Mopeds, Tuk-Tuks, and Elephants

After a long weekend of travelling, I’ve decided to quick reflect on the array of transportation Thailand has to offer. I may or may not have already made it clear that in Thailand it’s not uncommon to take many different modes of transportation during your travels. Thailand’s modes of transportation include the following: mopeds, tuk-tuks, song-tows, buses, subways, taxis, vans, ferries, long boats and yes, elephants. Don’t get me wrong, I cannot wait to drive my Mazda and blast my music; but part of me is going to miss all these crazy modes of transportation in Thailand. I’ll miss riding in a tuk-tuk for the fact that we were able to fit 9 people in one Halloween night and they are just down-right awesome!

I’m going to miss riding on the back of a moped because the ride is so thrilling and you get a great thigh workout from holding your legs up when you ride side saddle with three people.

Who would have ever thought sitting in the back of a pick-up truck aka song-tow would be so fun and exhilarating, especially while being chased by wild elephants in Khao Yai National Park.

No tour bus ride will be able to beat the post-Chinese New Year dance party celebration Katie and I had with our Thai students, loud music, and disco balls. I also will probably miss all the surprise Thai goodies and snacks the bus companies provide. However, I won’t miss having to worry about “Kevin” aka my notebook jumping out of my arms and out the door of the Suphanburi – Ayuttaya bus.

 I’ll miss the random conversations and smiles you get when you hop in a taxi in Bangkok, but I won’t miss the time that is wasted getting through Bangkok’s awful traffic.

Even though the van drivers from Democracy Monument get Katie and I back to Soongsumarn rapidly despite Bangkok’s traffic, I definitely WON’T be missing those “oh god, how did we not just get in an accident” moments.

Despite having to take 3 or 4 of these different modes of transportation in order get on a a ferry to one of Thailand’s beautiful islands, I will definitely miss the view of the sparkling Gulf of Thailand and green mountainous islands that is seen from a ferry ride.

 I think what I’ll miss most about ways to get around this unique country is the elephants :)

There’s just something about driving down a busy road in Suphan looking out the window and seeing a man riding on an elephant amongst cars, buses, mopeds, and tuk-tuks that makes me recall “this is Thailand” and I realize how different Thailand is compared to the U.S. I definitely won’t be seeing an elephant walking down the streets in America.

My Valentine's Day Surprise

I was flabbergasted when I saw a vase of a dozen huge, gorgeous red roses headed towards my desk Valentine ’s Day morning. I had the biggest smile on my face. I have never been so flattered receiving such a wonderful surprise Valentine’s gift J

The classrooms were filled with single roses, candy, stickers, and chocolate. Love was in the air. All the students were yelling, “Happy Valentine Day”. They don’t pronounce the “s”, but it’s adorable.

It’s clear people in Thailand love stickers. Facebook quote from Katie, “I gave my kids their oral final and when they were done they bedazzled my already pink polo in stickers. One of which Chelsea just pointed out says, "kiss me." I also was “bedazzled” during my afternoon classes of M5’s. Our shirts were sparkling from all the glittery, heart stickers.  To make my day even better, between my classes I caught my co-teacher, Somnuk, taking her afternoon siesta. The best part about this is the fact that she pops open her lawn chair in the back of the department in order to take her nap! I love it!

During my last class of the day, my students had heard about my roses and wanted to see how big and beautiful they were. I told them after class we would go to take a look. Since I’ve already finished testing this class, the hour was spent talking about boyfriends, crushes, and music and taking pictures. It was hilarious! As some of the girls were looking through my pictures on my camera, they came across a picture of Aon, the English Department’s T.A., from English camp and started “Oohing and ahhhing” to one of the girls. I think somebody may have a crush! She just smiled and denied it. After the girls came up to the department to see the roses and as they were walking out the door, who better to walk in but Aon! Talk about perfect timing. I begin laughing hysterically and can’t help myself but start to “ooh and ahh” along with the girls. Aon began laughing along as well, but had no idea what was going on! The girls whisper from the door to me at my desk, “Teacher be quiet. No speak. No speak.” as they are doing the action of zipping their mouths shut. It was cute! I, of course, would never share such a secret.  

So even though I’m thousands of miles away from people I love back home in the U.S., I still felt the love here in Bangplama! Happy Valentine’s Day!! <3

Last weekend-hurrah in Bangplama

So as I wrap up my last weekend in Bangplama of doing pretty much nothing and as I lie on my bed, I think gee I may actually miss this place. Katie and I reminisced tonight about our first days here and how those few days seemed like eternity. If I think about where I was a year ago, I would have never thought I would be living the way I am living here in Thailand, in the middle of rice fields with no air conditioning, no hot water and at times barely running water at all, and no western toilet.  Those things we were so perturbed by in the beginning have now become part of my daily routine here in Thailand and don’t faze me anymore. I have become accustomed to it all; I wonder now how it will feel to go back home where everything is going to be so different than what I’m used to.  I think about how nice it will be able to throw my clothes in an actual washing machine and dryer, how fluffy and soft my bed and pillows will feel, how convenient it will be to just hop in my car and drive to Festival Foods or Target, and how refreshing a warm, constant flow of water will feel in the shower. For as much as I am excited to get back to these simple pleasures of life in America, I am sad to know my time in Thailand is coming to an end.  

Teach in Thailand will come to an end February 25^th, which will then begin more fun and exciting travel adventures for 3 and ½ weeks! I’m going to miss those little buggers of mine…  

Packer Fans all over the World

The Monday I found out the Packers were going to the Super Bowl, I explained to my co-teachers I wouldn’t be able to teach on February 7^th.  I tried to explain how important this game was to me and everyone in Green Bay, but I could tell my teachers were just being nice and pretended to understand. All they needed to see was the excitement in my eyes and enthusiasm in my voice and they were convinced whatever this thing was that I was doing was very important to me and that I had to have the day off. Even though I may have been able to come back to teach in the afternoon, whichever outcome the game could have led to would have called for either an entire day of sulking or in our case, CELEBRATION!!! The nights leading up to the Super Bowl had been rough sleeping wise. I either couldn’t fall asleep because of the anticipation or I was having dreams about being at the Super Bowl. I went in to Bangkok Sunday morning, did some shopping, and watched movies all night as I anxiously awaited Monday morning. I had to represent and wear the NFC Championship t-shirt Dylan sent to me. That drew some unexpected attention, being that I’m across the world living in a country where most people have no idea what the NFL is. I ran in to about a dozen other Packer fans throughout the day, majority of which all were also wearing some type of Packer’s gear. It was great! I actually began to feel like this is real. We are actually playing in the Super Bowl! After shopping at the weekend market, I was suddenly stopped by a very familiar sound; the sound of a true Packer fan with the “U.P.” accent. “Go Pack”, the guy says as he’s sitting on the corner with his girlfriend and friend drinking a beer. For a minute there, I thought I was back in Green Bay tailgating for the big game. I found out they would be watching the game at the Sports Corner Bar where I planned on going as well. I was happy to find out I wouldn’t be the only one cheering on the Pack come 6:30 a.m. on Monday. I woke up at 4 a.m. and was the first one at the bar, bright and early at 5. The people I met the day before rolled in shortly after me. Eventually, the entire bar was packed. The side of the bar I was on contained mostly Packer’s fans. Although, there may have been Steeler’s fans, but they didn’t do a good job making their presence known. I met a couple originally from Illinois, Bear’s fans actually, who have been working and living abroad for the past 17 years. They have a grandson who lives in Green Bay and because of that were cheering for the Pack! I give them a lot of credit being Bear’s fans and all. I also met a guy from Mexico City who has been a die-hard Packer fan all his life. Becca and Patrick, the couple I met Sunday, are from Madison and are students now in Bangkok. They made it home over Christmas and luckily were able to bring back some Packer gear including two huge beer mugs. I had my A-rod jersey on! Thanks to mom! Although the team kept me on my toes, kept my heart racing, and practically ripped my hair out at times, especially after half-time, it was a great game to watch! But nothing was more exciting than those last two minutes of the game. I was sooooo excited!! We did it!! THE GREEN BAY PACKER’S HAVE WON SUPER BOWL 45!!!

It was a moment that I will never forget!! I couldn’t be happier. I have never wanted to be home in Green Bay more in my life. The town, I knew, was going crazy! I quickly called Jaci, Jacqueline, and mom and dad to share in the special moment and find out. Finding out their were fireworks being shot off in the dead of winter in Wisconsin just screams exhilaration by Packer fans!! I was so happy to hear that! I celebrated the amazing Packer victory throughout the rest of the morning and in to the afternoon with some fellow fans! It was a blast!! I’ll never forget where I was for the Packer’s Super Bowl 45 victory celebration. Not everyone may know where Green Bay is on the map, or even Wisconsin for that matter, but they should know by now who the Green Bay Packers are!!

February 2^nd began the Chinese New Year festivities. Gan took Katie and I to a local University where the Chinese department put on an evening of different performances in order to celebrate. The performances were Chinese songs and dances performed by Thai students studying Chinese. There was one performance, however, that was sung in English. A Chinese student performed a guitar solo mixing three popular American songs. It was very well done! Before dinner, I was startled by the extremely loud noise of Black Cat fireworks. I’ve never seen this type of firework before. It was a tall strand of fireworks that just gave off hundreds of very loud, “BANG’s” and every so often, after we thought they were all done, one would go off again. It seemed like the Chinese like to celebrate and ring in their New Year with very loud noises! Later in the week on Friday, the director of finance of our school waves Katie and I over and hands us some pretty “hot” looking green, long sleeved t-shirts with a dragon on it. When I say hot, I really mean temperature hot. It was another awfully warm day in Bangplama, and the last thing I really wanted to wear was a dark colored long sleeved shirt…..but I did.  Katie, Gan and I joined a bus load of M3 students to Suphanburi’s much more elaborate Chinese New Year festival held at the Dragon. Katie and I ended up being the only other “teachers” that wore the green shirt. We matched all 100 of our students. Oh yeah, and the camera guy aka Katie’s biffle. The crowd at the festival was a sea of color. Each school that attended was wearing a different colored shirt. In the beginning, the festival was a little boring, more so just hard to understand what was going on since it was spoken in Chinese and Thai but the firework displays were incredible, like they always seem to be in Thailand, along with the variety of performances.

Towards the end of the ceremony things began to really liven up! A very popular band in Thailand performed and the crowd went wild! I turned around and see one of the teachers and camera guy dancing with all the students. I’ve definitely heard this music out at the bars a few times, especially at the Cowboy Bar in Suphan and at the bar I visited in Chiang Mai on my birthday. I also hear my students singing it down the halls and in the classroom. It’s everywhere. If only I could pronounce their name. The hand symbol that they use is identical to the Texas Longhorn symbol. Our school, hands down, wins for most energetic and fun! Katie, Gan, and I started to dance around with the students and a few of the other teachers. It was a blast! I believe we may have even made it on T.V. again in Suphan. I know for sure we were on the jumbo-tron a few times. The dance party didn’t stop there either. After piling back on the bus, it became the dance party bus! As soon as the driver blared the music, the students jumped up and started breaking it down in the aisles of the bus. I was pretty jealous. I remember those days. This bus even had flashing lights on the ceilings. People driving next to us may have mistaken the bus for a night club. The students were lovin’ it! The bus driver was quick to turn off the flashy lights and turn down the music as we pulled back in to school though.

Time to settle things down now kids, fun’s over! English Camp bright and early in the A.M.! Unfortunately, our Friday night dance party ended early since we had to be on the road for English and Chinese camp by 6:30 a.m the next day. I had a very optimistic attitude about camp and was pretty excited about it and then I found out we’d be singing. I must forewarn you, do not try singing this song at home. It will be stuck in your head for hours on end, possibly even days. “Oh English Camp! Oh Chinese Camp! Oh English Camp makes me happy. We enjoy being together. Oh Chinese Camp makes me happy!” to the beat of “When the Saints go Marching In”. Thankfully, it didn’t go over very well with the students so we didn’t have to sing many verses. I felt like one of those crazy camp leaders who are “high on life” singing to them. I can confirm being a camp leader for students is not for me. After we got the awkward ice breakers over with, we were able to do the human knot which was really fun. We broke the students in to groups of about 6 or 8, and watched as they mangled themselves together and then strategically tried to untangle the knot that was made. The students had a lot of fun with that! Before lunch was station time, where each group rotated from one to the other. The goal of each station was to incorporate English or Chinese in a fun, interactive activity.  I think it all went pretty well. The students seemed to enjoy themselves! After lunch, we went to the aquarium which was near the zoo/garden where the camp was held. While observing all the beautiful and colorful fish, it was photo-opp time! All the students had their camera phones out and were snapping pictures with Katie, Liz, and I left and right. Of course the peace sign made it in about every single photo that was taken. J

Somnuk and Lun, our van driver, took all the “volunteer” teachers to dinner on the way back to school. Dinner was delicious! “Bee gai yak sai” was the hit of the table. It’s a fried chicken wing stuffed with pork and vegetables. It is sooooo tasty! Katie was having fun practicing pronouncing it correctly. Bee gai yak sai me mai na ka? Which translates in to something like, “Do you have bee gai yak sai my friend?” On our way out we met a Thai teacher from Bangkok who actually has a child who is studying in Wisconsin. We asked whereabouts his child was studying in the U.S., and when he said, “Wisconsin”, I threw my hands up in the air and shrieked, “Yay! I’m from there! Where about?” He wasn’t sure exactly where, but I would assume Madison. I got so excited that someone actually knew Wisconsin and had a connection there. I had to stop myself from asking him if he knew about the Packers being in the Super Bowl, since that was all that was on my mind a day before the game! On our way back from dinner, Lun had to slam on his breaks to avoid a collision with some anorexic cattle that were crossing the street. That was a close call...kinda scary actually. I think the van ride from the aquarium back to school was about 2 or 3 hours, and honestly I don’t know if Lun took a breath from speaking to Somnuk the entire time. He had so much to laugh and talk about. It was hilarious! And what was even more entertaining was the sound of his actual laugh. I’m so upset I couldn’t capture it on video. I just wonder what he could have been talking about for that long none stop. If only I knew Thai…

Kanchanaburi

So this past weekend I gave the monkeys at Erawan Waterfalls a second chance. I didn’t just go to see if they were going to be a little bit nicer. Instead, some of the girls who I haven’t seen since Christmas hadn’t seen the waterfalls yet so I decided to head to Kanchanaburi with them. Liz and I took the rinky-dink Suphanburi bus to Kanchanaburi Friday after school. The one positive thing to taking this route was seeing the gorgeous sunset over the mountains. It’s hard to describe the beauty of the sunsets I’ve seen in Thailand. There’s something about the colors in the sky and of the sun that match perfectly with the bright green grass and trees that make it more unique than any other sunset I have seen. Words really don’t do it justice though.

We met the other girls at our hostel and had a delicious dinner. We laid low Friday night to be able to catch the bus bright and early to Erawan.  Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones who had the idea of catching the early bus. It was packed. All 7 of us ended up having to stand on another rinky-dink bus for almost an hour and a half bus ride. When we arrived to the waterfalls, we decided we would power up to the 7^th tier and take our time on the way down to swim. As we began our hike and were admiring the 1st tier of falls, sure enough those darn monkeys slyly approach me from behind. Good thing Liz was there to warn me. I don’t get it! I had nothing in my hands that the monkey would have wanted, especially food, but maybe my camera?! Idk…either way they freak me out. Thank goodness there weren’t any other hissing monkey encounters like there with my mom and brother.

After three hours of hiking and swimming, we made our way back to the hostel and enjoyed a Thai massage. A man riding on a moped with a baby strapped to his chest in one of those baby carrier things stopped to say hello to the massage ladies. The baby was adorable! The dad was definitely not Thai, but the massage ladies told us that the baby’s mommy was. However, she died two months ago in a car accident. What a sad story L The rest of the evening was a lot of fun! I had a really good curry with tofu and vegetables for dinner.  We played some fun drinking games back at the hostel on our porch and ended up playing pool and dancing the rest of the night. Being extremely pumped for Super Bowl 45, I wanted to be sure everyone knew who the Packers were and what game they were playing in come Sunday, February 6^th. Unfortunately, majority of the people I was telling didn’t seem to care nearly as much as I do. Sometime during the night, some Thai woman got pretty upset with me. I could tell she was giving me bad looks and talking smack, but I didn’t really understand why. Liz explained to me that apparently, on accident, I bumped her cue stick as she was trying to shoot. Then, I mistakenly decided to join in on her game, but I wasn’t down for playing fair and decided I could move the white ball whenever I wanted. She clearly wasn’t in the mood for any fun and games. Oops…oh well! Good thing I’ll never have to see her again. The next morning, Jenna and Liz woke up spooning each other in one of the small twin beds, both claiming they didn’t know how it happened. Ha-ha! We were able to sleep in Sunday morning and enjoyed a late breakfast before we parted different ways. It was a really fun weekend!    

Today at school, I found out we will only be teaching for another four weeks. I cannot believe time has gone so fast. It seems like just yesterday, I was arriving to Bang Plama and playing ice – breaker activities with my students. Now, I’m already planning their finals. It also seems a little strange that the semester can already be almost over. I don’t feel like I’ve taught much during the second part of the semester; maybe just because last week my students seemed to be more of a challenge than usual, almost like it was the beginning of the semester again. Last Thursday morning, the day I teach all M2’s, started off horrible. As soon as I stepped away from the board and tried conducting a speaking activity for the students, they went nuts. It’s like it’s a free for all when my co-teacher is not in the room; an opportunity for them to run around the classroom while hitting each other in the butt or the head along with screaming and singing at the top of their lungs. The classroom was unmanageable. I couldn’t just laugh it off this time. I left the class feeling very down and disheartened and that my efforts teaching here are a complete waste of time when students act like they did in that class. It is pretty much impossible for me to control the naughty students and still have time to teach the studious ones. Needless to say, I became very frustrated, very fast. I was not looking forward to the rest of the day… thankfully it did become a little better. My disheartened feelings didn’t really go away until the next day when I taught with my M2 co-teacher, Ajarn Napasorn. She asked me when I would be leaving Thailand and said she hoped that I would stay and that she enjoys having me teach here. It was the first time I had gotten any type of feedback on my teaching. It made me feel like my time teaching here has made an impact on my students and their learning. It’s just hard to know the real impact I have had so far when no one evaluates my teaching abilities. Finally, after receiving the comment from Ajarn Napasorn, it gave me a little better idea of how I am doing; but I feel I would benefit more from receiving advice towards the beginning of the semester instead of towards the end. Oh well, some advice and/or comments is better than none at all….Mai pen rai!

So to celebrate my birthday I knew I wanted to do something fun and exciting; but I never imagined I would have a week off of teaching and be able to head north to the wonderful city of Chiang Mai. As soon as Katie and I heard we had some days off, we didn’t hesitate to plan our trip. We took an overnight bus from Bangkok Monday night and arrived in Chiang Mai Tuesday morning. The seats on the bus were high class; very comparable to first class seats on an airplane. We even had our own T.V. screen in front of us to watch movies of our choice. We were quite tired when we arrived bright and early to Chiang Mai. We checked in to our hostel and decided to explore the town and walk around. I was told by some fellow teachers and read in the guide books that one of the Northern food specialties called khao soy is a must try! So the first place we went I ordered it; unfortunately, I was a little disappointed. As we walked, we found a great food market and a market with hysterical T-shirts. I gave in and bought myself a, “Same Same. But Different” one.  One of our stops was for a Thai massage. It was amazing! I never knew my body could move in the ways my missus moved it. Even though there were some times of discomfort and awkwardness, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so relaxed after the massage was complete. We stopped at a Mexican Restaurant for lunch and had a yummy burrito. I really didn’t miss the food I would usually be eating at home until I had that burrito. It was delicious! Later at night, we met up with Kelsey, the only teacher who was placed in Chiang Mai that went through the CIEE program. We went to dinner and did some mad bargaining at the Night Bazaar. They had some really unique stuff. I didn’t go too crazy buying wise but I did catch on to not even ask how much anything was unless you were certain you wanted to buy it. The vendors seemed rather desperate. Each time I would ask how much things were, they were rather fast to drop the price and work a deal. It got to be overwhelming though, because there were so many things to choose from. We stopped at McDonalds for a pre-birthday treat before heading back to the hostel. I’ve noticed the McDonalds in Thailand are much nicer than those in the U.S. The McCafe was its own separate counter from the regular food items. They even have a glass case filled with baked delicacies.  Oh and they even sell batteries at this Mickey D’s! haha

I woke up a little early on my birthday to receive my birthday Skype wishes from my family and headed off to the Jungle for zip lining! The guide who picked us up at the hostel fell instantly in love with Katie. It was adorable! She didn’t realize it probably till later on that night though. Little did we know that he would be driving us around to see all of Chiang Mai for the rest of the time we were there. The drive to Jungle Flight got to be rather exhilarating. There were a lot of steep hills and narrow streets through the mountain. It was a very beautiful drive. We finally made it to our zip-lining destination. We geared up and were off in to the jungle. Although I’ve been zip-lining before in Costa Rica, I forgot what to expect and was a little nervous the first few times. I also didn’t remember the height of the platforms being as high as they were in Chiang Mai. My fear of heights was kicking in for the beginning but as we went I got better. Katie and I were paired with a brother and sister from Canada and our two jungle guides. It was a fun group. The zip lining adventure included one very narrow, curvy staircase down a tree, wooden bridges, and zip lines that dropped you vertically downwards. One of the times, I could have sworn the guides were yelling, “break, break” which means to use the “monkey stick” to slow yourself down on the zip line. Well I must have been hearing things. I broke too soon and ended up not making it to the next platform. I zipped all the way back to the middle of the line. Mind you this line was probably the highest from the ground. It was extremely frightening. The guide came to my rescue and pulled us back to platform safety. The name of this blog post comes from all the “Oh my God” screaming us farang were doing while we zip lined. Every time we would yell, “oh my God!” the guides would correct us to say, “oh my Buddha!”   Later, towards the end of our adventure, I was surprised with a birthday present on one of the platforms. One of our guides zip lined across to the platform I was standing on and sang Happy Birthday while holding a very “natural” present. It was bananas and a muffin wrapped in banana leaves. The whole act was very thoughtful. Most creative birthday gift I’ve ever been given!  After our zip lining adventure was over, we had a very good lunch. So far it was turning out to be a great birthday! After my birthday burrito for dinner, Katie bought me a mini cake and a birthday candle that said, “Happy Birthday” in Thai to help begin the night’s festivities. It was a very fun night! We began pre-gaming with music and cards. Next, came the candle, cake and more Thai food and we ended the night at a Thai, cowboy bar dancing the night away with a bunch of locals. Oh yeah, can’t forget about the blow horns Katie brought with to help us celebrate! It was a great birthday!! The next morning we were supposed to do a full day cooking class, well let’s just say we had a little too much fun. Unfortunately, what we thought was a really bad hangover turned in to us truly being sick. Katie and I both came down with bad cases of the cold…bad coughing and stuffiness in the head. It was not fun. We laid around all day Thursday and finally ventured out at night. John, Katie’s Thai “boy” friend was very kind to invite us to a Traditional Thai Dance and Dinner show. It was packed with farang. The food was pretty good, unfortunately Katie and I couldn’t enjoy the night as much as we would have liked to since we were both not feeling well and Friday morning we were due to “fly” bright and early. We figured we would go “all out” while we were here in Chiang Mai. You only live once right? We noticed one of our roommates at the hostel had a flyer for Chiang Mai Sky Adventures.

We decided we had to do it! I went up in the air first. Whatever we flew up in was an open aired hang glider plane thing with an engine. All that was needed to fly was a helmet and a jacket. I sat close behind the pilot and was able to converse with him throughout the flight; our helmets had microphones in them. I was so surprised because not for one second was I nervous or scared; not even during takeoff or landing. We flew pretty high above Thailand’s beautiful paddy fields and countryside. Some interesting sites I saw was a Chinese cemetery, a school where morning assembly was taking place so I was able to see all the students, and the Mae Kueng dam. There was an island shaped like a turtle near the dam that the pilot referred to as “Turtle Island”. 

 I flew for a half hour. It was a great experience! I was happy when it was time to make our landing, it got pretty cold fast up in the air. We landed smoothly on to the runway, unlike Katie. The first time they were supposed to land they didn’t. I was right next to the runway with her Nikon waiting to snap pictures but they didn’t land, instead they flew past, circled around, and tried a second time. Well they landed the second time around. I didn’t really think anything of it when they weren’t slowing down on the ground like they probably should have been, I was too busy snapping pictures. All of a sudden I look up and realize they’re headed for the bushes and trees not stopping! I think the height of the bushes helped their stop. Talk about an almost crash landing ha-ha, that will make for a good video! Katie said the pilot told her he was having a little problem with the breaks as they tried landing the first time, that’s why they had to make a loop around and didn’t land the first time. Luckily, everything was fine and they were ok! They gave us a certificate in addition to the in-flight video we purchased. Written on the certificate is the following: “The holder of this certificate has demonstrated exceptional courage and has joined an elite group of thrill seekers dedicated to living life to its fullest. You must treat them with the utmost respect.”  After flying we were pretty pooped and still didn’t feel good. We relaxed all day until John took us to Doi Suthep. It was quite the hike up a long flight of stairs to get to visit the Temple. It was very beautiful though! Just very tiring considering I wasn’t feeling the greatest. We lit candles and incense and placed them in front of the Buddha. It was nice to do so, but I still felt a little awkward at the same time not knowing what exactly to do and what was considered most respectful. I just went with it though. After visiting the Temple, John took us to a Deaf School in Chiang Mai where he used to teach at and still has a few teacher friends who work there. This was probably the most interesting and unique thing that I’ve done in Chiang Mai. There were a group of boys there to greet us and sign to us hello. Katie and I decided the boys were asking John if Katie was his girlfriend. They kept signing, “Beautiful” and seemed to be asking him questions that John got all “smiley” from and would shake his head no. The school reminded me of a University. Many of the children spent the night at the school in what reminded me a lot of dorm style living at college, except there was one large room for all the children. They were absolutely adorable! I had a connection with one little boy. They were cutting out animal vocabulary words and I was trying to sign some of the animals to the boy. He ended up teaching me more than I could really even teach myself. It was so cute! I asked if I could take him home with me. I had John ask him, and the little boy shook his head and replied I want to stay here. After being at the Deaf School, I had this moment where I thought to myself how cool sign language really is. It seems to be one of the only, true Universal languages. No matter what spoken language you may speak, sign language for the most part, is very similar Worldwide. I wish I knew how to communicate using sign. We went out to dinner to a very local Thai place with John and some of his friends. Grossest thing ever was when John opened a container of live shrimp. They were jumping all over the place and he just popped some right in to his mouth…. I wasn’t going to be adventurous that way. I have to draw the line somewhere…

Saturday was our last day in Chiang Mai and we really didn’t feel any better unfortunately. We were able to find enough energy to visit the Tiger Kingdom where we were able to hold and play with baby tigers and a few big ones too. It was amazing! The only time I was nervous was when I was holding the baby tiger; it got a little feisty on me and started to growl. I let him down and tried to hold him for a second time but he did the same thing. The poor little thing just did not want to be held. I can’t blame him I guess…. Other than that incident the tigers were very calm and sleepy. Apparently the tigers do not need to be drugged to stay calm like they are. The workers told us as long as they are fed they are naturally calm animals. Also, during the day is a time of rest and relaxation for the tigers. I still don’t know if I believe it… It was pretty incredible how we were able to lay on and pet the tigers without them even budging though. Before we left Saturday night we went to the Saturday Walking Market. It was a very long street packed with the traditional northern souvenirs. As we were walking down the street, Thailand’ National Anthem began to play on the loud speakers. Everyone stopped in their steps and stood still as they listened. It was quite interesting; I’ve never had that happen to me before while I’ve been here in Thailand. Other than being sick, I had a great time in Chiang Mai. It was sad to have to leave and go back to reality in Bangplama. Especially after an almost full week of travelling and fun!  

Sawatdee pee mai ka….New Year, Good Start!

Today we found out we officially will only be teaching next Monday afternoon!  Even though it may be a challenge since I have to teach 100 students for 3 hours, it’s totally worth having days off around my birthday…..CHIANG MAI here I come! We’ve been told all week that we wouldn’t have to teach much next week due to Boy and Girl Scout Camp Monday thru Wednesday. Every teacher I asked had a different story on which days we would have off….. Nothing like leaving it to the last minute; finally, after 6^th period today, they announced school would be closed Thursday and Friday! This reassured Katie and I’s trip to Chiang Mai was a sure thing! I cannot wait!!

Now let’s rewind a week back to New Year’s Eve in Bangkok with mom and Beau. We did our best dressing to the “nines” for ringing in the New Year on a River Boat Cruise. It was weird to think we would be doing so 12 or 13 hours ahead of friends and family back home. As we waited for The Grand Pearl, our dinner cruise boat, we watched others board different boats.  All of a sudden we hear an amazing saxophonist and see that the music is coming from the front of a boat heading towards the dock. It was The Grand Pearl. It didn’t stop with the music. As the boat docked, a group of Thai girls step on to the dock and perform a lovely Thai classical dance. It was quite the entrance. We boarded the boat and were sat at our table with a fruit cocktail waiting for us along with a New Year’s party package and hats. We enjoyed a delicious buffet dinner that included many Traditional Thai dishes and sushi that was amazing. I indulged… Throughout the evening there was singing, a rather “dark” magic show, clowns, and dancing. It was fun dancing on the top deck of the boat as we cruised Bangkok’s Chao Praya River.

Seeing the temples, Grand Palace, and other buildings lit up at night was gorgeous.  2011 fast approached us and we celebrated the New Year watching the most amazing fire work show I have ever seen in my life. There were fireworks being shot off from at least 5 different barges all within a few hundred feet from each other. Each fire work that was shot off seemed as if it was the “grand finale” in Door County. The entire show lasted probably at least a half hour. It was truly incredible! And to think, I was in 2011 before everyone back home, whom at the time probably were still trying to figure out their New Year’s plans or at least that’s the way it usually goes…haha. In Thailand, they not only celebrate the 2011 New Year, but they celebrated the New Year 2554, referring to the Buddhist era. It’s been quite a while since I spent a New Year with family.  It was really nice being able to spend the New Year with mom and Beau!

Waking up New Year ’s Day was rough as always. But today wouldn’t be a day of rest and relaxation after a long night of partying like usual. We signed up for a Thai cooking class that had us leaving our hotel at 8 a.m.  We met our cooking teacher near a food market along with two couples and a Taiwanese woman.  Our cooking instructor was quite the character. His English was rather impressive for being self-taught. He said every class he teaches he tries to learn something new about the English language. I learned a new English idiom that was pretty funny! Instead of saying, cut razor thin, like most American’s may say or people that I know, he said, “Cut like a contact lens”.  The cooking class included a trip to the market to pick out all our needed ingredients to cook 5 Thai dishes; washing, cutting, and smashing ingredients;  using a hot pan to cook ingredients; and lastly, eating and enjoying each dish!

We made Tom Yum Koong, which is a soup like dish with shrimp and a lot of delicious flavor; Pad Thai; Chicken Salad; Green Curry; and bananas and coconut milk for dessert. It's really hard to say which dish was my favorite. I would probably go with the Green Curry first and the Tom Yum Koong second. But honestly, each dish was aroi! Learning how to cook Thai food and about the different ingredients they use was a lot of fun. I cannot wait to cook some Thai food back home in the States! After cooking class, we were so full and tired we decided to spend the rest of the day by the pool at our hotel. We ventured out later to Patpong Night Market to do some shopping. Sunday, which was mom and Beau’s last day in Thailand was spent visiting the Grand Palace and the Leaning Buddha followed by a ride on a water taxi to visit the extravagant Mandarin Oriental Hotel.  Before dinner, Beau and mom couldn’t miss out on receiving a 99 Baht Thai Massage! So we were treated to the amazing treatment for about an hour long. It felt so good and to think it was only $3.33! Mom and Beau’s "last supper" was spent at a restaurant in the Sukhumvit area called, Curries and More. It had a great atmosphere, one of a home patio feel. The food was to die for. We each had an appetizer. I had somtom (papaya) salad; Beau had a curry dish with a variety of fish; and mom had pumpkin spring rolls. We each had a different type of curry for dinner. Aroi mak mak! Over dinner we reminisced about the great time we had over the past 10 days, but couldn’t get over how fast those days went.  It was magnificent having mom and Beau here in Thailand with me to experience such wonderful adventures together as a family. I was really sad when they left me bright and early Monday morning at 4 a.m. It was weird not going back home with them. I kinda forgot I was teaching in Thailand for a second. Once I got back on the van to Bangplama I remembered. It was actually nice to come back to my “home away from home”.