I'm not feeling very well today. Dehydration is becoming the norm and I don't have any energy. At school it's non-stop yans and at the house it's dinner, read a little then bed. Not very exciting.

Since I arrived I've been feeling some daily highs and lows but they are beginning to level out as I get used to living here. The house is absolutely great and I'm lucky to be surrounded by people who are tripping over themselves to help me. The only major drawback is the classes. They are just too big. All but two hours out of my eighteen per week have fifty students. I'm going to be forced to use the microphone even though I initially considered it too impersonal. There just isn't a choice in the matter. I have some stress at the moment about my lesson plans so I'm going to work on those pretty hard this week. E-mails need to be put on hold for a bit. I think I will feel better about going to school when I have a better plan in place.

Thankfully I have been able to start working out. I've been feeling really nasty for a while. Carrying an extra five pounds and feeling tired all the time is not a good way to continue my adventure. It's almost bathing suit season for goodness sake. Heehee!!!

Well, I guess that's all I can muster. I've lost my train of thought.

Everything is so different around here. Yesterday I went to the market and picked up dinner. It's pretty cool. Every evening the hill tribe people wander down with fruit, vegetables, poultry, fish, pork, eels, frogs, rice, clothing, shoes, deserts, lottery tickets and of course the ever popular delicacy of bugs. I decided to go with the chicken. Safe bet.

Today is tough. I've only had two classes so far and the yans just won't stop. There is a possiblilty that malnutrition is the culprit and a trip to the market may be required. Friday they showed me the fitness center which is much better than expected. Hopefully when my schedule is rearranged, for the fifth time, I'll be able to fit in some work outs. There is an International Mountain Bike Championship near Chiang Rai in August and who knows, if I get in shape maybe I could compete. Could be fun!!

My coordinator gave me my official schedule finally and it turns out that I may be able to take a week off in the middle of each semester. If my visa information is returned quick enough I could even leave Thailand for those weeks. I will have to ask the priciple for permission but I think it could work out. Here are my vacation dates.

July 16th - July 25th
October 2nd - October 31st
December 30th - January 9th

I'm not sure when the final days of school are but either Friday, February 18th or Friday, March 11 is my guess right now. The students have two weeks of finals and considering my classes are not graded, except one, I may not need to be here. Woohooo!!!

The only real big thing on my mind right now is that my dad and crew left for Denali on Sunday so they will be climbing soon and that always makes me a bit nervous. When you're on the mountain you don't think about it so much because you know what's going on around you but when you're in Thailand and your dad is on a big mountain in Alaska it can be a bit worrisome.

Enough for now, more later.

This last weekend my neighbor and her two daughters took me to meet more members of their family at their home about 45 kilometers from Chiang Rai. This is a long distance to most people who live here so we naturally stayed over to avoid the 30 minute drive back that evening.

The father (I'm not sure of the exact relation of everyone there) spoke quite good English so we were able to have conversations about his former career in fisheries, his sons chances of working in the US (which seems to be most college educated persons dream) and the landscaping he has been doing for his new home. All the while the ladies were cooking or cutting up mango for us to munch on. The mango here tastes very different from the species I've had in the US. While we were sitting outside I was attacked by a million masquitoes which was not fun.

Dinner was okay but like I've mentioned before Thai food doesn't seem to be my thing. Don't worry mom, I ate everything like a good little girl. The sticky rice was good. I like sticky rice!! Heehee!!!

After dinner everyone took a bath except for me which may have been a mistake but I had just taken one at three that afternoon. Oh well, so they think I'm a dirty American. No biggy. After the baths most everyone was busy doing something like the dishes or watching TV or hanging out in some part of the house behind closed doors so I decided to do a bit of reading. When I could no longer keep my eyes open, around 10:00pm, I headed for bed.

Luckily I was able to have a room to myself even if I had to change while sitting on the floor because the windows weren't covered with anything. Not to worry, the bed was on the floor anyway. It consisted of a padded mat with a sheet thrown over it and a comforter in case I got cold in the 85 degree room. Riiiiiggghht.

The next morning we had some kind of rice with water soup thing for breakfast. Hmmm.. Not too good. Then the four of us headed back to Chiang Rai. It was an interesting excursion.

Okay, I guess today went pretty well. I have a better understanding of what the kids know and can start putting together some real lesson plans. This is all very interesting.

Anyway, just thought I would follow up and let you know how the day went. I can't wait to get back to the house so I can read the paper, watch a movie and eat some good old fashioned American food. Woohooo!!!

My first class actually went okay. If the remainder of my classes go this well I will definitely make it through this semester and possibly the next. Could be a good thing. Woohooo!!

Well, I guess this is it. My first class is in less than an hour. I have a plan but I don't know how it will go. I sure hope it will be okay. Yikes!!! I'm pretty freaked out. Right now I'm thinking I made a mistake doing this. Hmmm. Then again, most things worth doing are either dangerous or scary or both. Here's hoping everything goes well!!

Thailand really should be called the country of goldleafing.

This is the entrance to Doi Sutep Temple.

Pagoda

Ajan Yupa took me to see Doi Sutep Temple in Chiang Mai. The temple sits atop about 500 stairs. Any my dad said I couldn't get any climbing experience out here. Sheesh!!

The situation up here is really good and pretty much exactly what I was hoping for and then a bit more. I have a house to myself as of now with two bedrooms, living room, kitchen (no stove or oven) and a restroom with heated water. The house is kind of like living at camp. Every morning I have to walk around and pick up the bits of shhh off the floor kindly left by my new pets. There are many house lizards and my very own gecko. Nice!!

The structure has concrete walls and floor for the first floor and board and batten walls with wood floors upstairs. There isn't any gypsum board and I've been warned that the rain will come right through the B&B walls upstairs if the wind picks up. Heehee!!! All of the doors have pad locks including the front and back doors while the windows are nothing more then screens and shutters (no glass). Half of the tile in the bathroom has fallen off so the previous tenant covered the concrete with sheet vinyl in a really beautiful blue (can you hear the sarcasm?). Actually they covered the concrete floor downstairs with the same vinyl and I must say I'm very happy to have it. When I arrived there were two tables and four chairs downstairs while upstairs had a single bed and wardrobe.

Anyway, when I arrived I wasn't doing too well as many of you can imagine. The shock of actually getting the situation I asked for and having to live in it, being the very spoiled individual that I am, was a bit too much for me to bare. So, naturally, I went shopping. I now have a brand new sofa, two chairs, coffee table, DVD player with CD and surround sound, a few movies, lots of American food, some books and a guitar. I know, I know, but there is no way I would have lasted a year with nothing to sit on and nothing to watch or listen to.

I am a bit of a distance (two miles) from the town but my neighbors have been fighting over the opportunity to take me anywhere I would like to go. The mountains are beautiful as I'm sure all can imagine. The temperature has been hot (95-100) during the day but my bedroom gets all the way down to 82 at night. Oh, did I mention I don't have air-conditioning? When it rains the temperature can drop quite a bit which is really nice.

I'm really good at doing dishes now. In fact, I wash them before and after I eat just to make sure I don't have a massive ant invasion which happened on the first evening after I left a few crumbs in the sink. Amazing how they can find that stuff. The coffee table has to be wiped down regularly or these tiny little ants, smaller than I've ever seen before, will take over the table even if I just leave a little water ring from a glass. Amazing.

All in all, now that I'm starting to get settled the house is working out great!! I consider myself very lucky to be living where I am for this year in Thailand.

I made it, barely. Heehee!!!

Back in Bangkok we ran into a little glitch. I had been hanging out with Philip and K at Philip's place waiting for the time to pass until the night bus was to depart. We grabed a bite to eat from a street vendor and I did a bit of reading before taking a shower and getting dressed. Everything seems fine right? Oh, no. This is Bangkok.

We left with what Philip referred to as plenty of time to catch the bus when we hit the dreaded Bangkok traffic. It pops up out of nowhere and for no reason at completely random times so was a complete surprise to Philip and K. Well, sort of a surprise. They just kept saying "this is Bangkok, anything can happen". Then I would hear mumbling and an occational "Oh, shhhh". We were about five minutes from the terminal when they decided to bale on the taxi stating there was no way we would make it this way. So what way will we make it? We can't walk there faster can we?

We ran through the traffic until we found two motorcycle guys. Turns out they are taxis as well. Very cool!!! K asked them if one could take me while the other took my suitcase. They stood there in true Thai fashion just looking at me and my suitcase for a while. One of them picked the suitcase to see how heavy it was and then said "okay". Next thing I know I'm holding on with all my might, literally, the driver must have thought I was scared silly, as we are weaving through traffic at top speed. Now, this is difficult to explain without actually seeing it but we were literally weaving all over the place including the sidewalk. The guy with my suitcase fell behind and aside from wondering if I would make to the bus I was almost convinced my bag had no chance of making it. As we weaved I, being the crazy individual I am, started to enjoy the ride. It was great!!! The cars were within inches of sideswipping us or raming us as we cut them off. Talk about an adrenaline rush!! Woohoooo!!!!!!! I definitely recommend this mode of transport if your traveling through Bangkok.

Anyway, I reach the bus station and my bus isn't there yet. Big surprise. The guy with my bag showed up about three minutes after I did and Philip and K show up about two minutes later. They looked pretty worried as they ran around the station looking for me. Good thing I can yell loud. Heehee!!! Philip paid the taxi guys after making sure I hadn't already paid them and then proceeded to tell me everything I shouldn't do while on the bus. Don't take food or drinks from anyone I don't know, make sure you get off before the bus crosses the border to Myanmar and all the basic stuff you should know while traveling in Thailand.

The ride it's self was pretty much sleepless. The bus was great and the seat was fine but after Philip's little pep talk about ending up druged in Myanmar I found it hard to sleep. Most of the trip I was sitting there clutching my passport hoping I would be able to tell when we reached Chiang Rai so I could get off. Not much fun. If the ride had been during the day I could have seen the country side but alas, it was not.

Once this ill fated trip had ended I found myself at an obvious Chiang Rai bus terminal awaiting my coordinator who was supposed to pick me up. So I waited and waited and waited. About an hour later a woman comes into the room where I was sitting and calls out my name. Apparently she had been wandering around the buses asking when mine was supposed to arrive for about 45 minutes. Ahhh, Thailand. Anyway, she introduces herself as Ajan Yupa and we head off.

After reaching the car I figure we are going to where ever it is I'll be living so I can shower, which was depirately needed, and possibly take a nap considering I hadn't slept all night. Nope, we were off to the grocery store. The two of them, my coordinator and the lady whom had come to Bangkok earlier that week, just kept asking me what I needed. I didn't know what I needed I just got there. What I wanted was a shower and a nap. Nope, grocery store. I ended up buying some towels, toilet paper, napkins, various food items and stuff like that not having any idea what my living situation was going be. Next we went to have lunch at KFC. Yep, Kentucky Fried Chicken. It's one of the only fast food joints in Chiang Rai. I had the chicken filet burger and some fries which were great!!

After the grocery store I mentioned that I needed to get some cloths to wear to school since I hadn't really brought anything with me. So off to the one department store in town. I was able to find plenty of cloths that fit even though I'm considered a fat American. About fifty dollars, two skirts and four shirts later we were heading to the house. Luckily they let me get some sleep and take a well needed shower before picking me up again to see the night bazaar and get some ice cream which I'll have to write about a bit later.

All in all, the trip to the bus station, up to Chiang Rai and then around town was an adventure in it's self. I think I like it here. More soon.

Today is the day I leave for Chiang Rai. This morning we came back into Bangkok and were dropped off at the Overseas Education Group office to await transport to our schools. Well, everyone else was waiting to be picked up. Me on other hand will have to hang out until it's time to catch the night bus. Sounds interesting.

Check back in a couple of days and I should have this post up. It's about an elephant ride, floating down a river on bamboo rafts, the floating market and the bridge over the river Kwai.

That's as far in as I'm going.

A short river float on bamboo rafts.

Kwai River Bridge foreign soldiers cemetary. I don't have a picture but the Thai soldiers have another cemetary in traditional Thai style.

Kwai River Bridge foreign soldiers cemetary.

Um, I thought they blew that bridge up. You mean not everything in the movies is true?

River Kwai Bridge

Those crazy elephants!

The view from our hotel room during the second half of orientation.

Drinking flourescent green soda while cruising the market, in a boat no less. Does it get any better?

Ahh, Venice! Err, wait.

The village of the elephant trainers. As we rode through here one of the houses was la

What are those guys looking at?

During orientation we took a little dinner cruise which concluded with load music and some really scary dancing by my fellow participants.

Lunch time!!

He's such a gentleman to hold a ladies umbrella for her. It was quite hot you know.

Imperial Palace in Bangkok

Imperial Palace in Bangkok - Restoration Project

Imperial Palace in Bangkok

Pagoda

Imperial Palace in Bangkok

Imperial Palace in Bangkok

Imperial Palace in Bangkok

I wouldn't want their job.

Imperial Palace in Bangkok

Last night we met our school coordinators for the first time. I was a bit nervous about what I should wear because Thai people can be very conservative so I put on a flowing skirt and a top which Christie had given me before I left (my wardrobe isn't very conservative so Christie and mom helped me out a bit). When they arrived we were called out by school names and asked to sit together. In my case two representatives from the school had come to meet me instead of my actual coordinator. Apparently, before they arrived they had inquired about my looks and were assured, by Ajan Sunshinee, that I was pretty and the students would therefore like me. Hmm. Thai people seem to put a lot of stock into physical appearance. Well, now that I think about most people or companies consider good looks to be an advantage but the Thai people seem to vocalize it more openly. Anyway, it was very flattering.

After our initial introductions everyone was allowed to prepare for dinner. We went to a restaurant that serves traditional Northern Thai cuisine and has a performce of traditional Thai dance. The food was good but I'm getting the feeling that Thai food isn't really my thing, the dancers were great and the costumes were incredible! The only down side to the evening was that they sat everyone so far apart. The three of us were up at the head of a table so far away from anyone that we only had each other to talk to and well, I don't speak Thai and their English wasn't great. Needless to say there wasn't much conversation. Plus, my back hurt because we didn't have chairs just pillows. It was similar to the restaurants in Japan that I visited where there is a hole in the floor for your feet under the table and you begin to feel uncomfortable about an hour into the evening but you can't lean back on anything to relax because there isn't anything there to lean against. Aside from that the evening was fun.

After dinner the coordinators went to bed and all of us teachers went out for a night on the town. Some of the quest speakers from earlier that day took us to "Bed" a new night club in Bangkok that comes equiped with barely clothed dancing girls to get you in the mood. It was a Wednesday evening so the club was pretty empty but we had fun hanging out.

Please bare in mind that I'm a bit hazzy today due to jet lag. Okay, here we go. I haven't quite figured out the phone deal just yet except that it's extremely expensive to call from the room. My roommate figured that one out for me. Heehee!!! I'm not sure about buying a cell phone just yet because I don't know what the service will be like up in Chiang Rai. If I need to travel to Chiang Mai once I decide to buy one that will be a good weekend trip anyway so that's cool. Emily has figured out the pay phone card deal so I may ask her about that. I can't wait to call everybody. I'm not even sure what time it is in Seattle right now.

As for the people in the group, they are great. I'm going to miss having them around when we all split up. The coordinators are also very nice and seem to be informative although the most anyone can really tell me about Chiang Rai is that it's beautiful and really far north. Hmm. Well, this is definitely going to be interesting. So you want to know about Bangkok? Well, this city is nothing like anything you will see anywhere else in the world. It's pretty amazing and you will either love it or hate it. I'm still on the verge right now but if I had to stay here I would end up hating it. Too many people. But, there is tons to do, see and eat. There are street vendors everywhere and apparently it's perfectly safe to buy from them as long as you see them cook your food. The traffic is absurd. The most popular radio station is the 24/7 traffic report, literally. Dogs are everywhere but there doesn't seem to be a problem with biting. It's impossible to tell a nice part of town from a bad part of town because it all looks the same (although they say there really aren't any bad parts of town). If you compared the way Bangkok looked to parts of New York you would definetly say that it resembles the bad parts. It's far from attractive and very dirty. For the most part the city is flat and very big. There is a section with tall builings but for the most part it resembles Los Angeles sprawl. I don't see much development but because of the way the city is laid out I would need to go up inside one of the tall buildings to really get a good look.

I'll have to get back to you regarding the housing. I'm not quit sure how to put that into words. I'm feeling pretty tired I guess. I think I can stay awake for the evening but it's difficult to write. I'll have to add more later. Maybe Thursday since we are having dinner with our school representatives tomorrow evening. More soon.

Let's see, I don't leave for Chiang Rai until the eighth or so. We are meeting our school representatives on Wednesday for dinner so that should be interesting. Oh yeah, I'm the only person in the north. Most everyone is close to Bangkok with one girl on Phuket Island. Wow, I'm really on my own out here. Should be interesting to see how I cope. I know if I feel really uncomfortable I can go home and that is always at the forefront of my mind. Everything should be okay. I actually can't wait to get to Chiang Rai and settle in. It's interesting how emotions can be heightened in situations like this.

Well, I'm here. The flight was okay even though it was 14 hours of flight and 16.5 hours of total travel time. I was able to sleep for part of it and I keep expecting the jet lag to hit me but it hasn't yet. I suppose I am running on adrenaline so far. There was some confusion when I arrived and I missed my ride so I ended up taking a taxi with some other Americans. That worked out great because it can be a little scary trying to figure things out on your own at the Bangkok airport where everyone looks official but is really trying to rip you off. After arriving at the hotel I found it hard to sleep but laid there for awhile thinking of home and of Matt which made the time go by faster. To be honest, right now I'm in that mode of "why am I doing this?" Hopefully this is just an adjustment phase and things will improve when I reach my school.

Funny thing. apparently I don't start school right away. I'm not exactly sure when I do start but it could be as late as May 27th. Funny huh? Of course I can't leave the country because they are taking my passport away for a possible time frame of two weeks to two months. Interesting system. Yes, I'm a little freaked out about that but hopefully everything will be okay.