Advertisement
I am in Phuket now and it is so lovely. The school has put us up in a hotel and we each have our own room with a private bath and a balcony. At night it is much cooler than it was in Bangkok and the air is much cleaner. There are these crazy little frogs that hide in the gardens outside and make the most unbelievably loud sounds. They sound like a synthesized tuba on those little Casio keyboards. I'm pretty sure the charm will wear off and I will wish they would silence themselves, but for right now everything is new and exciting. I met a few other students, one from Scotland, one from England, and one from Australia. We went out to a bar where there was a cover band. It is really awesome to see these Thai kids singing Guns and Roses and Pat Benatar. They even did a cover of "Smoke on the Water" - very amusing. It is incredible to realize the reach of Western culture. Anyhow, we got very drunk and today I remembered that I'm almost 30 and the hangovers don't go away so quickly. I also hadn't had all that much
to eat, so Tums and water was the order of the day. I woke up and organized my room and then headed off to the beach. HOLY BEACH. The water was so warm - warm enough to not be too much of a relief from this hot weather, but refreshing nonetheless. Everything looks like a postcard. There are chairs and umbrellas for rent and I worked off my hangover by soaking in salt water and then resting in the shade. It all looks like a postcard. Phuket actually reminds me a lot o Mexico, but so far, the Mexican beaches are still the absolute best. I am now sitting on my balcony and relaxing before my first day of class tomorrow. I forgot to bring an alarm clock so I hope this fancy new computer has one in it, so I don't have to buy one. There is no wireless in the hotel so I'll have to walk down the street later to send this. I'm too lazy right now. And a little sunburnt. But content and excited to see what happens next!
O.k. so obviously I wrote all that when I first arrived and the last week has
been such a whirlwind of activity and excitement that I haven't been able to even touch my computer! School has begun and I am through with my first official week of being a student again. It has been an incredible experience, full of daunting grammar lessons and phonetics memorization. All of it has been so refreshing - it is nice to be a student when you really want to learn and aren't being forced. The Thai people are the absolute loveliest people in the whole wide world. have not encountered one nasty face. I have taught my first two classes and both have them have been less nerve wracking because the Thai's are so welcoming and warm. Every day we are in class from around 9:30 to around 8 p.m. The first week was an intense week of learning practicing and getting up and teaching both your peers and actual classes. Now we are in the swing of things and it seems to be getting a bit easier. We have less classes this week and more actual teaching. We all hang out together at night drinking the local rice whiskey and dancing on the porch of our hotel. It is
a lively group - all of us happy to be alive and in a completely foreign country.
My friends here are really great. Some have been in Phuket for a few months and have already found cool places to go, others we all discover on our own. This weekend we went to a tiny cove just past Nai Harn beach on the Southern tip of the island (so far the most beautiful beach I have seen) We rented a bungalow on the beach for the equivalent of $20 for four people a night and stayed Friday and Saurday night on the beach. We had great seafood curry and went swimming in the ocean at around 2 in the morning. It is unbelievable to think that just a few years ago this pristine place was completely devastated. Now the only reminders are the Tsunami evacuation route signs. The water current is very strong, as are the waves, and there are even times when I, who am a very strong swimmer, get tousled about a bit. I can't imagine what an 4 story high wave would even look like.
I finally have a bit of a tan and I have
learned some Thai phrases so I can carry on a basic conversation. My favorite phrase at the moment is "Yin tee dee dai pop khun ka" - which is "Nice to meet you" It just rolls off the tongue!
Tonight I am going to the south of the island for a birthday party and then back to school tomorrow again. This weekend a group of us are off to Ko Phi Phi - and island just off the coast of Phuket for some snorkelling and some beach time. I pomise to write more frequently now that my first week of school has passed successfully. Love to all!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.166s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 7; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0597s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Lydia
non-member comment
Nice...
Glad to hear all is well. It looks like you are having more fun than work! :o)