what i miss.

***note. i wrote this last week with intentions of posting today. there have been recent developments that kind of make my feelings about this change, and i will post about them next.***

9 months ago today, i left the states. im 75% through with the initial year away i had intended. as ive been talking to more people who have just recently gotten to thailand, i find that im frequently being asked about things i miss most from back home. around thanksgiving i made a post about what i missed at that time, but the things that make the list now are very different. i think that as time has gone on, i have become more used to what is available here that serve as near 'substitutes.' for example, though its still really hard to find real juice, they have things that are close. for what is on this list, nothing similar exists to fill in temporarily.

1. bagels. lightly toasted with lox and cream cheese, tomato and onion. o man i cant explain how badly i want this. in fact, mom, this is what i would like you to greet me with at the airport, whenever that day arrives.

2. pickles. dill pickles to be specific. most people who know me know how much i love them, and there arent any kinds of pickles here, or anything close to the pickled taste even, to satisfy this craving.

3. turkey. i never realized that this was a bird that asia doesnt have. you think chicken is close enough to turkey, but when you cant get turkey you realize how different they actually are. and when i dont eat ham or most other sandwich meats, lack of turkey is noticeable (not that i really get to eat sandwiches to miss this, but still).

4. my clothes. im so sick of everything i have over here. and it doesnt help that most of it is stained, ripped, or otherwise ruined by the heat.

5. looking nice to go out. the heat here makes it pointless to even worry about this one.

6. dc nightlife. no explanation needed.

7. crabs. they have seafood out here, but all the marylanders know nothing else is the same. (though thanks mr winer i do have a small container of old bay which i use on pad thai and in tuna, hehe).

8. driving. i thought that driving so much in high school and college had made me hate driving forever. now that i havent been able to have control over my own transportation for so long, im finding i actually do miss it. especially in the summer when the weathers nice and theres fun music to blare.

of course there are other things i get occasional pangs for. at one point i really wanted pretzels. recently the only thing that i wanted was a watermelon jolly rancher, and they are currently on their way from the states :] i miss wearing heels, but at this point im so used to open-toed shoes every single day that i dont know how i would adjust back to that....or most of western culture, come to think of it.

school year on pause.

aside from one exception, i didnt post on the political situation that was happening in thailand the last few months. it is largely due to the fact that while the serious stuff was happening, i was traveling. but its likely that even if i hadnt been, there wouldnt have been much that i could say that would have been worthwhile because it is so complicated and as a westerner living here, i cannot possibly comprehend everything.

i arrived back in thailand from vietnam on sunday, may 16, expecting to head into school the next day to start of the new school year. i found out when i got home that the next two days had been declared a 'national holiday' so that the government could try to gain control of the situation. this meant that all government businesses would be closed, including schools. since i work at a private school, they were able to determine their own plan of action, and they decided to cancel classes for the entire week.

it turned out that those two days the government was giving as holiday were meant to be used to 'get women, children, and the elderly out of the center of the city before the deadline,' which at first was set for monday, may 17 at 3pm and then pushed back to wednesday morning when it became obvious that people were still not leaving. steph and i found out through some of her teachers that this was because following that deadline, the military was basically going to just go in and open fire in order to disperse the group of protestors.

come wednesday, may 19, things got really bad. the military went in and gunfire was exchanged. buildings and businesses were set on fire. tear gas and rubber bullets set off. this 'war zone,' as it was call, lasted for about three days before the red shirt protest leaders started surrendering, bringing the situation to somewhat of a close.

for days i was checking twitter and the bangkok post every few minutes trying to stay up-to-the-minute on what was happening. there was a lot of chaos and confusion, which is still trying to be sorted. however in the grand scheme of things, everything could have been a lot worse. as time has passed, there have been many comments on how the government handled the situation, and this is what i found to be most notable: no other country would have allowed a protest of that magnitude to continue on and harm the economy to the extent that this one did for as long as it did.

bombings in bangkok

im currently in cambodia, on my first leg of my travels, and i will write about my experiences here in the coming days. however, there is a lot happening in bangkok at the moment that i think i should explain here.

for over a month now, there has been a large demonstration by the red shirts/udd who established their camp near the famous travelers site of khaosan road. on april 10, just days before the new year celebrations were to begin, violence broke out between the udd and the military, leaving 24 people dead and hundreds of others injured and effectively canceling many of the activities in the capitol for the holiday and shutting down the main business and shopping district of siam.

red shirts near khaosan.

after a week, tensions started to build again and the red shirts planned a protest near the silom area, another business and tourist district, and the military dispersed more troops with the orders to contain but not fight, even though soldiers were set up around the streets with rifles and barbed wire blocking certain areas. days later, they threatened that violence would be used if necessary. and thats when the bombs and grenades began.

barbed wire and soldiers in silom.

one went off on the bts, the skytrain in bangkok, effectively shutting it down, but so far, the deaths have been minimal. there is a movement called the multi-colored shirts which have formed in opposition to the red shirts and who are now demonstrating against them. the yellow shirts, government supporters, are expected to arrive in bangkok within the next week.

the red shirts believe that the elections by which the current government was selected into office were unfair and illegal. their goal with this protest is to have the current government dissolved and new elections held. they have currently proposed an extension of their timeline, giving the government 90 days to plan for the new elections.

the entire thing is still complicated and im not sure exactly what is expected to come of it, but this is a guideline based on what i understand of the situation. as much as im glad to not be in bangkok during this time, a great part of me wishes i was there to experience this important political time.

songkran

songkran is the thai new year and it is currently 2553. however, years ago they stopped changing their calendar on this date and now switch their years on january 1st of the gregorian calendar. now, the holiday remains as more of a tradition, and since the majority of thais ar buddhist, it also serves at the time to treturn home and visit family, kind of like what christmas is to everyoen in the states. what it also entails, is a giant water fight.

for those who have a 'life list' or 'bucket list,' whether it is written down or just in their head, many include at least one of the following on their list: attend mardi gras in new orleans, attend carnival in rio de janeiro (or salvador!!), attend the tomatino festival in valencia, attend oktober fest in germany. after experiencing my few days of water chaos in chiang mai, i feel it is my duty to spread the word about this festival and convince others that it belongs on that list as well.

i have been told since i arrived in thailand that if i was still here for songkran, chiang mai was the place i wanted to spend it. so, months ago, steph and i decided to book accommodations up north to ensure we would have a place to stay. we had no idea what this water fight meant, how many people would be involved, or what the city would be like compared to how it normally was. we just new that it would be were we would be to bring in the thai new year.

friday the 9th was my last day of working summer school, and my initiation for songkran. the water fight at school lasted hours. the kids were dumping buckets and shooting me in the face with water guns and rubbing the powder goo all over me. luckily, the water was warmed by the sun and not much coolor than the air temperature, so it was just refreshing. that is, until some of the other teachers decided to fill a bucket with ice water. let me tell you, when one of them hit me, the shrieks i made caused more than a few head turns. but overall, it was a blast, and i walked home just after lunch leaving a water trail puddling.

at school, major waterfight!

puddle!

fast forward to the next monday when we were heading back from the trek. though we had been showered with water on our entire trip back, once we hit the heart of chiang mai, i knew why everyone had said this was the place to be. even though the holiday didnt technically start until the next day, people were lined up on the sides of the canal with the same buckets and water guns i had seen at school. the difference was that this was not just a school, but an entire city, partaking in the water festivities, and we couldnt even make it to our hostel, with bags in tow, without becoming fully drenched.

as we entered the city trying to get to our hostel.

i dont have the words to describe the experience. awesome is the only thing that comes to mind, but even that doesnt come close. because of the water, it was dangerous to have cameras, or really anything, on you, and so pictures are few and of poor quality. the first day, tuesday, we stayed on the side of the canal, sharing large buckets with other farang and taking turn buying ice to make the water cold so that when people got hit they experienced that same chilling shock. no worries, with the heat, it was a shock but in the end it was actually really refreshing. but there was nothing that could compare to the faces of everyone when they did get hit. :]

courtesy of the internet: the canal in chiang mai.

the second day, we pulled our trekking group together, plus a few extras we met at the hostel, and rented a truck to drive around the canal in for a few hours. this was the best part of the experience. we had a team name, 'fall like a mango' which came from one of brazil's sayings in portuguese that he translated into english and then made no sense, and on the back of our shirts we all had nicknames. we spent that day riding and water fighting and drinking and dancing....and there were so many moments when i was just hit with the feeling of the moment that cannot be described to anyone who has not taken part of this festival. so if you have no idea what im talking about, GO SEE IT. its something i would make another trip to thailand for on its own.

team fall like a mango!

from left to right: born ready, nipples, tarzan, pterodactyl, nurse nicky, kinky, brazil.

not pictured: scarface, cha-cha, longkorn.

honorary members: joe, keenan, alex.

splash!

best image i could get of the action at the main gate.

since coming back to bangkok, i have talked to other people who spent the holiday in other areas. usually bangkok is a close second to chiang mai, but songkran festivities were canceled this year because of the red shirt protests and the violence that happened the saturday before the holiday started, leaving 24 people killed. so it is more than safe to say that anyone who was in chiang mai had the best start to this new year.

my new favorite day of the year.

i now understand why the other teachers have been preparing since the beginning of december for sports day: its awesome.

the entire school was broken down into four teams: red, yellow, blue, and green.i came to the conclusion that the kids were able to sign up for the team they wanted to be on based on the fact that for the most part, friends were all on the same teams. for us foreign teachers, we were assigned to a color, and since there are four of us, we each got put onto a different team. beth was on yellow, yu long on blue, steinar red and i was on green.

a week before the even, bleachers went up in the courtyard corresponding to the colors of the teams. then a few days before, decorations started going up and i discovered that each team also had a theme. this became important when it came time for the parade and opening ceremony, with a torch and all.

usually the morning assembly starts off with a few songs and then the national anthem, after which we are able to leave to eat breakfast and prepare for the day. this day, we ate before the songs started. during breakfast, i was pulled away into the office where i was dressed by four teachers in a traditional thai costume so that i could march in the parade. i was unaware of this beforehand.

so as they finished dressing me, the parade was beginning, and i was thrown out and marched around the neighborhood, where i of course drew many stares and even some points because i was a farang in thai clothing with the school. i was actually surprised at how big of a deal the parade was, considering the school is so small in comparison to assumption right next door, but the kids got a lot of support, and that was really cool to see. when we got back to school, we stood in formation while some speeches were given and songs were sung, and then the torch was carried across the courtyard and the games could "begin."

however, a majority of the activities had been completed before the actual day, and started even before the holiday festivities began. on friday, the only activities that were actually carried out were the track and field events and dance competitions. still, there was always something going on and parents were there and the kids loved cheering and yelling at each other. it reminded me a lot of color wars. i spent most of the day taking pictures, but occasionally sat and cheered with my students on the green team.

green dresses dominated.

the runners had adults from their teams waiting for them at the finish line.

ice pops were essential in the cooling down process.

i know im not suppose to have favorites, but that one on the left, fifa, is just plain awesome.

as the races were ending, we started hearing our names being said in conversation, though we werent sure in context to what. we soon found out when it was announced over the speakers that the four of us would be racing, further establishing us as objects used for entertainment as opposed to actual teachers. but it was fun and fine and after we went, other teachers and parents did the same so it wasnt too bad.

the day concluded with trophy ceremonies and the blue team won in almost all categories. after that finished, all of the teams coming together to sing some songs and then, of course, the kings song was played to officially end the activities.

....but it was not the end of the day....

there is a holiday for teachers on the 16th of january, which was saturday. in celebration of it, the administrators (i.e. the kasintorn family) threw a party for the entire staff of the school.

there were skits and karaoke (of course) and speeches and poetic readings, all of which i couldnt really understand. we were sitting at a table with a group of teachers who are really nice, but dont really make an effort to bridge the communication gap. so, throughout our EIGHT course dinner, the four of us were pretty much left to ourselves, and honestly, i talk to them every single day, so there wasnt much to say.

after some people started leaving, steinar and i moved over to the table with the teachers we had gone to the waterfall with and talked to more frequently. earlier in the dinner, one of the teachers came in carrying a case of bottles of thai whiskey, which im still unsure as to if this was provided by the kasintorns or not, but people ha been drinking casually throughout dinner. once we moved over to the other table though, the courtyard at our primary school became a scene akin to that of any pub, anywhere (but more likely in asia because of the karaoke still happening in the background.) and i was even getting toasted by the mother of the twins i tutor, as her husband is the son of the kasintorns and principal at another one of their schools.

we stayed at the school until we were told to leave, and a bunch of us came back to our place and hung out in steinars room until people started falling asleep. it had been awhile since i hung out with the teachers at our school, and now that ive decided to stay at my school through the next term, i was happily reminded of how much fun they can be.

logistics

i dont know how much ive said about how my teaching works, so ill go into that a little bit now.

everyone asked me how i was planning on coming here and teaching english to kids who cant speak it when i cant speak thai. fair question. this is how it works: exactly as it sounds. there are so many communication issues that its almost not even humorous. but, in each class, there is a "thai assistant" teacher. they, for the most part, speak english and thai and communicate to the kids what i am asking or want them to do and then the kids do it...kinda.

anyway, for my p1s and p2s and two of my p3 classes, my thai assistants are great and the kids listen. the other two classes...theyre another story completely. but ive kind of given up on them anyway so its not even an issue now. today though, i had no thai assistant teacher in my p1/2 class, as she was setting up for tomorrows greatly anticipated sports day. and i wanted to murder them.

they were jumping on chairs and desks, running around, throwing water on each other, etc. i know from stories that this is what most of my friends deal with on a daily basis, but when ive gotten used to having children do as i ask, its hard to regain the control. the reason why the thai teachers have so much control over the classes is that they are allowed to hit the kids, and usually do so with rulers. so i tried hitting the desk with a ruler, and it broke. then i started having flashbacks to my first day of teaching practice and was ready to throw the cards at them and walk out, when the bell for lunch finally rang.

i could not have been happier.

and to make things better, because of sports day tomorrow, i have no classes :)

a-town and margaritas...am i back at home?

im having trouble writing my posts from laos and new years. only part of the reason there is because most of it was a blur and im not sure how much should be left in or taken out for family back home....but also because it was such a once in a lifetime experience and i dont know where to begin. but rather than not posting until the writers block lets up from those adventures, ill continue with other posts and return to the island of koh phangan when the writers block has ceased.

i had a treat last week because i got to see someone from home. mr anthony kapanowske made an appearance in bangkok. his 'uncle,' who has lived here for nearly 30 years, got married on saturday and so a-town is here for a few weeks with his dad in honor of the ceremony. on wednesday night we decided to meet up on good ol khaosan for dinner and a drink, which unexpectedly turned into many many margaritas courtesy of anthonys dollars and not my bahts.

even though d we dont see each other much now that we dont work together, seeing someone from home was indescribable. its different seeing everyone from the group on the weekends because even though they are great friends, they are still from my life here in thailand. having someone from my life back in the states was just amazing.

so we met wednesday and went out, which was fine, because as it turned out, thursday and friday were the thai testing days, which meant that even though we had to be at school, we didnt have any classes. really, us being here was pointless, but its fine because i got to sit on the computer all day. (you would think i would have been more productive with writing and such, but alas, no.)

friday night i headed over to stephs place to camp out for the weekend. we went to dinner on good ole khaosan again and got to meet bierles girlfriend who was visiting for three weeks during her winter break from school. it was an early night though and after splitting a bucket, we headed back to stephs.

the plan for saturday was to head over to the ancient city, which is why we stopped early friday night. however, we underestimated how long the bus across the city would take, and by the time we were finished the first leg of our journey, with still an hour or so more to go, we realized we would only have a 1/2 hour t

o see the thing, so we decided to meet tasha and opted for another relaxing day at the massage place instead :)

that night we planned on heading back to the mexican place, called coyote, because from 10-12 its ladies night and we get free margaritas! we met for dinner first, and after my first drink anthony came down from the wedding reception, which was only a km away. he told me that i had been invited back, so i left the group and went down the street to meet people. everyone was super nice and offered to show me around or help me find places to visit while i was here.

sunday steph and i had planned on hitting some of the 10+ malls in the siam area so that we could hopefully find some new work shoes, as ours have been destroyed by the conditions here in thailand. some of the malls were just like back home, and some...were not. that means different things depending on each mall, but for example, one was only high end stores which, even over here, are still way too expensive for me, and others were like outdoor markets moved indoors. those were the most interesting because they were just so overwhelming, and we didnt even know where to begin to look for anything.

in the end, i did find work shoes for cheap and also found a nice little treat for myself. :)

steven madden wedges for only $30.....even though i have absolutely NO use for them here.

a vehly mehly clissmus. (just sound it out)

as a group, we had decided earlier to do a secret santa. steph and i suggested that we have a christmas party to swap gifts. after much heeing and hawing, it was vetoed. we thought it would just be the two of us, but it ended up being a small group of us that were around the bkk on christmas day. stephs place is pretty central and very nice, and definitely big enough for many people to stay in comfortably, so she offered her apartment for the gathering. it was a bonus that she has a pool, so we all planned on spending the day poolside with a few drinks and then going out for dinner. but, t.i.t. (This Is Thailand) and so, nothing goes according to plan.

i woke up christmas morning and opened the two presents i had, one from grace and guys mom and one from beth at school, neither of which were expected. after packing up a few things and as i was into the city, steph called to tell me that her pool was closed for a christmas party that was happening the next day, so the few people already there had decided to search for a hotel nearby her place with a pool, since that had been our christmas day plans. luckily, it wasnt too hard to find one, and after they looked online for an hour, they discovered there was one down the street about 10 minutes from her place.

while they were searching, i was shopping, and i was able to find something that resembled christmas cookies. i was very pleased and surprised by this and the fact that they were not exorbitantly overpriced, as i had previously gone on a search for candy canes for my classes and discovered that anything related to peppermint in this country is nonexistent and anything related to christmas is ridiculously overpriced. so i bought the cookies and made my way to the pool.

when i showed up, meghan tasha and steph were all lounging in their bathing suits and santa hats and riha had just jumped out of the pool shivering. (i realize i havent written about most of the people in my group, so ill dedicate a few posts to them eventually). the thing about this pool is that it was in between two high rises, which were blocking the sun. and even though thailand is still scorching, in the shade and with a breeze, it can be quite chilly. still, we had made a decision to stay poolside on christmas and we were determined to see that rhough, so we stayed for a few hours before deciding the next logical step was to go get massages.

now one thing thailand is known for is its massages. there are special schools all over the place which teach traditional thai massage techniques, which is different from what many people generally think of when they think of a massage because rather than it being a relaxing hour of muscle rubbing, it is much more vigorous and entails molding and flexing the body to get all of the kinks out. even though they are insanely cheap here (100-300 baht per hour on average, more in very touristy areas), i had not yet been to get a massage yet. many from our group had taken advantage of this though, and i was warned that it could be relaxing, or painful, and that there was a possibility that i would end up with bruises. still, we hopped on some motorbike taxis and made our way over to the shopping center to get our christmas day massages and then shop for some goodies.

all four of us were put into a room that was already occupied by one other person. steph and i were wearing skirts and so we were given linen pants to put under because of the "bending." still, the lighting was dim and soft music was playing so it was rather relaxing. so my masseuse starts on my feet and i start to drift off, until meghan, who is lying less than a foot to my right, starts giggling. for the rest of the hour, we were periodically interrupted with meghans bursts of laughter, pain, or disgust at what her masseuse was molding her body into. it was an interesting experience to say the least, but very enjoyable nontheless.

after our massages we met up with amy and decided to go shopping at the big c for some holiday treats. what we really wanted was baileys and creme de menthe to make a drink that beth introduced us to which just tastes like christmas. but as i said before, mint is hard to come by here in thailand, and so we had to settle for a very expensive bottle of baileys. while we were shopping, we came across a woman giving announcements over a microphone to the whole store. meghan decided it was the perfect time to start caroling and took her mic to sing jingle bells. though we all walked away and pretended to not know her, it was pretty obvious we were together, as we were 1. the only white people in the store and 2. all wearing our santa hats. its really difficult to take her anywhere sometimes.

we went back to stephs and all showered and changed and waited for andrew to show up so we could go to dinner. while we were getting ready, we drank our baileys with chocolate milk and listened to christmas music, perhaps the only time of this day that made it feel like a normal christmas. that is, until andrew arrived, decked out in a full santa outfit, beard and all. we then understood why it took him hours to get there, as he was busy delivering holiday cheer around the greater bangkok area all evening.

for dinner, we decided to try a restaurant near stephs where you go "fishing" for shrimp in a big pool and then eat what you catch. four of us took that option, but after two hours, none of us had caught anything. finally, i got one, but we decided it was pointless and moved down to another location for fried rice and some cocktails before calling it a night, as by that point, it was 2 and all of the places around us were shutting down.

we spent the night at stephs and had a full day planned for saturday, the first stop being an imax movie theater to see avatar. some people from our group go to the movies every week to get a taste of home. while i enjoy watching movies, im not really a fan of going to the theater even when im back in the states, so i had not yet been while over here. to get there, i had another first experience of riding the bts, the skytrain here in bangkok. i could not believe how clean it was. while the city as a whole is pretty dirty, they really monitor what people do on on the train and keep it exceptionally clean.

anyway, by the time we got to the movie theater, the imax showing we wanted to see was sold out, so we settled for just watching it in 3-d. the earliest showing of that was sold out too, and the next show we could get into only had the front row available (they sell specific seats for the movies like it was a play) but we took it anyway. if you havent seen it yet you should, as the graphics are exceptional and the plot line, even with its underlying political commentary, is pretty good as well.

we rushed out of the movies to go to coyote, a mexican restaurant some ofthe girls found earlier in the week. we were told that ladies get free margaritas from 6-8 on wednesdays and saturdays and we wanted to get in as much of that as we could. but when we got there, it was almost 7, and we found out that on saturdays, ladies night is from 10-12. still, we ordered some drinks and food since we were there. back at home, it would have only been decent, but it was definitely the best mexican food here in bangkok, and we are planning on going back as many times on weds and saturdays as possible.

from coyote we jumped into some taxis and went up north to where riha and jake live. they have made some friends with a group of thai college students and we were invited to one of the house parties they were having. the problem here was that by the time we made it that far up north, the party was already breaking up. so instead, the boys made their way over to the future park mall area to meet us. while we waited, we decided to hop on the caterpillar roller coaster. after paying for our first ride, we befriended the guy working at it and we got another one for free!

so the boys finally got there and we went back and hung out at jakes and all of us stayed up there that night. it was night to see someone elses area, but sunday there wasnt much to do up there. so steph tasha and i came back down to bangkok and went to the indian market. im not sure what i was expecting, but i was not impressed by what i saw. the only good thing that came out of that was that we were able to find a decently cheap place to get good indian food.

even though it was nothing like a typical western christmas, i had an awesome weekend and got to do a lot of firsts in thailand.

its the little things

ive been lacking inspiration to write about lately, so today in school i went through all of my old posts. i realized i mentioned some things that i have not followed up on, so ill use this post to make updates to some of those things.

first, the names.

i started trying to learn them by making seating charts and using their nicknames. after doing so, they promptly rearranged most classrooms. there goes that plan.

so after the first two weeks of school, i decided to have all my classes make name tags which they would use every time in class. of course, many of them lost those after the first day, but there are still some that have theirs, and some that even have theirs out before i walk into the room and ask them to place them on their desks. after a week or so, i took pictures of them holding their name tags, kind of like mug shots, that i have on my computer.

it worked out, and even though im pretty sure im pronouncing many of them wrong, i can recall at least half of their nicknames when i see them in the halls or at gate duty in the morning.

next, my goals.

ive been pretty good at keeping up with most of them. i wish i was running more, but its just so freaking hot and humid here that it makes it hard to do so on a regular basis. a few weeks ago there were about two weeks that it cooled down a bit and i was able to go almost every day, and the looks i got from people as a female running on my own in the evening could compare to those steinar and i received when we were trying to get my keys out of the sewer.

there was one goal i realized i didnt put on my list that i should have, and which i have accomplished beyond what i could have imagined, and that was meeting new people/making new friends. if said it before but i cant say it enough: the group we are here with is simply amazing. ive started to worry about what i will do when most of them go home at the end of this term. i know it wont be horrible, but there is definitely something to be said for having them there to go to during the weekends.

the drawings.

the ones i had the kids draw on the very first day of class. the ones i used to clean up the ants with. the ones i had a personal goal of finding as many uses for as possible. they are sitting in a cubboard in my room. i havent found any other uses yet :(

babysitting.

for the first two weeks, this meant tutoring grace and guy at my school for about an hour. after that, i was asked to meet them at their house after school, with an increase in pay and the need to leave school early, at 3 everyday. after the first week of that, someone at the school discovered that i also know spanish, and so now i am teaching them that as well, with another pay increase.

both of the kids are great. they are very good at both reading and speaking english, though grace is definitely more advanced, and they offer me a chance to interact with kids who can actually understand me. also, while im at their house, i am always given either a pastry or fresh fruit for a snack. they are definitely well off, having multiple women at the house at all times as help, in addition to two houses, one for the family and one for the live-in housekeeper, nanny, cook, etc.

their school has been on winter holiday for the last two weeks until the new year, so i thought i would have a little bit of a break again. but no, last tuesday i showed up at school to find out i would be tutoring at the school for an hour, from 4-5, every day this month since they knew i wouldnt be with the twins. oy.

my "routine."

obviously, the babysitting and tutoring have changed this a bit. since i dont get home until 5 or later, the time i am there seems to go faster. however, even though i am doing more, i have fallen back into the routine i have at home, where it takes me forever to fall asleep, and it is then that i REALLY wish we had internet at our apartment. we seriously need to work on that. it would make a world of a difference, and give me better opportunities to talk to people.

my keys.

no more incidents....yet.

waterfall, part 2

all weekend, though we were emersed among the other teachers, steinar and i were still treated as guests. no matter how much we offered to help cook or clean, we were told to not worry about it. they were always insisting that we were the first to eat, drink, or shower. and whenever we tried something, or were even just sitting there doing nothing, they continually asked us if we were ok. at first, we both tried to insist that we help out or eat second, but after a while we realized there was no point to that and gave in, accepting that this was part of their culture.

so after sleeping on a hard marble floor in a freezing room without a blanket, i was awoken earlier than id prefer for it being a sunday. after another small feast, we were told to shower and pack up, as we were getting ready to leave to head out to a temple and then back to bangkok. what we were not told, was that we would not be getting back home until about 8 hours later.

we stopped first at the temple, which seemed more like a bazaar to me. it was a tiny structure in the middle of stands and racks of everything imaginable, and of course, the lotto tickets they sold as you were walking out after finding your lucky numbers. it reminded me nothing of the temples i had visited while in india, and i was a little disappointed.

we piled back into the van and went on, to where i had no idea but assumed it was towards home. i was wrong. next i knew we were back by the army base we had accidently gone to on our way in. but this time, we didnt turn around. instead, we continued inside until we found a tallish structure. then everyone emptied the van for a second time.

it turned out that here, we were doing some "army training," and did something similar to a zipline, but we were hanging much lower from the apparatus. it was amusing that the first in the group to go turned out to be bai thong, as she was only 4, and they werent even sure at first that she should do it at all because of her size. but shes a daredevil and went without thinking twice. afterwards, some people repelled from the side of the structure as well.

bai thong was upset that she couldnt take a second turn, so after getting in and out of the van yet again, we came upon a quiet place by some water that had paddle boats, kayaks and a zipline designed especially for little kids. bai thong went numerous times, and after a while, the guys decided they wanted to do paintball, which was also available at this area. it seemed too hot for me to even consider putting on all that padding and running around for an hour.

et again, we got back into the van, for what i thought would be the last time. i was wrong again.

we drove around the base to a monument for king rama v, perhaps the most revered monarch of thailand. the day of his death is even a national holiday. so everyone got out here and went up to pray to his statue as well.

we got back into the van, drove around and saw some buildings, and finally hit the road. for about 20 minutes. then, of course, it was time to eat again, and we stopped at a small restaurant for lunch.

finally getting back into the van for the last time, my shirt drenched with sweat from the constant movement in the humidity, i put on my headphones and zoned out for much of the trip back. at some point i turned off my music and at 6 i was woken up by the national anthume playing on the radio, as it does daily at 8am and 6pm. we werent too far from home, and so i decided to stay up for the reminder of the ride...luckily, as i would have been woken up a few minutes later by the guitar and another sing a long anyway.

all in all, i was very happy with the weekend. it gave me a different perspective of thai culture and i even had a lot of fun. it was also nice getting to know some of my coworkers in a different, more relaxed setting than at school when we are at school and seen as the outsiders.

waterfall, part 1

this weekend was interesting to say the least. steinar and i went with some of the other teachers from our school on a trip to what was only described to us as "the waterfall." we were told to meet at the 7/11 by our school at 6 am on saturday with 700 baht. as we were walking in the dark to meet, we got a call saying that it would be a little later. turns out, we didnt end up leaving until almost 8. such is life in thailand.

so we drove about two hours to get to this waterfall, nang rong. the place we were at was actually a bit of a distance from the waterfall, so we dropped our stuff off and changed before heading out. im not really sure what the point of changing was though, since thais swim in their clothing. i put on my bathing suit underneath anyway though.

at the bottom of the waterfall.

all of the pictures from actually being in the water were taken by the others from our group. i went right into the water and didnt want to ruin my camera so i ended up not taking it out. i was so excited to be able to get water for the first time since leaving phuket, and it was actually really clean too, if a little chilly. but the humidity made the water feel amazing, and we stayed there climbing and relaxing for a few hours before we were toldto pack up because we were heading to raft.

most of the group at the top of the dam, after rafting.

so we arrived at a river just past a huge dam, as it happened to start drizzling. by the time we got all of our gear on and were piling into the two rafts, it was a full out thunderstorm with lightning and thunder, which im sure was not the safest thing. still, as we made our way down the river, in the raft with the group who really didnt speak english, we had a blast battling the rain, rapids and language barriers. at one point, we bumped into a raft in front of us, causing ours to tip, and everyone got dumped out. i have to say, except for the coldness following the rain stopping, it was a fantastic experience. once we got to the bottom of the river, we piled into the back of a pickup truck, standing, and rode back to the start. it was a truly thai experience.

me with bai thong, the daughter of ms. tuk ta, another teacher at the school.

once back at the house, we were fed. actually, we were fed constantly. it seems as if the thais eat every half hour, which is why, steinar decided, they are so tiny, because their metabolism never stops. perhaps. but we had a thai barbaque, steaming meats and vegetables for literally hours. following food, or rather during food since it never really stopped, one of the other teachers broke out his guitar and started to play some thai songs, followed by steinar playing some songs from the us. it continued on like that for hours, back and forth between thai and american songs, and sitting outside that night listening to everything, both cultures coming together, and surrounded by thais doing what they normally would whether or not i was here, it hit me that i am actually in thailand.

why thai people are amazing

the best story from my weekend happens to have occurred before the weekend even really started. while on our way home from school, i was looking forward to catching a nap before heading out to meet everyone on khoasan road. as steinar and i were rounding the last bend on the street leading to our apartment building, i reached into my bag to get my keys. they got caught on one of the pockets and slipped out of my hand, falling directly through a hole into a sewer, without even gracing the edge of the concrete.

the sewers here are covered by slabs of concrete with holes the size of the bottom of a solo cup. luckily, this one was not one of the deeper ones and there was no water in it, just brush and some weeds, and we were able to see exactly where the keys landed. so we went to steinars room and got a wire coat hanger.

apparently, 4:00 friday afternoons are quite a busy time for traffic in our little town. as we were kneeling and sitting on the ground with our faces pressed up against the concrete and hands below the surface, the stares we got from the locals were beyond amusing to experience, and just a glance sent me into hysterics enough to make it hard to hold the flashlight on my phone steady. im also sure the fact that i was still in my polo with the name of the school on the back of it made it even more of a sight for them to witness.

after about 20 minutes of us having absolutely no luck, a motorbike "taxi" pulls over and tries to ask us what we are doing. through gestures and steinars limited thai, we were able to convey to him the problem. two minutes later, he waves over another friend, speaks to him for a moment, and then sends him off. he tried to explain to us what he was thinking, but communications got crossed and at one point we were under the impression the other guy went to get a vacuum.

when the other guy returns, we find out the idea was string and a powerful magnet. within a minute, the keys are retrieved, and i am utterly grateful but left without the proper language knowledge to thank them. boo.

a lesson in finding pizza in thailand.

the other day we decided we wanted pizza. now in the area we are currently living in, they are sort of geared specifically to tourists, so even though all of the restaurants serve thai, many of them also serve "european food." this means different things depending on the place, but for some, this includes pizza. of course, after a week or so of thai food for every meal, we were ready for a little taste from home, so meghan and i ventured to one of the better looking restaurants to have a go at it.

the place we walked into was called "dragon" and the woman working there had large dragon tattoos everywhere on her body. she was pretty good at speaking english, unlike many of the restaurant workers around here, and was actually even very funny. we got our drinks and ordered our pizzas. to do so, we filled out a check list with the toppings we wanted on it, which was in english, thai and german (they are one of the most common groups of foreigners around this area and apparently in thailand in general).

though it was pretty hot inside, since the inside is more like an enclosed porch anyway, we were enjoying ourselves and made small talk with the thai girl. she played us some of her favorite english music and told us about the area. finally, about 40 min, she emerges from the kitchen and tells us that there is no more tomato sauce. but she does not just say that there is no tomato sauce, she asks us if we want lasagna, which she has in her hand. since neither of us eat the meat that was in it, we declined, and she proceeded to offer us thai food, spaghetti, or anything else that she had available.

after having our minds and stomachs set on pizza, we decided we would just pay for what we had drank and leave. thats when she went back into the kitchen, and when meghan was sure she heard her ask if there was ketchup available. rather than stick around to see what would come out of the kitchen, we tried to pay for our drinks again but she told us not to worry about it if we promised to come back another time. since she was so sweet and funny, we agreed.

luckily, we went back a few days later and had a delicious meal. pizza included, and the pizza sauce was definitely worth waiting a few days for.

i should have learned my lesson about ordering western food from thai restaurants. tonight a group came asking if we wanted to go for pizza. i thought we were going back to the same place, as it is just a short walk down the road. turned out we went to another place, still not too far away though. the majority of their menu was actually western style food, and so i figured that ordering a pizza would be fine. most of my table ordered burgers or pizza as well.

we went in a rather large group, about 17 total, but split up when we sat down at tables. this in itself is a problem, as most places here only have 1 or 2 chefs in the kitchen. when we go out in groups, there is always someone who ends up getting left out or getting their food way after everyone else is already finished and many have left. this time it was taking quite a while for us to get our food, but we were the last table to order, so we went with it.

after an hour, even the second table was still waiting for their food, and half of our table decided they couldnt wait any longer, paid for their drinks, and left. the three of us who remained had ordered a cheeseburger and two pizzas. what came out was first two burgers. we were then told that they only had enough to make one pizza.

in the end, i did get my pizza. but it was not worth the two hours wait it took to get it. it was more like a crispy tortilla with some cheese melted over top of tomatoes and onions. im sticking to thai food until i get to bangkok, and will then reassess the eating western food situation.