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Welcome to Thailand.
It is hard to say anything about Thailand. It seems that everyone has been there but me. As I flew in I soaked in the coastline with beautiful cliffs and deeply colored seas. It was like nothing I had ever seen. After getting fleeced at the currency exchange ( a hearty $@#% off to the Federal Reserve ) I stepped out into the humid air and was surprised by how it did not bother me. I expected to be gasping like I was in Chicago mid-summer. A taxi driver from the camp picked up and gave me brief history of Phuket Island as we swerved in and out of some fairly murderous traffic. A preferred method of transportation is the motorbike and it is employed in ways that would make California traffic cops shite themselves. It is not uncommon to see 3 people on a moped with a toddler standing in the front. No helmets by the way.
I checked into the camp and got my keys to my new pad for the next 2 months. There is AC, Cable TV, small fridge and a small outdoor bathroom for about 270 dollars a month. Its actually way nicer than I expected. I grabbed a thai spicy chicken salad at a small stand (which is basically the cooks backyard) and a bottle of water for about dollar and a half. I retired to my room and began unpacking when it started to rain like nothing I had ever seen before. Torrents and torrents and torrents and then utter silence until a thundering cascade of circadas began to chirp. This jungle is the loudest place I have every heard. You actually have to raise your voice to be heard.
Once outside you sweat continually but so far it has yet to really bother me. I have not seen the sun since I got here but everyone has told me sunny days do happen during monsoon season. Luckily, I came to experience the training.
I spent some more money on gear at the camp store and headed out with the trainer Ngoo to be evaluated. As he wrapped my hands he asked me in broken English about my kickboxing experience and where I was from. He ran me through several combinations with a very focused intent on his face when all of the sudden an almost evil smile came across his face.
‘You hit hard. It makes me happy.’
Gotta love the Thais.
What they were not impressed with is my swinging gut. After spending about two hours regretting every nasty piece of junk food I ever ate, Ngoo pulled me to the side and told me that I have excellent power and that he wanted me to train with him every day but he wanted to see me drop some weight. No shocker there. I am starting out in the intermediate ring.
The camp is primitive by US standards but well off by Thai standards. It is full of a swath of Brits, Germans, Americans, Irish, Canadians and this dude that like looks like he has been a mosquito buffet. The whole place smells of sweat and dirt and that does not bother me one bit. For these Thai trainers, fighting is how they put food on the table and they still make time to be incredible patient with all the out of shape foreigners like moi that stop at their doorstep.
The trainers here are pretty good. They let you learn at your own pace and so far I am having a lot of fun. It is pretty hard in the body though. After my first two days I took two days off to let my swollen feet heel up and I glad I did. This morning’s training went much smoother as I have begun to adopt to the climate.
This last weekend we went to fights in Patong which was an experience to say the least. Our fighters won two out of three at Bangla stadium and afterwards we went out to celebrate. Patong by the way, is pretty much a city sized brothel. By western standards it was a bit much for me to get used to being around. The girls can be very pushy and on more than once I had to push them away. Really annoying. The Thais are very VERY liberal about sex and pretty much everything is good to go for them. And a word of insight to my female friends reading this blog - the place was also full of western women -both straight and lesbian. I expected to see nothing but 400 pound Europeans sliming 18 year old Thai girls and found my expectations pretty much shattered. But don’t get me wrong - there are 400 pound Germans prowling like sharks.
The fighters and other people I train with went to a normal club and danced like a bunch of wild maniacs till around 5 am before everyone went their separate ways. The normal club was still full of the bar girls trying to get you to buy overpriced drinks but I chatted with another guy from New Zealand, actually met three regular Thai girls and hung out with them ( they cut hair for living you sickos), and went to sleep tired but having had a good time. I did not come to Thailand to do this stuff but it somewhat expected that you party with your guys after a fight. Like I said before, these guys train there asses off for days on end. They have broken bones, noses, and ribs. Let them go out and be wild once awhile. There earn their money with their blood.
Much love to everyone,
Erik
PS As soon as I can figure what is wrong with my ipod I will get some photos up.
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Jay and Sania
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Hallo.. wat your name.. where you from??
Is that not the most commonly heard saying from thai girls in Patong?? hahah Yor experience so far sounds awsome.. Take it all in because this IS Thailand... Have you seen the trucks that drive through Patong with mega phones blasting "MUY THAI BOXING!" with bored looking fighters standing onto inside a make-shift ring?? hehe Honestly we miss thailand a lot and love hearing about what your doing.. Just remember HAVE patience with the thai drivers... I always said to Sania that it looks like they ride around on their motor bikes without a care in the world... DEFENSIVE DRIVING takes on a whole new meaning over there.. Be carefull. God... thoes 400 pound sweaty germans always made me sick.. Take care and keep posting!