On Thursday and Friday it was Buddhist Lent, meaning no classes. Naturally, Sarah and I left school as early as possible on Wednesday night to have a long weekend in Phuket. We hopped on a flight and had arrived by 7 o'clock. Phuket is a huge island, and a major tourist destination. I actually don't mind the tourists, but I didn't think that Phuket was all that great. This may have also been due to the fact that it was raining nearly every minute that we were there (the sun only came out to stay for Saturday). We stayed in a [View Full Entry]

---

---

So it's been a long time since I've last written. Sorry to all those who want updates. Since I have no TV and have long since finished any DVDs I brought with, I have become OBSESSED with reading. I'm not sure exactly how many books I've finished so far, but suffice it to say that I finished a 900-something page book with fairly small print the other day, after only starting it two days prior. I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed with stuff I need to do (not that I have that much to do anyway) only for the fact [View Full Entry]

---

---

I saw the queen this weekend. I'm serious. The amount of birthdays in May is ridiculous. Las weekend, I celebrated my 23rd (golden) birthday in Bangkok. I met up with a bunch of my friends from the TEFL course. We partied on Khao San, we saw the new Indiana Jones movie at MBK, we did a little shopping, and we went to get Mexican food and Margheritas. The last day was spent chilling in Cliff's pool, which he has paid a good deal of money for, but which was worth every damn penny. It was the most fabulous pool I've been [View Full Entry]

---

---

Anubanphanatsuksalai School, Phanat Nikhom, Chon Buri - that is the name of my new school. Now, trying to say it is a little more difficult. So I arrived at my school on Saturday, along with Tang (the Thai TEFL worker in charge of finding our positions and housing and getting everyone set up) at Sarah Collins, a British girl who will be teaching in my school with me. Over the last day or two I have come to really enjoy this place, though it is nothing that I expected. After years of traveling, I have become used to rapidly changing circumstances [View Full Entry]

---

---

Things have been going really well here. We've had the last four days free, so Beth and I went back to Bangkok On our first day there, we did some shopping at this FANTASTIC mall called MBK, which is basically a conglomerate of stands spread over 7 levels, with pretty much every square inch covered. There's even a bowling alley and a movie theatre. After roaming around the sois (alleys) in Bangkok - which are packed-full of stand after stand of the most random stuff you could ever find (shower heads, air con units, cell phone accessories and the most Hello [View Full Entry]

---

---

So today was my first chance to practice my newfound teaching skills. As I wrote earlier, we are studying in a Buddhist temple and get to teach the monks English. We had previously spoken with the monks to try to learn some Thai on our own...TEFL's way of putting us in the position of the language learner. So the fact that we had already had some interaction with them helped. But today we actually had to teach THEM. Now for everyone's information, the monks that we are teaching are young. There are none older than 18. Since the schools in Thailand [View Full Entry]

---

---

So I haven't written in a while because the hotel where I am staying "in Ban Phe" for our program, is actually pretty far outside the city. Therefore I have NO access to internet...unless I take a 10 minute ride on the back of a songthao (pick-up truck taxi) and then a 10 minute motorbike ride!! So so far I have been having a fantastic time in the program. We have class Monday - Friday, 9-5 and on Saturday morngings for three weeks. The classes are teaching us how to teach English, giving us ideas for lesson plans, going over Grammar [View Full Entry]

---

---

Beth and I woke up at around 7am, hired a tuk-tuk driver for the day, and got to the Temples at around 8am. It was a good thing that we had the driver, because the temples are pretty spread out. Most people get around to see them on mopeds or tuk-tuks. Or they have to come back over multiple days. It was also absolutely roasting outside. By the end of the day, I felt as if I were marinating in my own sweat. But having been in the region for almost a week now, I've pretty much given up on any [View Full Entry]

---

---

Beth Arrives... So Beth flew in to Bangkok and arrived at the hostel on the morning of the 14th. She had had a blast in India, but was sooo glad to be back in "civilization." Apparently cows commonly block traffic, there are disabled homeless people everywhere, and 10 out of 12 people in her tour group got violently ill (including her) in India. Needless to say, she was happy to be in Bangkok. We took a little while to get going that morning. Beth was pretty tired, and I was a little worn down from the time change, the heat, and [View Full Entry]

---

---

What can I write to accurately describe the craziness of Thai New Year? In certain areas - right by my skyline station, by the Democracy Monument and backpackers' district - it is complete chaos. Music blasts and there is hardly room to walk. In the mob which engulfs the streets, people carry water guns, buckets of water, or just hoses and drench passersby. People also carry containers of a chalky paste - usually used in temples by monks to mark blessings - and smear it all over others' faces. When emerging from such an area, one is most certainly dripping from [View Full Entry]

---

---