Hey everybody... did a massive photo dump on Snapfish. Let me know if the links don't work!
Album 1
Album 2
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Short Update...
Hey everybody. A million apologies for not updating in the past weeks. Life for me has been busy here. In addition, my laptop has died and, save for the last few days, I am rarely able to be online for more than 20 minutes or so at a time. Eventually, a few highlights from the past weeks will include: a trip to Myanmar, an indescribable local festival which will include the theft of my wallet, teaching stories, short-term plans, and finally and most recently a 2 day trip to Malaysia again to buy a visa. I'm leaving in a few hours here on the latter of these highlights. HOPEfully everything will go well and I'll be back in Phuket by Tuesday night with a 3 month visa. Happy birthdays to my nephew Brandon (good luck with hockey!), my brother-in-law Kevin (congrats on the move!), and my little sister Angela (congrats on the move and good luck with the volunteering this year)! Oh, and GO WILD. Another 4-0 start looks good to me!
P.S. To update on the turmoil here, if you'll forgive the language, there is a serious chance that the shit is going to hit the fan in Bangkok on Wednesday. Over the past 2 1/2 months there have been isolated violent incidents in terms of both location and time. After last week's fatalities, there has been a sudden increase in 'chatter' concerning face-offs between protesters and police in Bangkok. What I mean by this is that suddenly newspapers are carrying articles concerning future days, as opposed to simply reporting what happened yesterday. Similarly, the American Embassy has suddenly started to release warnings about today's activity instead of yesterday's. I speak of Wednesday because the chief of police has actually come out and announced that he will move in and force the protesters out of the Government House, which they have occupied mostly unopposed for two months. He plans to move immediately following a religious ceremony which is to include some 10,000 Buddhist Monks. PAD (the protesting body) has openly suggested that they aren't going to move and that the most likely outcome is bloodshed. For supporters of the cause, there is no better reason for them to mobilize, and they are pouring into Bangkok by the thousand.
Despite all of this, I want to remind you all that I live in PHUKET TOWN, not Bangkok, and the closest thing to a protest here is simply daily/weekly gatherings to watch the goings on in Bangkok. I am in no danger, however it is terrible to see things like this happening amongst any people... it really is pretty brutal.
Okay gotta go, next time I'll keep it more light-hearted!
P.S. To update on the turmoil here, if you'll forgive the language, there is a serious chance that the shit is going to hit the fan in Bangkok on Wednesday. Over the past 2 1/2 months there have been isolated violent incidents in terms of both location and time. After last week's fatalities, there has been a sudden increase in 'chatter' concerning face-offs between protesters and police in Bangkok. What I mean by this is that suddenly newspapers are carrying articles concerning future days, as opposed to simply reporting what happened yesterday. Similarly, the American Embassy has suddenly started to release warnings about today's activity instead of yesterday's. I speak of Wednesday because the chief of police has actually come out and announced that he will move in and force the protesters out of the Government House, which they have occupied mostly unopposed for two months. He plans to move immediately following a religious ceremony which is to include some 10,000 Buddhist Monks. PAD (the protesting body) has openly suggested that they aren't going to move and that the most likely outcome is bloodshed. For supporters of the cause, there is no better reason for them to mobilize, and they are pouring into Bangkok by the thousand.
Despite all of this, I want to remind you all that I live in PHUKET TOWN, not Bangkok, and the closest thing to a protest here is simply daily/weekly gatherings to watch the goings on in Bangkok. I am in no danger, however it is terrible to see things like this happening amongst any people... it really is pretty brutal.
Okay gotta go, next time I'll keep it more light-hearted!
Short Update...
Hey everybody. A million apologies for not updating in the past weeks. Life for me has been busy here. In addition, my laptop has died and, save for the last few days, I am rarely able to be online for more than 20 minutes or so at a time. Eventually, a few highlights from the past weeks will include: a trip to Myanmar, an indescribable local festival which will include the theft of my wallet, teaching stories, short-term plans, and finally and most recently a 2 day trip to Malaysia again to buy a visa. I'm leaving in a few hours here on the latter of these highlights. HOPEfully everything will go well and I'll be back in Phuket by Tuesday night with a 3 month visa. Happy birthdays to my nephew Brandon (good luck with hockey!), my brother-in-law Kevin (congrats on the move!), and my little sister Angela (congrats on the move and good luck with the volunteering this year)! Oh, and GO WILD. Another 4-0 start looks good to me!
P.S. To update on the turmoil here, if you'll forgive the language, there is a serious chance that the shit is going to hit the fan in Bangkok on Wednesday. Over the past 2 1/2 months there have been isolated violent incidents in terms of both location and time. After last week's fatalities, there has been a sudden increase in 'chatter' concerning face-offs between protesters and police in Bangkok. What I mean by this is that suddenly newspapers are carrying articles concerning future days, as opposed to simply reporting what happened yesterday. Similarly, the American Embassy has suddenly started to release warnings about today's activity instead of yesterday's. I speak of Wednesday because the chief of police has actually come out and announced that he will move in and force the protesters out of the Government House, which they have occupied mostly unopposed for two months. He plans to move immediately following a religious ceremony which is to include some 10,000 Buddhist Monks. PAD (the protesting body) has openly suggested that they aren't going to move and that the most likely outcome is bloodshed. For supporters of the cause, there is no better reason for them to mobilize, and they are pouring into Bangkok by the thousand.
Despite all of this, I want to remind you all that I live in PHUKET TOWN, not Bangkok, and the closest thing to a protest here is simply daily/weekly gatherings to watch the goings on in Bangkok. I am in no danger, however it is terrible to see things like this happening amongst any people... it really is pretty brutal.
Okay gotta go, next time I'll keep it more light-hearted!
P.S. To update on the turmoil here, if you'll forgive the language, there is a serious chance that the shit is going to hit the fan in Bangkok on Wednesday. Over the past 2 1/2 months there have been isolated violent incidents in terms of both location and time. After last week's fatalities, there has been a sudden increase in 'chatter' concerning face-offs between protesters and police in Bangkok. What I mean by this is that suddenly newspapers are carrying articles concerning future days, as opposed to simply reporting what happened yesterday. Similarly, the American Embassy has suddenly started to release warnings about today's activity instead of yesterday's. I speak of Wednesday because the chief of police has actually come out and announced that he will move in and force the protesters out of the Government House, which they have occupied mostly unopposed for two months. He plans to move immediately following a religious ceremony which is to include some 10,000 Buddhist Monks. PAD (the protesting body) has openly suggested that they aren't going to move and that the most likely outcome is bloodshed. For supporters of the cause, there is no better reason for them to mobilize, and they are pouring into Bangkok by the thousand.
Despite all of this, I want to remind you all that I live in PHUKET TOWN, not Bangkok, and the closest thing to a protest here is simply daily/weekly gatherings to watch the goings on in Bangkok. I am in no danger, however it is terrible to see things like this happening amongst any people... it really is pretty brutal.
Okay gotta go, next time I'll keep it more light-hearted!
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sorry everybody...
I'm here, don't worry. Plenty of stories to tell. Work has dried up a bit so I'll make a point of putting in some serious typing time this week. Hope life is fantastic back home!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Work, motorbikes, and a cell phone
Well, I made it through my first week of teaching! It went pretty well, actually, despite not exactly having the right materials or knowing what the students had covered. This week could be interesting, since it's a week of review, which means that I have to field questions about anything that they might have covered in the last 8 weeks, even though I was only there for 1 of them. Oh well, I'm not too worried.
I finally drove a motorbike for the first time yesterday! It's actually not as difficult as I had assumed it was going to be, and honestly, it's quite a bit of fun! Driving in town is a bit of a pain sometimes, having to stop and start constantly, but it does beat walking sometimes and definitely beats paying for taxis all the time. One of these weeks after a paycheck perhaps I'll rent my own bike; a big step towards actually living here!
I have officially decided to stick around for a while and today bought a Thai cell phone for about $24 US. Steps in the right direction, eh?
I finally drove a motorbike for the first time yesterday! It's actually not as difficult as I had assumed it was going to be, and honestly, it's quite a bit of fun! Driving in town is a bit of a pain sometimes, having to stop and start constantly, but it does beat walking sometimes and definitely beats paying for taxis all the time. One of these weeks after a paycheck perhaps I'll rent my own bike; a big step towards actually living here!
I have officially decided to stick around for a while and today bought a Thai cell phone for about $24 US. Steps in the right direction, eh?
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Workin Man
Okay so lots to report and time is a flying! I can't believe that I've already been here at the hostel for 9 days. Nate and I are talking about staying here for a while, the place is really nice and close to everything here in town. Everything includes the bus stops for busses to places that aren't close. The kicker is that we're paying $31/week to stay here, which is WAY cheaper even than the $6/day that they normally charge. Sully stayed here for a week before he started the course, and evidently must have done something right for them to give us such a deal. I can't remember if I described the hostel at all, but we're located right in the heart of Phuket Town, right next to the market and near the bus station. Most importantly, we're only a 15 minute walk from the staff bus that Nate and I take to work.
Yes, you read that correctly! Nate and I both started subbing as English teachers on Monday! It all came about because Nate's friends Rob and Phil have been working in Phuket for a few months now, but both were slated for a holiday during September. Kindly enough, they asked Nate to fill in for them. On the day last week when Nate went in to meet the head teacher, Steve, at the agency, Earth Language, I decided it would be a good idea to tag along and introduce myself. Good idea indeed. After introducing myself, Steve and I had a brief chat which led to the question "When can you start?" It turns out that another staff member was headed out on holiday as well and they hadn't yet found a replacement. The best part is that I'd be taking over at the same beach resort as Nate/Rob!
As it turns out, Amanpuri (the resort) is one of the more elite places on the island. It's located about a 30-50 minute bus ride from town, depending on the day. I teach at the hotel itself, while Nate gets the excitement of teaching out in one of the more exlusive villas. The basic difference is that he gets delightful food for lunch, and I get cafeteria mush. You thought cafeteria food at HOME was bad... Thai's are very proud of their food, and if you ever hear them say that some food is "okay," your best bet is to fast.
The job itself entails teaching 4 90-minute English classes to the staff, which vary in both English speaking ability and profession. Teaching a roommaid at the same time as the director of communications puts an interesting twist to the art, let me tell you. The most difficult part for me so far has been learning 41 Thai nicknames. Mind you, these nicknames are far less complex than their real names, but it's a lot of new faces all at once, and namecards don't always help, since they aren't always pronounced as they are written. For example, the nickname Ple may be pronounced pllll, as in ap"ple". The classes are pretty casual and laid back though, so mispronouncing the names is usually good for a laugh. I'm trying though.
At the moment I'm only working MWF, while Nate has M-Sat, but that's okay with me. I'll either decide to take on more with this agency, or use the extra time to look for a job with a state school, i.e. something M-F with the potential for a work permit and thus a work visa and thus health care and a bank account. Little things like that.
Tonight the hostel is actually pretty full, which of course means that I'm sitting in my room comtemplating exactly what I've ingested over the past 48 hours that could possibly be left to ungraciously donate to the local porcelain sculptures. (If you've got a more eloquent way to phrase that, I'd been keen on hearing it.) In fact, this would probably be a good time to take a little green pill and head to bed. After all, I'm headed back to work in the morning.
Yes, you read that correctly! Nate and I both started subbing as English teachers on Monday! It all came about because Nate's friends Rob and Phil have been working in Phuket for a few months now, but both were slated for a holiday during September. Kindly enough, they asked Nate to fill in for them. On the day last week when Nate went in to meet the head teacher, Steve, at the agency, Earth Language, I decided it would be a good idea to tag along and introduce myself. Good idea indeed. After introducing myself, Steve and I had a brief chat which led to the question "When can you start?" It turns out that another staff member was headed out on holiday as well and they hadn't yet found a replacement. The best part is that I'd be taking over at the same beach resort as Nate/Rob!
As it turns out, Amanpuri (the resort) is one of the more elite places on the island. It's located about a 30-50 minute bus ride from town, depending on the day. I teach at the hotel itself, while Nate gets the excitement of teaching out in one of the more exlusive villas. The basic difference is that he gets delightful food for lunch, and I get cafeteria mush. You thought cafeteria food at HOME was bad... Thai's are very proud of their food, and if you ever hear them say that some food is "okay," your best bet is to fast.
The job itself entails teaching 4 90-minute English classes to the staff, which vary in both English speaking ability and profession. Teaching a roommaid at the same time as the director of communications puts an interesting twist to the art, let me tell you. The most difficult part for me so far has been learning 41 Thai nicknames. Mind you, these nicknames are far less complex than their real names, but it's a lot of new faces all at once, and namecards don't always help, since they aren't always pronounced as they are written. For example, the nickname Ple may be pronounced pllll, as in ap"ple". The classes are pretty casual and laid back though, so mispronouncing the names is usually good for a laugh. I'm trying though.
At the moment I'm only working MWF, while Nate has M-Sat, but that's okay with me. I'll either decide to take on more with this agency, or use the extra time to look for a job with a state school, i.e. something M-F with the potential for a work permit and thus a work visa and thus health care and a bank account. Little things like that.
Tonight the hostel is actually pretty full, which of course means that I'm sitting in my room comtemplating exactly what I've ingested over the past 48 hours that could possibly be left to ungraciously donate to the local porcelain sculptures. (If you've got a more eloquent way to phrase that, I'd been keen on hearing it.) In fact, this would probably be a good time to take a little green pill and head to bed. After all, I'm headed back to work in the morning.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Patong!
WARNING! Long post!
Okay folks! Here we go with the first installment of weekend stories. I'm finally sitting somewhere comfortable with a few minutes to relax. My sunburn has all turned to tan, save for the reddish purple color on my right thigh. My two-tone half-peeled face would be a great candidate for the next batman movie, but I'm sure that will pass as well. So on we go...
I'll take you back to the weekend of the 9th of August, our first weekend together as a class, and my first weekend in Thailand actually knowing anybody. As a group the decision was made to spend the better part of the weekend staying in Patong. Patong is what I like to call the "downtown" of the island, simply because it's expensive, it's where all the dance clubs are, and it's where an incredible number of people go on the weekend to party all night.
There's one major difference between say downtown Minneapolis and Patong, however; this is Thailand...
Our friend Kevin (Sully) is a member of a few couch sharing communities and let a few of us know that he had a contact here in Thailand that could probably hook us up with a cheap place to stay for a night in Patong. After some debate, most people booked their own accommodations for the weekend and were all set. I chose to stick with Sully and find a cheap option.
So we catch a tuk-tuk to Patong, which is on the opposite side of the island. Mark this as my first ride in a tuk-tuk. Nothing too crazy to tell about the trip, though we could have used a few more horsepower along the way. Arriving in Patong, it took quite a bit of time for us to actually find the guy and work out where we're going to stay. He's nice enough to give us a lift on his motorbike to the hotel. Mark this as my first time on a motorbike, quite the interesting experience with two 6-footers on the back and an amateur driver. Turns out the hotel isn't too far away behind the mall, around a corner, and down a dirt road. Recall I'm still new to Thailand at this time, so I'm kinda just going with the flow at this point.
The guy tells us that the name of the hotel is the Sherry Apartments, and upon arriving we are told that since it's not a hotel, we need to pay up front. No problem. We're actually given quite a nice room, take a few pictures and decide to head to the beach before meeting up with some classmates for dinner.
Now, Sully and I are both inclined to walk places, and as such come out of the hotel, think we know a short way to the beach and start walking. It didn't take long for us to feel off the beaten foreigner path and we pick up the pace toward the beach. Ignoring the solicitous (if that's not a word, it should be) shouts of a few Thai men, we make a right and head down a side street for a while. About the time we noticed that our elevation was significantly different from the beach ahead was about the time we found ourselves in a dead end, surrounded by little houses... with women in the doors... all of whom are quite delighted to see two tall foreign men wander their way. It didn't even take a knowing glance between the two of us. About face. Letting the calls of "Come to my rooooooom!" and "Hellllooooo, where are you gooooooing?" hit us straight in the backs, we hightail it back out past all the people who stared us down the street the first time, including the Thai men on the corner who were in fact trying to tell us we were going the wrong way.
I think it was about this point where it set clearly into my head that I was in Thailand and quite far away from home. Having a good chuckle, Sully and I set off again. Our plan was to head to the next main street and cut over there instead of down a side street. So we do, and find ourselves winding down an increasingly narrow road, all the while being stared down again by locals. We didn't pick up on the clues the first time, so why would we the second time? The only difference this time was that the road we walked was far longer before we hit a dead end and had to turn around and perform a perfect "foreigner walk." (That is, any form of walking that covers the same ground at least twice, and often 4-6 times, and makes it completely and utterly obvious that you're a foreigner and have no idea which way you're going. This must of course take place in front of as many locals as possible, among whom none shall have the ability to communicate well enough to provide any help whatsoever.)
By this time, the sun was setting and we decided just to go back to the hotel and change for dinner. On foot this time, we happen to notice the sign for our hotel says "Cherry Apartments" rather than Sherry, as we originally thought. It was sometime in this visit to the hotel that a whole lot of little clues started bouncing around in my head: we weren't in a very classy neighborhood, the rate we paid for the room was ridiculously low, we were told that "this isn't a hotel" (a statement we originally believed referred to the fact that they were apartments, and must have been designed for long term stay), and upon further recollection, there seemed to be quite a few female staff for an unfinished hotel that nobody knew about yet. Yes, if you've put it together by now, Sully and I had checked ourselves into some form of brothel, though I have to say quite the discreet one considering.
Sharing another good laugh, we grabbed our valuables and took off for dinner, having decided that we weren't going to try to find another hotel, but neither of us were going to answer the door if anybody knocked.
Now, if you've never been to a place like Patong, it will be hard for me to get you to grasp exactly what it's like. Walking down Bangla road involves wading through a sea of people from all parts of the world while either ignoring or rejecting the endless stream of people trying to sell you things, take you places, give you massages, or as is often the case, all three. And don't forget the ladyboys in drag and the random lizard or monkey being carried about, all of which are your fault if you don't see them first and warn the female classmates you're walking with. It is preferable to walk with a female, however, as then you spend most of your time rejecting flowers, jewelry, and clothes instead of massages, go-go dances, and other stuff we won't mention here.
A large group of us trainees did manage to get together, have a nice meal, and visit a few different bars/clubs. The favorite seems to have been the Irish bar with a live band. One of the things I actually found the most surprising was the prevalence of American music. Perhaps it was for lack of expectation entirely, but I really didn't expect to walk into a club and here the very same songs I would hear in a club in the Cities. I've since come to find this okay, as I may or may not completely insane the next time I have to watch a Thai music video... more on that in a few blogs.
All in all, quite a good time with the group in Patong. I'll have you know that nobody knocked on our door during the night and in the morning we all but threw the key at the disappointed looking owner and made our way out to find a ride home.
We did manage a few more fun things that day in Patong, like an absolutely glorious meal at Burger King and a miniature Blizzard from Dairy Queen, but for now I must go plan some lessons. I've got 3 hours of teaching this evening back at the school, so I must be off.
More stories to come! Feel free to comment and let me know if it's not working.
Okay folks! Here we go with the first installment of weekend stories. I'm finally sitting somewhere comfortable with a few minutes to relax. My sunburn has all turned to tan, save for the reddish purple color on my right thigh. My two-tone half-peeled face would be a great candidate for the next batman movie, but I'm sure that will pass as well. So on we go...
I'll take you back to the weekend of the 9th of August, our first weekend together as a class, and my first weekend in Thailand actually knowing anybody. As a group the decision was made to spend the better part of the weekend staying in Patong. Patong is what I like to call the "downtown" of the island, simply because it's expensive, it's where all the dance clubs are, and it's where an incredible number of people go on the weekend to party all night.
There's one major difference between say downtown Minneapolis and Patong, however; this is Thailand...
Our friend Kevin (Sully) is a member of a few couch sharing communities and let a few of us know that he had a contact here in Thailand that could probably hook us up with a cheap place to stay for a night in Patong. After some debate, most people booked their own accommodations for the weekend and were all set. I chose to stick with Sully and find a cheap option.
So we catch a tuk-tuk to Patong, which is on the opposite side of the island. Mark this as my first ride in a tuk-tuk. Nothing too crazy to tell about the trip, though we could have used a few more horsepower along the way. Arriving in Patong, it took quite a bit of time for us to actually find the guy and work out where we're going to stay. He's nice enough to give us a lift on his motorbike to the hotel. Mark this as my first time on a motorbike, quite the interesting experience with two 6-footers on the back and an amateur driver. Turns out the hotel isn't too far away behind the mall, around a corner, and down a dirt road. Recall I'm still new to Thailand at this time, so I'm kinda just going with the flow at this point.
The guy tells us that the name of the hotel is the Sherry Apartments, and upon arriving we are told that since it's not a hotel, we need to pay up front. No problem. We're actually given quite a nice room, take a few pictures and decide to head to the beach before meeting up with some classmates for dinner.
Now, Sully and I are both inclined to walk places, and as such come out of the hotel, think we know a short way to the beach and start walking. It didn't take long for us to feel off the beaten foreigner path and we pick up the pace toward the beach. Ignoring the solicitous (if that's not a word, it should be) shouts of a few Thai men, we make a right and head down a side street for a while. About the time we noticed that our elevation was significantly different from the beach ahead was about the time we found ourselves in a dead end, surrounded by little houses... with women in the doors... all of whom are quite delighted to see two tall foreign men wander their way. It didn't even take a knowing glance between the two of us. About face. Letting the calls of "Come to my rooooooom!" and "Hellllooooo, where are you gooooooing?" hit us straight in the backs, we hightail it back out past all the people who stared us down the street the first time, including the Thai men on the corner who were in fact trying to tell us we were going the wrong way.
I think it was about this point where it set clearly into my head that I was in Thailand and quite far away from home. Having a good chuckle, Sully and I set off again. Our plan was to head to the next main street and cut over there instead of down a side street. So we do, and find ourselves winding down an increasingly narrow road, all the while being stared down again by locals. We didn't pick up on the clues the first time, so why would we the second time? The only difference this time was that the road we walked was far longer before we hit a dead end and had to turn around and perform a perfect "foreigner walk." (That is, any form of walking that covers the same ground at least twice, and often 4-6 times, and makes it completely and utterly obvious that you're a foreigner and have no idea which way you're going. This must of course take place in front of as many locals as possible, among whom none shall have the ability to communicate well enough to provide any help whatsoever.)
By this time, the sun was setting and we decided just to go back to the hotel and change for dinner. On foot this time, we happen to notice the sign for our hotel says "Cherry Apartments" rather than Sherry, as we originally thought. It was sometime in this visit to the hotel that a whole lot of little clues started bouncing around in my head: we weren't in a very classy neighborhood, the rate we paid for the room was ridiculously low, we were told that "this isn't a hotel" (a statement we originally believed referred to the fact that they were apartments, and must have been designed for long term stay), and upon further recollection, there seemed to be quite a few female staff for an unfinished hotel that nobody knew about yet. Yes, if you've put it together by now, Sully and I had checked ourselves into some form of brothel, though I have to say quite the discreet one considering.
Sharing another good laugh, we grabbed our valuables and took off for dinner, having decided that we weren't going to try to find another hotel, but neither of us were going to answer the door if anybody knocked.
Now, if you've never been to a place like Patong, it will be hard for me to get you to grasp exactly what it's like. Walking down Bangla road involves wading through a sea of people from all parts of the world while either ignoring or rejecting the endless stream of people trying to sell you things, take you places, give you massages, or as is often the case, all three. And don't forget the ladyboys in drag and the random lizard or monkey being carried about, all of which are your fault if you don't see them first and warn the female classmates you're walking with. It is preferable to walk with a female, however, as then you spend most of your time rejecting flowers, jewelry, and clothes instead of massages, go-go dances, and other stuff we won't mention here.
A large group of us trainees did manage to get together, have a nice meal, and visit a few different bars/clubs. The favorite seems to have been the Irish bar with a live band. One of the things I actually found the most surprising was the prevalence of American music. Perhaps it was for lack of expectation entirely, but I really didn't expect to walk into a club and here the very same songs I would hear in a club in the Cities. I've since come to find this okay, as I may or may not completely insane the next time I have to watch a Thai music video... more on that in a few blogs.
All in all, quite a good time with the group in Patong. I'll have you know that nobody knocked on our door during the night and in the morning we all but threw the key at the disappointed looking owner and made our way out to find a ride home.
We did manage a few more fun things that day in Patong, like an absolutely glorious meal at Burger King and a miniature Blizzard from Dairy Queen, but for now I must go plan some lessons. I've got 3 hours of teaching this evening back at the school, so I must be off.
More stories to come! Feel free to comment and let me know if it's not working.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Moving on...
Hey everybody,
I'm all packed and ready to move out of the school, where I've been staying for the past month. I'm headed over to a place called Phuket Backpackers with Nate and I think a few of the other guys are going to join us. I'm planning to stay there for the next two weeks or so.
I did pass on word to the family concerning the political unrest here, but just to let you all know I am currently far removed from any of the protesting and I plan on staying local here in Phuket, further reducing my chances of encountering any trouble. Even so, I hope they can get it all worked out as soon as possible...
Word has it that the hostel will have free wireless, which means that sometime in the next 2 days you'll all have quite a bit more blog to read and perhaps even some pictures!
Thanks Gail for the message on one of those last posts. Yes, of course it's okay that he passed it on! It's always good to hear from people and I will especially appreciate it in the coming weeks now that training is over and most people I know have gone home.
In case any of you were wondering, improper (or lack of) suntan lotion use when located 7 degrees north of the equator is a bad idea. No really. When you come visit me, it may be the one thing I insist that you don't try. And no, I don't need any scolding, Mom (or any other moms that may be reading this (or any soon-to-be moms (or any mom impersonators))). Purple ankles are lesson enough for me, not to mention the cringes I receive when anybody takes notice of my swollen skin. My timing, of course, is impeccable, seeing as I have to somehow manage to carry all of my bags today. "Ow" is insufficient.
On that note, I'm off! Enjoy the start to your week!
I'm all packed and ready to move out of the school, where I've been staying for the past month. I'm headed over to a place called Phuket Backpackers with Nate and I think a few of the other guys are going to join us. I'm planning to stay there for the next two weeks or so.
I did pass on word to the family concerning the political unrest here, but just to let you all know I am currently far removed from any of the protesting and I plan on staying local here in Phuket, further reducing my chances of encountering any trouble. Even so, I hope they can get it all worked out as soon as possible...
Word has it that the hostel will have free wireless, which means that sometime in the next 2 days you'll all have quite a bit more blog to read and perhaps even some pictures!
Thanks Gail for the message on one of those last posts. Yes, of course it's okay that he passed it on! It's always good to hear from people and I will especially appreciate it in the coming weeks now that training is over and most people I know have gone home.
In case any of you were wondering, improper (or lack of) suntan lotion use when located 7 degrees north of the equator is a bad idea. No really. When you come visit me, it may be the one thing I insist that you don't try. And no, I don't need any scolding, Mom (or any other moms that may be reading this (or any soon-to-be moms (or any mom impersonators))). Purple ankles are lesson enough for me, not to mention the cringes I receive when anybody takes notice of my swollen skin. My timing, of course, is impeccable, seeing as I have to somehow manage to carry all of my bags today. "Ow" is insufficient.
On that note, I'm off! Enjoy the start to your week!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
I did it!
I'm done! I'll get my teaching certificate this afternoon and then all I have to do is run a game with one of the classes here tonight! It sure is nice to relax finally. Though not for too long, since now everything becomes suddenly and utterly unknown. We won't worry too much about that yet though, since the school here is allowing me to teach PAID lessons next week before the next course starts. Yes, by Wednesday I will be getting PAID to teach English! Life is good. Time to go enjoy the rest of the day spending time with all the people that will be leaving this weekend! Post again soon.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Hello
Okay time for another brief update! I have a heck of a story to tell about this past weekend's trip to Malaysia with Nate, but it's going to have to wait for now. If it had been a Steve Martin film, we could have titled it "Busses, Vans, Tuk tuks, Motorbikes, and Human appendages." We did both make it back safely and alive enough to visit the beer gardens Saturday night. Which is another story entirely.
For now I'll just update you on the course. Yesterday we took the 3 hour grammar and phonology exam. (3 hours = 75 minutes if you're me) I figure it went pretty darn well, and I'll find out in about 45 minutes here if I'm right. Assuming that I passed, I have only to finish building a game for the last teaching day as well as prepare my report on having tutored a Thai person. Basically, things here are finishing up! After the last few things, we have nothing required of us on Friday, so it'll be time to start saying goodbyes to each other. It sounds as if Sully, Nate, and I will be staying locally and are going to try to stay at the Phuket Backpackers for a week or two while we get ourselves sorted.
I'll let you know if there's any major news. Otherwise, post again in a few days when I'll be certified to teach English! I hope those of you returning to MN in the next day or so all had a good trip!
For now I'll just update you on the course. Yesterday we took the 3 hour grammar and phonology exam. (3 hours = 75 minutes if you're me) I figure it went pretty darn well, and I'll find out in about 45 minutes here if I'm right. Assuming that I passed, I have only to finish building a game for the last teaching day as well as prepare my report on having tutored a Thai person. Basically, things here are finishing up! After the last few things, we have nothing required of us on Friday, so it'll be time to start saying goodbyes to each other. It sounds as if Sully, Nate, and I will be staying locally and are going to try to stay at the Phuket Backpackers for a week or two while we get ourselves sorted.
I'll let you know if there's any major news. Otherwise, post again in a few days when I'll be certified to teach English! I hope those of you returning to MN in the next day or so all had a good trip!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Border run!
It's Friday here already, which means 3 full weeks of class have gone by and only 1 week left! I taught 3 more lessons this week, and the final 2 went incredibly well. One of my teacher assessments actually said that "you have looked in your element over the past two lessons." I'm incredibly happy with the way things have gone throughout the course for me and yet again hope that a job will be soon forthcoming. I should have one more observed lesson next week, and then I'll share a 90 minute unobserved one on Thursday, the last day of the course. Things are going by so fast!
Despite the fact that it's Friday, there'll be no beach party for me this weekend. Nathan and I are headed south to Hat Yai for the evening before jumping across the border and back on Saturday. Our hope is to be back that night so that we can have as much of Sunday as possible to study for our 3 hour grammar and phonology exam on Monday! Hat Yai is thankfully a good clip west of where the bombings just took place yesterday. The south is in a bit of unrest, though actual violence is very sporatic. Cross your fingers that we'll have a safe trip! See you next week!
Despite the fact that it's Friday, there'll be no beach party for me this weekend. Nathan and I are headed south to Hat Yai for the evening before jumping across the border and back on Saturday. Our hope is to be back that night so that we can have as much of Sunday as possible to study for our 3 hour grammar and phonology exam on Monday! Hat Yai is thankfully a good clip west of where the bombings just took place yesterday. The south is in a bit of unrest, though actual violence is very sporatic. Cross your fingers that we'll have a safe trip! See you next week!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Goings on
Well, it looks like I'm going to have to just stick with current stories instead of trying to catch up with the ones I haven't posted yet! Life is busy here. Either we're in class, preparing a lesson, teaching, or studying. And if we're not doing one of those, we're most likely eating or at the pool or the beach.
I've now taught three 45 minute sessions, with another 3 likely this week. I'm excited to get them done, but nervous realizing how quickly the next two weeks are going to fly by. Already we've had to say goodbye to 3 of our classmates and we all know that the end of the course will come all to soon. On that same note, I plan on beginning to apply for teaching jobs this week, and if possible I think I will stay in Phuket, at least somewhere on the island. Job prevalence is pretty high, so cross your fingers and hopefully I can have it all worked out soon!
While I haven't gotten the chance as yet to tell the fun stories about Patong, this past Saturday a small group of us spent the day at a beach called Kata. I found it absolutely stunning. 
Oh, while I'm throwing up a few pictures; These here are displayed on the "large" setting on blogspot and I am only able to add them one at a time. I have started dumping photos on Facebook and I expect to find a photo sponsoring site sometime after I'm done with the course. I'll try to throw a few on here every now and again, but sadly some of you will have to be patient and wait a few weeks. Sorry!
Okay back to Kata. What an amazing day in an amazing place. A perfectly sunny day on a white sandy beach with new friends from around the world. Saturday was one of those days I could only have hoped for when I left home. It was only my third encounter with an ocean, having only been to San Diego once and having spent only a brief time actually on the beach in Patong, where the rip current was strong and swimming was frowned upon. We were lucky enough to hit a day in Kata where the waves just barely broke on their approach and we could spend hours out playing in them, regularly alternating with sunbathing and running around or playing in the sand. I'm currently quite the fan of the ocean and I hope that wherever I teach in Phuket, I can live somewhere near the beach so that I can run barefoot across the sand each morning. We'll have to cross our fingers for that as well.
Well, it once again approaches class time, but perhaps this week I'll have so much to do that I'll distract myself by writing again? Only time will tell! Hope you're all well back home!
Monday, August 11, 2008
Oh the places you'll go!
Hi everybody!
Sorry I haven't made a post since last week. As you might expect, things have been pretty busy around here. I only have a few minutes before class starts this morning, but I thought I would try to give a bit of an idea about what's been going on.
For starters, I taught my first observed lesson last Wednesday. Here at the school they offer free English lessons to the locals. This allows us, the trainees, the opportunity to practice our teaching while saving the students a bit of money. The class sizes here range from 1-14 on any given day, and are composed of people from all walks of life, ranging probably from about 17-60 years old. My first lesson went fairly well, considering I'd only been training for 3 days at the time. We don't find out if we're teaching that day until 1:30 PM or so, and you have to be ready by 4:00, so the first time I wasn't exactly as prepared as I would have liked. In any case, I'd consider it a success.
This past weekend most of us students met up over at Patong Beach, the most touristy and popular beach on the island. While the school is located in Phuket Town, which is on the southeastern side of Phuket, the nice beaches are all located on the west side, toward the open ocean. Patong itself is quite the adventure. Hopefully I'll get to write a long post just about the weekend. So many stories to tell.
Life is good here, especially now that I'm more accustomed to the area and know where to go most of the time. The heat isn't terribly bad, but if you do perhaps decide to pick up a game of basketball with some teenage Thai guys while wearing jeans... there's a good chance your body temperature won't come down for a day or two without a good swim. Not that I'd know.
I did end up dumping some random pictures on Facebook, since it's much easier to drop them there in quantity, but again, I'll try soon to add more here when applicable. I also changed the settings on comments so that you don't have to be registered to leave them. Sorry about that.
One final note for the moment. An add on to the food post, I've now tried deep fried chicken knuckles, which are precisely what you think. Diced up chicken feet battered and deep fried. They were actually very tasty, though I can't say gnawing on the knuckles was my favorite. What IS my favorite food out of anything here so far has to be deep fried bananas. While I can't say that any Thai meal I've encountered has actually been bad at all, deep fried bananas are an absolute treat.
Okay, time to run along, hope all is well at home! Go Phelps!
Sorry I haven't made a post since last week. As you might expect, things have been pretty busy around here. I only have a few minutes before class starts this morning, but I thought I would try to give a bit of an idea about what's been going on.
For starters, I taught my first observed lesson last Wednesday. Here at the school they offer free English lessons to the locals. This allows us, the trainees, the opportunity to practice our teaching while saving the students a bit of money. The class sizes here range from 1-14 on any given day, and are composed of people from all walks of life, ranging probably from about 17-60 years old. My first lesson went fairly well, considering I'd only been training for 3 days at the time. We don't find out if we're teaching that day until 1:30 PM or so, and you have to be ready by 4:00, so the first time I wasn't exactly as prepared as I would have liked. In any case, I'd consider it a success.
This past weekend most of us students met up over at Patong Beach, the most touristy and popular beach on the island. While the school is located in Phuket Town, which is on the southeastern side of Phuket, the nice beaches are all located on the west side, toward the open ocean. Patong itself is quite the adventure. Hopefully I'll get to write a long post just about the weekend. So many stories to tell.
Life is good here, especially now that I'm more accustomed to the area and know where to go most of the time. The heat isn't terribly bad, but if you do perhaps decide to pick up a game of basketball with some teenage Thai guys while wearing jeans... there's a good chance your body temperature won't come down for a day or two without a good swim. Not that I'd know.
I did end up dumping some random pictures on Facebook, since it's much easier to drop them there in quantity, but again, I'll try soon to add more here when applicable. I also changed the settings on comments so that you don't have to be registered to leave them. Sorry about that.
One final note for the moment. An add on to the food post, I've now tried deep fried chicken knuckles, which are precisely what you think. Diced up chicken feet battered and deep fried. They were actually very tasty, though I can't say gnawing on the knuckles was my favorite. What IS my favorite food out of anything here so far has to be deep fried bananas. While I can't say that any Thai meal I've encountered has actually been bad at all, deep fried bananas are an absolute treat.
Okay, time to run along, hope all is well at home! Go Phelps!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Mmm, food...
I know you've all been eagerly awaiting a report back on my experiences with Thai food. (Right? It's kept you up nights, I'm sure.) I do believe my first advice to anyone coming here is not to order anything American. It will scare you more than anything else you can order. For example, I'd have a better chance of guessing what is in a Dome Dog than figuring out what they made my cheeseburger with on Monday. And a ham and cheese, which I was looking forward to so much, turned out to be a single thin slice of ham, a touch of cheese... and three thick layers of grilled tomato on toast. Tasty maybe, but not entirely what I was going for.
I'll have you all know that I made it until Tuesday evening before any meal made me cry. It was a simple chicken curry dish that I was conquering quite well until about halfway through... after that not so much. It's quite a predicament to be in when you're hungry, the food is amazing, but your lips and tongue are on fire and you have tears running down your face. Julius was having a lovely time watching me squirm over and over before undoubtedly digging back in to try again. And again. And again. He was nice enough to give me an entire week to practice before he's going to go back and make me try the same dish again. What a pal.
I've also learned to be careful when ordering fish. It so happens that when you order fish, you're actually ordering a fish. It might be an incredibly tasty, filling, and appetizing fish, but certainly will be an entire fish, most likely cooked in some fashion and laid out unceremoniously on a plate, perhaps with some carrots for garnish. Mine was named Ed, I'm quite sure. He was delicious enough that I even dined on him without the barbecue sauce(i.e. liquid fire) that the waiter kindly brought for me.
In most restaurants nearby, you can get an entire heaping plate of fried rice and meat for about 40 Baht, which equates to roughly $1.25 USD. Pair that with a delightful fruit "shake" or Thai iced tea and most days we can have lunch for 75-100 Baht, or $2-3 USD. I'm continually amazed at the variety of beverages carried by most of the shops and restaurants around town. It's already a battle waged every day between ordering something you adore and trying out something new.
At this point I'd love to write on and on about the activities of the past few days, but I've got to get ready for another day of class. I did teach my first lesson yesterday, so I'm free today after 12:30! Whoo hoo! News on that later!
-Tom
I'll have you all know that I made it until Tuesday evening before any meal made me cry. It was a simple chicken curry dish that I was conquering quite well until about halfway through... after that not so much. It's quite a predicament to be in when you're hungry, the food is amazing, but your lips and tongue are on fire and you have tears running down your face. Julius was having a lovely time watching me squirm over and over before undoubtedly digging back in to try again. And again. And again. He was nice enough to give me an entire week to practice before he's going to go back and make me try the same dish again. What a pal.
I've also learned to be careful when ordering fish. It so happens that when you order fish, you're actually ordering a fish. It might be an incredibly tasty, filling, and appetizing fish, but certainly will be an entire fish, most likely cooked in some fashion and laid out unceremoniously on a plate, perhaps with some carrots for garnish. Mine was named Ed, I'm quite sure. He was delicious enough that I even dined on him without the barbecue sauce(i.e. liquid fire) that the waiter kindly brought for me.
In most restaurants nearby, you can get an entire heaping plate of fried rice and meat for about 40 Baht, which equates to roughly $1.25 USD. Pair that with a delightful fruit "shake" or Thai iced tea and most days we can have lunch for 75-100 Baht, or $2-3 USD. I'm continually amazed at the variety of beverages carried by most of the shops and restaurants around town. It's already a battle waged every day between ordering something you adore and trying out something new.
At this point I'd love to write on and on about the activities of the past few days, but I've got to get ready for another day of class. I did teach my first lesson yesterday, so I'm free today after 12:30! Whoo hoo! News on that later!
-Tom
Monday, August 4, 2008
The first day of classes...
... have been a lot of fun, albeit quite hot. I have to say that being in a very foreign country is a hell of a lot more fun when you have people to talk to. We start class each day at 9:30 AM and carry on with various breaks until 6:30 or 8:00 PM each day. As part of today's class, we got to sit in on a teaching session with Thai students and I have to say that it was an absolute blast. I am very much looking forward already to leading my own session, which I will begin on Wednesday or Thursday! When you only have a 4 week course, things get rolling quickly!
I was very suprised by the diversity of my class, as so far as I can remember there are only 3 Americans and a Canadian among us. The majority of the students are British, but we have some from other places like Bangladesh, Nigeria, India, and the Philippines. In truth, I have a hard enough time understanding the English I come across, let alone learning Thai! Speaking of English, it turns out that all of our textbooks for students revolve around British English, which means that beyond grammar, I actually do have to learn English again. It's a good thing I've had Chris Hurd around all these years!
I'd like to retract any previous statements concerning the heat here not being so bad. Today proved me wrong and necessitated a visit to the hotel to use their pool. I have no idea what the actual temperature was, but even after all of my walks in the sun this past weekend, today was the first day I would consider uncomfortable. Perhaps it had something to do with the power going out and 20 of us stuck in small room for a few hours... who knows.
I am currently drinking a bottle of green tea with pomegranate, which is delightful. I'm sure if it had a nutritional label it would probably compare well with Kool-Aid in value, but it sure beats water or coke.
I have pretty regular internet access as it turns out, and today I happened across the Twins website. Does anyone else find it particlarly ironic that we take over sole posession of first in the division on the VERY day that Liriano pitches? Let's hope there are some omens there!
Tonight the school buys us dinner and a "moderate" number of alcoholic beverages, so we're all eagerly awaiting the evening! Hope all of you back home are looking forward to your long week as much as I am!
-Tom
P.S. I'm about to have Julius Google map his home in Nigeria...
I was very suprised by the diversity of my class, as so far as I can remember there are only 3 Americans and a Canadian among us. The majority of the students are British, but we have some from other places like Bangladesh, Nigeria, India, and the Philippines. In truth, I have a hard enough time understanding the English I come across, let alone learning Thai! Speaking of English, it turns out that all of our textbooks for students revolve around British English, which means that beyond grammar, I actually do have to learn English again. It's a good thing I've had Chris Hurd around all these years!
I'd like to retract any previous statements concerning the heat here not being so bad. Today proved me wrong and necessitated a visit to the hotel to use their pool. I have no idea what the actual temperature was, but even after all of my walks in the sun this past weekend, today was the first day I would consider uncomfortable. Perhaps it had something to do with the power going out and 20 of us stuck in small room for a few hours... who knows.
I am currently drinking a bottle of green tea with pomegranate, which is delightful. I'm sure if it had a nutritional label it would probably compare well with Kool-Aid in value, but it sure beats water or coke.
I have pretty regular internet access as it turns out, and today I happened across the Twins website. Does anyone else find it particlarly ironic that we take over sole posession of first in the division on the VERY day that Liriano pitches? Let's hope there are some omens there!
Tonight the school buys us dinner and a "moderate" number of alcoholic beverages, so we're all eagerly awaiting the evening! Hope all of you back home are looking forward to your long week as much as I am!
-Tom
P.S. I'm about to have Julius Google map his home in Nigeria...
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The first weekend...
... brings with it the first surprise. Even though there are 18 of us in the course this month, I'm the only one so far that has opted to stay in a room above the school instead of a hotel room down the road. What that means, with the staff being gone for the weekend, is that I have the entire school to myself for my first weekend here. I don't know that any of the other students know that I'm here, and I haven't as yet run into them by wandering over to the hotel. SO, I've spent my first days in a foreign country on my own.
It hasn't been all bad, just slightly less adventuresome than I would have imagined the weekend with other people to hang out with. Every day so far I have gone for a few exploratory walks, simply picking a road and following it on foot for a while. It always makes for an interesting walk, since the sidewalks are about as random as one could expect, sometimes disappearing entirely. I think the hardest part about the strolls has been remembering to look the right way when crossing a street. It is kind of fun not to have to obey any traffic laws though, you just simply walk out into traffic whenever you need to cross and they all go around you!
It has rained on and off since about 8:00 last night and when it decides to rain here, the sky isn't usually joking around. One of the engineers upstairs has obviously developed the means to allow the maximum amount of water to fall at once without actually requiring anyone to swim. This morning it was quite nice out and so I walked all the way down the couple miles to the supermarket, picking up a few snacks and wandering around the mall. KFC here is an ice cream shop inside the supermarket, which I found amusing, though Mickey D's appeared to be fairly normal.
On my way home this time, it of course started raining while the sun was still shining, though fairly quickly it was cloudy and raining quite heavily. Having nowhere to be, I simply made sure my bag shut tight and whistled my way home in the rain. The problem with getting wet during the day in Thailand is that you can't really get dry. Certainly a towel can make you less wet, but it takes a good couple of hours in front of a fan to really actually feel dry again, even after a change of clothes.
As I sit here, the sun appears to be out again, so I think I'll wander over to the hotel again and see if I can run into anybody before lunch. Maybe then I'll at least have somebody to laugh at me when my nose starts running again...
It hasn't been all bad, just slightly less adventuresome than I would have imagined the weekend with other people to hang out with. Every day so far I have gone for a few exploratory walks, simply picking a road and following it on foot for a while. It always makes for an interesting walk, since the sidewalks are about as random as one could expect, sometimes disappearing entirely. I think the hardest part about the strolls has been remembering to look the right way when crossing a street. It is kind of fun not to have to obey any traffic laws though, you just simply walk out into traffic whenever you need to cross and they all go around you!
It has rained on and off since about 8:00 last night and when it decides to rain here, the sky isn't usually joking around. One of the engineers upstairs has obviously developed the means to allow the maximum amount of water to fall at once without actually requiring anyone to swim. This morning it was quite nice out and so I walked all the way down the couple miles to the supermarket, picking up a few snacks and wandering around the mall. KFC here is an ice cream shop inside the supermarket, which I found amusing, though Mickey D's appeared to be fairly normal.
On my way home this time, it of course started raining while the sun was still shining, though fairly quickly it was cloudy and raining quite heavily. Having nowhere to be, I simply made sure my bag shut tight and whistled my way home in the rain. The problem with getting wet during the day in Thailand is that you can't really get dry. Certainly a towel can make you less wet, but it takes a good couple of hours in front of a fan to really actually feel dry again, even after a change of clothes.
As I sit here, the sun appears to be out again, so I think I'll wander over to the hotel again and see if I can run into anybody before lunch. Maybe then I'll at least have somebody to laugh at me when my nose starts running again...
Thursday, July 31, 2008
I made it!
Whew! I've made it. Phuket, Thailand. From doorstep to doorstep, the trip took nearly 38 hours, including 5 trips through airport security (including 1 trip through customs, which was easiest). All in all, I have to say that the whole thing went amazingly well. Here's the rundown:
-As planned, I left Roseville, MN around 6:30 PM, said goodbye to two of my sisters and my nephew, and rode with my parents to the airport. Around 7:00, I hugged my parents goodbye as they wished me well on my adventure. Thus far, an adventure it has been.
-MSP Airport: With my head spinning a bit from the goodbyes, I did manage to get checked in and was happy to find that my bag would check all the way to Phuket without any further action from myself. Later on, it would dawn on me that that's a LONG way to go on its own. The flight took off as scheduled, and I found myself next to a gentleman headed home to visit his family in Malaysia. Amazingly, this meant that we would share flights all the way there. In good spirits, the 4 hours passed quickly and I found myself in Los Angelos.
-LAX: Okay, LAX sucks. I've never been there before, but despite the fact that everything is in English, the signage is awful. It was the ONE and only place during the whole trip that I had to stop and ask for directions, which says a lot considering the miles I had to cover. Immediately after exiting the plane, I was at a loss for direction. The “you are here” signs did little to help, as they weren't oriented correctly and nothing was labeled on them within the branch of the building I was in. After asking help from another gentleman, who turned out never to have been there before, and getting ignored by a woman on staff talking to her friends, I found somebody to help me. Turns out you have to follow the “baggage” signs because they mean “everything else.” In any case, I ended up having to go outside and walk 5 minutes to the international gates, which are absolutely a mess. There are 3 entrances and each one has signs outside with the names of airlines on them. The location of these names, however, has absolutely nothing to do with where the desks are located on the inside, leading to quite a bit more walking around in circles. After finally finding the Malaysia airline desks and switching lines after a few minutes, I found myself where I needed to be. Security was another issue. Here you have the choice of going all the way to either end of the building to clear security. I chose to go right, finding myself waiting in a group of people all jockeying for position, seeing as no queue was set up. After about 20 minutes of this, a staff member finally approached and suggested that some of us go all the way over to the other side to a shorter line. Okay, more walking. “Shorter line” was quite the understatement. The other side had exactly zero people waiting, and obviously hadn't for some time, as the staff was goofing around and was unprepared for the sudden mob of people. Luckily I managed to tear my laptop and quart sized transparent and resealable bags from my carry-ons (sorry for the inconvenience) quickly and made my way through the line. What a joke. I'm pretty sure I could have smuggled a large bomb under my hat. Hell, I could have made it run off of marijuana and double as a box cutter while I was at it. Oh well, at least it's just people leaving the country, right? Eventually, I made my way onto the 747 along with a slew of other people.
-MSP Airport: With my head spinning a bit from the goodbyes, I did manage to get checked in and was happy to find that my bag would check all the way to Phuket without any further action from myself. Later on, it would dawn on me that that's a LONG way to go on its own. The flight took off as scheduled, and I found myself next to a gentleman headed home to visit his family in Malaysia. Amazingly, this meant that we would share flights all the way there. In good spirits, the 4 hours passed quickly and I found myself in Los Angelos.
-LAX: Okay, LAX sucks. I've never been there before, but despite the fact that everything is in English, the signage is awful. It was the ONE and only place during the whole trip that I had to stop and ask for directions, which says a lot considering the miles I had to cover. Immediately after exiting the plane, I was at a loss for direction. The “you are here” signs did little to help, as they weren't oriented correctly and nothing was labeled on them within the branch of the building I was in. After asking help from another gentleman, who turned out never to have been there before, and getting ignored by a woman on staff talking to her friends, I found somebody to help me. Turns out you have to follow the “baggage” signs because they mean “everything else.” In any case, I ended up having to go outside and walk 5 minutes to the international gates, which are absolutely a mess. There are 3 entrances and each one has signs outside with the names of airlines on them. The location of these names, however, has absolutely nothing to do with where the desks are located on the inside, leading to quite a bit more walking around in circles. After finally finding the Malaysia airline desks and switching lines after a few minutes, I found myself where I needed to be. Security was another issue. Here you have the choice of going all the way to either end of the building to clear security. I chose to go right, finding myself waiting in a group of people all jockeying for position, seeing as no queue was set up. After about 20 minutes of this, a staff member finally approached and suggested that some of us go all the way over to the other side to a shorter line. Okay, more walking. “Shorter line” was quite the understatement. The other side had exactly zero people waiting, and obviously hadn't for some time, as the staff was goofing around and was unprepared for the sudden mob of people. Luckily I managed to tear my laptop and quart sized transparent and resealable bags from my carry-ons (sorry for the inconvenience) quickly and made my way through the line. What a joke. I'm pretty sure I could have smuggled a large bomb under my hat. Hell, I could have made it run off of marijuana and double as a box cutter while I was at it. Oh well, at least it's just people leaving the country, right? Eventually, I made my way onto the 747 along with a slew of other people.
-Next came the long leg of the trip. I believe it was somewhere between 13-15 hours from LAX to Taipei, Taiwan, though I'm not exactly certain. The odd thing about the flight was that we spent the entire thing in the dark, since we took off at 1:30 AM and landed somewhere around 6 AM, the sun was chasing us the whole way. This meant that they shut all the windows and just pretended what time it was. Evidently 4 AM is dinnertime. Food was all in all enjoyable on the airplanes, though I have to say that none of it survived very long in front of me. Once it was “night time” on the plane, I spent most of my time unable to sleep and instead watched movies and set all time records on some word scramble game(woot! Seat 52G baby!). Speaking of babies, I crossed the entire Pacific Ocean sitting next to an adorable toddler who never made a peep. Not once, the entire trip. He eventually became somewhat of a celebrity and spent the latter portion of his flight posing for pictures with other passengers. Finally, about 90 minutes before we reached Taiwan, the sun finally caught up with us and we got to see daylight. This put the entire cabin in good spirits as we set down in Taipei.
-Taipei, Taiwan: My first thought in Taiwan was how absolutely thick it was. Hopefully you can see in the pictures how water condensed on and ran down the windows. Nothing too much to see from the airport, just another security trip and more walking.-Although only about 3.5-4 hours, the next leg was one of the tougher ones. Turbulence hit as soon as the plates were set down in front of us, and didn't let up the entire way. Evidently we fought off the remnants of a recent typhoon the whole time. It was halfway through this leg of the trip my body finally gave into fatigue and I got about an hour of sleep. Bad idea. Waking shortly before landing in Kuala Lampur, the hour of sleep simply served to confuse my body even more and made for a very difficult layover.
-Kuala Lampur, Malaysia: Despite being incredibly fatigued (I was over 30 hours into the trip at this point), I will note that Kuala Lampur's international airport is very nice. The architecture is worth wandering around for (yeah, yeah, yeah, more walking, but it's easier when you're a zombie) and the whole place was very clean and spacious. I even got to hear an amusing “mosquito song” in which the chorus finished in a convincing “no aedes, no dengue.” Songs aside, all I really wanted was to sleep, so I found my gate, wrapped my bag straps around my feet and turned the zipper sides away from traffic and laid down. With 6 hours before my next flight, I figured I could get a couple solid stints of unconsciousness in. Wrong again. In Malaysia, whenever they need to make an announcement, they first play a short set of notes over the loudspeaker. Loudly. Perhaps just loud enough to awaken the sleepy passenger who necessitated the announcement in the first place. As you might imagine in a big international airport, announcements happen every few minutes, and are preceded every single time by the lovely jingle. Like some form of horrible torture this meant that I spend the entire time falling asleep and being jolted awake again and again and again. By the time my flight arrived, I was quite eager to move forward; anything that made a bed arrive faster.
-My last flight got off the ground around 15 minutes late, the first time all trip I'd been delayed. The 75 minute international trip was amusing, as the airport was still in sight when the seatbelt sign went off, and a meal was served with the plane tilted at a ridiculous angle. There are some perks to flying internationally though, and I was happy for the food. For the first time all trip, I got a window seat and actually had something to look at. Flying over the various islands was quite a sight and I wish it would have been a little less hazy so I might have taken some pictures out the window.
-Taipei, Taiwan: My first thought in Taiwan was how absolutely thick it was. Hopefully you can see in the pictures how water condensed on and ran down the windows. Nothing too much to see from the airport, just another security trip and more walking.-Although only about 3.5-4 hours, the next leg was one of the tougher ones. Turbulence hit as soon as the plates were set down in front of us, and didn't let up the entire way. Evidently we fought off the remnants of a recent typhoon the whole time. It was halfway through this leg of the trip my body finally gave into fatigue and I got about an hour of sleep. Bad idea. Waking shortly before landing in Kuala Lampur, the hour of sleep simply served to confuse my body even more and made for a very difficult layover.
-Kuala Lampur, Malaysia: Despite being incredibly fatigued (I was over 30 hours into the trip at this point), I will note that Kuala Lampur's international airport is very nice. The architecture is worth wandering around for (yeah, yeah, yeah, more walking, but it's easier when you're a zombie) and the whole place was very clean and spacious. I even got to hear an amusing “mosquito song” in which the chorus finished in a convincing “no aedes, no dengue.” Songs aside, all I really wanted was to sleep, so I found my gate, wrapped my bag straps around my feet and turned the zipper sides away from traffic and laid down. With 6 hours before my next flight, I figured I could get a couple solid stints of unconsciousness in. Wrong again. In Malaysia, whenever they need to make an announcement, they first play a short set of notes over the loudspeaker. Loudly. Perhaps just loud enough to awaken the sleepy passenger who necessitated the announcement in the first place. As you might imagine in a big international airport, announcements happen every few minutes, and are preceded every single time by the lovely jingle. Like some form of horrible torture this meant that I spend the entire time falling asleep and being jolted awake again and again and again. By the time my flight arrived, I was quite eager to move forward; anything that made a bed arrive faster.
-My last flight got off the ground around 15 minutes late, the first time all trip I'd been delayed. The 75 minute international trip was amusing, as the airport was still in sight when the seatbelt sign went off, and a meal was served with the plane tilted at a ridiculous angle. There are some perks to flying internationally though, and I was happy for the food. For the first time all trip, I got a window seat and actually had something to look at. Flying over the various islands was quite a sight and I wish it would have been a little less hazy so I might have taken some pictures out the window.
-Phuket, Thailand: Finally, I arrived. Probably the brightest moment of the trip was seeing my checked bag come around on the conveyor. You couldn't have wiped that smile off of my face for anything. 2 airlines, 3 layovers, 3 planes, and 11000 miles later, my bag arrived when I did and didn't appear to be half as tired as I was. Any worries I had about customs were soon gone and I probably spent less than 10 minutes total in the airport. In retrospect, I should have spent a few more minutes in order to exchange some currency, but I was running late and wanted to make sure my ride was still waiting for me. Which it was. Surely the ride to the school was something to remember, even if I wasn't totally with it. Road travel in Thailand is quite horrendous, though typically fairly functional. While my current record for most people seen on a motorbike is 4, (one man driving and a lady with a toddler in each arm on the back) I've been told to expect that to rise. We did happen to pass an accident along the way (“a rare occurence” I'm told), which provided me with a front row view of a very very broken leg. Not so good. The police vehicles were somewhat amusing though, and without a picture I can only describe them as highly resembling the original Ghost Busters car. The school is near two hospitals, so we were pushed along handily the rest of the way by a Thai ambulance, sirens blaring.
In any case, I am here and have a full night's sleep under my belt. Now it's time for me to go find some people and make plans for the day!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
11:26 AM, July 29, 2008...
Which means that 10 hours from now, I ought to be sitting on an airplane, mere minutes into a nearly 34 hour itinerary bringing me finally to rest in Phuket, Thailand. Since they're 12 hours ahead, does this mean that if I'd started there I'd already be flying? I'm not sure.
I've never blogged before, but I am excited to have a central site for displaying pictures and writing notes about my trip. Hopefully it will be entertaining enough for you all. I encourage any of you to comment/respond to my posts. I think it will be much more enjoyable if this is an interactive deal. Extra points for the first person to identify the band referenced in both the url and title of this blog... it shouldn't be too hard.
At the moment, a lot of details about the future of my trip are quite open-ended, so I'll start by sharing what I do know:
-I leave today, July 29, 2008
-I begin a four week, 160 hour certification course beginning on Monday, August 4, after which I will be certified to teach in any non-native English speaking country in the world.
-I begin applying for jobs, with the help of the school, around the third or fourth week of August.
-No, I'm not married yet. (I hear that the final tally at the bar on Friday was "everybody - 2" in favor of.) Of course, I'm not even THERE yet now am I...
I suppose that about now I should be prying myself away from the computer again to finish up the last few things before I leave, but if you've read this far I thank you for tuning in, and I hope to have many stories to share with you in the near future! Thank you ALL for your support!
-Tom
I've never blogged before, but I am excited to have a central site for displaying pictures and writing notes about my trip. Hopefully it will be entertaining enough for you all. I encourage any of you to comment/respond to my posts. I think it will be much more enjoyable if this is an interactive deal. Extra points for the first person to identify the band referenced in both the url and title of this blog... it shouldn't be too hard.
At the moment, a lot of details about the future of my trip are quite open-ended, so I'll start by sharing what I do know:
-I leave today, July 29, 2008
-I begin a four week, 160 hour certification course beginning on Monday, August 4, after which I will be certified to teach in any non-native English speaking country in the world.
-I begin applying for jobs, with the help of the school, around the third or fourth week of August.
-No, I'm not married yet. (I hear that the final tally at the bar on Friday was "everybody - 2" in favor of.) Of course, I'm not even THERE yet now am I...
I suppose that about now I should be prying myself away from the computer again to finish up the last few things before I leave, but if you've read this far I thank you for tuning in, and I hope to have many stories to share with you in the near future! Thank you ALL for your support!
-Tom
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