone from the summer camp, and knew that I was leaving Jo for good, and that I wouldnt see Morgan or Kelly for at least 5 months...
So I moved up to Chiang Mai, after getting a job at Prince Royal's College, a K-12 Private Christian school, teaching English to Anuban 3, or babies, as I like to call then. They are all about 5-6 Years old. Its kindergarten... I took the job because I wasnt really sure what level I wanted to teach, and I figured with the kids, the lesson planning would be easy, but it would be hard in class, since you have to run around and scream and jump and act like a fool to keep them interested and motivate. As long as they are having fun, they will respond to the learning. The school is actually HUGE and they have kids, as I said from K-12. They have over 400 kindergarden students, and I think over 6,000 students in all. Its HUGE! I work on the kindergarten campus, off alone, behing the sports complex and near the High School. I am the only farang (white) person in my campus/building. I work with all women (TA's around 18-25 i think, teachers around 40-60) All women, and 400 kids. It is chaotic and loud. I teach in the mornings, M-F.
I get to school at around 7:30, then we have the flag raising ceremony at 7:45, followed by some "aerobics" (meaning simple little dance moves) and the kids go to their classes to do something... My first class starts at 9:10. If I have a full day, I teach until 11:20 (40 minute lessons, and thats pushing it for these kids' attention spans) at 11:20 we play in the playground, or I sit in my room exhausted. 11:45 we eat lunch. I watch the kids eat, they sit in a little area with long tables, all crammed in. They sing, then they pray, then they eat. Then we get to eat. Its usually not the best, and somedays pretty gross, but its food. By 12:30 I go back to my room, and sit there waiting to be able to leave at 4pm. The kids nap until 2pm, then play in their rooms until 3 pm, then if its not raining, they play outside until 4, or whenever their parents come to get them. Sometimes I just sit in my room and stare at things... its pretty boring (but better than lessons ni the afternoon as well...)
Starting in June I will be tutoring the Thai TA's Teachers, and the Assistant Director and Head of the Kindergarten program. Im very nervous about that, but all of the teachers and TAs are really nice, and I think Ill just follow a Tha-English phrasebook I have, and teach them everything I can out of that, since its what I use when I want to learn Thai.
I live in a hotel just 5 minutes on bicycle down from the school. I have rented a bicycle and use it to get everywhere, which is actually quite nice, though I sometimes break out into uncontrollable sweating if I have to do some agressive cycling through traffic (i have to ride like im on a moto, which can be dangerous, and difficult to cut off cars and trucks and busses and motorcycles, all on a bicycle...)
I am a 10 minute ride into the main little park of town, with lots of shopping, food, and entertainment, but can always tuk-tuk anywhere I need to get, for only a couple dollars (50-100 Baht).
I am planning on moving across town, into a 2 bedroom apartment with a friend I met (one of just a few) so that we have more space, and a living room, and a place to be able to hang out on evenings and weekends if we dont want to go into town.
So far its fun, extremely tiring, but very fun. The kids are absolutely adorable, and cling on me, since Im pretty much a huge white playtoy.
To give you an idea of what I do in the classroom, this weeks new lesson was
1) The alphabet- review, and singing the song
2) Story- I just point at pictures in a book and say the words, they repeat everything you say. Everything. Even "so, yeah" "um" "hmm"
3)Commands- stand up, sit down, make a circle, come here, make one line, make two lines (then yelling them out and letting the kids scramble to do what I asked)
4)Vocabulary- classroom objects, book, penicl, backpack, ruler, glue, eraser
5)Boardslap- i yell out a word (1 boy vs 1 girl) try to run and slap the board at the apporpriate picture... (this is very hard for them)
next lesson will be a continuation of the game and words, practice writing out simple sentances "it is a book. It is an eraser." review on "what is your name? My name is..." and Days of the week!!! Whoohoo!
When I woke up this morning is was sunny and hot. I just heard some thunder, and realized there is nothing but dark clouds, and think it will begin to rain heavily soon... which means no outside playtime for the kids, which means they will be running around screaming in the rooms... I should probably go. Hope this was a somewhat sufficient update on what is going on!
Hope all is well!
Love you all (mom and grandma, who I assume are the only people actually following this!)
oh, Ill try to get some photos uploaded on facebook, and ill let you know when, so you can see my school. and pics of the kids
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Camp 1 and Song Kran
So we finished camp one. There is some things words cant describe about the camp, like the closing ceremony, so Ill just say that kids were crying, teachers (sadly not myself, as I found it all a bit ridiculous) were crying, the TAs were crying... it was a sob fest and the kids get on the ground to "wai" you in respect, tell you they love you and how much they enjoyed their time here... or for me and Jo, sort of just mumbled in Thai/English. It was an experience at the least...
So camp ended, and we ran for the bus, and went to Bangkok to celebrate, what i consider to be, one of the all time great festivals of the world, to compare with Beerfest or even Carnival. Song Kran is the Thai New Year. It consists of 5 days of waterfights. Families loaded in the backs of trucks drive the streets and dump/soak water on you. Everyone has waterguns and buckETS OF WATER... it's literally complete chaos. All the thai people get this powder stuff, and they turn it into a paste and wipe it on your face, saying happy new year (so what dee bee mai) I ended up doing some great thai jokes, Alai Na?(whats that) pointing up to the sky and then squirting them in the face with water... or another favorite namn mot (out of water) then squirting them in the face saying me namn (have water) most all found it to be completely entertaining... i sure did. The nights and days were just complete chaos, and you couldn't escape the water... even with our bags people would throw large buckets of water directly at your face. it was fun, but exhausting.
After the complete chaos of Bangkok, we headed down to Koh Samet, and island south of where we are currently teaching, and spent a couple days relaxing during the day and partying all night, which, of course, ended up being drenched by buckets of water and swimming in the ocean. We were always safe, of course
So now we are back at school, just met the new group of kids, and it's hard not to have favorites from the ones that are returning from last camp. Should be fun, we'll see!
Hope all is well, glad to hear the cabin is coming along, and will be ready for me to visit, maybe, if I have time when i come home for christmas! Can't wait for the cruise!
Love you all
So camp ended, and we ran for the bus, and went to Bangkok to celebrate, what i consider to be, one of the all time great festivals of the world, to compare with Beerfest or even Carnival. Song Kran is the Thai New Year. It consists of 5 days of waterfights. Families loaded in the backs of trucks drive the streets and dump/soak water on you. Everyone has waterguns and buckETS OF WATER... it's literally complete chaos. All the thai people get this powder stuff, and they turn it into a paste and wipe it on your face, saying happy new year (so what dee bee mai) I ended up doing some great thai jokes, Alai Na?(whats that) pointing up to the sky and then squirting them in the face with water... or another favorite namn mot (out of water) then squirting them in the face saying me namn (have water) most all found it to be completely entertaining... i sure did. The nights and days were just complete chaos, and you couldn't escape the water... even with our bags people would throw large buckets of water directly at your face. it was fun, but exhausting.
After the complete chaos of Bangkok, we headed down to Koh Samet, and island south of where we are currently teaching, and spent a couple days relaxing during the day and partying all night, which, of course, ended up being drenched by buckets of water and swimming in the ocean. We were always safe, of course
So now we are back at school, just met the new group of kids, and it's hard not to have favorites from the ones that are returning from last camp. Should be fun, we'll see!
Hope all is well, glad to hear the cabin is coming along, and will be ready for me to visit, maybe, if I have time when i come home for christmas! Can't wait for the cruise!
Love you all
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Teaching
Forgot to upload this, but once i get my computer i should be able to make a littlemore steady of account of the time spent at Asian University.
The kids are really fun, though somewhat spoiled (since this camp is more than 8x's what a "typical" thai makes in a month) but they are still good kids...
They are just nervous about speaking, and shy, but once you get them having fun they're like any other. Teaching them is fun, since half the time it is me running around like a fool trying to get them to understand what I am asking them to do, or get them interested in learning the language to be learned. We get to do lots of projects and art stuff to help, and break up long days teaching. We have AC rooms and access to materials, and they provide a book for a baseline. It's fun.
they have weekly BBQ dance nights, in which we theme up and dance outside (sweating horribly,as it's probably still in the 80's at night) and that's fun.
Started to get into the groove of things,so not much to report... just trying to have fun and teach at the same time, and go out to the islands or on fun dance nights when we are allowed off campus to have fun.
all is well, good talking with everyone on Easter! The cruise is only a couple monthsaway!
The kids are really fun, though somewhat spoiled (since this camp is more than 8x's what a "typical" thai makes in a month) but they are still good kids...
They are just nervous about speaking, and shy, but once you get them having fun they're like any other. Teaching them is fun, since half the time it is me running around like a fool trying to get them to understand what I am asking them to do, or get them interested in learning the language to be learned. We get to do lots of projects and art stuff to help, and break up long days teaching. We have AC rooms and access to materials, and they provide a book for a baseline. It's fun.
they have weekly BBQ dance nights, in which we theme up and dance outside (sweating horribly,as it's probably still in the 80's at night) and that's fun.
Started to get into the groove of things,so not much to report... just trying to have fun and teach at the same time, and go out to the islands or on fun dance nights when we are allowed off campus to have fun.
all is well, good talking with everyone on Easter! The cruise is only a couple monthsaway!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Chaing Mai
So we got to Chiang Mai, in the North of Thailand. We did one day of walking around the city, taking it all in. It is a big city without the mess and chaos of Bangkok. It's nice. The old part of the city is surrounded by a moat, and that is where most of the life is.
We decided to take a Thai cooking class, where we can now say, proudly, we are certified to cook Thai food! We did a full day class, where you start with a market tour, letting us see all the materials we will be using late in the day. We then went to our chef's house where there were individual stations for all 8 of us, with utensils and everything. We learned how to make 7 dishes. It was great. We all did very well and stuffed our faces with curries, pad thai's soups, spring rolls, sticky rice and mango, papaya salad, etc. One part, the "adventure cooking part" we even learned how to make a huge fireball explode from the pan. it was a very very good day. at the end we got a recipe book to be able to cook for everyone when we get home.
The following day we decided to do a 3 day 2 night Hill Tribe trek into the mountains. This was an awesome experience. We started by doing a vigerous uphill hike, and then down a long long road into a valley (actually we started at a little waterfall and lunch...) The first tribe was about 28 families, and they live nestled in a valley. All the houses have their own rice paddies and livestock tied up right below their house. Literally you can hear the cows and buffalo sitting under you as you sleep. They made us a great dinner of curry and vegetables. We got to walk around the village and see daily life, and go to a small church. The next day we did a 3-4 hour hike through more paddies and hills before coming to an elephant camp. We got to ride the elephants for about an hour, half the time we got to sit on their heads. We then treked into the next village and got to play games and hang out with a bunch of kids while some people played soccer. The shower situation was interesting. the first place had a large piece of bamboo shooting out from the rocks above in the stream so you could stand under the "shower" in the river to clean up. The second shower was just getting in the river and washing off. The third day we woke up and boarded our bamboo rafts, that are made by hand by tying together bamboo (very simple) and standing on them and using long bamboo poles to navigate the river. We spend about 4 hours rafting down the river, which was calm at points, and small rapids at others. It was overall a really really great three days.
The following day we took it easy and walked around the city again, checking out the temples and wats. We saw a teak wat, and old ruined wat, and even at one wat got to sit and talk to a monk, who is 22 yrs old, and finishing up his last two years of schooling. We learned all about a monks life and what he wanted to do once he had finished school. Quite the lifestyle.
Today, March 5th, we took a local bus 4 hours north to a city called Chiang Rai. We checked in and are about to see what there is to do around here for the next day or so, then we head to bangkok for the weekend. We will sadly be saying bye to my friend Dave from school who has been traveling with us for the past 6 weeks. He's on his way to south africa. Then I move into school on the 12th, and start teaching officially on the 15th. Talk to everyone soon!
We decided to take a Thai cooking class, where we can now say, proudly, we are certified to cook Thai food! We did a full day class, where you start with a market tour, letting us see all the materials we will be using late in the day. We then went to our chef's house where there were individual stations for all 8 of us, with utensils and everything. We learned how to make 7 dishes. It was great. We all did very well and stuffed our faces with curries, pad thai's soups, spring rolls, sticky rice and mango, papaya salad, etc. One part, the "adventure cooking part" we even learned how to make a huge fireball explode from the pan. it was a very very good day. at the end we got a recipe book to be able to cook for everyone when we get home.
The following day we decided to do a 3 day 2 night Hill Tribe trek into the mountains. This was an awesome experience. We started by doing a vigerous uphill hike, and then down a long long road into a valley (actually we started at a little waterfall and lunch...) The first tribe was about 28 families, and they live nestled in a valley. All the houses have their own rice paddies and livestock tied up right below their house. Literally you can hear the cows and buffalo sitting under you as you sleep. They made us a great dinner of curry and vegetables. We got to walk around the village and see daily life, and go to a small church. The next day we did a 3-4 hour hike through more paddies and hills before coming to an elephant camp. We got to ride the elephants for about an hour, half the time we got to sit on their heads. We then treked into the next village and got to play games and hang out with a bunch of kids while some people played soccer. The shower situation was interesting. the first place had a large piece of bamboo shooting out from the rocks above in the stream so you could stand under the "shower" in the river to clean up. The second shower was just getting in the river and washing off. The third day we woke up and boarded our bamboo rafts, that are made by hand by tying together bamboo (very simple) and standing on them and using long bamboo poles to navigate the river. We spend about 4 hours rafting down the river, which was calm at points, and small rapids at others. It was overall a really really great three days.
The following day we took it easy and walked around the city again, checking out the temples and wats. We saw a teak wat, and old ruined wat, and even at one wat got to sit and talk to a monk, who is 22 yrs old, and finishing up his last two years of schooling. We learned all about a monks life and what he wanted to do once he had finished school. Quite the lifestyle.
Today, March 5th, we took a local bus 4 hours north to a city called Chiang Rai. We checked in and are about to see what there is to do around here for the next day or so, then we head to bangkok for the weekend. We will sadly be saying bye to my friend Dave from school who has been traveling with us for the past 6 weeks. He's on his way to south africa. Then I move into school on the 12th, and start teaching officially on the 15th. Talk to everyone soon!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Back to the "Motherland"
Well, i am back in Thailand, thank god. Vietnam was fun, but I am very excited to be back in Thailand, where the food is better, the noise is less and we speak the language a little bit more. It's amazing how much better received you are when you can do simple transactions in Thai.
We flew from Hanoi, Vietnam to Bangkok and then took a night train that evening up to Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand. It's the second largest city in Thailand. It's .... ohh no! i need to go eat lunch. ill update this later!
We flew from Hanoi, Vietnam to Bangkok and then took a night train that evening up to Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand. It's the second largest city in Thailand. It's .... ohh no! i need to go eat lunch. ill update this later!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Vietnam
Ok, so we've been in Vietnam about a week now, and it calls for an update.
The busride from Cambodia was long, and boring, and warm, and crowded... so all in all not too bad. We arrived in Saigon (District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City). Luckily we found a room right around the corner for $15 between the three of us with A/C warm water and a TV and fridge. Not too shabby. Dave had become sick, we assumed it was Dengue or something equally awful, for he spent the whole time in Saigon in bed, watching TV, going for short walks and then returning to bed. We did one full day of pure shopping, because you can find all sorts of worthless junk for a dollar, which makes it seem worth buying. I did reletively ok, since we had been to the exact same markets two years prior, and nothing seemed too needed. The food in Vietnam isn't the greatest, and we ended up finding some really good and cheap western places, to get sandwiches and salads.
Another day I did an all day tour out to see a Cao Dai temple, which is a religion infusing Catholicism, Daoism, Buddhism, Confucionism, etc...) The temple was really neat, with large pillars and dragons wrapping around them. It was pretty cool to see. We then head to the Cu Chi tunnels, where the Viet Cong fought during the Vietnam/American War. They are a serious of 250 km underground where the VC lived and fought, making it almost impossible for the American troops to see of fight back. It was really fun running around and crawling through the tight litttle tunnels in pure darkness and stuffy hot air... for about 2 minutes, then you want out.
A third day we went into Chinatown which ended up being the same as everywhere else with the people looking a little more Chinese.
We decided to take a sleeper train and stop over in the middle of Vietnam for a day or two before heading up to Hanoi, but once we got there, the train schedule was awful and would make us either stay 3 days there or leave immediately, so we jumped back on another overnight train hours later. It ended up being about 36 hours on the trains overall, but the sleeper cars are great when you just nap and stare out the window and read, so it went by very fast.
When we got into Hanoi we went straight to the Old Quarter, where the streets are narrow, packed with people, motos, and an unbelievable amount of buld goods from candy to shoes to chickens. One of the most little chaotic towns we've seen. It's crazy and all day and night you just hear people honking and blaring their horns. In Asia, unlike the US, a horn is a very liberally used instrument to say, hello, im right here, behind you, watch out, move over, im coming around you, hurry up, why are you stopped, go faster, im coming around the corner, anyone there... and anything else possible. Some of the riders have their kids in the front and sometimes you see a 2 yr old just sitting there holding the horn down, but the parents can hardly stop them for they need to focus on not hitting one of 102,938 other things in the street at the time. It's great for an early morning headache.
We did a two day one night trip to Halong Bay, where there are 1,980 islands shooting out from the water of the bay, many with caves and temples build on and around them. The trip was on an old junk (a type of boat) and we slept in cabins below. There were 11 of us, all 25 and under, from England, Canada and Japan, so it was a really fun trip. The next morning we continued a tour of the bay and then head back to Hanoi
Luckily our mail came through, to help us get the Non Immigrant B visa we need in order to legally work, so now we have to wait the weekend to trun it in on monday and get started on the visa before we head out, either into Laos, or up to Northern Thailand. There are many horror stories of the busride to Laos, taking from 12-38 hours so we will probably end up flying somewhere instead... but we're not too sure.
Just today I got to go and see Ho Chi Minh's body, in a mosuleam, where it has been preserved and put on display. It looks like he's just slepping peacefully in a comfy little bed. It's interesting because you can't talk, or use your phone or camera, or put your hands in your pockets or stop walking... the gaurds just push and shove you right through to make sure the hundred and hundreds of people each morning get to see him. Now it's a couple days to try to enjoy the chaos of Hanoi and check out the sights while we wait for our Visa's to let us back into Thailand. Let's hope it's not a huge pain to get everything checked out and legal... but who knows, it's SE Asia, and nothing is as easy as it should be.
The busride from Cambodia was long, and boring, and warm, and crowded... so all in all not too bad. We arrived in Saigon (District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City). Luckily we found a room right around the corner for $15 between the three of us with A/C warm water and a TV and fridge. Not too shabby. Dave had become sick, we assumed it was Dengue or something equally awful, for he spent the whole time in Saigon in bed, watching TV, going for short walks and then returning to bed. We did one full day of pure shopping, because you can find all sorts of worthless junk for a dollar, which makes it seem worth buying. I did reletively ok, since we had been to the exact same markets two years prior, and nothing seemed too needed. The food in Vietnam isn't the greatest, and we ended up finding some really good and cheap western places, to get sandwiches and salads.
Another day I did an all day tour out to see a Cao Dai temple, which is a religion infusing Catholicism, Daoism, Buddhism, Confucionism, etc...) The temple was really neat, with large pillars and dragons wrapping around them. It was pretty cool to see. We then head to the Cu Chi tunnels, where the Viet Cong fought during the Vietnam/American War. They are a serious of 250 km underground where the VC lived and fought, making it almost impossible for the American troops to see of fight back. It was really fun running around and crawling through the tight litttle tunnels in pure darkness and stuffy hot air... for about 2 minutes, then you want out.
A third day we went into Chinatown which ended up being the same as everywhere else with the people looking a little more Chinese.
We decided to take a sleeper train and stop over in the middle of Vietnam for a day or two before heading up to Hanoi, but once we got there, the train schedule was awful and would make us either stay 3 days there or leave immediately, so we jumped back on another overnight train hours later. It ended up being about 36 hours on the trains overall, but the sleeper cars are great when you just nap and stare out the window and read, so it went by very fast.
When we got into Hanoi we went straight to the Old Quarter, where the streets are narrow, packed with people, motos, and an unbelievable amount of buld goods from candy to shoes to chickens. One of the most little chaotic towns we've seen. It's crazy and all day and night you just hear people honking and blaring their horns. In Asia, unlike the US, a horn is a very liberally used instrument to say, hello, im right here, behind you, watch out, move over, im coming around you, hurry up, why are you stopped, go faster, im coming around the corner, anyone there... and anything else possible. Some of the riders have their kids in the front and sometimes you see a 2 yr old just sitting there holding the horn down, but the parents can hardly stop them for they need to focus on not hitting one of 102,938 other things in the street at the time. It's great for an early morning headache.
We did a two day one night trip to Halong Bay, where there are 1,980 islands shooting out from the water of the bay, many with caves and temples build on and around them. The trip was on an old junk (a type of boat) and we slept in cabins below. There were 11 of us, all 25 and under, from England, Canada and Japan, so it was a really fun trip. The next morning we continued a tour of the bay and then head back to Hanoi
Luckily our mail came through, to help us get the Non Immigrant B visa we need in order to legally work, so now we have to wait the weekend to trun it in on monday and get started on the visa before we head out, either into Laos, or up to Northern Thailand. There are many horror stories of the busride to Laos, taking from 12-38 hours so we will probably end up flying somewhere instead... but we're not too sure.
Just today I got to go and see Ho Chi Minh's body, in a mosuleam, where it has been preserved and put on display. It looks like he's just slepping peacefully in a comfy little bed. It's interesting because you can't talk, or use your phone or camera, or put your hands in your pockets or stop walking... the gaurds just push and shove you right through to make sure the hundred and hundreds of people each morning get to see him. Now it's a couple days to try to enjoy the chaos of Hanoi and check out the sights while we wait for our Visa's to let us back into Thailand. Let's hope it's not a huge pain to get everything checked out and legal... but who knows, it's SE Asia, and nothing is as easy as it should be.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Ode to Rocks
Our first day in cambodia was in transit to a city called Siem Reap. The city itself is really nice, actually, as it caters a highly international crowd. We spent the afternoon just walking around, finding great food for a dollar and checking out the city. The next morning we rose at 530 am to get a cart attached to the back of a motorbike to go out to Angkor's temples. In the day, we saw about 12 different ruins (Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom [Bayon, Baphuon, Terrace of Elephants, something involving the king] Phreah Khan, Neak Pean, Ta Som, Eastern Mebon, Sra Srang, Banteay Kdei, Ta Phrohm, and of course, Angkor Wat. It was such a long day, but well worth every penny and minute. The temples are gorgeous, with stone faces carved meticulously into the facadesa and perching on the towers. Some have been overgrown by the jungle (Think of Tomb Raider... since we saw the one it was filmed at). Giant trees, incence, statues, gates, gaurds, unbelievably detailed stone walls covered in intricate carvings... it was truely a sight to behold. You'll just have to see the pictures. We saw sunrise and sunset, all within the ruins, and had a driver all day taking us around. We even had lunch and snacks and waters from the people that still live within the ruins. It was an amazing day.
tHE NEXT DAY WE OPTED TO GET AHEAD OF SChedule and went to Phenom Phen, with a bumply little 6-7 hours bus ride. Phenom Phen is the capital city, but with few buildings over 3/4 stories, it's hard to remember that you're in a huge city. We scoped out the sights near and around our guesthouse the first day.
The following day was devoted to the shopping experience that is the Russian Market and Central Market. Here you can get real brand name clothing (as much of it is made here) for dollars. you can get watched and necklaces and shirts and pants and sildk and scarfs and anything else you want for dollars. It was fun. Luckily we can't carry too much so I had to limit myself to a couple items, the best of being a birthday gift for my brother. (check the mail ill send it to mom and dad unless i find good internet and get your address.) There were some other little things, dont worry grandma and mom, and maybe dad and shelley and nick... and mom's classroom... We spent a full day shopping around twomarkets. the first one, the russian market it a giant mess of stalls mere feet apart with little isles and paths around. it is caotic, as you can be in clothing one second and with pig snouts the next.
the central market is in a big building that is a huge done with 4 wings full of merchandise. same same stuff. this one had a lot of beautiful floral arrangements outside as well.
Today, the 12th, we spent in a sombering tour of S-21 and the Killing Fields. It was the Khmer Rouge that devistated the country in the late 70's killing anywhere from 300000 to a couple million people... no one knows. It was ethnic cleansing and genocide, and we toured a high school turned prison camp where people slept 50 to a room chained to the ground or in cells hardly big enough to lay in. Almost everyone that went through the camp was tourtured, questioned and then sent to the Killing fields to be killed and thrown in mass unmarked graves. So that's not fun, but well worth the trip to understand where Cambodia was, and how far it has come today. The afternoon was spent checking out the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda (where they have 5,000 Kilograms of silver plates on the floor) That was a nice change of pace. We had a great lunch inbetween and an even better indian food dinner. Tomorrow we take a nice little 7+ hour bus ride into Saigon to experience, once again, all that is Vietnam in a whirlwind tour of the country.
i heAR you'rew all up in the snow... lucky. i don't remember what cold feels like, unless it's at night when you rip off your clothing because your back is stuck to everything and your face is drowing in sweat... but then again, it's winter here and the cold season. lets see how i feel in april/may
love you all and tell chase to get out here, he'd love it!
tHE NEXT DAY WE OPTED TO GET AHEAD OF SChedule and went to Phenom Phen, with a bumply little 6-7 hours bus ride. Phenom Phen is the capital city, but with few buildings over 3/4 stories, it's hard to remember that you're in a huge city. We scoped out the sights near and around our guesthouse the first day.
The following day was devoted to the shopping experience that is the Russian Market and Central Market. Here you can get real brand name clothing (as much of it is made here) for dollars. you can get watched and necklaces and shirts and pants and sildk and scarfs and anything else you want for dollars. It was fun. Luckily we can't carry too much so I had to limit myself to a couple items, the best of being a birthday gift for my brother. (check the mail ill send it to mom and dad unless i find good internet and get your address.) There were some other little things, dont worry grandma and mom, and maybe dad and shelley and nick... and mom's classroom... We spent a full day shopping around twomarkets. the first one, the russian market it a giant mess of stalls mere feet apart with little isles and paths around. it is caotic, as you can be in clothing one second and with pig snouts the next.
the central market is in a big building that is a huge done with 4 wings full of merchandise. same same stuff. this one had a lot of beautiful floral arrangements outside as well.
Today, the 12th, we spent in a sombering tour of S-21 and the Killing Fields. It was the Khmer Rouge that devistated the country in the late 70's killing anywhere from 300000 to a couple million people... no one knows. It was ethnic cleansing and genocide, and we toured a high school turned prison camp where people slept 50 to a room chained to the ground or in cells hardly big enough to lay in. Almost everyone that went through the camp was tourtured, questioned and then sent to the Killing fields to be killed and thrown in mass unmarked graves. So that's not fun, but well worth the trip to understand where Cambodia was, and how far it has come today. The afternoon was spent checking out the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda (where they have 5,000 Kilograms of silver plates on the floor) That was a nice change of pace. We had a great lunch inbetween and an even better indian food dinner. Tomorrow we take a nice little 7+ hour bus ride into Saigon to experience, once again, all that is Vietnam in a whirlwind tour of the country.
i heAR you'rew all up in the snow... lucky. i don't remember what cold feels like, unless it's at night when you rip off your clothing because your back is stuck to everything and your face is drowing in sweat... but then again, it's winter here and the cold season. lets see how i feel in april/may
love you all and tell chase to get out here, he'd love it!
Friday, February 8, 2008
Cambodia
Two years ago, I was denied entry into this country due to a "random" selection on Semester at Sea Fall 2005. I blame the government, global warming and India. Today, after waking up at 420 AM, taking a 4 hours bus, 2 hour border crossing and 3 hour taxi ride, I arrived in this hidden country. Exhausted. The bus was good, except for the 2 thai girls and one thai guy that started to vomit on the floor. The border crossing went smoothly, ignoring the fact visa's are 20 bucks and making you pay 33. The taxi ride was ok, from the mafia, who drives 60 mph on a dirt road littered with potholes, turned, construction, chunks of rock and cement, 1000 bikes and moto's with dead pigs hanging off the back... it was a long day....
But we're in Cambodia! Bet Chase is jealous. We plan do do a all day sunrise to sunset ankgor wat temple exploration tomorrow. look into buying tons of fake merchandise, and eat for 1-2 bucks a meal. good times. We left out house in hua hin, retirement capital of Thailand, and went to BKK for two nights, saying goodbye to our Canadian friends and out Ennglish friend we'd been traveling with for 2 weeks. We met up with an old TEFL friend at his new apartment, which was great with 16th story views of BKK skyline.
Other than that, I got a call from Shelley, which was great. Hope all the family is doing well, hope mom got my text for her anniversary. ok, more later
But we're in Cambodia! Bet Chase is jealous. We plan do do a all day sunrise to sunset ankgor wat temple exploration tomorrow. look into buying tons of fake merchandise, and eat for 1-2 bucks a meal. good times. We left out house in hua hin, retirement capital of Thailand, and went to BKK for two nights, saying goodbye to our Canadian friends and out Ennglish friend we'd been traveling with for 2 weeks. We met up with an old TEFL friend at his new apartment, which was great with 16th story views of BKK skyline.
Other than that, I got a call from Shelley, which was great. Hope all the family is doing well, hope mom got my text for her anniversary. ok, more later
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Southern Thailand
So, I'll make this as quick and detailed as possible.
We left Hua Hin to do a border run to Burma, which was really cool. We took a little longtail boat across a big river, stopping at little Immigration Island Checkpoints. It was beautiful and being out on the water was really fun. By far, it was the best border run Ive done to date. We then hitched a bus to Surat Thani to catch a night ferry to the island of Koh Pha-ngan, where the legendary Full Moon Party is held. The boat was unbelievably fun, it's like a floating camp. The top floor is all mats where you all cram in and sleep. Everyone gets drinks so you just chat and hang out and have fun. Then I met some Malaysians and we decided to go sit on the front of the boat, which was loaded with produce. So we climbed over grapes, lettuce, oranges all sorts of stuff and sat at the front of the boat on produce. It was really fun, dangerous, but really fun. We got to the island at 6 a.m. and walked all the way down to our little beachside bungalo. It was a shack, but right on this whitesand beach with mangrooves and it was gorgeous...
The full moon party was unbelievable. thousands and thousands of people dancing the night away out on this huge beach. sometimes there can be as many as 25000-30000 people there. it was really really cool. we danced and partied till about 530 am, then i had to retire for the night. It is a really fun island, and I even got to meet up with a friend from home, which was really fun.
We then took the boat back and went to a place called Khao Sok National Forest. This was what you consider a Jungle to be. Huge trees, vines hanging everywhere, lush green vegetation. it was realy really fun. we did two different hikes. the first one was about 7 K round trip to a waterfall called "sip ed chan" which means 11 layers. It was cool, but we got leaches on our feet and then I was attacked by a swarm of bees who liked the way i smelt (like a dirty sweaty mess) The hike was really fun though. My feet got torn up by my keens, and the leaches, so the next day was tough
The following day we did what I like to call the Death Hike. It was about 16-18 K roundtrip, took us about 7 hours roundtrip. It was fun at first, really easy, then it turned to straight vertical climbs, where you needed to hold onto vines ad tree roots to pull yourself up and climb down. the killer was the heat and humidity. you sit there and sweat and sweat and sweat. we both took 2 liters of water and they were gone half way. the shirt i was wearing would probably have been drying if i jumped in a pool. imaging doing a hike, a hard rigerous hike, in a sauna. then imagine you do it with clothes that just came from the hot dryer. That's about half of what it felt like. hoooooooot. but after it was fun to look back. the waterfall was really cool, with a nice pool to swim in to cool off. sadly i was once again attacked by bees and had a "unstable" moment of flailing my arms about.
After the national forest we went to Phuket, to spend the evening before going to Koh Phi Phi. We found the most delicious store in the world Banana Variety. Imagine...
We then took a boat out to Koh Phi Phi, a stunning island in the South of Thailand. It was really cool and we spent one whole day kayaking around the bay. it was exhuasting but we got to see some really amazing parts of the island, limestone cliffs jetting straight up out of the ocean, then i tipped the kayak, then we went to monkey beach and around to a little cove that was stunning.
Jo's birthday was the 29th, so that involved a lot of buckets of liquor and a bar that lets drunk friends fight in the ring for buckets. we went straight upstars to the dancing portion and watched some liquid enduced entertainment and dances and had a really good time. it was fun.
the next day was a recovery day, then an all you can eat buffet, which made us all sick. so we evacuated the island and went to phuket for a night in patong, a lively night area and then took a 12 hour bus ride back to Hua Hin to relax and rest up before starting a 4 weeks SE asia whirlwind expedition...
hope that was a decent update!
We left Hua Hin to do a border run to Burma, which was really cool. We took a little longtail boat across a big river, stopping at little Immigration Island Checkpoints. It was beautiful and being out on the water was really fun. By far, it was the best border run Ive done to date. We then hitched a bus to Surat Thani to catch a night ferry to the island of Koh Pha-ngan, where the legendary Full Moon Party is held. The boat was unbelievably fun, it's like a floating camp. The top floor is all mats where you all cram in and sleep. Everyone gets drinks so you just chat and hang out and have fun. Then I met some Malaysians and we decided to go sit on the front of the boat, which was loaded with produce. So we climbed over grapes, lettuce, oranges all sorts of stuff and sat at the front of the boat on produce. It was really fun, dangerous, but really fun. We got to the island at 6 a.m. and walked all the way down to our little beachside bungalo. It was a shack, but right on this whitesand beach with mangrooves and it was gorgeous...
The full moon party was unbelievable. thousands and thousands of people dancing the night away out on this huge beach. sometimes there can be as many as 25000-30000 people there. it was really really cool. we danced and partied till about 530 am, then i had to retire for the night. It is a really fun island, and I even got to meet up with a friend from home, which was really fun.
We then took the boat back and went to a place called Khao Sok National Forest. This was what you consider a Jungle to be. Huge trees, vines hanging everywhere, lush green vegetation. it was realy really fun. we did two different hikes. the first one was about 7 K round trip to a waterfall called "sip ed chan" which means 11 layers. It was cool, but we got leaches on our feet and then I was attacked by a swarm of bees who liked the way i smelt (like a dirty sweaty mess) The hike was really fun though. My feet got torn up by my keens, and the leaches, so the next day was tough
The following day we did what I like to call the Death Hike. It was about 16-18 K roundtrip, took us about 7 hours roundtrip. It was fun at first, really easy, then it turned to straight vertical climbs, where you needed to hold onto vines ad tree roots to pull yourself up and climb down. the killer was the heat and humidity. you sit there and sweat and sweat and sweat. we both took 2 liters of water and they were gone half way. the shirt i was wearing would probably have been drying if i jumped in a pool. imaging doing a hike, a hard rigerous hike, in a sauna. then imagine you do it with clothes that just came from the hot dryer. That's about half of what it felt like. hoooooooot. but after it was fun to look back. the waterfall was really cool, with a nice pool to swim in to cool off. sadly i was once again attacked by bees and had a "unstable" moment of flailing my arms about.
After the national forest we went to Phuket, to spend the evening before going to Koh Phi Phi. We found the most delicious store in the world Banana Variety. Imagine...
We then took a boat out to Koh Phi Phi, a stunning island in the South of Thailand. It was really cool and we spent one whole day kayaking around the bay. it was exhuasting but we got to see some really amazing parts of the island, limestone cliffs jetting straight up out of the ocean, then i tipped the kayak, then we went to monkey beach and around to a little cove that was stunning.
Jo's birthday was the 29th, so that involved a lot of buckets of liquor and a bar that lets drunk friends fight in the ring for buckets. we went straight upstars to the dancing portion and watched some liquid enduced entertainment and dances and had a really good time. it was fun.
the next day was a recovery day, then an all you can eat buffet, which made us all sick. so we evacuated the island and went to phuket for a night in patong, a lively night area and then took a 12 hour bus ride back to Hua Hin to relax and rest up before starting a 4 weeks SE asia whirlwind expedition...
hope that was a decent update!
Saturday, January 19, 2008
I have a job, in two months...
So, quick update.
I got a job working a summer camp, two 4 week sessions
I don't start till 2nd week of March, so I have decided to travel south east asia for a little. I am going south to the islands (Koh Pha Ngan, Phuket, Koh Phi Phi) and some national parks for 2 weeks, then ill head up north to the chaing mai/rai area. as time permits ill probably check out Laos, and maybe Vietnam and Cambodia...) Then I'll work for two months, and in that time probably secure a position for the academic school year starting in May.
Tomorrow is another border run to Burma, and then I'm off the the island for some fun and Full Moon Parties (world known for all night partying on the beach)
Hope all is well!
I got a job working a summer camp, two 4 week sessions
I don't start till 2nd week of March, so I have decided to travel south east asia for a little. I am going south to the islands (Koh Pha Ngan, Phuket, Koh Phi Phi) and some national parks for 2 weeks, then ill head up north to the chaing mai/rai area. as time permits ill probably check out Laos, and maybe Vietnam and Cambodia...) Then I'll work for two months, and in that time probably secure a position for the academic school year starting in May.
Tomorrow is another border run to Burma, and then I'm off the the island for some fun and Full Moon Parties (world known for all night partying on the beach)
Hope all is well!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Hua Hin
So we came from Bangkok to Hua Hin, a couple hours on the Upper Southern Gulf of Thailand. We got a bus, came into town and got a hostel. We decided to start the house/job hunt, and ended up with a great 3 story town house for the month of January, to base our job hunting. The house is great, near the Royal Palace and Queen's Park, in a relatively quiet and safe area, about 6 minutes on bike from the city center. We quickly found out that the jobs in Thailand really want you to work for them, but they won't hire you until the school year starts. This means that schools would love to hire us, but can't get us working until May 1st, and there is no way any of us can wait that long. Of course we found this out the day we got our townhouse, but it seems that anywhere in Thailand, for normal Thai schools, would be in a similar problem. So we have been looking all over...
We did get one job offer from Stamford International University, with their English Immersion program, but have not fully decided on that one. It would be amazing, and we could even start teaching University level intro English classes, but we feel that teaching kids would be more rewarding for us. So that is one option, if things get out of hand.
Another school really liked us, and was trying to figure out a way to pay us half time until may when we can start working for fulltime. This sounded ok, but we have started to question if Hua Hin is somewhere we would want to spend 6 months or a year, as there really isn't a young scene, or a huge backpacker scene... so we'r just conflicted and torn.
The worst part is that our Tourist Visas are coming to and end. We have to do a border run next weekend, and if we can get a 2 or 3 month tourist visa from Malaysia, we may make the trek, but if not we're planning on renewing for one more month, and then just figuring it out.
The money is going, but not horribly fast, so we're not in a GIANT rush, but the visa thing does suck a little. There is a really cool Summer Camp, which would be awsome, but it doesn't start till March, and unless we have a tourist visa that can handle it, we may have to flee the country in hopes of something else. But that's not for at least a month.
Weve been trying to see what we can of Hua Hin, which has great night markets, and some decent beaches. There is a temple at the other side of town that has monkeys running all around, so you can pay 60 cents to get bananas and feed them. Today Johanna set them down to take a picture of me, and one big monkey stole the whole bunch and ran up a tree... sneaky little...
There are some cool beaches, and when it's really hot we go for a swim and do some reading. Cooking for ourselves is also great, and putting peanuts and fresh pinapple with stir fry has really become addicting... the best pinapple.. mmm so fresh
Let's see. We rented bikes too, so we have our own transportation, and it gets great gas mileage, i think. I spent about 5 dollars and got around 200 kilometers... i tried to convert it, but didn't remember exactly what I got. Either way Ive driving all over the place in the past week and only spent about 8-10 dollars on gas... gotta love the little motorbikes...
I guess that's it for now, sorry I didn't write earlier.
Oh, Her Royal Magesty, the Princess (the King's sister) passed away a couple weeks ago, and it's interesting to see all the tv adverts for her, and lots of her pictures were put up. Also you are asked not to wear lots of bright clothing, as to respect the time of mourning...
On that note... hope all is well, and I'll post up on this once I figure out if I am going to take any of the job offers, or move to Bangkok to look for jobs, or try for that Summer Camp at the University on the other side of the gulf... Hopefully tomorrow morning will help everyone get back to my emails and we can get some productive stuff done. Also, I just might be able to call people (no promises), so watch out grandma!
We did get one job offer from Stamford International University, with their English Immersion program, but have not fully decided on that one. It would be amazing, and we could even start teaching University level intro English classes, but we feel that teaching kids would be more rewarding for us. So that is one option, if things get out of hand.
Another school really liked us, and was trying to figure out a way to pay us half time until may when we can start working for fulltime. This sounded ok, but we have started to question if Hua Hin is somewhere we would want to spend 6 months or a year, as there really isn't a young scene, or a huge backpacker scene... so we'r just conflicted and torn.
The worst part is that our Tourist Visas are coming to and end. We have to do a border run next weekend, and if we can get a 2 or 3 month tourist visa from Malaysia, we may make the trek, but if not we're planning on renewing for one more month, and then just figuring it out.
The money is going, but not horribly fast, so we're not in a GIANT rush, but the visa thing does suck a little. There is a really cool Summer Camp, which would be awsome, but it doesn't start till March, and unless we have a tourist visa that can handle it, we may have to flee the country in hopes of something else. But that's not for at least a month.
Weve been trying to see what we can of Hua Hin, which has great night markets, and some decent beaches. There is a temple at the other side of town that has monkeys running all around, so you can pay 60 cents to get bananas and feed them. Today Johanna set them down to take a picture of me, and one big monkey stole the whole bunch and ran up a tree... sneaky little...
There are some cool beaches, and when it's really hot we go for a swim and do some reading. Cooking for ourselves is also great, and putting peanuts and fresh pinapple with stir fry has really become addicting... the best pinapple.. mmm so fresh
Let's see. We rented bikes too, so we have our own transportation, and it gets great gas mileage, i think. I spent about 5 dollars and got around 200 kilometers... i tried to convert it, but didn't remember exactly what I got. Either way Ive driving all over the place in the past week and only spent about 8-10 dollars on gas... gotta love the little motorbikes...
I guess that's it for now, sorry I didn't write earlier.
Oh, Her Royal Magesty, the Princess (the King's sister) passed away a couple weeks ago, and it's interesting to see all the tv adverts for her, and lots of her pictures were put up. Also you are asked not to wear lots of bright clothing, as to respect the time of mourning...
On that note... hope all is well, and I'll post up on this once I figure out if I am going to take any of the job offers, or move to Bangkok to look for jobs, or try for that Summer Camp at the University on the other side of the gulf... Hopefully tomorrow morning will help everyone get back to my emails and we can get some productive stuff done. Also, I just might be able to call people (no promises), so watch out grandma!
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
New Years
Hello everyone.
So we have successfully finished the course. We are all certified teachers. After we finished, we took a bus to a town called Pattaya known for it's Adult things. We ended up dancing for two days straight at one of the best clubs Ive been to. A mix between a live band and DJ, it was really good. Then after, on the street people are walking around with giant snakes and baby lemurs and all sorts of naughty things so the walk back is also quite fun.
Then we came up to Bangkok and are staying with our friend Chris, from the course. He has a great place, with a pool on the roof and it's right next to the Skytrain. We went to a movie (4 bucks) and saw I am Legend. No one knew it was scary and we all nearly had heart attacks. I officially hate mannequins. We partied alright (but nothing compares to the dance-fest of Pattaya)No we are relaxing by the pool, getting coveted Western fast food, and trying to feel better. Tomorrow is more sightseeing in BKK, an embassy visit, and hopefully seeing the Guertins at some point.
Ill update again when I have the time. We will be in the search for jobs and an apartment in the next week, hopefully we'll have both by the time I need to do a border run in 20 days. Enjoy New Years! or... i guess you already did.
So we have successfully finished the course. We are all certified teachers. After we finished, we took a bus to a town called Pattaya known for it's Adult things. We ended up dancing for two days straight at one of the best clubs Ive been to. A mix between a live band and DJ, it was really good. Then after, on the street people are walking around with giant snakes and baby lemurs and all sorts of naughty things so the walk back is also quite fun.
Then we came up to Bangkok and are staying with our friend Chris, from the course. He has a great place, with a pool on the roof and it's right next to the Skytrain. We went to a movie (4 bucks) and saw I am Legend. No one knew it was scary and we all nearly had heart attacks. I officially hate mannequins. We partied alright (but nothing compares to the dance-fest of Pattaya)No we are relaxing by the pool, getting coveted Western fast food, and trying to feel better. Tomorrow is more sightseeing in BKK, an embassy visit, and hopefully seeing the Guertins at some point.
Ill update again when I have the time. We will be in the search for jobs and an apartment in the next week, hopefully we'll have both by the time I need to do a border run in 20 days. Enjoy New Years! or... i guess you already did.
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