Baby It's Cold Inside

I was obviously very aware that Christmas would be weird/sad/different/nonexistent here in Thailand. I knew there would be no Christmas tree lighting up my room, no snow glistening outside on the trees, no fireplace to plop down in front of while drinking my eighth cup of hot chocolate. I knew there would be no frantic trips to the mall, searching for that one last gift. There would be no Christmas movies on TV and no holiday shows to attend. There would not be countless hours of baking Christmas goodies. And worst of all, I knew there would be no Christmas morning. No stairs to run down to excitedly rip open presents with my family. No Dad dressed up as an Elf to greet me in the living room. No cinnamon rolls. No stockings. No Christmas nap. I knew I wouldn't be experiencing the beloved holiday the way I was used to. But what I didn't realize was that I would have the chance to share the joy of Christmas with children who have never experienced it. And even more, I didn't have any idea that I would be able to re-create Christmas with a group of friends who were just as eager to get in the Christmas spirit. Christmas week had its ups and downs emotionally, but the weekend itself unfolded beautifully, and I had myself a very, Merry Christmas. 
      
I was very determined to get in full Christmas spirit despite the climbing temperatures. I ignored the 90 degree heat and blasted Christmas tunes all day and all night. My amazing parents had sent me a package full of holiday decorations and some hot cocoa, which significantly impacted my Christmas state of mind. In full Nelf-mode, I decided it was time to show the students what Christmas was all about. And what better way to do that than to show them the greatest movie of all time.....Elf?!? And boy, oh, boy, was it a hit. The kids were literally falling out of their seats laughing. I was so happy to see them appreciate the movie as much as I do. Good thing, because I was giggling uncontrollably. But, what really got me was when one of the classes reached the end of the movie. When Jovie says, "The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear," and begins to sing 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town,' the entire class started to sing a long. I completely melted. I had been yearning for some Christmas cheer and they completely captured my heart. After class, while wandering the hallway, I could still hear some of them singing about Santa. I continued the week with more Christmas fun, which included candy canes and Reese's cups (both of which were insanely successful). They were so happy the entire week and it made me so proud that I was able to bring a little Christmas spirit to the schools of Suphan.


On Friday, our program did their best to get in the spirit by putting up some decorations, playing Christmas music and holding a Christmas lunch. The lunch was adorable and super sweet. They even served Western food. Nothing like prawn pizza and KFC for a Christmas meal. As different as it was, the day put me in a good mood and I was excited to celebrate Christmas Eve that night. Sarah and I blasted the AC, bundled up, put on lots of Christmas lights and watched White Christmas. We even got to Skype with Bobby back home! It felt weird to not be around lots of family, but I am very grateful that I had Srall to spend Christmas Eve with. We embraced it and had ourselves a grand ole time. 

Prosecco, M&Ms and Cheese. 

Hi Bobby!

In what still seems odd to me, Christmas morning was the most anti-climatic part of the weekend. I woke up and instead of running down the stairs, I had no choice but to linger in my room. Once again, I have an amazing family, and they had sent me some presents to open on Christmas morning. However, the morning felt a little lonely and I was eager to get to Bangkok to get the real Christmas fun going. For Christmas we decided to 'splurge' and spend the day and night in a really nice hotel. Luckily for us, 5 of our friends had the same idea and so we found a ridiculously awesome and giant executive suite for the 7 of us where we were able to relax and cook ourselves a Christmas feast. In the 30 hours or so we were there, we transformed the place into a Christmas wonderland. Lights and stockings were hung up, presents were put out, Santa hats were on and we even had some fake snow to sprinkle around the room. We spent the day cooking and baking IN AN OVEN (which doesn't exist in 98% of the kitchens). Christmas movies were on every TV while the air was filled with Christmas carols and the sweet scent of brownies. We sat down to a big meal, which was immediately followed by a food coma. We continued the night by playing games, Skyping our families back home, doing a gift swap, watching movies and having ourselves a merry time. I then spent the majority of the next day sprawled out in a cozy King size bed, with the blackout curtains shut and English movies on TV. I was one happy chica. 

Snow!

Yum!

Playing with our new toys

So although it wasn't my standard Christmas celebration, I was still lucky enough to spend the holidays surrounded by great food and even better people. And for that, I am very thankful. I hope everyone had an incredible Christmas and that Santa treated you well :)

Merry Christmas!

The AC is blasting, the Christmas tunes are on and the room is decorated with tacky decorations. Soon, I will be bundled up in my sweatshirt and sweatpants, devouring Christmas candy and sipping on hot chocolate with candy canes. Sarah and I will be spending our Christmas Eve in our "cold" rooms, watching as many Christmas movies as we can (Thanks Jay and Cathy for White Christmas!) No, it's not the way I have spent my Christmas Eve's of the past, but it's the way I am going to celebrate my Thai Christmas Eve. I miss everyone dearly back home and Christmas just won't be the same without those special traditions and the love of my family. But, in any case, IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!! So MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! I hope you all have an amazing weekend full of joy...and more importantly, full of lots of cookies. 


 LOVE LOVE LOVE, 
     Nelf :)

Merry Christmas from Bob!

I'm a dork! But a festive one!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

After traveling for the past several weekends in a row, Sarah and I thought it best to give our bodies a rest before our next couple of weekend trips. So, rather than planning a nice tropical beach vacation, or exploring the ancient temples of Thailand, we decided to take it easy in Suphan. And although our weekend was supposed to be relaxing, it was more like a roller coaster ride. Along the way, we saw the good, the bad and the very, very ugly. 


Let's start with the good, because no one really wants to start reading on a bad note. On Saturday morning, after an epic fail of a Skype date with some friends back home, we ventured into Bangkok to get some things done and to enjoy our day. (It really isn't easy staying entertained in The Soup for an entire weekend). The main purpose of the trip was to head back to Siam Paragon and to see a movie....in English! Siam has this ridiculous movie theatre and they offer a small selection of recently released English movies. Sarah and I, being huge movie-goers, thought this was the perfect way to spend our Saturday. And it was. We made our way to the enormous theatre, settled into our leather recliner seats and got sucked into The Social Network. It had been so long since I have seen a movie that the whole experience was all I could have hoped for. The movie was good, the seats were comfortable and the popcorn was fresh. I just love a good movie. The whole movie-going experience is pretty similar to back in the States except 1. You can pay for extra-premium seats, where you are essentially given a bed, pillows and a blanket while watching the movie. There was even a pretty extensive pillow menu! I will clearly be trying this out at some point. 2. There are assigned seats. I figured when most of the theatre was empty, I would probably have some space, but sure enough, we were surrounded on both sides despite the surplus of free seats in the theatre. 3. Before the movie begins, instead of the reminder to be quiet (Silence is Golden!), everyone rises and watches and sings along to a dedication to the King. It's adorable how much they respect their King. The movie was a success and I am already looking forward to my next excuse to go back.


On to the not so good parts of the weekend. The other main purpose of going to Bangkok was to go to the bus terminal and buy our tickets to Chiang Mai for the New Year. We have a 4 day weekend and really want to spend it in the best place on Earth. Apparently so does everyone else because counter after counter told us that they were sold out. It was a huge disappointment and our hearts were a little broken because we have been looking forward to this trip for a while now. We decided to not let it get to us until we looked at all possible solutions to getting there. Which brings us to the ugly part of this weekend. 


We recently discovered that Suphan has a train station and although not many trains pass through this gem of a town, they sell tickets for all stations. We figured why not give it a whirl and see if we could buy tickets from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. We knew it was down a random path, but we were also told it was a walkable distance from the main road. We hopped on the songthaew to the general area and then tried to find our way to the Rot Fai (train station). A motorbike offered us his services, but we kindly rejected, assuring him we would walk, even after he warned us that it was far. Off we went and soon the bustle of the town disappeared and we were walking along a dirt path with no people, buildings or cars in sight.  All we could see were the train tracks to our left and the rice paddies to our right. We joked around that we would probably die of exhaustion, never to be found on this deserted road, when we suddenly noticed an abandoned shack ahead with some wild, stray dogs lazing around. Once the dogs took notice of us, they angrily came sprinting, growling, and barking  towards us. We made the decision to freeze, and not to run, and just let them rip us apart. These dogs were pretty large and we had no chance of survival if they decided to eat us. As we froze and shook with fear, we could only hope that they would not start attacking. When we tried to backtrack, we were trapped by another group of dogs, just as angry, glaring at us and giving us no chance of escape. So, we stood there, trembling, with no way out. I have seriously never experienced fear like that before. Being surrounded by big, wild, hungry dogs with literally no escape had my life flashing before my eyes. We slowly inched our way forward and hoped that the dogs would back down...and eventually, they did. We hadn't yet recovered when another couple of dogs came running from yet another abandoned shack, but luckily, these ones weren't as hungry and went no further than the grass. To make matters worse, after that episode, we made it to the train station just for them to tell us Chiang Mai was a no-go. Lessons learned. 


Our attempt at a relaxing weekend was kind of a failure, but I just need to put it behind me and hope to get into the Christmas spirit despite the lack of...well, Christmas, here. Hope everyone else is in full Christmas mode and embracing all of the joys of the season :) 

A Colorful Reminder

Since arriving in Thailand, I have been living this extreme life where I have been thrown into a culture where I don't speak the language, my diet has drastically changed, and I am a secondary school teacher. Beyond that, I get to live my dream life by traveling every weekend and going on adventure after adventure, while meeting insanely cool people. And somehow, through all the novelty and excitement, I was struck with a sense of normalcy this week. After coming back from yet another beautiful exploration of Kanchanaburi this past weekend (Sai Yok Noi Waterfalls are gorgeous!), I did the weekly walk from the bus stop to my apartment, came home to my room to blast the AC, hoped no bugs had overtaken my belongings and then grabbed another delightful Thai meal for dinner. As Monday rolled around, I jumped into my daily routine, taught my classes, swam in the hotel pool across the way, and then entertained myself for the remainder of the evening. I have finally fallen into a routine and even with its little quirks, it is normal. This is my new normal. And then Sport's Day happened at school and I realized "normal" will no longer be a relevant term in my vocabulary while living in Thailand. 

Sport's Day is a very common day among Thai schools, but it varies by school. Sa-Nguan Ying partakes in two Sport's Day throughout the year and I just experienced my first. We were told last week that all of the students would be running a mini-marathon to kick off the event, and then spend the remainder of the day partaking in various events, such as dance, jumprope and tennis competitions. At first, I was flabbergasted. A mini-marathon?!?  The kids will never be able to run that! It is way too hot and they are not the most athletic bunch I have ever seen. And a mini-marathon? Yikes! I later found out that mini-marathon meant 3k. But still...it's reeeaaally hot here. Each grade level was assigned a different color and so I attempted to support both my M1 (Red) and M2 (Pink) students by wearing a magenta shirt to blend with both teams. The day started off the only way our school knows how- with a ridiculously long assembly where the kids line up in perfectly straight lines and listen to multiple speeches. When the director of the school is escorted to the stage, everyone wais and watches as his speech is handed to him on a golden platter. I wish I was lying. Afterwards, he signaled the beginning of the race by hitting a gong, and hoards of children proceeded to make their way down the streets of Suphanburi. I would guess that 98% of the students walked the race, while some put in a little bit of effort. The American teachers put everyone to shame by coming in 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. I, on the other hand, decided to be more 'Thai' and walk my way down the main highway. Safe route, right? Despite the lack of running, Srall and I still encountered many students struggling on the side of the street, some even throwing up. After zigzagging our way around wooden plank bridges, mopeds, and struggling children, we crossed the finish line and spent the rest of the day watching the various competitions. However, most of the day was dedicated to the children lazing around in every nook and cranny of the school, eating all sorts of fried goodies, winning raffles (a bike, a GIANT teddy bear or a fan) and just being silly. 

All in all, the day was anything but normal. And I'm really happy for that. It was nice to have a little reminder that I am living a life that is far from the ordinary.

Sai Yok Noi

Sai Yok Noi...Life Moment

Time to line up!

I have really cute students

Obviously what to expect at a race

Simple Joys

         It's only appropriate that I find myself smiling so much in The Land of Smiles. So much about my life here leaves me with a grin plastered on my face. Some of the smiles are due to pure joy, and some are a result of laughing off the absurd. It is the small details of living in Thailand that really bring about this happiness. Of course the weekend excursions and the beach vacations make me smile...a lot...but, it's more the little things in life where I find myself a victim of this smiling epidemic. From the moment I walk to school in the morning, with dozens of unknown children enthusiastically waving at me or some of the more over-zealous ones shouting "I love you!" and forming a heart with their hands, I can't help but be completely exuberant. As I walk down the hallway towards the office, my students come running towards me yelling "Kruuu Neeelllll!!!!" in their adorable Thai accents. Others simply flash a smile and say "Shake hand" and lend out their arm. I find myself laughing out loud so often during class. Things as little as a mispronunciation to them pressing me for my opinions on Gun-The Star 6 send me over the edge. Other smiles come from a sense of achievement. When I hear the "ohhhhhh" coming from my students, I know I got across to them. I swear I must be beaming when they let out a long cheer of excitement after I announce the oncoming activity. Every Friday I have the children fill in missing words from a song as it plays overhead, and I can't help but giggle when I see them attempting to quietly sing along. My heart melts when I read the emails they send to their American pen-pals in Hull. How could I not smile when I read about how excited they are to have a friend in a different country? These students sure know how to brighten my day.


        The smiling extends beyond the school and the everyday encounters in The Soup still bring about delight. Sarah and I have made a habit of going to get a Thai Iced Coffee from a small little stand across the street from school. The woman speaks no English and we are most likely her only customers of the day, but every time we walk over to 'Navy Coffee', Pon excitedly greets us with a 'Sawatdee, ka' and all is good. Every night, as we go to and from dinner, we still get treated like celebrities. Hearing mopeds whiz by with people yelling "Hellllooooo," "Yooooo," or "Beaaauuuutiful" never gets old. Watching as people stop in their tracks, stare and talk about the "farang" gets me every time. The sheer generosity of Thai people is unreal and I can't help but smile in awe as every person we pass asks "Bai nai?" (where are you going?) because they literally just want to help out the foreigners. Tuk-tuks make me giddy. I'm overflowing with happiness as I climb aboard tuk-tuks of all shapes and sizes. After our big Tesco (Target-esque) trips, I am beyond impressed with our ability to fit Sarah and I plus about 10 bags into the limited space. I'm sure I have a grin from ear to ear as I cling on to my bags for dear life, hoping that neither myself or my goods will fall out along the way. 


     Even the things that once caused stress, or disgust, have now become humorous. My epic battles with the bugs in my room grossed me out to no end, but now I cackle in delight as I draw a barricade with special bug-repellant chalk around the ants, stopping them from getting into my food, my toothbrush, my bed, etc. The standoff in the hallway with the cockroach the size of my face is 1. terrifying 2. laughable when strategizing ways to avoid upsetting it. After a long day of sweating, I finally nestle into my rock solid bed, only to be awakened by the all-too-familiar squeak of the gecko lurking on my wall somewhere. It's one of those things I have to laugh off and hope I don't wake up spooning a lizard.  The whole language barrier thing has started to stir up laughter. What was once a source of major stress and anxiety has become a source of entertainment. As I butcher their language with my Thai-glish, Thais just respond with pure amusement and talk back in Thai, which then leads to a game of charades. Being presented with all sorts of mysterious foods used to be a little freaky, but now, all I can do is say 'Mai Pen Rai' and just go for it. Sometimes, Sarah and I will just look at each other and laugh when told what we are about to eat.  My dependency on 7-11 seems pitiful, but, despite its lack of Slurpees, it's a necessity. As I pop yet another Cookies N' Cream nugget into my mouth, I just thank heavens for its existence. 


Life in Thailand is just a series of smiles. Be it excitement, pride, silliness, confusion or even disbelief, I am always flashing a smile. I'm going to go ahead and whip out the corniest line ever and say that by the end of the year my cheeks are going to hurt so much from smiling! Yup, I did it...just embrace it. 


And just because I don't want to leave you with an image of my smiling face, I'll leave you with the sweetest of them all...

Why Is This Happening to Us??

     Sadly, Beach Club Asia Edition came to an end and it is now back to reality in The Soup. Snapping back into routine is even harder when coming back from a tropical vacation with your favorite people. Oy. But I can't complain too much because I went on a tropical vacation with my favorite people....in December. The Studio 911 reunion was a glorious one from the moment we met Seyf at the airport. Immediately, we resumed our normal habits, such as destroying a bag of PB M&Ms, playing with Bob, having life chats and listening to Glee music.  Seyf was able to experience good ole Suphanburi for a brief period and even came to school with us on Friday. The kids immediately clung to her, and then proceeded to tickle her. Weird. It was really fun to have her in class and to have her experience what it's like to be a teacher in Thailand. We were also able to give her a mini- taste of our daily lives by hitting up our favorite lunch and coffee spots before we departed on our adventure.

    Somehow we snagged the VIP section of the VIP bus and had a decently comfortable 12 hour overnight bus ride South. My only complaint- the movie choice. There is this band of comedians who put on these horrendously disturbing shows that are apparently very appealing to the Thai people because they are plastered on billboards and played on multiple public bus rides. The three of us tried to avoid watching it, but it was like a car wreck and I found myself unable to look away. Luckily, after the movie, the lights went out and the seats reclined back and off I went to la-la land. Hours later, in the middle of the night, we awoke to Thai techno blasting over the radio and the lights blinding us. All Seyf could say was "Why is this happening to us???" But, despite the poor media choices, we made it to Phuket bright and early on Saturday morning.

   The entire weekend was perfect. Relaxing on the beach, exploring the town, eating lots of fruit and ice cream, eating incredible Thai food, wandering the markets and just being around one another was a recipe for happiness. We stumbled upon a gem of a hostel and took complete advantage of it. The shower was INCREDIBLE. And the movie channel was stellar. One night we got completely sucked into a movie after climbing into bed and my life is forever changed. It's a good one! We also treated ourselves to massages after a long day at the beach. I opted out of the Thai massage because I didn't know how to communicate that I was bionic...so I went with the traditional oil massage, and, boy oh boy, do I feel an addiction coming on. It was a whopping $6 but I think I'll be treating myself to plenty of those in the next 10 months. 

    We also spent a day island hopping the Phi Phi Islands and I cannot think of a more stunningly beautiful environment. All of the sights- the turquoise water, the sparkling sand, the surrounding cliffs and caves- were all so breathtaking. I was giddy at the chance to go snorkeling and I forgot how much I really enjoy it. Even Monkey Beach, despite the ferocious monkeys, was pretty. The weekend was perfection and after our BLM breakfast on the beach, the goodbye at the airport was really hard. It had been so long since we had time to just the three of us and it felt so great to have Seyf back in our lives, even if only for a few days. She went onward to Cambodia before finishing up her semester in Singapore and heading back to the States. I hate thinking that I won't see her for a year, so I am just going to convince myself that she will move to Thailand after getting her degree in May. It will happen, right?

Bob was really happy for Beach Club to reunite

Grody

Studio 911

I have been going a little crazy at work the past few days because ALL of my students went to Scout camp. I got a lot of lesson planning done, but I was still bored out of my mind. When the students came back yesterday afternoon, I basically attacked them and told them to never leave me again. I assumed Scout camp would be all fun and games, but they all came back completely exhausted and sore. I don't know what went on, but they were super tired in class this morning. 


Today is an exciting day because 1. I actually had class and 2. SEYF COMES! For those of you who don't know, Seyf is a friend from home. She was the third member of Sarah and I's Southie apartment (Studio 911) and we get to reunite tonight. She has been studying in Singapore this past semester for her Master's, and as her semester comes to an end, she is getting last minute traveling in. So, what better way to end a semester abroad than by meeting up with your BFFs and going to Phuket? Yea, that's right...Phuket. It's December, it's the holiday season and I get to spend an extended weekend on one of the most beautiful tropical beaches in the world. Holllla! I'll try to remind myself of the Christmas season by sipping on yet another Peppermint Mocha, but instead of looking outside at the snow, I'll see this: 

 

Bob is a little flustered, because she wants to show off her bikini body, but at the same time, she is beaming with Christmas pride. What's a sheep to do?

Yes, I realize for those unaware of Bob's existence, I sound like a freak. Just let it happen. 

Also- as I was neglecting work and writing this, I was (pleasantly) interrupted by a staff member offering me some Rot Sai Mai, a Muslim dessert made in Ayutthaya. I had meant to try it when I was there a few weeks ago, but was too full off of coconut ice cream to do so. First you have to assemble it by filling a green tortilla-looking thing with what looks like hair. The 'hair' is actually sugar cane that has been spun and woven. You then roll it up and enjoy. It had a very sweet taste and the 'hair' tasted like a mix of cotton candy and straw. Mmmm! The whole Thai dessert thing still baffles me. They are deprived of delicious treats like brownies and cookies, and instead, enjoy things like tarot (or root), bean paste and anything and everything in coconut milk or sweetened condensed milk. BUT they make up for it with sticky rice. Mmm....sticky rice. 

Anyways- enjoy your weekends! I know I'll enjoy my Studio 911 reunion on the beach :)

Let's...Get....Fat!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and you all stuffed your faces with deliciousness. While you got to enjoy turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and all sorts of pie, I celebrated the holiday in a completely different manner. Rather than eating an unnecessarily large amount of baked goods and then passing out from a food coma, I went on a boat cruise in Bangkok with the EP staff and indulged in a large Thai meal. So I nibbled (read: devoured) on things such as gaang kee-o wahn geung sapbarot (green curry with shrimp and pineapple) and fried crab while taking in the beautiful sights along the Chao Phraya River. The next morning, I woke up nice and early so I could Skype with my fam while it was still officially Thanksgiving back in the States. I didn't think I would miss T-gives all that much, but after seeing everyone in one spot, I got a little sad. It was really nice talking to some of my family members that I hadn't spoken to since arriving in Thailand. 

On Friday, I only had some of my classes due to the National Buddhist Exam, so I decided to be a really cool teacher and show the students High School Musical. I wasn't sure how they would respond to it, but it was a MAJOR hit. Kru Sarah even came to join one of the showings and witnessed as the children swooned when Zac Efron came onto the screen. I loved looking over the classroom and just seeing smiles plastered onto their faces. Good thing I have the whole trilogy with me! Winning the students over, one teen heart-throb at a time. 

My relationships with the students have been getting stronger and more fun. The bonding has kicked into full gear and I am really thankful that I am in a program where I have such small classes that meet 3-4 times a week, as opposed to the other participants who have 900+ students that they meet with once a week. I have been having so much fun interacting with them, and seizing the opportunities to learn Thai from them. I've also tackled their names, which doesn't sound all that impressive after 7 weeks of teaching, but when you're dealing with Arm, Ja, Por, Benz, Liew, Tue, and Ohm (times 5), it gets a little difficult. But, I discovered that a lot of their Thai nicknames are actual Thai words, and I have been getting an absolute kick out of them. For example: Tangmo= watermelon, Tangkwa= cucumber, Noey= milk or cheese,  and Dao= star. I excitedly went over to one of the boys, Atom, while I was on my spree of figuring out the meanings and asked "Does your name mean anything in Thai?!?" and he responded "Ahh...yea. It means, like, a molecule." Oh...well, yea...same in English. But still pretty awesome. 

Sarah and I headed into Bangkok this past weekend to 1. run 45809494504 errands and 2. to complete Mission Westernize Me. #1 was fairly successful, but mission #2 was surpassed. We Westernized ourselves like none another, and gained about 7 pounds in the process. Don't judge me. It felt to great to eat foods like hummus and bagels, things I have been deprived of, and to wander around a mall, as opposed to a bustling, cramped market. A lot of the city and Siam Center was decorated for Christmas, which doesn't make too much sense, but I totally appreciated it. The Siam Mall was outrageously ginormous and there were many moments where Sarah and I would look at one another with our jaws dragging along the floor. We were in complete awe of our surroundings. We even met a Thai superstar and took a picture with him. Too bad I have zero idea of who it was, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity after seeing swarms of people gathering around him. We passed by another celebrity, but the crowd around him was too large to even attempt to pose for picture # 2.  The food court was it's own mall-It was glorious, and even had a store with lots of imported goods, so I was obviously giddily walking around, picking up all the things I've been longing for (i.e: Dr. Pepper and Honey Nut Cheerios). But, I passed on many products due to their insane prices and settled for pretzels, Reeses and cinnamon. The highlight of the day was clearly the Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks that I splurged on. It's funny how something so simple can transform you into a Christmas state of mind. Sitting in Starbucks and sipping on the red cup made me feel like I was right at home. I may or may not have went back the next day and got another one. Whoops! That night, we went way out of our way and hit up a Mexican restaurant where we absolutely destroyed some chips and salsa and chicken and cheese enchiladas.  We went back to our Thai lifestyles the next day, but it was nice to have a little break and get into the Christmas spirit a little bit. I even listened to my Christmas playlist on the ride back to The Soup. Hopefully everyone back home survived Black Friday and has started getting the Christmas decorating and baking underway. In my honor, please eat as many bags of Mint M&Ms as possible. Seriously, do it. 

      

Try Not to Kill the Children

  This past week was jam-packed and full of fun and randomness. So be warned- this post may be long. Sorry! Early in the week our co-worker, Tuke, announced to the office that all of the foreign staff's attendance was mandatory at a meeting later in the day. When 9th period rolled around, we all made our way to one of the media centers where they were setting up karaoke in what looked like a newsroom. We were then handed lyrics and told we would be singing the Loi Krathong song and it would be aired on TV on Thursday. Loi Krathong is a big celebration in Thailand where  people float krathongs on the water and dance and sing throughout the night. It is a massive celebration in Chiang-Mai, and as much as we wanted to go up North for the festivities, time would not allow it. Anyways, we horribly embarrassed ourselves on camera while singing and attempting to dance, but luckily I did not have to see the final footage, so I'll just pretend like it never happened. It was just their sick way of making fun of us farang. Unfortunately, the song is insanely catchy and has been stuck in my head for 5 days straight. Sweet.  


The day we met our coordinator during orientation, we were informed that we would be going on a camping trip with the students on Nov 18th and 19th. We were very prepared for this trip, yet we didn't receive any details until the afternoon before we left. So on Thursday, we set off on our camping trip with 200 students (the EP kids plus the Tasmanian and American exchange students) to Kanchanaburi. And by camping, I mean we stayed at a pretty sweet resort with private bungalows (and hot water!) and ate buffet style food from a restaurant. Same difference, right? When we arrived, we immediately made our way into a big function room and started the ice-breakers- Thai style. A Thai fellow started spewing out Thai commands and all of the kids laughed and followed along while Sarah and I struggled to understand a single word. It was pretty hilarious....for the first 15 minutes. It was all good fun and we looked like fools, but the ice-breaking session went on for an hour and a half. The ice was melted. We then moved on to the major "camping" portion of the trip, where the children were assigned to a group and then given 4 hours to bounce from station to station. I was told 15 minutes prior that I was in charge of "Take my Breath Out." No idea. I asked Tuke for further details and she said that I would be given a tent, and that I was to have all of the children fit into the tent, leave them there for a minute or two and then ask them about their breathing. Next, I would light incense, have them go back into the tent and leave them there. But I was informed not to light it too much because the incense is pollution and can be bad for them. Sooo you're telling me I am supposed to suffocate the children...but only a little bit? Sounds really safe. When we got to the spot, we opened the tent and found that it was a single person tent. AKA impossible for the 10 groups of 20 kids I was about to be greeting. In a last minute decision, we decided to do the Human Knot with them, which was pretty successful, and very sweaty. 

The remainder of the trip was fun and we got to go to Hellfire Pass, which was eery, interesting and beautiful all at once. Afterwards, Sarah and I got dropped off by the bus on the highway and made our way to downtown Kanchanaburi so we could extend our weekend and explore some more. I absolutely love the area and the vibes of the city and foresee myself spending many weekends there. We found ourselves a floating hostel and started our weekend away. And what better way to celebrate than by eating garlic bread and pizza and pineapple juice with Malibu?! My tastebuds were dancing with joy. It had been far too long. 

Sunset from our hostel

We had high hopes for the night because the road we were staying on looked fun and exciting, but we were kind of let down when each and every bar was fairly empty. We ended up settling onto a log bench at a Reggae bar and relaxed while watching an amazing performance by true hippies. We then moved onto a random spot near the hostel and began an incredible night. We had immediately started talking to the bartenders (a German, an Irishman and 2 Thai guys) and then expanded our chat to three backpackers from London. We all chatted as one of the bartenders cranked music from Youtube. Very normal. The reason I came here was to live this kind of life; To travel and to meet others who do the same. There is something so amazing about meeting people from all over the world and hearing their stories. And this particular group was awesome. I loved talking to the two Thai guys, On and Ammarin, because I was able to practice my Thai on them. And also- they were just great, very chill people with impeccable English. On is a tattoo artist in Kanchanaburi, sooo it's not not a possibility for me to come home with tattoo #2.  The owner of the most well-known hostel joined the fun and it was really cool talking to him about owning the hostel and hearing about all the people he has met. The hours flew by and before we knew it, it was 5am. The bar had closed long before but we were all just mingling and having a great time. Sarah and I tried to leave multiple times, but we got lured in by Thai-style doughnuts dipped in sweetened-condensed milk. I mean, obviously I couldn't refuse that. 

Two hours later, we awoke and in a zombie-state, made our way to the bus station to head to Erawan Falls. (Sidenote: a man dressed in a full denim outfit, and hair clipped back in a pink claw sat in front of us with his two roosters). We bumped into two other girls who live in The Soup and the four of us hiked up the seven tiers and saw truly breathtaking sights and swam in the refreshing water.  Each level of the water fall was so beautiful and I had to keep reminding myself it wasn't fake. All of the falls had fish in them but we sucked it up and swam on the 5th level. And the fish don't leave you alone. They eat the dead skin off of your feet so they were all about attacking our toes. GROSS! It felt weird and I didn't embrace the free pedicure. We also saw some not-so-breathtaking sights, like the heaps of Europeans hiking in their speedos and their platform wedges. I was actually kind of impressed- it was a steep and rocky hike! Oh- and there were monkeys. And we all know how I feel about monkeys. So I was kind of freaked out when they were swinging from the branches above me. 

Roosters!?!YIKES

Monkey VS Dog

Level 3 of the Waterfall

Adorable, right?

After our long day of hiking, we took the hour and a half bus ride back to the bus station and made the run for our lives to catch the last bus back to The Soup. We barely made it...it was literally pulling away, but we squeezed on. And I mean SQUEEZED. There were about 4 people to a seat and the aisle was overflowing. I may or may not have spent the first 45 minutes of the bus ride hanging onto the door handle, really hoping I wouldn't fall out (the door was open, mind you). But we made it back and I had a glorious night of sleep. 

     I can confidently say that yesterday was the first 'normal' day I've had in Thailand since arriving. I got my morning coffee, ran some errands, watched some American TV and chillaxed. Sarah and I found a random carnival at night and explored and then went downtown to celebrate Loi Krathong. The river was a spectacle, with the lit krathongs floating and long canoes with people dressed in traditional Thai costume dancing to the music. The whole area was bumping and I even got to light and release a sky lantern! In true Thai-form, there was an outrageous fireworks display and lots and lots of food. All in all, a great time and a great way to finish up a fun week. 

                  

Wat Up Ayutthaya

Hola! I think it's safe to say that Sarah's birthday was a success! I had assigned all of my classes (80 students total) to make Kru Sarah a birthday card for homework. I was a little nervous since they fail to do any other homework assignment, but almost all of them showed off their artistic skills (and lack of English) by creating beautiful cards. Boolakashan! 

On Friday, I was told I would have to miss two of my classes to go to the hospital for a check-up to get cleared by a doctor. Just one of many steps in attaining a work visa. One of our Thai teachers, Kru Phon, would be assisting us and translating everything. I was secretly excited for the trip just so I could familiarize myself with the Suphanburi hospital just in case I ever needed to go there. Well...I really hope I never have to go there. Ever. From the moment you walk in, it is chaos. First of all, everything is in Thai and there are no English signs anywhere and no one speaks English. All of the staff are wearing masks and the waiting room looks like a train terminal....if a train terminal had masked patients on stretchers amidst those anxiously awaiting their turn. They take your vitals in the waiting room, so it was really fun to have about 200 Thai people staring at me as my weight and blood pressure were being taken. We were then shuffled from room to room to get various tests, including a chest X-ray from a machine from the 1950s. Sidenote: I am still very crooked. Thanks, scoliosis...you rock. Then Kru Phon said "Okay, now they are going to check your butt." ....Umm what? "They are going to check your butt." Sarah and I nervously giggled and insisted "Mai butt! No no!" After some back and forth debate and some miming, we realized she meant "They are going to check your blood." Muuuch better. We then made our way to the final doctor after passing some prisoners in some hardcore chains to get our final clearance. I had been getting some intense vertigo the past few days, and I am traumatized by my brain virus a few years back, so I took the opportunity to tell the doctor while I was already there. I had Phon tell him I was dizzy, and hoped he knew some English to communicate with me. Our convo went as follows:


Doctor: You're dizzy?
Me: Yes...vertigo. Does that mean anything?
Doctor: Do you have hearing loss?   (Yes! He knew what he was talking about!)
Me: No hearing loss. But I had vestibular neuronitis 3 years ago (wrote it down on paper,too) so I was concerned. 
Doctor: Are you having an asthma attack? 


Awesome. Epic fail. But he gave me some Japanese meds so I guess it wasn't a complete failure. 


On Saturday morning, Sarah and I hopped on a bus and headed up to Ayutthaya, an ancient city in Thailand. It was an amazing city and an amazing trip. We got off the bus and found ourselves a sweet hostel. The woman in charge spoke perfect English and was incredibly helpful. AND THERE WAS HOT WATER!!! I took my first hot shower in a month and it was GLORIOUS. Anyways, we hired a tuk-tuk for a few hours and he took us from Wat to ruins to Wat to reclining Buddhas to elephants. The sights were just unbelievable and it is so impressive that some of the structures are still standing from the 1400s. We also took a longtail boat ride at sunset and saw some more temples. The flooding was very apparent on this tour, as we couldn't even get off the boat to see one of the temples, and we saw a lot of houses still somewhat under water. I even saw a few people fishing from their front doors. 

Buddha Love

Sunset Boatride

Hipstamatic

 On Sunday, we continued our explorations around a few more sites (and obviously went jumping picture crazy) and hit up the market in the city center before jumping on a bus back to The Soup. We were both completely and utterly exhausted after our weekend of walking, jumping and exploring in 90+ degree weather and were happy to get home yesterday afternoon. Although, I did have some lesson planning to do, but I was able to tweak watching a scene from Transformers. Hollllllla!

Matching fisherman pants!

The elephant is totally into my jump

Apartment Address

Yoo Dee Mee Suk Apartment

2 Dabpahpean Rd,

Thapeeleang, Mueng 

Suphanburi, Thailand 72000

All of the past participants have received their mail at the apartment, so it is just another option for sending mail if you feel inclined to love me :)

Also- want to give a BIG birthday shout-out to Srall!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! We get to celebrate by going to a big party for the American and Tasmanian exchange students that are in the EP right now. Fun! 

100% Deet is My Best Friend

The battle with the bugs continues and I am currently destroying them as I type this. My multi-tasking skills are pretty top-notch. My room is covered in 100% deet, so they better JUMP BACK. 

This past week was spent really getting to know Suphanburi and all that it has to offer. We were able to show off The Soup to some friends who came in from Bangkok this past weekend, but we benefited just as much from the tour, since it was our first weekend actually spent in our new hometown. We spent some time roaming the streets, looking at the local sites, hitting up the local bars (where we discovered some amazing live bands), and heading over to the 100 Year Old Market in Samchuk. At the market, we randomly and luckily had a pseudo tour guide. Baer (sp?), a girl we had met the night prior, happened to be at the market and provided us with a really unique experience despite her lack of English. She kept handing us free food, including the Suphan Sali cake that I've been eager to try (YUM) and some spicy fish pot. She also kind of pushed us onto a random riverboat that brought us down to an extremely old house. There was live music on the boat just for us, and the house was incredible. 

 

 

After ordering our dinner for us, Baer drove all 7 of us home...in her pick-up truck. It was awesome! My hair never looked so beautiful. I looked verrrry Motley Crue afterwards. I was completely blown away with her generosity throughout the entire day. We hadn't even known her 24 hours and she was so willing to show us around. Man, are Thai people nice. 


So last week, the EP staff was told that we would be attending the Suphanburi Opening Games the coming Tuesday. It really meant nothing to me because I had no clue what they were. Even after a Google search, nothing came up (along with anything else related to Suphan). Ooook. Tuesday comes around and I still have no idea what to expect. Even if I had been told, I still would have been blown away. I can only describe the Opening Games as the Olympics Opening Ceremony meets the Fourth of July meets a Justin Bieber concert meets the Fisherman's Feast in the North End. There were performances by the three biggest Thai popstars, the ex-Prime Minister sat in the section next to us, all of the schools of Suphanburi put on an amazingly beautiful performance (I got a little emotional), there was a GIANT parade and a fireworks spectacular. So spectacular in fact, that Sarah was set on fire and has a hole in her skirt. I wish I could explain the night, but we'll leave it at that. It was a great night and I was very lucky to have been part of it. 

This week marks the one month anniversary of being in Thailand and I cannot believe how far I've come along since Day One. I've made new friends, settled into a new home, completely changed my diet and I'm officially a high school teacher. Crazy! I thought to celebrate the big marker, I'd make a list...because, really, who doesn't love a good list?


Things I LOVE:
- The food (street vendors galore, pineapple dipped in sugar and chili flakes, coconut ice cream, Thai Iced coffee). 
-the people. Thai people are just the nicest, friendliest bunch and I heart them.
-traveling ( I get to meet awesome people and see incredible sights. No complaints here)
-the kids! (I'm totally loving my students)
-baht (I'm over the dollar)
-having conversations where I speak English and the other speaks Thai but somehow it works
-the Mai Pen Rai attitude
-markets everywhere you go


Things I'm Adjusting To:
-lack of resources at school
-Mopeds. Still 96% sure I will get hit by one
-The bed. It is as hard as a rock, but I have to admit- I have yet to wake up with a sore back. And I have a very picky back.
-The Bugs. I've welcomed the ants, but now these dang gnats are everywhere. 
-karaoke
-being barefoot ALL OF THE TIME.
-K-Pop and Thai Pop. 


Things I Miss (besides people...don't worry, Mom-  I miss you):
-Hot showers. I don't like dreading showers.
-No option of working out (I am by no means a fit person but it was nice to have the option to go to a gym, go running or take a dance class). No where to be seen here. 
-American snacks. Not the meals...just the cheese snacks and obscene amount of chocolate I liked to eat on a daily basis.
-Baking. It was once my addiction. I have yet to see a brownie here. 
-Clean dogs. The stray dogs are just really heartbreaking/disturbing/gross. 


I am absolutely in love with being here and I could seriously make a list 10 pages long of the things I enjoy, but that'd just be obnoxious. Month 1 has gone really well and I can't even imagine what sort of adventure is in store for me in the next 11 months.