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.