...a journey not a destination

Today I finally moved into the apartment I will be living at for the next year! My landlord is the daughter of one of the Thai teachers at my school.   She is living in Laos right now doing environmental work.  While she is gone her mom is going to be in charge of the rent, etc.  She has already been the best landlord I have encountered.  She went out and bought me brand new bedding, brand-new rugs for the bathroom, a roll of toilet paper, and brought me a kettle and some dishes.  Tomorrow she says she is bringing me a microwave and a fan.  I will definitely not mind living here for the next year. 

My Apartment

On Sunday, the Thai teachers from the English Program at Anuban Khon Kaen took a road trip and I was invited to come along.  We went up to Loei to celebrate one of the Thai assistants graduating from University and obtaining her teaching certificate.  The Thai teachers decided to make a day trip of the event.  The process of getting there was much more important that the final destination.  What is normally a two-hour drive took us close to seven hours.  We stopped every half hour to shop, eat, or use the bathroom.  We also stopped at an underground temple that was full of bats. We went to Chiang Khan for lunch.  This is a local Thai tourist destination on the Mekong River.  When we looked across the river we were looking at Laos.  

First look at Laos

I have only been in Khon Kaen for four days and I already feel as if I have a family here.  I know the Thai teachers along with the foreign teachers I have met will take care of me in any situation.  I am a lucky girl!

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Countdown: 4 days.

I have packed one box of books to put into storage, I have not picked out anything I am bringing to Thailand, my room is a mess with suitcases and laundry thrown everywhere, and I leave in 4 days. So of course, instead of packing or cleaning or moving, I decide to start my blog. I hope to keep up to date on the adventures I have in Thailand, although I cannot promise anything. But as of now, it is time to get my act together and get things in order for my departure on Thursday. Next time I write it will be from Thailand!

Akame Shijuhachitaki Falls

Last Sunday, the lovely Sachiko brought Phil, Dominique and myself to the Mei prefecture to hike to see the beautiful Akame Shijuhachitaki Falls. Akame Shijuhachitaki Falls is a series of crystal blue waterfalls that covers around 4 kilometers. Overall there is said to be 48 waterfalls. We didn't see all of them, but there is no way to tell how many we did see. There were waterfalls of all sizes and who am I to judge whether a waterfall is big enough to be considered one of the 48 waterfalls of Akame? We headed to Nagoya station at 8:30 a.m. and took three separate trains and a taxi from there to get to the entrance. Admissions to the falls also admitted us to the Japanese salamander museum. There we saw some of the largest salamanders of our lives. We renamed the display "This kids, is why you shouldn't swim in the river!"  The given name "Akame (Red Eye)" is based on the legend in which Fudo-Myoo , commander of the Wisdom Kings i...

AkemashiteOomedetou Gozaimasu - 明けましておめでとうございます

This new years I had two celebrations. I had the countdown in Tokyo and I was lucky enough to be invited over to my boss, Mitani-san's, house for a traditional Japanese new year bento box. The Japanese celebrate new years as we celebrate Christmas in the states. It is a time for families to gather, dine and relax. While the concept of New Years in Japan is similar to that of Christmas in the states the cuisine is very different. Every family makes a osechi ryouri. Osechi ryouri is supposed to be made before New Year’s Day dawn, and to last for days without refrigeration during the 7-day New Years holiday. The original reason for this period of rest or non-cooking was supposed to be to appease the fire god, Kohjin, who might get angry if one made fires so early in the year. Then in later years, this period of non-cooking was ostensibly to allow the wife (or cook of the house) a rest and time to spend with the family. Mitani-san st...

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