love is in the air

Last night I was at a fellow teacher's house - not one of my usual haunts - so when I got a motorbike taxi home, I wasn't totally sure he knew where my apartment was. As we were driving there was some 'discussion' about where I lived. And by discussion I mean I told him the wrong way to go and with much pointing and appologizing got him turned around again. The whole time he was asking me questions telling me something to which I could only respond "mai cow jai" (don't understand).

As we got near my apartment he said (in Thai):
"You stay here?"
- "yes"
"Do you stay here asdfaoiyuiy ?"
- "what?"
"Do you stay here with aoiyuiy?" he repeated, pulling over beside the gate.
- "Oh, no, no, stay here one person." I replied as I climbed off the bike.
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
- "No no no... don't have a boyfriend, only one person." I said fishing through my purse for some money. As I handed him his fare he made his move.
"I love you." he said (in English) and smiled hopefully, bringing his hand up to his ear in the universal sign for 'call me'.


Gah. I really need to learn to lie... or at least how to say "Yes, I am married and my husband is at home polishing his gun collection right now." in Thai.

TAG: Code Fish Sauce

Independence Day

It's the fourth of July... and here that's all it is. I'm not going to lie. I'm sad. I'm really really sad. This is my favorite holiday. I am an unapologetic patriotic sap. I love the BBQs, I love the fireworks, I love going to minor league baseball games and heckling the outfielders. I regularly entertain myself by singing the National Anthem or America the Beautiful. I am very sad that I don't really get to celebrate it this year. Even if I wanted to, I don't really have any American friends here to celebrate with. The other American teacher called today and when I wished him a happy 4th he replied "oh, yeah, I forgot." without even a "yeah, you too"





So this year, I'm going to throw myself a pity party and tell you what I miss about grand old United States of America and why you shouldn't take them for granted.





1. Freedom of speech and freedom of the press.


There are topics I'm about bursting to write about here but simply won't. Yeah, there's a 99.9% chance 'the authorities' would never find out about it, but if they did there would be a genuine risk of being sent to jail. Not a risk I'm willing to take.





Censorship isn't as bad in Thailand as it is in many countries, but it is noticeable. Certain websites are blocked if they are considered 'immoral' or if they are disrespectful to the royal family. I've tried looking up things about Thailand on Wikipedia - an arguably neutral source - and run into road block after road block. There are all these protests going on right now and some significant speeches have been posted online... but I just can't access them. Certain movies have been banned, I'm sure a number of books have as well. Obviously there are ways around all of these censors... but still, it's such a shock to this American girl that I can't say or read whatever I want to.





Very nearly as important as that:


2. Western toilets. Toilets that don't require squatting, or a bucket of water to flush them. The ability to flush toilet paper down the toilet instead of collecting it in a foul smelling garbage can beside the pot.





3. Hotdogs in hotdog buns. You can get hotdogs, they are actually quite abundant here. You can buy them at the market, skewered on a stick and attractively snipped along the sides. You can also get them at 7/11. The clerk will helpfully slice them up, dump them in a plastic bag, cover them with sweet & sour sauce and hand you a stick to eat them with. I know they have hotdog buns here, I've seen them. I've just never seen them within fifty paces of an actual hotdog. Do you know what they do with them? They serve ICE CREAM in them! I swear to maude I am not making this up. I walked down the street and saw an ice cream vendor carefully placing two scoops of vanilla ice cream in a hotdog bun and handing it off to a delighted customer. OH THE HUMANITY!





4. Cheese.... I don't want to talk about it.



5. TV. I admit it. I admit it. I miss So You Think You Can Dance and Extreme Makeover Home Edition, PBS Documentaries, Lost, Food Network, all of it ALL OF IT! Yeah, of course they have TV here, but it's all in Thai. I've been stuck watching DVDs, and it's just not the same. If I were home right now I'd be parked in front of the TV and I'm just fine with that.


So you know, if you're lucky enough to be in the States right now go enjoy a hotdog (in bun), munch a bit of cheese for me, flip on the boob tube, go ahead and critique the president, and tonight when you sit on your porcelain thrown, know you're doing so in the greatest nation on Earth.


Or .... you know... at least my favorite one.

Happy Fourth of July everyone!


TAG: Code Apple Pie

The lonely American

I was sitting in Starbucks yesterday, hanging out online, when this farang came up to me and said hello, then asked where I was from. I said I was American and he said, "Yeah I know" (which I doubt, "Hi" is hardly enough to distinguish an accent from) so I told him I was from Oregon. We chatted a bit, figuring out which other Americans in Rayong we both knew, then he very quickly began telling me his life story. I know all about his latest medical crisis, where he met his wife, all about his kids, his last job, where he works now etc. At first I nodded politely, knowing what it's like to be starved for English conversation. But then it just got weird.


He offered to give me his and his wife's phone numbers so I could call them any time I needed advice. I explained that I had been in Thailand for a good 10 months now and was reasonably well sorted, thankyouverymuch. He told me about the school where he'd gotten his teaching degree and I jotted down the information for future reference (still in the thinking/researching phase of deciding to go to grad school) and he told me that when I applied I should tell the guy I know him. I was like "Um, okay Mr. Starbucks man." Then he proceeded to tell me that I should also get my TEFL through them... "Well, I already have my TEFL" ... and that no matter what anyone tells me I cannot get a Thai teaching license without a masters degree. "Ok, but I already have a job and don't really need a teaching license." It was one piece of unsolicited career advice after another. I was flabbergasted. I kept turning back to my computer in the universal "I'm done talking to you." manner, but he was undeterred. I was torn. He was nice enough, and I didn't want to be rude, but man.... time to learn the social cues!


At one point I had told him that my contract was nearly finished and I'd be heading back to the states. At which point he told me he hoped I would stay..... "Um, I'm actually ready to head home now. I've had my adventure, it's been great, but I have a few other things I'd like to do with my life." Finally his wife arrived to collect him, and as he was leaving he said most cheerfully. "And I hope something *really* spectacular happens to make you stay in Thailand."


"Um... thank you?"


Bizarre.


TAG: Code Watermelon

The air is full of spices...

and then some.

I am a huge fan of the movie Sense & Sensibility (the Ang Lee / Emma Thompson version). In the movie, when we first meet Colonel Brandon, Sir John announces "We served in the East Indies together..." to which budding adventurer Margaret Dashwood eagerly asks "Have you really been to the East Indies? What's it like?" Sir John the Spoilsport replies "I'll tell you what it's like - HOT." but Colonel Brandon satisfies Margaret's romantic ideals by whispering "The air is full of spices."


I have no idea where exactly the East Indies are, but I'm pretty sure they're around here somewhere (to be fair, any time a European explorer got more than 1,000 miles from home he invariably thought he was in India). But I can say that I know exactly what Colonel Brandon was referring to.


Often when sitting at the Dive eating lunch, the wind will gust just right and blow in the fumes from the kitchen area. The super heated capsaicin from someone's spicy stir fry takes flight and heads right for us, and whoooo nelly! I imagine it's a bit like being hit with pepper-spray. Our eyes, noses, mouths and lungs are instantly stung with it and much coughing and waving and gulping of water ensues. It's not a romantic sight I can assure you.


Then of course, there's the durian. Lordy lordy lordy, the durian. I very narrowly avoided being fed durian again today at lunch. But I was subject to it's pungent perfume for the rest of the afternoon. Ugh. It's been explained to me that there are many different kinds of durian, of different flavors and intensities, and since Rayong produces a ton of it I really try not to insult it. Instead I just comment that it has a very strong flavor/odor. I've found that a good comparison is cheese - most Thai people don't like even the mildest of cheeses and would surely be repulsed by the stinkier of French cheeses. But I tell them how much I like it, and we generally agree that some things are just acquired tastes.


Of course then they ask me questions about cheese and I tell them about Cheddar and Gouda and Chevre and Havarti ... and then I start to cry. Honestly, the other day I was watching an ad for a company that gives tours of the Great Barrier Reef. There were stunning pictures of coral and fish... action shots of people snorkeling and diving. Then they mentioned lunch on the boat and when they panned across a buffet table showing a sizable platter of assorted cheeses I actually gasped aloud and got misty eyed. I'm having problems here people.


Sorry... what were we talking about? Oh yeah... the air is full of spices... and durian... and mosquitoes.... but no cheese. Don't you wish you were here?


TAG: Code Sticky Rice

How many eyeballs have you eaten today?

After 10 months in Thailand I've finally developed a taste for Som Tam, spicy papaya salad. They make it with peanuts and can actually make for a nice light meal, not just a side dish. I had it for lunch yesterday on the beach, and today for dinner.

But what are those little orange things?

They're shrimp. Teeny tiny little shrimp. And what are the little black spots on the shrimp?

Eyeballs.

Yup... teeeeeeny tiny shrimp eyeballs.

I'm eating eyeballs.

It's possible I've been in Thailand too long.




TAG: Code Sweet Chili Sauce

Saturdays

Oh man. Have I mentioned how much I hate Saturdays?



So a couple of weeks ago I had some parents come in to my class. I've had parents visit before but I'd had some advance warning and one of the Thai staff came in to translate as I chatted with them. This time - nothing. So I did the best I could, made some very general off the cuff remarks about the students and asked if they had any questions. One of them did so I answered them and that was that. Later that day I got a talking to by the Head Teacher (Nicole) - apparently one of the parents complained. Of course I have no clue what the actual complaint was having gone from the Thai parent to the Thai staff to Nicole to me. "Wasn't what he was expecting." was the best I got. Grrrrrrr! And I was informed that the parents are invited to come any time we finish a 30 hour course... and apparently I won't get any more forewarning than that.



No problem! I can roll with the punches. So last week my other class finished 30 hours so I knew that the parents would be invited today. I sat down and thought through what I would say to them, had a whole outline done about the grammar we'd covered in the previous course, and what would be covered in the next. I had specific suggestions for what the students could work on and even thought up a couple of generally-specific comments about the students - just BS to make the parents happy.



Today I was setting up the classroom and as my students came in I noticed they were alone "Are your parents coming today?" They looked at me like I was crazy. NOT A SINGLE PARENT SHOWED UP! Gaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!



But I shouldn't complain too much. The classes are actually doing much better than when I first started. Both the classes finally have books that are at more or less the appropriate level. The books are boring but solid, there's a little listening, a little grammar - plenty of busy work in the workbook, and the teachers book even has some ideas for projects. So rather than having to come up with 6 hours of material from scratch each Saturday, now I just have to think up one project or speaking activity or game per class to supplement the book. Which is really not all that bad.


Saturdays are still not my favorite day of the week, but I'm surviving. And in fact I've had a couple cute moments. I've got at least one brown-noser in each class and honestly it's refreshing. Everyone needs at least one sycophant in their life! First up is a portrait of teacher done by Pet #1:

Not sure why they think I have a boyfriend, or why he looks like a frog....they got my hair about right though!

And then today I was telling my students that I was learning to read Thai and wrote a word on the board. I thought I was writing "Giant" but in fact I wrote "Difficult" (both pronounced 'yak'). So Pet #2 wrote a few words on a worksheet. I tried sounding it out - I can read several consonants, but none of the vowels so it's kind of a guessing game. I got "k--kr-" from the first word and then skipped to the second and sounded out "suay!" / "Beautiful" so he told me "khun kru suay" basically "Ms. Teacher is beautiful." =)

So I will admit that it's not all bad. No... it could be a lot worse.

TAG: Code Sweet Chili Sauce.

I still hate kids though.

Ethnic Foods

The other day I ran into Donny (my half Swiss, half Filipino friend who's lived in Thailand most of his life) at Tesco. He was buying socks, and I was buying some food. We chatted and fell into step with each other as we continued shopping.





Donny "So what else do you need?"



Rebel "Soup."

Donny "Soup? Like noodles? Over here." He steered us down the ramen aisle. More packets of noodles than I'd ever seen in one place in the US. A good 1/5th of the aisle was just devoted to cup-o-soup type noodles, pork, chicken, shrimp, squid, spicy, super spicy, nuclear spicy, Thai style, Japanese style, Korean style.





Rebel "No, soup, like soup." I said and steered us back to the ethnic foods aisle. Or rather the aisle of miscellaneous canned goods of which about 2 feet of shelf space are devoted to western foods. I scanned down past the peanut butter and spam, past the mayonaise and nutella and found what I was looking for on the second to bottom shelf. Considering briefly the four varieties of Campbells Soup available, I picked up a couple of cans of Chicken and Vegetable soup and placed them in my basket.





Donny bewildered... "You really eat that stuff?"

My kitchen

TAG: Code Sticky Rice

American Girl

I'm back to being the only white girl in town. Not literally... I have spied a white girl or two at the mall. But as far as my day-to-day life goes... just me. Mostly that's fine, I mean, I came to Thailand at least in part to experience what it would be like to be a minority (understanding of course that there is no one 'minority experience'), and to interact with people from a variety of different countries and cultures. I had expected to interact with Thais and expats from other English speaking nations, but something I did not expect was the number of Filipinos I would meet. English is one of the official languages of the Philippines and as a result of this (and the severe shortage of teachers from English speaking countries) a great many English teachers in Thailand are Filipino.


While I was prepared to experience some majority / minority dynamics; I hadn't really expected to experience minority / minority dynamics. It's interesting, and I'll be honest, it's not always pretty. It's hard not to become at least a little racist when living so long away from your own people & culture. All the teachers maintain a professional cordiality, but in general casual friendliness is divided along racial boundaries. White teachers joke and hang out with the other white teachers; Filipino teachers joke and hang out with the other Filipino teachers.


When I first arrived in Rayong I was welcomed very warmly by two Filipino sisters, Nicole and Rose. But my initial attempts at friendship never seemed to go anywhere. I went out to lunch or dinner a with Nicole a few times but the conversation was always stilted. And her sister prefered to stay at home watching movies to going out with people. I could never tell if it was a difference in personality or a difference in culture, but given the lack of English speakers in Rayong, I was highly motivated to make friends, at whatever level, where ever I could.


But although she's an English teacher, even calling Nicole an 'English speaker' is a bit of a stretch. Yes, she speaks English, but she speaks her own particular brand. She tends towards a rather unique sentence structure and often chooses a more formal word than is called for in a given situation. She'll say something like "I made an arrangement to consult with a doctor." Instead of "I have a doctor's appointment." Combined with her accent and a non-native rhythm, half the time I can't figure out what she's trying to say. And it's bizarre because I have a LOT of experience communicating with non-native speakers and usually I do just fine. The other Filipino teachers are much more fluent and casual, both in the style and substance of their speech.


But that didn't make it any easier for us to relate. I spent several lunches with them as they discussed low carb diets and Hip Hop Abs - the latest workout DVD. If the conversation ever went beyond these banalities, they did so in Tagalog**. It's a disconcerting experience to be sitting in the teachers lounge of an English school and not be able to understand what my fellow teachers are saying "Hi...wlkoiuch girl, lakdul a lkcolut allkdoau aag sex scandal alkdlfay adlfka eaiok adfy weekened adlkafy adlk dsfy Hip Hop Abs ewradfl yoeq no problem gyaoiueq qlpuvhou girl!"



Some conversations though, I was meant to understand. One day at lunch we were talking about being homesick and Daisy very pointedly commented "Yeah Thailand is okay. But I miss being around my own people, my own culture. I just want to speak my own language. I get so tired of speaking English all day." She looked right at me, and her tone left no room for interpretation. I'd never before had my ethnicity insulted to my face and had no clue how to react.


This was just a taste of the underlying tension between the Filipino teachers and teachers from other English speaking countries. I've also picked up on it in comments about the difference in salary for Filipino teachers. But nowhere is it clearer than in online forums for English teachers in Thailand. The Filipino teachers often complain about the unequal treatment of equally qualified teachers from the Philippines. Unfortunately their complaints are often so filled with typos and awkward syntax as to prove *why* there is a different pay scale for non-native speakers.


But I feel for them, I do. Most of the Filipino teachers are here out of necessity, not out of a sense of adventure. They work hard - often two jobs at a time in addition to private students and take their work seriously. Filipino teachers are more likely to stay with a school long term. And I've never seen or heard of a Filipino teacher rolling into work late on Monday hung over from a weekend of partying on Ko Samet.*** So I do think that if a particular teacher is fluent in English and has solid teaching skills then nationality shouldn't matter. Especially given how widely the quality of English, American and Australian teachers varies. But nevertheless, the tension is there... on both sides.



While Bunny and Bobby were here we kept an unconscious distance from the Filipino girls. Or maybe they were keeping their distance from us. I'm not sure. But now that Bunny and Bobby have gone, I've made a little more of an attempt to be friendly again. I still feel a bit isolated when they come into the teachers room and after a brief "Hi, how's it going?" launch into extensive conversations in Tagalog. But I'm trying.


The other day Amy, a part time teacher I've never said much more than "hello" to, was sitting there and we both had about an hour to kill between classes. We started chatting about work. She just started a new day-job, and she likes it a lot better than the old one. She explained that she just can't make the same kind of money back home, and she regularly sends money to her family. She talked about how the cost of living was so much higher there, and how that makes it even more difficult to be poor. If you don't have money you just can't eat. At least in Thailand you can get a full meal for 35 baht (about $1) and road side stands sell chicken drumsticks for 15 baht and little packets of rice for 5 baht.


She talked about all the other challenges she's had working here. Her old school refused to sponsor her work permit so she was working illegally. And without a work permit she was unable to get a non-b resident visa. This meant she had to leave the country and do a border crossing every two or three months. Each time she had to hope and pray that they wouldn't question her too thoroughly and just let her back in as a "tourist".


Now, fortunately, her new school is willing to sponsor her work permit and visa application, but it's going to take some time. It turns out that she's been in Thailand about as long as I have, but knows she can't go back to the Philippines until all the paper work gets sorted out. She's worried that they're going to look at all the border crossings in her Passport and call her out for working illegally. And if she goes home for a visit before everything is finalized, she risks losing her job and the relatively good situation she has here. We commiserated about homesickness and she told me how much she missed her family. "I just want to go home." she said with a smile, but in her voice I heard her 'homing beacon' go off and I got a very profound sense of exactly how far from home she was. It may not be as far away as I am when measured by miles, but in terms of situation... the distance is overwhelming.






TAG: Code Watermelon


* I can't remember what nicknames I gave them in the beginning and am too lazy to sort through all the old posts to figure it out. =P

** Or Filipino or any of about a hundred different dialects spoken in the Philippines - I have no way of identifying between them... half the time it almost sounds like Spanish. =/

*** I made it to class on time!

The Grand Palace (take three)

On my very first trip to Bangkok I made an impromptu attempt to visit the Grand Palace. This plan went somewhat awry when I got waylaid by a smooth talkin' tuk tuk scammer. Live and learn. The next time I went I planned things out every so slightly better but still ended up getting to the Palace after they'd stopped selling entry tickets for the day. So last weekend when I decided to go to Bangkok I put visiting the Grand Palace at the top of my list of things to do.





The temple of the Emerald Buddha is on the same grounds as the Palace, and we visited that first. It's quite a spectacular building actually, painted in gold and covered in mosaics. Compared to Thai temples, churches in America are seriously lacking in bling.









Pictures were not permitted inside... and I can't properly describe it. There was gold.... lots and lots of gold. There's huge gold pedestal for the emerald buddha (which is not especially tall... but you know, it's *emerald*!), it's surrounded by golden buddha statues and gold gold gold gold everything. Really quite overwhelming.

Here is Marie admiring one of the gold Gaurdas (bird-type-guard-thing) and Nagas (snakes) that surround the building.

Twelve giants guard the temple (I only spotted four). I had a bit of a mind flip when I realized that they aren't just really big statues of characters from Thai mythology... they're a life sized portrayals. When that sunk in it made me really excited to learn more about them. Unfortunately my google fu is failing me tonight and I can get no more than "generally benevolent guardians of natural treasures" and that doesn't seem quite right.

More gold... this is a Chedi, but I'm not 100% sure what it is, I think it houses a buddhist relic. Neither the weather nor my camera were in the mood to give me especially good pictures but BIG and GOLD is what I was trying to capture with this shot.

And now the elusive Grand Palace. We couldn't go inside, but I thought it was rather a stately looking palace! We walked around, went into a little garden for a bit and just enjoyed being out and about on a not stiflingly hot morning.

Of course once I got back to Rayong and told my students about our trip I learned that my ticket included admission to about five different museums on the grounds and I'd completely missed seeing any of them. D'oh! So I can not yet claim "mission accomplished" on the Grand Palace, but what I saw I enjoyed, and that's good enough for me.

TAG: Code Watermelon

Chang Yai

The sheer novelty may have worn off, but seeing elephants wandering around the city still amazes me. I'll be crossing the street and there's an elephant - RIGHT THERE. Or I'm whipping around on the back of a motorbike taxi and we have to swerve to go around an elephant (with a flashing red light tied to it's tail mind you). Seeing an animal larger than a minivan walk up to me while I'm eating dinner is just not normal.

It's sad... but it is what it is. And it's weird because these begging elephants aren't for the benefit of tourists... it's just a thing that happens here. I still don't totally understand if it's people who are using the elephants to beg, or if it's some attempt at helping formerly working elephants survive in a new urban environment. So I'm not sure if by buying the sugar cane to feed it I'd be helping or hurting the situation. Thus far I've avoided participating.

My elephant related vocabulary is improving though. I point out any elephants I see on the road to my driver - flipping through my phrase book for appropriate adjectives.

I can now say:

Chang yai - Elephant big

Chang lek - Elephant small

Chang song tooah - Elephant, two animals

and

Chang mee quam sow, chang yak bai bah. - Elephant sad, elephant want to go forest.

TAG: Code Watermelon

field recordings

Just another taste of what it's like to live in Rayong.




This is a recording of the frogs that live in the pond/swamp near my apartment. At this moment I can hear an absolute cacophany of them. There's a slow deep bass rythym crooooak..... crooooak...... crooooak - it almost sounds like a duck's honk. But behind that is a slightly quieter but still plenty loud higher pitched overlapping ribbitribbitribbitribbit. I'm sure there are a few bugs of one type or another thrown in there, and naturally a dog (or five) howls to break up the monotony.







I also do a half-assed job of showing off the rest of the street. The place directly across the street is where I have breakfast more often than not (kai jeow baby!). And the multi-story peach colored building is where I live.








TAG: Code Watermelon

PS - it took me four tries and about as many hours to upload this video! I miss lighteningfasthighspeed internet.

Not my farang

Remember when all I would ever write about were my adventures in trying to feed myself? Well I seem to have mastered that skill, and have a few extra kilos on my frame to show for it. Apparently my dramatic weight loss was not meant to last. Mai bpen lai!

The Dive - it looks nasty, but the food is delicious.

My most recent favorite dish here has been moo tot kratiem - pork fried with garlic. OMG - yum! There's just a ton of crunchy garlic in each plateful, but it's not excessively strong. I think the frying helps mellow out the flavor. I'm not sure what else they use to cook the pork, but it is mighty tasty. Before I leave here, I'm going to have to work up the courage to ask them how they make it because I cannot go home without being able to make this dish.

No Thai table is complete without a roll of toilet paper and a jar of toothpicks. Classy!

However, after eating moo tot kratiem day after day after day after day, it began to occur to me that I might want to eat a few veggies once in a while. Thus far the only veggie-rich dish I've been able to order has been pad pak loom (stir fried veggies with...pork, chicken, whatever). It's pretty tasty and the kind of thing most food shops can make. But it's often pretty heavy on the tomatoes and baby corn. I'm just not a fan of cooked tomatoes or baby corn. Not eating half the veggies in my 'stir fried veggies' kinda defeated the purpose of me ordering it, so lately I've been ordering fried rice and hoping for a lot of cabbage and carrots.

Recently I talked to a student about my dilemma (I love having pre-intermediate / intermediate students for a change!). She gave me the name of another vegetable to order - pak boon (morning glory in English), but my pronunciation was so bad that she recommended another one - broccoli. Amazingly the word is the same in Thai and English, even more amazingly I really really really like broccoli, next to carrots and snap peas it's one of my favorite veggies. She also passed on some even more useful information. I'd been told to ask for my food "mai pet"/"not spicy" but she explained that in Thailand "mai pet" means only put one or two chilies in, not six or seven (which explained why my food was still too spicy for me), but that if I really wanted it not to be spicy I needed to say "mai sai prik" "don't put chilies in it."





So the next night I went to the market - found a booth with some broccoli out front and ordered chicken and broccoli, without chili peppers. Ordering new dishes is always a bit of a gamble, so I was *delighted* when that is exactly what I got. YUM. Buoyed by my success, the next day I noticed some asparagus in a basket at The Dive and decided to try ordering it. I asked what the word for it was in Thai, "nor mai falang" which sounds a lot like "not my farang (foreigner)" which makes it blessedly easy to remember. I then ordered asparagus with chicken, without chilies. Success! Delicious success!

Remember - eat with your spoon, the fork is just for moving the food onto the spoon.

Last night I went out to dinner and attempted yet another coup. I decided to try Som Tam (papaya salad - practically the national dish of Thailand) using my new & startlingly effective phrase "mai sai prik". It was awesome! Because they use a giant wooden mortar and pestle to make it (and why would they ever wash it out between batches?) there was plenty of spice left over from the previous 7 chili version to give it some kick. It was tangy and refreshing and while my mouth was tingling, it was not burning. You have no idea how relieved I am. Every time I had to tell my students that I didn't like Som Tam it was like I'd insulted their Mom's apple pie. Now I can tell them that I love it and hopefully regain a little face. A very little since, you know... without the 7 chillies, it's not exactly the real thing.

Som Tam mai sai prik

Finally... it's fruit season here! In fact last Sunday was the famous Rayong Fruit Festival... so famous that my students neglected to tell me about it until *after* it was over. Another drawback to not speaking Thai is not being able to understand any of the signs or news stories about exciting events around town. Fortunately I have not completely missed out on fruit season. I've already had two near-durian experiences (this afternoon I was at an open air cafe and some people in the street were snacking... again I smelled it far before I saw it). They call durian the king of fruits, and to every Yin there must be a Yang. Mangosteens are the Queen. I've been given two free bags full of mangosteens, first by the lady at the coffee shop, and then by my laundry lady. And the other day, my driver gave me a lapful of mangosteens as we drove to my off-campus class (and I had fun practicing my Thai "I have mangosteen, 7 pieces." nom nom nom "I have mangosteen, 6 pieces." nom nom nom). They are so yummy. Very sweet and slightly tangy.

The fruit is in sections sort of like an orange. One or two of the sections will have a big seed (and the flesh clings to it like a mango) but most of the sections will have only tiny soft seeds you can eat. The texture of the flesh is somewhat peach-like, but the flavor is almost like a grape... a very sweet, very ripe grape with a touch of citrus or perfume to it. (btw - have you guys ever tried describing the flavor of a fruit to someone who probably hasn't tried it before? It's nearly impossible! I mean, honestly how would you describe 'banana'?)

Finally I got the nerve up to try a custard apple (no idea what the Thai name is). It's ugly but it's really good.

The black seeds are really heavy & hard (and there are a lot of them) but they're easy to separate from the fruit. They make quite a clunk when you spit them out onto the plate. The flesh is, well, custardy, soft, not too stringy not too grainy. And the flavor... this one I can peg exactly! It tastes like honey-suckle nectar. Delicious!

Of course, somewhere in the midst of all this culinary exploration I picked up my latest digestive bug... so you know, I'm back to Ritz crackers, Pepsi & now that I have an appetite again - a double cheeseburger at McDonalds. DON'T JUDGE ME! Industrial food has it's merits you know.

TAG: Code Mango (you know, up until I woke up puking ;) )

It had to happen sooner or later...

I may have mentioned how much I hate Saturdays. Well, today was something special. I went up to my class and some of the kids in the classroom across the hall were SCREAMING. I mean, there's the usual level of ruckus you'd expect from a hundred kids tromping up and down stairs going in and out of classes, but these girls were putting out hypersonic squeels that nearly made my eardrums bleed. I looked in the door to see if a teacher was there but didn't see anyone, so I poked my head in and shushed them good. Of course then I turned around and noticed that the teacher *was* in there, just sitting at her desk preparing for the class. D'oh! I said a quick 'sorry' and left. But ooooh, not okay to go in and discipline another teacher's kids... but honestly - I couldn't believe she could sit there and even attempt to look at her book with the kids screeching like that.


Have I mentioned that I don't like kids?


Anyway, with that pleasant little encounter, and three hours of class behind me I came downstairs to get ready for round two. There's a computer set up in the hallway near the teacher's room for the kids to play on before & after class. No problem except when the kids all pull up chairs and make it impossible for teachers to actually *get* to the teacher's room.


This particular day I was attempting to maneuver around the kids when the most horrid smell I've ever encountered wafted over to me. At first it smelled like some unholy combination of body odor and garbage. But a second later there was a wave of eau d'industrial cleaner. When I opened the door into the teachers lounge it was almost unbearable.


"Oh you missed your opportunity to try Durian!" said Jim, an older teacher from England.
"Is *that* what that was?!" I replied stifling my gag reflex to the best of my abilities.


Despite the fact that the durian had been consumed and disposed of before I got there I could still smell it - FROM THE HALLWAY! That's some powerful stank! I'd had no particular desire to try durian in the first place... but this just solidified it in my mind. No way, no how. If I never see or smell it again, I'll be just fine!


I left the teacher's room as soon as I could, but still had to make a couple trips back in there for one thing or another. Gah! Horrid. Jim stated, quite placidly that while he liked the fruit he was slightly bothered by the disinfectant they use on it (the second layer I smelled). Good LORD it was nasty! It's like the smell of every bodily function left to simmer in the sun by the side of the road absorbing a day or two's worth of pollution. The idea of someone eating it - it just boggles my mind. I really wonder if it's a genetic thing or not - your ability to tolerate the smell/taste of durian.


But I'm really not willing to investigate the matter.


TAG: Code Durian (Get me the hell out of the teacher's room!)

Chatuchak Market

As I see more and more of Thailand, I'm really coming to appreciate the advantages of living in Rayong. One of the strongest advantages is that there's just nothin' going on here. The people are generally normal work-a-day family types. As an American, I'm enough of a novelty that I get some degree of special treatment, but not so exotic as to be stared at every time I leave the house. Rayong has no tourist appeal whatsoever, so the prices are not inflated. With rent at 3,000 baht/month and food as low as 150 baht/day (although I often splurge on cha yen & trips to Starbucks, in theory...) I could easily save about $300 US a month.


Of course I'm *not* saving up that much, but that's largely because of advantage #2. Location, location, location! Rayong is, as I'm sure I've mentioned, just a 45 minute songthaew ride from the beach - add in another hour for the ferry, and you're on a tropical resort island. Not too shabby. Bangkok is just a two hour minivan ride away. With the rainy season approaching, and glorious sunny days retreating, I've been making more trips to Bangkok and fewer to the beach.


I like approaching Bangkok as a day-trip destination. I can generally do one or two things at a leisurely pace and then be home before bedtime. It's not nearly as stressful as trying to fit in a whole day of sightseeing. Although I generally end up spending an obscene amount of time in the malls, it's nice to know that I *could* come back next week and do something different.


Last Sunday I came with an agenda. I was going to go shopping at Chatuchak market. Back in the day, in my cozy little apartment in Portland, I would watch Globe Trekker and dream of going abroad. One episode had a bit about shopping in Bangkok - both at the big mall and at Chatuchak... I saw the episode a couple of times and I'm not ashamed to say that it did factor into my decision to come to Thailand. So it's very exciting for me to be able to go someplace that I saw on TV. It is quite literally like a dream come true.


I had visited Chatuchak briefly with Bunny and Bobby, but this time I was going on my own, and I was going with a plan: "Spend hours getting lost among the trinkets, acquire an indecent amount of silk at even more indecent prices, and take a ton of pictures so I have something to blog about other than the trials and tribulations of my bowels." And with that:





Chatuchak (or Jatujak as the locals call it) is HUGE. There are a couple of wide 'main streets' through the market, but mostly it's a maze of hot, dark, crowded, little alleyways. I had (and used) two different maps to keep my bearings, and still ended up getting lost & wandering around in circles. There were stalls of art - paintings, carvings and sculpture, kitchen ware, fake flowers, clothing, clothing, clothing, clothing, jewelry, garden supplies, animals, knives & other weapons, and of course silk. Unfortunately, a lot of the more interesting stalls (live bunnies in froo froo dresses, ethnic folk art eg: blue jeans & American Country Music) had signs prohibiting photography... and when I got to the silk, I got a bit distracted (oooh pretty!!!) and completely forgot to take pictures. Trust me... there's a ton and it's all gorgeous.



The number one rule is - if you see something you like, buy it. Yeah, you think you'll be able look around for a minute then come back to it, but don't count on it. There's just too much to see. Last time I saw a beautiful black lacquer box with abalone inlays and try as I might I couldn't find it anywhere this time. I did find several stalls of used books, and a bling-o-riffic stall of accessories.

bling & books

The number two rule of the market is - stay hydrated! So after shopping for a good long time I stopped and had a sandwich & an iced tea. Now I want you to fully appreciate the irony of that statement. Back in Portland I would regularly go down to the Saturday Market and order a plate of Pad Thai from the woman in the purple food-cart (good stuff btw - you should check her out, it's just a few cockroaches shy of authentic ;) ). And now I've come all this way to Thailand, and further spent two hours in a minivan to come to Bangkok the very heart of Thailand... and what did I do? I ate a ham and cheese sandwich on white bread. Ironic yes. But I am not ashamed!


It didn't take long for me to break the number one rule. I had done a quick survey of various silk stalls (there are several scattered here and there, but one section with a fairly high concentration of them) but didn't buy anything on the first round. So then I had to do some wandering to find them again. In the process I passed a quaint bar / cafe positively hidden in the labyrinth of stalls. I thought briefly about stopping for a bite to eat, but I wasn't hungry and was determined to pick up some silk while I was in the proper area... so I violated the number one rule again (it's really more of a guideline anyway).


After employing an aisle by aisle criss-cross search pattern, I found the shop I'd perused earlier and treated myself to three very nice scarves. They were cheap compared to what you would pay in the states... but I'm not making dollars anymore so it was a calculated splurge. You know, I'm almost afraid I'll wish I'd bought more when I get home!

mmmmmm.... silk!

Then once more into the fray... I sought out some souvenirs for friends back home, restocked my supply of postcards, and admired some jewelry. In one of the main roads through the market there were street musicians. This kid was one of the better ones.

Eventually I found the hidden bar/cafe again, ordered a cha yen and spent a good long time reading, writing postcards and generally soaking up the ambiance.



As much as I may complain about the cockroaches and my schedule and my crappy little apartment, I want you to know that I never for a minute take for granted that I'm living the dream. I know (or at least I hope) that one day I'll be back in Portland spending my nights sitting on the couch watching Globe Trekker again. And when I do, I'll know that I lived as fully as I could while here and took the juiciest bite I could out of the big mango!

TAG: Code Mango

Kuhn Deeo again

Bunny and Bobby are off to Vietnam for three weeks. After that they'll spin back through Thailand for a few days, then they're off to Russia and across through Europe before flying back to the States. I'm only a little bit jealous. All of that back-packing would be a bit much for me. But they're a couple of crazy kids... so more power to them.


And I'm back to being kuhn deeo (person alone). It started immediately. I stopped in at this new restaurant next to my apartment to grab some bottled water. Literally the moment I stepped into the place, this man sitting there started the "Hello, where you come from?" conversation and asked if I wanted to eat something. I said I'd eaten already, and he made the "oh, kuhn deeo?" comment. This is one of those cultural things I just can't adjust to. Thai people simply don't do things alone. I'm an anomaly.


One of my (intermediate) students mentioned visiting his girlfriend in Chiang Mai over the last holiday and I asked what he did.
Student: "Stayed at home."
Me: "What? Why?"
Student: "No car."
Me: "Um.... they have songthaews there... and tuk tuks... and taxis."
Student: "Maybe with my girlfriend, but she was working - no day off."
Me: "So, you didn't go to Doi Su Thep?"
Student: "No."
Me: "You didn't go to the zoo?"
Student: "No."
Me: "Did you go to the old city?"
Student: "No."
Me: "Are you fucking kidding me?"
Ok... I didn't say it like that. But I did tell him I'd spent a month in Chiang Mai and explored as much as I could within my budget and communication abilities. He just seemed to think it was normal that you would travel 900 miles to a whole different city just to stay at home watching TV for a week if you didn't have anyone to go places with.


The thing is, I understand, I *totally* get it. Going all over the place is not nearly as much fun as going with friends. But I guess I got to a point in my life where there just weren't many other people around who wanted to do the same things I did. I had to decide that I could just sit around moping, or I could get off my ass and do the things I wanted to do anyway. I think it's obvious which choice I made. Honestly, doing things on my own is probably only about 60% as much fun as doing them with someone else. But still... that's 60% more fun than sitting at home just wishing I were out and about.


There were supposed to be two or three new teachers to replace the ones that are leaving in May... but so far each one has cut & run at the last minute. This not only will I be friendless for a bit while they try to hire new teachers (fingers crossed for some cool 30 something Aussies), I'll also be insanely busy this month, covering all the extra classes. I guess that's okay though. Keeping busy will distract me from my lack of social life, and my (hopefully temporary) lack of a social life will let me save up some money.


So that's my thrilling & exotic life for the moment... eating fried rice alone and teaching, teaching, teaching.



TAG: Code Watermelon

Feats of Strength...

Ok, it's not Festivus...it's something better: Michael5000 Decathlon 2009 . I probably should have sent you all over there in time for Event 1... but there's still actually time to get in on some of the fun. This week's event is "Physical Prowess" to which I submit my entry...

Living in Thailand

No, technically it's not "athletic" but I believe I have encountered and overcome a number of physical challenges in a manner that approaches 'prowess'. Including, but not limited to:

- outrunning rabid dogs
- crossing 8 lanes of crazy Thai traffic, on foot
- riding side-saddle on the back of a speeding motorbike while carrying a load of groceries.
- attempting to scuba-dive
- successfully snorkeling
- doing unbloggable things to a local boy, using only a couple dozen words of shared vocabulary.
- eating street food without a clue what it was
- eating food so spicy it's made me cry
- consuming my body weight in fried rice
- consuming my body weight in alcohol
- battling two intestinal viruses
- riding in ferries of questionable sea-worthiness
- vanquishing cockroaches from my apartment
- losing and sustaining the loss of about 10 kg.
- kayaking in the Anadaman Sea
- despite my still rather substantial & flabby gut, frolicking on the beach and even smiling while allowing people to take my picture (a tremendous act of body confidence that no Thai girl, and few American girls I've met can match!)
- being hit by a car and keeping my feet
- playing badminton for the first time

I feel that this list of activities I have done, and am continuing to do are spectacular given my previous hobbies of knitting and quilting, which in all but the most extreme forms (ie: Hat Wars) are generally performed in the butt-on-couch position. But I fear that most will be rejected on the basis of that pesky "between now and the deadline" requirement. So therefore I will submit my most recent attempt at physical prowess.

Last night I went skinny dipping in the moonlight, with a co-ed group of friends & fellow teachers. And while this transpired on a tropical island... it was by no means deserted! This was the first time I've ever swum nekkid in the ocean (oh and there was a substantial amount of actual swimming!), and I have to say - I highly recommend it, although probably not anywhere north of 20 degrees latitude. =P I hope this brave departure from my usual level of self consciousness and inhibition alone will push me to the top of the rankings in physical prowess. If not.... well, I'll try to wrestle an elephant on the way home. ;)


TAG: Code Mango

Nothing exciting happened today.

I tried to go to Ko Samet today to give snorkling another go. However the weather was not cooperating. It was suspiciously cloudy when Bunny and I left the apartment. We made it out to Ban Phe before the rain started... and it was quite a storm. So we hid out in Christie's Pub lingering over breakfast, writing postcards and reading. Not exactly what I'd planned, but altogether not a bad way to spend the morning.


The rain did stop, but the sun never fully emerged from the clouds. So we're hanging out in a little cafe...unfortunately for my weightloss hopes, we're starting to find all the cute little coffee shops and cafes hidden around town. It's actually Bunny & Bobby's last week. Their six month contract is up at the end of the month, then they'll be heading out on a three month backpacking tour through Asia & Europe. I'm a bit jealous....but mostly I'm going to miss them.


TAG: Code Sweet Chili Sauce

Songkran Holiday: Koh Phi Phi

On our last morning in Phuket I discovered that in my adventuring the previous night I'd managed to break my glasses. It was just the arm, but it was snapped clean off. Fortunately there was a glasses shop not far from our hotel. I wandered in and, looking pathetic, asked if there was any way they could fix my glasses. Alas no. For those of you who are counting, that's two pairs down, and my last back up pair was sitting in my apartment in Rayong. Fortunately the shop was able to recreate my prescription from the lenses I had, and an hour or so later I had a brand new, sturdier, pair of glasses. Can I just say though... one should never be forced to pick out new glasses while hung over, or in my case, possibly still drunk. Ugh.

Me and my new glasses cruising around Phi Phi Ley

Eyewear crisis averted, we hopped on a ferry to Ko Phi Phi. I was still in a bit of a funk, but the ferry ride was the perfect antidote. There were plenty of seats inside the cabin, but I went out on deck sat down with my feet over the side and just enjoyed looking out over the water and feeling the sun & wind on my face. Every once in a while we'd hit a wave cross ways so I'd get a nice splash. Seeing the Phi Phi island growing closer was also really cool. I can't do justice to it with words... so here are some pictures.

Phi Phi Don

Long Beach - Phi Phi Don

Possibly Phi Phi Ley

We'd planned to go snorkeling while on Phi Phi, as it's supposed to have the best diving in Thailand. And once on the island you couldn't toss a speedo without hitting a dive shop or an advertisement for a snorkeling excursion. Back in HS I'd nearly gotten my Scuba certificate, but wasn't allowed to do the open water exercise due to my asthma. But the temptation to try again was overwhelming. And... as this is Thailand, little things like health restrictions don't really matter. So I signed up, and the next morning I was on the boat headed out for a discovery dive.

Sitting waiting for my discovery dive to begin.

The other first-time divers and I got a quick lesson on Scuba safety on the way out to the first dive sight. I was the only native English speaker in the group, so the instructor had quite a time making sure everyone understood all the important things. He had the patience of a saint and the calm demeanor you would want from someone you're about to trust with your life. As we got suited up and ready to go, he told me. "I think you're going to be my star student." Feeling nervous, all I could say was "We'll see."


You guys know how much I love the ocean. I spend as much time as I can at the beach, I'm a solid if not a particularly fast or graceful swimmer, and thanks to a couple years of taking water-aerobics I feel like I can tread water indefinitely. I am NOT afraid of the water. But once I had all the gear on me, and my glasses off (couldn't wear them under the mask) I felt, ironically, like a fish out of water. Nevertheless, I did the 'big step' off the end of the boat, put my regulator in my mouth and gave the all clear signal - textbook. The instructor told us all to swim out to a buoy not far from the boat... and honestly, by the time I got there I thought I was going to die.




Between the wetsuit, inflated vest, and tank I could barely move my arms. I could see less than squat through my now fogged up mask, and trying to breathe through the regulator felt like sucking air through a tiny straw. And once we all got to the buoy, the other new divers and I kept knocking into each other. I thought I was going to die. I tried desperately to calm down, but nice big deep breaths were impossible. The wetsuit and vest were like a vice grip around my not particularly strong lungs. I panicked. I remembered vaguely from my brief experience in high school that after the initial shock, breathing underwater felt really cool. But I could not catch my breath, thoughts of an underwater asthma attack terrified me, and knew there was no way I was going to get through this dive. The instructor joined us a moment later, and I immediately swam up to him and told him I was freaking out.




"What's wrong?" he asked.
"I can't breathe." I gasped.
"Yes, you can, you're on the surface." he replied.
"Honey... I'm freaking out."
"Ok... do you want to get back on the boat?" he asked. My brain locked up. I didn't really want to get back on the boat, I wanted to scuba dive. But I wasn't sure if I could calm down properly. I thought maybe if he gave us a few minutes to chill out on the surface first I might relax.... but I also knew that I'd lied about my asthma when I signed the release form, and had smoked a cigarette or two over the past few days. It wasn't a good combination. In all I only paused for about 10 seconds but it was enough.
"I'm putting you back on the boat." He stated firmly then turned and called the boat back. Honestly, I was glad he made the decision for me.




As we waited for the boat to come back, he asked if I wanted to try again one-on-one at lunch time. I gave a vague assent, then got back on the boat feeling like a total wash-out. Some star student! I hung out on the boat with the girlfriend of one of the divers. She was scared to even go swimming in the ocean, so she made me feel a least a little better.




It was less than an hour before the other divers started getting picked up and as I started talking to them, they were all very encouraging. They confirmed that yes, breathing at the surface was really difficult, but once at depth, it felt as normal as breathing on dry land. One gal in particular said that on her first dive, she freaked out a bit, but she was one-on-one with the instructor and he did a good job of calming her down. So I began to look forward to giving it another go. It was just uncomfortable on the surface I reasoned... I'd be fine once we got underwater.





At lunch time my instructor came up to me and asked if I wanted to give it another go. I told him I did. Unfortunately, however, he would be doing some life-saving drills and handed me off to a different instructor. Instructor #2 was more of a no-nonsense kind of guy. And while I'd been hoping for one-on-one attention (hand-holding), there were two other divers who'd been unable to complete their dive who were also giving it a second chance. I got suited up again, he fairly shoved me into the water and there I was... in the exact same panic scenario from before. Only this time I knew that Instructor #2 would not be interested in calming my fears or giving me a few minutes to relax. Less than a minute in the water and I knew it just wasn't going to happen. Back on the boat for me.



Yes, I felt like a complete failure. Working and hanging out with a bunch of cute 23 year olds has been fun, but it also makes me feel old and lame. Up till now I've been able to shake the feeling with a few drinks... but this was undeniable confirmation. I am old, out of shape and I have bad lungs, some things are not just an issue of mind over matter.




I spent the afternoon (while everyone else on the boat was on their second dive) snorkeling around the bay. I'd never actually been snorkeling before and it was amazing. It occurred to me that it might have been a good idea to try snorkeling before, literally, jumping off the deep end. Breathing through a snorkel was weird and at times I freaked out a bit. But I could just lift my head up and take a second to sort myself out before putting my face back in the water again. After a while I was able to breathe through the snorkel for what felt like 10 or 20 minutes at a stretch. It was amazing.




There were a ton of other boats in the area - at least three other snorkeling groups.





There were an incredible number of fish, and while I might not have been seeing them in all their glory (with my glasses back on the boat), I was impressed with what I did see. There were huge schools of yellow and blue striped fish - they'd swim right up to me, look at me and just kind of hang out there. I saw trumpet fish, eels, and all manner of tiny schools of fish. There were also bigger fish, black with neon green 'eyeliner', blue with pink cheeks, leopard spotted yellow fish, and I swear I saw one that looked plaid! In addition to the fish there were giant patches of coral, purple and green and brown. I saw huge purple & green anemones, and what can only be described as a giant purple coral vase. It was really amazing, and actually really relaxing. I could have stayed in the water looking at everything for hours. And as wonderful as snorkeling was, it only confirmed my desire to try scuba diving again.






Back on the boat I talked to a couple of the other divers a bit more and had my ideas confirmed. One said she'd gone snorkeling the day before, and admitted that there's no way she could have gone scuba diving if she hadn't done that first. And another said he'd had two days of pool instruction before diving in the ocean. So while I still felt like a grade-A wimp... I also felt like maybe I'd been a bit overly ambitious and underprepared.




Compared with this adventure the rest of the trip was a bit anti-climactic. Bunny, Bobby and I went on an afternoon cruise around the island. It was *very* touristy... but, well, we were tourists. We got to do a tiny bit of sea kayaking, and a bit more snorkeling. We also got to see the beach where they filmed "The Beach" - it was beautiful, but again, absolutely covered in tourists such as ourselves. The water was warm, nearly hot, and very shallow. All you could do really was lounge around in it, so that's what I did. Koh Phi Phi was every bit as beautiful as the pictures suggest... and fun in it's own way. That night we went out for a couple drinks and ended up talking with some Swedish boys. No proposals or mind-bending conversations... just silly fun.





Our last morning, Friday, was spent between the beach and the bookstore, soaking up the last bits of relaxation before our ferry/taxi/flight/taxi back to the daily-grind: 8 hours of classes starting at 9am on Saturday. And here it is one week later... 9am Saturday looming at the other end of this night's sleep. A week and three very long-winded posts and I'm still only beginning to sort out this whole experience. But here's what I think I know.




1. The protests/riots, and the potential for more in the future are a big black mark against my moving to Bangkok.


2. After splurging for a week and being surrounded by obnoxious tourists, I have a whole new appreciation for sleepy little Rayong, its 35 baht fried rice my blue collar students.


3. It was really good to see the Brit again, and that just reinforces how much I need good friends around me.


4. As much as I've changed, there are still some things in my core character that are just not going anywhere. I hate being kept waiting, and I just can't deal with ridiculous people who cannot take care of themselves.


5. I really wish I could be as friendly, outgoing and uninhibited sober as I am while drunk... because sometimes 'drunk and fun' dissolves into 'sloppy drunk' and that's not fun for anyone.


6. I really want to try scuba diving again, so I'm going to get serious about taking care of my lungs & looking into a serious course where I get a little more preparation before being dropped in the middle of the ocean.



7. I am so fucking glad I'm here.





TAG: Code Sweet Chili Sauce

Songkran Holiday - It's pronounced Pooo-ket

The second leg of our Songkran holiday was a trip to Phuket. Bunny, Bobby and I stayed in quite a nice hotel near Patong beach. Big soft beds, dark curtains, clean bathroom - not a cockroach or gecko to be seen. It was a a bit of an upgrade from our apartments, and not especially expensive. Marie and LeBlond had lucked into a sweet flight/resort deal, and their hotel was on the other side of the island. This proved to be a bit of a logistical nightmare, and I wasted a fair amount of time and money with tuk-tuk and taxi rides back and forth across the island.

While parts of it were undeniably beautiful, there wasn't a lot that Phuket had to offer that I couldn't find on Koh Samet for a lot less money and a lot less hassle. Phuket is much bigger of course, so there's just more... more bars, more restaurants, more beaches, more hotels, more markets, more drunken farang all over the place. Yours truly included, naturally. I haven't been to Koh Samui or Koh Chang yet... but I'm guessing they're both a good middle ground.

Bunny, Bobby and Marie enjoying the exculsive resort beach.

Rebel - tropical paradise edition

On our second night there, after a wild goose chase of trying to find a cool bar somewhere between our respective hotels, I decided to ditch everyone and go back to Patong Beach. I walked along the beach, watched people set off khom fai (lanterns) and just took in the sights. I walked up the main bar street and got myself a drink*. Between the markets and the bars and the people from all over the world walking around - there was a lot to see. Eventually though I just wanted to sit down and chat with someone. The bars are all pretty open, so there's not much of a distinction between the street and the bar. I saw a couple of English guys playing connect four so I went over and made a comment.


We started chatting and one of the guys asked how long I'd been in Thailand. Between the booze and the earlier transportation frustration and just an acute case of 'living in Thailand' something snapped**. I nearly burst into tears when I said "I've been in Thailand for eight months." The one guy replied, in a very calm and charming British way "Don't worry darling." and soon enough I was having another drink and playing connect four with them. No deep connection or insightful conversations... we just played and I felt a bit better. And when they left an older Swedish guy came by and I played with him for a while. It was nice.




Eventually I decided to call it a night and began wandering in the general direction of my hotel. Now, those of you who know me can testify - I have no sense of direction whatsoever. I knew we were on a side street off a minimally paved road***. But as I wandered down it, I just wasn't sure - I turned and walked a block in the other direction, but nothing looked very familiar there either. There were a bunch of Thai security guards outside a half-finished building and they asked where I was going. I told them the name of my hotel and they waved in the general direction I'd come from. I went to turn around, but they pulled up a chair and invited me to sit down for a minute. "Slowly slowly" they said, which I think is the direct translation for the Thai expression "wait". They were drinking beers and I figured - why the heck not.






We started chatting, 90% in Thai and it was really fun. It was amazing, really, how much we could communicate with a minimal amount of shared vocabulary. We talked about the situation in Bangkok. I told them what I saw: Color red (point to shirt), S-Soldier - muay Thai (Thai kickboxing). We talked about religion. He asked "You Christian?", I replied "Yes, you like Buddha?" We talked about family and relationships, I told him I didn't have a boyfriend or a lover, he told me he'd been alone for 10 years, but that he had two kids, a daughter and a son.







At some point I took out my camera and made him look at nearly every picture on my memory card, pointing out any and everything I knew the Thai word for. Showing him a picture of an elephant "Chang", a cat "Mao" and repeatedly "Puen chan" (my friend). After a couple hours my new friend told me I was a good woman with a good heart, mimed putting a ring on my finger and more or less proposed to me. It was sweet. It's all a bit silly in retrospect, and a very alcohol inspired interaction... but at the same time, it's exactly the kind of thing I want out of this trip. Just to sit and chat with people, to try to make some kind of connection, make some memories.







When I decided to make another attempt at going home, he offered to drive me. I got on the back of his motorbike and we drove all around town, far from where I knew my hotel was, and to a different hotel of the same name. I had him stop and ask for directions to my actual hotel, which he did. When we got there, it ended up being no more than a two blocks from where we'd been sitting and chatting. He asked for my phone number... but, no. Impossible. Some things are better left as crazy hazy memories.




* and by 'a drink' I mean a pint of vodka and a bottle of Pepsi.


** In the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy there's a line about how, in a moment of crisis, every sentient being gives off a signal of exactly how far away they are from where they were born.... it kind of felt like that.


*** Much of Patong beach was damaged by the tsunami of 2004, I think it's 90% rebuilt... but there's still a lot of rebuilding going on.

Songkran Holiday - One Night In Bangkok

When Bunny, Bobby and I planned this trip back in January and February we didn't know the exact dates that our school would be closed (yes we asked... I don't want to talk about it), so we made our best guess and bought tickets to Phuket for Monday the 13th and home again on Friday the 17th. Then two weeks ago we learned that classes would be canceled for the weekend before as well. We decided to spend the extra days in Bangkok... and that proved to be a very interesting way start to the week.




They left on Friday, but I had class until 7pm so I came on Saturday. I took a van from Rayong and on the way in I noticed one spot on the opposite side of the freeway where a bunch of Red Shirts had stopped traffic. I think the police or the army were also there and it was unclear what exactly was happening as we drove by. The last time I was in Bangkok I'd also seen some protesters riding by in a pick-up truck waving flags and playing music. Thus far the protests had been non-violent and easily avoided... this did strike me as a bit more serious... but we kept on going. Eventually the mini-van dropped me off at Victory Monument and I hopped on the BTS sky train to meet up with my friends at Siam Square - the big mall complex with MBK & Paragon and just tons of shopping.




All thoughts of the protesters were driven away as we ate a little lunch then had the extreme pleasure of watching Slumdog Millionaire in English in a plush theater nearby. It was amazing. Not only is the movie incredible (I'm in love with lead actor), but the theater was old school elegance, a big crystal chandelier, carpeted floors, ushers etc. Quite a nice treat, for only about $6 US. Oh, and did I mention the movie was in ENGLISH!? Speaking English and having people understand us was so nice.




After the movie, we met up with LeBlond (who now works in Bangkok) and went to dinner. We had amazing (and expensive) Indian/Middle Eastern food, between the four of us we ate two plates of hummus and four orders of naan... it was wonderful. Then we wandered over to Soi Cowboy for drinks. Soi Cowboy is very much a tourist-oriented street... lots of strip clubs and bars, lots of noise and some weird street food. It was fun and interesting in it's own way... kinda like Las Vegas - you have to judge it on it's own merits in order to enjoy it. We were lured into one bar by a fun little band playing outside, but immediately created a log-jam in the doorway as we came face to face with full frontal bouncing nudity.

After that we made the decision to only go to bars that were open air - so we could see inside them. We found one on the end with pool tables and settled in there for a while. A few games later and we headed over to Soi 11 - another touristy area where Charlie Brown's (completely awesome) Mexican Restaurant is. I'm glad we did because we'd intended to go there the next day but then found out it would be closed =( we all grieved for a moment then went to the British pub next door - The Pickled Liver - and chilled out a bit watching football before going home.




On Sunday we spent the morning at the Jim Thompson House. Jim Thompson was an American architect and import/exporter who came to Thailand and reinvigorated the silk industry. I'm still a bit unclear on what his deal was... but one thing he did was to take several traditional homes from different parts of Thailand and join them together to make one very big very nice house. He used traditional building methods to put it together and furnished it with a blend of European, Thai and other Asian furniture and artifacts. The effect is that of the "authentic" Thai house that every foreigner would love to have.




At some point he donated his house to his foundation so people could come take tours of his home and antiques... but then he went to Malaysia and disappeared. It's all very mysterious. In any case, visiting his home is a nice way to spend the morning looking at beautiful things. Oh... and the silks in the gift shop were gorgeous. Expensive, but gorgeous. But I decided not to buy anything there because we were going to spend the afternoon at Chatuchak Market.




Chatuchak was huge, hot and crowded. Portlanders can imagine the Saturday Market on steroids. Lots of arts and crafts, but also tons of t-shirts, jeans, touristy stuff, food, CDs and even pets. Lots and lots of pets... rabbits, dogs, birds, turtles, fish, and squirrels. Yes, squirrels. This was such a satisfying experience. Chatuchak is someplace I'd seen on Globe Treker when I was back at home still just dreaming of traveling. They did a think on shopping in Bangkok and they highlighted Paragon Mall and Chatuchak market... and now I've been to both places!





We wandered around for a good long while, got some decent pizza, stopped for drinks at a cool cafe and I bought a couple of silk scarves to tide me over. I swear I can't leave Bangkok without at least one scarf in hand. I've been a bit capricious about my purchases thus far, but I really think I need to start envisioning a plan for my future home and what kinds of things I'll actually want in it so I'll have a little more of a plan in mind when shopping.




For dinner we went in search of Mexican food. And here is where I express how much I love the internet. I LOVE THE INTERNET! We were disappointed about not being able to go to Charlie Browns and LeBlond failed dramatically in finding us an alternate. So I thought to myself... if only I knew someone in Bangkok who loved food and spoke English I could ask them. But I do! I phoned Cate from Cate's World Kitchen (an awesome mouth-watering blog btw) and she was able to give us directions to not one but two different Mexican restaurants near BTS stations. Yay! My first Ceasar Salad in months was so authentically American I wanted to cry. It was a beautiful thing. Thanks Cate! =)



Technically the big Songkran celebration didn't start until Sunday... but people were already in the streets splashing us with water. The first time it's kind of fun, but after a while it becomes a bit hard to maintain a good attitude about it. I quickly determined that the main problem was that I was defenseless... so I had to just smile and take it as I got splashed or sprayed.

In addition to splashing, people put clay on each other's faces to protect against evil spirits.

Fortunately, this is Thailand, so there were about a dozen stalls per block selling water guns and bottles of water. Once properly armed, I fully joined in the fun. Even though I got SOAKED I felt good because at least I could squirt people back a little.

We went to yet another seedy/touristy street and found an open bar to hang out in for a while. This was fun, it was near yet another street market so there was a lot to see. I'm finding that I need a lot of visual and mental stimulation these days. I think it's because I'm a bit starved for it in Rayong. There are just not a lot of interesting places to go here... and it's a small town so the chances of running into new people are pretty slim as well. Like right now I'm back at the coffee shop, and I'm looking over at the market where I eat ... watching the lady who said I looked like a fat Filipino set up her restaurant. Every once in a while people from the petroleum plant ride by wearing their uniforms. I may not know them personally... but it's all the same, very normal... no farang, no tourists, no chance of running into a random gardener from Sweden or anything like that. No excitement beyond what we can generate on our own after a great deal of whiskey consumption. The other teachers and I are literally the most exciting & exotic thing going on in this town. That is a very new and interesting sensation for me.





Now allow me to express again, how much I love the internet. I LOVE THE INTERNET! I've been keeping up with some of my friends from the CELTA course via Facebook. Usually it's just a one liner back and forth, but occasionally we'll exchange an email about what's going on. Having moved at a few critical times in my life, and having no concrete links back to the places where I grew up, I feel very sad when I get to know people but then they just slip away. I have no friends who've seen me from childhood onwards. So I LOVE that via the miracle of Facebook I can maintain at least some level of contact with people I've known different stages of my life. I like it a LOT. Anyway... some of you may remember the Brit, with whom I shared many beers and philosophical chats while on the course. Well, he's still living in Chiang Mai with his girlfriend and he posted that he would be in Bangkok the same time that I was. I was so excited you can't even imagine. We agreed to meet up on Monday before our respective flights home.




It was so wonderful to see him again. We met up for coffee, went to lunch, and just wandered around chatting. I just love him so much. We ended up talking a lot about the current political situation in Bangkok. We'd planned to meet up at Siam Paragon mall, but it was closed... and he showed me a picture from the newspaper - a bunch of Red Shirts climbing on an Army tank right outside Paragon. The day before while I was at Jim Thompson's house and Chatuchak Market the army had clashed with the red shirts right around the corner. He gave me a little insight about why this is all happening, but I don't feel comfortable going into it here. (Americans reading this - go hug the Bill of Rights for me, I miss it dearly.)




I still have enough money for an emergency ticket home, and he basically advised me - when XYZ happens, that's when the shit will hit the fan, and that'll be my cue to go home. I mean, Thailand has gone through a number of revolutions and coups in recent history and it's been surprisingly non-violent. So I still don't feel like it's unsafe for me to be here. But it was good to get the opinion of a Farang who's lived here for several years and actually pays attention to the news. We talked about a bunch of other things too. He told me I seemed a lot more confident than I had been even just a few months ago - which I know - but hearing it from someone else made me feel really good. It was soooo good to see him again.



All too soon it was time for us to head for our respective flights home. I met up with the girls at the hotel and we got a cab to the airport. Let me tell you, I have had some pretty ... special... taxi rides since coming to Thailand. As we drove around we realized that we hadn't really seen any cars on the streets all day - only taxis and tuk-tuks. Then it occurred to us that this wasn't necessarily because of Songkran... but that the police or the army had restricted access to the city.




As we drove down one street we could see smoke in the distance. That was unnerving to say the least. Further down the street we saw a whole crowd of people (normal citizens) standing around looking towards the smoke in the increasingly closer distance. They saw us and started waving at us to turn around and go back. So we did. And then we went down another street... and saw another crowd of people, this time a guy on a motorbike was driving up and down the street telling cars to turn around... he spoke with the taxi driver for a second... and of course we didn't have a clue what they were saying. I just held hands with Bobby in the back seat and tried not to freak out too much.




The next street the driver tried was fine and we were eventually on the freeway headed to the airport. I saw a LOT of police officers at the on ramps supporting the theory that they were limiting access to the city. We made it to the airport safe and sound (after having to call one of the girls at the office to have her explain to the driver *which* airport we wanted to go to). I called both my mom and sister and told them everything was fine, we were all fine, in another part of the city etc. etc. etc. But the fact was I was far closer to the action than I would have liked.




That night in the hotel in Phuket I got to watch a little BBC and saw footage of the Red Shirts and the Army having a stand off at Victory Monument. I had been right there the day before... there were pictures of the Red Shirts wandering all over the BTS station I'd been at etc. And the smoke we saw was more than likely from the bus the Red-Shirts had set on fire. I mean, honestly, I was never in any danger - but man I never want to be that close to another country's revolution again!




Two and a half days in Bangkok = enough excitement for a year. Next up Phuket! It's not pronounced how you think it is... but it probably should be. ;)


TAG: Code Sweet Chili Sauce... (extra spicy)