Back Home

Well, as anyone who reads this already knows, I'm back from Thailand.

Saying goodbye to everyone in Thailand was weird. I didn't feel attached to many of the other teachers at my school. It's hard to cross the language barrier. The barrier kept me from making any deep, real friendships. Kept me from adequately saying goodbye, really. I didn't really get to express my thanks and gratitude to all the people there. I didn't get extremely attached to many people…maybe I'm a cold, heartless guy. But the language barrier is the chief culprit, I think. It takes me a long time to get attached to people, in general, and that's exacerbated by the fact that we can't communicate clearly.

During my time in Bangkok, those last 5 or 6 days in Thailand, I was already in go-home mode. I didn't really have any hopes or ambitions for the rest of my time. I was just in wait mode, trying to get through the days and hours until I'd board the plane. Admittedly, that's a terrible way to spend your time abroad. But, in any case, that's how I was.

The plane ride home was 24 hours.

Don't know when this will get posted, but as of the writing I have been in the States for 6 days.

My first meal was a Bacon Cheeseburger from TGIFriday's. I'm not particularly attached to Bacon Cheeseburgers or TGIFriday's, but that's how it worked out. So it goes.

Spent lots of money on my first full day back. Had to buy a new cell phone and some new clothes that fit my (according to the family) emaciated frame. Also bought a new pair of running shoes from a running specialty store, so they fit awesomely and feel great.

It feels great to be back home – better than I thought it would feel. I guess I didn't really understand how much I missed family and friends. I was afraid of the cold, thinking I'd be so accustomed to the heat that I'd be freezing all the time. But I love the cold. Makes the air smell great. Also creates situations in which flannel shirts are appropriate.

I think people can sense that I'm real happy about being home. I've been asked a few times if I'd do it all over again: I certainly would. Thailand was a great experience and I encourage anyone to go for it if that's what they want to do. My current excitement at being home should in no way belittle Thailand or insinuate that I had a terrible time. I didn't. I just like home.

Internet?

Hey everybody!

For some reason I am able to access my blog today. Most days the page doesn't pass the content filter the school has going on, so I can't update or even look at my blog page. So, I haven't posted anything in months.

Don't get your hopes up...this isn't going to be a real post: it's just one to explain my past, current, and (most likely) future lack of posting.

I think today is only 20 days from my return to the states. The time has flown by! Right now I'm in the middle of grading finals and giving grades. I didn't realize how daunting a task this would be, but I now have a little bit more respect for all of my past teachers who droned away grading huge stacks of tests multiple times every year.

Next week I'll be entering grades into a computer system. I'm not sure how difficult this actually is: I can't imagine it being more than punching a number and scrolling down, but the teachers are making a big deal of it. We'll see...

I head into Bangkok for Fulbright wrap-up meetings on the morning of the 11th. They're putting us up in the same dorms that we stayed in when we arrived. It's a cool way to cap off the whole experience, finishing where we started. Really, I'm just excited to eat food at a few of the shops near the dorms. Delicious. And then there's Lumpini Park, around a mile from the dorms, which I plan on running extensively in during those last few days in Thailand.

I look forward to getting home and seeing everyone! I feel like I've already got a lot of work to do when I get back: developing pictures; making albums and such; passing out gifts to everyone. By the way - if anyone has any specific requests for souveniers, please let me know. I can find most anything you'd like! Don't be shy.

I guess that's about all for now. Feel free to check facebook for new pictures. I put up new stuff when the internet cooperates!

My Daily Routine

Aunt Pam sent me an email asking what a normal day's like here in Thailand, so I figured I'd answer on here rather than just to her so that everyone knows how I do.

On weekdays, I wake up at 6:30, take a shower, eat some cereal, make some green tea, and walk to school. I arrive at about 7:30. At anywhere between 7:35 and 8:00 the students congregate in front of the flagpole, organized into classes. They sing the national anthem, address the Buddha statue, sing the alma mater, and then listen to any number of teachers give announcements.

Class begins at 8:40 everyday, according to the schedule, but I often don't see any students in my first period classes until 8:50 or 9:00, depending on how long the flagpole meeting was and if their homeroom teacher had things to tell them. I teach 21 periods throughout the week, with four of these periods being marathon, 2-period long elective classes.

Monday is my busiest day with 6 periods. Wednesday's the easiest with only 2.

I normally break for lunch when I have a free period, normally sometime between 10:30 and 12:00. If I wait around and get to the cafeteria after the students do, most of the food disappears and I have only 15 minutes or so to eat what little I can scrape together.

Like I said, I teach different amounts on different days, but when I have down time I plan for upcoming lessons, make props, study Thai, and catch up on emails and things online. I stay busy.

Afternoons are normally more laid back. And the students tend to be louder and more difficult to keep in line. Just have to go with the flow in these situations. The students have a variety of activities they are involved in throughout the week. Thursday is scout day, so most of the kids and teachers dress up in Boy scout uniforms and have lessons about how to tie knots or whatever.

I often bring running clothes over to the school with me and go for a jog around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. The kids get a kick out of this for some reason. I play ping pong and basketball in the afternoons too. Students were amazed by me dribbling through my legs and spinning the ball on my finger. Another thing you can do to draw attention as a farang (foreigner) is play guitar. I had to play "Country Roads" before the entire school on New Years. Good times. Made me miss home.

After running, I head home, take a quick shower and chill until Khun Yai brings me some dinner. If I happen to see her or Khun Dtaa on the way in, we have a word or two. The other day grandpa surprised me with an ostrich egg, which I'd never seen before. I have a picture I'll try to put up sometime. (By the way, I have a ton of pictures that haven't made it to Facebook yet).
I eat dinner by myself, usually putting on a DVD in the room if it's cold or getting dark out. If it's not either of those, I like to eat by the lake, watch the animals, etc.

That's pretty much the extent of my day. From there on I generally just watch a movie or read until I fall asleep. Usually sleep comes at about 9:30, but I've been staying up later lately for some reason.

The weekends is much the same, just without the teaching. Khun Yai brings me all the meals during the weekend, and I think she's caught on that I can barely stomach her dehydrated seafood rice porridge dish for breakfast. Now I consistently get fried eggs and a piece of toast, sometimes a cup of coffee. Before quite recently the director of the school wouldn't give me permission to go anywhere or do anything, so I was literally trapped in my room. I have begun sneaking out whenever I feel like it, and he either doesn't know or doesn't care. I've gone to the city a few times, explored a little bit. I met Paige, the other Fulbrighter in Chiangrai, last weekend and we had a good time.

So, long story short, I'm getting along. I'm enjoying myself, but I also miss everyone back home. Look forward to getting back in about two months!!

Sook San Wan Bpee Mai!!!

aka - Happy New Years!

First things first: I am not currently, nor was I ever, on fire. There was a club that caught on fire in Bangkok on New Year's Eve, but I was far from it. It really was a sad thing. I think over 60 people lost their lives in the fire, but no one in my Fulbright group was near the tragedy.

I bussed into Bangkok from Chiangrai on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. It's about an 11 hour ride, so the night bus is the way to go. And for the equivalent of about $25-30, you can't really beat it. Sleeping is a little sub-par, but I got enough sleep to last until 3:00 in the morning on New Years.

Chike, JR, and I stayed at the YWCA hotel, which is where Fulbright put us up for Thanksgiving. It's a nice place, and the three of us split a triple room, so we kept the price pretty low - about $50 a piece for the 3 nights. The hotel is centrally located in Bangkok, but somehow manages to be a 10-15 minute walk from the sky train, which is sometimes a hassle.

New Year's Eve the guys went out to dinner at Tony Roma's with Rawi - a Thai-American from UC Davis - and his uncle's family. I ate tons of steak and ribs. And I paid for it. My stomach has accustomed itself to Thai portions consisting of mainly rice, so all the American food was a challenge for the digestive system.

After dinner we basically milled around the countdown area at Central World plaza, which was the Thai equivalent of Times Square. The "ball drop" was less droppy than I expected. In fact, the ball was stationary, but it did, conveniently, have a big clock displayed on the side. There were tons of people in the plaza. I've got to say that this is the most people I've personally ever seen in one place. And it was close-quarters. I've also never been unintentionally groped so many times in my life. But, mild complaints aside, it was cool. My view of the ball was slighly obstructed by an ill-placed palm tree, but I'm fairly certain the New Year came without a hitch.

We quickly discovered that leaving the plaza was going to be a problem. An empty taxi simply didn't exist, and the skytrain was packed. We tried walking further from ground zero, but it didn't help. So we celebrated the first hours of the New Year at a street restaurant eating some spicy beef and sticky rice. We didn't find an empty cab until about 3:00am.

Thursday we got up late and headed over to the ritzy Paragon shopping mall area. I'm not sure if I've talked about Paragon on here before, but it's a wild place. They have crazy expensive shops there, sell Lambourginis and such. In one of the malls we found a Sizzler, which I'd never eaten before, but enjoyed thoroughly (except for Chike's blatant and unabashed snatching of JR's cheesy bread). Later on we spent a good amount of money in the bookstore and went bowling on the top floor of Paragon. We met the girls for dinner at a Mexican restaurant, and, once again, I stuffed myself. It was delicious! A bar down the road had a pool table, so we rounded off a pretty full day with some billiards.

My Friday was spent at a place called the Ancient City. It's a place where they reconstruct sites from around Thailand in one plot of land. Depending on what mood you're in as you enter, I would say your opinion of the place could range anywhere between "lame" and "awesome". For us it was awesome because we rented Golf carts and we got a little rowdy with them. That's all I'll say... Then we went the the world's largest crocodile farm. I didn't enjoy this as much as I should have because I was dog tired from the cart exploits, but I had a good time.

I left for Chiang Rai again on Saturday evening. During the day, Chike and I wasted time wandering around the mall areas. I bought a pair of tennis shoes that wouldn't cut my feet open and kept myself from spending more money on books, which I consider an acheivement. I couldn't get a VIP bus ticket for the ride back home. While the 1st class ticket was cheaper, it also earned me a smaller seat beside a father and his crying young daughter. I found it easy to remain stoic during it all, though, probably because I spent my time in Bangkok like a pampered American.

New Year's was fun, in short, a good break from teaching.

I'm writing this now at a time when I'm normally teaching. For some reason over half of the school's students are having an assembly, so my schedule is shortened by two classes today! There are rumors from the Chinese teachers that tomorrow I'll be heading to another school to watch an Academic Competition. Again, just rumors, but enough to get me excited. It's not that I'm looking to get out of teaching. Just that I'm looking for a little excitement. The messed up schedule actually means that most of my classes are way behind, which is a big bummer. But, this is Thailand.