It is my last week of teaching for the semester! How did that happen?!
I spoke to Jess who arrives here next Saturday and I think we will leave for Chiang Mai on the Monday night bus. We are very excited, but not very planned. I think we will have a session when Jess gets here. She is more like her mother and our grandfather than she pretends, so I am confident that we will have some sort of alphabetized-color-coded-calendar-meets-map after a few hours of work. I couldn't think of a better person to be my travel-buddy and I can't begin to imagine what our adventure has in store...Some hiking, eating, three days sitting on wood benches on a "slow boat" to Laos and a lot of sweating with no aircon in Vietnam, I think.
This friday I went to see a Thai movie. It was supposed to be a scary movie. Neuki warned me that I would need her to sleep over for a week after seeing it. Most of you know that I really hate scary movies, but since my coworkers invited me, I thought I should go to advance the friendships and because I didn't want them to know I am a baby. My bodily reaction to fright is to laugh, and I laughed the whole time, but mostly because it was so NOT scary that it was funny. It was about ghosts and karma, and that stuff doesn't usually scare me the way that murderers do. There is also a possessed "Took-Gaaay", which is a big gecko that we have here. I slept alone Friday night and did not wake up sweating in fright at all. I'm so proud of myself. One thing that I forgot to say about Thai movies when I wrote about Harry Potter is that everyone in the theater must stand for this song that honors the king at the beginning of the movie. It's like the Star-spangled Banner before a sports game, I guess. Photos of the King doing good things and scenic landscapes flash while the song plays. Another interesting window into Thai culture. One more thing, they sell shuttlecocks and ping pong balls at 7-11, how convenient!? I never knew why they called it a convenient store until now, but I am ALWAYS looking for a shuttlecock. They don't sell nail polish remover or peanut butter, but who needs those things when you have odd sports paraphernalia?
Yesterday, Alison, Mere and I went to see "Beijing Acrobatics Show." I had been under the impression that it was associated with the Olympics, but it was not. Anyways, it was really cool, sort of Circe du Soleil-ish. They had four motorcycles inside this little ball driving in circles and upsidedown. Meredith, the physisist, was not as impressed as I was because she could explain how it worked using formulas. Something about the three types of velocity. How boring. There was one girl, "flexi-girl" as Alison called her, who must have had rubber for a spine. At one point, there was a pole on stage with a soft covering on the tip, like a sock or something. Flexi-girl put the sock in her mouth, kicked her legs over her head so far that her gluteus maximi rested on her forehead. Oh, and, all the while she was spinning plates on her legs and arms so the only thing touching the ground was the pole that she had in her mouth. Shannon Traeger, I have some new moves for us to try in couple's yoga.
Tomorrow I am going with the Business English Department to the Pullman Hotel (that's the nice one) for dinner to demonstrate Western manners. My mom sort of freaked out when I told her this. It's drink on the left, bread and fork on the right, start from the inside, put your elbows on the table, chew with your mouth open and put your napkin on your head, right Mom?
This could be my last post before I head out next Monday, but hopefully I can post as I travel. Thanks for reading!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Just put some eggs
I am feeling the pressure to make my blog extremely awesome. First of all, Mrs. Bannon, my sixth-grade teacher and the cornerstone my English grammar knowledge, is now a loyal follower of this blog. Secondly, my oh-so-clever-and-remarkably-witty-bestest-pal Abigail Catherine Bertrand Poats is now settling into her Princeton in Asia post in Beijing and she, obviously, has upstaged me with her blog. It is a lot funnier than mine and I only read the post that she wrote before she left America. I have a feeling Abby's blog will get increasingly funnier as her Chinese students discover she is the world's most gullible person. God help her. I will include the address if you promise that you will only read her blog in addition to mine because I cannot stand to lose followers. Plus, I know some of you have just started the monotony of the rest of your lives at a desk and will be looking for things to make it look like you are working. (Poatsinpeking.blogspot.com) Third, Magee is in the Dominican Republic for Peace Corps, and although her blog has more grammatical errors than mine, it is filled with wonderful descriptions of her life which seems way more interesting than mine and she has the whole e.e.cummings lowercase style thing going on which really makes her blog cool. I am super jealous that she speaks Spanish because she has already had more fun encounters with Dominicans than I have had with Thai people in three months. I REALLY want a charismatic 13-year-old to take me off the street, put curlers in my hair, and play dominoes with me!
Just now, when I told Neuki that I needed to make my blog extra-super-dee-duper, she said "just put some eggs." This, I think, is a semi-joke possibly related to a saying in Thailand which might have something to do with the fact that anything is better with an egg on it. I mean, not everything, but as far as meals go, I agree. Even before I discovered the Thai obsession with egg which is "kai" in Thai, I had my own love affair with adding a fried egg to everything I could put in my mouth in South Africa....pizza, bananas, croissants with brie, hamburgers, endless possibilities for deliciousness. I know how to ask for an egg prepared in many different ways in Thai because all Thai food is better with egg.
So, it has been a while since my last post. I have been busy. Some of the classes that I was complaining about before have been postponed or cancelled but I have new ones in their places. I am currently teaching a class on interviewing to Engineers which pretty much consists of me taking things from the ND career center website and giving it to my students, no plagiarism involved.
Last weekend, I was an honorary member of the Business English Department's English Camp in Rayong/ Pattaya. Pattaya is a beach that is the Thai equivalent of Ocean City. It is pretty much the armpit of the country, but camp was super fun. The Business English students speak English very well, so it was nice to actually get to know some students personally. The older students hazed the freshmen with the typical eating bananas and hard-boiled eggs with chillies inside, painting their faces, rolling in sand, chanting things and weird rules, etc. There was the standard binge drinking one night, scolding the next morning, and secret drinking the next night. The last night, after slightly painful skits and karaoke, I was lucky enough to witness the initiation ritual of the faculty. Of course, I cannot say what it was, but it involved taking care of an egg (more eggs, ha) for the weekend. The students whose eggs cracked were physically and mentally tortured at the hands of a fourth-year with a megaphone in front of the rest of the upperclassmen who were pretending to be extremely mad about the broken eggs. I mean, how could the freshmen be trusted in the faculty if they can't take care of an egg?? Tears were shed out of pain and group-bonding and finally all things were made dandy again with candles and singing...typical. Ms. Frank could have designed the ceremony herself (shout-out GV '05).
Now I am back to the grind in Khon Kaen. I am really working on my Thai, but the stars have to align for me to be understood. I have to remember the word, remember which of the five tones it has AND...here's the kicker... actually get that tone to come out of my mouth correctly. This gets increasingly harder with the number of words I attempt to string together. BUT I know the days of the week, lots of food, the colors AND...drum roll please... I can write my name, first and last, in Thai!
This weekend I will judge a debate competition from 8:00 to 4:00 on Saturday and hopefully find time to clear the mud I have on my pig's tail, meaning grade a ton of papers. I also need to do some serious planning because my adventure begins in three weeks. Jess arrives the 19th and we will set out as soon as possible. I cannot wait.
Love you all. Choop choop. Kiss kiss.
เอริน(Erin) เมอร์ฟื (Murphy)
Typing that name just took me longer than writing the whole rest of the blog!
Just now, when I told Neuki that I needed to make my blog extra-super-dee-duper, she said "just put some eggs." This, I think, is a semi-joke possibly related to a saying in Thailand which might have something to do with the fact that anything is better with an egg on it. I mean, not everything, but as far as meals go, I agree. Even before I discovered the Thai obsession with egg which is "kai" in Thai, I had my own love affair with adding a fried egg to everything I could put in my mouth in South Africa....pizza, bananas, croissants with brie, hamburgers, endless possibilities for deliciousness. I know how to ask for an egg prepared in many different ways in Thai because all Thai food is better with egg.
So, it has been a while since my last post. I have been busy. Some of the classes that I was complaining about before have been postponed or cancelled but I have new ones in their places. I am currently teaching a class on interviewing to Engineers which pretty much consists of me taking things from the ND career center website and giving it to my students, no plagiarism involved.
Last weekend, I was an honorary member of the Business English Department's English Camp in Rayong/ Pattaya. Pattaya is a beach that is the Thai equivalent of Ocean City. It is pretty much the armpit of the country, but camp was super fun. The Business English students speak English very well, so it was nice to actually get to know some students personally. The older students hazed the freshmen with the typical eating bananas and hard-boiled eggs with chillies inside, painting their faces, rolling in sand, chanting things and weird rules, etc. There was the standard binge drinking one night, scolding the next morning, and secret drinking the next night. The last night, after slightly painful skits and karaoke, I was lucky enough to witness the initiation ritual of the faculty. Of course, I cannot say what it was, but it involved taking care of an egg (more eggs, ha) for the weekend. The students whose eggs cracked were physically and mentally tortured at the hands of a fourth-year with a megaphone in front of the rest of the upperclassmen who were pretending to be extremely mad about the broken eggs. I mean, how could the freshmen be trusted in the faculty if they can't take care of an egg?? Tears were shed out of pain and group-bonding and finally all things were made dandy again with candles and singing...typical. Ms. Frank could have designed the ceremony herself (shout-out GV '05).
Now I am back to the grind in Khon Kaen. I am really working on my Thai, but the stars have to align for me to be understood. I have to remember the word, remember which of the five tones it has AND...here's the kicker... actually get that tone to come out of my mouth correctly. This gets increasingly harder with the number of words I attempt to string together. BUT I know the days of the week, lots of food, the colors AND...drum roll please... I can write my name, first and last, in Thai!
This weekend I will judge a debate competition from 8:00 to 4:00 on Saturday and hopefully find time to clear the mud I have on my pig's tail, meaning grade a ton of papers. I also need to do some serious planning because my adventure begins in three weeks. Jess arrives the 19th and we will set out as soon as possible. I cannot wait.
Love you all. Choop choop. Kiss kiss.
เอริน(Erin) เมอร์ฟื (Murphy)
Typing that name just took me longer than writing the whole rest of the blog!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Photos
Here is the link to my photos. Right now, I cannot seem to make them turn the right directions. Sorry!
Not much is going on in my world right now. Thailand has beautiful butterflies and nothing to dry your hands with after you wash them in the bathroom.
I have to run or else I will miss the last bus!
 |
| Erin is in Thailand!!! |
Not much is going on in my world right now. Thailand has beautiful butterflies and nothing to dry your hands with after you wash them in the bathroom.
I have to run or else I will miss the last bus!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Saturday, August 25th. I'm on a bus to Bangkok again with a belly full of all my favorite Thai treats: fried rice, frozen coffee, and roti. We even had a send-off/standard-Saturday mall trip for ice cream, but I practiced self control and watched the crew eat the sundaes this time. The word ice cream in Thai is "I-deem" like ice cream with a weird Thai adaptation. Computer is "khom piew duh" with the accent on the third syllable. There are a lot of these sorts of words in Thai and they make me laugh because the emPHASis is truly on the wrong sylLABle. Usually, the last one. BrowNIE and cooKIE!
I just fell down the stairs while descending from the upper level of this bus in a desparate dash for the hong nam. The bathroom on the bus is best characterized as tolerable, yet avoidable, if possible. It's not the worst I have seen which was in a bus station in Malawi but that's another blog entry. Anyways, embarrassment takes on a whole new personality here. Thai people will do anything to "save face" and therefore no one even laughed at (or with) me after the fall; they just avoided eye contact while I awkwardly giggled and assessed the damages which, by the way, are fairly minor but a little painful. I hope the people on the bus at least laughed to themselves at my expense. I might be reading too far into this, but the fall has shaken me to the core. You see, lately, everything has been going my way. Almost scarily so. I'll silently or not so silently complain about something and POOF! Problem miraculously solved. I have been saying that when and if my luck does a 180, I am in huge trouble. I sure hope my little spill isn't a sign from God that the game is up.
This was an extremely busy week at school because I was trying to get grades finished, prepare my 103s for their midterm, and prepare for the week when I get back. I am scheduled to teach some extra classes this coming block. One should be easy because there is no curriculum and it's only on Monday mornings. It's sort of a summer camp for Vietnamese students. The other, though, is a course on how to give presentations for the Commitee for Social and Economic Development (of Thailand??). Consdering I happened to major in those two disciplines, I can see where one miiiight assume I am qualified to teach this course. Whoever "one" is has no idea that I can BARELY work PowerPoint and generating a graph from Excel may as well be rocket science. I kid, but it should be interesting. It's two hours every night for a week which is not what I am used to either. Normally, I am more a messenger of a predesigned and inflexible curriculum than a teacher. To make next week's matters more interesting, or annoying, the curriculum for my beginning speaking and writing classes completely neglects to account for midterms week. Rather, the syllabus pretends the students will be in school as normal, learning up a storm. In reality, my naksuksas will be taking tests and then flocking home to various destinations. Since a writing block is only 6 classes and a speaking block 8, that's a fairly significant portion and those classes will definately have to be rescheduled in our "free time.". You try coordinating a good time for extra classes with 40 college students who don't speak English.
Hopefully you guys are not getting bored with the entries. I did not intend on writing again until post-Koh Samui, but I darted out of my room in a whirlwind and I forgot a book...and deodorant, but that problem's been solved already. If those are the only two things, I'll be surprised and relieved. I do have my camera this time though!
August 1:
So, turns out my luck has not run out. Powerpoint 101 has been rescheduled for a few weeks from now, giving me ample time to prepare...and this past week has been wonderful. As I write this, I am half way between the pool and the ocean on a stunning beach on Koh Samui. I woke up early this morning to kiss Jessie and Alicia goodbye with my stinky moning breath, as Jessie said, and caught some more Zs before my last visit to the complimentary breakfast buffet.
Before Samui, Jessie, Alicia and I spent two days seeing the sights in Bangkok. Sunday, we went to Chatuchak market and I was able to use my Thai bargaining skills (which just so happen to have been the subject of last weeks tutoring lesson) to help Jessie acquire a beautiful wall hanging and Alicia score a really cool and equally large ring. We explored Khao San road, the backpackers' area, where I would have had us staying if the idea of me picking the sleeping arrangments didn't freak Jessie's and Alicia's parents out so much. But really, I was overjoyed at the digs that the Billings and Walkers chose. Monday, we went to Wat Pho to see the reclining Buddha, which is 46 meters long. We also saw Wat Arun, which is an amazing temple made of ornate pieces of porcelain which broke in transit from China. We visited Jim Thompson's house as well. Jim Thompson was an American who came to Southeast Asia during WWII. Though he was an architect, he was also a savvy businessman and he is credited with exposing Thai silk to Western fashion markets. After his mysterious disappearance in 1967, his house was turned into a musuem and houses beautiful art and furniture from all over Asia. Can you tell we took a tour? The rest of our time in Bangkok was spent eating in our hotel which was right on the river and had a great view or at other various eateries and navigating our way around the city on the skytrain or in taxis, half speaking English and half attempting Thai.
On Tuesday we came to Koh Samui which is an island in Southern Thailand. It is very developed and a little too toursity in some parts but you can imagine why. It's gorgeous. The island is popular with backpackers and offers a pretty happening night scene. Its also equally popular with families and honeymooners and the swanky resorts definately outnumber the hostels.
Jessie, Alicia and I may as well have been old ladies most days. We usually just lounged on the beach in front of our hotel which was tucked into a little cove, more private and removed from the rest of the bustling Chaweng Beach. We picked places to eat out of my Lonely Planet and we were never disappointed. One night, we saw a cabaret show put on by the ladyboys that Thailand is famous for. Yesterday, we took a boat to Ko Tao, another gorgeous island, which is less developed because its harder to get to. J and A snorkeled while I scuba dove. It was fantastic. Hands down the most amazing coral I have ever seen, great visibilty, warm water and I had a divemaster all to myself.
I was so sad to say bye to my pals, but all the R and R I have been getting is giving me a guilty conscience. I am excited to get back to Khon Kaen.
I just fell down the stairs while descending from the upper level of this bus in a desparate dash for the hong nam. The bathroom on the bus is best characterized as tolerable, yet avoidable, if possible. It's not the worst I have seen which was in a bus station in Malawi but that's another blog entry. Anyways, embarrassment takes on a whole new personality here. Thai people will do anything to "save face" and therefore no one even laughed at (or with) me after the fall; they just avoided eye contact while I awkwardly giggled and assessed the damages which, by the way, are fairly minor but a little painful. I hope the people on the bus at least laughed to themselves at my expense. I might be reading too far into this, but the fall has shaken me to the core. You see, lately, everything has been going my way. Almost scarily so. I'll silently or not so silently complain about something and POOF! Problem miraculously solved. I have been saying that when and if my luck does a 180, I am in huge trouble. I sure hope my little spill isn't a sign from God that the game is up.
This was an extremely busy week at school because I was trying to get grades finished, prepare my 103s for their midterm, and prepare for the week when I get back. I am scheduled to teach some extra classes this coming block. One should be easy because there is no curriculum and it's only on Monday mornings. It's sort of a summer camp for Vietnamese students. The other, though, is a course on how to give presentations for the Commitee for Social and Economic Development (of Thailand??). Consdering I happened to major in those two disciplines, I can see where one miiiight assume I am qualified to teach this course. Whoever "one" is has no idea that I can BARELY work PowerPoint and generating a graph from Excel may as well be rocket science. I kid, but it should be interesting. It's two hours every night for a week which is not what I am used to either. Normally, I am more a messenger of a predesigned and inflexible curriculum than a teacher. To make next week's matters more interesting, or annoying, the curriculum for my beginning speaking and writing classes completely neglects to account for midterms week. Rather, the syllabus pretends the students will be in school as normal, learning up a storm. In reality, my naksuksas will be taking tests and then flocking home to various destinations. Since a writing block is only 6 classes and a speaking block 8, that's a fairly significant portion and those classes will definately have to be rescheduled in our "free time.". You try coordinating a good time for extra classes with 40 college students who don't speak English.
Hopefully you guys are not getting bored with the entries. I did not intend on writing again until post-Koh Samui, but I darted out of my room in a whirlwind and I forgot a book...and deodorant, but that problem's been solved already. If those are the only two things, I'll be surprised and relieved. I do have my camera this time though!
August 1:
So, turns out my luck has not run out. Powerpoint 101 has been rescheduled for a few weeks from now, giving me ample time to prepare...and this past week has been wonderful. As I write this, I am half way between the pool and the ocean on a stunning beach on Koh Samui. I woke up early this morning to kiss Jessie and Alicia goodbye with my stinky moning breath, as Jessie said, and caught some more Zs before my last visit to the complimentary breakfast buffet.
Before Samui, Jessie, Alicia and I spent two days seeing the sights in Bangkok. Sunday, we went to Chatuchak market and I was able to use my Thai bargaining skills (which just so happen to have been the subject of last weeks tutoring lesson) to help Jessie acquire a beautiful wall hanging and Alicia score a really cool and equally large ring. We explored Khao San road, the backpackers' area, where I would have had us staying if the idea of me picking the sleeping arrangments didn't freak Jessie's and Alicia's parents out so much. But really, I was overjoyed at the digs that the Billings and Walkers chose. Monday, we went to Wat Pho to see the reclining Buddha, which is 46 meters long. We also saw Wat Arun, which is an amazing temple made of ornate pieces of porcelain which broke in transit from China. We visited Jim Thompson's house as well. Jim Thompson was an American who came to Southeast Asia during WWII. Though he was an architect, he was also a savvy businessman and he is credited with exposing Thai silk to Western fashion markets. After his mysterious disappearance in 1967, his house was turned into a musuem and houses beautiful art and furniture from all over Asia. Can you tell we took a tour? The rest of our time in Bangkok was spent eating in our hotel which was right on the river and had a great view or at other various eateries and navigating our way around the city on the skytrain or in taxis, half speaking English and half attempting Thai.
On Tuesday we came to Koh Samui which is an island in Southern Thailand. It is very developed and a little too toursity in some parts but you can imagine why. It's gorgeous. The island is popular with backpackers and offers a pretty happening night scene. Its also equally popular with families and honeymooners and the swanky resorts definately outnumber the hostels.
Jessie, Alicia and I may as well have been old ladies most days. We usually just lounged on the beach in front of our hotel which was tucked into a little cove, more private and removed from the rest of the bustling Chaweng Beach. We picked places to eat out of my Lonely Planet and we were never disappointed. One night, we saw a cabaret show put on by the ladyboys that Thailand is famous for. Yesterday, we took a boat to Ko Tao, another gorgeous island, which is less developed because its harder to get to. J and A snorkeled while I scuba dove. It was fantastic. Hands down the most amazing coral I have ever seen, great visibilty, warm water and I had a divemaster all to myself.
I was so sad to say bye to my pals, but all the R and R I have been getting is giving me a guilty conscience. I am excited to get back to Khon Kaen.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Harry Potter and Buttered Privates
I am currently in my office even though it's Sunday afternoon. At KKU when there is a holiday like two weeks ago classes have to be rescheduled. I did my best to reschedule as few as possible but the classes I missed twice needed a make-up, so today was the day. In my last class, Speaking 101, my students who are studying in the faculty of Medicine turned in a homework assignment. The assignment was to list names of food that correspond to different countries. Silly, I know, I did not think of it. I knew the students would use the Internet for help because how else are they going to know the English names for Korean foods and French foods, etc. I told them that was fine as long as they did not copy. I got a couple "jumbo combos, "Hardrock nachos," "Fantasy 12. Oz Burgers" and other obvious misunderstandings coming from copying from English menus. The kicker was when I got to the Chinese food section and found "butter many privates" and "France many privates" on many students' papers. Haaaaahaaaaa. I have no idea how this happened but I laughed till I cried and it made Sunday class totally worth it.
Yesterday, Meredith, Neuki, Ing, Pi Lenk and I went to see Harry Potter (in English) in Udon Thani, which is about an hour or two away depending on who drives. Ing drives like my mom and Pi Lenk drives like my dad and if you have ever been in a car with either you will know what I am talking about. Although it might sound crazy to drive that far for a movie, my coworkers said the crazier part was seeing a movie with the swine flu running rampant in these parts. Took my chances, I suppose.
I ate breakfast with Neuki who told me after I had ingested 75% of my fried rice and fried egg that we would be eating again when we arrived to Udon. We went to a great Vietnamese food place then to the mall for Harry. The theater was really nice and the tickets cost us 140 baht, which is 4.5 USD. There are seats for 120, but we decided to splurge for the extra arm room. They offer candy and popcorn like the USA, but you can get many flavors of popcorn and the prices are only slightly inflated compared to the food and drinks outside the theater. The movie was good and it was a nice escape for three hours. After the movie, we took hilarious photos in one of those booths (probably a breeding ground for H1N1) and then headed home.
Other than that, it was a fairly normal week. I have been busy catching up on grades which are due in a week and preparing my students for their midterms. I will have more visitors during midterm week when Jessie and Alicia will pop into Thailand before heading to China. We will go on some fun beach excursion and you will hear about it afterwards. How lucky am I?
My Thai is progressing very slowly but it's ok. I have 30 new vocab words to memorize for my next session with Gee, my tutor, and each one liberates me a little more.
"Wanee sanook maak" which means today was a very fun day and you can say it when you are saying goodbye.
Rak maak,
Ting Tong
P.S. I said Ellen last time because some Thai people pronounce Erin like Ellen so I introduce myself like that to some people now. BUT everyone has a nickname in Thailand and I want to be "Ting Tong" which means crazy, but not necessarily in a bad way. Maybe like Ding Dong. Ching Chong means pee pee, so I have to be careful.
P.P.S. Some of you will be happy to know that Neuki has begun to call me Bear. It makes me feel at home. Most often, she precedes "Bear" by "Gummy." Although its a little endearing, I think it could also be in reference to the kilos I have been packing on. I REALLY like the food!
Yesterday, Meredith, Neuki, Ing, Pi Lenk and I went to see Harry Potter (in English) in Udon Thani, which is about an hour or two away depending on who drives. Ing drives like my mom and Pi Lenk drives like my dad and if you have ever been in a car with either you will know what I am talking about. Although it might sound crazy to drive that far for a movie, my coworkers said the crazier part was seeing a movie with the swine flu running rampant in these parts. Took my chances, I suppose.
I ate breakfast with Neuki who told me after I had ingested 75% of my fried rice and fried egg that we would be eating again when we arrived to Udon. We went to a great Vietnamese food place then to the mall for Harry. The theater was really nice and the tickets cost us 140 baht, which is 4.5 USD. There are seats for 120, but we decided to splurge for the extra arm room. They offer candy and popcorn like the USA, but you can get many flavors of popcorn and the prices are only slightly inflated compared to the food and drinks outside the theater. The movie was good and it was a nice escape for three hours. After the movie, we took hilarious photos in one of those booths (probably a breeding ground for H1N1) and then headed home.
Other than that, it was a fairly normal week. I have been busy catching up on grades which are due in a week and preparing my students for their midterms. I will have more visitors during midterm week when Jessie and Alicia will pop into Thailand before heading to China. We will go on some fun beach excursion and you will hear about it afterwards. How lucky am I?
My Thai is progressing very slowly but it's ok. I have 30 new vocab words to memorize for my next session with Gee, my tutor, and each one liberates me a little more.
"Wanee sanook maak" which means today was a very fun day and you can say it when you are saying goodbye.
Rak maak,
Ting Tong
P.S. I said Ellen last time because some Thai people pronounce Erin like Ellen so I introduce myself like that to some people now. BUT everyone has a nickname in Thailand and I want to be "Ting Tong" which means crazy, but not necessarily in a bad way. Maybe like Ding Dong. Ching Chong means pee pee, so I have to be careful.
P.P.S. Some of you will be happy to know that Neuki has begun to call me Bear. It makes me feel at home. Most often, she precedes "Bear" by "Gummy." Although its a little endearing, I think it could also be in reference to the kilos I have been packing on. I REALLY like the food!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Living on a VIP bus
Where to begin when there's so much to say. I write this from my seat on the VIP bus to Bangkok where I have spent most of my time in the last week.
Last Friday, Meredith and I left Khon Kaen in the afternoon and arrived at the crazily crowded pre-Thai-Buddhist-Lenten-holiday Bangkok bus station at night. We followed the only westerner in sight in order to borrow the police officer that she had commandeered who apparently spoke enough English to guide her to her destination. After five minutes of pointing on maps and saying Koh Chang (pronounced "Chung") in as many tones as I could, we were led to the ticket booth. We waited around a little, were led through a small hole in a chain link fence, over a small trash dump, through a stray dog village and finally aboard the overnight bus to Trat where we'd catch the first ferry in the morning. I slept a little but it was hard because nightmares of sliding off the road in a monsoon were only partly dreams. After a fairly short but very moist songtau ride from where the bus dropped us, Meredith and I arrived at the ferry station where we were greeted by the first familiar faces I had seen since Chelsea's departure.
To backtrack a little, Christina and I have been living parallel lives for the past couple years. I met her in the study abroad office on our way out the door to South Africa and ran into her in glorious Cape Townian places like the streets of Mowbray, outside Babbo in Obs and most gloriously on the top of Lion's Head where we watched the sun set over the ocean and the full moon rise over the city last April. Back at ND our lives continued in this fashion with sporadic run-ins in not quite so glorious places. To make a long story short, Christina and her friend from home Danielle who I had met more than once (if the line for Fever and Pigtostal count) are teaching outside Bangkok alongside Clare who is a friend from St. Mary's College that I have known since freshman year. Clare, Danielle and Christina adopted us into their little posse of travelers teaching at Assumption University. Initiation began with beer for breakfast courtesy of Clare. Surprise me. (You can't hate it when you miss me so badly, can you roomies?) I cannot possibly explain how nice it was to be in a group of people who speak English as their first language and share a similar sense of humor. I laughed until I cried many times on the trip and there were some peed pants, though I can't say whose. I'm quite a bit more homesick, or peoplesick really, after the trip but equally as excited for all the travels that lay ahead. Yay!
I should not even try to describe how beautiful Koh Chang is. Google it. It's the gorgeous beaches and green jungles jutting out of the crystal blue waters that pop into a person's head when they hear "Thailand". Cheesy sounding, i know, that's why I should not have tried. Places like KC are pretty much the reason I wanted to come to SE Asia. I forgot my camera as I am known to do when I am going to see amazing things like thirty elephants cross the road to go swimming, ten lions lounging in the sun, or the entire city of Beijing, China and the Olympic Games. We had some serious amateur photographers in our crew so I'll get some pics ASAP and I miiiiiiiight be in some of them.
One day we hiked to a waterfall. This one put Tad Ton to shame. I again risked my life savings, or my parents', scaling algae covered rocks protruding out over jagged ledges and rushing water which I am sure is a danger outside my health insurance coverage. FYI Dad freshwater is dangerous because of crazy diseases I could catch... But I think only if it's stagnant. And there are 200 suspected cases of swine flu in Khon Kaen and all the dangerous places are marked with signs written in Thai...so I am in grave danger anyways. I think I might follow suit and get a mask.
Sorry. Back on track. We stayed two places. The first was a collection of straw huts on a pristine beach called Khlong Prao. I have seen some sickeningly beautiful beaches this year between Mexico and Costa Rica and this one is right up there. Absolutely awesome. Spectacular. Thesaurus needed. The place had delicious food but not much around it and we went to the more built-up White Sand to go out at night. I spent my 4th of July on a carpet on a beach watching a fire show. It was certainly more celebratory than eating Indian food and watching movies in Uganda which is what I was doing last year, but not quite sparklers and ice cream sandwiches at Lake Barcroft. I did rock my American flag tee shirt though.
I did not think things could get much better but I was wrong again. Twice as much per night, now an exorbitant nine dollars, bought us air-conditioned rooms with clean sheets, shampoo and toilet paper provided. AND a complimentary American breakfast. Toast!! We had a ridiculous view from our bungalow and spent our days on the beach or by the pool and our nights at the cool hostels and bars that dot the coastline and decorate the town of Lonely Beach. It has a very laid back traveler kind of vibe. Needless to say, I could have stayed for a while longer or maybe forever if I did not have all of you blog-readers to come home to or the guilt of having to make something of myself after paying ND tuition.
So I got back to Khon Kaen Wednesday night at 11 and I am half way back to Bangkok and it's Friday at 8. Tomorrow Alison and I are seeing Mae Naak which is a Thai musical about ghosts. Should be interesting. My goal is to not regret the semi-hefty ticket purchase which occurred a while ago...before I knew I would have just returned from an adventure and before I got used to the Thai baht. I am hoping to get to see some of my new found friends who spend their weekends in Bangkok. I can see this Friday night VIP bus thing becoming a pattern which is okay by me. Picture first class on an airplane. Uh huh there are even flight attendants and massage chairs. I'm eating a donut and there are certainly no chickens plucking at my little toes or dead fish on strings hanging over my head.
I know this was a long one but I am sure it took you waaaaaay less time to read it than it took me to write it...ON MY PHONE. Especially because the man next to me and I are having Thai lessons. I now know the word for divorced if yahhhhknowhatImeeeeeean. He just motioned asking for my phone number but does not speak a word of English, haahaaa.
It is now Saturday night and I am finally publishing this from my really cool hostel in Bangkok. The city is really really cool and the play was very entertaining. It was three and a half hours long, which was a little crazy, but I think it would have been out of this world if I spoke Thai. We did a boat tour today and I brought my camera so photos to follow. I did get to see my new posse of American friends which was very nice. I am glad they don't live in Khon Kaen because it's too easy to be with them. I would get complacent about my Thai...which is progressing. I had my first conversation in Thai while on Koh Chang and it was one of the most gratifying things I have accomplished in a long time.
Mucho rak,
Ellen ... which is what I may as well be named.
Post Script: my apologies for all of the passive voice and run-on sentences. I know only a handful of you care but I cannot be bothered with your opinions right now, even as an English teacher. I'd change it but I would be risking early onset arthritis in my thumbs.
Last Friday, Meredith and I left Khon Kaen in the afternoon and arrived at the crazily crowded pre-Thai-Buddhist-Lenten-holiday Bangkok bus station at night. We followed the only westerner in sight in order to borrow the police officer that she had commandeered who apparently spoke enough English to guide her to her destination. After five minutes of pointing on maps and saying Koh Chang (pronounced "Chung") in as many tones as I could, we were led to the ticket booth. We waited around a little, were led through a small hole in a chain link fence, over a small trash dump, through a stray dog village and finally aboard the overnight bus to Trat where we'd catch the first ferry in the morning. I slept a little but it was hard because nightmares of sliding off the road in a monsoon were only partly dreams. After a fairly short but very moist songtau ride from where the bus dropped us, Meredith and I arrived at the ferry station where we were greeted by the first familiar faces I had seen since Chelsea's departure.
To backtrack a little, Christina and I have been living parallel lives for the past couple years. I met her in the study abroad office on our way out the door to South Africa and ran into her in glorious Cape Townian places like the streets of Mowbray, outside Babbo in Obs and most gloriously on the top of Lion's Head where we watched the sun set over the ocean and the full moon rise over the city last April. Back at ND our lives continued in this fashion with sporadic run-ins in not quite so glorious places. To make a long story short, Christina and her friend from home Danielle who I had met more than once (if the line for Fever and Pigtostal count) are teaching outside Bangkok alongside Clare who is a friend from St. Mary's College that I have known since freshman year. Clare, Danielle and Christina adopted us into their little posse of travelers teaching at Assumption University. Initiation began with beer for breakfast courtesy of Clare. Surprise me. (You can't hate it when you miss me so badly, can you roomies?) I cannot possibly explain how nice it was to be in a group of people who speak English as their first language and share a similar sense of humor. I laughed until I cried many times on the trip and there were some peed pants, though I can't say whose. I'm quite a bit more homesick, or peoplesick really, after the trip but equally as excited for all the travels that lay ahead. Yay!
I should not even try to describe how beautiful Koh Chang is. Google it. It's the gorgeous beaches and green jungles jutting out of the crystal blue waters that pop into a person's head when they hear "Thailand". Cheesy sounding, i know, that's why I should not have tried. Places like KC are pretty much the reason I wanted to come to SE Asia. I forgot my camera as I am known to do when I am going to see amazing things like thirty elephants cross the road to go swimming, ten lions lounging in the sun, or the entire city of Beijing, China and the Olympic Games. We had some serious amateur photographers in our crew so I'll get some pics ASAP and I miiiiiiiight be in some of them.
One day we hiked to a waterfall. This one put Tad Ton to shame. I again risked my life savings, or my parents', scaling algae covered rocks protruding out over jagged ledges and rushing water which I am sure is a danger outside my health insurance coverage. FYI Dad freshwater is dangerous because of crazy diseases I could catch... But I think only if it's stagnant. And there are 200 suspected cases of swine flu in Khon Kaen and all the dangerous places are marked with signs written in Thai...so I am in grave danger anyways. I think I might follow suit and get a mask.
Sorry. Back on track. We stayed two places. The first was a collection of straw huts on a pristine beach called Khlong Prao. I have seen some sickeningly beautiful beaches this year between Mexico and Costa Rica and this one is right up there. Absolutely awesome. Spectacular. Thesaurus needed. The place had delicious food but not much around it and we went to the more built-up White Sand to go out at night. I spent my 4th of July on a carpet on a beach watching a fire show. It was certainly more celebratory than eating Indian food and watching movies in Uganda which is what I was doing last year, but not quite sparklers and ice cream sandwiches at Lake Barcroft. I did rock my American flag tee shirt though.
I did not think things could get much better but I was wrong again. Twice as much per night, now an exorbitant nine dollars, bought us air-conditioned rooms with clean sheets, shampoo and toilet paper provided. AND a complimentary American breakfast. Toast!! We had a ridiculous view from our bungalow and spent our days on the beach or by the pool and our nights at the cool hostels and bars that dot the coastline and decorate the town of Lonely Beach. It has a very laid back traveler kind of vibe. Needless to say, I could have stayed for a while longer or maybe forever if I did not have all of you blog-readers to come home to or the guilt of having to make something of myself after paying ND tuition.
So I got back to Khon Kaen Wednesday night at 11 and I am half way back to Bangkok and it's Friday at 8. Tomorrow Alison and I are seeing Mae Naak which is a Thai musical about ghosts. Should be interesting. My goal is to not regret the semi-hefty ticket purchase which occurred a while ago...before I knew I would have just returned from an adventure and before I got used to the Thai baht. I am hoping to get to see some of my new found friends who spend their weekends in Bangkok. I can see this Friday night VIP bus thing becoming a pattern which is okay by me. Picture first class on an airplane. Uh huh there are even flight attendants and massage chairs. I'm eating a donut and there are certainly no chickens plucking at my little toes or dead fish on strings hanging over my head.
I know this was a long one but I am sure it took you waaaaaay less time to read it than it took me to write it...ON MY PHONE. Especially because the man next to me and I are having Thai lessons. I now know the word for divorced if yahhhhknowhatImeeeeeean. He just motioned asking for my phone number but does not speak a word of English, haahaaa.
It is now Saturday night and I am finally publishing this from my really cool hostel in Bangkok. The city is really really cool and the play was very entertaining. It was three and a half hours long, which was a little crazy, but I think it would have been out of this world if I spoke Thai. We did a boat tour today and I brought my camera so photos to follow. I did get to see my new posse of American friends which was very nice. I am glad they don't live in Khon Kaen because it's too easy to be with them. I would get complacent about my Thai...which is progressing. I had my first conversation in Thai while on Koh Chang and it was one of the most gratifying things I have accomplished in a long time.
Mucho rak,
Ellen ... which is what I may as well be named.
Post Script: my apologies for all of the passive voice and run-on sentences. I know only a handful of you care but I cannot be bothered with your opinions right now, even as an English teacher. I'd change it but I would be risking early onset arthritis in my thumbs.
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