Travel has slowed down a bit since the New Years vacation in Koh Chang. Most everyone is trying to hold on to their baht for the 6+ weeks of backpacking through South East Asia so aside from the occasional trips into Bangkok there has been minimal travel, BUT there is still enough new stuff worth a new post on the blog. So here is all the little stuff that has happened since we rang in 2013
-Spent a weekend in Bangkok for a Snoop Dog (or I guess he goes by Snoop Lion now??) concert. It was a blast. There was some of the best people watching I have ever seen in my life and I got to see an awesome concert which has been a rarity in my life since I moved to Thailand. When I live in Minneapolis I feel like I am going to a concert or seeing some kind of live music at least once a week. Now it's something I have come to appreciate quite a bit when I get it.
-I had a whole week off from teaching so that I could take groups of students to the infamous River Kwai Bridge so they could practice speaking English in a real life situation. Students had to approach foreigners and ask them various questions in english and record their answers. This was hands down one of my favorite teaching moments of all time. It's not often that you get to see the material you teach your students put into use in a practical sense outside of the school. It was very rewarding seeing all of this happen. The communication with my students is still pretty limited but I could still see that the students were realizing how important English has become for them to learn. (English has been declared the common language for all South Eastern Asian Nations so learning English opens up a world of opportunity)
-The Farang Gang had it's last hurah together. We will still all get to see each other here and there while we are traveling but we are not going to all be in the same place at the same time together again. Had a blast of a weekend out in Bangkok but I was for sure bumming pretty hard once it came time to leave on Sunday. These people have become pretty important to me over the last few months. Working in the Thai school system can be stressful, very difficult, and down right frustrating at times. Having a group of other American English teachers that you can escape with and vent to helped me keep my sanity during some of the tougher times of living in Thailand so far. So a BIG shout out all my teacher friends, The Farang Gang. Gonna miss you all a ton and can't wait for our first reunion.
Family Band?
-I went on a school trip to Pattaya. A coastal town on the Gulf of Thailand. Fun beach stuff with a famous seedy night life. This was an interesting trip on a few accounts. We toured an awesome school in the city and learned about the Recycling program they had put into place. No more wastefulness. All the uneaten food is put in a compost pile, eating utensils and plates and bowls are biodegradable, etc. It was a cool program. Until now I have not seen a whole lot of concern with trash disposal and recycling. This tour and presentation was all to familiar, but with a Thai twist. After a day of tours and seminars (P.S. these were all in Thai so I didn't understand much... Luckily some very nice teachers were nearby to translate the super important stuff) some teachers took us to a bar where we could have a beer, put our feet up, and enjoy the ocean with our little free time. This was trip number two at the ocean and all I can say is that I was very content with my time there. Also the food, hotel, and transportation was FREE!
So that is about it for now. No extravagant trips since New Years but there are certain some to come! I am leaving Kanchanaburi for about 6 weeks come March 15th and some pretty amazing things are on the agenda. Full Moon party with some galavanting through tropical islands. KATHLEEN, one of my closest friends from the twin cities is meeting me in Bangkok and then we are going to backpack through Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos. Good times to come is an understatement. So excited. I'll post when I can/ if I can.
Tall Guy out
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