Travel Bites

The reason I've been a little MIA from my blog-I left the Teach Abroad Program after the first term to accommodate my friend that came to live with me in Thailand. I'm a Teach Alumni, and now that I'm on my own heres what happened-after 2 months of just settling for where I was and what I was doing I decided to be drastic! I quit my job, got kicked out of my house and found my self in a place I just didn’t want to be. Let me rewind.

I moved to a new city to work. Hat Yai. I didn’t know much about the town when I moved there but I took a leap, packed up everything and caught a plane to the south of Thailand. My previous job was incredible and in an amazing place. I was living in Sattahip, a small town below Bangkok. My home was on the Royal Thai Marine Base teaching wonderful little 4 year olds surrounded by amazing people. For many reason, I decided to try something new. So I left. When I got to Hat Yai it was like a culture shock! And I was in the same country! There were definitely nice people but few and far between. Though I made sure to try and surround my self with those kind hearted people including my friend who moved all the way out here. I tried to stay positive. Then I started teaching at a school where the teachers hated me because I was new and a foreigner. But again, tried to stay positive. I loved the kids I taught. They knew that, the teachers knew that and the parents knew that. So that made it worth it. Then after 2 months I had a run in with my boss. She had been fine before that. I ignored all the rumors I heard about how nasty and crazy she was. But one day she flipped her switch and went totally nuts on me! This whole thing started because I had turned in my grades from midterm and I hadn't gotten the message that I was not allowed to fail a kid even if they didn't write one answer. With in 5 days, she had called me into her office, screamed and shouted as much as she could. Then followed me down the street on her motorbike just to yell at me some more. When I decided to stick it out until the end of term, for the kids, she then walked in my house. No knocking, no calling before hand, just walked right in. The yelling, on her part, began again. There was never any point to fight back or stand up for my self when she called me stupid because the woman just start flipping out more. That was it. The moment she came into my personal space I knew I had to quit. If she thought she was able to go that far than there was nowhere I could go to avoid this woman. The next day I quit. Well long story short, she was the signer on the lease for the house my friend and I were living in. When I quit and she lost it, again, and we found ourselves on the street the very next day with our bags backed and sitting on the side walk. (This was illegal by the way but we just wanted to get as far away from her as fast as possible!) After checking into a hotel, then finding a 1-bedroom apartment we were free!!

Again, what happens when it all goes awfully wrong? Smile!! My now boyfriend decided he is going to come out to visit me since I no longer had work. He is coming out before the end of term. So I set out looking for some part time work. A week and a half later I found a new full time job. The school was desperate for a teacher even if it would only be for one month and I would be leaving before the term ended. What’s the catch? I’d have to move again, but this time to an even smaller town that I knew nothing about. The only things I had heard was that is was small, boring, there was nothing to do and almost no foreigners. So I took it. Don’t ask me why.

Smile. I’m here now. Sitting on my porch. I wake up to the sounds of roosters yelling at me not to be late. Now going to sleep, listening to the daily intercom chants from the mosque close to the house. The sky is beautiful and the sunsets are even better when they fall behind light clouds and swaying palm trees. It brings in a cool breeze that makes the heat of the day worth it. I'm looking up. I can actually see stars?? Perfect. With maybe 2 scattered clouds, the bright moon and stars shining through palm leaves against the black sky; an image I will never forget. I have no one to speak English to on a regular basis. I’m alone. Smile. The biggest event since I've been here was the rice cropping ceremony that was put on by my school.

It had maybe 50 students and 10 teachers. The parents, local towns people, the governor and a camera crew all came. It’s the country! After school and on the weekends I take out my motorbike and just enjoy the mountains and the breeze. I might be alone but there hasn’t been a day yet where I feel alone. Some times we just need to get away from it all. I have a school where they respect me, students who come running across the school just to say hi and shake my hand. Sure there are those tough days when a class of 45 12 year olds don't feel like listening and try and create chaos! I'm tired, have a soar throat from trying to shout over them but at the end of the day, it ok. The teachers eat lunch with me even though we don’t speak the same language and a town that’s not only beautiful itself but the nicest people who fill it up.

The town has only one main road and I do all my shopping at the local market. I live with this lady and her daughter at her children day care/home. She had an extra room and it was perfect. This woman is so incredibly sweet. She brings me breakfast before I go to school just to make sure I eat. She takes me places on the weekend to make sure I don't feel lonely and so I experience the cute town. For example, she took me to this crab farm where we caught and ate our own crab!

This was just one weekend. It will be incredibly sad to say good-bye so soon but I am so happy I’m here and I’m lucky that I said yes. And smiled!

"What happens when you hold up a cat and drop it? It lands on its feet."-My dad

There are some stories that must be told and after I constantly tell people about this particular one, I realized it wasn't on here! What do you think about this?

About 2 months ago my parents came to visit. One place we went of course was Ayutthaya, the ancient city. (Click here for info on this location...) I had emptied out my entire wallet so I wasn't carrying around unnecessary papers. I slipped it in the drawer of the night stand in the hotel room. We did our tour and two days later got on a plane for our next adventure. I pulled out my wallet once we got on and there it was, the reminder that my entire semesters savings were sitting back in the hotel room. Right away the attendant realized I was freaking out and came over right away. With in minutes she was on the phone with the hotel and they had arranged for an email conversation with me and the hotel owner, as well as arranging a place to mail my things if they found it. In the states, how likely would this be that my things were still there. The plane landed and the flight attendant gave me her phone number and wished me luck. The next day I received an email from the woman at the hotel to inform me of the exact contents that were found which included 9,120 baht, 2 credit cards and business cards. They hadn't touched a penny! Or I suppose a baht! Ha. We had arranged a time and place to mail my things and that was that. These people were already amazing to me for not taking any of it. Then I got another email a few days before we were heading back to Bangkok, anxiously waiting to get my money back, that read they thought it would be best to hand deliver my package due to its contents. The last morning of the trip, I sat in the lobby and out in the rain pulled up a bright pink taxi. I boy popped out, couldn't be any older than me, and ran in the door wiping off his shirt. The boy handed me the lil package.

He stood there while I untied the string on the package. Inside was another package. I ripped that right open. Finally after the layers had been peeled I pulled out the contents in the manila envelope. In my hands, exactly as I had put it in the drawer, was a stake of papers, money and credit cards. I'd never been so happy. The hotel literally had this boy drive two hours from Ayutthaya to my hotel. I definitely paid for his two hour taxi ride back and something for actually bringing it too me! But even more I couldn't believe there had been people that would be so honest and go to such lengths to return my things back safely. There are some incredible people here that make me just LOVE Thailand and the wonderful individuals I seem to keep meeting!

This is a theme I’ve come across with many Thai exams. I can’t speak or all schools, but I have heard this a lot and am now experiencing it first hand. Thai schools-full of cheating and fake grades. I’ve given my first set of exams and it was all bad! The students will do what ever it takes to cheat. They aren't even hiding the fact that they are cheating, they just do it! I’ve asked other teachers about this and they all have said the same thing. I even talked to foreigners who have lived here for a few years and they go to the extreme to say that the cheating is so well known that they won't even go to the hospitals here for anything major because they wouldn’t want to have surgery from people who cheated their way through their medical exams. That's a bit extreme, but you get the idea. My students looked confused when I told them there would be NO cheating in my class. Like this was the first time anyone has ever said it. Now I graded the exams. The range of grades landed anywhere from .5 out of 46 to 46 out of 46. I presented this to my employer and I am now facing major consequences. I am not allowed to fail any students. Even if a student didn't fill out the exam, I must pass them with a 50%. What's the point of giving students exams if they just think they are going to pass anyway. This isn’t fare by any means! So, reluctantly I had to raise all my grades so that everyone passed. Ok, I've unfortunately accepted this.

It seems that since I got to Thailand I have been given an enormous amount of luck. First with being put on the Royal Thai Marine base and been shown an amazing amount of respect as a teacher. I made great friends and was taken care of by everyone I knew and didn’t know for that matter. I was worried about moving to a whole new school, new students, new teachers, and new town. Nothing about it is familiar or comfortable. But it’s supposed to be an adventure right? First day of school went on with out a hitch. Not only am I teaching a whole new age group, but also I have my own Thai assistant, and my own classroom that she brings the students to everyday. I’m decorating the room with the children’s work and drawings too. The classroom is beautiful with bright colors painted on the walls.

Actually the school its self is painted pink and blue and orange. It’s amazing. The difference in the student’s behavior is a complete 180 from my old school too. These students actually pay attention and want to learn. Well, most of the time. I only have 30 in each class instead of the 45 before. This makes a world of difference. And the greatest feeling about it all is when I go to lunch and 6 or 7 students will sit next to me and try and speak English. Well the extent of the transaction is them point to something and saying, “flower, chicken, pig, blue, pink, ice cream.” Then they follow me back to the classroom the rest of my break period. When they finally have to leave they wrap their little arms around my waist and give me a big hug. Then there’s my schedule. I don’t start work on Mondays until 12:30. On Thursdays and Fridays I finish at 1:30 and the rest of the week I start ay 8:30 and finished at 3:30. It’s just perfect. The only down side I see so far is that since I’m only at school the hours I have class and I have my own room, I don’t get to interact with the other Thai teachers and that was something I really enjoyed at my last school. It’s like I come for the job then leave. Though there is one teacher who is incredibly nice. Most mornings he either brings me iced tea in the little plastic bags that people drink out of here or a bag of fruit. So I’m sure I just have to give it some time and I’ll have gotten to know the others fairly well. I hope. It’s only been a week and I’m so glad I made a change to try a new challenge. I’m going into this taking it head on!

I don't want to discredit my experience in Thailand because every bit has been amazing! I don't take back anything I've said so far. But I now realize that the place you live and the people you meet are what make up most of your experiences here. I was hit with some rude slaps in the face. Not literally but it might as well have been. I guess I was just blinded by my old town where everyone would extend the kindest gestures. Though they stared like hawks, at least it was with a smile on their face. However, most days I spend here in Hat Yai I realize that certainly is not the case. Some times my roommate and I will go into the grocery store and we get these glares from people like, “Geez, another farang.” Not like this is any different from places in America but it feels more threatening here since we don’t speak the language, though I try to use Thai every opportunity I get. They just do not care. I must rant about this because I feel like I have been in this kindness bubble for the last five months and it just got popped in a matter of days.

Here is a perfect example of the thought process of Thai people where I am living. Not all, but you know it is those rude ones that puts the nice ones in a shadow. My roommate and I decided to get a house. We signed the lease, fully furnished, at a little higher rate than it should be but we are foreigners so they raised the rent of course. We had not even been in the house two nights yet when five people came right in the house saying they rented the house last month and “left a few things”. Well, then they all made their way up stairs, which was weird, and started to claim that a few of the mattresses and one of the bed frames were theirs. I am sorry but that is not “a few things”. That is my bed! It was so overwhelming with this pushy Thai woman, another few friends and the landlords’ daughter. By the end, they had walked right out the door with one of our mattresses and said they would come back in a week for the others. It all happened so fast there was no way to stop it really. Now that I have slept on it and looked back on the situation, they had totally taken advantage of us. We were the new farang that had moved in so they assumed they could just start coming in and taking our things. I will have to wait a few days to see what happens but now I lay here on a cardboard mattress.

Oh and just this morning I went to school on the usually red colored song taw. It cost 12 baht. I know that since I take it everyday. But this was the second time the driver decides that the farang is stupid and wont notice getting the wrong change back. It was only two baht he didn’t give back, which is nothing but it is the principle of the thing. Trying to rip off the foreigner for even just two baht. How sad!

This really is unfortunate. I talked to another foreigner about this and she completely agreed. It’s almost like there are people here that are so bothered by some foreigners that they take it out on all of us. She said, “Come on, you don’t even know me! I’m such a nice person but they will never find that out because they are too busy putting a wall up.”

PS. I feel as though I should give credit to those who do take care of us. The teacher who brings me snacks and drinks every morning, the restaurant owner who gave me and my room mate a ride home when he saw us walking down the street, and my sweet Thai assistant that helps me with anything I need even if it doesn’t relate to work.

It's all a matter of where you get placed. I suppose no matter where you go there are always exceptions and I should point that out since my previous blogs have been all flowers and rainbows.

The first week I got here I met these amazing people who are from Egypt. They moved out to Thailand a few years ago and are both teachers as well. Jessi and I went out to dinner with them and after just 1 day they extended us an invitation to stay with them until we moved into our new place. This was great! That means we would move out of the hotel a few days early and save some money. So for three days we were able to live in a home with these two people, their baby and a cute puppy that was just born two weeks ago. We have made some great friends already and was wonderful to be welcomed in to this new hectic town.

Now just yesterday, our new Filipino friends, also teachers, had a little BBQ for us to celebrate Thanksgiving since Jessi and I will be missing our own families this year for the holidays. There are no turkeys out here but the two chickens they bought us with ribs and bread definitely did the job. It was a week before the actual holiday but it was so nice to have people that we just met thinking about us like this.

All of us farang have at least one thing in common; were all teachers! And we must stick together. Its so nice to see people from all over the world come together and be friends. I have met some incredible and generous people out here. I recommend this experience to anyone!

I've been living, teaching, and traveling in Thailand for six months now and culture shock has finally set in. I’ve seen pretty interesting things, met interesting people and done interesting things since I got here half a year ago. But as I make my way around my new home in the south of Thailand, Hat Yai, I realize I’m in a whole new world. Jessi, my old college friend and new roommate, and I got in two days ago. The first night I noticed a huge change from Sattahip, my old teaching town. There is a good amount of expat’s here. A noticeable difference from living on a military base in a quite town where my old roommate and I were the only foreigners. Now, starting my new life in what people call “The Bangkok of the South”, I can tell I’m going to enjoy myself in a whole new way. There are real restaurants, bars and cafes I can spend my time. Another huge difference here is that the town is made up of Chinese, Muslim’s and Thai’s. So I’m going to be getting a lot of culture here. Though, unlike Bangkok, there’s a whole lot less smell, smog and traffic.

Our second night in Hat Yai, Jessi and I went to the Chinese Vegetarian Festival. A lady we had met here told us there’s lots of great food and activities. We would probably even see people walking on coals. That sounded fun and entertaining. Our first new cultural experience. Did we see anyone walking on coals you ask? Oh no. But what we did see might leave me with nightmares for a while. The first crowd we came to were people wearing interesting garments literally looking like they were having seizures or were even possessed. Painting on people’s foreheads and sticking their hands in boiling oil were just a few of the things we saw. The next crowd got even more intense. About four boys were covered in red. At first I thought it was the paint from before but then I saw what they were doing. One boy, bare-chested, walks back into the crowd then comes running out and slides head first into a huge pile of broken glass. I looked at all the boys and they were covered in blood! Through out this “show”, they would have the boys jumping off tables into the pit of glass. Some boys were even tossing others up and down into the pile. One guy went as far as to sit in the dull, rusty, sparkles throwing glass on his face. After Jessi and I were taken out of our own trances, we turned and left the circle. We dared to look over at a new crowd. Bad idea. From where we were standing it looked like they were pulling out their teeth. Making quick jerking motions across their face. Until we looked closer from another angle. These boys, standing there shaking in the hypnotic way that many of these people seemed to be in, had axes in their hands ripping it across their tongues. They were literally cutting their tongues. We didn’t stay more than 10 seconds knowing we would be haunted that night of nasty images of blood and heads spinning in circles. Straight out of a horror film!

Set in this funky mood we decided to go straight back to the hotel and watch a movie. We have been staying in this hotel since we got to Hat Yai until we were able to find a place to live. It’s been interesting living in this hotel. Even the staff already knows us. But great news! We saw a house yesterday that our friend found us. Normally teachers don’t get a house since usually they aren’t staying for very long and the houses aren’t furnished. But some how we got connected to this awesome 3-bedroom house in a little neighborhood, fully furnished. Apparently the teachers living there are all moving out and leaving everything. It’s perfect. But we can’t move into the place until the 1st of November. Which leaves us making a home for our selves in this hotel room for the next 2 weeks. And thus begins my life for the next 5 months.

PS-As I was on my way to the Internet café to post this, Jessi and I were stopped by a passing parade. It was that darn Chinese Festival again. We happened to be on the corner where the parade would stop and people would do their rituals. Not only did we get 6 people taking blades and cutting their tongues, boys who were covered in blood from the glass they threw them selves in, but we got to see a whole new crazy ritual. Mostly men and a few women were walking by with medal rods stuck through their cheeks. All the way through! Most had poles with signs hanging off them. Not just medal rods though. One guy had three samurai swords and another had a bike! Each one of these guys would have another person standing next to them squirting water on their mouths to wash off any blood. At least 50 people walked by before Jessi and I decided we had to leave before we got sick. Not to say anything against their culture but to watch little boys and men my age mutilate themselves for a cultural festival, well I just can’t see what’s right in that. That was an interesting welcome to this new town. We’ll see how it goes.

I just realized that five months is over in less than a week. It feels like so long ago that I was here but at the time has seemed to fly by way to fast! I’ve grown incredibly close to so many people here. Have you ever had that bipolar feeling of being intensely sad but then the next moment being completely happy!? At one moment I’m sad I have to leave every thing. But then another moment I’m so happy I got to even be here and have one of the greatest experiences! Here have been some random events during my time living in Sattahip on the Royal Thai Marine Corp base.

I helped a girl out with her English homework one night and ever since, the family has been incredibly generous and invited me over to their house to eat amazing home cooked Thai dinners. They took my roommate and me to the local fair with the whole family and some friends. One of them won me two cute stuffed animals. Later that week he was moving to a new base so he invited me out to the beach with him and his friends for a going away party. Another great friend takes me out to dinner, to use the Internet at his office, and brings us food whenever he thinks about it. Once he took me to a party after sports week and I was, of course, the only girl there seeing that this place is all men. Their faces were priceless when I walked in with him. All stunned to see the farang there. Then I got to sit at the officer’s table, which is a huge deal here! His friend last week took us to karaoke and even once to his base to have a bb gunfight on a real playing field for the Marines. We got all dressed up in their camo uniforms and everything! Imagine paint ball fight except this was in the dark with little tiny pellets. Then they took us to dinner and dessert to celebrate him being promoted to a very high-ranking officer.

With just those people, my stay here would have been more than warm and welcome. But the list continues! If Julia and I are ever walking somewhere on base a soldier will pull over and pick us up whether he speaks English or not. They always seem to know where we live. Some how that strikes me as very interesting and creepy at the same time. My favorite is when I’m sitting on the beach on the weekends. I’ll have my headphones on, reading a book and just enjoying the beautiful weather when out of no where I can hear a faint voice beside me. I always have a random person come up and start talking, asking me questions. They are so sweet and just want to speak English or meet the foreigner so they get up the courage to come talk. The Thai people are just so intrigued by foreigners.

Oh and yesterday I went to the massage place that Julia and I have been a frequent customer. Julia went in and I decided to wait for her and not get anything done. For the hour I was out in the front, I sat in the best massage chair I’ve ever sat in. Then they made me an iced espresso outside at their drink stand. When I asked how much, she just smile and said, “For you free.” Then she came back with a little bag with an amazing bracelet of beads from Brazil. She apparently makes jewelry as well and gave me one of her pieces. Also in the bag were Buddha “coins” that everyone wears. She noticed I had nothing to put it on so in 2 minutes she made me an adjustable string necklace. She told me it was for her friend; me. We exchanged email addresses and chatted the rest of the time through an English-Thai computer dictionary. I have a feeling they don’t do all this for their normal customers but that’s just how nice they are to foreigners, they always want to make sure we are happy! It’s been absolutely amazing here. And that’s just my life outside of school. Which is only half of my life in Sattahip.

The people at school that I teach with are some of the nicest I’ve met. We always sit around and chat about life, school, Thailand, travels, the children and so much more. This is all by the way in very, very little English. I teach kindergarten which is in a different building so I’m always around the same teachers. If I have a mosquito bite, they will go get something to take away the itch. If I have a headache they’ll get me medicine and if I have a little time before class, they’ll make me try all types of foods, drinks and desserts. The other day one of the teachers invited me to her hometown with a couple of the other kindergarten teachers. Incredible! Now, for the reason I’m here. The kids of course!

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Every day I walk up to the sliding gate and I’m welcomed by little shrieks from the students in their adorable uniforms. “TEACHERRRRRR!!! DENELLEEEEE. TEACHERRRRR!!!” It’s too adorable to ignore. They run up and want me to give them high fives or they’ll just attach themselves to me legs. In class they’ve gotten used to my teaching. They cheer when I do a game or teaching method they enjoy. The kids will sit and try to talk to me in Thai even though I still don’t speak much of the language yet. Although, after a while of hearing the teachers speak to them, I’ve caught on to some words, so when a student comes and asks me a question and I here a certain word in their sentence, I can at least tell them yes or no to their question. But to try and help me out they will point and make gesture. The most adorable part is during nap time. They sleep on little pink blankets and are sprawled out in the most awkward positions.

It’s so cute that sometimes I go over to the building just to hang out in the room. The other Thai teachers don’t understand or sometimes think it’s a little weird that kids that I know or even some I don’t will come up and hug me in the halls. It’s hilarious because they only come up to my legs. I’m guessing the kids don’t get this kind of attention from anyone. Even when they say bye to their parents in the morning, they bow. So something as small as hugs, hand shakes and high fives are extremely exciting for them. I’m going to miss them so much!

This last week will be concluded with what else than parties! First, the school was supposed to have a dinner for us on the last Friday with the teachers from school. But the soldiers at the Navy where we also teach some times wanted to have a bigger party so they called the school, had the dinner moved to lunch on Thursday and then planned to have their party for us on Friday with a dinner on the beach! If you can believe this they even put included it into their party budget. (Yes, the base has a party budget. haha)

We have been so lucky to be here. We are the first and only foreigner to live on the base, ever! So we get extra attention and care from everyone. Not just people at the school but also the soldiers that live on the base. It’s only been five months but I’ve grown so attached to everything in Sattahip that I’m genuinely sad to leave this extraordinary place, amazing people and even better friends. I hope that I don’t lose contact with them and that one-day I’ll be able to come back and visit. I will never forget my time here.

Sorry, no tips on this one, just my thanks and appreciation to everyone who has been so great and supportive of my blog. My time here has been so amazing that I have decided to stay in Thailand for another term. But I will be moved to a new school in the Southern part of Thailand. Be sure to come back and look for more amazing times from here in South East Asia. I’m Denelle Plummer and this will be my last entry from Sattahip, Thailand. Good night and good luck. Peace!

The other day I was teaching transportation. Kids learned words like car and taxi, helicopter and airplane. The next day I come back to school and some students had drawn pictures of helicopters on the wall outside! That day I taught more words such as train and boat. Can you guess what happened next? A student had drawn a picture next to the helicopter of a boat. I’m not sure if any of the teachers have seen this crayon drawing yet but I thought it was so cute, I’m not mentioning it!

Tip #1-Have fun teaching! You’ll be memorable enough for kids to want to sketch out your lesson plans on the buildings at school.

At some point being an English teacher in Thailand will give you the chance to participate in something called English Camps. They are a world of their own! I’ll have done three different ones by the time I finished my first semester. Companies all over Thailand look for foreign teachers to join them for the weekend. It’s a chance to create a completely fun environment while learning English. One thing to understand about Thailand, since it is not even close to how we learn in America, is that they base a lot of their education on games, songs and fun. I understand the kindergarten classes being filled with dancing and singing but when I was 16, I don’t ever remember playing games in school. I’ve done English Camps for every age from 8 to 17. With the 7 year olds, we sang songs for an hour, had learning sessions with poster boards for another hour then had them get up and give presentations of the vocabulary they learned combined with their own posters they made. Oh and how could I forget, we played games for the rest of the time! That seemed a lot more normal for that age. But when I did a camp with the 17 year olds it was so amusing. We got to the camp and the school canceled the actual learning English part and decided to play games the entire 6 hours. We played games like Name That Celebrity, Question Your Leader, and my absolute favorite, Pass the Bomb. This is where we all stand in a circle and while the music plays we pass around things like lipstick, eye shadow, and lip liner. Sound strange yet? When the music stops the leader tells the person holding the item what to do with it. “Turn to the person on your right and put as much of your make up on their face.” Music plays again…STOP! “Turn to your left and draw on that person.” Music plays again…STOP! “Take the make up and give it to you friend. Now have your friend put all the make up on your own face!” It was hilarious! All this is the normal learning process at English camps. The last one I did was amazing and stressful all at the same time. Julia and I went to a 3 day Camp at a golf resort! They put us up in a hotel, fed us the whole weekend and all we had to do was keep up 3 days of energy! This camp was completely different. 2 of the days were get to know you games, a talent show and a cool Fun Fair where the students set up booths and we had to go around spending fake money playing carnival games. But 1 of the days was total over board. The second day there they spend 6 hours straight doing English learning. They had a book that they had to complete by the end of the class and I would have to grade them on it. The weekend had a theme called MoSo. Moderation Society. It focused on how to save energy, recycling and more things along those lines. The kids didn’t really want to pay any attention at all. And the hardest part was that the company didn’t explain to any of the staff what it all meant so we were trying to teach them about this topic that we didn’t understand fully our selves. The most ironic part of it all was when they were given an activity to build a roller coaster out of straws and tape. Now, they were just learning about recycling and cutting down on the materials they use in their lives though they used 1000’s of plastic straws to play a game. Ummm….interesting. Well, it all worked out in the end. English Camps…don’t you wish you had this in high school?

Tip #1-Have fun and appreciate the learning differences in Thailand. It’s like being a camp counselor. And what’s better than getting to be a kid again!

I tried to cut this story down a few times but I just can’t find a place to delete. And to think, I wasn’t even going to go on this trip. After visiting Chiang Mai I’ve decided if I were to live anywhere it might be there. When I got to Chiang Mai I instantly felt like a part of the city. I’m a pretty laid back person and this town was overflowing with "hippie" types. Not only did I love the vibe but there were so many activities to do. They have Muay Thai, hiking trips and yoga. And I have this image if I lived there that after school I would go into town and just sit in a cafe and people watch for hours or talk to the locals.

The first day in Chiang Mai I just walked around town. Visited some Wat’s, and just got to know the town a little. Behind this wall was a woman painting amazing pictures of Thailand. They were so beautiful I bought two great ones. The market there was also amazing. Everything was crazy cheap and authentic to the north. It took a lot of will power to walk past with out buying everything! That night was the Queens birthday so to celebrate I went to my first muay thai fight. It was international night. Sometimes the Thai’s fight very slow, kick a lot then slow down again. But the minute the first international fighter stepped up he whipped out punches that are more than the Thai fighters are used too. Changed it up a bit. And within the second round, the Thai fighter was laying on the floor. It was a great fight. Very exciting. I left about 12am and it wasn’t even over. But I had to get to sleep to prepare for a very active day.

The next morning I left bright and early for a two day trek. We took an hour sawngthaew ride to the elephant camp. We had an uneven number of people so I volunteered to sit on the Elephants neck instead of the bench. Though I was quickly moved to sitting on his head. I really never knew how tall an elephant was until I sat on its head with nowhere to put my feet or grab on to with my hands. Five minutes into the trip two Elephants in front of me decided it would be a brilliant idea to get in a fight. One jumped on the other, standing on his back legs, which threw off the Thai guy leading him. Needless to say, the four tourists that happened to be on the Elephants at the time probably wont be getting on any large animals any time soon.

We were on to our next adventure where we would spend the night-the Lacu hill-tribe village. The guide handed us a hiking stick that was made of bamboo. We started walking down a street and I have to admit that I was making fun of these wimpy little sticks that seemed to be getting in the way more than helping. We all laughed about it thinking they gave them to us to make it more touristy. Well I wasn’t laughing anymore after two hours off the street and into the mountains. These little sticks serious kept me alive I swear! I exercise, somehow, almost everyday but this trek really kicked my butt. We were going through rough terrain, rivers, and insane foliage. Take an image of Vietnam and land covered in green. The plants snaking up the trees covering everything in their path. That’s kind of what we had to hike through. And two hours in I was covered in so much sweat that it looked like I had just stood in the rain. And yes, I paid to do this. We finally made it to the village on the top of the mountain with my sturdy bamboo stick holding me up. When I turned around to look down at what I had just accomplished my jaw dropped. It was the most gorgeous view. It was a beautiful green sight for miles. There were mini villages on each mountain that looked like the most peaceful places on earth. I could have stood there for hours until I realized I was standing in the rain. I got inside this amazing home. It was made of all bamboo, the floors, walls, and ceiling. All this was resting on bamboo stilts. The huts were perfectly crafted. I took a shower in a grass and bamboo hut with a door on one side and half open on the other. It could have been a little creepy except it was open to the other mountains. No one would be able to see me but I had the most amazing view. I finished but had no towel and had to put on the only change of clothes I was saving them for the next day. Oh well!

We all went inside and hung out for a few hours while the villagers made dinner. It was in this little room with a fire pit a huge pot, the same room they sleep in. Dinner was served in a big circle on the floor. We all sat there taking in the simplicity of life. When we were finished eating we laid back and relaxed while one of the locals played guitar and sang some great songs in Thai and English. Everyone was sitting with the people they came with and although I had made friends with them, I was still by my self. The other local guy sitting next to the guitarist kept signaling to me about this broken guitar in front of him. He would do some more hand gestures and laugh like crazy. He finally came over and handed me the broken guitar and turned it over. Apparently this is what they used for a drum. That and a soda can. He handed me two sticks and for the next hour I played drums right along with the music. It was ridiculous but seriously so much fun. I found out very soon after that the laughing Thai guy was actually deaf. I literally sat there for hours "talking" with a deaf Thai guy and no one could figure out how I could understand him, but somehow it just worked. After all the singing, and music dwindled down, everyone went to bed. Well, everyone except the deaf guy, the guitarist, one other tourist, and me. When would I ever get to sit with local tribe people and have a conversation? So I took the opportunity. It was extraordinary. This 21 year-old guitar player named Bo escaped from Tibet with his family when he was younger. He was never able to go to school. He learned how to speak English from tourist. Though by tourist I mean the ones that come up to the village because he rarely ever leaves the mountain to go into the city. He had an amazing story. Right before I went to bed the deaf guy told his friend to tell me he loved me. It was the most adorable thing I’ve ever heard or seen. I sat there while they tried to remember how to write in Thai "I love you." They invited me to come back for Song Kran, the Thai New Year. It’s basically a three-day water-fight. How crazy would that be! I was sure to take pictures with them and told them if I was able to come back, which I’m going to try my hardest to do, that I’d bring back the pictures. I finally went to bed on a mat on the floor and a lovely pink mosquito netting around me. As awful as that sounds to some people, I absolutely loved it! Not saying I don’t miss my insanely comfortable feather bed at home, but to be able to experience this makes me realize I don’t need that feather bed at home.

The next morning I woke up and there were pots of tea and coffee waiting for us on the fire pit. I grabbed a mug, poured some hot tea, and stepped outside. It was so surreal. The mountains were covered in fog. I sat there on the bamboo floor and just watched this fog. It felt like it was everywhere except where I was sitting. I could see it moving past my feet. I got a second and third cup and just watched the flag being still in the mist. I decided to go wondering around the village and see the places that weren’t near foreigners. I found little kids playing with dirt, clothes hanging on strings to dry, and a man preparing food in baskets. It’s so hard to describe.

After the hard boiled egg and toast breakfast, we had to pack up and leave our little hut. We hiked back down the mountain that was even more dangerous since it had just rained but most of us made it down safely. We finally got to the waterfall in the middle of nowhere. Instead of jumping in, I sat with a Thai guy named Phosit and watched him carve things out of bamboo. He was a really sweet person. Right before I left, Phosit gave me what he had just created. He had made me an awesome cup and butter knife. Phosit lived in the village with Bo so I told him about my plans to come back. Hopefully I’ll learn more Thai before I go back to visit my new friends.

Our group made it to our next destination. White-water rafting. I had been through much harder rapids before but when it started raining I should have known better than to think this was going to be completely safe. Going down was fun. Water was splashing everywhere and we were making a game out of trying to beat the other group in front of us. When it came time for the big drop, we paddled hard and fast. But something went wrong. Our raft hit a rock. Instead of it hitting then just going around, our raft lifted up onto the rock. There was so much force in the water that it just kept pushing it up, up, up. We were all hanging on to the side of the boat that was now completely vertical. 1, 2, 3 and the boat flipped over. It didn’t just flip over and we floated down the river though. It had turned over on top on me and two other girls. We were trapped underneath the boat, caught under the water. I opened my eyes but all I could see was brown. I was being thrashed around so many times I didn’t know which way was up anymore. Before I could get out from under the raft, I smashed into the rocks on the way down. It’s been two weeks and I still have my scrapes and bruises. I kept pushing up on the boat trying to get my self out but it wasn’t until I got to the bottom of the rapid that the boat went over me and down the river. My whole left side was bashed up but I had to get out of the water before I went into more rapids. The life vest didn’t seem to help too much since the water kept pulling me under and this extra weight was just making it harder to pull my self out. I swam as hard as possible over to the right side toward some rocks. Except the only problem was everyone was on the left side. Here I am stuck holding onto a rock on the opposite side of the river. I’ve noticed Thai people are amazing at trying to rescue people but they seemed pretty stuck on this one. After about 15 minutes, felt like 30, a Thai guy dove into the water through the rapids and by some miracle got to the other side. My side. I told him I would just swim across. He looked at me with this look like, "really? You think you can?" Right as I was about to let go another raft came down and they saw me. The guys in the raft paddled as hard as they could and in the last minute stuck out a paddle for me. I grabbed it and in two seconds I was pulled into the boat. Lucky?! I had to take a few breaths and throw up some nasty water before I could put a smile back on my face. I introduced my self to the people in the boat and thanked them for helping me. Since everyone else that had gotten caught in the water was hysterical, with very good reason to be, the guys in the boat wondered how I could be sitting there, happy and laughing with them. All I can say is that it was a terrifying experience and instead of something much worse happening I was lucky enough to be able to sit there laughing with them.

Over the next two days, once I got back in town, was when I got to see the people in Chiang Mai. It was one of the big reasons why I loved it so much. Here's a great story about a night at a reggae bar and the type of people that live in this town.

I was insanely lost walking around the city for about 30 minutes trying to find the cafe my friend was waiting for me in. I walked into a lounge/bar called Rasta Bar. A man came up and asked me if he could help me. I was looking for some hot tea. Well this was a bar so that was a no. But the guy insisted that I stay anyway and hang out with him and his friends. After I told him I had to meet up with my friend he told me to promise I would come back. I laughed, said ok, and left. 15 minutes later I finally found the cafe. My friend and I chatted about the crazy adventurers we had in the last two days and a couple hours later we parted ways. As I was making my way back to the guesthouse, the right way this time, I had this sudden thought to turn around and go back to the bar. It was 12:00 am. I could either go to sleep or walk into a blind situation and see what happens. Why not! So I walked 20 minutes back in the wrong direction to go meet up with some people that I didn’t know and that might not be there anymore. When I got there, they were sitting in the exact same spot. Turns out the guys that I sat with were the two owners of the bar/bartender and head of the band. The night turned out to be amazing! When the bar shut town they asked me to hang out. I stayed there until 5:00 am with them and seven of their friends. They were all Thai and most barely spoke English but they tried. The night was filled with craziness and laughing. They drove me back to the guesthouse. I seriously had so much fun that I went back the next night too. I definitely plan on going back to visit. (Though they tried to convince me to move there, get a job and offered me a free room to live in above the bar.) Have you ever met people like this after only knowing them for 2 days? I loved it there!

I finished off my trip with a fun Thai cooking class given by a sweet old lady in an amazing set up she had at her house. I left to go home in the afternoon and arrived at 5:30 am Monday morning. Just in time to go home, take a shower and start school.

Tip #1-Don’t let a story about almost drowning keep you from doing this stuff. The adventure was worth it!

Tip #2-Maybe risk doing something your not used to doing. You may have the best experience of your life.

Tip #3-Take risks. It’s always worth it in the end. (Plus a heck of a lot more excited than sitting on your bum!)

Now started the fun part of the trip. We ran out into the crowd of tuk tuk drivers and told them how much we wanted for a ride to the bus station. When we turned down the first guy another one came up and matched our price. My negotiation skills have definitely improved since living in Thailand. They can be so easy sometimes if you don’t act like a total tourist. It was 1:45 and we were sure we had missed our bus. But we should have known better. Just like “Thai time”, Laos apparently had the same clocks because our bus was still parked there. We jumped on and two minutes later it pulled out. The trip was 3 hours through curved roads up mountains with people sitting in the aisle of the bus. We passed houses that most would think were abandoned shacks. But this was actually where people lived. Walls were made of bamboo and grass with tin roofs. Everything was in the dirt, including the bathroom and showers. We passed some families showering in the river and out of garbage bins. The girls would wear sarongs to cover them selves, but this didn’t seem like the best way to wash off. No matter how run-down or bad their situations looked, they seemed like the happiest people I’ve seen. Kids were playing games in the dirt with no shoes or even some clothing. But I suppose if you don’t know you don’t have, you have no reason not to be happy! When we got back on the bus after a rest stop, the guy sitting next to me notice I hadn’t picked up anything to eat. (I just didn’t know what to choose between the flat delicious hanging fish and the funny looking green things.) So he turned to me and in no English at all, asked me if I wanted some of his food. I took one and finished it. It was great! He points to another one. So of course I didn’t turn it down. How nice of this stranger. Generosity has just been following me around since I got to this side of the world! Even with nice gestures like this, that seem so simple, they really are huge if you think about it.

Next thing I knew the bus stopped. I looked outside and saw nothing but a dirt field and a few small, run down houses. Everyone started looking at us. Some how they all knew this was our stop! The bus driver turned around and yelled, “Vang Vieng! Vang Vieng.” So we stumbled our way down the aisle, stepping over a few people sitting on the floor and trying not to hit anyone with our bags. It was like a movie. We stood there on this gravel road with our guide books in hand, bags on the ground, staring at the people on the bus staring back at us. The bus pulls away and all we see is nothing! Only huge cloudy mountains and passing cows and goats. We didn’t move for a few minutes thinking we probably should have thought twice about listening to some random people about coming here. I did a 360 and saw a total of five people.

We had no idea where we were or which direction to start. In the distance a man was waving at us. We really had no reason not to walk over. Turns out he was a tuk tuk driver waiting for people to get off the bus. Luckily for us there he was and luckily for him there we were. What a perfect match. We didn’t know where to go so we just said town. We could have said, “head for people” and that would have been all the same. With only two minutes into the drive I realized there was really only one main road. Oh don’t worry about missing it; the town was completely over run by farang (foreigners). Not wonder the people on the bus knew this was our stop. We were the only travelers on the this locals bus so obviously we would be getting off in a town built for travelers. It would definitely be easy to find the guys we met the night before because the town was so small. But we had no idea which place to get a room. If it wasn’t a restaurant or a bar, most likely it was a guesthouse. But since there were so many, it was too overwhelming to just pick one. Right then two guys walked up and pointed to my necklace. Here we go again! More Israeli's. They are so friendly! They asked us if we needed help with anything and when we told them we were trying to find a place to stay they pointed us in the direction of a great, cheap place that they just happened to be staying. We just went with the flow. At the time we didn’t know that this one decision directed the next four days of our trip, which turned into the best trip we’ve had so far on our three-month journey.

Although this was the best trip yet, there’s not much I can say to describe how amazing it was. The two guys we met plus four of their friends and the two of us had our first memorable trip. Tubing! Basically you ride a round tube down a dirty river making pit stops at the bars along the way. There are about 14 bars total down the river. Workers along the river at each bar throw a plastic bottle on a string so you can grab it and get pulled in. Each place was packed with fun. Try jumping off a two story creaking wood plank holding onto a swing that you’re supposed to let go of as you’re flying over fast flowing murky water. I did it at least 10 times! Then there was the time I was innocently walking towards a mud volleyball court and instead, getting picked up by two guys I’ve never met before, being tossed in and completely covered, head to toe, in mud. Mostly because they thought it would be funny. Oh, don’t mess with Denelle! Needless to say those guys had their fare share of mud filled mouths. This turned into a 15-person mud battle. It was awesome! I figured I should try and get the mud out of my hair before it turned into dreads. So what did I do? I bypassed simply walking into the water and jumped off a three-story swing instead. Again, awesome! When we got to the end, having to walk back barefoot didn’t seem so bad after all.


The next morning, I woke up at 7am and went with one of the guys to a grassy area outside the temple. He was teaching me a few capoeira moves. That was tough! And I could definitely feel the pain later. He asked me if Julia and I if we wanted to go to a lagoon with him and his friends. The group turned into 10. Next thing I know I’m mountain biking through muddy rock filled roads along-side a few herds of cows. We locked up our bikes at the end and walked on a narrow raised dirt path through rice fields. After a little while we found the blue lagoon. Turned out to be a rope swing over a river with those gorgeous cloudy mountains in the background. Of course another mud fight broke out between three of my new friends and me. We stayed for hours and had a blast.

Sadly we had to leave in the morning to catch our three-hour bus right back, two hours into town and through the border and another 12 hours home. We arrived at 8:30am Monday morning and started teaching class at 9:00. This could have easily been the most stressed filled trip due to the reason for taking the trip and lack of sleep but in the end it was all worth it. We arrived in Laos lost and unprepared. We left excited and with a new group of friends. I’ve already planned a trip to Israel this year so I’ll get to see them real soon! Oh and in case you were wondering about the four back packers we were supposed to meet there, don’t you worry. We ran into them over the weekend and planned a trip to Ko Chang in two weeks. This is my life as a traveling teacher.

Tip #1-Jump! Doesn’t matter if you’re jumping into a nasty river, a pile of mud or a new experience. In
Laos, It’s all acceptable.

I always talk about going with the flow and just doing everything because it is all an experience. Well I have to say, I thought this story was going to be one filled with annoyances, struggles and sheer boredom. But I definitely didn’t see this version of the story coming.

The good thing about going with a teaching program is that if there is ever a problem, things usually get taken care of. For example, our visa’s and work permits. Technically without them, I would be working illegally. So of course, the school has 3 months to take care of it. Which you would think is enough time. Until 2 months into it I realized I hadn’t seen any paper work. I approached the people in charge at our school and apparently they forgot, didn’t know, and or thought they were finished! But in actuality, they did know what they were supposed to do and instead of asking they just let the papers sit there. Long story short, Julia and I had to arrange a border run. And since we were going to go out of our way to do it, we decided to take full advantage of this time off! So, we chose to go to the farthest border possible...Laos.

The complicated part of all this was that it wasn’t our fault that the school messed up and we would never have had to pay for it or have had to take days off work if they had done it right. In the end, the school paid for our trip out there and we got 3 days off for it! Now how obnoxious does this sound! This is how our brief conversation went when we asked them for our permits. “Oh good morning girls. Work permit not finished. You go to Laos tonight. Ok?” So I assume I should go pack then? HA! We finished school, went home and packed, drove to the bus station all in one day. Talk about having to go with the flow. This was a 12-hour bus ride just to the border. Another 2 hours to get to the embassy after we had gone through customs at the border and 3 other forms of transportation. Julia and I both agreed since we had to cross all of Thailand to get there, that we might as well make a vacation out of it and stay the weekend too.

The minute we got off the bus we went straight to the Embassy to get Julia’s visa all figured out. All I had to do really was cross the border and I was done. Now, I’m not sure if you’ve ever been in an Embassy before but the ones that I’m used to seeing are big buildings with elevators, past security and waiting in long lines. I should have expected this but the Thai embassy was literally a gate that you walked through. Then grab a plastic seat out side and wait for them to call your number. As we walked towards the gates to leave, at least 20 taxi and tuk tuk drivers verbally attacked us with prices and places they’ll take us. It was crazy! Next on to the US Embassy so I could get more pages added to my book. It was hilarious. Julia, not being from USA, likes to make fun of me for being American. She said to me as we’re walking down the street, “Well this one should be very nice. There should be fireworks and hot dogs! Of course since it’s the US embassy.” I laughed it off until I got to the nice big white building with plants and security everywhere. We walked up to the front desk and they told her since she wasn’t American that she couldn’t come in! I almost rolled on the floor laughing. Yea, I guess we are special.

We spent the night in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. I don’t know how people talk so much about this place because there was barely anything to do. We found two or three things to see but spent most of the day walking and eating. The French colonized it, so there were some great French café’s and french inspired buildings like the Arc du Triomphe in Paris.

That night we were walking down the street and some guys saw my necklace, a Jewish star. This is like a beacon that attracts other Jews. Strange but true. They needed a place to stay so we recommended our place and a few minutes later they were checking in. We all met for dinner and they told us they were leaving in the morning for the same town we were planning on going and that we should meet them there. Why not! So in the morning we decided to walk to the Thai Embassy to pick up the passport. Luckily the company that sent us to Thailand three months ago mailed us Lonely Planet books. It made it very easy to find places to sleep, eat, and sights to see. The only problem with this was that since the time our Lonely Planet was written, the Embassy had moved! It was nowhere near where we were going. After we aimlessly strolled around town, we found the building. For an hour we waited in a line outside the gate. When they finally opened at 1:00 pm everyone just said, “Screw the line” and ran in. Our bus left at 1:30 and was across town. Talk about cutting it close! We got the passport! Business was over. Time for our vacation!

Tip #1-Definitely check the location and times of any embassy when dealing with passports. Or you may be stuck for a few extra, unplanned days.

Amazing weekend continued-

Morning 2.

If yesterday wasn’t early enough, waking up at 5:30, I decided to torture myself a little more. Wake up call at…drum roll please, 4:30 am!! But this was all worth it so I didn’t really mind. It was the Marines birthday, so all week the soldiers have been setting up for the celebration. When we got to the stage at 5:10 am, there were hundreds of people stretching and warming up for the running they were about to do. 42k, 21k, and a 10k. The race had to be this early because of the heat that was ready to come probably around 7 or 8am. Julia did the 10k and I walked a 3k. Personally I loved doing mine because I got to walk with all the people I teach with including the director so I was able to bond with them a little more. Plus our walk was through the restricted part of the base where all the officers live. It’s the most beautiful part so of course they would live there. The best beach, gorgeous trees and a private road that winds around the gulf. All very incredible. Although, I was a tad jealous of Julia’s running skills. She came in 3rd in her age group. She got to go up on stage, take pictures and get a trophy. I love trophies. Go Julia!

After this, we started walking home but it was so hot Julia and I decided to go for a little swim. Remember, this beach you must wear clothes and for once I was 100% ok with this! I ran out there so fast it was like a white flash of light. A little later we headed back to the flagpole where more celebration was about to happen. Now this next part was extremely scary!

There were hundreds of soldiers all lined up. Next to them were hundreds of students from my school and more from 2 other schools. It was about 11 am now, the peak of the heat. The teachers all stood in between the soldiers and the students. The ceremony started. There was singing and speeches. Out of nowhere a soldier whipped around, ran and leaped off the stage towards our students. Luckily she had seen a boy fall and hit the ground. Completely passed out. She picked the kid up and ran him under the bleachers to try and wake him up. I didn’t know what to think at this moment but this should have been a warning sign. In the next 15 minutes students were dropping like flies! All of us teachers spread out through the students to make sure they were keeping cool, drinking water. The ambulance came for the kids that weren’t waking up. There was a total of about 9 or 10 students that fainted. The minute the ceremony ended we rushed the remaining kids over to some trees and shaded areas. Why they didn’t do this sooner I have no idea.

Later in the day we were taken to another part of the base to plant small plants. I couldn’t quite understand what they were saying about the ceremony but I said yes anyway. I didn’t want to miss out on a great time just because I couldn’t understand. When we got there I found out there was some ceremony/greeting of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. It was just the teachers from my school, about 40 students and the soldiers.
Some of the highest-ranking officers all came rolling in with their drivers and walked towards the stage.

Back when we first arrived at school, Julia and I had met a few of these officers. They had set up a meeting to let us know we were very important to their school and the education of the students. Anything we wanted, we could have. It was an incredible honor to meet these officers. There were soldiers on the base who hadn't even met them personally yet and here we were in their office sipping water in our proper teaching outfits. Now back to the ceremony, something happened. They stopped and looked at Julia and me. With out hesitation, they turned and started walking towards us. I felt so uncomfortable! The teachers had told me we were going to be planting things, not meeting these extremely important people! I was wearing fisherman’s pants and a big white shirt with flip-flops. Wow. That was embarrassing. In front of everyone, they approached us and starting having a conversation as if there weren’t hundreds of eyes watching. We shot out of our seats as fast as possible and wai’d. This went on for a while. They finally decided to go sit down. You could already tell people were looking at us with amazement. Awkwardly we sat back down and I slowly sank into my chair. Through out the whole ceremony they would look over at us with a smile.

After it was all over we then walked out towards the water trekking through nasty mud. Julia and I were still pretty excited over the insanely gorgeous guy. Our cheeks we crazy red every time we looked at him! One of the Thai teachers thought he was handsome too and just started talking to him and asking him a bunch of questions. We almost died. It turns out he was some half Thai, half Swiss model. No wonder! So as we're walking through the mud I almost tripped over my self when he walked by. We got to an area where the soldiers had dug some holes for us to plant. I got to put a few plants in. All the while, a newsman with his camera kept circling me while I did it. I can just see the headlines now. “Farang joins the Thai people to help the environment.” Oh boy. He said it would be airing for the news the next day. Then I turn around and there was a crowd of soldiers waiting for me to finish. When I stood up with my muddy hands they got in somewhat of a line and asked if they could take pictures with me. I laughed so hard! But said, “Sure why not!” Next second camera phones were flying out of their pockets! Who knows where those pictures will end up but the guys were definitely happy.

That all finished up and we went home to rest. The last part of the ceremony happened that night. It was a two-hour production that they had been practicing for such a long time. There was a band and singers putting on a show. Soldiers from the Navy and the Marines marched through the road in front of the bleachers. They did a 10-minute story with the flagpole, raising and lowering different flags. I think this represented something in history. But of course everything was in Thai. Next there were planes buzzing through the air and little dots coming out of them. 50 soldiers had jumped out of the plane and parachuted down to the concrete road in front of us. It was very impressive!

They finished up with a video of the Marines that included the king in most of it. That night, I was invited to go to dinner with the director and a few administrators from other schools. With my, “say yes to everything” attitude, I jumped in the car and finished off the long day with an amazing meal and great company. They took us to a restaurant on the base that is specifically for officers. Plates were continuously coming to the table. The greatest food. I can’t stop thinking about how lucky I am to have been able to come here and experience everything I’ve been through so far. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Tip #1-Something I heard a lot growing up, you get out what you put in. Throw your self 110% into everything here. If you do step out of your comfort zone, you will have the best stories and memories of your life. Well, at least for now.

This weekend could probably be the best weekend I’ve spent in Thailand so far. I am not a morning person at all! So it’s saying a lot. Though they are both separate stories with lots of pictures so I will break it up into two blogs.

Morning 1.
When I think Thailand, I think of yoga, rice, beautiful islands and monks. So far I haven’t had a chance to find yoga. But I have eaten my weight in rice and noodles! The beautiful islands, well that’s a given. I’ve seen many of those! I’ve also seen a few monks walking down the street before. But yesterday morning was the ultimate monk experience!! I got up at 5:30am and went out to the Sattahip Market area for the huge monk celebration. Every morning monks will walk outside at 6am and people will bring them food since they don’t get any on their own. It also creates good merit for the people giving the food. But this day happened to be a parade of monks covering a few blocks. 1,500 of them and even more people all kneeling on the street praying and saying Sanskrit. That morning I got on the songthaew that stopped to pick me up outside my house. It then went on to pick up every one else waiting at 6am outside their houses standing with baskets of homemade goodies. Once we got off, I took my place on the cement with my bag of food and milk and sat quietly while everyone and their mother stared at me. Some one forgot to mention that we are supposed to wear white and here I am in red pants and a brown shirt. If I didn’t already stick out like a sore thumb, I certainly did now!

An hour and a half later the monks made their way down the row of people with metal bowls. As people generously gave the food they had, the monks would then pour the full bowls into bags behind them with the help of the Navy soldiers because there was so much of it. This went on for about 30 minutes! I made my way through the crowd right up to the sea of gold robed men. Some young, and some old. I put in my 6 cartons of milk, mini rapped treats and whole fruit. The monks rarely smiled but when they looked up to see whom this white hand belonged to, a small smirk ran across their face. I gave a huge smile, bowed, stepped back, put my shoes on and left. I felt so great the whole walk home. This was definitely a unique moment that I’m so happy I got to be a part of.