Massage

What's better than a one hour massage?

A two hour massage!!!

My body was feeling jacked on Sunday so I went and had a 2 hour massage at the mall near my house. They cost 450 baht (around $15 US) and the lady was so nice I think she kept going for an extra 1/2 an hour. I feel better.

This Saturday is "sports day" which should be called cheerleading day. The kids all gather around and cheer on the capable few who actually compete. This involves choreographed dances, water bottles slamming the floor, and a lot of long involved cheers. We have to be at school at 6:30 am just to hang out and watch the spectacle. They have been practicing for over a month for this.

It's cooling down here, in the morning it probably gets into the low 70's upper 60's with a slight breeze. It's like my favorite days in the fall back home. the best news is that the rainy season is over so I get the cool weather without the nasty precipitation. I hope I can handle the temps when I come home to visit after Christmas.

Islands are cool

Thailand is surrounded by islands. The two closest islands are Ko Chang and Ko Samet. I went to Ko Chang a few weeks ago, and this weekend I'm going to Ko Samet. Chilling on island beaches with a guitar in my hands is quickly becoming one of my favorite pastimes.

This new school term is going well. It seems like there's a holiday or a field trip every week, and my schedule is pretty chill.

I'm learning to play Thai chess and playing against the students. It's just a little bit different from "normal" chess.

I spent all of last night tracing over Thai letters in a kiddy workbook. I know a lot of them, but I really need to master the vowels to get my reading skills up to snuff.

Not much else to report. It's finally "cooling off" here which means sometimes it drops to 23C (~74F) haha.

Should I get a Thai Lion tattoo or a protection tattoo?

Toilets

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this here before, but the toilets in Asia are not the same as back home. The squatter shown above is very popular in Korea. They have some here in Thailand too, but not as many. The best thing though, is the little squirt hose that is next to most Thai toilets.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1877917/how_to_use_the_bum_gun_toilet_hose.html?cat=5

Poo-Ket

I went down to Phuket last week for a short holiday. It was a good time. I really like getting out of the city and can't wait until I finally get to move out of the city. Life is so relaxed and simple down there. I brought my camera and succeeded at taking 0 pictures. I got pink eye from a massage pillow, which kind of sucked, but when you're on vacation it's hard to get in a bad mood.

I'm back teaching for October school which is a bit like summer school, really relaxed. There are less than half as many students so it's a nice low pressure atmosphere. I'm teaching math and science to grades 7-9 along with Bio and test skills to grades 11 and 12 respectively. The bonus is that I'm only teaching October school until next Tuesday. After that I get another little vacation. WOOHOO!

Arai Na?

This is like saying "What was that?" or "One more time?". This can be dangerous because no matter how many times they repeat a word that I don't understand, it still won't make sense.

Great Thai Song, haha

I'm BACK!

I've been neglecting this. Here's an update.

It's almost time for finals!! During finals I don't have to anything but show up. I'll eventually have to grade the exams, but for 2 weeks I get to come into school and chill. After that we have a few weeks of real vacation. I'll have to teach a week or so of random break-time classes for the eggheads that aren't going on vacation, but beyond that it's my time. I'm planning on heading down south again to do research for my super ultra mega life goal, which I will not jinx in print here.

Thailand is finally cooling down a bit, but that bit is maybe 1-3 degrees c. We're in the midst of the rainy season here, which is quite different from Oregon's "rainy season" (aka most of the year, haha). It usually rains in the afternoon for a few hours. That could be anywhere from 2:00 pm on to 8:00 pm. The rain is always accompanied by thunder and lightning, which is pretty sweet.

Teaching is great. The minor stresses I feel teaching are negligible. It's also fun a lot of the time too! My astronomy class is a bit ahead and has been good all term so we're watching "Hot Rod" in class. They love it.

My Thai is moving along. There's a program in our school where a Thai teacher and Western teacher are supposed to meet for an hour once a week to get to know each other and swap language lessons. We had our first last week and our second yesterday. Initially I just started learning to speak Thai, and I disregarded the reading and writing due to the large alphabet. This week I decided to dive into the alphabet so I can understand their syllables and pronunciation a bit more. Supposedly they have the largest alphabet so I'm starting slow with just a few consonants. I feel like a kid all over again. I'm reminded of my younger days when I first learned to read in English and it seemed to open up an entirely new world for me. Signs, menus, advertisements, labels, everything is gaining new value to me. It's kind of like the difference between swimming and scuba diving, although I still haven't been diving so this is just what I imagine. Without scuba gear you are relegated to the top of the water. You know there's a bunch of cool stuff below you but you just can't stay down long enough to check it out. I'd equate language knowledge to scuba gear. The more scuba skills I acquire, and the bigger my O2 tank, the more I can explore under the sea.

Most of the foreign teachers, myself included, are growing mustaches for a 70's themed school birthday party. That will be an awesome time.

Here's a few dusk photos I took from my place. Also I got a shot of our "pests", cute little geckos!!!

Love This Picture

Speaking Thai

I've been attempting to learn Thai by using a beginners book and a little help from friends. My vocabulary is slowly growing and I'm able to put together a few simple sentences now. This can be very dangerous. When I try to communicate with Thais using full sentences and relevant words they immediately think I know a lot more than I actually do.

Example:

Tony: Sawat di krap, phom cheu Tony. (Hello, my name is Tony)
Thai Person: Sawat di krap, vsddnjkvhfdsuivcxlidsvbckx. (Hello, I have no idea what they say next.
Tony: Uhhhhh, Phom pen kruu. (I am a teacher.)
Thai person: Kruu, cddnisvfcxnvkjfdnsvioxnv. (Teacher, wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah.)
Tony: Um, Thewpaingarm. (this is the name of my school, I assume they asked where I teach)
Thai(nods in approval): cvdnjkcvuixnvkjxnjkvhdbvbcxj (No idea but I think I answered the right question earlier)
Tony: Phom yuu thinii. (I live here)

After that it goes downhill quickly. The good news is that I know a bit of Thai and I'm adding to my vocabulary quickly. I'm learning naughty words and swear words by saying English words in class and noticing snickers from the students. Apparently yet and quasar sound like bad Thai words. I have since learned what those words mean, but I'll keep that secret for people who come to visit me. I try to add one new word a day.

It's strange being a teacher. When I first started in Korea I would often get flustered and confused in front of class. Now it's like I blackout during class and some awesome teaching robot takes over. I think a teaching job is like a sales job in that everyone should have one at some point in their lives. If not for the personal rewards than for the empathy you can feel for the teachers you harassed or the sales people you ignore and despise for doing their job. There are a lot of good skills that come from the experience. Public speaking and group activities become second nature.

Food of the day is . . . . Khao Mok Gai. Curry rice with crispy shallots and chicken. Really gooooooood.

I am a total chess nerd. I've been playing online at chess.com. I usually have about 3 e-mail correspondence games going at once. It's the ultimate strategy game. Every other strategy game is basically a glorified, graphics-laden version of chess.

What's New??

Not much. After 2 weeks of swine flu scares and midterm schedule changes we are finally back to our regularly scheduled . . . . schedule? My brain isn't quite ready for these predictable weeks of classes, but my body is getting me there. Hopefully I can recall where my gym is, I haven't been in a while. I have, on the other hand, started playing tennis on (or "at" if you're British) the weekends with Dan. High school Tony was so much better than almost 28 year old Tony. I sweat a lot and my back is usually a bit sore afterward. OH YEAH, I'm almost 28! I don't really have anything planned. I might want to eat good food and play darts. Good Indian food? I think I just made my plans!!

Bangkok is finally cooling off. This is all relative of course. Cooling off means 80's at dusk. It's much more tolerable though, and my shirts are less covered in sweat these days.

Congrats to Dad on the new job for Home Depot!!! It really didn't sound like there was any benefit to working for Fireside so this is a step in a totally awesome direction. Sounds like a perfect fit.

Congrats to Mom on a full client list to keep her busy cutting hair. Sounds like you've given yourself a lot more freedom (and less stress) with this hair biz. Nice work!!

Food of the week is Pad kee mao. It's good. Everything is good.

Swine Flu

I whole heartedly agree with this graph.

Muh muh muh midterms . . . muh muh muh midterms

We have a week of midterms. This is nice. I just have to proctor a few exams (the Brits call it invigilation). I also need to grade the exams and write up some comments for my homeroom students.

I'm expecting the 2nd half of the term to go smoothly.

My bike was stolen. This sucks. It was locked to a gate but someone either cut the lock or it might not have latched properly. I am bummed. So far in my time on this planet I've had:

2 bikes stolen, a car stereo taken, and my Jeep was broken into 3 times (most likely 2 but it feels like 3). I always feel so violated when my stuff gets ripped off. Maybe this is Karma for the time I took a toy from the play room at a Racquet Club in third grade. Either way it sucks and now I'll most likely have to buy another bike. I'm contemplating a scooter, but they're a bit more expensive. It would make traveling through the horrible Bangkok traffic a lot less stressful.

I'll try to take some more pictures of my life here.

Mancation #2

Dan, Dave and I went down to Phuket to chill at the beach for our recent 5 day vacation. I didn't get too many pictures on this trip but I did salvage the memory card from the dead camera so I have a few of those pics included.

PICASA LINK

The trip was awesome. We didn't surf too much but still had a great time. Phuket has a lot of righteous beaches. Patong can get a little busy/dirty but it's not too bad either. We hit Nai Harn, Kata Noi, Kata Yai, and Karon.

Today was my first day back teaching. We ran a rock and roll themed assembly where the kids compete in Air Guitar, Rock Scream, Jump Kicks, Dance Off, and Singing. We thought singing would be a good finale but ended up going over because of it. The best part was definitely the dance off between a chubby kid spazzing out and a future flaming homosexual kid. It was the funniest dancing I've ever seen.

Tomorrow is Friday! 2 day work week! Next week is 4 days and then midterms for a little over a week!

Thailand Rules

Tony

K Pop

Is still better than American pop.

Pictures of School

and one mustache picture from Korea for fun.

Interesting Read

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/12/report_health_insurers_hold_billions_in

Interesting stuff.

I'm still alive

It's still hot here. I'm pretty sure that's a permanent thing. The food is still amazing, delivered to my door for $1.50. School is still keeping me busy. I got a bike. I will test out that new camera soon. That is all.

This time I will keep the box.

I left all of the warranty stuff for my last camera in Korea. Not very wise since they would have replaced it for free. The good news is that I upgraded and got the Olympus 1050SW camera here in Thailand.


http://www.dpreview.com/news/0808/08082501oly_1050sw.asp

It was only 6900 baht which ends up being a little over $200 US. This is almost half of what the suggested price is so I'm happy. I also got a tunic and a nice oil painting for really low prices.

Still hitting the gym when I get bored. I'm about to buy another guitar to help with the post work boredom too. I want to practice an hour a day and to learn some more complete songs.

I'm teaching Grade 9 Math, Grade 8 English, and Grade 10 Astronomy. I also have a reading group and scouts. It's all going very well. I really like teaching Astronomy. It's so interesting. We basically watch short video clips and discuss them which makes it easy to teach too.


*****To everyone with a Birthday that I've missed*****

Don't worry, you're not forgotten. I was waiting for my Korean pension to come in and it is officially in my bank account now. I will be shopping and shipping strange Asian treasures your way soon.

"Waterproof" my A$$

I've been down in the south of Thailand visiting beaches, surfing, chilling, etc. for the last 10 or so days. It was nice and awesome. I have some great pictures, but my "waterproof" camera got waterlogged and broke. I'm hoping I can put my memory card in a different camera and load the pictures into my computer. The worst part was that it broke right after we discovered a secluded lagoon that could only be reached by a pretty tough 800 m long, 300 m up climb. The water was all bright green. It was beautiful. My back got fairly burnt and is now very itchy. I will try to get tech savvy on this camera stuff and post some pictures. Until then you can only imagine.

My summer might finally end!!

Since New Years I've taught:

A 2 week English camp (2 hours a day)
One and a half weeks of English in Korea.
4 weeks of Science, Physics, and English here ins Thailand, but only 13 classes a week.

The rest of the time was vacation, most of it paid.

This is the final week of summer school, after this it will be 10 more days of paid vacation. I plan on going down south to Krabi and many other possible destinations. I have friends who I think are going to be coming down at random times to meet up as well. There's a half moon party a week from Friday on an island off of the east coast down there. This will be my first real beach experience in Thailand and I'm pretty excited.

After my next 10 day vacation the real school year will begin. This could prove to be a bit difficult to handle after all of these half-time and vacation days. I am excited to find out what classes I will be teaching and to get into a semi-normal routine.

I joined a gym and that has helped me start to get a routine going. Whenever I get tired of the one terrible English movie channel in my apartment I walk over to the gym for a quick sweat. I did a yoga class on Monday which was interesting. It was all in Thai so I was just checking out the other people in the class to discover what I had to do. Most of the moves were the same moves I've done back home. All in all it went OK. I think my weak muscles ended up being more of a hurdle than the language barrier. I haven't properly worked out in over a year. I like feeling sore again. The pain reminds me that I'm alive, haha.

So all is good over here. My favorite food of the week is . . . . . . .

Khao Bhat Tom Yum Gai. mmmmmmmm Fried rice with Chicken and Lemongrass and a ton of other awesome spices.

Get ready for a surprise!!!!!!!!!

This is a DUDE! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Another update

These are pictures of the courtyard at my apartment building. The other pictures are the restaurant that sits in the courtyard. So nice and sooooo good. Pretty cheap too. As a reference here's a video I took from the roof of my building in Korea:

Rolling With the Changes

Here are my pictures

THAILAND

I'm finally settling in to my new life over here in Bangkok. I've moved into an apartment, started teaching summer school, learned enough of the language to get by, opened a bank account, etc . . . . .

To those of you who kept pestering me (you know who you are) sorry this took so long.

Observations:

Thailand vs. Korea

Weather - Thailand
It is hot and tropical and sunny here. I need to buy more shorts and flip flops.

Internet - Korea
Korea's internet is pretty amazing. Here it is like 3rd world internet. It works half of the time at my place and in the afternoons all of the school kids playing games really mess with my download speeds.

Attitude - Thailand
People are so smiley and nice here. This may seem weird to say but they seem a lot more real than Koreans(????). I felt like Korean people were working and traveling and learning because they were supposed to, it is their duty. Here the Thai people are a lot more laid back and seem to do things that they will enjoy. When I see Koreans working they seem a little robotic. When I see Thais working they seem antsy like they really don't want to be there, which to me is a lot more real. Does anyone really like working?

Food - THAILAND!!
A: The food here is great.
B: The food here is dirt cheap.
C: Korean food is really not great. Everything tastes the same or bland.

Girls - Thailand
They seem to have more curves. Nothing wrong with that. Also they aren't as shy and giggly as Korean girls are.

Guys - Thailand
This feels a bit homosexual of me to rate the guys, but down here they have beards and mustaches and long hair. Also they don't wear as many shiny suits/ties/shirts in pastel colors . . . . . . . . AND they like Metal! They do walk around holding hands though. Must be an Asia thing. Speaking of homosexuals, it's strange to see gay couples in public again. It was weird in Korea because it's a very underground thing but the society here is a lot more open.

Crime - Korea
Thailand has a lot of scam artists. Less than I imagined but they are still here.

Scenery - Thailand
Korea did have some beautiful mountains, but I'll take beaches over mountains 80% of the time.

I could probably keep doing the comparison game for a while longer but I think my point has been made. Thailand > Korea.

My place is really nice. I decided to spend the extra 3000 baht to get a one bedroom place. I got tired of living in a one room studio. The pictures are in the album I linked to earlier. The building is a little bit off of the main road which makes it quiet but a little off the beaten path. The courtyard downstairs is really nice and there a beautiful cheap restaurant too. Rent is 11,000 baht a month which is roughly $300.

Cabs here are really cheap. I can get across town for $6. The scooter cabs are a little bit crazy but cheaper. You sit on the back of a scooter and zip between cars sucking in exhaust fumes and holding on for your life. It's pretty fun.

I'm teaching grade 10 Physics, Biology and English along with grade 8 Science for summer school. I will have different classes when the actual school year starts. Summer school is kind of like a warm up for teaching at the school, Thewphaingarm or TSEP. There are fewer classes and grades for the classes I'm teaching don't matter. It's fun teaching when kids understand most of what you say. There are a few kids that still struggle with English but for the most part they all know what's going on. That makes it a little difficult for me to know whether kids are goofing off or helping the slower students understand what's going on in class. Overall it's great.

I already know more Thai than I do Korean. I made it a point to learn the numbers ASAP. Thai is a tonal language so there are fewer words with more ways to say them. For example mai can mean five different things depending on how loud you say it or what parts you emphasize. I don't know if I'll ever get comfortable with the writing though. Their alphabet is huge and confusing.

Sawat D Krap!!

Settling in

I've been staying at Dan's house for the last week just soaking it all in. Round 2 of life abroad is a little easier to adjust to. I know what I have to learn to get by and I've almost mastered Thai numbers. School starts tomorrow so that should be a trip. I'm waiting to hear back from an apartment I made an offer to. The place is real nice, but I totally low-balled them Asia style. I know of other teachers living there for the same price I offered so I'm feeling optimistic. Dan's son Jonathan is 6 months old and pretty good. I've taken a few photos of stuff but I'm waiting to get a few more before I upload all of them. I'll be teaching Physics, Bio, English, and a few other classes this summer. More info to come!!

The End of an Era

I have officially transitioned from Korea to Thailand. After a frustrating and long plane ride I finally touched down in Thailand irritated and paranoid. Irritated by all of the Koreans that accompanied me on the plane, and paranoid from all of the shady scam jobs that I had read happened in Thailand. Also, I didn't have a VISA and wasn't sure whether or not it was required for entrance in to Thailand. After I touched down and waltzed through Immigration and customs in half the time it takes in the states I began to understand the Samai Samai (probably totally spelled wrong) attitude that is popular here in Thailand. Dan picked me up at the airport and has been giving me the lowdown ever since I got in 6 hours ago. Samai Samai is basically the same as chill or take it easy. It is the mindset here and I love it. I have another short vacation before I begin teaching again! In the next 10 days I will attempt to get situated here. I already exchanged my Korean Won to Bhat (so depressing) and got a cell phone. Life is about to get phenomenal. I ate an awesome plate of basil chicken on rice for one dollar. I have a feeling I will be doing that a lot.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I

AM

SO

CHUFFED!!!!

Haha take your pick from those meanings. Mine is a little different. Might be a little racy for the young ones.

Life is about to get 5 times way mega super very more awesomereerererererererer.

Pictures to come, if I ever remember to bring my camera places.

Transition

As I change and move so does the blog. It's becoming a part of me like The ONE RING or like in Superman 3 where the computer gets all crazy and attaches itself to the bad chick and Richard Pryor freaks out . . . . . . .

Anyhow I'm back in Korea. My school has a new "Smart Board" in the new English Zone with new EVERYTHING. The smart board is like a whiteboard except you can project your computer desktop onto it and use a magic pen to either write on it or move the mouse around and navigate your HUGE computer screen. Of course they had to finish this room of awesome multimedia after I finished most of my teaching. I will get to use it for a few weeks at least. I leave for Thailand next week. I'm excited. I am.

It's about time to begin the going away parties again. Every time I hang out with people in Korea now it will officially be a going away party. There's an official one tomorrow night. I'll try and take some pictures with my NEW CAMERA!!!! I got an obnoxious bright green Olympus u790SW:


It's pretty standard as far as pocket size digital cameras go but it was cheap and the tipping point was that it's WATERPROOF up to 3 meters and SHOCKPROOF up to five feet. I'm all about durability these days. I'm unpacking it now, I wish they wouldn't use so much packaging material. Save the planet man.

Note: I learned today that Jehova's Witnesses prefer the King James Bible because they keep the name Jehova in the Bible instead of replacing it with the that icky generic word God. I thought this Korean dude just really wanted to be my friend when I walked by with Lamb of God blaring in my head phones and he started talking to me while carrying his 19 month old daughter like a football. This was quite the site since I maintain a pace about twice that of the average Korean while walking through town. He proceeded to dump the kid off on his wife and follow me for at least ten blocks making conversation. He was asking all kinds of leading questions like "You say you like to travel, are you searching for something?" Hahaha. After all that I had to humor him while he got out his bible and showed me about 5 verses that did indeed contain words that I had used in our conversation like happiness and money. Apparently I'm a Jehovas Witness and I didn't even know it! Time to abandon all holidays and devote all of my time to the scriptures.

The great part was when I had to tell him what their website is (I used deductive reasoning skills to guess):

www.watchtower.org

Mama I'm Comin' Home (for a few weeks)

I'm coming home to visit for about 12 days and I'm pretty excited. Things that I am excited for

Family
Friends
Mcmenamins
Real Beer
Waves/surfing
Vegan Breakfast
Cliff Bars
the ability to eavesdrop
the ability to read signs
Sane traffic
Clean Air
Blazers Games on a real TV
Diversity
Boiler Room

Portland, here I come!!!!

It's On

Thailand is a go. I should be starting in Bangkok around March 24th. I will be teaching at Thewphaingarm school english program, or TSEP (http://www.tsep.in.th/). My schedule is pretty chill for a while. I won't be teaching again until the first couple of weeks of March. I think I'll be fulfilling my contract to the letter by teaching for those first 2 weeks of March here in Korea. After this I will fly directly to Thailand. Due to this I think I'll end up coming home to visit during the second half of February and I'm really excited.

This weekend is Chinese new years. I have no real plan but I will have fun.

It's cold here. There's no precipitation but it's still freezing. I am excited to move to tropical Thailand.

Winter Camp

It has officially started. My camp is mostly boys, 6th grade boys to be exact. They are pretty good for the most part. I'm so unmotivated though, it's like this camp is the Friday of my year. The last day of the work week when you know tomorrow is Saturday and that nothing substantial is going to get done. After this I am on vacation for at least a month, getting paid for most of it. They might have me come in mornings for a few weeks but I won't be required to do anything. That's one good part of changing jobs often. They really can't dictate how much vacation I get if I quit! After this it's hopefully Thailand but not before I take some Tony time to chill out and ponder things. So it's 8 days and counting until I'm one step closer to freedom.

GREAT SCOTT!!!