tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89103042059711804622024-03-05T03:05:48.342-08:00The Food PlaceboThe Food Placebo.
Food, Love and Movement.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-72113842135125972502013-05-10T21:52:00.001-07:002015-06-16T10:41:02.181-07:00<div class="post_content clearfix" id="post_content_50086707536">
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Amazing sunsets every single night!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-77840335525994654062013-05-10T21:51:00.007-07:002013-05-10T21:51:53.266-07:00 Made in Thailand <div class="post_title">
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If I was a typical backpacker and got a tattoo every time I had a
few beers, I’d get one that said “Made in Thailand” on the bottom of my
foot. For all of our sakes, thank goodness I’m not one of those typical
BP-ers and I won’t be getting this ridiculously silly and tacky phrases
etched forever on my foot.<br />
But, I always thought it would be neat to have a tattoo that meant
something profound. People constantly pointing to it and asking you the
meaning/story—a reminder of some important part of your life (or at
least let’s hope it was). So, it’s kind of like a sacrament—the tattoo
is an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace —pretty
good PK interpretation if you ask me! If you aren’t lucky enough to have
a priest as a father like me and/or attended Happening, that may sound
like strange definition of a Sacrament, but I promise my priest-y father
and uncle can recite this definition at the drop of a hat (as proof at
Hannah’s wedding & therefore making it an accurate/correct
definition!…)<br />
But anyway, riding back to Bangkok on my 12 hour day bus from Koh Tao
I thought of this silly phrase. My biggest thing about leaving early is
I don’t want to fall into a pattern of luxury so quickly at home.
Spending 6 weeks living out of a backpack, made me realize I have way
too much stuff. Now let’s be real. This doesn’t mean I’m going to go
home and throw out all my high heels. (take a moment now to realize I
haven’t worn heels since church on October 12th 2012—7 whole months!)
I’m not really sure what it means actually. I guess while I walk around
in one of my twenty pairs of high heels I want to be reminded that
people in Cambodia live with out AC and fresh water? I don’t think
that’s what I want at all? I’m still trying to figure out exactly what
it means..<br />
But, to me the phrase made me laugh out loud. It’s the first time
I’ve actually thought of something with a dual meaning that would remind
me of my time here. Let me explain. When I told my co-worked and
friends and family I was moving to Thailand, more often than not the
response was “Isn’t that where everything is made?” And I would smile
and say “No, that’s Taiwan.” Which isn’t all together true, lots of
things are made here too! But it still made me laugh and I knew that’s
what they meant.<br />
Now for the second meaning— the deep proud backpacker one ha! I can’t
say I’ve changed into this whole new person in Thailand, because I
haven’t. I think I’m relatively the same. But, I do think I have learned
a lot and most of it I’ve learned has been these past few weeks I’ve
been traveling. Actually, I think I learned the most most most this last
week and half I traveled alone. It was really hard at first and I was
so scared to travel all by myself, but I’m so glad I did. I am so proud
of myself too!<br />
Traveling alone is easy and hard at the same time. In Thailand,
backpackers are a dime a dozen. They are everywhere—but it doesn’t mean
that it super easy to meet a lot of people. The first few days I arrived
in Koh Tao, I felt really lonely. Only one other girl was staying in my
dorm and she didn’t seem to be around! I took a deep breathe and was
determined not to get upset or feel lonely! After all I was sure I would
meet tons of people in my scuba dive class.<br />
Well call me lucky or not, just so happens the day I signed up for my
Open Water Certification at Siam Scuba happened to be the day no one
else did. So, once again very lonely, I started watching all the
information videos. UGH it sucked—so boring and so outdated! But, I made
it through watching the videos and met my instructor!<br />
Call me lucky/unlucky again—I really can’t say, but let’s be honest I
was hoping for a cute Australian Scuba Instructor. Instead I was
matched up with a beautiful French girl who wasn’t very bubbly/friendly
seeming initially.<br />
The dives started and day one was MISERABLE! I tell my mother
everything, but I couldn’t even bring myself to tell her just how
miserable it was. I thought it’d be fine with underwater breathing and I
love sporty/athletic things/water!—I was certain I’d love scuba diving!
Well after Day 1, I made myself follow the phrase “fake it, til you
make it” and I was determined to make it through.<br />
I can’t even say how glad I am that I pushed myself to keep going.
The things that were hard on Day 1, suddenly didn’t seem hard anymore on
day too. My heart didn’t race and I mastered every skill she asked me
to do with absolute ease and suddenly it started being fun!<br />
My favorite day of diving was my last day. We left really early in
the morning—6am. What I didn’t realize before going to Koh Tao is that
is quite the party island. I went to get water before our dive at 7-11
and it was the funniest mix of people. Half drunk stupid people and half
serious divers. The girl in front of me in line was juggling 4 bottles
of Chang beer and 2 cans of Pringles. I kept a close eye on her and
thankfully took a step back as her grip slipped and she dropped two of
the bottles on the ground. The poor diver in line in front of girl ended
up with a bleeding foot minutes before heading out of a dive.
Thankfully I slipped out of the store and we headed out to sea before I
had anymore drunken encounters.<br />
On most days we shared the boat with other divers and instructors
that were doing either fun dives or advanced certifications. This day
however, no one else was on the boat, but my instructor, the caption and
me. At our first dive site we went to 18 meters. (meters means nothing
to me still…the first few days when I was told I would dive to 18
meters, I thought she said I would be diving to 80 meters because of her
accent—goes to show just how map/distance savvy I am..) This was the
coolest dive, not a single other diver was around and we went to site
where there are large schools of baby barracuda fish. There were
million—I followed her lead and we started to breath very slowly and
establish neutral buoyancy (smart words from my course!) and suddenly
they cleared out of the middle made a ring around us. They kept circling
and swimming faster and faster. It was amazing… I think I have mermaid
blood after all…Day 1 I was really thinking I might be full-blood
pirate!<br />
The dive ended around 10am and I was done! I couldn’t believe it. It
was four days of really hard work! And don’t worry, I ended up meeting
amazing people too. Sometimes you just have to push through really
crappy and lonely times when traveling to end up on the other side. My
friends in Koh Tao had nothing in common with each other except for our
shared love of scuba diving and we all somehow have been changed/made
into something new after our time spent in Thailand. Maybe we should
have all had a few beers the last night and all had our feet etched with
“Made in Thailand.”Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-85863580621597566182013-05-10T21:51:00.005-07:002013-05-10T21:51:30.362-07:00<div class="post_content clearfix" id="post_content_49416519624">
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Looks so peaceful—so many people<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-70433450087595211732013-05-10T21:51:00.003-07:002013-05-10T21:51:20.377-07:00<div>
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Tuk Tuk tailgate<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-74403361600323186812013-05-10T21:51:00.001-07:002013-05-10T21:51:06.379-07:00<div class="post_content clearfix" id="post_content_49415693715">
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Crazy trees growing all over the temples<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-44834204440676087902013-05-10T21:50:00.006-07:002013-05-10T21:50:50.934-07:00<div>
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At my favorite temple—Banteay Srei: Angkor’s “The Temple of Women”<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-72328306300934688712013-05-10T21:50:00.004-07:002013-05-10T21:50:36.145-07:00Angkor Wat Sunrise—amazing!
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Angkor Wat Sunrise—amazing!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-71074825373412091722013-05-10T21:50:00.001-07:002013-05-10T21:50:17.682-07:00 Vietnam & Cambodia recap <div class="post_content clearfix" id="post_content_49414854707">
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I’m in a cab headed back to Thailand. I’m feeling rather
melancholy about leaving Vietnam and Cambodia behind. I’ve had such a
great time getting to know the two cultures and comparing them to the
well known smiling Thai culture. <br />
Before leaving I read a lot of travel blogs that compared the tourism
rates in SE Asia. Thailand wins by a long shot. Everyone talks about
thai hospitality and their constant smiling go-with-the-flow mentality.
Articles about Vietnam talked about how people are constantly ripping
you off and trying to sell you something to make a buck. <br />
Just walking down the street a few feet will attract at least four of
five vendors shouting “madam you buy something.” And this was a
statement, not a question. It got old pretty fast. They would sell
everything from bracelets to donuts to fingernail clippers. <br />
If you can look past all of that, Vietnam is a great place. People
are just as kind but they do try and make a quick buck when the
opportunity presents itself. I realized that Thai people often try and
scam us to, but normally I can tell this from the get-go. Where as in
Vietnam, the people drew you in with their kindness and then stabbed you
in the back (sounds so harsh- I know, but looking back I’m not even
saying it as a bad thing. Just something you must be aware of! And they
were excellent salesmen.)<br />
Cambodian people on the other hand never tried to scam us once.
Prices were consistent and we often found we didn’t even have to haggle
the price, because it was already fair. Their biggest selling point is
their Tuk tuks. Every two seconds you hear “lady Tuk-Tuk?” And yes we
are known as lady in Cambodia and Madam in Vietnam. There Tuk Tuk
business is huge! If they get you once, they immediately ask you what
you are doing tomorrow in hopes that they can be your own personal
driver for your visit. And you need a Tuk Tuk friend in Cambodia. If
they can get you and you hire them for the temples they drive you around
the entire day and wait on you the entire day. <br />
We hired a man who drove a green seated Tuk Tuk (he picked us up form
the bus station and his meek soft spoken mannerisms made him a winner!
When picking a Tuk Tuk you just gotta go with your gut.) <br />
We decide we wanted to see sunrise and he was there right on time—
5am! Without us even asking the hotel packed us breakfast (nice gesture,
but it was just slices of wonder bread type bread and jam…) and we were
off to start a long day of sweating, temple pictures and bumpy roads. <br />
Sunrise was amazing, but was the opposite of peaceful. Since Angkor
wat is quite impressive, so since its amazing we watched the sunrise
with probably close to 500 other tourists. But it really didn’t seem
that bad. <br />
Angkor wat is the biggest and most impressive temple on the temple grounds.<br />
It was built in the 12th century and covers a span of 3k, taking 38
years to build with a labor of over 40,000 workers. To grasp the
hugeness, you have to actually walk up and all around the Temple. But
first you watch the sunrise from the other side of the two lakes that
are in front of the temple. The sun creates a beautiful reflection in
the water. The strange thing about this perspective is that the temple
look 2D/flat. It looks like a life-size post card. <br />
After watching the sunrise and getting some bad over priced coffee
and eating white bread with strawberry jam, we were far from properly
prepared for the long hot day. But, we persevered anyway. <br />
One of the craziest things about all the temples is that they let you
walk all over them. I can’t believe that they aren’t closed completely
to tourists for preservation purposes. But no, we get to walk, climb and
touch everything. After spending about an hour at Angkor wat we head to
the parking lot to find our driver. The lot is filled with Tuk Tuks who
have set up shop for the day. It’s like a Cambodian style tailgate.
They bring hammocks and hang them from one Tuk Tuk to the other, they
had coolers and food. They spend the day outside chatting, napping and
eating. <br />
We think there is no way we will find our driver in the midst of all
these people, but every time without fail he spots us and calls us over.
<br />
This area has millions of temples and it is impossible to see all of
them in one day. We read our guidebook beforehand and decided on a few
we wanted to see. They all started looking a little bit the same around
10am and we had now been there for five hours. We stopped for some
sugary drinks to give us a final push for the last 2 hours. <br />
I snapped so many pictures and I now cant even remember why for most
of them. I kept having to remind myself about how old all theses temples
were—some date back to the 900s. All having slightly different history
and story. A few are Hindu, but most are Buddhist. We saw the temple
from the movie the tomb raider, but we didn’t even realize it until that
night. It started getting really hot about 8am. <br />
The final temple was my favorite. We had to pay extra to see it
because it was 40k away. I wasn’t really thinking and ks and miles still
confuse me. This temple was SO far away and felt even further since we
were bouncing around in a Tuk Tuk. <br />
But when we did arrive it was well worth it. The grounds are
extremely well kept and you can tell a lot of money has gone into the
restoration and preservation of this temple. Being that it is so far
away, there were a lot less people there which was nice. We tried our
best to stay as long as possible admiring the intricately carved
stones, but by now it was noon and we were beyond tired and the white
bread and jam wasn’t cutting it anymore. <br />
Our driver dropped us off at an Austrian/Khmer food restaurant that
had a write up saying — “come hungry, big portions and cheap beer.”
Sounded like a winner to us. It was really good! We got our fix of red
meat and parsley roasted potatoes and cold Angkor draft beer. It was
just about 2pm and our day came to a close! <br />
Mom asked me if Angkor wat lived up to expectations. I think it did,
but there were so many things that surprised me about these two weeks of
traveling and maybe just because they were so unexpected that is why
they rank higher up on the amazing list in my book. Here’s the order: 1.
Killing fields 2. Vietnamese coffee 3. Halong bay 4. Angkor Wat 5. Cu
chi tunnels <br />
There’s the list and yes Vietnamese coffee is that good! I’m headed
down to the south of thailand now to go diving. The island is called koh
Tao and is often everyone’s favorite place in all of SE Asia. I can’t
wait! Beach days and learning how to scuba dive will make leaving
Cambodia behind much easier.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-27150578886179410222013-05-10T21:49:00.008-07:002013-05-10T21:49:55.405-07:00<div class="post_content clearfix" id="post_content_49013206598">
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A little happiness that managed to shine through today<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-85374692962838284532013-05-10T21:49:00.006-07:002013-05-10T21:49:37.450-07:00 The memorial at the killing fields<div class="post_content clearfix" id="post_content_49012519808">
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The memorial at the killing fields.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-20184538599364365412013-05-10T21:49:00.003-07:002013-05-10T21:49:16.613-07:00On our way to the killing fields<div class="post_content clearfix" id="post_content_49012378146">
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On our way to the killing fields<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-7993685724845254832013-05-10T21:48:00.001-07:002013-05-10T21:48:22.321-07:00 Welcome to Cambodia<div class="post_content clearfix" id="post_content_49012174598">
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Where to begin? As my friend Alicia said over and over again
there is just something amazingly special about this city. Before
traveling to Asia I probably couldn’t have even told you that Cambodia
was part of SE Asia- ignorant but true. And before teaching a full week
lesson on ASEAN to my pre-kers I had absolutely no desire to visit
Cambodia. When I started making flag color worksheets and PowerPoint for
all the countries I fell slightly in love with the Cambodian flag— the
massive image of a Angkor Wat stretching from one side of the flag to
the other. I knew after that that Siem Reap would become a summer
must-see. <br />
As we started planning the logistics phnom phen (Cambodian capital)
became a stop over point for us— a way to get between Vietnam to the
magnificent Angkor wat. All I can say is that PP took me by complete
surprise. Some where between the kindness of the people, the French wine
and the hodgepodge of architectural influence I fell just a little bit
in love. <br />
But it wasn’t until this morning that I this Cambodian city really
took my heart. I was welcomed with open arms into a resilient and
healing culture. They invited in to hear their horrific stories of
genocide and gave me a chance to feel helpful and hopeful. <br />
So often when a community experiences something as horrific as
genocide they close themselves off from others not involved. They
present their pain to others with an automatic assumption that those not
involved would never understand. They wall themselves off and try to
heal as a community on their own. <br />
Cambodians have done the opposite. I still can’t believe that before
today I has no idea that a massive genocide happened in Cambodia less
than 30 years ago. The man leading the Khmer Rouge was respected by
other countries and even invited to be part of the UN. The world had no
idea what was happening within the borders of Cambodia, but today I
heard their story and they asked that I share that story with others.
They want their story to be heard in hopes that nothing like this will
happen again. So here goes nothing- I do hope I can do the story
justice. <br />
Today started with an early French style breakfast (baguettes, coffee
and eggs). At 830 our new friend mr. Lan met us at the restaurant to
drive us around for the day (he came highly recommended by our friend
Alicia & don’t worry Alicia he was still wearing his scarf and
sunglasses). <br />
He led us to his Tuk Tuk and began to tell us the tale of his family
and how the Khmer Rouge tore them apart. He lost his father and all his
uncles during this time. He told us of how high ranking officials,
professors, doctors, nurses and all those that spoke English or that
were well educated for taken away and put in interrogation prisons. I’m
nodding awkwardly as he tells me his story unsure how to take it all in.
Unsure how to relate to a man in his 30s who has somehow picked himself
up and carried on after so many bad things happened to him. <br />
He then introduced us to his brother in law and told us his brother
hadn’t had work all week and would it be okay if be drove us for the day
instead. He said you help me and I help him okay?<br />
And so we set off— 30 minutes later, one new face mask (purchased
courtesy of our driver), a stomach full of nervous and our bodies
covered with a film of dust and exhaust we arrived at what Farangs call
The Killing Fields. Our driver told us to take 2 hours which I felt
would be way too long, but smiled and nodded and we went in. <br />
We each took an audio recording and a vow of silence and started our
journey through the fields. At this moment all I knew was Mr. Lan story
and a brief glance at Wikipedia. <br />
The area was dusty but peaceful and the recording guided me to marked
areas all throughout the fields. It showed me the massive graves of
over 400 people, remains of bones, torn clothing and a lake that covered
the bodies of many that are still buried beneath. <br />
The audio recording was extremely well done. It let you ingest the
information in the way you needed to—you could sit, walk the lake or
just stare off into the distance. It was wonderful to be there and be
silent and listen to this story of a small poor nation that watched its
own people turn on each other. <br />
In the center is a memorial that houses actual bones and skulls from
the victims. The narrator told us that everyone in the city gathers at
the memorial on April 20th of every year on the day that used to be
known as the day of anger and has known transformed into the day of
remembrance. <br />
The recording ended with four testimonials that were written and said before monks to help them grieve, heal and forgive. <br />
I feel like I’ve gone on too long already, but this day in the fields
is something ill never forget. We next went to the S21 museum, an old
high school that the Khmer Rouge turned into a prison. Thousands came
through the prison and were forced to make up stories about being enemy
to their own country. Each person that came through the camp was
photographed and the photographs now line the walls of the now museum. <br />
One the best ways for me to see redemption in something so awful is
to somehow find away to help/give back. The last room of the museum was
filled with drawings of young student’s ideas of peace. A small glimmer
of hope. <br />
We left with heavy hearts and ended the day at daughters of Cambodia.
A non profit organization for women forced to work in the sex industry.
The restaurant, spa and shop now provide 100s of women with an
alternative way of life. Another heart wrenching story from PP but this
one was a bit more uplifting and the delicious roasted pumpkin salad
helped to ease the pain. <br />
I’m sad to leave this city behind tomorrow. I’m still unsure what it
is or was about it. I don’t think it’s anything I can say in words, but
this place will always hold a special place in my heart.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-53139561446429133682013-05-10T21:47:00.003-07:002013-05-10T21:47:49.045-07:00
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Halong bay perfection.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-42732671591929402042013-05-10T21:47:00.001-07:002013-05-10T21:47:29.218-07:00<div class="post_content clearfix" id="post_content_48695149478">
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First impressions of Vietnam: coffee, chilies, limes, rice hats and French architecture<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-85753620023207002022013-05-10T21:46:00.004-07:002013-05-10T21:46:51.120-07:00<div class="post_content clearfix" id="post_content_48695001728">
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Songkran craziness!! Buckets and buckets of water. Zero hope of staying dry!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-31175009511680844242013-05-10T21:46:00.001-07:002013-05-10T21:46:24.031-07:00 Songkran to Halong Bay <div class="post_content clearfix" id="post_content_48694685504">
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So I know I’ve been bad about keeping up recently. I was kindly
reminded by my ex coworker Alicia that maybe I should think of seeking
out some guest bloggers due to my lack of posting.<br />
But no worries lets hope I’m back. I’ve been in a bit of a funk since
my dear mother left me here in SE Asia. I sailed away in a cab headed
to my thailand home for a quick laundry load and a quick repack. It
ended up being an even quicker repack than initially anticipated due to
the fact that our ticket was written only in Thai and our landlady
misinformed us of our departure time. <br />
But we did make it to the bus station in one piece and we even got to
witness a rather bizarre breathalyzer award show. Very strange and a
story for another day. <br />
We took our bus up to Chiang Mai which normally departs around 6 and
arrives in CM around 6:30am. Unfortunately due to the largest Thai
holiday of the year we didn’t end up arriving until close to 11am. It
was quite a long ride. <br />
Songkran, Thai new year is beyond words. I don’t even know how to
start or where to end when it comes to trying to explain the holiday.
All I can say is that it was a perfect time for me to get out of
thailand for a bit. I think I might have exploded didn’t get out soon.
“They” say around month 6, the new country’s customs/
foods/mannerisms/everything no longer seems as cute and beings to wear
on you heavily. <br />
Helen and I did manage to make it to the bus station relatively dry and we changed clothes in bus station bathroom. <br />
The end of Thai new year took us to Bangkok for a night and an early departure to Hanoi, Vietnam. <br />
I arrived with a stomach full of butterflies due to the fact that I
was only able to bring one passport picture for my visa because
everything in Bangkok had closed shop for songkran for over a week. We
arrived and were efficiently shuffled through two different lines, paid
our fees, stopped by baggage claims and were swooped off into a car
headed to our hostel before we could catch our breathe. One of the most
efficient travels to date! <br />
We arrive and are greeted, quickly rushed in and told not to pay the
cab or even think about touching our bags. With the amount of attention
we were receiving you would have thought were staying in a suite rather
than the $6 dorms! (I’m still on the fence about May De Ville, but
customer service and sales is something they long ago perfected.)<br />
Our first night wasn’t the best. The dorm was nice, just not our
style. The room smelled of feet and no matter how many windows I opened I
couldn’t seem to air it out. I woke up early to run the lake with a
fiend from orientation which was a nice change of pace. The lake was
beautiful and about 1 mile around. Reminded me of lake Merritt in
Oakland and my LIC days. <br />
The lake was full of people exercising which was also a great change
of pace from thailand. The air seemed a bit cooler, possibly a bit less
humid, but defiantly more polluted. I’ve never seen a city with a
crazier traffic plan than Hanoi. The lack of sidewalks and paved roads
left you in a daze trying to dodge motorcycles, bikes, vans, taxis and
other people. Horns never stopped honking and one had to use wit and
confidence when crossing the street.<br />
Day one and two Helen and I spent admiring the French influenced
arcetictchure, sipping the most amazing coffee I’ve ever had (they roast
their beans in butter giving the coffee a rich chocolately flavor maybe
similar to guinness beer that is like nothing I’ve ever tasted-pure
perfection), eating pho and trying our very hardest to book a scam free
halong bay tour. <br />
Some how we managed to book an amazing tour: ODC tour company and our
boat was named Elation. It was absolutely perfect. A quiet group of
about 15—mostly couples and parent and son group. We somehow managed to
snag the suite which had an amazing window view, huge bathroom and our
own private balcony off the back. Helen and I could not of been more
proud of ourselves because the planning is normally left to Alicia, but
I’m happy to say she approved of our choice and gave it her Alicia
soon-to-be-tour-guide stamp of approval. <br />
We spent the first day on the boat taking in the breath taking views
and relaxing on the upper deck. We ate fabulous meals that were even
more courses than the pink beach club. Lots of veggies, fish and
delicious fresh fruit juices were my favorite. <br />
We kayaked around the bay. Which one would think this means you are
dropped in a secluded closed off area of the bay without any large
cruise ships, but no not in SE Asia. We bounced right alongside the old
junk boats through a tunnel which did finally bring us to a quieter
area. We paddled around a bit and then headed back to the boat. <br />
Our boat was smaller than a lot of the others which was nice because
it meant it could take us right up to the dock. We docked at a beach and
climbed way up high to a breath taking view point. The craziest part of
the experience is you climbing with a million other halong bay tourist,
all of us gently fighting our way to the top. <br />
The view looked like battleship—fake little toy pieces playing a game
below. I think this is the most impressive, most beautiful and most
touristy thing I’ve done the past six months. <br />
We went for a quick swim after our climb but the water was cold and
we opted for a beer on the beach instead. The day ended with a sunset
toast on the top deck, another fabulous Vietnamese meals and a quick
spring roll cooking class. We were all zonked and went to bed early,
knowing that we had an early morning wake up call. <br />
Breakfast was at 7 and we once again enjoyed a great meal. Then we
headed to the amazing cave—which was fine but I always think of the trip
we took in AR to see the caves when I was in elementary school and
caves just aren’t really my thing. <br />
But back out on the water again I was happy as a clam! The ride to
and from halong bay was about three hours and cars really never stop
honking here. I did notice one to many cars seemed to be honking at us
for an extended period and we did eventually pull over for a flat tire.
It wasn’t like thailand though. We got off the van and weren’t
immediately sweating. There was even a nice breeze. The area seemed like
a car shop area, but quite a few families had come outside to check out
all the foreigners. Alicia, Helen and I started playing with one of the
adorable kids and the next thing you know the mom invites us over to
sit. She tosses her baby at someone else and rushes inside to fix us
some delicious green ice tea. If that’s not southern hospitality, I duno
what is! We were told people wouldn’t be as nice here as they are in
thailand. The conclusion I’ve come to so far is that those that are nice
are really genuinely nice and those that want to rip you off genuinely
want to rip you off. I don’t have much other way to explain it. We’ve
had our fare share of encounters of rip offs in just two days, but also
some extremely kind gestures too.<br />
The trip was perfect and we got to spend one more night in hanoi with
Alicia. Alicia is my fellow wine drinker and fellow expensive food
lover. So the three of us spent out last night dining at the number one
rated tripadvisor restaurant in Hanoi. This marked our last night
traveling together before Alicia heads home to the US and Helen and I
head on to see the rest of Vietnam. <br />
We left Alicia tonight, both of us a nervous wreck after reading
mixed reviews about our quickly approaching 15 hour bus journey. Now on
the bus breathing a small sigh of relief— we have aircon, the seats
recline and there aren’t extra people sleeping on the floor just yet.
And we have an extra exciting journey ahead. We will arrive in Hoi An
tomorrow and will be staying with a family. We can’t wait! Tripadvisor
is full of positive reviews and I’m hoping to maybe get in a yoga class
or two. And to top it off Hoi an is beach city. I think this travel is
slowly but surely heading in the right direction and the homesickness is
starting to subside. Lets hope, because if not it’s going to be a long
three weeks!<br />
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-60351315611410907882013-05-10T21:45:00.002-07:002013-05-10T21:45:56.235-07:00Mother Daughter
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Mother daughter trip starts today! Whooo HOOO Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Koh Lanta, Krabi and Bangkok again—Here we come! <br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/14db088744c08effa21a5dcc0a49ec00/tumblr_inline_mkedihOr0F1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
And obviously that map is just for looks. Everyone knows neither of us know how to read a map…<br />
And this pack is not packed anywhere near as professional as it was the first time.<br />
</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-11134210857053866032013-05-10T21:44:00.001-07:002013-05-10T21:45:40.773-07:00Little Life of Me in Chonburi<br />
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<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/4cc25827d46a82acd9ef46dd5bb18bc6/tumblr_inline_mk60umpsjL1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
So what should one do without a job? I realize I should be delighted
to have these few days of nothingness. When is the next time I will be
able to spend a week doing whatever, whenever and however I want? No
deadlines, no alarms, and no responsibility. This all seemed fine and
good until one morning I woke up to no internet. In a world that is just
a few clicks away from wifi, take it away and what does one do?<br />
Honestly, I’m still not really sure? I only have fifty or so songs
downloaded onto my computer (at home I live off Pandora and here
8track), I don’t have a TV or any movies (project free tv and hulu), I
upload books onto my nook for free from the library and they expire
every two weeks aka I needed to update it and most importantly how am I
suppose to research and plan the next month’s worth of travel without
internet? What has my world come to? An internet dependent life to say
the least.<br />
After cleaning the dishes, sweeping, hanging my clothes to dry,
walking to buy coffee and eating breakfast—I was completely out of ideas
of what to do? Should I go shopping, always a good idea? Then I
remembered the good ole days of Word Perfect and how I could actually
write a blog post in Word and wow post into the lands of the Internets
when they are alive and well again.<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/68771262703c947a03802b44ab9491ff/tumblr_inline_mk62dqcRt21qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
So, I shuffled through my measly excuse for an itunes library and
settled on Gavin DeGraw—bringing me back to tenth grade promises of a
Riverfest preformance (which sadly did not happen..too cool for school)
and started typing away. I’m not even sure where this blog post is
going?<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/3fe7ce87d0b2509f1749b4a719103bb5/tumblr_inline_mk60x917nB1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
My life is bizarre in Thailand. There are plenty interesting things I
could/should write about. But, five months here, I can’t remember what
is strange and what isn’t anymore. What are things that people at home
would want to read about (aka my family, pretty sure no one else reads
this?)? So we can settle with A Day in the Life of Teacher Esther. Why
not..? I suppose if it isn’t interesting, we can blame it on the lack of
creative juju that comes from wifi land.<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/4f68340ae26cb622374734cb6d66d6ee/tumblr_inline_mk60y6uEjA1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
Monday through Friday, I wake up around 6-6:30. Depending on which
coffee spot I want to go to—one on the way to school (more expensive,
but a wonderful AC break on the blisteringly hot walk to school) or the
one a little past school. The walk to school takes about ten minutes.
Every day I walk by 1 temple, 2 coffee shops, 3 traffic policemen
blowing their whistles every two seconds for no reason, 4-6 stray dogs, 7
smelly garbage cans and almost get hit by at LEAST 8 cars.<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/38f9aa936385cc81ce4389925267a0bb/tumblr_inline_mk62vaMMyS1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
I have three classes with 35-38 students in each and I teach each
class twice a day. The school is set up in a square, with a large
courtyard in the middle. In the center of the courtyard there is a large
Buddha statue and this is where Flag ceremony is held every day. All
the doors are sliding doors, like the doors on the way to the balcony of
a beach condo (sliding doors are everywhere here), but instead of
leading you to a beautiful view of the beach, they lead into the
classroom. Each room has two sliding doors, but no windows. The rooms do
feel bright and happy though and everything is painted purple—the
school’s and the princess’s color. All rooms have fans and AC—we are
lucky, because it gets extremely hot.<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/9204d7abd5f7bcceb68d165e06b0f4d8/tumblr_inline_mk6109s1zl1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
Flag Ceremony, one of those things that is extremely bizarre
initially, but now feels normal. First, I must explain about the
speakers that are all throughout Thailand. Thailand has speakers
everywhere throughout cities and is very 1984-esque in that
announcements and songs are constantly blasting. If one is lucky enough
to be caught during a playing of the National Anthem, you must stand
respectfully still no matter what you maybe doing at that moment. The
whole city just freezes—quite freaky to see.<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/3c63493379cacb498a01318dfa3b62d7/tumblr_inline_mk62wbmXBK1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
At 7:45 we are signaled by the Flag Song that is it time to report to
the courtyard. Each class stands in two straight lines: one for boys
one for girls and the teachers stand on either side. The teachers use
this time to “check” all the students. The girls cannot have hair longer
than chin length and for boys if there is enough to pull—it is too
long, finger nails must be cut short, shirts tucked in and girls must
have a bow in their hair. One day, one of my teachers put neon rubber
bands on the boy’s hair that was too long. They had little ponytails all
over their heads—it looked very silly.<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/17e250e2aa044143900a00921f62b5cd/tumblr_inline_mk611qvuBO1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
So flag starts with the Anthem. We must all stand still with our arms
by our side. Following the anthem, two students from P5 (grade 5, here
it is called Prathom 5) lead the school in a call and response singing
prayer. Since I am in an area with only kindergarten students, it sounds
awful. My students are always off key and late/early. Following the
prayer, we have announcements. This is all in Thai and everyone is
sweating bullets at this point. Or at least all the foreign teachers and
all the kids are, I don’t know how, but my Thai teachers never seem to
be sweating. Sometimes announcements last two minutes and sometimes they
last close to fifteen and I never have a clue what is going on. I
normally bring out my phone and look at Instragm pictures—Friday is the
best because #TBT pictures distract me from the unbearable heat.<br />
<a href="http://thefoodplacebo.tumblr.com/post/46157669567/little-life-of-me-in-chonburi"><img height="14" src="http://assets.tumblr.com/images/inline_placeholder.png" width="18" /></a><br />
<a href="http://thefoodplacebo.tumblr.com/post/46157669567/little-life-of-me-in-chonburi"><img height="14" src="http://assets.tumblr.com/images/inline_placeholder.png" width="18" /></a><br />
Once dismissed we return to our AC filled classroom. At this point
one of the students puts out four small chairs for the teachers: head
teacher, co-teacher, student teacher and me. We all sit and the
co-teacher calls up each student one at a time. They must one-by-one
wai, Sa-wat-dee-kah and hug all Thai teachers and then wai, good morning
to me. Yes, I hug 38 snotty 4 and 5 years olds every single morning.
After this process is finished, I have a little time to facebook, email
or lesson plan before I teach my first lesson.<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/a71ac1de522f1582247b697f15a12849/tumblr_inline_mk62xm1kPP1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
I then teach back to back rotating through the three pre-k classes.
Each week is a different topic and is the same topic that the Thai
teachers teach, so they learn all the vocabulary in Thai and in English.
This is a good and bad thing. Sometimes when translated into English,
the topic doesn’t make any sense. For example one week was Magic Eyes,
one week sticky rice—how I am suppose to teach about sticky rice for a
solid week and what the heck is Magic Eyes?<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/88c96013d4eba4f1a0d8f9b914c55f86/tumblr_inline_mk61lpNDya1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
It is incredibly hard to hold the attention of 37 Thai students for
even five minutes, but they love competition, so we spent a lot of time
playing games: Girls versus Boys, students versus teacher etc. While I
am teaching, at least one Thai teachers stays in the classroom (or they
are supposed to). They sit to the side with a ruler in hand ready to
whack anyone playing, talking, or as they like to say “being naughty.”
At first, watching the students get hit was a weird thing. But, after
trying to teach a few lessons without my Thai Teachers present, I
realized I needed them there. Most of the time they just instill fear in
the kids (not necessarily a good thing..), but the kids know I would
never hit them, so why would they ever pay attention to me? Towards the
end of the semester, I did get to were I could handle the class on my
own, but it was exhausting and the quick easy fix = Thai Teachers mere
presence in the classroom.<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/bee3a1af6b695628d75ebd30aad05fb0/tumblr_inline_mk61szA4el1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
So after teaching three lessons, we head to canteen for lunch around
11. The students sit in an open area cafeteria: girls on one side, boys
on the other. They walk to the cafeteria in two lines and split down the
middle once they reach the canteen. One spoon, one fork and one
bowl/plate of food: one portion of food and if still hungry, they raise
their had and we come give them another serving. They don’t have
anything to drink and there is no option of what they eat. If they don’t
like it that day, too bad—eat it anyway (and the teachers make them eat
it).<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/4e15bfc864a7b5503b0d366958ec5d48/tumblr_inline_mk61u3b57o1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
After they have finished (teachers make this a crazy fast process),
we send down the dessert box where they use their fork to stick whatever
gummy treat they will have that day. They pop the treat into their
mouth and the slide the box down the table and put their fork and spoon
into box that comes next and then slide that down. Very robotic and
assembly line-esque. As soon as the two boxes reach the end, clap-clap
“boys stand up” and the boys file into line, push in their chairs and
carry their dish to a large trash can, pour in any left over food, and
then place the dish into a large vat of dirty dishes. I then take the
kids back to the classroom where they take off their shoes (students
never wear shoes in the class, forgot to mention that), grab their tooth
brush and metal cup. Then they sit in two lines in the hallway.
Clap-Clap— “Girl stand up” and the girls file down the hallway holding
out their toothbrush and I put toothpaste on for each of them and they
respond with “Brush my teeth, thank you teacher,” some of the suck ups
even say “Thank you, I love you.”<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/54f3121d5f9cb4914e11a95c11e2f9c3/tumblr_inline_mk61zkllHs1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
I then stand at the bathroom doors, “hurry, hurry, hurry, lay-o,
lay-o, lay-o” (lay-o= hurry in thai and after teaching pre-k for 6
months I tend to repeat things three times..). Once they finish drinking
water and brushing their teach, they grab their pallets and silk
blankets and pillows, find their spots on the floor and sit quietly.
This is my cue that it is time to go to lunch. At this point the Thai
teachers lead them in a prayer and then they nap. I spend the first hour
of nap time at lunch. Every day I go to my Vegetarian restaurant for
lunch, get a mango for dessert and a coffee for a treat. When I get back
the lights are out and the AC is on full blast. The best and worst part
of the day. Sometimes the kids really fall asleep, but more often that
not they don’t. They squirm and roll around and it is really hard to
keep them quiet. Especially since nap time sometimes last as long as
11:30-2:45. It is a range and sometimes it isn’t that long, but
sometimes it really is that long, which is crazy.<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/d5d979cb62b7746656afa7960e06f393/tumblr_inline_mk620ykcV21qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
The thai teachers decide when it is time to get up and each teacher
is a bit different. When the lights come back on, half the kids jump up
and other half are lost in a sleep trance so deep that even their
friend’s tugs, yells and shakes can’t break. At this point, I grab the
baby powder—yes another thing that seemed very odd in the beginning. All
the students wash their face with water and then hold their hands to
get baby powdered—I pour baby powder on their hands and then they rub it
all over their face. The idea is that it cools you down and it actually
does work. As you get older you learn to rub in the powder, but in
pre-k they kids just spend the rest of the day with splotchy white
patches all over their face.<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/fabd021c41c5a30cd373ba1816613511/tumblr_inline_mk622hHljO1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
They once again sit in two lines and wait for the afternoon prayer.
Once they pray they systematically grab one bag of milk, one straw, and
one snack. The snack and the straw go in their top pocket and they hold
the milk with two hands, while I cut a small slit in the top of the bag
(where the straw is later inserted). Then sit down, drink milk and eat a
snack. Every day, same exact process. Some days bags of milk slip to
the floor and some days they eat chocolate granola bars, some days
fruit, but without fail the process of the day remains the same. Thai
school is full of structured events.<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/31a68b0112e095f339c683ef1c789fa4/tumblr_inline_mk623sRBdN1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
After snack, I read a story to each class. But, you can’t really read
the story. They won’t be interested in the least. Pretty quickly, I
picked up on what words they know and what story lines they like. Same
as any other kids around the world, they laugh when you change your
voice, love to repeat words/yell using motions and the biggest success
of the year is putting the ones that are well behaved into the story.
They just love it. Once upon a time Penguin…. (in case you are confused
Penguin is a student’s name). <br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/ad44272ebdcb36cd8df83e5368f23e0d/tumblr_inline_mk6257fLJq1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" /><br />
After story, my long hard work day is over. Can you believe that is
what I’ve been doing for the past 5 months? It is without a doubt the
easiest, yet most exhausting job I’ve ever done. I had to bring back a
lot of my cheerleading attributes—smiley, peppy, sing songy Esther
somehow managed to remain present for almost the whole school day,
leaving grouchy, tired, cynical Esther to enjoy the rest of life.<br />
And I suppose that is what you do on a day without internet & a
job—write a three page blog post about your life. Self absorbed? Just a
little.<br />
<img alt="image" class="toggle_inline_image inline_image constrained_image" src="http://media.tumblr.com/40c6a949e4cf422e00f551746d100f4f/tumblr_inline_mk62a2YUZh1qz4rgp.jpg" style="cursor: pointer;" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-67797918026106175742013-02-12T00:34:00.003-08:002013-02-12T04:27:09.581-08:00#Howdoyoufeel?<i>Title notes: I've had an Epiphany (an apostrophe): if you would like to get to know someone fast (the good, the bad and the ugly) move to another country with them. We work together, eat together, drink together, travel together, laugh together and bicker together. We do everything together and constantly see each others moods/personalities change: school =smiley and peppy, home = shut-ins (basking in AC and some alone time) , trips = pumped up/excited and/or at our wist end filled with frustration and confusion. </i><br />
<i>After last weekend when we had all snapped, bounce back and moved on we decided to patent the phrase "#how do you feel?" --meaning we make each other feel stupid/mad/happy quite often. Even the most kind of us all gets in her fair share of snarky comments these days. It just comes with the territory. Moral of the story: be very careful who you travel with. (Mom our two weeks together...we shall see) </i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHAxcEGkTGN-qU-DQwGQoJuX-orYBwpSR_mRb0iDbkXAFK6Yzw-okmd5PHSnha4kKG1porEu2qUdSCNg02pFh3Ja2zyAz_IpsXDXhn-mUabDmVhLSsPNWrin4BZevN9QdavhSHY5yonAc/s1600/vineyard+group.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHAxcEGkTGN-qU-DQwGQoJuX-orYBwpSR_mRb0iDbkXAFK6Yzw-okmd5PHSnha4kKG1porEu2qUdSCNg02pFh3Ja2zyAz_IpsXDXhn-mUabDmVhLSsPNWrin4BZevN9QdavhSHY5yonAc/s400/vineyard+group.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">GranMonte Vineyard</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I think it has finally happened. I have officially had my favorite weekend in Thailand. It was by no means perfect, but without a doubt it ranks number one in my book. The weekend was planned around a North Face trail run winding through Khoa Yai national park. The race had four options: 100k, 50k, 25k and a 10k. I suggested to everyone that we all run the race together when we first got to Chonburi. I made up training programs for everyone and I was dead set on running the 25k. The ambitious dream of running the 25k was soon squashed--weekends of traveling, a NYE break, a week and a half of being sick--let's just say training did not go as planned.<br />
<i> </i><br />
<br />
However, I have a serious problem with signing up for races. I'm not exactly sure what it is about race registration, but I never sign up until the last minute. Maybe it is all my past injures/ending up not being prepared or maybe it is a commitment phobia?--who knows? But regardless, I never sign up for races on time and I've missed the deadline for more races than you can count on two hands. So I had finally come to peace with the fact that I would be running the 10k rather than the 25k. I went to sign up for the 10k and of course it was full. Not only was the 10k full, so was the 25, 50 and 100 (not that I would have ever considered running the 50 or 100...)<br />
<br />
I was mad and disappointed, but really not all that surprised. Luckily one of my friends was kind enough to let me run in her place. She knew how much I wanted to do it and she really didn't care all that much! So once again it worked out! And I ran my first international race as a blonde, 25 year old female from New Jersey. <br />
<br />
After a busy and high stress traveling day (filled with many #howdoyoufeel-s?) we finally made it our hotel around 10:30 on Friday night. We stayed at a great place! It was a big lodge type room with 10 or so mattresses on the floor. Very simple but, the beds were really comfortable, it was clean and the bathroom was huge! (We constantly are making up tripadvisor reviews in our heads now...but have yet to actually posted one.)<br />
<br />
There ended up only being one other guy that stayed in our room, so we pretty much had the whole lodge to ourselves. He was running the 100k, so he was up by 3am and was out the door by 3:30. We woke up around 4:45 and out the door and on the songtoa by 5am.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaU2Cj_aq6HR16cMdkpVHgl2ByKoEZY2dXqrTBpC34sISAd1i8pi_MVF3xYRrUsjv2672_VCibG3Wt6-uxhFort3ODPO2T1M7DOEsoyUaUMriMAe-cRlvscxhmlXiGzHaGOK5v0Gnv-WI/s1600/Startline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaU2Cj_aq6HR16cMdkpVHgl2ByKoEZY2dXqrTBpC34sISAd1i8pi_MVF3xYRrUsjv2672_VCibG3Wt6-uxhFort3ODPO2T1M7DOEsoyUaUMriMAe-cRlvscxhmlXiGzHaGOK5v0Gnv-WI/s320/Startline.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bright and Early Start Line!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Still dark and still sleepy, we all gathered as the start time grew closer. Instead of the traditional count down and gun shot start I've grown accustom to in America, the race started with a monk's blessing and a few shakes of holy water. Per usual, I didn't know what is going on and the first few drops of holy water were rubbed away with disgust (I knew it wasn't raining...). Then I saw the monk, I smiled and I knew it was going to be good race!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFcEPvtfvttkrnRvn1yJDlE_y0sLnAQVud3D1Rq-ECvQJlXubtWhNe2YolYbY7GzXSaqtAC0NV6jINDGuUToQAiNOn25ivHm5Gq5D5harzFn3suG_E7H409OUnT9qsGdgIwUaIJNuQ1o/s1600/finishline.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSFcEPvtfvttkrnRvn1yJDlE_y0sLnAQVud3D1Rq-ECvQJlXubtWhNe2YolYbY7GzXSaqtAC0NV6jINDGuUToQAiNOn25ivHm5Gq5D5harzFn3suG_E7H409OUnT9qsGdgIwUaIJNuQ1o/s400/finishline.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finish Line and Cheering Crew</td></tr>
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The race was not an easy one, but it was great! We ran through fields, up steep rocky hills, by cow pastures, next to burning fields (not a pleasant smell..) and then back on to the road to complete the loop to the finish line. The countryside was beautiful and it a perfect way to watch the sunrise over the mountains in the distance.<br />
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I ended up running the whole race with one of my co-teachers. We both agreed, we felt like the other was setting the pace. It was fast and hard. We tied for 6th place in our age group-- well worth it!<br />
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We were met at the finish line by our other two friends and quickly ushered into lines to receive sweat towels, cool sponges (this was first..never seen that), energy drinks and the final stop: a picture with an elephant (an event in Thailand isn't complete unless an elephant is present).<br />
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Then we made it to the food tables and that's when things got a little crazy. Huge vats of padi thai, fried rice, papaya, guava, mango, watermelon, pineapple--so much food! Our evening plans included a winery's harvest fest celebration--which was quite costly. One sideways glance and we knew we were all on the same page--this could be lunch--fo' free (and we all just finished reading Glass Castle--very Glass Castle-esque)! So we piled our plates high and acted like your typical embarrassing American backpackers--nickel and diming away.<br />
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We head back to the hotel for my second favorite event of the day--coffee hour: a lovely hour devoted to coffee and chit-chat. We walked right next door to Peace Cafe and posted up for a good hour. Sipping hot coffee and enjoying the still very early morning (at this point it still wasn't even 9am).<br />
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After the coffee hour, my body decided to let me know it was tired and sore and time for the next glorious event of the day--nap time! I head back to the lodge, showered, read a few pages of my book and passed out for a solid hour and half nap!<br />
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We lounged around for the rest of the day and squealed with excited thinking out our evening event at the winery--Harvest Fest with "free flow" wine and live music = perfection! <br />
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The night exceeded my expectations by a ten fold. Anyone that knows me, will know that this rarely happens. I set my expectations for things pretty high and unfortunately am often disappointed. This though was amazing and to top it all off, we were treated like royalty. Little did they know we were just poor teachers from Chonburi. The event advertised as having "free flowing" wine and grape juice. We have open bar situations at home, but normally there are some type of parameters. Only house wine/cheaper liquor or certain time frame etc. But, this night everything was free flowing. Towards the end of the night, the owner of the vineyard walked around with a $150 dollar bottle of wine topping off everyone's glass.<br />
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The one low point of the evening was the food, but I guess if the food had been good then this blog post would have gone on forever...so skipping right over that. The night had three live bands and was set at an outside seating venue overlooking the vineyard. The guests were a range of ages and ethnicities. We befriended a middle aged Filipino woman and her husband sitting next to us who gave us the low down on everything--pointing out the Bill Gates of Thailand and last years grape picking champion. They had been coming to the vineyard's harvest fest for many years and knew all the ins and the outs.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfvO5BU65R6S2XuCvTOIy3qPEFwDdQyiNe_-guSiK07kGorn7noDAicPjClaMYZ1QL5EttXuWwbsTS7wLIXpGGxWURC6xu_0pPNIRgkUgLM6IeyZuR5NcW7VJ0bn2nBfoH_lHgP6_DWs/s1600/wine+drinking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilfvO5BU65R6S2XuCvTOIy3qPEFwDdQyiNe_-guSiK07kGorn7noDAicPjClaMYZ1QL5EttXuWwbsTS7wLIXpGGxWURC6xu_0pPNIRgkUgLM6IeyZuR5NcW7VJ0bn2nBfoH_lHgP6_DWs/s320/wine+drinking.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying!</td></tr>
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The night continued with a buffet line of food and a whole cow and whole pig for your pork and beef fix. After dinner they served coconut ice cream served in white bread--they take the concept of ice cream sandwiches very literally here. I'm looking around for a non dairy sweet treat when suddenly our newest friends plops down a monstrous bunch of grapes on our table. The grapes were absolutely delicious!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQLN2GGsvZ43riqepWXOX2HKTn4fd9fJN6Mvp-Vm91pkMp4jvA9L_ujf8IZEoz5dEEKlrU2Q_9gCXEjQ6LgIE8C5OBzDXNBaWDeRHj_Vy_bYMNUQnxanUhdw2tvbZ-7nTq6LMnvOhXq-Q/s1600/Cutting+Grapes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQLN2GGsvZ43riqepWXOX2HKTn4fd9fJN6Mvp-Vm91pkMp4jvA9L_ujf8IZEoz5dEEKlrU2Q_9gCXEjQ6LgIE8C5OBzDXNBaWDeRHj_Vy_bYMNUQnxanUhdw2tvbZ-7nTq6LMnvOhXq-Q/s320/Cutting+Grapes.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harvesting </td></tr>
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The evening appeared to be wrapping up, when the owner's daughter (the vineyard is run by husband, wife and two daughters) made an announcement about the grape picking portion of the evening. Last year their had been a contest and winner received 3 cases of that seasons wine the following year. This year though, they seem to be cracking down a bit and really trying to perfect their wine, so unfortunately no contest. But, they did say that we could go out and pick a few bunches. They said that they have been harvesting at night due to the lower temperatures.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Grapes!</td></tr>
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So armed with head lamps, baskets and scissors we went to picking! The night sky was completely black and it was neat being out their: cutting, picking and eating the sweet grapes. When we got back we assumed this would be the time they'd offer to take us home--we didn't want to overstay our welcome. But, nope the party was still going on. The owner and all of his buddies were up telling funny stories about the good ole days (mix of Thai and English), singing songs and dancing. We felt ourselves getting a bit antsy and of course before you know it we are all up dancing. Mr. Bill Gates of Thailand, owners, daughters and silly American girls dancing away to American Motown classics, with a few Elvis songs stealing the spotlight.<br />
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When we asked about our ride home the owners told us to just sit and enjoy and they would tell us when it was time to leave. This was said to us in a stern yet hospitable way. When the night did come to an end, we waved goodbye to our new friends, everyone promising to return next year. Of course we were all caught up in the moment and declaring that of course we would come back next. We'd never miss Harvest Fest!<br />
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Now you must be thinking--nothing could make this weekend better: race, coffee, nap and wine. What more do you need in life? Those four words depict a perfect life in my eyes. I don't wish for anything more. But the next day brought me my first hamburger since arriving in Thailand. I have desperately missed Local burgers (one of my favorite bars/restaurants in Memphis) and this burger did not disappoint. We went to a place called The Smokehouse. Thankfully they had cute little food trucks set up in their parking lot selling cheaper food options. We first thought about going into the restaurant and quickly turned away after reading the price list. But, outside was amazing. Cute pic nic tables and 5 different food trucks to choose from. I had a good ole American meal that was of course Thai-iefed. I got a hamburger and a delicious watermelon shake--watermelon and ice, such delicious and treat!<br />
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And that brought my favorite weekend to date to an end! <br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-29159930822184329222013-01-17T22:10:00.000-08:002013-01-17T22:17:18.946-08:00Happy Friday: Videos & Address! So the main reason for this post is to let everyone know my address! Initially I was under the <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">impression that receiving packages would cost us a lot of money upon their arrival. But, thankfully I have fou</span>nd out that is not true! If you send mail using the US post and not Fed-ex or UPS it will not cost me a dime! So, this is an open invitation to all to send me packages and cards! All of our mail comes to school, so ther<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">e is<span style="font-size: small;"> a<span style="font-size: small;"> bit of</span></span> an unspoken </span></span>competition between foreigners on who receives the most mail. And lets just say I'm not in the top ten quite yet! :)<br />
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Address:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="il">Anubanchonburi</span> School</b><br /><b>c/o Esther Wills</b><br /><b>Wachiraprakarn Road, T Bangplasoi</b><br /><b>A. Muang</b><br /><b>Chon Buri 20000</b><br /><b>Thailand</b></span></span></div>
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No, but really I would love to hear from y'all and snail mail can actually be lots of fun! It makes the day feel like Christmas morning!<br />
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Here are a few silly videos to make you laugh this Friday and send you into the weekend happy and smiley! I'm headed to Bangkok right after school and will be checking out Thailand's biggest market: JJ's. The market is spread over 35 acres and there are more than 8,000 shops, vendors and stalls. Hopefully, I will survive--this isn't normally my cup of tea. I have already researched and found all the near by coffee shops that will act as my safe haven if I become overwhelmed by Thai trinkets, condensed milk, plastic bags, straws and stick food. <br />
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Gangnam Style: I hear this at least 5 times a week. It literally never gets old to them. </div>
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Loy Krathong English Version. These two girls are so smart!</div>
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Nine Square: A very big deal here in Thailand. There are many competitions and when the students get older it is a combo between Dance Dance Revolution and Boot Camp. </div>
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They go so fast and are amazing!</div>
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Below is Christmas. There really isn't much I can say about this. It was a crazy crazy day! I have so many more videos from this day, but they wouldn't load for some reason, so this is what you get! </div>
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Happy Friday! Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-70309812420505547672013-01-14T00:59:00.001-08:002013-01-14T07:35:03.999-08:00Drink (Condensed) Milk from Bag through a Straw<div style="text-align: right;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/66349230@N05/8124247203/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Untitled by estherjwills, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="640" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8328/8124247203_71747689ef.jpg" width="476" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very Very Spicy Red Curry! </td></tr></tbody></table><br />
So I haven't had a post about food yet. I have been here almost exactly three months and there has yet to be an entire entry decicated to food and food alone. <br />
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I've been sick the past couple of weeks and lost all enthusiasm for Thailand. Literally every ounce of positivity was suck out of me dementor style. I was tired and achy with a horrible runny nose, stopped up ears and a cough that quite possibly woke up my neighbors. Getting in front of 37 small Thai children acting happy and peppy was the last thing I wanted to do. But, thankfully I made it through the week and quarantined myself to my room and slept the weekend away. It is now Monday and I feel like a million bucks compared to weeks passed! <br />
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So I figured this would be a good time to remember some of the things I truely am happy and thankful for here in Thailand. It is easy to look at all the breathtaking pictures from weekend travels and think I'm living the life. But, in reality I live in pretty smelly and dirty town (sewage, trash, stray dogs galore) and my job is never really easy to figure out. It never stays the same and randomly I'm asked to come in and work on the weekends (nevermind the fact that I already have weekend reservations/plans...)<br />
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But enough of that. On the topic at hand: Food. Food and I have a love hate relationship here. Thais always use high sodium sauces, fish and shrimp paste, sugar and extremely low grade oil, but if you can look passed all of that you can find some really delicious food. The most amazing thing about Thailand's food is that kitchens are nonexistent. If you wanted to open up a restaurant here buy a wok and a rice cooker, put it on a set of wheels, buy a few plastic chairs and tables and you are good to go.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5l6DR-Ya4UEDMjyCSHmMCBc4ISWUmQBSu_z1JeobuHwJomZxatZHQK1vgYw5Mi5gG5yw-v5ld-7047R-a70KpzeZzqJG_bWdwbvFjH0sknRhzyaE6dMl7qqGm62FZyNMGr7Y0kun9zzY/s640/blogger-image--502074746.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5l6DR-Ya4UEDMjyCSHmMCBc4ISWUmQBSu_z1JeobuHwJomZxatZHQK1vgYw5Mi5gG5yw-v5ld-7047R-a70KpzeZzqJG_bWdwbvFjH0sknRhzyaE6dMl7qqGm62FZyNMGr7Y0kun9zzY/s320/blogger-image--502074746.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vegetarian Lady chopping ginger and bitter melon </td></tr></tbody></table>I will start with my lunch spot: Vegetarian lady as we all call her. She is one of my most favorite people I've met since I've been here in Thailand. I go eat lunch at her restaurant Monday-Friday without fail. Through my very few Thai words and many many hand gestures we manage to have broken conversations every day. She told me one day that I'd officially become like a Thai person, because I made my food very spicy. Each day I ask for "chow" (rice) and pick two toppings from the clear glass case. Every day the dishes are different: curries, spicy greens, tofu prepared more ways than you can imagine, pineapple dishes, ginger dishes and too many more to name. While I eat each day, I watch them cut up the millions of vegetables being prepped for tomorrows case: eggplant, ginger, greens, radishes, potatoes, pumpkin, lemongrass, cabbage to name a few. My favorites so far are the Japanese pumpkin curries and this yummy pineapple spicy dish.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIaVHDV8y6HoMaNeGtWzEKJUxt_QEpR2vc6JIsRThkzzr3fC6v-PIpL6sUNcOdnYIW0oYnQMRW4CDTbmxdYr6CdvT3EUPRfrf4goPrCJ3LzIVUOye_QnLH0udlUZ-Z3Yv5O4YGYXeqLNE/s640/blogger-image--1272775461.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIaVHDV8y6HoMaNeGtWzEKJUxt_QEpR2vc6JIsRThkzzr3fC6v-PIpL6sUNcOdnYIW0oYnQMRW4CDTbmxdYr6CdvT3EUPRfrf4goPrCJ3LzIVUOye_QnLH0udlUZ-Z3Yv5O4YGYXeqLNE/s400/blogger-image--1272775461.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soup!</td></tr></tbody></table>Everyone else loves the soup. It is delicious and is made right in front of you. They use colander type contraptions to lower rice noodles, greens, mug bean sprouts, daikon type veggie and lots of tofu into a big boiling cauldron and then add everything together to make a yummy steaming soup. <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLwFQJZdIbwr1OkyUAI4BX8zcVaUSoPDOFKom_7yrZsMocU6ODFnAmhFtvutN876_bsUyJr-O9Ga5v92ozYrLW1_Fxoj09i7bYCDHSgLHkRw5KHTDxzSSuurQudiRS9XdjgX-ypiaZ7g/s1600/Spices.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBLwFQJZdIbwr1OkyUAI4BX8zcVaUSoPDOFKom_7yrZsMocU6ODFnAmhFtvutN876_bsUyJr-O9Ga5v92ozYrLW1_Fxoj09i7bYCDHSgLHkRw5KHTDxzSSuurQudiRS9XdjgX-ypiaZ7g/s320/Spices.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Always: Sugar, Red Pepper & Soy Sauce w/ Chilies & Vinegar w/ Chilies (This was special w/ limes & peanuts!)</td></tr></tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF-ZmSjgUF0WD9fg683tf5ePfMBHRZ08GEpiy1wOoNQ4_q1DfZfgYQXxu4PN6Li1IYBIG6N3ylYoN5MR3zA8TJEuKWZSgd3pdXALKfuWqtWULTrpxDcEG0cE_jXBlHwMOxO5kQ6kAVx9I/s640/blogger-image--1558584771.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF-ZmSjgUF0WD9fg683tf5ePfMBHRZ08GEpiy1wOoNQ4_q1DfZfgYQXxu4PN6Li1IYBIG6N3ylYoN5MR3zA8TJEuKWZSgd3pdXALKfuWqtWULTrpxDcEG0cE_jXBlHwMOxO5kQ6kAVx9I/s640/blogger-image--1558584771.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sour Mango </td></tr></tbody></table>Recently I've been treating myself to a post lunch treat of sour mango. At home if I happen to cut up a mango and it isn't quite ripe I get mad. It tastes gross and ruins the whole salad. Here under ripe mango tastes like sour candy (I don't even like sour candy, but this is amazing!). They are crunchy and sweet and sour at the same time. Thai people use a wooden stick and dip the mango slices into a mixture of chilies, sugar and salt. I kindly say no thanks to the sugar salt spice packet!<br />
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As you will see as the post continues Thais are big on plastic bags, sticks and straws. The fruit stands are found all throughout the city and normally walk around ringing a bell--like an ice cream truck. They use incredibly sharp knifes and chop the fruit into this funnel like metal contraption and then slide the fruit straight into a bag, add your wooden stick and you are good to go! All for about 60 cents: you can get a whole pineapple, mango, papaya, guava or watermelon most times of the year here!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYrtbVm0VBeLBFIkwstYVTWAbxeJJ6XSN-EcJ8jbRjQjsMlXYAexD5-_gIJRgaz4CTQpKFvYGUoWkhtcLb5M1g8mStjnwoYSoiKPcY4vzggn-OQhouv-WDAJeld9z8gozSrAwFrdSzdk/s1600/blogger-image--660431679.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWYrtbVm0VBeLBFIkwstYVTWAbxeJJ6XSN-EcJ8jbRjQjsMlXYAexD5-_gIJRgaz4CTQpKFvYGUoWkhtcLb5M1g8mStjnwoYSoiKPcY4vzggn-OQhouv-WDAJeld9z8gozSrAwFrdSzdk/s320/blogger-image--660431679.jpg" width="320" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Next on to the coffee shops. Really I could make an entire post dedicated to just beverages that I love in the country: fruit juices, americanos and coconut water sums it up nicely. Drip coffee is almost nonexistent here. You either have nescafe or an espresso machine. Before I came I was told I'd never be more than 100 meters from an espresso machine. I thought "no way!" But truth be told, this is 100% true! Coffee shops are on every corner and sell every coffee, tea and fruit concoction possible all with a nice touch of condensed milk to call the beverage complete in the eyes of Thais. Thais are obsessed with condensed milk. It goes into all the above beverages as well as on waffles, in cookies and even sometimes in entree dishes. Really it is "when in doubt add condense milk!" Thankfully I've learned out to say no milk, no sugar and enjoy a black iced americano daily! (sometimes 2..) </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/66349230@N05/8378711615/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Untitled by estherjwills, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="400" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8511/8378711615_3b9e24fbbd.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Favorite afternoon coffee spot</td></tr></tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/66349230@N05/8379771458/" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Untitled by estherjwills, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="216" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8095/8379771458_f551b42fbc.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr align="center"><td class="tr-caption">Favorite Morning Coffee Spot </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Below are the earlier mentioned fruit juices. Once again I've learned to ask for nit nawy (little) or no sugar and they transform into amazing afternoon snacks or yummy beach cocktails. My favorite combo so far is orange-carrot which I can get at the night market for about 10cents! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7H9On388kMVGBqt7gc9Z85Ejl7Xz3KN9MQtmDVDOcj6nLF4nTodNa4zVeV1VFWKd77QVVypHeCwY3pZtaDmUbdoDLLBHDBFSyzo3NyNQMdydLUvd7sGPRf7NtYv2FnEW6_ks72R5KZkE/s640/blogger-image--202947097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7H9On388kMVGBqt7gc9Z85Ejl7Xz3KN9MQtmDVDOcj6nLF4nTodNa4zVeV1VFWKd77QVVypHeCwY3pZtaDmUbdoDLLBHDBFSyzo3NyNQMdydLUvd7sGPRf7NtYv2FnEW6_ks72R5KZkE/s400/blogger-image--202947097.jpg" width="299" /></a></div><br />
And this--best drink in Thailand: Fresh coconut juice! Yum. Can't go wrong here! Cold, delicious and afterwards you can use a spoon to scrape out all the delicious coconut meat inside! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTl3LoQKDs3ydytInv8c0tyNJ54LPMKBdsDh_-yR0Fk7z-JdKN3IAu6bEYGk1XbbVhVaG22j7QNbskeloAc2fSQPRtObZrjRsYuYZgKLuR6lheAzHuv3gFj-mApvOFUDhRGtg0CDN4484/s640/blogger-image-516941104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTl3LoQKDs3ydytInv8c0tyNJ54LPMKBdsDh_-yR0Fk7z-JdKN3IAu6bEYGk1XbbVhVaG22j7QNbskeloAc2fSQPRtObZrjRsYuYZgKLuR6lheAzHuv3gFj-mApvOFUDhRGtg0CDN4484/s400/blogger-image-516941104.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Below are pictures from the night market. The night market happens every single night and it is about a ten minute walk from my house. It also conveniently located right next to the running park, so in perfect blog world: after our nightly runs we can pick up something quick and healthy for dinner. (running portion doesn't always happen.) The market sells everything: fish, fruit, dolls, vegetables, soups, sushi, cakes, drinks, fresh herbs (and most of the mentioned options are also conviently served w/ condensed milk or on a stick and offered in a "to go version" in a bag)--really anything you can think of it is there. <br />
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One of our favorite spots is Padi Thai guy and his wife. This is him in action on our very first trip to the night market. His wife makes delicious som tum too! Som tum is spicy papaya salad. And as you can see she is conveniently making a "to go" bag version of som tum. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8otFOgWHYEO-bhTRz_-7aX-rAflXA3PX7GkU0kS7Vn0-e5xyjM6qXZn9oJ4R4OqNAX7iIyqn-MM9bGLVNtbWCDxjdjZKfYC6OVJhp3yLadW9PhFX4stRXYQ-F73LEANIATVTK9NuWgF0/s640/blogger-image-1522199399.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8otFOgWHYEO-bhTRz_-7aX-rAflXA3PX7GkU0kS7Vn0-e5xyjM6qXZn9oJ4R4OqNAX7iIyqn-MM9bGLVNtbWCDxjdjZKfYC6OVJhp3yLadW9PhFX4stRXYQ-F73LEANIATVTK9NuWgF0/s400/blogger-image-1522199399.jpg" width="299" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Padi Thai Guy</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/66349230@N05/8378713801/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Untitled by estherjwills, on Flickr"><img alt="Untitled" height="400" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8372/8378713801_610be01607.jpg" width="264" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spicy Papaya Salad: All made in a wooden mortar and pestle (you can say how many red chilies you want to add in!) </td></tr></tbody></table><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQS1YC0WTHkbByMMmd404dJfVKpGtXoSONWIx-9WXosFihXPQ7nE7wBYXQ8CsnQI14cFqeqLdR2zLZSSeYCpldkz93kVrFk8tIhda70LkHQry-lasp3eA4u8yAvXocF_ByNf6dKgsj22g/s640/blogger-image-797899956.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQS1YC0WTHkbByMMmd404dJfVKpGtXoSONWIx-9WXosFihXPQ7nE7wBYXQ8CsnQI14cFqeqLdR2zLZSSeYCpldkz93kVrFk8tIhda70LkHQry-lasp3eA4u8yAvXocF_ByNf6dKgsj22g/s400/blogger-image-797899956.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Popular Stick Method: Waffles on a Stick </td></tr></tbody></table>Every day my kids (and all the kids in the school) drink milk. Sounds pretty normal, but actually kind of bizarre seeming the first couple weeks. In Thailand people drink beverages out of bags a lot. Milk, soda, coffee you name it and it can be put in a bag. After they pray, we walk by cutting small slits in the top and then they jam in a small straws (told you straws were popular). If you are going to drink a beverages in Thailand you will drink it from a straw. Even if it is a bottle of water, a canned coke, a beer etc. The top of these cans, bottles and cups will not touch your mouth! Straws are a big deal....<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX0VdIdnZ0xIKKaSBEicZvyWZtNCf85X7YSjpmNFYNhtMXBZrZ7vNMCuSp6n5XJnOUhI9nbzucGKvHm3CzZDPhiizCOQGMMXUTrORXVsNRI6_RNbW_V_E0P9dfpbaeIwXbSm8JSjREsk8/s640/blogger-image-1974338883.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX0VdIdnZ0xIKKaSBEicZvyWZtNCf85X7YSjpmNFYNhtMXBZrZ7vNMCuSp6n5XJnOUhI9nbzucGKvHm3CzZDPhiizCOQGMMXUTrORXVsNRI6_RNbW_V_E0P9dfpbaeIwXbSm8JSjREsk8/s400/blogger-image-1974338883.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Keng on Milk Break! </td></tr></tbody></table><br />
I will have to make another food post later on. I don't want overwhelm you too much! But, I have so much more I could talk about: strange Thai customs, delicious thai meals and of course Esther's infamous rice cooker meals. Don't worry everyone, I still have dinner parties! Instead of an amazing dining room table we sit on the floor using a sheet (the same one taken to many a outside picnic in Memphis.) and instead of a great gas range everything is prepared in one small contraption: the much beloved and hated rice cooker....<br />
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</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-84877776269480905712013-01-02T01:58:00.000-08:002013-01-02T01:58:14.467-08:00Rose, Thorn, Bud<i>Title explanation: Over our causal NYE beach dinner, still sandy and in wet bathing suits we toasted our beach cocktails and played the game Rose, Thorn, Bud. Something wonderful from the past year, something a bit sour and something to work towards/look forward to or a way to group for the new year. As soon as the game was suggested, (and no even though this sounds like some corny thing I would have brought up just like my mother "When was the first time you knew you were in Thailand--did cross my mind though...it was not my idea) we all sat in silence trying to come up with what to say. We all had the obvious rose and thorn combo of moving to Thailand and leaving our family behind. The bud was a bit more of a challenge and not as obvious. Most of us settled on the simple idea of finding out more about ourselves this year and what we want to do when we grow up. 2013 should be a breeze of a year with that bud. </i><br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/66349230@N05/8337639772/" title="Untitled by estherjwills, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8215/8337639772_bbd8aa425d.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="Untitled"></a>
This weekend was our first really long holiday. New years is a big deal in Thailand and we were off on Monday and Tuesday (rumor had it we might get Wednesday off too--but no such luck this year). For the long weekend we planned an island weekend in Koh Chang. Now realizing how short weekend trips can feel, we took every possible short cut and round about/more expensive measure we possibly could to make it to Koh Chang on Friday.<br />
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I've said it before, but I'll say it again: traveling in Thailand is the least efficient process in the entire world. Alicia's brother came to visit for New Years and it took him less time to travel from the US to Thailand than it did from Bangkok to Koh Chang. (Bangkok to Koh Chang should take no longer than 5 hours). So this go around we coughed-over the money and hired a driver--best decision we've ever made. Super fast, stop for snacks/bathroom whenever you want! I don't ever want to take public transportation in Thailand again.<br />
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We arrived at the ferry around 5 and were lucky enough to see the sun setting. It was the perfect way to start the trip: emerald blue water, firey red sunset, a cold beer <i>and let's not forget </i><i>stagnant air</i>--but once on the island it was actually quite breezy! This trip over on the ferry was actually one of the best things we saw all weekend. As the sun set in one direct the moon rose in the other. Friday was a full moon and words cannot describe the orange-y storybook version of a moon that filled the sky that night.<br />
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The sunset and within minutes and the sky was dark. We arrived and could see more stars than I've seen in a long time. Jump on a songtao and took the scary windy road to our hotel. This weekend was not only a long holiday weekend and NYE, it was also a bit of a reunion weekend. Fifteen of us rang in the new year together!<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/66349230@N05/8336581295/" title="Untitled by estherjwills, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8493/8336581295_254d757524.jpg" width="500" height="500" alt="Untitled"></a>
Two of the other girls also arrived Friday afternoon and we all went to a Mexican Restaurant (yes--we eat foods other than Thai on vacation sometimes, because we miss them!!). The restaurant was amazing--owned by a French man and his Mexican wife. They marinate all their meat for hours, salsas incredibly fresh, homemade black re-fried beans and of course amazing margaritas and mojitos (I think mojitos are the best drink in Thailand, because the mint here is so flavorful!).<br />
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After dinner we called it an early night, so we could make it to the beach early the next day. And early it was, we woke up for coffee around 8:30 and grabbed a bite to eat. We walked a ways down the beach to a beautiful spot Maddie and Shannon found the night before called Sunset Beach. We posted up there and did not leave until nightfall. It was perfect. I swam a few laps in the calm, clear ocean, took a nap, chatted and read my book. Very peaceful and quiet. As the sunset over the ocean the other 8 arrived! They arrived just in time to see the colorful sky and snap a few pictures.<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/66349230@N05/8337641654/" title="Untitled by estherjwills, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8071/8337641654_7cc7712d5b.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="Untitled"></a>
That night we planned on reservations at what was suppose to be one of the best Thai food places on the island, but unfortunately Ryan and his friend Pierce were still stuck traveling and hadn't arrived yet. A few of us stuck behind to wait for their arrival. They finally around around 11 and obviously by this point our reservation was no longer. So we took a songtao up to Lonely Beach and sat down at the first place we could find. We ended up having a great meal at a place called Magic Garden--but I'm not sure if it was good or we were just so hungry.<br />
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We then went dancing for a bit and out to the beach to see the stars, but head home not too late, because waterfalls were in store for the next day! We woke up early and climbed a short hike to see a pretty small waterfall. It was pretty, but nothing to write home about (but I guess worthy for blog writing..haha). The best part was the fresh water pond below the waterfall. It was so cold and felt so refreshing!<br />
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The rest of the day we posted up at the beach and once again did not move from under the umbrella (Mom, I do not have even the slightest bit of pink skin...you'd be so proud!!) That night I had to call it a night after dinner. I was so tired and wanted to save up some energy. I tricked everyone into coming back to the hotel so we could "look up places to go in white sands on wifi," but really I just wanted someone to walk back with. So, they all ventured out and I hit the sack.<br />
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We woke early again the next morning for a a full morning of kayaking. I kayaked a bit in Chile, but it was not river or ocean kayaking. It was definitely a ghetto version. This go round we received a lot of nice gear and were actually taught the correct paddle strokes. It was a lot of fun, a good work out yet also very relaxing at the same time. We stopped half way through and jump off a few cliffs into the ocean. I done cliff jumping in Hot Springs before, but these cliffs were had super jagged points and my heart was pounding. It really was quite scarey (quite was a word used a lot this day--our guide was from England). I did it though and only managed a few scraps and to flip my kayaking upon exiting it. Of course I was the only one to flip my kayak--what a dumbie. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/66349230@N05/8336580209/" title="Untitled by estherjwills, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8497/8336580209_eb780fcf05.jpg" width="500" height="374" alt="Untitled"></a>
That afternoon we met up with the rest of the group and suprise once again spent the rest of the day at the beach. This was my favorite beach day. All fifteen of us were together and we acted like little kids again. We played frisbee, did handstands, yoga, and drank cocktails out of coconuts (guess that isn't like little kids...) It was great. The one thing missing was a game of paddle ball. I tried to ask a few people if we could borrow their paddles, but the timing wasn't ever right! Bummer--next time! <br />
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Instead of trying to plan something big for NYE dinner, we just stopped at the same beach side restaurant we'd eaten at the night before: Family Restaurant. We had great fresh seafood and delicious curries. We then headed home to play dress up, get glitterfied and add tinsel to our hair. It was like a mini factory assembly line. We started with Alex and she did our make-up, then stop over to Laura and she sprayed us down with glitter then off to Hannah who tied a very dramatic yet understated piece of tinsel in everyone's hair. <br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/66349230@N05/8337641076/" title="Untitled by estherjwills, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8501/8337641076_31729516ff.jpg" width="500" height="500" alt="Untitled"></a>
The night to follow was pretty perfect. NYE is one of those holidays that has great potential to be horrible and normally is so for me. If we do a quick NYE recap of the years: last year broken ankles...and I don't really think the list needs to continue from there....<br />
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We just acted silly. It was great! I hate to say it family members, but y'all have some competition. Becca is maybe the best dance partner I've ever had. She can read, follow and lead some pretty amazing choreographed romie and michelle-esque dance moves that always end up taking up the whole dance floor. We are thinking of buying a tuk-tuk and driving around Thailand to show everyone our dance act and charging high dollar for this quality performance. The cameras flashes that night where a true testament to just how good we were--who knows where our dance moves will show up next. But all I can say our popularity is spreading like wildfire throughout Thailand and we are known by many for these epic dance moves.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-58661521257258597012012-12-27T19:00:00.000-08:002012-12-27T19:09:54.950-08:00All I want for ChristmasThis Christmas was a first for a lot of things. This was my first Christmas without my family. My first Christmas not to go to Church. My first Christmas not to be cold. My first Christmas out of the country. Well let's be real this was my first Christmas not in Memphis, TN. I have spent the last 23 years doing more or less the exact same thing for Christmas. <br />
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Christmas day, wake up (the people in the house has dwindled down in the years...now it is just me and my lovely mother and father--those no count siblings had to up and leave their baby sister). We scurry around, argue, clean the kitchen, pack and then rush out the door to make it to the Newsom's side by 1pm--which always always ends up being 2-3pm and everyone is a bit frustrated, hungry and full of teasing-Christmas cheer. <br />
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Then we feast. This is something that has changed--but no matter what, where or how we manage to sit, eat and drink. Post lunch, we exchange presents. This also has developed and changed over the years. Back in the day Nanny's blue couch was piled high with red stockings stuff full of amazing treats and gadgets--my favorite part of Christmas Day. <br />
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Then comes the photo, some years we get one, some years we don't. But, thanks to Uncle Bill we most definitely have had a Newsom Family photo the past 5 years. Then the dishes. When we were all still at St. Nick, many a year we dressed in aprons and hats and passed the fine china from hand to hand until everything was put up and away (and many a years it was just Mom & Sondra...) <br />
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The rest of the evening has always changed. Some years a game of spoons, others glued to the TV watching A Christmas story over and over again, others Love Actually and way back in the day back handsprings and cartwheels in the front yard. <br />
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Then we sleep and wake and do it all over again. This time we head to Grandma and Granddaddy's for the Wills Family version. This has changed over the years too. A few years back we took home our stockings, started an adult gift exchange (in my mind I'm still too young to be apart of that..) We switched from gifts to baked goods and back to gifts and then back again. Things are always changing.<br />
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But some things stay the same: the table get it's extra leafs and we file in sitting in our same seats each year (some due to blind eyes others due to habit) and for the past 4 to 5 years our elbows slightly stick to the table as we collapse into our hands after ice cream and fudge sauce. We have eaten everything from fish tacos to BBQ to Christmas spaghetti. Some years there has been homemade eggnog and others gluten free, dairy free (or whatever the allergy of the year maybe) options.<br />
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Even though some years didn't end this way--in my mind the Wills family Christmas always ends in the basement: ping pong, pool, air hockey and broken ceiling tiles. Laughing and playing--then suddenly frozen into shock as the room becomes pitch black. "Helpppp" we all shriek. We wait, our eyes adjust and then just as soon as the lights dimmed, they flicker back on again.<br />
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Christmas with family is always full of surprises, fights, laughter, exhaustion and a few tears. But, nothing comes anywhere close to how wonderful our family traditions have become over the years. This year will go down in history as the most bizarre and elaborate Christmas for sure, but it's got nothing on the Wills/Newsom gang. <br />
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The day started with an early morning run, because I knew there was no way I would have any time after school. Since our director would be out of town our school decided they had the authority to change Christmas day to December 24th. So we arrive to school decked out in our Christmas gear. Money has been a bit tight this past month, because we had to pay back a few debts (we get paid today so no worries!), but point being we didn't have a lot of extra cash for red&green Christmas attire. So I got creative! I wore a white & black striped shirt and a black shirt and green earrings made out of Christmas bows and a red ribbon in my hair. Of course right as I walked through the door my coordinator says "OH NO, black not a good color for today." UGH what a sour way to start the day. I just smiled and said, "Merry Christmas" with a big smile plastered on my face. <br />
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The day continues and the kids are running wild--dress in anything red and green they could find at home. Some in full Santa costumes others in angry bird, hello kity, spiderman or whatever else happened to be red in the closet (spiderman and santa--same same, but different..ha). So flag proceeds as normal except instead of a uniformed student a Santa dressed student raises the Thai flag and wais to Buddha.<br />
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We finish flag with Joy to the World and a random preacher shows up and reads an except from the Bible in Thai--I think that is what happened at least but I'm not sure. Then we have poppers, but we pop them at the wrong time and then the director and a few students cut a ribbon that leads into Winter Wonderland: a completely decked out stage set complete with life size igloo, sleigh, snow, polar beers, santa and reindeer. It was quite the scene.<br />
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Flag comes to a conclusion and the beauty contest starts. Within minutes one of the kindergarten students throws up on another student and everyone is running around in a tizzy. Mops, towels or cleaning supplies aren't things found in surplus here in Thailand. So some one comes out with tiny box of Kleenex and they wipe up the stage, but don't stop the show for a second. Half the teachers and students are making gagging noises, but thankfully a chain reaction did not start...I was worried there for a bit.<br />
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Then we have the dances and the presentations. Pre-K and kindergarten have 3 students from each class (3 classes in each) that dress as Santa, Santee, Reindeer and Angel. They are dressed to impress. They saunter on stage and say their robotic spiel for the judges: "Good Morning. My name is _____. I am in K1/___. I am 4 years old. I am _____ (Santa/Santee/Angel/Reindeer)." Then of course this must be a competition so there are judges and winners.<br />
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Then comes the forced dancing portion. Parents are literally mauling the stage with ipads, video cameras and elbows that cut like knifes if you get in front of their view. They jump in at any moment if their kid's hat happens to tilt to the wrong side. The funny thing is that the kids don't look like they are having any fun. The parents barely clap when finished, but pictures galore are snapped at every other moment. As long as their hat stays in place and their make-up isn't smudged the day is considered quite the success.<br />
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Then we venture into the classrooms, were parents have out done themselves. They have brought more food than you could ever imagine. Fruits, vegetables, dumplings, pizza, KFC, donuts, boxes and boxes of cakes and cookies, vats of ice cream. This parties put American Christmas parties to shame. I bopped from one room to the other checking out the food selection, but then become entranced by Teacher Som's Mask party. I have no idea why, but each student brought in a mask and suddenly they all changed clothes and they now have on princess type clothing and the masquerade started. We paraded around the school and once again take more photos. <br />
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Then back to the classroom for the gift exchange and the Thai version of Rockin around the Xmas Tree. This is where Gangman style starts to blare (it as already been blasting from the second floor--3-5 grade classrooms for a few hours now) and we dance around the tree and play a version of musical chairs.<br />
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For my students the party comes to an end with a gift exchange. They then passed out in their Santa suits and sleep the rest of the day. But, for 1st-6th grade the party continues for the remainder of the day. Every single classroom had Gangman style on repeat and they danced, their bodies possessed by sugar. <br />
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Now that is just the description of the day before Christmas. If you can only imagine, the festivities have continued throughout the week and last night was the teacher New Years Party. The party requires a whole post on its own. We decided that if you aren't okay with getting on stage to sing karaoke and/or wearing a full face of make up--you will not survive in this country. <br />
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<i>Our last songtoa ride in Hua Hin was shared with my new role model: Mrs. Doubtfire. She was actually nothing like the real Mrs. Doubtfire except for the fact that she spoke Britishly! Ever since her husband's retirement, they have spent three months in Hua Hin for Holiday. Other times of the year she spends at her cottage in Ireland, which she noted as her favorite travel spot. She has done quite a bit of traveling. She worked for her no-count husband for many years, but was never paid. She therefore insisted he pay for her travel every year with her friends! She was dainty, proper and everything you'd expect. But instead of at tea, we met on the back of a songtoa while profusely sweating and ingesting diesel fumes. She of course could have quickly wiped her brow, lifted her pinky finger and have been ready for afternoon tea in Wimbledon. </i><br />
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This weekend I went on my first small group excursion. Big groups are a lot of fun and as we have found out on past trips, they can help you bargain when purchasing beach sarongs or orchestrating mass transit via truck beds. But, small groups are amazing for travel. Less opinions, less chaos and most importantly less hormones. I think everyone would agree traveling with large groups of girls can be amazingly exhausting. <br />
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So back to this weekend. Alicia and I headed out directly from school. I sent my laptop, a New Years gift form a student and my real life home with Alex and we hit the door running-- determined to catch the last bus for Hua Hin. <br />
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As a side-note let me start with: we absolutely positively never travel the same way twice. This isn't by any means on purpose. You would think our travel would become more efficient with time. We'd figure out the tricks of the locals and travel like the speed of light. Travel here is cheap and rather easy but I wouldn't call it efficient. <br />
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Father you would have had a heart attack with how round about we went just to get out of our own city. When I know we are backtracking you know things are bad. <br />
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We do finally arrive and sit in more traffic so we get off at the first sky train exit we can find and zoom over to victory monument where our more experienced travel friend has been waiting for about an hour. She ushers us quickly to the ticket table we purchase and hop on the van. But the way vans work is they don't leave until they fill up. So we wait some more. I'm okay by this point though because we know we will make it to Hua Hin tonight! Success! (Just a few moments of panic-- "passports, who has the passports?")<br />
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We arrive and are dropped off at a crazy night market. We have finally learned the importance of printing your hotel's address in Thai, so we luckily are some what prepared. Of course the first 3 drivers we show the address to, squint, talk in fast Thai, run the through the streets asking others and then tell us "cannot."<br />
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Eventually we find a woman who says okay. She folds up her taxi sign and takes us down a side street and say "okay, okay" and points to an unmarked Honda civic. We pile in shaking or heads and smiling. You just never know what type of transportation you will score in Thailand. <br />
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We arrive at our all inclusive top of the line villa for the weekend around 11pm. Let me back up a little: Jess (aka experienced travel friend) is one of Alicia's friends from home and will be heading home soon. She is the one that researched and planned a lot of the weekend. In the midst of hostel searching one her friends suggested we just stay with her and her parents for the weekend. They rented a villa close to the beach for the weekend and had two extra bedrooms. <br />
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Contrary to what some may think. The most enticing part of the proposition was the concept of parents. We've all been a bit homesick since this will be all of our first Christmases without our families. And the thought of parents made us all jump for joy! And boy did they spoil us rotten! They fed us like kings, told us stories about the good ole days and treated us to what we all anticipated being our biggest expense of the weekend-- the vineyard: a wine tasting and an elephant ride. Without a doubt Kate's parents made the weekend a perfect way to start the holiday season! (And don't worry mom a thank you note is in process an departing gifts were already exchanged! You raised a proper southern belle) <br />
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The way I was lured into this trip was by the simple word "wine." There is little to no wine in Thailand and something I miss wholeheartedly. The weekend was planned around a vineyard visit where you could purchase a package to try three different wines paired with three different tapas, try their signature grape juice (sippy wine) and trek through the quiet vineyard perched on top of an elephant. <br />
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I didn't even think twice before quickly agreeing to tag along for the weekend. I ended up being uncharacteristically busy last week and didn't have a chance to do much or any research about what the weekend had in store. I knew we would have wine, eat good food and stay in a villa with someone's patents I didn't know and there was promise of American magazines and chocolate. <br />
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While packing I thought "hmm I should probably throw in a bathing suit, you just never know." Well it is a very good thing because it turns out Hua hin is oh so much more than a vineyard. It is an adorable beach city filled with cafes, wine bars, night markets and seafood restaurants. <br />
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The beach was adorable and just steps away from our fully furnished villa. We rented chairs and umbrellas, ordered coconut watermelon shakes, added a little Thai rum and did mermaid dives in the water until mid afternoon. Then we showered and climbed into a van for a 35 minute ride to the vineyard. <br />
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The air changed from hot humid to pleasantly breezy. And the landscape from sandy beaches to lush green vineyards. <br />
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The vineyard just celebrated its 10th anniversary and is still trying to somewhat establish itself. The wine was drinkable but not the highlight of the vineyard experience nor did it rank in the top 3 highlights. <br />
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The sleek restaurant was the only building that graced the skyline. The rest of the landscape was filled mountains and rows of plump juicy grapes. It was amazing how quiet and peaceful it felt. We felt like royalty. Being waited on hand and foot and present with five star looking tapas. I wouldn't say they were all 5 star tasting--the first was a mayonnaise-y crab salad but it had fresh crisp apples chopped through out and a fresh sprig of basil and it did actually go quite well with the white wine they served (my fave wine of the three). For the second everyone else was given three slices of cheese drizzled with orange and vanilla infused olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper-- it looked divine. They gave me a poached shrimp salad with fresh pomegranate seeds. It was okay. The last was really different and amazing. Smoked duck on a homemade crispy corn chip which sat on top of a shredded carrot mango salad all mixed with a spicy sriracha type sauce. The flavor and texture combo = perfection. The last two wines aren't even worth mentioning... <br />
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The ride back to town we all still had grumbling stomachs because our America sized stomachs were not satisfied. We stopped at a restaurant our driver recommended and shared a few dishes family style. We were not disappointed. I've had some great green curry since I've been in Thailand but this ranked #1. <br />
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The night ended with 2 large chocolate bars, a big bag of peanut m&ms and the bold idea to awake for sunrise. We woke early, jumped in our prearranged songtoa which drove us up chopstick mountain (also called monkey mountain-- should have been clue #1...)<br />
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We rounded the corner as the sky began to lighten to see a sea of beady red eyes staring back at us-- a mix of mange-ifed cats, dogs, and my least favorite thailand creature: monkeys. We should have known at this point this was a bad idea. But, we were already up and thought why not. <br />
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We bravely walked forward, darted around, saw a few view points and decided it was time to head back to town before the sun even fully colored the sky. <br />
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Unfortunately, our songtoa driver did not wait for us-- so we started walking. We decided it might be kind of nice to just go ahead and walk all the way into town anyway. We walked about 10k and arrived at a German bakery (our planned breakfast destination) just in time for opening. <br />
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It was a perfect breakfast. An omelette filled with big slices if onions, potatoes and bacon and freshly baked breads. I was one happy girl! <br />
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The rest of the morning was finished off with one last beach nap, one more mermaid dive and one more watermelon shake. Perfect ending to a perfect weekend-- that is until I got stuck in the worst mini van seat for the trip home. Beaming hot sun, freon low ac, little to no shocks and smashed between a baby and a Thai woman was really how the weekend ended. But the first ending sounds much more picturesque and blog worthy. <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8910304205971180462.post-89019848156512619622012-12-06T23:31:00.000-08:002012-12-07T17:26:30.402-08:00Loi KrathongSo I feel like it is/was a rush to get this next blog post typed up and published. If it wasn't complete by Tuesday night then low and behold it is already the next Thai holiday (yes, Thai people find a reason to celebrate anything and everything and call it a holiday...) Obviously it is Friday, so I didn't get it done before Father's Day (aka King's Bday & Wednesday) or Sports Day (Thursday). <br />
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The most important thing to talk about is Loy Krathong. I'm sure most of you have seen pictures. I had a lot of confused messages/inquiries on what the heck was going on and why I was dressed up like lace clown person.<br />
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Well let me reiterate that I never ever have any idea what is going on until it is already happening or most of the time I find out about a week later what happened the week before and then sort of have an ahh hah moment --"Oh that is why we all got up in middle of class and went outside and marched around the school 2 times. But, yet of course we must practice for sports day." <br />
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Well so I did technically already know about this holiday. We learned all about it during orientation, but we were told it was in the middle of November. After doing a bit of research I found out that Loi or Loy Krathong falls on whatever day there is a full moon in the last lunar month of the year. So it is always different. This year it happened to fall on Wednesday, November 28th.<br />
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We were randomly asked to participate in a parade and to dress in traditional Thai clothing. We went and had our dress fitting in a humongous dress up closet. It actually wasn't a closet at all--it was much larger than an of my thai classrooms and housed hundreds of traditional Thai costumes. All the costumes represent different different costumes--some for Thai royalty, some for southern region, some the northern region, some from different time periods and so on. I was told my dress was what the princess wears. Oh very appropriate for me (well actually the queen would have been more fitting, but I guess I'll settle for the princess).<br />
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So I thought we were just going to just dress up at 4pm for the parade, but of course one of my other teacher friends called the night before around 11pm and said we need to arrive at school at 7am to dress for the morning assembly. Of course we go early and are handed the bags of clothes and told to dress ourselves. This is insane all the "pants" consist of are a huge pieces of fabric that you wrap around yourself until it somehow transforms into a pair of pants.<br />
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Thankfully another teacher saw our distress and graciously helped us get dressed. So we just stood like statues at the morning assembly while they say a lot of stuff in Thai. Then the students sing Loi Krathong in both Thai and in English. And then they made us dance around the whole courtyard doing the traditional Thai dance --which we have no idea how to do.<br />
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After many pictures and traditional Thai games and many "I love you Teachaas" and "Beautiful Teachaaa" we changed back into normal clothes to teach for the rest of the day. The students and teachers did have a different sparkle in their eyes though when they looked at me. For some reason Thai people really like to see farangs dressed in the traditional clothing.<br />
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Then at 3pm (they asked us to arrive at 12...insane that we would need that much time to get ready and we said no we have to teach--teaching is what we came here for right?) we went back to the costume closet to be dressed officially this time. They dressed us, did our hair and then Teacher A (very fashionable lady boy) did our makeup. It was so cute. She spent what felt like hours just penciling and "fixing" my eyebrows. The final touch was a little extra white powder and baby powder to make me even whiter than I already am--very Thai style.<br />
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It had been monsoon-ing all day so we weren't sure if the parade would even happen. But all the Thai teachers reassured us that they would not cancel the parade. There is only one day that Loi Krathong can be and it will be today. So we left in the school van and they dropped us off with all the other 5th grade students that had the "honor" of being in the parade and handed us all matching umbrella. The street was lined with costumed teeth-chattering, wet children. But, don't think for a minute they weren't dressed to the nines: full hair and make-up and standing up right holding their krathongs. The whole scene reminded me a lot of a Mardi Gras parade. People proud of their roots and deep cultural history, not ashamed in the least to march through the streets singing, dancing and wearing hair pieces heavier than full bowl of mash potatoes (ha..that's pretty heavy!) <br />
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We walked the parade and were the only Farangs for miles and definitely the only farangs in the parade. We still aren't really sure why they wanted us in the parade or why they dressed us up. One theory could be to parade around just how many American Teachers we have at our school. But, we were like little local celebrities. Thai people LOVE to take pictures of farangs--no matter what we are doing. Kind of like a lion at the zoo--you have to stop stare and take a picture and sometimes even ask to pose to be in the picture with the lion.<br />
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So the rain tapered off and our umbrellas were snatched from us, so everyone could admire our beautiful attire. It really was pretty neat. The streets were lined with our students, parents and the whole city of Chonburi. As we we got closer to our school, I saw two of my favorite students. They were screaming and jumping up and down "Teachha Esther". Warmed my heart. Then we passed our favorite coffee shops and restaurants and they waved and cheer us on as well.<br />
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We ended the parade at our running park. The park is not a normal park/track. It is beautiful and I've already come to take it for granted. There is an amazing white temple in the center, a pond, waterfall and tons of green space and trees. So we all marched together and the students released their krathongs into the water.<br />
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We were slightly miserable, exhausted, definitely hungry and our feet hurt at this point, but we were bound and determined to release our own krathong. We walked back to school and changed out of what had quickly become the most uncomfortable pair of "pants" and lace top I've ever worn. Grab our backpacks and headed back to the park.<br />
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It was hard to decide what kranthong to buy. There were so many: ones made of cabbages, peppers, banana leaves, bread and of course orchids and other beautiful flowers. A little back history on what Loi Krathong is all about:<br />
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Original this day signified the day where you were thanking/honoring the Goddess of Water (and apologizing for all the pollution...). Now the day has a even bigger meaning. People make or buy krathongs and each kranthong has a candle and incense. Once the candle is lit it represents the light of Buddha. You then add finger nail clippings or small piece of hair to your krathong. You push the krathong away into the water letting go of hatred, anger, and past negative thoughts (hair and nails representing the not so good parts you need to let go of). Some also had small coins to ensure good fortune for the next year. <br />
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The experience of releasing my very own krathong was something I never forget. I was happy we decided to stay in our Chonburi, the place we call home and were surrounded by our new family and friends. As I bent down to release my krathong into the murky, pollution filled pond I heard "Teachhaa." I smiled to myself--I knew this day represented exactly what the next year had in store for me: a day filled with poor communication, swollen tired feet, strangers snapping pictures of me left and right and a park buzzing with thousands pushing away their bad thoughts right along side a constantly confused farang. I couldn't have wished for a better day. <br />
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