"..that's the glory of foreign travel, as far as I am concerned.. I can't think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can't read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can't even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.”
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SLC reunion in Bangkok!
My friend Lana, from Salt Lake City, recently moved to Bangkok. Like me, she is teaching for a year in Thailand!Unlike me, she is teaching environmental education to international schools on a ship called the Barge.It is a very different experience for her than for me.For one, she is in Bangkok, a city with 12 million people.I am in Khon Kaen, a “city” with only 200,000 people.Secondly, I am teaching in a government school and she is teaching on location on a boat.It is very interesting to see all the different types of lifestyles a farang can live in Thailand. At first, the grass always seemed greener.Now I find that I have a pretty good set up here in Thailand and I am not sure I would change what I here for another one.
With a friend living in Bangkok it was only a matter of time before I went to visit her! I decided this past weekend was a perfect time!The trip to Bangkok was a long one. It took me 6 hours on a bus then another hour of motorbike taxis, sky trains, and metered taxis to Kaosan Road.Kaosan Road is the backpackers’ party spot of Bangkok.It is dirty, loud, busy, and crawling with farang!I loved every minute of it.We spent the night bar hopping, drinking buckets and beers, and ended with a hookah!To top the night off we went to subway at 3:30 in the morning.We ordered a footlong and had leftovers for the next day.It was a wonderful time catching up with Lana and meeting new people!
Caroline and I enjoying a bucket!
Break dancing on Kaosan Road. It was definitely past this child's bedtime.
The group and the hookah.
The following day we slept in pretty late. A 4:30 bedtime does not allow for early mornings.When we woke up we walked 10 minutes down the road to Lana’s office.Her office is located in a condominium building.The rest of the farangs she works with live in a house attached to the office.Lana, on the other hands, lives in a small studio apartment similar to mine.She definitely got the raw end of the stick.However, Lana still gets access to the facilities of the condo, which includes a pool.We relaxed by the pool and reminisced about college in Salt Lake City while enjoying our leftover Subway sandwiches!
Before we knew it, it was time to go home and get ready for the concert we were seeing that night.DJ Shadow, a world famous DJ from San Francisco, was playing at a club called DEMO in Bangkok. It was a pretty high-class bar with somewhat of a dress code.This was the first time I wore heels in Thailand.It was not an enjoyable experience.My feet were swollen, because they are always swollen here, and my shoes rubbed my feet raw.By the end of the night I had taken my shoes off and I couldn’t get them back on.Aside from that, the night was wonderful!It was only 400 baht for the show and two free drinks.And these drinks were not wimpy rum and cokes in a Dixie cup.They were full on Long Islands - or your cocktail of choice - with more alcohol than Salt Lake City would ever allow.
Eiligh, Ben, me, and Lana at the club.
Making some good quality long Islands.
DJ Shadow
The next day we decided to explore the famous Chatuchak Market.We spent about an hour and a half wondering around looking at every doo-dad and thing-a-ma-gig you could imagine.This was my second time at Chatuchak Market. My cousin took my family there when we were in Thailand for his wedding in 2009. However, it covers 27 acres, so even after two trips there I did not even see an eighth of it. After lunch it was time for me to catch my bus back to Khon Kaen.This was one weekend I was not ready to leave!It was a great taste of home and in a wild city.I will be makinganother trip to visit Lana in the near future.
I ordered coconut juice and got it in a coconut. I love Thailand!
The ride back was one of the most enjoyable and least enjoyable bus rides so far. I came on the bus to see a Thai child sitting in my seat.He could not have been older than two.When I told his mother that I was to be sitting in that seat she looked at me, rolled her eyes and acted as if it was the most painful thing in the world for her to gather her child, get up and let me into the window seat.During the first hour of the bus ride we were served dinner.The child kept reaching for my food and I was the one to have to fight him off as his mother did nothing to stop him!Luckily the child fell asleep for most of the ride. Unfortunately my lap was his designated footrest for most of the ride.The good part about this bus ride was the individual TV screens with ENGLISH movies.I watched Night at the Museum 2, Remember Me, and Yes! Man.Not my top pick of movies, but it kept me occupied on the six-hour bus ride.I got home safe - no holes! - and went right to sleep.I can’t wait to go to Bangkok again!!
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!
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...
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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