The tropical life...

I was just absolutely wiped out after my Saturday classes. I had about 27 hours of teaching last week (14 class sessions)… which is normal. But since I’m new it takes me a long time to prep each class... about an hour per class… and that’s just to get a feel for what the lesson is about and what order to do the activities in. I’m not even close to giving the kinds of lessons I’d like to be giving at this point. I learned a lot from the CELTA course… but with all the self evaluations, peer evaluations, and tutor feedback it teaches you to be extremely critical of every little thing. I keep trying to tell myself that I don’t need to be perfect… as long as the students are getting exposure to the language and getting to practice a bit each time, I’m doing okay. Still… it takes a lot out of me. I really want to be a good teacher; I want my students to actually learn something and for their skills to improve. But also, after years and years in unrewarding jobs, I want to feel like I’m actually doing something productive.

Oh, and the kid classes I was dreading…all I can say is that I survived. I’m taking both of them over from the Canadian guy who just left for a job in Bangkok. I remember him complaining that one of the course books was too advanced for his students… and now I know what he was talking about. In the first class I was struggling to get them to do even the most basic of the activities… seriously, I was saying “point to the mountain” and only about half of them could do it. So that was the first three hours (I misread my schedule and thought they were each 4 hours… so I was actually relieved it was only 3 hours). The second three hour course was the complete opposite. They ploughed through the activities in the book like nothing. We did a listening activity – and usually I have to go through the CD like 3 times before the students can get all the information from it, but with this group – the kids were laughing at a joke on the CD the first time through. That’s a pretty advanced level of comprehension! I know I’m going to need to challenge them though… I don’t want to let them skate by just using the forms and structures they know really well. For the first lesson though, we spent the last hour playing games. Word games, but still.

So, after all that my little brain really really needed my day off. I made it a top priority to get to bed early so I might get a decent night’s sleep. I did go to bed by 11pm… but unfortunately was woken at around 3am by a HUGE storm. I mean, cracks of thunder that sounded like (I can only assume) a giant bomb going off next door, and lightening flashes that just light up the entire sky. And the rain… the rain! After living in Portland, I feel like I’ve got some experience with rain. But we didn’t get many real storms. Here the sky just opens up and it’s like fire hoses pouring down. The upside is that the storms blow past pretty quickly, so most of the days I’ve been here have been at least mostly sunny. But it was quite a production and I couldn’t sleep through it, and then I couldn’t fall asleep for quite a while afterwards. So much for catching up on my sleep.

I got my legs waxed again today… no big adventure this time as I’d dutifully waited until I was good and furry first. Then, as per my routine I went to the beach. This time the songthaew stopped in the town of Ban Phe. I think I mentioned that I figured out that the beach I really like is not actually in Ban Phe… I think it’s called Laem Mae Phim. Anyway, the songthaew stopped well before the beach I wanted to go to, so I walked… and walked… and walked. I gave up as soon as I got to a spare bit of beach and spent a bit of time in the water. I wasn’t really enjoying myself though…there were a ton of people around. And I haven’t gotten swim shorts yet, so I was feeling decidedly naked in comparison to the Thai swimmers, even in my fairly conservative speedo. Anyway, I wandered around the shops for a while, but realized I hadn’t brought much cash, so I didn’t actually buy anything.

I did pick up a nice cool beverage though.

No, it’s not an adult beverage…it’s just coconut juice. There was a woman with a cart and a bunch of under ripe coconuts in a cooler and I watched someone else order one, so I did too. She basically takes the coconut out and whacks it a few times around the top with a cleaver until it cracks… then she just sticks a straw in it and there you go. Fresh cool coconut juice. And let me tell you, it was nummers. After I finished the juice I ate the fruit. Since it’s under ripe it’s not all hard and dry, it peels off the shell really easily. And when you eat it, it’s not like gnaw gnaw gnaw, it’s just kinda soft and chewy. It has a milder taste too.

And now I’m back home… I stopped by the school to pick up the teachers books for my classes tomorrow. I have to do some intake/placement evaluations in the morning (all other duties as assigned) so there goes the morning I was going to spend planning lessons.

*update - of course after writing up this whole post I realized I was far too tired to do any lesson planning last night so I just went to sleep. =? Todays classes should be interesting! Oh, and I think Thailand might be gearing up for another coup... some people don't like the new PM any more than the old one. I still have enough money for an emergency plane ticket home... but so far none of this political stuff has had even the slightest impact on my day-to-day life.

TAG - Code Pineapple.

Breakfast of champions + further (albeit unnecessary) proof of my dorkiness

I'm happy to tell you that the mysterious mass-restaurant closure appears to be over. Yesterday while the electricians were working on my "hong naam fai see-a" issue I actually got to eat real food. Actually, the restaurant I wanted to go to was still closed... but I think maybe it was just too early. Anyway I ended up going back to the place where the girls had laughed at me. I dont' think I can adequately describe how much I was dreading going back there. But as you know I was pretty dang hungry.


This time I took the "nee arai" (what's that) approach and it worked okay. I noticed that here was a display with three different pots of soup near the front of the restaurant, so I just walked up and pointed to the most appetizing looking one and said "nee arai" - of course I don't know what the heck they said... but I smiled and nodded and indicated "one serving" and sat down. They then proceeded to bring me all these dishes. You know... there are a lot of things I *want* to take picture of, but I'm just so self conscious already... so I just sneak a shot here and there...and the quality shows. Seriously though, I dare you to go into a new restaurant, ALONE, and start taking pictures of the food and tell me how you feel.

Let's see what we've got here going clockwise from the lower left: little nests of thin rice noodles, the main dish - a yellow coconut curry with chicken, green veggies- mint, basil, long green beans, white sprouts, and shredded cabbage, um... other misc toppings sliced green onions, cucumbers, pickles, and maybe carmelized onion... not really sure, and finally the dish where you put it all together. Yeah... not quite scrambled eggs and toast. It ended up being really good, but a bit spicier than I generally want my breakfast to be. But, you know, not bad for less than $2.

McLOL

Ok... we need names for clarification... there's the restaurant where they laughed at me - "McLOL", the place where I've practiced my Thai - "Thai101", the little restaurant on the other street that's basically an extention of the family's living room, let's call it a "B&B", and the restaurant right behind the school, which unfortunately I'll have to call "The Dive".

Thai 101

So with access to food again things were looking up. I only had two classes today (which just gives me a bit of breathing room to plan for tomorrow)... the first one at 2pm. So I went to the B&B for breakfast. All of the restaurants I go to are family affairs, and I generally just give my order to whomever is looking at me when I sit down. So far this has worked okay. Today however... today I let my little farang dork shine. I get to the restaurant and I say hello to the cook and the other lady who work there. I sit down at an empty table. A familiar looking man comes over, smiling, and says something to me. Of course I don't know what he's saying, so I tell him what I want to eat. He smiles and says something else.... I smile and he walks away. A moment or two later the cook looks at me, expectantly and I repeat my order to her. Then I notice the first guy sit down at a table nearby and start eating and talking to a little girl. I've seen a little girl here at the B&B sitting on the couch in her living room watching TV... but this is not that girl. And soon enough the man and the little girl get onto his motorbike and drive away. Only after he leaves do I realize this isn't the dad who owns this restaurant... it's the soup guy from across the street from my school. D'Oh!


So let's recap from his perspective. You notice a new woman in your neighborhood - she's come into your place of business once or twice. One day, you're out having a nice meal with your kids. You notice the new gal and go over to say hi to her. "How do you like our city?" you ask (or some other general small-talky thing beyond 'hello') and she replies to you "I'd like a burger and a coke please." Double D'oh!


If that doesn't win me the crown for Dorkfest... I'm not sure what will.


TAG - Code Pineapple... if I haven't mentioned it twenty times already - I have two new classes with young learners tomorrow - three hours each.

How many Thai people does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

So up till now I had no light in my bathroom. Well, there was a fluorescent light bulb but nothing happened when I flipped the switch. I've been a bit too concerned with things like food and teaching to really bother with getting it fixed. There are windows in the bathroom so in the daytime I don't need a light and really, at night I don't need a light either. I know where everything is. But I'm starting to feel like this will be my home for a while and thought a working light might be nice.


I've mentioned that on Monday - Thursday I have a class off campus - 30 minutes away. So that's a solid hour a day in a car with a Thai man.... who doesn't speak English. "Hello" and "How are you." don't take up much of the drive time... and even "Did you eat yet?" "I ate fried rice." leaves us with a good 55 min of silence together. I've taken to pointing at things in the car and saying "nee arai?" (what's that) but if he tries to tell me more than one word a day I totally forget it. So the other day I'm sitting in the car in silence and it occurs to me that he might be able to help me get my light fixed. So I point up to the dome light in his car and ask "nee arai?" "Ahhhh - fai." he tells me (a significant proportion of our 'conversations' each day involve one of us saying "aaaahhhhh" or "mai kow jai" (don't understand). "Fai" I repeat "Thailand speak - fai" he confirms.. and then tells me how to say "light on" and "light off" but of course, I forgot.


Armed with one good word I flipped through my phrase book looking for how to say "it doesn't work" and luckily it's just one two syllable word "see-a" and I also find the word for bathroom "hong naam" (naam means water so I already knew half of it). So I say and mime to him "Hong naam fai see-a." and he says "Aaaaahhhhh fai see-a." and I repeat pointing backwards towards the direction of my apartment "My room, hong naam fai see-a." "Aaaahhhh kow jai, kow jai." (I understand.) "ok." "ok." and you know... the rest of the drive in silence as I mentally repeat "Hong naam fai see-a." about four hundred times.


Yesterday (before starting my quest for food) I stopped downstairs to tell my landlord my new phrase. The ground floor of my apartment is a big kitchen supply store - wholesale mostly, so there are always a lot of people and a lot of products everywhere. I can't get a read on exactly how many people work here... but at least 6 or 7 I'm guessing. So they're all sitting around outside and I come up and say "Hello" and launch into my "hong naam fai see-a" but then, you know she replies. And I have no idea what she's saying to or asking me. So I just repeat "hong naam fai see-a" and point upstairs, point to the light in the store and mime 'broken'. The landlord asks me something about 'go ECC' and I say yes, I'm going to work. And I think maybe she needs my key or something so I dig in my bag and offer her my key - which she mimes she doesn't need... but goes inside and grabs a padlock from the store and shows it to me. I'm like "I don't need a padlock... I just need a new light." so I repeat the one and only phrase I know for the situation "hong naam fai see-a" at which point the girls sitting there are laughing and repeating "fai see-a" so I guess they got my point... but I still had no idea when or if my light would ever get fixed.


Last night I came home and flipped on the light, the bulb tried to sputter to life but settled into a very dim blinking pattern. I contemplate showering by strobe light, but really it's not even bright enough to be worth it. Oh well.


This morning I get up and start getting ready for work. By which I mean I spent a solid two or three hours online and eating stale crackers. I finally shower when I decide I'm willing to brave the restaurant search again. I'm standing there in my towel, soaking wet when there's a knock at the door. I say 'just a minute.... I'm naked' - in English of course, because I wouldn't have a clue what to say in Thai. And I glance around and realize I don't have a bathrobe or really anything I can throw on quickly. My landlady says something and I decide to at least open the door to show her I'm in my towel. "Hi - just a minute, I'll put clothes on." "aaaahhh...qoeri adgha dkhkjyy" Ok... I close the door walk over to my wardrobe and try to figure out what's the easiest thing I can put on while soaking wet, I've dropped my towel and picked up a skirt when the door opens! I'm like "just a minute!" and she closes the door again. I put the towel on again and just let her into the room. I point at the bathroom light and show her how flipping the switch doesn't do anything. She leaves. Um... ok.


I *very* quickly turn around and start getting dressed. Fortunately I'm fully clothed when she briefly knocks and opens the door again. I show her I'm presentable and nodding she goes back outside and ushers in a man with a ladder - "Ahhhhh, I smile." yeah, thanks for letting me get dressed.


Now they've been here for about an hour.... and there's a second electrician on the job now. I still haven't had breakfast, and there's still no light in my bathroom, and I may never have an answer to the question in my post title. =/


TAG - Code Pineapple





Update... I'm home from work now, and the light works. So I guess I could upgrade this post to a Mango... but I'm like bone tired these days and freaking out about my 8 hours of kid classes on Saturday so Pineapple stands!

Rebel in crisis

Ok... since coming to Thailand, there have been massive protests, an overthrow of the government, I was nearly scammed in Bangkok and left wandering the streets alone and completely lost, I've walked into classes completely unprepared because I was given the wrong information. Today I taught for two hours in the (not really-that) dark because the monsoon rains had caused a power-out, I've had last minute room changes, and malfunctioning CD players. We're on the verge of a global economic collapse, the electronic deposit of my paycheck was rejected by my bank, and in my last class today I was informed that there was fighting on the border with Cambodia. All of this I've handled with a deep breath and a Mai Bpen Rai.... so you know when I say there's a crisis... I mean it. And if you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you've probably guessed... it has to do with food.


All the restaurants between my home and work have been closed for the past two days!!!! Granted, there are only four ... but ALL of them are closed on the same two days - with no warning... and no one can tell me why. I mean, why doesn't really matter... the point is I would kinda like to eat something at some point. I have no kitchen, I have no fridge, I have no car, and it's not like there's a Denny's down the street.


For the record, I'm not actually starving. I have some crackers at home (which - in this humidity- go stale about 4 minutes after you open them), and have been picking up 'surprise buns' from the gas station for breakfast. Yesterday and today I've had class from 1pm - 9pm with no real break. So I got to work early to prep my lessons and at around lunch time I took a motorcycle taxi to Tesco Lotus to get something for lunch (they have something approaching a grilled cheese sandwich I'll have to describe at some point), and take away pad thai for dinner. But seriously, a surprise bun, a sandwich and a non-American-sized portion of pad thai is not quite enough food to get me through 24 hours. Not when I'm walking to and from school, running up and down the stairs and wandering around the classroom all day teaching anyway.


Today I did the same thing, went to Tescos for lunch and brought back some pad thai, which I managed to eat a few bites of in my 5 minute break at around 3pm. By the end of today I was feeling faint and starting to get a bit cranky. I didn't have the energy to walk to the big food court down the street (only an extra 5 min. walk... but when you're hungry it feels like an hour), and I didn't have the patience to wait 15 min. for one of the office gals to get off work to drive me. So I just left. I even forgot to bring the rest of my pad thai with me. There are usually two food vendors across the street, and I've gotten fried rice from the one gal. But today - of course - she wasn't there. It was just the guy with soup. I don't know what kind of soup it was, and I don't really know how to ask. Well, I know how to say "what's that" but then I'm not actually going to understand anything he says... so it's a bit pointless. So I've avoided it thus far. But you know... desperate times...


I just said "gak bahn" (take away) and pointed. There were two other guys there, and Mr. No-teeth decided to strike up a conversation with me in his broken English. Now, I'm an English teacher, and I have a lot of experience speaking with people for whom English is not their native language. I feel like I have an above average amount of patience in trying to understand what someone is saying. But I'd spent the last two hours working with a couple of electrical engineers going through a presentation they need to give next week and trying my little heart out to get them to say "Valve" instead of "walbe", "experience" instead of "ehperihen." The one guy got it, but the other just refused to play ball. I kept telling him "You cannot make the 'v' sound unless you put your top teeth on your bottom lip like this... vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv... no, put your teeth (pointing at teeth) on your lip (pointing at bottom lip)... like this vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv.... vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv... I know it looks strange, I know it feels strange, but you cannot make the sound unless you do this (pointing to exaggerated mouth shape again) vvvvvvvvvv." "walbe" (head to desk / head to desk / head to desk). So ordinarily, I feel like I'm really patient with people who are trying to speak English to me, but at this point I just smiled and nodded and in my head screamed "GIVE ME FOOD AND SHUT THE FUCK UP!"


Eventually my mystery soup was ready and I could go home. Yup - in Thailand soup comes in a bag. So do beverages.... and you know one pack of chewing gum. On the right, the white stuff is rice noodles, on the left, the broth and some kind of ball-type-food-product. Have I mentioned that I don't have a bowl... or a spoon?


One of the comfort items I brought from home was my giant 32oz Associated Students of Willamette University mug . When I was in SF, J. questioned whether I really needed to bring it with me. But I justified it by saying it had sentimental value, and also that I could stuff about 6 pairs of underwear in it, so the overall volume it occupied was less than it appeared. I also reminded her that every WU Freshman quickly learns about four dozen uses for their ASWU (pronounced /az-woo/ look at my lips... woooooooo wooooooo azzzzz-woo) mug... and it quickly becomes as useful as a hitch-hikers towel.

There was actually quite a lot of soup - I just had to down half of it before I could take more pictures. Oh... and that tiny fork may or may not have been stolen for me the night of the infamous gay-bar cake fight.


The soup ended up being really really good. Yes, that shiny layer is pure fat... and it was awesome. The ball-type-food-product tasted like chicken and had a surprisingly crunchy/squeeky texture. The closest thing I could compare it to would be like those big white bean sprouts you get with Thai food. But you know...also chewy. It's not a texture I'm likely to crave, but when you're starving things like that don't matter quite so much. I would totally get it again, and I'll try to learn the name next time.


Ok... blood sugar is returning to normal, tummy is sufficiently full (for the moment) and life is reaching equilibrium again. Crisis averted. But for the love of Buddha I hope the restaurants re-open tomorrow!

If you're a dork and you know it, clap your hands!

Michael 5000, whom you may know from his awesome blog: The Life & Times of Michael 5000 (the internet's preeminent provider of difficult pop quizzes on arbitrary topics ...and glib little posts about creative arts and dork culture) is hosting the second annual Dorkfest! Go on over and check out the submissions. I encourage you to revel in your inner dorkiness by participating. Last year I chickened out... I still felt that being a dork was a bad thing. But I was heartened by the many posts and along with the other changes in my life recently I have decided to fully embrace my dorkiness. If I'm going to be a dork... I may as well try to be the dorkiest dang dork in town. Or you know... in Thailand.

Herein lies my submission for Dorkfest 2008:


To start with, I looked up the definition of “Dork” in multiple places to have an accurate operational definition from which to plead my case. I was unsatisfied with the definitions given as they don’t make a clear distinction between nerd & dork so I made up my own definition. To be a dork, one must have some obsessive traits, a hobby or quirk that is not generally accepted by mainstream society, and also display some degree of overall social ineptitude. Dorks share with nerds an interest in ‘school subjects’ (math, science, history) but unlike nerds are not necessarily experts in those fields. They think string theory is cool… but couldn’t tell you how you exactly how it works. They read XKCD, but only get about half the references.

Now that I've created my own operational definition... here are the ways in which I'm a complete and total dork.

Obsessive traits:

I read a book walking too and from work every day for a year to avoid talking to my neighbor.

The X-Files was an obsession of mine for several years. I read many X-Phile fan sites and even wrote my own, extremely crappy fan-fiction for it. When it jumped the shark I suffered intense emotional trauma that I have only recently begun to overcome.

Hobbies and quirks:

Knitting, quilting & embroidery are my major hobbies. Which I'll admit have come into vogue as hip & funky crafts... but I did needlework back when it was full-on dork-o-rama. I finished this piece in college. Yes, while my classmates were out drinking & getting stoned, I was cross-stitching.

I decoupage.

I look up new foods on Wikipedia before I try them… (and am now afraid to eat the persimmon I picked up at the market for fear of intestinal adhesions.)

This blog has 30 posts devoted to "Caturday".

Parades make me cry for joy.

I love Swing Dancing, and have a profound respect for Square Dancing & Clogging as part of our American cultural heritage.

Not only did I participate in Nanowrimo 2007, I completed my novella and printed out my certificate for posterity. I even bought the mug.

Wanna-be nerd factor:

I love watching documentaries. PBS was my favorite channel before I got cable, then it became the history & science channels. Basically, if the names Neil deGrasse Tyson or Ken Burns appear in the credits - I'll watch it. But unlike a nerd, I am unable to recall any of the pertinent information when necessary... say for a Thursday quiz. ;)

My favorite punctuation mark is the points of ellipses … could it be replaced by new-comer the interobang!?

I have a favorite punctuation mark.

I use blue-tooth technology to access the internet, and yet still have an AOL email account.
(the distinction being, a nerd would have a g-mail account, or better yet, some new fancy account I've never heard of)

Social ineptitude: (this is where my inner dork shines shines shines)

I showed up for my CELTA course orientation dressed in teacher clothes full skirt and button down top – everyone else was in shorts & flip flops.

I participate in the dork community – I read both Boing Boing and WWDN and XKCD on a regular basis.

I have more than 15 pieces of flair on my facebook account.

I made it to #4 ranking for number of posts on my online knitting forum then changed my user account at the new year. It’s took nearly 6 months for someone to overtake my #4 spot, and another two to drop me down to #6.

Let’s break that down, shall we:

1. I belong to an online knitting forum. a) knitting is still considered dorky by a great many people, b) it’s an online craft forum.

2. I posted so much I earned the #4 spot for total posts.

3. I was so far ahead of my competition, that even after I started posting under a different account, the old account held it’s position for MONTHS.

4. I check the total-post rankings

5. I check the total post rankings on a user account I don’t even use anymore!

6. I just did the math and if I’d kept using that account, I’d still be #4.

And for the record… it’s one of four online craft communities that I belong to.

I have more friends online than I do IRL and I have not actually been on a date since Dorkfest 2007. =/

I currently live in what is quite possibly the most beautiful and amazing country in Asia, and yet I spend hours - HOURS a day in my room, in front of my computer, reading blogs & playing Spider Solitaire.

Two month check in.

I've been in Thailand for two months now and thought it would be interesting to list all the things I've done for the first time since coming here.

New foods tried:
- random stuff from street vendors*
- Thai taco thing
- Pad ka pow moo - (rice, pork, veggies - but not fried together)
- Pad se yoo - (noodle dish)
- Tom yam (soup)
- Som tom (salad type thing)
- various juices from fruits I can't identify
- this seriously awesome salty-fish tasting cracker stick thing they have at the school
- mango with sweet sticky rice
- sweet sticky rice with some weird custard type thing on top
- rhoti (a crepe filled with chocolate or bananas and sweetened condensed milk and all folded up)
- surprise buns
- Kow mok gai (yellow rice with seasoned chicken)
- Larb (funky weird pork dish)

New experiences career related:
- passed the CELTA course*
- took a job 400 miles away - site unseen* (I don't actually recommend this - or plan to do it again)
- taught English classes!*
- taught English classes for which I was completely unprepared!*
- taught a class of kids*


New experiences general:
- Moved to Thailand!*
- visited a tropical island - Ko Samet
- swam in the Gulf of Thailand
- went to a Buddhist Temple
- rode in a tuk-tuk*
- rode in a songthaew*
- rode on the back of a friend's motorbike
- rode on the back of a stranger's motorbike*
- drove a motorbike (while supervised)*
- played poker for money (and WON!)
- saw an Elephant on the street
- ordered food in Thai
- nearly got scammed but walked away with all my money
- am a minority
- haggled*
- used a cell phone for internet access
- used a squat toilet =/
- used a bidet
- got my legs waxed
- got a traditional Thai massage
- got caught in monsoon rain (twice!)



I anticipate that the number of new experiences will dwindle as I get more and more settled here. But I do hope that I continue to see and do new things and continue to live at the edge of my comfort zone. LOL... It's really funny to think about where my comfort zone was vs. where it is now. For example ... all the things I starred* were things that I was terrified to do before I actually did them. But I've survived to tell the tale, haven't I?




TAG - Code Mango

She sees sea shells by the sea shore.

TAG - Code Mango


Nothing particularly interesting happened today - but it's always a good day when I get to go to the beach. A few more pictures... because I'm evil and I know it's probably getting cold & rainy in the PacNW. ;)I've learned that this beach is called The Pines, because well... there are big ol' pine trees on either side of the road next to the beach. I didn't think pines could grow in the tropics, but clearly they do. Not sure what kind, but it's odd for me to see the long skinny needles in the sand.

The waves were unbelievably calm today. I think I must have come at low tide.
In part because the waves are so gentle, and probably for a lot of other geological reasons I don't totally get - there are TONS of shells on this beach. And a good many of them are whole. There's a part of me that just wants to collect a whole mess of them as souvenirs, but I keep hearing that quote in my head about "Take only pictures, leave only footprints." and I'm trying to stick to that. I did take one shell though...just one, unremarkable but that it was from the first day I visited the beach.



More shells... the variety is just amazing. All different colors and sizes of clam/muscle shells, and also a couple nautalis type shells and flakes of abalone shells. It's all so beautiful reflecting the sun. Oh, and the sound. I wish I could capture the sound for you. When the waves wash up on the shore all the shells knock together, and it's kind of a soft crunchy sound. Ok - sound descriptions are not my strong suit. At the souvenir shops they sell sea shell wind chimes, and they sound like that, only muffled by the water.



Ok - my new favorite post-swim tradition - eating chicken on a stick.
There are all these food vendors with modified motorcycles - the side car is a food cart. So they'll drive up and down the street stopping wherever there are people, ringing their bell to let you know they're there. I really don't know what it is, but it tastes soooo good, and you just can't beat the ambiance.


Across the street from the beach there's a nature park & aroboretum. On my last trip I noticed a sign for the bathroom... but wasn't feeling particularly adventurous - or any real need to check out the facilities. This time however, I had to stop. I really contemplated waiting until I got home - it's only a 30 min ride, but this time I was feeling adventurous... plus the sign had a picture of a shower, and I thought it would be nice to clean up a bit. I thought "how bad can it be?" When traveling abroad - that's always a dangerous question. In actuality, it wasn't that bad. There were squat toilets again, oh... and I had to pay for the privilage. There was no running water at the sinks. =/ And here are the 'showers':

I don't know if that's clean water or rainwater or what. But it's just what it looks like, a big ol' concrete tub of water and a couple bowls - and half a bamboo wall for privacy. I think I mentioned before that Thai people go swimming in their clothes. Well, not necessarily their street clothes, but both men and women wear swimming trunks and t-shirts in the water. I saw a guy walking out of the men's room sopping wet, so I guess they just splash themselves with the fresh water to get rid of the salt & dry off when they dry off. Today I was still pretty committed to wearing a swimsuit (although, will probably pick up some swim trunks soon) and at least attempted to keep my clothes dry. Epic failthough ... as I tried to wash off my arms & legs without getting undressed and proceeded to get almost as wet as if I'd just dunked myself. Then rode back in the Songthaew looking like a half-drowned rat.


What can I say? Living the dream. =)

Learning to read all over again.

Now that I'm more or less settled into a routine with teaching, I've been trying to spend a couple of minutes here and there studying Thai. I have a couple books, but they're only moderately helpful. What's worked the best so far is finding what I'm trying to say in my phrase book, then asking the office staff how to actually say it. Then I experiment. The staff have been more than patient with me. In particular, the cleaning lady has been really friendly, chatting with me (in English) while she works, and playing along as I try to say things like "Have you eaten?" "Yes, I already ate." in Thai (it's a small talk greeting like "How's it going.").


On Monday through Thursday I teach a class half an hour away from the school, and there's a man who drives me. He speaks more English than I do Thai... but really not that much. So I've been experimenting with him as well... digging individual words out of my phrase book like "fon" (rain) and pointing to the dark skies off in the distance. He'll correct me..."Thailand speak - foon tok" then it's another ten minutes in silence. But the trip is still proving to be productive. I studied a couple of the letters using a learn Thai website... and now I look at signs & license plates trying to pick out the letters I know. I was irrationally delighted when I saw the letters Kgor and Mor together and figured out that they stood for Kilometers. Most of the road signs have English translations... which actually isn't helpful in getting me to associate the letter with the sound. But in the case of signs with city names - it's really helpful because the English is really just a transliteration of the Thai word. So... slowly slowly slowly I'm picking up a new letter here and there.


Today Big's two daughters came into the school and were just hanging out in the teacher's room. They were playing on the white board and practicing their English with me. So I turned it around and had them look at my letters as I wrote them - and they corrected me. One of the girls was doing math with arabic numbers, but I had her check my Thai numerals and teach me the words for hundred and thousand. They also taught me how to write "chicken" or more actuately, how to read it... one more step to being able to feed myself!!


That's the big adventure for today. I only had two classes today - one of which I bombed. =/ But I had time to go to Tesco Lotus (the big supermarket/everything store) for lunch and ate something approaching a grilled cheese sandwich. I don't have to work this weekend, so I plan to go to Ban Phe tomorrow. Not quite sure what I'll end up doing on Sunday though.


I need some friends here. =/


TAG - Code Watermelon.

Yet another post about food...

I'm seriously getting in touch with my inner hunter/gatherer these days I have to say. A fair amount of my day is spent thinking about what I can eat, when I can eat, and where I can find food. Fortunately - our brains are specifically designed for this task!

First thing in the morning... or you know, whenever I end up leaving my apartment I usually go across to the gas-station minimart for some breakfast on the way to school

Mmmm... bottled water & surprise pastries! Actually I've figured out that this one is some approximation of chocolate - so it's my go-to breakfast when they have it. (They only stock 1 or 2 of each flavor everyday, so it's kind of hit or miss).


If I'm really hungry, or I don't have a morning class...I'll wait until like 11am and go eat lunch as my first meal.

This is one of the first restaurants I went to as it's on my street... just a little ways up. But the first time I went, the waitresses (who looked really young) just laughed and laughed at me. I mean, yes I couldn't string together two words in Thai, so go ahead and laugh. But when you're hungry and you just want food - it's not a great feeling. I had asked for Pad Thai but apparently they don't serve it there. So I pulled out the only other meal I knew at the time "kow pad gai" (chicken fried rice) - the girls still laughed at me, but some older guy from the back of the restaurant (the cook - their dad - both? who knows) was like "Kow Pad Gai" and nodded. So I ate. I think it might be a Chinese Restaurant...or something. While eating I noticed a menu with pictures - it was all different kinds of bao. So the next time I went I just pointed at one of the pictures of bao (they all look the same from the outside!!!!) and got some kind of sweet bbq pork filling. It was okay... but I just didn't like the vibe.


Fortunately, this restaurant is just across the street.... well, across the street and down half a block.
There's a whole hive of people working at this restaurant and I'm never quite sure who I should be talking to. But they are all very friendly and tend to laugh *near* me not so much *at* me. They seem pretty tolerant of my experiments with speaking Thai. The first few times I went all I ate was fried rice... but then I tried a "What do you recommend" and they brought me Larb. There was pork and liver and sticky rice, it was edible, but not my favorite thing. Since then, I've made learning new foods a top priority and am constantly asking people from school "nee arai" (what's that?) and what I should order.

In the past couple of days I've picked up a couple new food words and can now ask for noodles, and vegetables, and can order a meal that does not appear to be fried. I think I know the word for eggs and am working up the courage to ask for scrambled eggs at some point.


There are a few street vendors around here, although not many. This gal sells fried chicken, a number of packaged baked goods (I had some apricot filled fried dough-type-things that were not great) and a few things wrapped up in banana leaves. I've had mixed experiences with the banana-leaf wrapped foods. Once it was that absolutely heavenly coconut sticky-rice mixture... but another time it was a spicy chicken and herb/veggie concoction that had a number of small bones in it. Disturbing.


There's a restaurant just behind the school, and I've eaten there a number of times, but honestly - the place is disgusting. It's nowhere near clean, and you can see bugs crawling over the walls and tables. The food is pretty good though, it's always served really hot and I've never found anything unsettling in it - or gotten sick. Still, I wouldn't go there if there were another option nearby... but there just isn't. Once I get that motorbike though....


Today after my last class the Head Teacher (who lives in my building) asked if I wanted to stick around and go to the food-court with one of the office staff (who has a car). It was nice to have an actual Thai person with me at the market, because I could ask her what things were, and where I could get what I wanted. It turned out though that I didn't need her language skills because one of the booths had salad rolls packaged to-go. I thought of Mrs.B back home and had to get some!

Those orange things are super tiny shrimp. I thought they were shredded carrots, but then looking at the picture I was like "that carrot has an eye." Hmmm... it was yummy. The sauce is molases based... but has chili peppers in it. A bit of a surprise for me.


I'm still trying to sort out *when* to eat. Monday - Wednesday I have class straight from 2pm-9pm. The first day I'd grabbed a snack to eat on the car between my off campus & on campus classes, but by the end of the day I was still so hungry I wanted to pass out. The second day, I had a few crackers for breakfast, a big lunch, then picked up some to-go food before my class and kept it in the fridge at school. I got to eat a few cold fork-fulls during the 10 min break in my 2.5 hour class, and brought the rest of it home. Not ideal... but it worked. Today I ate a big meal at around 10am, then went to start planning my classes. I was hungry again by 1pm, so I had a big lunch - knowing it would have to last me until 9pm. But then I was really full through my classes.... and I picked up the salad rolls in case I got hungry later.... but I'm still not. Oh well. I'll sort it out one of these days. And you can rest assured that I'll blog all about it. ;)

TAG - Code Mango

Exotic monotony

It's weird how quickly you can go from "OMG - this is insane, everything is so strange and exciting." to "YAWN". I got up relatively early, but just dorked around on the computer for the morning. Then I went in seek of 'breakfast' - picked up some kow pad gai (chicken fried rice) and then off to school at around 11am.


I really didn't need to be there that early - I didn't have class until 2pm, and I'd planned one of my lessons already. But I hung out and planned my other two lessons. The text books are really hit or miss. Sometimes there are really good activities that get the students to use the langugae, and use their own language. But sometimes it's all just listening & writing. And I know it's *my job* to find a way to make the activities more communicative... I'm just not quite there yet. So my lessons were okay - but not great. I've had so many different classes (most of my first two weeks were covering for other teachers' classes) and so many different students, that I can't remember what I did from one class to the next. I covered a class for V. last week, and yesterday she told me that they said I was really easy to understand. But I couldn't for the life of me picture *one* of those students or remember what we had studied. There's a card for each class where I jot down what we did... but that's it. I need to start taking notes about common errors or questions that I need to elaborate on, etc. I haven't sorted out a solid organizational plan yet.


I'm picking up an average of one new Thai word a day. I'm exposed to more than that... but I forget at least half of what I learn each day. Today was "nong laap" - sleep & "nong" - tired. Or something like that. Yes... I could benefit from some dedicated study... but I can't quite afford private lessons yet. There's a lot of life hanging on "when I get paid"... and I won't actually get a full paycheck until November 12 (I'll get two half payments though, on the 12th and 25th which will cover living expenses well enough).


So if you've managed to stay awake through this post - give yourself a gold star, because today's TAG is Code Watermelon.

This is not a plastic bag...

Nothing especially interesting happened today. More classes, more experiments in ordering food.

Good lord... this is my #1 piece of advice for anyone even remotely interested in traveling abroad: STUDY THE FOOD! Know the words (spoken and in writing) for your basic food products chicken, fish, rice, bread, vegetables, spicy, etc. And learn as much about the cuisine as you can. If there's something they eat that you never want to see on a plate - know the word so you can watch out for it (lest you repeat the unfortunate Andouilette experience I had in Paris). I managed fine in Chiang Mai because the restaurants either had menus in English or pictures... but in Rayong, I eat the same 4 meals every day... or I leave it up to chance and let them recommend something. Today I had Dtom Yam - a soup seasoned with lemon grass and kefir lime leaves. It was delicious, but the pork in it was still on the bone so I was picking it apart as I was eating it. Weird. Tasty, but weird. Oh and tonight I thought I learned how to ask for veggies and rice, but somehow there were noodles involved. I have no clue what I actually ordered. It was pretty good.

ANYWAY, nothing especially interesting happened today so I thought I'd dig up one of the topics suggested earlier... Environmental Awareness in Thailand. It's a mixed bag, so I'll just share a few observations.

1. Plastic bags. Every time I buy something, it gets put in at least one plastic bag. When I bought fruit from the guy across from my school in Chiang Mai he would put the sliced fruit in a clear plastic bag, then attempt to put that bag in a mini-shopping bag with handles. Even if I just buy one thing - it goes into a plastic bag. I don't know the words for "no bag" so I motion the best I can and sometimes get them to hand over my stuff without the extra bag. The ironic thing is that there are signs in stores that say "Say no to plastic bags!" and the Top Foods market sold canvas grocery bags as a replacement for plastic. Oh, and I've seen a few people with big shoulder bags that say in English "This is not a plastic bag." So the awareness is there, but it's not totally incorporated into everyday life yet.


2a. Recycling - bottles/cans. I think I've only seen one or two bottle/can recycling bins in Thailand. I asked someone at my apartment in Chiang Mai and he said to leave my bottles next to the trash, that the cleaning lady can take them in for money. I did this for a few weeks, but then noticed one day that the bottles I'd carefully bagged up and set beside the trash bin were *in* the trash bin. So I have no idea if they were ever recycled or not. I got the same story here in Rayong - the cleaning lady can turn them in for money. But there's not a separate place to put them, so it all just goes in the trash.

2b. Recycling - paper products. At both the school in Chiang Mai and the school here they are very good about reusing printer/copier paper. There are signs that say "No Wasting Paper." and "Reusing is good, using less is better." by the copy machine. There's also a tray next to the copier where you can put paper that's only been printed on one side. I use this paper whenever I'm making copies for myself. When I copy for the students though, I use new paper. Outside the school however, I haven't seen a place to recycle papers.

3. Global Warming. People are very much aware of the problem of global warming. I've seen a few different slogans on t-shirts and bags. I did a practic lesson in Chiang Mai on "50 years in the future" and with regards to the environment one group predicted that most of southern Thailand would be flooded, so the population would have to move inland. In another lesson, we asked the students to describe their dream car and most described an electric car or one with 'zero emissions' (the students knew the concept in Thai and asked specifically how to say it in English). However, there's horrible, absolutely HORRIBLE polution in the cities here. I have no idea what, if any, emissions standards there are now, but if you're in traffic for any amount of time, the exhaust fumes become overwhelming. After a few weeks in Chiang Mai I developed a cough that I feel confident I can blame on riding in open Songthaews on a busy road everyday. The cough went away after a week in Rayong, but came back after *one* day in Bangkok. I've seen many people wearing surgical masks while riding their motorbikes. The traffic police have special mini-gas-mask type things they wear. It's a bit scary actually. So again, the awareness is there... but it doesn't seem to be reflected in day-to-day life.


I haven't seen or heard much about organic foods or products, but that might be because I don't know the word for it... same with compost. So it's a bit of a mixed bag... much like in the US I guess.


TAG - Code Mango... everything's fine and I had a nice chat with one of the other teachers today. =)

Ko Samet

In keeping with my goals for living in Thailand, I'd planned to go to the beach on my day off again. I've been to Ban Phe twice now, and wanted to check out Ko Samet this time. Ko Samet is an island just off the coast, it's officially a national park but there are a bunch of resorts there. I wasn't quite sure what to expect but I had heard really good things about it. I took the songtheaw from Rayong to Ban Phe and wandered around all the touristy shops for a while, then got a ticket for the boat.

The boat is only 100B both ways, but admission to the island was 200B for foreigners. Only about $10 US... but my US $$ are slowly but surely diminishing. =/ I debated just going to Ban Phe again, but eventually decided it would be worth it to see someplace new.

I enjoyed the ride over. The ocean is really calm, and I just love the breeze on my face. I still don't know what those other little islands are called though.

About 30 min. later we reached Ko Samet... check out all the cute little bungalos.
The first thing I saw when I got off the dock was a 7/11. It kinda struck me as funny... not so much your desert island experience. But it was nice to have someplace to buy some water. It turned out that there were a LOT of shops - mostly selling touristy stuff, and places to arrange snorkeling trips etc. All along the beach there were hotels and restaurants.
Then, actually on the beach there were a few guys who would walk by selling food, fruit, chicken satay, etc. I bought some pineapple to snack on.


I walked along the beach for a while, trying to find someplace relatively free of people, and I saw this in a tide pool. At first I thought it was a banana peel, but then I thought maybe it was a sea star.... but then it looked a bit like a banana peel again. Opinions?

Sunthorn Phu is Thailand's most popular poet, and he wrote his epic poem Phra Apai Manee right here on Ko Samet. I haven't actually read the poem yet, but apparently it's something to do with a flute player & a mermaid. Intriguing.

The white sand was so fine, like talcum powder. The water, as warm as a bath, and so green today. There are even fewer waves here than on the mainland. It's like lying in a giant bathtub - so relaxing.


The beach from above... the restaurants set out chairs and tables all along the beach, I was just a few yards over, camped out on some rocks.


And here was a lazy fishing boat that just floated on by.

Overall, I had a nice time. I mean, any day at the beach is better than a day at the office - right? But I didn't care for the built-up nature of Ko Samet... or at least of the beach I went to. I saw more farangs than I'd seen in a while, and a lot of chubby Europeans in bikinis... no one really needs to see that. So for now, I think I'll stick to Ban Phe on my days off.


TAG - Code Mango

The Big Mango

Well, I'm back from Bangkok, lighter in the purse but richer in experience I guess.


The office manager at my school - Big, had set up an appointment for me with Mr. P from the Bangkok branch to help me get my visa extended & converted, and to apply for my work permit. I was supposed to meet him at immigration at 10am. There had been some debate in the office about what time I needed to leave. Big had suggested 5am, but one of the other teachers was insistent that I didn't have to leave until around 6:30am. When Pink took me to the bus station I split the difference and got a ticket for 5:55am* . Pink also arranged for a motorcycle taxi to pick me up at my apartment at 5:30am... so it was a pretty early day for me.


The bus took longer than the other teacher had said, and I was starting to get nervous about being late for my appointment, but there wasn't a lot I could do about it so I tried to stay calm. I had directions regarding how to get from the bus station to the immigration office, which turned out to be a bit easier than I thought. I basically got off the bus and looked around until I found the stairs up to the sky train, got a ticket, found the right train and off I went. I almost got off on the wrong stop, but sorted myself out. Then I had to change trains to a different line. Once off the sky train I just had to hire a taxi. There were a lot of 'taxi-meter' car taxis around, but looking at the traffic I decided to go with a motorbike taxi again. I have to say, that's got to be my favorite form of transportation thus far. Seeing Thailand from the back of a motorbike is pretty fun. Motorbikes don't really get stuck in traffic, they just zip around the other cars... and since I'm not driving I don't have to pay too much attention to traffic and can shut my eyes when it gets scary.


My initial impressions of Bangkok were pretty good. The sky train reminded me a LOT of San Francisco.** You know, on a certain level, all big cities feel the same. It's a mix of the shiny, new expensive shops & high-rise buildings, and then the dirty, grimy, smelly, street level stuff. Overall though, it seemed nicer than either Chiang Mai or Rayong. There were plenty of English signs (which made the whole transit thing pretty easy) and I saw a fair number of other farangs. It occurred to me that I do have a bit of a city girl in me and that I might not mind living in Bangkok at some point.


I managed to make it to the Immigration office by 5 'till, but didn't immediately see anyone that appeared to be looking for me. I called Mr. P and he said he'd be there in 5 minutes. I thought maybe he was stuck in traffic, but it turned out he was already there helping a couple other teachers. That's his whole job, running teachers through the bureaucracy. I made sure to be really nice to him & let him know how much I appreciated it!! I can't even tell you how grateful I was. Between Big & Mr. P all I had to do was stand there and look pretty. I mean, I'd had to bring my passport, my original degree, passport photos and 4,000 baht... but they did all the paperwork. He took me through one line, got us a number, went to the table, pasted my picture onto the correct form and said "sign here, sign here, sign here" etc. Then sat me down in the waiting room handed me my stuff and showed me where to see which number was up...then hung back. So I sat and waited until my number came up - went to the window and handed in my stuff. The woman wanted my phone number, which I don't have memorized, so I started digging in my purse for it. By the time I had it out of my bag - Mr. P was at my shoulder making sure there wasn't a problem. The immigration lady gave me another number and Mr. P showed me where to see when that number would come up.


There was a lot of waiting involved, and it was just so odd to be there in this big waiting room with all these other people from around the world. You know how when you go to the DMV and there's someone there who doesn't speak the language, and you hear the guy at the window trying to explain it over and over and you're irritated because your number won't be up until they sort that guy out. Well, it was like that - except I was one of the poor morons who didn't have a clue what was going on. Thank Buddha for Mr. P. My number came up again, pick up my papers, and off to another room to get another number and to wait some more.


My tourist visa was extended, but apparently they weren't able to convert it from a tourist visa to the Non-B immigrant visa right then. They'll be able to do it on the 15th. This was the part that made me nervous, both the woman behind the counter and Mr. P explained to me that I just couldn't leave the country for the next two weeks, which shouldn't be a problem. But then Mr. P said he needed to keep my visa with him so that he could get it stamped on the 15th. Otherwise I'd have to come back. He had a whole folder of passports from the other teachers, and since this is his job I said ok. I just made sure to get a copy of the new visa, to go with the copy of my passport that I keep in my purse.


This is just another example of one of those things I never would have been okay with back in the states. I'm operating so far outside my comfort zone on a daily basis here...it's insane. I think that's why I spend every free moment online. It's the one constant I can hold onto from my old life, my touchstone.


So after going through immigration I decided that I should stick around and actually see something of Bangkok while I was there. I hadn't actually planned on visiting Bangkok so I didn't have anything particular in mind, but I'd grabbed my Lonely Planet guide and kinda flipped through it while waiting. The number one don't-miss sight they recommended was the Golden Palace. I figured out I could take the sky-train to the river and take a river boat up to the palace, then from there I'd figure out a way to come back. But by the time I got back to the Siam sky-train transfer station it had started raining. Hanging out in a boat in the rain didn't sound like too much fun. On the other hand, Siam Station was right next to a huge-ass mall. =)


I spent a good couple of hours wandering around the shops, there was an English language bookstore and a lot of super chi-chi shops I couldn't even afford to look into. But I spent some quality time in the food court. I actually settled on Burger-King... and I'm trying not to feel ashamed. Then I had passion fruit sorbet for dessert and it was gooooood! I looked through my book a bit more and figured out there was a way to take a bus to the Grand Palace, I just had to get back onto the sky-train and go to the other end of the line. One of the gals in the office had suggested I get an all-day pass for the sky train, and I did look for one but didn't see it. In retrospect I should have looked harder because I was on and off that thing all day and I'm sure I spent more than a full-day pass would have cost. I ended up spending a ton of money (and time!) on transportation today. Next time I'll have a better plan. A *much* better plan.


It was still raining when I got off the sky-train and I was getting a bit frustrated because there were all these little shops but no one was selling an umbrella. And of course there are huge puddles everywhere and my feet are getting all clammy and gross. Meanwhile, it's still HOT out, so I was just not loving life. Eventually I found a lady selling umbrellas (the second one I've bought in Thailand =/ ) and while I was there I asked her to point me towards the right bus for where I wanted to go (there was no transit map *anywhere*). She couldn't help me but she pointed to two gals standing nearby handing out flyers for KFC. The girls had these felt chicken hats on. It was a bit hilarious. But one had a mobile phone with something or other v-tech and called someone who spoke English, handed the phone to me - I told her where I wanted to go then handed the phone back to the chicken-girls. They all understood then, and got me pointed in the right direction.


But then, more waiting. Finally find the right bus, but have no idea how much it cost, so just stick out my hand full of change and let the fare checker take however much it is. I tried my best to follow along with the map in my guidebook, but it was really hard to see the street signs. I did my best though and when we got to a big temple I got off and tried to orient myself to the map in the guidebook. I figured I could walk where I wanted to go. The universe had something else in mind.


This guy walks up to me and starts talking to me in English. Where am I from, how long have I been in Thailand... the same questions I've been asked by every single Thai person I've met here. Then he starts looking at my map and telling me I should see x-y & z. I tell him I really just want to see the Grand Palace, but he tells me it's closed. He says I can go see this other famous Buddha statue that's on my map and there's this other "Lucky" Buddha that I should see too. And I ask him where it is and can I walk to it. And he's like - you can take a tuk-tuk, there's a special discount today because the government is handing out cards for free gas or something. As I've mentioned about 500 times, I never know what's going on here, so I didn't really think about it. I was going to just hang out at the temple and take a few pictures before hopping in a tuk-tuk, but he was like "There's a ceremony going on right now, so the temple is closed to tourists." And I do know there's the whole vegetarian thing going on. So I end up getting into a tuk tuk that's conveniently parked right there on the street.


The tuk-tuk driver gives me the same discounted price and confirms Mr. Friendly's story about the gas card thing. So I get in and we start going. As soon as we turn off the main road I start thinking "This is a scam. I've totally been scammed." but at the same time I'm thinking "Why am I so mistrusting? I've done about a million scary weird things in Thailand and it always turns out okay." I look up and the tuk-tuk has a proper license, and a picture of the guy with his name and everything on the wall. Everything looks legit. Eventually we do end up at the temple of the "lucky Buddha" and there's actually a monk there, and a guy with a badge, so I think "Ok - this is what he said it was." And the guy with the badge is chatting with me - he has a cousin in Portland. So as we're chatting I'm like "Is there really a discount on tuk-tuks today?" and he's like "Yeah, because of the discounted gas cards." and I'm like "Oh, good because I wasn't sure if he was being honest." "oh, yeah yeah" and he tells me the same story as the first guy. So I get back to the tuk tuk but as soon as I get in he's like "I need you to help me get my discounted gas card. I just need you to look at this shop...." at which point all the red flags start waving and I'm like "No...I can't help you. Nope, nope nope." and get out of the tuk tuk, and he's like "why not?" but I just paid the 'discounted' fare and started walking away.

The Unlucky Buddha

I totally got scammed. I got out of it before the real scam started. There would have been a store - gem store, antique store, whatever. And I wouldn't have gotten out of there without paying $. But it really upset me that I fell for it. I'd even read about the gem-store scam in my guidebook and still didn't pick up on it until I was in it. I felt really really really stupid....bad stupid.... like that could have been really dangerous stupid. And if you're paying attention you'll have noticed - I HAD MY UMBRELLA WITH ME!!! =(


So I just walked away, I didn't have a clue where I was. I mean... NO CLUE, the map in my guidebook was 'general' at best, and I couldn't follow where he'd driven me anyway. I just headed for a street where I saw a lot of traffic. Then I stood there like a retard for like 10 minutes trying to at least figure out what intersection I was at. I couldn't find the street name anywhere. It took me a while to figure out what to do, I didn't know where I was, but I also didn't know where to go. I'd been on a motorcycle taxi, two sky-train lines and an 40 minute bus ride between the Immigration building and the temple where I'd gotten scammed. I didn't know what I was closest too. Eventually I found a motorcycle taxi and told him to take me to the sky-train. He asked which stop. I couldn't even tell him. He mentioned Siam Station and I was like "sure" - that's where the mall was, and I knew I could get back to my bus to Rayong from there. It was 100B - way more than any other trip I'd taken today - but screw it, I just wanted to be back on familiar ground. And we were a LONG way from Siam Station.


Once we got to the mall, I felt a bit better. I mean, I felt like crap, totally stupid, and upset at getting scammed, and upset that my first excursion into Bangkok involved a full day of waiting around, eating at Burger King and spending several hundred baht just trying to get around. I didn't get to see anything cool, and nearly got screwed out of whatever money I'd had on me. A pretty shitty way to spend the day all in all.


And now I'm think - I wonder what's happened with my passport? I mean, how stupid was that? Even if it does get back to me, has my info been copied & sold off to who knows whom? I hate feeling like this. I want to be able to trust people here.... I *need* to be able to trust people here, because I really can't function all on my own. I don't want to have my guard up all the time. I don't want to live like that.


I'm putting today's TAG at Bananas.... but if I've just had my passport stolen, we're upgrading to Durian.




* The word for 'five' in Thai is 'ha' so instead of typing LOL in txt, they type 555

** The single smartest thing I before going to Thailand was to visit J in San Francisco. Not only did we have a good time, but she helped me sort out my luggage, gave me the backpack that I use every single day here, and she taught me how to ride the BART - which has the same set up as the Bangkok Sky Train (and a bunch of other systems I'm sure). It's a lot easier to deal with forgetting to take my card out of the slot & slamming into the turnstile when it's just a friend laughing, and not a bunch of strangers getting irritated that you're holding up the line.

Smooth Talking 101

TAG - Mango with a side of fried Bananas.


Another interesting day... but mostly good. I had a morning class from 10-noon that was pretty quiet. I'd had them twice before though, so I felt comfortable going in. Then I had two new Business English classes in the evening, 4:30-6pm & 6:30 - 8:30pm (unfortunately the first one is off campus, half an hour away - you do the math!)


I'm going to Bangkok tomorrow to get my work permit & extend my visa, so today at lunch Pink took me to get the bus ticket. I hopped on the back of her motorbike and off we went. After that she took me to a Chinese temple for lunch. There's a vegetarian festival in Thailand every year in October. I don't totally understand why - it's related to Buddhism, but as we walked past the temple, Pink didn't wai (a sign of respect) or stop at the alter or anything... she just took me down to the big hall where the food was. It was somewhat communal, dishes, chopsticks and rice in the center of the room... then they bring four prepared dishes to your table. One was a spinach & tofu dish (delicious!!), a carrot & jicama broth based soup, Chinese bamboo and mushrooms, and some other thing that was brown and spicy. The food was really good, and Pink was surprised that I could use chopsticks. Score one for the farang girl! =) when we got up to go I asked how much it was, and she said it was free. So, I guess it was like a church supper kind of thing.


On the way back though, she went over a rock and got a flat tire. I felt really bad, because I'm not exactly a skinny little asian girl, and in addition to my fat farang butt, I carry with me about 20+lbs of books in my backpack. I kinda felt like it was my fault. But of course Pink didn't say anything, and it only cost 40B to fix, so it wasn't a huge crisis. It did mean, however, that it took us an extra half hour to get back to school. I had about 2 hours to plan for my two evening classes. I did it though, not the best lessons in the world - but I wasn't going to be going into the classroom blind. Or so I thought!


The card for my off campus class said they'd been assigned two different things for homework, so I had planned to start by reviewing them. OF COURSE they didn't do it. So I had them do one of the activities in class and it threw me off a bit. Not too bad, but I went over by about 5 minutes. No problem, except that I was 30 minutes away from my 6:30 class...and there was traffic.


No problem... no problem, the Thai people are pretty laid back, so when I got into class all my students were there, no one seemed upset. Almost all my students work at the local Petroleum processing plant, the electric company, or a manufacturing plant. Most are literally blue-colar workers, wearing uniforms with their names on them. I started by introducing myself and said they could ask any questions they wanted - a dangerous gambit - but they're an elementary class... how bad could it be? Oh lordy. So they start by asking where I come from, am I married, why did I choose Thailand, what did I study at University, etc. Their English is actually really fluent... not perfectly accurate, but they communicated well. And then, one of the guys asks me - "Why are you so beautiful?" =O The guys laughed and I said "Because my mother is very beautiful." And the other guys were like "You look lovely." and I was like "Where did you learn this stuff?"


When I started to take attendance it became clear that I had the wrong info card for the class.... and had prepared the entirely wrong lesson. =( Roll with the punches, roll with the punches. I scrapped the book and decided to just talk to them. I had them start by introducing themselves. But I could soon tell that half the class was completely checked out - so I told them to ask each other questions. The first question to pop up? "How many girlfriends do you have?" LOL. Eventually the guys told me that hey all knew each other really well, so I had them introduce each other...and things just went out of control from there. I mean, with one guy they said he played football (soccer) really well, but there was a lot of "He has many many girlfriends." "He really likes beautiful women." and with one of them it was "He's a smooth talker." and they all started immitating him on the phone to women "You look so lovely." "Hello beautiful..." "oh baby, I love you so much." and I just bust up. I completely disolved into giggles. And then of course they'd laugh at me, and I'd start laughing again. All through class I'd look at the guy and just start giggling again. Not the most professional start to this class.


Eventually I had them crack open the book, and we very loosely followed a couple of the activities. Mostly we had a roundtable discussion about Starbucks' business plan, and the pros & cons of mega-marts like Carrefour & Walmart. More of a business discussion than any kind of grammar lesson... but I'll call it a 'freer practice fluency exercise' and call it good. Next week I will at least know what to plan for. I told them I'd make them work really hard.... but I really don't think they believed me.


So overall today was good. But I'm a little freaked out about tomorrow. I don't know what to expect from Bangkok - I've heard that it's hot & dirty & crowded... not my favorite things. Plus there's the whole travel time and switching trains and waiting for who knows how long in the immigration office. None of it sounds fun. But I've also heard there's a giant mall where I can get any kind of western food that I want. So I might just camp out there for an hour or two being farang-girl eating any kind of cheese type food I can get my hands on, and that's as much 'sight seeing' as I have planned.


I don't know, sometimes I feel like the worst tourist, I really haven't explored as much of Thailand as one might expect for having been here for over a month. I barely know any Thai, and really haven't been all that adventurous with regards to eating new foods or talking to new people. I'm experiencing a lot of new things for me, but I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what kinds of experiences one *can* have here. But then I think... do I really want to be a tourist? Or do I want to experience life in another culture? Because I feel like I'm doing that - as authentically as I can.