Lunch Time

Just a quick post for now. Since I'm using the internet only at work now, I have weird hours of operation. Updates will pretty much rely on when I have time between classes (or in this case, lunch). This is mostly to address the people who've been attempting to Gchat with me since I've left my email open on my computer during class. I would love to talk to you, chances are that you just missed me. Here's the way my schedule shakes out:

Saturday: I come in early (8:30) but I go straight to class and don't have time again till 12:30 when I get lunch. During Saturday lunches I'm typically wolfin' it down and also socializing with the part-time teachers who are here. They're only here Saturday. Sunday's are similar except I get lunch at 12:00 and am by myself so there's plenty of time for internet. That's why I'm able to sneak this in. On both of those days, I have class after lunch till about 3:00 or 4:00 (depending on make-ups)and then a little internet time till I get to go home (5:30ish) - weekdays are different. I have to be in around 12:30 but typically don't have class till around 3 or 4 (kids still in regular school till then). So on those days I'll be using the internet earlier, but actually it's around the same time. In case you're wondering, I'm exactly 12 hours ahead of EST so if you're hoping to catch me actually here, a little after midnight is the best time. Also Monday and Tuesday are my days off where I won't be here and consequently don't have internet. So don;t be coming on Sunday or Monday nights looking for me!

I have a lot to talk about but I don't want to rush it and try to fit it in before class so I'll see if I can find some time after (make-ups!) If not, it'll have to be on Wednesday.

So just so you know, I really appreciate the attempts at live contact. Even seeing little messages is great! I'll keep leaving email open during class and I'll get back to you as soon as I return. (Don't worry, I understand leaving email open is foolish but the people here are great and I'm not concerned at all.)

Happy Valentine's day to all!
xo
j

Recent Days

Alright, we've got a lot to get to so let's not waste a second! First of all, let me address a couple questions I got about the super bowl. I was able to watch a live feed from (what I assume was) the NFL network, so all the commentary was in English. We also got to see the halftime show which I thought was wildly entertaining. The only Thai I encountered was briefly at half time when they threw it back to the 'local' analysts for "Super Sport Satellite Channel 4 - Thailand!". They two analysts looked pretty surly/bored and the guy in charge of the discussion had one of those ties that tries to fit all the NFL team logos on it. High comedy. It didn't quite match the laughs had over the piercing insight of football "expert" Don Johnson when I was in Madrid, but still pretty good. Especially when the camera first cut to them. It was abruptly in the middle of a rebroadcast of Journey's pre-game concert and I'm pretty sure they were watching it too because they seemed just as surprised as I was. When I say abrupt, I mean like mid note. "Somewhere in the niiiiiiiiiii-" "..uhh..Sawahdee krap". In any event, the game was pretty thrilling and as someone with no real investment in it I was satisfied.

The next morning, I woke up super super early to catch a bus to Cambodia. Why? Apparently I had overstayed my visa and was racking up huge penalties every day I stayed in the country. Ugh. So I boarded a bus at 4am for a quick visa trip. A lot of foreigners have this visa problem and have to leave the country every 90 days. It doesn't say for how long, it just says you have to leave so there are tons of places that organize day trips to the border and back. I went to Cambodia because it was the easiest/quickest option. I would've liked to go to Burma or somewhere that hadn't already stamped my passport but what can you do on such short notice. The bus took us to a casino right on the border. Cambodia is pretty cool. We were discussing how it's a lot like the Wild West. I was tempted to play something but I didn't understand any of the games. I thought one looked like blackjack, but had some different rules. I could see myself sitting down and confidently betting on a 'sure thing', only to lose everything and have to walk away in shame. So I mostly stuck to my book and the free OJ at the buffet.

I gotta go! The last thing I wanted to talk about was how I'm no longer gonna pay for wifi at the apartment and will just use it when I'm at work. Now it's almost 5:30 and everyone's dying to go home but i'm holding them up! It stinks that it's gonna be this way but the wifi is super slow and too expensive. The worst part is that recently I've discovered new ways to keep in touch with people back home and have conversations in real time (facebook and gmail chat) which was very cool. No internet will be good for me too. I'll do a lot more reading and get a lot more done. Well, I really REALLY got to go now so I will.

Much Love,
J

Sports

A couple days ago, I received a call at the center where I work. It totally caught me off guard but made sense since we're technically not supposed to have our phones in the classroom and also because I lost my phone a while ago. Anyway, it was Ryan informing of a national soccer match between Thailand and Iran that was being played right in Bangkok! I was super excited. I really want to go to a national game in National Stadium even if it was only a qualifying match against Iran. By the time I'm out my last class, I hear that it's actually in a different venue that's farther away so I rush home to change and then to meet Ryan at our friends' place which is near the stadium. By the time I throw on shorts, battle rush hour foot-traffic to get to the subway, ride to my destination, get lost finding the apartment, regain my bearings, arrive at the wrong building and wait around, the game was already half over. (In my defense there's two apartment buildings named 'chateau' right next to each other). So we settled for watching it in a small, one-table 'restaurant' with the owner. His TV was really small and it had that double-image thing going on. It was great. If I couldn't actually be at the game, I feel like that was the next best thing. Thailand played to a draw which I guess is alright. It was exciting and Thailand was probably lucky to get out with a point. Hopefully they advance and host a big game. I would really love to see one.

In other news, I was gonna post about maintaining radio silence until I could watch a re-broadcast of the Super Bowl, but I stopped in at the pub on the way home from phone shopping to see if they had a February schedule yet and the guy told me they were actually gonna open their doors at 6am tomorrow so I can watch it live. So that rules. It's gonna be way different than in Madrid. The game didn't go on till about 11pm then and the place was packed with Americans. I'm not expecting a ghost town tomorrow, but I really don't feel like it'll get the same turnout.

I'm sorry if you were expecting this post to be about my personal endeavors in exercise. I did buy a basketball and on occasion go down to the little sports park on Sathorn. I'm out of shape as it is, but running for 20 minutes in this air make you feel like you just climbed Everest. I'm also sorry if you were expecting a post about Huey Lewis and the News. Maybe I'll get to that later.

much love,
j

Why So Secretive?

Another Thai culture note: Almost all Thai people cover their mouth when they talk on the cell phone. I know this isn't anything really earth-moving or in anyway bizarre but I just noticed it a lot today. They don't talk quietly or anything, it's apparently just the polite thing to do. It looks like they're afraid of someone hearing their conversation, only that the spy would be watching them through cctv. Talking on a regular telephone is totally fine but there's just something about cellphones that prompts the secrecy. Don't get me wrong I don't think it's weird at all and it wouldn't hurt for more people to do it worldwide.

One thing that apparently isn't rude is to talk about other people when they're standing right there. I am of course talking about me. I don't speak Thai very well but I can pick certain words out of a conversation and the easiest one to hear is 'farang'. (I'm not sure if I said this but farang is the over-arcing term for any Caucasian foreigner). Now granted, they might not be talking about me but it seems strange that I happen to walk past so many conversations right in the middle of a farang anecdote. I don't know if it's just not considered rude here or what but I feel like it's only happening under the assumption that I don't know what they're saying. I say this only because I've heard of other incidents where Thai people start talking about a farang unscrupulously only to have the farang turn around and speak to them in Thai which would prompt a flurry of embarrassed apologies followed by despondence for having lost face. I'm not learning Thai just so I can listen in on conversations and nail people when they talk about me. Not at all. It's just something that kinda disappoints me to have Thai people (at least in Bangkok) think that farangs can't, or won't, speak Thai. I say won't because most English-speaking people would have no problem getting around in Bangkok without a word of Thai. A fair percentage of locals here speak passable English and the most typical reaction I get when speaking Thai to someone is "why?". Don't bother learning our language, we're already committed to learning yours. I like learning new languages, which is probably the biggest reason I'm studying like I am, but I can't help but feel that part of my learning is an unconscious effort to correct this feeling of obligation on the part of the Thai people. You don't have to learn my language, I'll come to you. Haha, although at the rate I'm learning it would probably be better if we met in the middle somewhere.

Much Love
J

I'm Back!

Hey everybody. I'm so sorry I haven't posted anything in a long time. I've been sorta waiting for something big to happen or at least lots of little things that would warrant a legit blog but I remember that's totally not what a blog is about. I've just been having so many rad experiences since I started this that I'd almost be letting you down with a post that didn't involve exotic locales or monsters in an elevator. Now that I'm working regularly, not a whole lot is happening in the way of extraordinary adventures. Having been teaching for over a month now, my students are used me and even better I'm used to them. I know which kids are good, which ones are smart, which ones have ADHD, etc. So I guess now my blog will shift more to smaller stories, cultural observations, and just general musings, which is pretty much what a blog is supposed to be..right? So here are just some stray thoughts..

My Thai is progressing nicely. The language is pretty weird. It's tough to nail the tones and a lot of words sound very very similar which is hard but a lot of the grammar is pretty intuitive. Spanish has a different word for everything. Spending so much time learning Spanish I forgot (and pretty much took for granted) all the compound words in English. I first realized how much I forgot about them when I asked some park ranger on Koh Chang how to say 'waterfall'. He told me it was just 'water' then 'fall'. Oh man! Cool! That's so simple! How come English doesn't do that!?...doh. The Thai language is filled with compound words. You pretty much picture what you want to say and then build a description with other broader words. For example student is 'nak-rean' which is something like 'person-learn', while pilot is 'nak-bin' or 'person-fly'. See? it's fun. My favorite is the word for barber which translates to something like 'hair mechanic'. Rooms in the house are all easy: room-food, room-sleep, room-water, and my fave room-sit-play(which makes just about as much sense as 'living' room)

There are a lot of cultural differences that I'm getting used to. There are the ones I expected like the emphasis on saving/losing face, but there are other smaller ones that seem weird or a little silly to me. Moles are lucky. Not the animal, but the growth. And the longer the hairs growing out of them, the luckier you are. It's not very common, but every now and then you'll see someone with 2" hairs growing out of a mole. That was gross and I'm sorry. In any event, another thing I see that is kinda silly the the Thai elevator experience. I wouldn't say this is 'cultural' per se but: you know those buttons in an elevator that open and close the doors prematurely? The Thai people use them as if the doors wouldn't open and close without them. Whenever anyone gets in an elevator, they turn push the button for their floor and then hold the door close button. Then as they're leaving they press the door open button on their way out. If you're standing near the buttons it becomes your responsibility to operate them for others getting on and off. It might just be my limited experience with elevators in the states but I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen a person use those buttons for something other than to hold the door open for someone rushing to it. Now it's every time. The weird thing is that I'm doing it now. That extra one and a half seconds waiting for the door to close now seems like an eternity. And I hold the button sometimes if I'm leaving after other people which might come from some paranoia about the doors closing on me. These doors do not gently touch you and open back up again if you're caught, they crunch down on you. Nothing bone-crushing, but still pretty jarring. And again I have no real frame of reference for how long it takes before they close because everyone's always using the buttons.

Well that's about it for now. I promise I'll never go that long without posting again and I'll keep my mind open for more stuff. To reward your patience there's some new pictures up! http://www.flickr.com/photos/74248227@N00/

much love,
j

ps happy inauguration day!

A Look Back

As 2008 came to a close I began thinking more and more about it and how good it was to me. I tried to think of all the things that made it so special and was simply overwhelmed by just how many there were. So here's a quick list of some of the things that made 2008 so good, so good. And keep in mind that this list is far from exhaustive. I'll probably end up forgetting some of the bigger things that gave me the idea for this list in the first place. Well, here it goes..

I guess we could start the list by saying 2008 started the same time as my second semester of senior year. There really isn't a need to elaborate on that sentence at all but I'll outline some of the more righteous singular events. The first one that comes to mind is February's blue ribbon performance of 'Seven Car Pileup' which was without a doubt the funnest hundred bucks we ever made (not just the actual performance but all the preparation too). The St. Patrick's party was another event that was great equally for the preparation (balloons!) as well as the fulfillment.As graduation day got closer and closer the smaller things got more and more meaningful. Knowing that I would be soon saying goodbye to such great friends made all the time we spent together that much more important. Even hanging out. Especially hanging out. There's no way to measure the number of hours spent laughing at late-night youtube videos, Captain N episodes, or just the absurdity of things at 38 Florence.

The handing in of my last paper was immediately followed by a wacky road trip to PA that was great for the reasons listed above as well as the fact that I had just handed in my last paper(!). Graduation was awesome. The dinner the night before in Groton and then the dinner with Mum, Steve, and Maegan during Celts/Cavs game 7 are probably the best back-to-back dinners I've ever had (considering company, cuisine, and circumstance).

Then Spring became the Summer. I had already declared it to be my greatest summer sometime around Labor Day but I'll see if I can pick out some of the events that made it so. I'd have to point to working with Roger as one of the huge factors in making summer '08 so fun. Nights and weekends can always be great, but having a good time while working is unbeatable. The summer had the mainstays that are guaranteed fun like the trip to Keoka, and the Knut the Reaper Festival. BW was, as it is every year, the best one ever with events like the the raising of the tree and the fireworks display. Aside from those, this summer also had the Beijing Games which led to an unprecedented number of amazing contests as well as wild shouting in living rooms from Chatham to JP. It also held the marriage of Spencer and Amy which was an experience that felt so weird (friends getting married) and at the same time so right (come on, it's spencer and amy). All these things against a backdrop of frequent trips to 'the island' as well as beach days that turned into wing nights.

The final month before my departure might've been my favorite part. The birth of my beautiful niece, the trip to Fenway, and the get-togethers with friends and family that were simply some of the best times ever.

The rest, as you've read, has been tremendous. The trips to Angkor Wat and Laos were just cherries on top of this incredible journey sundae. The entirety of moving away to a foreign land, starting a job, and making new friends and memories is such an unbelievable end to this year, even for me! As I've said, these things are just some of the highlights of 2008, and it's hard to fully explain the little things in between that made this year so great. 2008 was, without a shadow of a doubt,my favorite year.

I apologize for taking so long in between posts and I'm also sorry if this came across as very corny. I would just like to send a big thank you to everyone who was a part of my 2008. You made it great.

much love,
j

Happy New Year!

Sawatdee Bee Mai Krap!

Happy New year everyone!

It's already 2009 over here and I gotta say it's pretty cool so far. I plan on writing a retrospective on my 2008 soon but for now I gotta get some sleep. Enjoy tonight wherever you may be! Happy New Year again!

Let's make it a good one!
j