I learned many things on my vacation...

1) Don't trip over things when you are weighted down with a backpack. You will fall and nobody will be there to save you

2) Herbal Nuts are not herbal nuts, they are nuts mixed with dried anchovies. (ugh)

3) When crammed into the back of a picup truck going uphill through a winding road, hold on for dear life or you may fall out.

4) Elephants are big. (I suppose I already knew that... but when you are riding one they actually feel big.

5) Elephants are bristly... and any bare skin that touches them will get poked.

To explain why I am in a bikini while riding an elephant - it's simple really. I was in a pool - bathing the lovely animal, when he decided he didn't want to be bathed anymore and he stood up and I was left riding him back to "camp."... no time to put on normal clothing.

The first picture is just a view of the beach from somewhere in the sea... I have many shots like that. I will share more. For those of you on facebook - you should be able to check out many.

Vacation was wonderful despite learning the above lessons (the hard way). It's quite sad actually to be back in the pollution of Bangkok and the life of having a full time job that requires you to get up early in the morning. Tough life - I know!

I also learned new things since returning to Bangkok

1) busses can change their bus stops whenever they please and they won't tell you about it

2) coming to complete stops to let you on or off a bus is optional

3) when motorcycle drivers get to know you, they see this as an option to drive faster.

anyway... back I go to work

Beaches, buckets and bikinis

Island life... that is what I am living.. .and it is wonderful. Days spent lying in the sun or swimming in the sea, nights spent at the bars meeting people from all over the world. Life is good.

We are on an island called Koh Chang. We spent the first 3 days at a really fancy resort on Lonely Beach. The water was a beautiful aqua-marine colour, with a white sandy beach. Our resort was lovely. Walking along the beach you can stop for a massage anytime (which I did) and indulge in a manicure or pedicure (yet to do, but surely going to happen). The bathing suit collection is constantly growing as every store is selling them for cheap - and who wants to be seen in the same bathing suit twice? As our resort was so fancy we went to the backpackers area in the evenings and met a ton of people. England, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, United States... the whole world is represented over here. People are drinking "Samsung bucets" which are sand pails filled with a bottle of Thai Whiskey, Red Bull, and Coke... extremely strong, extremely cheap, and a little much for me. My new favourite is a coconut shake (served in the coconut) with a touch of Baileys. Trying not to indulge too much, but it looks too good to pass up.

We have now moved on to White Sand Beach. Life is basically the same but the town itself is a bit more built up, with more shops, more restaurants, more bars. We found a fantastic vegetarian menu the other night. The restaurant was lovely, but cats and dogs seemed to like to hang around there and they don't seem to be all that toilet trained. Needless to say, although the food was great, we won't be going back.

There are some amazing fire shows on the beach - basically people dancing with fire sticks. They are amazing to watch... and quite funny. Hair catching on fire, shirts catching on fire... but at least the sea is close by.

Anyway, I could go on and on, and perhaps I will with another post. And when I get back to Bangkok, I promise to post some pictures as I have finally been making good use of my camera.

Must get back to the beach...

thinking

As I was walking home yesterday, I stopped and listened to the world around me. There was a steady stream of honks coming from passing motorists. Some of them wanted to offer me a ride, others just honk for the sake of honking. There is also a steady stream of people saying hello, or shouting, "you, you, you" at me. Or people are so shocked to see me, that they shout out, "farang - good morning." (farang = foreigner, and they always say good morning regardless of the time of day). While all of this was going on around me, I began to wonder... (to quote Carrie Bradshaw) what would happen if I were to wake up tomorrow morning and...



I was 5 inches shorter

I had narrower hips

I had a flatter chest

I was thinner

I had black, straight hair

I had dark brown eyes

I had darker skin

I could speak and understand Thai

I could try on any article of clothing and it would fit me



Basically, how would life be different if I wasn't a foreigner in a foreign land. It is so strange to be the odd one out. It is so strange to be noticed everywhere you go. Sometimes I just want to yell and people and tell them to stop staring - I'm just a human.



How would life in Thailand be different if I was the same as everyone else? I wouldn't get charged extra at the markets just because I have blonde hair and blue eyes. I wouldn't have my thoughts interrupted every 30 seconds as I walked down the street. I would have so many more people to spend time with because there wouldn't be a huge language barrier between us.



But I guess this is a new experience. I've lived for the past 25 years in a world where I blended in with the crowd. Maybe this is how foreigners back home feel. They can't express what they want to express or do what they want to do. Somehow I feel that Canada is more equipped for foreigners, but maybe that's not true. I wonder, what do foreigners in Canada feel like?

Everything is going well - I don't want anyone to worry. Perhaps I am just a little bit homesick. There - I admit it. I'm homesick. But I am happy to be exploring life in Thailand and the life of a teacher. Who knows how long either one will last, but I am learning more about myself and other people everyday. I am truly thankful to be here - but I would love to see a friendly face.

Floods

Another weekend is quickly coming to an end. I can't believe how fast they go. If only the school days went so fast.

I had been told that I was coming to Thailand in time for rainy season leading into Winter (hah - winter, yeah right). There really hasn't been much rain - and mostly at night... except for this past week. Thunder and lightning storms all day and all night. I have never seen so many children terrified of thunder... but the children at my school are terrified. I hate screaming. Really HATE screaming - and was thankful when the thunder had stopped for the day. My entire street has been flooded...calf deep with water. The street in front of my school was flooded as well, making it near impossible to walk to school. (well, I suppose it would be possible..but really) So, I have had more lovely experiences on the back of a motorcycle, riding to school in the rain with water from the roads splashing me the entire way. Last night the water was even deeper, there was thunder and lightning through the night, but oddly enough, I woke up to a dry street. Hot summer day. Now, maybe I imagined the flooding, but that is highly unlikely. I'm just wondering where all the water went so quickly... and why it didn't go somewhere sooner.

Yesterday I sang in a concert... sort of a pre-show to the big concert in November. It was a lot of fun. We sang, and played instruments, and taught all of the conert-goers about meditation. It was a beautiful location - called Garden City. I did take pictures. I just have to learn how to transfer my pictures from my camera onto the computer. I will get to it. For a completely impromptu concert - it went very well and was well received. Hopefully we will sell a lot of tickets for the big show.

Bangkok streets are crowded with street vendors. Tons of food everywhere you go. Only problem is you never really know what it is... and as I mentioned previously... I have seen cockroaches and maggots at some of these vendors. But, luckily for me, October is the Vegetarian Food Festival. If there is a yellow flag - it's vegetarian. Many things still look like meat, but are all made from tofu... or other things. I just don't ask. My friend was eating vegetarian pork rinds yesterday. I chose not to partake in that delicacy... but he seemed to enjoy it. So... if nothing else, I will eat for the month of October and hope that another vegetarian food festival comes up before too long. My cook, the lovely lady downstairs at my building makes lovely food... and knows never to serve me meat. Sometimes I don't know what I want, so she just makes me something. Our conversations are entirely in Thai... I don't speak Thai to save my life... but somehow I end up with a full stomach by the end of the day.

I am taking Thai lessons... trying like mad to learn. I have to do parent/teacher interviews next week and many of the parents don't speak english. I've opted for a translator as I highly doubt I will be struck with the ability to speak Thai in the next few days.

6 more sleeps until vacation... can't wait. I'll try to post picurues soon

Inside the mind of a motorcycle taxi

So... let me preface this by saying that I did get where I needed to go safe and sound with only minimal moments of sheer terror.

As far as means of transportation go, motorcycle taxi is the fastest, and if you aren't going very far, it is also the cheapest. Now, it's not fast because they drive too fast (well, they do, but so does everyone else) but fast because they weave in and out of cars who are at a standstill on the busy streets. Today as I rode a taxi, we were doing just that. Weaving in and out of traffic. At one point my knees grazed the bus we were passing. Oh, did I mention that I sit with both legs on one side of the motorcycle? Yes... well, this is the lady like thing to do. Then, much to my amusement, my taxi driver received a phone call on his mobile. So, he proceeded to take off his helmet and take the phone call with me clinging on for dear life behind him. Then you come to a stop light. Stop lights here seem to last a life time. But why stop at a stop light when you can ride on the sidewalk? So... we rode along the sidewalk for awhile, ducking under trees, and street signs. We then scooted in front of a bus to get back on the main road. It was also starting to rain at the time and I had a bunch of bags with me. I'm pretty sure I held my breath for the majority of the trip. I think in the future, I will stay clear of certain motorcycles. The ones by my apartment are lovely, but the ones who drive like maniacs through main intersections are a bit too much for me. Maybe one day.

cockroaches, maggots, and grasshoppers

So, I saw my first deep fried cocroaches, maggots and grasshoppers the other day. I even took pictures, but I don't have my camera right now. and no, I did not try any. That would be the day. I almost vomitted on the spot. I've heard that these things exist, but hoped I would never have to see them for myself.

Another horrible thing happend: I was sitting with some friends and said, " I need to go buy some trousers." As soon as it happened, I screamed and covered my mouth and prayed that it would never happen again. I actually used the word trousers in a sentence.

I have been going to some of the local markets finding things for my apartment. You barter for everything, which is quite a challenge cosidering the language barrier, but you can usually get them down at least 100 Baht. It's quite hilarious actually. They always want to sell to the blonde girl... I get followed by merchants all the time. Don't worry.. they aren't trying to hurt me.

I went to immigration last week, trying to get a work permit. Apparently that was only one in a series of trips that must take place. I may not have a work permit for another 6 weeks... hopefully i get paid anyway.

I'm teaching piano lessons starting next week. My first student is am autistic Thai child, so it will be a challenge. The money I make doing that is going towards Thai lessons from one of our office staff. I'm determined to learn the language... as challenging as it may be.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all... I sure wish I had a long weekend too, but maybe I will find some people to have thanksgiving dinner with.

Word of the Day: Jump

If anybody out there is planning on having a word of the day - don't make it jump. I have learned after spening 45 minutes jumping around my classroom, that I don't like jumping and hopefully I will never have to do it again. Unfortunately, when you learn new words, you have to review previously learned words the next day - I didn't think this through very well.

These children are lovely, and I am thoroughly enjoying being a teacher. Perhaps I will have a different opinion on that tomorrow, but today I am happy (minus the jumping).

Heading into the tourist part of the city tonight. Wish me luck! I will likely get lost.

Finally, post number 2

Well, I have been in Thailand a month. Gradually getting used to things, but as soon as I think I have figured something out, like a simple bus route, it seems to get changed on me. I think I have figured out how to tell the taxi driver where I live in Thai, but my taxi driver yesterday got lost, and I was of no help. Always an adventure. I just keep telling myself that. I haven't had to use the philosophy that if all else fails, just cry. I hope to not have to use it anytime soon.

I started teaching last week. I wasn't supposed to start until today, but they were really stuck so I agreed to come in. It made for an incredibly tiring and overwhelming three days. Who knew that small children could be so tiring? Well, I'm sure a lot of people reading this could have told me that, but that is besides the point. The course I am teaching is English as an Additional Language. Most of my students are Thai, but there are also a couple of Koreans. I teach all of the students in our school who are struggling with the English language. Some have absolutley no English, and others are a little more advanced. I am hoping to start some music and a choir in the next couple of weeks, but the school's priority is English. To all of you teachers out there: thank you. I never knew what a job this could be. I love it and I hate it all at the same time. I'm just hoping to keep my head above water. Trying not to stress out too much and leaving some time for relaxation.

I've met quite a few people since starting teaching. Our school is one of four of the same name in the city, so there is quite a large group of teachers around. Most are from Britain, but there are also a number from Australia. There is one other Canadian, but she is at another school. I'm finding myself using British words and trying hard not to copy the accents I hear. Even a lot of the students tend to add a bit of a British or Australian accent when they speak.

I am planning a beach vacation in three weeks time with a group of the teachers. It is our half term break and we get a week off! I'm quite excited for that as it will be nice to get away from the crazy city that is Bangkok.

I really need to get out and see some sights of the city, but my first month flew by and now I am busy with other things. It will force me to have exciting adventures every weekend.

This past weekend I did a Reiki course. I also spent a lot of time hearing stories about all of the haunted places in Thailand. Apparently one of our schools is also haunted. Spooky stuff - not exactly sure what I want to believe at this point.

Anyway, that was an un-exciting post. I will try to do better in the future. My apologies. I hope everyone will keep reading...