There are currently demonstrations going on all over Thailand, this is a fact. I just wanted you to know that I haven't seen any demonstrations at all as Bangkok is massive and my life is not affected by them in any way. I have direct up-to-date information coming from the American Embassy. Please have no worry about my safety, everything is as normal in my little world here. The demonstrations are peaceful which coincides with Thai culture. There is nothing else to say about this other than Not to worry.
Love.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Week One Summer School
Sawatdee kah! Hello to you. I write this from the room right next door to the apt. where I lived last time. I've moved into my own apt. after orientation and feel a little more settled in Bangkok. I have my own place again! It's been a year since that's happened! I lived at other people's homes while I was in Minnesota. Fun fact.
This new apt. is totally void of brown wood, which is a nice change since the last place was entirely decorated with wood. I'm in a two-toned turquoise room that is quite pleasant. It has all brand new furniture, including a nicely sized kitchen cabinet with an actual exhaust fan, complete with three speeds and a bunch of lights! Now I just need a couple of burners and I'm set!
The apt. is not broken into two parts like the last one. I have one huge studio room with a lot of nice white furniture and a big bed and new lime green couch. Trust... it all looks very nice to me. I'm happy with the choices. A glass table with four chairs (FOUR!) completes a dining/work area and I have a bathroom exactly like the one in the old room. It is one cute little room. I'm pleased to have a place to call my own. Now, I vowed to not stay in this apt. building and have been looking for a place in the neighborhood. Maybe a one or two bedroom place. I've seen some nice places but yet to choose one. I've got a couple more weeks in this school-provided apt. I can always stay here if I can't decide on a different place. Prices are high in the area near school and I've decided that I want to be able to walk to school and the gym, so it's this area that I'll stay. I'm starting to get so cozy in this place that I may just stay here a couple more months until visitors start arriving. VISITORS: when are you arriving??? :)
School last week was quite uneventful. The Thai teachers had the boys for the majority of the week. I spent a little bit of time with them the first day and that was it. They had various activities all week including learning the school songs, a science presentation, practicing lines and playing cool games. Each day was something different. I hope to start right off on Monday with some basics and get through a lot by Thursday. It's a more laid back atmosphere in summer but this is the beginning for these boys in Grade one and I want them off to a good start.
I did spend a little bit of time with the class when they were playing games and chatted with a few boys, discovering that I have a boy who speaks and understands English quite well, so happy about that! A helper! I would almost guess that, if he hasn't gone to English Kindergarten, he's got an English speaking parent. And I must say... he and ALL of the rest of the boys are ADORABLE. Absolutely adorable. Something else notable is that I have one half of three sets of twins in my class. One of the sets of twins are the younger brothers to one of my former students and all three of them look identical. All in all, the class is shaping up quite nicely. There are two, maybe three notably 'hyper' boys who like to wiggle quite a bit... will deal with that in due time.
Something else quite odd is that when I entered my classroom, which is the same room I had last time, it looked/looks EXACTLY like I left it. The teacher last year changed not a single dingle thing. Some of the paper on the bulletin boards was ripped, so I spent fair time ripping things down and washing them (dusty!) and changing things how I want them for this year. It's so exciting to have the same room and all my stuff that I left (all that hard work) and to just be able to jump right in and feel comfortable. I even have the same Thai co-teacher that I had for the last school year. She's lovely and is speaking more English and actually refused to translate for me (which is GOOD!! Total immersion is best!), so there really have been many improvements. I have to say it was a little bizarre to walk into my classroom and have it look exactly as it did the last time I walked out of it. :) Funny.
With summer school comes free Thai lessons for the Newies and whomever else would like them. I attended and am hoping to become much more fluent with Thai this time around. It's really fun to practice with taxi drivers or whomever is willing to speak to a white person. (Literally some store clerks will ignore me out-right, from fear of being confronted with English and being embarrassed because they don't understand.) Evelyn is teaching us Thai which is extra fun because it's pretty informal.
What else is new? Hmm. Oh. I've noticed several changes since last time. First, is that Thai people in the markets aren't saying "hello" anymore but "hi" which is a little strange for some reason. I've noticed that more young Thai couples are showing more affection in public. Holding hands and cuddling a little on escalators and I've even seen a couple of kisses. I should mention that I see this behavior only in the high-end mall area of Bangkok called Siam. The next thing I've noticed is that after dining and asking for the "check bin duai ka" (check please) the server will bring the bill to the table and walk away. In the past the server would bring the bill and stand firmly next to the table, no matter if you've asked for a few minutes or not, and wait for the money to be paid. I prefer that they stand and wait for the money because it then gets things moving a little more quickly. If we want to sit and chat it's still fine to do after paying the bill. The restaurant etiquette here is much different than at home. After food is ordered it comes piece-meal, as the food is finished in the kitchen, instead of all at once. It's definitely different.
The last thing that is notably different is that the city is void of cockroaches, or there are very few at all. They used to scurry about under and near your feet all night long, mostly in the areas near sewer grates or garbage piles. But now they are all gone. I haven't seen a single rat either. I asked one of my coworkers and he said that some prisoners came through and cleaned the gutters and then they sprayed the whole sewer system to kill the pests. I am not quite sure how this effects the environment or my own health but it has certainly worked very well. Translation: don't swim in the nearby river, not that you would've anyway.
Now is it Sunday, my favorite day in Thailand. Everything slows down and weekend markets come out. I purchased a couple dishes today on uber clearance and had a cheap breakfast with my friend and next door neighbor. Luke is back in Bangkok before heading home to Montana (where he's been staying with a friend). He and I spent a good part of yesterday bumming around the city. Who knows what this evening will bring but I'm hoping to read, read, read!
Have a great week and hope to hear from you soon!
Lots of love!
This new apt. is totally void of brown wood, which is a nice change since the last place was entirely decorated with wood. I'm in a two-toned turquoise room that is quite pleasant. It has all brand new furniture, including a nicely sized kitchen cabinet with an actual exhaust fan, complete with three speeds and a bunch of lights! Now I just need a couple of burners and I'm set!
The apt. is not broken into two parts like the last one. I have one huge studio room with a lot of nice white furniture and a big bed and new lime green couch. Trust... it all looks very nice to me. I'm happy with the choices. A glass table with four chairs (FOUR!) completes a dining/work area and I have a bathroom exactly like the one in the old room. It is one cute little room. I'm pleased to have a place to call my own. Now, I vowed to not stay in this apt. building and have been looking for a place in the neighborhood. Maybe a one or two bedroom place. I've seen some nice places but yet to choose one. I've got a couple more weeks in this school-provided apt. I can always stay here if I can't decide on a different place. Prices are high in the area near school and I've decided that I want to be able to walk to school and the gym, so it's this area that I'll stay. I'm starting to get so cozy in this place that I may just stay here a couple more months until visitors start arriving. VISITORS: when are you arriving??? :)
School last week was quite uneventful. The Thai teachers had the boys for the majority of the week. I spent a little bit of time with them the first day and that was it. They had various activities all week including learning the school songs, a science presentation, practicing lines and playing cool games. Each day was something different. I hope to start right off on Monday with some basics and get through a lot by Thursday. It's a more laid back atmosphere in summer but this is the beginning for these boys in Grade one and I want them off to a good start.
I did spend a little bit of time with the class when they were playing games and chatted with a few boys, discovering that I have a boy who speaks and understands English quite well, so happy about that! A helper! I would almost guess that, if he hasn't gone to English Kindergarten, he's got an English speaking parent. And I must say... he and ALL of the rest of the boys are ADORABLE. Absolutely adorable. Something else notable is that I have one half of three sets of twins in my class. One of the sets of twins are the younger brothers to one of my former students and all three of them look identical. All in all, the class is shaping up quite nicely. There are two, maybe three notably 'hyper' boys who like to wiggle quite a bit... will deal with that in due time.
Something else quite odd is that when I entered my classroom, which is the same room I had last time, it looked/looks EXACTLY like I left it. The teacher last year changed not a single dingle thing. Some of the paper on the bulletin boards was ripped, so I spent fair time ripping things down and washing them (dusty!) and changing things how I want them for this year. It's so exciting to have the same room and all my stuff that I left (all that hard work) and to just be able to jump right in and feel comfortable. I even have the same Thai co-teacher that I had for the last school year. She's lovely and is speaking more English and actually refused to translate for me (which is GOOD!! Total immersion is best!), so there really have been many improvements. I have to say it was a little bizarre to walk into my classroom and have it look exactly as it did the last time I walked out of it. :) Funny.
With summer school comes free Thai lessons for the Newies and whomever else would like them. I attended and am hoping to become much more fluent with Thai this time around. It's really fun to practice with taxi drivers or whomever is willing to speak to a white person. (Literally some store clerks will ignore me out-right, from fear of being confronted with English and being embarrassed because they don't understand.) Evelyn is teaching us Thai which is extra fun because it's pretty informal.
What else is new? Hmm. Oh. I've noticed several changes since last time. First, is that Thai people in the markets aren't saying "hello" anymore but "hi" which is a little strange for some reason. I've noticed that more young Thai couples are showing more affection in public. Holding hands and cuddling a little on escalators and I've even seen a couple of kisses. I should mention that I see this behavior only in the high-end mall area of Bangkok called Siam. The next thing I've noticed is that after dining and asking for the "check bin duai ka" (check please) the server will bring the bill to the table and walk away. In the past the server would bring the bill and stand firmly next to the table, no matter if you've asked for a few minutes or not, and wait for the money to be paid. I prefer that they stand and wait for the money because it then gets things moving a little more quickly. If we want to sit and chat it's still fine to do after paying the bill. The restaurant etiquette here is much different than at home. After food is ordered it comes piece-meal, as the food is finished in the kitchen, instead of all at once. It's definitely different.
The last thing that is notably different is that the city is void of cockroaches, or there are very few at all. They used to scurry about under and near your feet all night long, mostly in the areas near sewer grates or garbage piles. But now they are all gone. I haven't seen a single rat either. I asked one of my coworkers and he said that some prisoners came through and cleaned the gutters and then they sprayed the whole sewer system to kill the pests. I am not quite sure how this effects the environment or my own health but it has certainly worked very well. Translation: don't swim in the nearby river, not that you would've anyway.
Now is it Sunday, my favorite day in Thailand. Everything slows down and weekend markets come out. I purchased a couple dishes today on uber clearance and had a cheap breakfast with my friend and next door neighbor. Luke is back in Bangkok before heading home to Montana (where he's been staying with a friend). He and I spent a good part of yesterday bumming around the city. Who knows what this evening will bring but I'm hoping to read, read, read!
Have a great week and hope to hear from you soon!
Lots of love!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
it shall all begin soon!
Very soon, indeed! Summer school will begin this coming Monday and I am very excited about being back for another year! I've spent some time looking at apartments in different areas of Bangkok that are near the school. It's been difficult to decide but I don't have to choose quite yet. Will take the school-provided apartment for a month and 'buy' some time. I stayed at that apt. building the entire contract when I was here last. It was nice and all but I'd like a little more room for visitors (so come visit!!) and a proper kitchen. Maybe even a washing machine, too! There are loads of options, it's just a lot to think about! Will let you know what I choose when I choose it!
The "newies" (Australians add an "ie", "ies" or s to the end of nearly everything) had orientation today. I am not technically new but wasn't here last year, so am grouped with them. It was lovely to meet all the (6) new teachers. ALL of them are Aussie. Yes, more Aussies. I do have something like 4 or 5 other Americans on staff to "understand" me better. Evelyn and I regularly find places to eat Nachos and talk about American television. It's really great to have a close American friend. ... who speaks fluent Thai, too!
We will have orientation with the full staff tomorrow and prepare for Monday's first day of summer school! As a Grade One teacher I will have my full class of 20 and it is their first official day of school (other than the three years of kindergarten that they do here). We'll focus on routines (come in, take off your shoes and stand behind your desk), sight words (book, chair, sit, quiet...) and beginning math (of course the rest of the world calls it maths)... numbers and counting. It's really a great time to establish my rules and expectations and demonstrate them repeatedly. Over and over. In clear, simple English. And then again. Even slower and with lots of actions and gesturing. :) It really is fun!!
Have been suffering a bad headache (probably from heat and dehydration) for the past couple of days, so if you haven't heard from me, I've been bed ridden and not doing much internet.
Have a great weekend!! More to come, stay tuned!
The "newies" (Australians add an "ie", "ies" or s to the end of nearly everything) had orientation today. I am not technically new but wasn't here last year, so am grouped with them. It was lovely to meet all the (6) new teachers. ALL of them are Aussie. Yes, more Aussies. I do have something like 4 or 5 other Americans on staff to "understand" me better. Evelyn and I regularly find places to eat Nachos and talk about American television. It's really great to have a close American friend. ... who speaks fluent Thai, too!
We will have orientation with the full staff tomorrow and prepare for Monday's first day of summer school! As a Grade One teacher I will have my full class of 20 and it is their first official day of school (other than the three years of kindergarten that they do here). We'll focus on routines (come in, take off your shoes and stand behind your desk), sight words (book, chair, sit, quiet...) and beginning math (of course the rest of the world calls it maths)... numbers and counting. It's really a great time to establish my rules and expectations and demonstrate them repeatedly. Over and over. In clear, simple English. And then again. Even slower and with lots of actions and gesturing. :) It really is fun!!
Have been suffering a bad headache (probably from heat and dehydration) for the past couple of days, so if you haven't heard from me, I've been bed ridden and not doing much internet.
Have a great weekend!! More to come, stay tuned!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Hello Tuesday
hello happy friends. i've return to the coffee world cafe (which has no public bathroom. geez, we're dealing with coffee here, people) to post another quick blog after trying, unsuccessfully, to post my photos. it simply would not upload them to flickr. Maybe I can post a couple here on blogger....?
Whooops, I'll get rid of the all-lowercase. Forgot, solly. (sorry)
I've spent the past weekend and few days of this week mostly at the house where I'm fish-sitting. I met a Thai friend for a (HORRIBLE) man movie, Watchmen (NOT for children), lunch and shopping!! We spent eight hours at the mall. We had ramen in these MASSIVE bowls. It was fun. Photo is me with massive bowl of Tom Yum (veg) Ramen. Spicy!!
The rest of the time I've been at the house reading. I finished an awesome book called Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan. I highly recommend it, it's about Frank Lloyd Wright's love affair with a woman named Mamah (may-mah). Incredible ending. Almost unbelievable.
Now I'm reading The Secret History, but Donna Tartt. It's decent. A big gripping since it's about some friends who murder one of the friends in their "group". Almost finished with that one. Both are book club choices that I hadn't finished.
The people who rent the house I'm in have a lovely DVD collection and I've enjoyed some movies: Rachel Getting Married (thumbs middle), Seven Pounds (thumbs down), Lost in Translation (thumbs up), House Bunny (thumbs down), Madagascar 2 (thumbs up)... and more I can't really remember. ALSO, I've had the opportunity to watch a couple seasons of How I Met Your Mother and find it much like a car crash... horrible but hard not to watch. The people in that show are annoying, dramatic and my age. Puh-lease. BUT, Britney was in a couple episodes (insert Barb, Beth and Sarah D dancing to Britney) so I guess that makes it a little better? Yes I like her. Don't be a hater. She has issues like the rest of us. (lol)
THen, yesterday I watched two seasons of Entourage (yes, I stayed on the couch the entire day) and can finally understand why people like that show. It's like the TV version of US Weekly... entertaining but not my favorite. It seems like "everyone" does a cameo on that show. Amazing, really.
Last night I told myself I HAD to physically leave the house and check internet. I hadn't been back since last post. I did spend all of Saturday out, though, remember.
I'm very excited for summer school to begin and my friends to return to the city. A whole new set of cute little clueless Thai boys under my care for another year. Can't wait!!
I saw this in the Bangkok Post. Stinks to be her today, I guess. Whoa.
Whooops, I'll get rid of the all-lowercase. Forgot, solly. (sorry)
I've spent the past weekend and few days of this week mostly at the house where I'm fish-sitting. I met a Thai friend for a (HORRIBLE) man movie, Watchmen (NOT for children), lunch and shopping!! We spent eight hours at the mall. We had ramen in these MASSIVE bowls. It was fun. Photo is me with massive bowl of Tom Yum (veg) Ramen. Spicy!!
The rest of the time I've been at the house reading. I finished an awesome book called Loving Frank, by Nancy Horan. I highly recommend it, it's about Frank Lloyd Wright's love affair with a woman named Mamah (may-mah). Incredible ending. Almost unbelievable.
Now I'm reading The Secret History, but Donna Tartt. It's decent. A big gripping since it's about some friends who murder one of the friends in their "group". Almost finished with that one. Both are book club choices that I hadn't finished.
The people who rent the house I'm in have a lovely DVD collection and I've enjoyed some movies: Rachel Getting Married (thumbs middle), Seven Pounds (thumbs down), Lost in Translation (thumbs up), House Bunny (thumbs down), Madagascar 2 (thumbs up)... and more I can't really remember. ALSO, I've had the opportunity to watch a couple seasons of How I Met Your Mother and find it much like a car crash... horrible but hard not to watch. The people in that show are annoying, dramatic and my age. Puh-lease. BUT, Britney was in a couple episodes (insert Barb, Beth and Sarah D dancing to Britney) so I guess that makes it a little better? Yes I like her. Don't be a hater. She has issues like the rest of us. (lol)
THen, yesterday I watched two seasons of Entourage (yes, I stayed on the couch the entire day) and can finally understand why people like that show. It's like the TV version of US Weekly... entertaining but not my favorite. It seems like "everyone" does a cameo on that show. Amazing, really.
Last night I told myself I HAD to physically leave the house and check internet. I hadn't been back since last post. I did spend all of Saturday out, though, remember.
I'm very excited for summer school to begin and my friends to return to the city. A whole new set of cute little clueless Thai boys under my care for another year. Can't wait!!
Oh yea, here's something interesting. He he.
I saw this in the Bangkok Post. Stinks to be her today, I guess. Whoa.
I will post again soon.
Thank you for your messages and updates!! Lots of love. :)
Thank you for your messages and updates!! Lots of love. :)
Friday, March 6, 2009
Is this really real? (I still babble. Reader Beware.)
I've made it! I've arrived. And, as you might notice, decided to save you from the all lowercase and will use correct capitalization this time around. Or I'll try.
After many sad goodbyes I left Minnesota with my dear friend Barb on Friday, 20 February. (A little taste of how they show dates here... day first.) We enjoyed our flight from MSP (MN) to NRT (Tokyo) in our own row! One seat between us! Lucky for the both of us, Barb's flight attendant friend was working first class and he made many stops back to economy to say hello and see how we were doing. It was a really special treat, one of many on our journey from Home to Second Home (Thailand). After arriving in Tokyo (I love Japan... the airport at least), Barb exchanged some US$ for yen and we interneted for a brief time before sitting at the gate for our next flight from NRT (Tokyo, I love airport codes) to BKK (know this one?? Bangkok). I couldn't believe I was in Asia again! WHOA! It's still all some dream I'll wake up from, right? (It happened so fast... but I'm happily here now.)
We arrived to Bangkok very close to 1 am (their Sunday AM... your MN Sat. 12pm) and waited (already feeling the HEAT!) in the long line for immigration then gathered our (my) many bags (3 suitcases and two carryons... what? that's not normal?) and saw our way effortlessly 'through' customs and into the madness that is Thai drivers trying to rip us off. NOT THIS TIME, I said. We passed them by and went to the public taxi stand... to get nearly ripped off there. Welcome back to Thailand, farang! (farang = foreigners, pronounced fah-rong, or in thai accent fah-long, you'll learn.)
With some effort, we tried to bully the taxi driver into being HONEST and putting on the meter, which he did after I made a phone call to my American friend, Evelyn (the school librarian who is fluent in four languages, including Thai, thank goodness!) who explained where to go to get to her house and not to rip us off. The driver wanted extra money because of the "many bag" that we had. WhateV! Luckily sweet Evelyn got him on the same page as us and we were finally moving at the speed limit, maybe a little above. (anyone know if there actually is a speed limit in Thailand?)
We made it to Evelyn's house and she (and her maid) helped us and ALL my bags in and showed us the room we'd sleep in for the night, complete with air CON! (Unfortunately no one knew the AC didn't work, or didn't cool, it blew air. Hot Bangkok air. :) But OH were we grateful and not going to complain.) I had a shower and we tried to sleep. Jetlag. Boy, it's really something when you've traveled for 20+ hours. It really gets confusing after a point. They do you a favor and make the whole plane dark like night but this silly (old) DUDE must've had issues because he kept opening his window shade exposing the ENTIRE cabin to a bright beam of light. He woke me up more than once until I announced that he was causing the rest of us discomfort. Then he didn't really do that again until the lights were back on. Oh the Minnesotan passive aggressor in me. ICKO!! Sorry guy!
In the morning we (I) packed a smaller bag from the 3... no, 4 larger bags and we took off to meet my friend Angus (a colleague and close friend of mine. yes friend, thank you.) for a reunion and a coffee. It was great to catch up, briefly and we wandered the Old Neighborhood and I floated on cloud 9. I do really love Thailand. Barb and I giggled about the smells (you learn which places to just simply hold your breath) and scattered random dog poo... or stray disgusting dog... to step around. It all came back to us.
After meeting Angus and a quick internet check-in session, we collected our bags (her one and my one) and returned to the airport for our flight to PHUKET! (please people it is NOT an "F" sound, in any way. The Ph is a sort of soft, breathy P sound... Poo-ket.) Barb and I spent New Year's Eve of 2008 in Phuket and really enjoyed our stay, so planned to spend most of Barb's current visit there, on the BEACH!! Which is exactly what we did.
I don't want to dwell on the flight. Since planes keep going down here and there I was a very annoying nervous passenger. I tried to just ignore my thoughts and prayed. At take-off, in the middle, at several (20) minutes before landing. So yea, I don't want to dwell on it, but it was the worst landing I've ever experienced. I didn't think they were going to stop and I ALmost screamed. But pushed on the back of the seat in front of me instead. Mature, I know. My super cool, calm and collected flight attendant instructor friend informed that (thank GOODNESS!) that they had merely used the entire runway to stop. (Sorry Barb, I feel like I need to educate people, it was nothing to really be scared of, right?) ;) Nothing big. SO, I picked my heart up off the floor and stuffed it back down my throat and we got our stuff and found a taxi to our guesthouse (same one we stayed at before. we liked it! Sawasdee Guesthouse on Kata Beach.) We checked in and ... then the air con was on and I think we fell asleep and slept the entire night. OOOOooooooops! No dinner. With jetlag lingering... I slept like an anvil and poor Barb spent some quality time with her handheld Tetris game.
When a decent morning hour arrived (that night is a blur to me, maybe Barb could clear it up for me) we got ourselves together and ventured out for some breakfast. We ate across the street at the more resort-y part of the guesthouse (they're owned by the same company I think) and were in awe at the beauty of the place. (We ate breakfast there every morning.)
When we arrived at the guesthouse we had noticed that road construction that was present during our first visit was cleared, so we decided to walk that way (as we never had before) to see what we would discover. Nothing much to note there. Just hops, more hotel/resorts and a busy main street at the top of the hill that the street makes. We bought some necessities at a Big One Stop shop (something like that) and went back to prepare ourselves for the first day at Kata Beach. It is SO beautiful and wonderfully relaxing there. A slice of my own little heaven. (video and pictures will be posted once I upload them.)
We spent that day and the the next at the beach. When you arrive you choose a pair of beach chairs, pay the guy (who must own them??) 100 baht per chair (35 baht = $1) and stay there allllllll day. We read, we swam, we SHOPPED (!!) we chatted, we had some waters (wink) and reapplied our sunscreen at reasonable intervals. :-D
Skerrrrch. Back to the shopping. It is entirely possible to shop for things like mini-brooms to sweep your beach chair, musical instruments (do you like the flute, Dirk?), sunglasses, headbands, jewelry, and ... what we were most interested in: sundresses!!! You bargain for your price, your "la pri. sheep sheep for you. heppy hou" (last price. cheap cheap for you. happy hour.) and then it's yours. Right there, lazily sitting in your beach chair. My own little slice of heaven. We got the cutest dresses. (Photos posted soon.)
So, we spent our days that way and nights having food and checking out the local markets. Great shopping, Thailand.
On our second day we shopped around for a snorkeling tour to attend and signed ourselves up to go the next day. It was similar but different than the snorkeling tour we did the first visit. It was very fun, though the hour-long boat ride to the first island stop (Maya Bay... the beach from the movie The Beach, we visited it last time also) was very choppy and the boat slammed violently on each subsequent wave. We made it, though and the rest of the trip was nice. We snorkeled and saw the most beautiful amazing fish and sea life. The photos will be better descriptors of the tour. It was great fun.
Okay, long-winded. Barb and I spent the next and last day in Phuket at the beach, enjoying the perfect waters of Kata Beach. (By the way, these Thai beaches have the most INsane people watching. OMGoodness.) We enjoyed a leisurely lunch and raced to the airport. We made it back to Bangkok later that evening and enjoyed a nice sushi dinner and dancing out with Angus and Evelyn, for Barb's last night in Thailand. The next day Barb and I saw Wat Pho (with the massive Reclining Buddha which symbolizes Buddha's death) and shopped for more souvenirs. After too much heat and who knows what else, I became very ill, stomachache and headache, full force which reduced me to a pathetic puddle. Barb helped me move my Many Bags to my friend Richard's house where I have spent the remaining time I've spent in Bangkok since Barb left, later that night.
At this point I'm frustrated since I revised and added to this post, then posted it and the changes were not saved. BOO! So I will write more later.
After many sad goodbyes I left Minnesota with my dear friend Barb on Friday, 20 February. (A little taste of how they show dates here... day first.) We enjoyed our flight from MSP (MN) to NRT (Tokyo) in our own row! One seat between us! Lucky for the both of us, Barb's flight attendant friend was working first class and he made many stops back to economy to say hello and see how we were doing. It was a really special treat, one of many on our journey from Home to Second Home (Thailand). After arriving in Tokyo (I love Japan... the airport at least), Barb exchanged some US$ for yen and we interneted for a brief time before sitting at the gate for our next flight from NRT (Tokyo, I love airport codes) to BKK (know this one?? Bangkok). I couldn't believe I was in Asia again! WHOA! It's still all some dream I'll wake up from, right? (It happened so fast... but I'm happily here now.)
We arrived to Bangkok very close to 1 am (their Sunday AM... your MN Sat. 12pm) and waited (already feeling the HEAT!) in the long line for immigration then gathered our (my) many bags (3 suitcases and two carryons... what? that's not normal?) and saw our way effortlessly 'through' customs and into the madness that is Thai drivers trying to rip us off. NOT THIS TIME, I said. We passed them by and went to the public taxi stand... to get nearly ripped off there. Welcome back to Thailand, farang! (farang = foreigners, pronounced fah-rong, or in thai accent fah-long, you'll learn.)
With some effort, we tried to bully the taxi driver into being HONEST and putting on the meter, which he did after I made a phone call to my American friend, Evelyn (the school librarian who is fluent in four languages, including Thai, thank goodness!) who explained where to go to get to her house and not to rip us off. The driver wanted extra money because of the "many bag" that we had. WhateV! Luckily sweet Evelyn got him on the same page as us and we were finally moving at the speed limit, maybe a little above. (anyone know if there actually is a speed limit in Thailand?)
We made it to Evelyn's house and she (and her maid) helped us and ALL my bags in and showed us the room we'd sleep in for the night, complete with air CON! (Unfortunately no one knew the AC didn't work, or didn't cool, it blew air. Hot Bangkok air. :) But OH were we grateful and not going to complain.) I had a shower and we tried to sleep. Jetlag. Boy, it's really something when you've traveled for 20+ hours. It really gets confusing after a point. They do you a favor and make the whole plane dark like night but this silly (old) DUDE must've had issues because he kept opening his window shade exposing the ENTIRE cabin to a bright beam of light. He woke me up more than once until I announced that he was causing the rest of us discomfort. Then he didn't really do that again until the lights were back on. Oh the Minnesotan passive aggressor in me. ICKO!! Sorry guy!
In the morning we (I) packed a smaller bag from the 3... no, 4 larger bags and we took off to meet my friend Angus (a colleague and close friend of mine. yes friend, thank you.) for a reunion and a coffee. It was great to catch up, briefly and we wandered the Old Neighborhood and I floated on cloud 9. I do really love Thailand. Barb and I giggled about the smells (you learn which places to just simply hold your breath) and scattered random dog poo... or stray disgusting dog... to step around. It all came back to us.
After meeting Angus and a quick internet check-in session, we collected our bags (her one and my one) and returned to the airport for our flight to PHUKET! (please people it is NOT an "F" sound, in any way. The Ph is a sort of soft, breathy P sound... Poo-ket.) Barb and I spent New Year's Eve of 2008 in Phuket and really enjoyed our stay, so planned to spend most of Barb's current visit there, on the BEACH!! Which is exactly what we did.
I don't want to dwell on the flight. Since planes keep going down here and there I was a very annoying nervous passenger. I tried to just ignore my thoughts and prayed. At take-off, in the middle, at several (20) minutes before landing. So yea, I don't want to dwell on it, but it was the worst landing I've ever experienced. I didn't think they were going to stop and I ALmost screamed. But pushed on the back of the seat in front of me instead. Mature, I know. My super cool, calm and collected flight attendant instructor friend informed that (thank GOODNESS!) that they had merely used the entire runway to stop. (Sorry Barb, I feel like I need to educate people, it was nothing to really be scared of, right?) ;) Nothing big. SO, I picked my heart up off the floor and stuffed it back down my throat and we got our stuff and found a taxi to our guesthouse (same one we stayed at before. we liked it! Sawasdee Guesthouse on Kata Beach.) We checked in and ... then the air con was on and I think we fell asleep and slept the entire night. OOOOooooooops! No dinner. With jetlag lingering... I slept like an anvil and poor Barb spent some quality time with her handheld Tetris game.
When a decent morning hour arrived (that night is a blur to me, maybe Barb could clear it up for me) we got ourselves together and ventured out for some breakfast. We ate across the street at the more resort-y part of the guesthouse (they're owned by the same company I think) and were in awe at the beauty of the place. (We ate breakfast there every morning.)
When we arrived at the guesthouse we had noticed that road construction that was present during our first visit was cleared, so we decided to walk that way (as we never had before) to see what we would discover. Nothing much to note there. Just hops, more hotel/resorts and a busy main street at the top of the hill that the street makes. We bought some necessities at a Big One Stop shop (something like that) and went back to prepare ourselves for the first day at Kata Beach. It is SO beautiful and wonderfully relaxing there. A slice of my own little heaven. (video and pictures will be posted once I upload them.)
We spent that day and the the next at the beach. When you arrive you choose a pair of beach chairs, pay the guy (who must own them??) 100 baht per chair (35 baht = $1) and stay there allllllll day. We read, we swam, we SHOPPED (!!) we chatted, we had some waters (wink) and reapplied our sunscreen at reasonable intervals. :-D
Skerrrrch. Back to the shopping. It is entirely possible to shop for things like mini-brooms to sweep your beach chair, musical instruments (do you like the flute, Dirk?), sunglasses, headbands, jewelry, and ... what we were most interested in: sundresses!!! You bargain for your price, your "la pri. sheep sheep for you. heppy hou" (last price. cheap cheap for you. happy hour.) and then it's yours. Right there, lazily sitting in your beach chair. My own little slice of heaven. We got the cutest dresses. (Photos posted soon.)
So, we spent our days that way and nights having food and checking out the local markets. Great shopping, Thailand.
On our second day we shopped around for a snorkeling tour to attend and signed ourselves up to go the next day. It was similar but different than the snorkeling tour we did the first visit. It was very fun, though the hour-long boat ride to the first island stop (Maya Bay... the beach from the movie The Beach, we visited it last time also) was very choppy and the boat slammed violently on each subsequent wave. We made it, though and the rest of the trip was nice. We snorkeled and saw the most beautiful amazing fish and sea life. The photos will be better descriptors of the tour. It was great fun.
Okay, long-winded. Barb and I spent the next and last day in Phuket at the beach, enjoying the perfect waters of Kata Beach. (By the way, these Thai beaches have the most INsane people watching. OMGoodness.) We enjoyed a leisurely lunch and raced to the airport. We made it back to Bangkok later that evening and enjoyed a nice sushi dinner and dancing out with Angus and Evelyn, for Barb's last night in Thailand. The next day Barb and I saw Wat Pho (with the massive Reclining Buddha which symbolizes Buddha's death) and shopped for more souvenirs. After too much heat and who knows what else, I became very ill, stomachache and headache, full force which reduced me to a pathetic puddle. Barb helped me move my Many Bags to my friend Richard's house where I have spent the remaining time I've spent in Bangkok since Barb left, later that night.
At this point I'm frustrated since I revised and added to this post, then posted it and the changes were not saved. BOO! So I will write more later.
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