Bee gets married!!

December 26th, 2009: Bee's Wedding Date.  Bee is the 24 (?) year old Japanese teacher at our school.  She is just the sweetest and prettiest girl.  However, it's kind of a sad story.  She has clearly stated multiple times since I've known her that she does not want to get married; she's simply not ready.  However, her husband, Chai, has a good job and is a good man, so "it's the right thing to do".  As a Japanese teacher, Bee has always dreamed of going to Japan, as she's never been.  Chai does not want to go.  Bee has even said that she thinks her husband is "ugly".  While she was all smiles on her wedding day, there was sadness and obligation behind that beautiful face.  (Even as I write this, a couple weeks later, she has not seemed like the happy newlywed that one would expect.)  However, she did seem content on her wedding day, and here's proof:

The wedding reception hall -at the University in Bangsaen (where they met and where Chai is a teacher)

Making their guest rounds, wai'ing

Her beautiful traditional wedding reception gown

The bride and I

Around the wedding photo, they had clipped up a bunch of other cute couply photos.  I especially liked this one:

The food.  Not the best, but typical wedding food.  It was very similar to that of the wedding in Phetchaburi.

PiThip, Film ("Feem"), Bee, Me, Jacqueline, Ms. Boon, Ms. Mon, Rachel

Christmas Dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe

That's right... I came all the way to Thailand to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe!  Come on... what would you do if your choices for Christmas dinner were fried rice across the street, or the Hard Rock Cafe in Pattaya?!?  Nachos with real cheese, Fajitas with guacamole and salsa, a ceaser salad and a Corona!  Yes.  That sure as hell satisfies recent cravings... especially the ceaser salad.  No joke.

Rachel, Jacqueline and I were joined by Rachanee Boon, her daughter Benz, Ms. Mon and Radchanee.  They really enjoyed the Nachos!  So much so, that Rachanee Boon actually took a Cambodian friend of hers there a few days later and ordered the Nachos.  Just as we finished dinner, the music performance came on.  The Thai teachers asked to stay and listen to the first few rounds - much to our surprise.  It was a really nice Christmas dinner, totally non-typical or anything you would expect, but it was special for us and we had a great time... and that's what's important. 

Christmas Day/ English Day

Christmas Day at our school is also English Day, and no, it's not a coincidence.  They associate Christmas with the English language, so the celebration becomes one.  The morning assembly was run by the Foreign Language Department (English and Japanese), and included a lottery of teacher's names dressed in the Christmas spirit for prizes, prizes given to top students of English, a Christmas trivia game (mc'd by me) with more prizes, and of course.... "The Twelve Days of Christmas" performed by English Club - managed by Jacqueline, Rachel and I. 

We had been preparing this for over a month now!  We divided our English Club, which meets every Tuesday afternoon, into 12 groups (it was up to them to choose their groups), and each chose their parts to sing - first come, first serve.  So, group 1 sang the first day of Christmas, and always the "partridge in a pear tree" line... and so on and so on.  We practiced every Tuesday afternoon, beginning with the classroom, and then moving to stage rehearsals.  They all met us in the office about 15 minutes before morning assembly.  We did a quick practice round in the hallway, and then we walked over to the morning assembly, fully in line in their groups.  Thai students are excellent at organizing themselves and keeping in line.  When it was performance time, we marched to the stage in formation, and draped the line across and over the small stage.  I managed 1-4, Jacqueline 5-8, and Rachel 9-12.  We each had microphones, which we ran (or lunged, in Jacqueline's case) back and forth from group to group.  I had my high green heels on, but somehow manged to make it quickly up and down the stage stairs to go from three French hens in time to two Turtle Doves.  WE ARE SOOOOOO PROUD OF OUR ENGLISH CLUB!!!  They did an amazing job; it was a stellar performance... they rocked it!  Honestly, they did so much better than we ever could have imagined (and we imagined a lot from them when brainstorming potential Christmas performances).  Many of them had even made paper Santa hats, of their own accord... and one boy - Sam (who definitely deserves a mention here) made a little cardboard cow.  He was the sole performer of "eight maids a-milking". 

English Club all lined up in their groups waiting to perform

Me MC'ing the Christmas Trivia Game... students who knew the answer (to questions like "Where does Santa Claus live? and "Where are the Christmas presents placed?") ran up and spoke the answer into the microphone.  If they were right, they won a prize.

The only picture we have of the performance.  (Sam is in the yellow shirt directly behind Jacqueline, who's doing an amazing lunge act to get the microphone back and forth in time)

The Christmas Day/ English Day stage for afternoon concert

We did actually have classes in the morning, though up until a few days ago, we thought the whole day was cancelled.  After lunch, the show began.  The rest of the afternoon, our students put on a Christmas show/ English day concert, for which we made sure to get front-row seats. 

And the first act appears:

                            

They sang a mix of Christmas song verses acapella - very seriously/ concentrated.

                             

Another M6 class singing acapella:

                            

Student MC's.  How typically Thai... just as with everyone - you can't have a proper show without your male and female host who have to comment on EVERYTHING!!

                                         

Another dancing/ singing act.  This is Tae (he's in our English Club), he's katoey (lady-boy), proud of it, and completely fearless when it comes to performing.  His skirt fell off, but he kept on going, as if nothing happened.  And at the end, as exiting the stage, he pulled up his skirt in embarrassment, as if not realizing that he had been dancing in his golden leggings the whole time.  Classic.

                               

In addition to songs, dances, J-Pop dances, K-Pop dances, breakdances, musical talents, skits, and story-telling, there was also a Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus competition.  Now, posted below are two photos of some of the contestants - the first a front runner, the second - who we thought should've won.  What does Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus mean to you?  Certainly not what the Thais would think.  They are all about showy presentations. 

                              

This is whom I would've chosen for the Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus winners, but they only came out with teddy bear participant prizes.  What a load of b.s. -- their pajama outfits are clearly the most creative! 

                                          

Haru is a katoey - ladyboy.  Can you believe that?  He's/ She's 16 years old!! 

                                          

Merry Christmas from Sri Racha, Thailand! 

                             

Christmas Eve in Thailand

Well, it's certainly no Fondue Christmas Eve dinner at home... but we managed to celebrate Christmas Eve in our own special way.  Jacqueline, Rachel and I went to a Japanese restaurant and pigged out.  Then we went to the Night Market, which sells everything from puppies to food to clothes.  Rachel and I stayed pretty late, and then went and checked out the ongoing holiday festival behind Robinson's.  Below are some photos of Sri Racha celebrating the Christmas spirit:

Rachel posing with the little Christmas Tree in front of our apartment building

Soi Wang Hin

Our street, Soi Wang Hin, is on the up and up!  Over the past few months, Soi Wang Hin has had a series of new additions and upgrades: 

- The restaurant that we go to right across the street upgraded the kitchen and tables and added in a karaoke stage and new t.v's.
- The sweets/ shakes shop on our corner, which opened in September, is doing extremely well and one can't ignore the bright pink walls and nicely tiled floor.
- A new higher-end clothing shop just opened up around the corner.
- A new laundry service place also recently opened up around the corner.
- The private home/ convenience store on our corner has now upgraded to a mini-street restaurant as well, with two tables.
- A high-end organic food and bath products shop opened up just down the street.
- And just the other day, a new cafe - D.D. Cafe opened up across the street.  It serves coffee, cookies, tea and ice cream.  We stopped in today to say hello, and it turns out that it is owned by a Canadian woman and her Thai husband.  It is very Western looking inside and the sister-in-law, who runs the day-to-day operations speaks fluent English.  They also are now running an English Learning Center there.  The sign and menu are in English and inside there are couches, tables and wall decorations that make me think I could be in a boutique coffee shop in NY. 

Wedding in Phetchaburi

Pi-Ow's (one of the Thai English teachers) daughter got married on Sunday, December 20, 2009!  We were all invited to the wedding.  The official ceremony occurred in the morning, and is solely a family affair.  But, the reception is open to a couple hundred family and friends and friends of friends, and took place in Phetchaburi, also known as Phetburi (a lazy way of saying the town's name).  Phetchaburi, in Thai means "City of Diamonds" and is a town in Central Thailand, just south of Bangkok on the western side. 

At 1:00 pm on Sunday afternoon, about 6 Thai English teachers picked us up at the apartment in a mini-van.  We set off on our 3 hour + journey to Phetchaburi.  Along the way we stopped at Rama II Memorial Foundation and a market to pick up goodies.  We arrived at a hotel, where the reception was held.  All guests were in brightly colored dresses or nice slacks and blouses.  The bride and groom, both veterinarians having met at University, posed in front of a floral arrangement and took photos with all the guests.  After we smiled for endless photos, signed the guestbook, and handed over our present, we went inside to sit down at a round table reserved for "Sri Racha School". 

A note on the gift situation:  We were told that we could pick something simple out, such as a picture frame or photo album, from all three of us foreign teachers.  However, the tradition is for guests to give money in an envelope.  Only guests with no salary give gifts.  I guess we're considered a special case.

The wedding reception was not what I expected.  There weren't too many frills, and it wasn't a traditional experience to remember forever.  It was simply a dinner reception.  There was very little alcohol passed around, and mostly only lao whiskey drinks for men.  There wasn't any dancing.  The bride and groom didn't get to sit down once.  There was a projection screen to the right of the stage showing the guests filing in live and the morning wedding ceremony.  There were a bunch of toasts, which we obviously couldn't understand, and at the end of every toast we all stood up and raised our glasses and shouted, "Ho!" (well, at least, that's what it sounded like.)  The bride and groom said some words on stage, walked around the VIP tables for photo opportunities.  Eventually, they cut the cake, but slices are only given to VIP guests.  Humph!

One familiar tradition is when the bride throws her bouquet into a crowd of single women.  Well, we (Jacqueline, Rachel and I) were pushed to the front by the Thai English teachers, against our will.  We really didn't want to go, as first off, we clearly stood out as awkward foreigners.  Finally, some other girls also grouped together, all of us somewhat embarrassed.  Luckily, the bride seemed to have someone in mind, and although she turned around to throw without looking, she threw it directly to one girl.  Relieved that we weren't more involved, we sat down.

Dishes were brought out Thai-style, one-by-one, and one dish per table.  You then serve yourself from the communal plate.  I have to say, I wasn't even that impressed by the food.  Overall, the reception was nice, but not memorable, at least not for me.  At the end, we said our goodbyes and thank yous and congratulations, and left for the long journey home.  We didn't arrive back in Sri Racha until nearly midnight.

The wedding reception room full of guests

Rachani Boon and Pi-Ow, mother of the bride.  She was the happiest woman in the world this evening!

Pi-Ben, Madam, Me, Rachel and Jacqueline

The bride and groom accepting toasts

Cutting the cake, of which we did not get a slice!

?, Jacqueline, Rachani Boon, Pi-Ow, Pi-Ben, Madam, Me, and Rachel

Kate and Yutaka Visit!

Kate Kamoshita (formerly Kate Carlson) was my first college roommate and my traveling partner throughout southern Africa.  She moved to Japan a few years back to teach English, and was actually the one that inspired me to look into teaching English abroad.  While in Japan, she met Yutaka Kamoshita, and a little while later, they got married!  While they are already happily married, their wedding ceremony is yet to take place.  They are having a family only wedding ceremony in Japan in February and then a huge ceremony in California in August. 

Kate and Yutaka Kamoshita came to Thailand this past Friday for a romantic 10-day holiday vacation on the paradise islands of southern Thailand.  They flew in on Friay night, arriving in Suvarnabhumi Airport at around midnight.  I was there to pick them up, with help from the intercom, as usual. We all shared a room in this great place - Grand Pinnacle Hotel - just about 5 minutes from the airport. We went down the street to a local bar, caught up on each other's lives and reminisced about years past. While I only got to see Kate and Yutaka for a few hours, we had such a wonderful time, and it's pretty awesome when you get to meet up with friends all around the world. Last time I saw Kate was when my mom and I were in Japan.

Mr. and Mrs. Kamoshita

Student House-Call??!!

Two students of mine (M4) actually came to my apartment building yesterday!  I was taking a nap, but Rachel received a call from downstairs, by one of the cleaning ladies.  Something about school and teacher.  Rachel went downstairs and saw two of my students with their Holiday Story Presentation sheets.  They wanted me to look them over and correct for tomorrow's class - when students are to present in their groups a holiday travel story. 

It's a not a huge secret where we live, as we are only about 5-10 minutes walk from school, but still!  To come to the apartment!!  Why couldn't they have just left the papers on my desk?  I do have one guess.  I think word has gotten around.  My first M4 class that did the presentations went horribly.  Out of 38 students (not including the soldiers who never come to class, but whom I must still somehow grade), only 18 of them were prepared to present.  After the 18 presented, I left the classroom.  I went back and wrote a letter to the students, which I then had translated in Thai.  I then made 20 copies of the letter, folded them, and wrote the number and nickname of each student who didn't present on the front.  When I next had their class, which was earlier this week - Tuesday - after the travel listening test, I called out their names and asked them to please stand up as I called them out.  I then instructed all the other students to leave.  I told these students to sit down and pay attention.  I called up one student to read out loud the letter, while I passed around the copies to everyone else.  The letter went something like this:

I want to know why out of 38 students in this class (not including the soldiers), only 18 of you were prepared to present.  For those of you that were here last week, did you think this was a joke?  For those of you that were absent or skipping class last week, you know where my office is.  Coming to class this week and asking for the presentation story worksheets is unacceptable.  You had a whole week to come to my office and ask about what you missed.  That is your responsibility.  You are not children.  This is unacceptable.  You will receive a '0' for your grade.  For your sake, I hope you care more next time.

The students sat there in silence for about 5 mintues re-reading the letter.  It was a very serious moment.  Objective achieved.  There was some discussion in Thai amongst the students, and some apologies and a couple excuses.  But all in all, I do believe it was effective, and for this - I think word got around the M4s.  As from then on, more and more students from other M4 sections showed up in my office asking for sheets and for help before they present in the next few days.  Hence, the house-call. 

Concert at School

Tell me - how are students supposed to study and learn when the school hosts concerts during the school day?  Yesterday afternoon, right after lunch break, a famous Thai popstar came to perform on the huge stage right outside Building 4.  I was trying to give a speaking test on the top floor of Building 4.  Students were to present in their groups (2-3 students) about a travel holiday story.  It was a good class, but the distraction was just too much.  We could barely hear the presentations, even though I brought a microphone to class.  And in the middle of the presentations, students started dancing and singing when a new song came on.  Not to mention that half the class was watching the concert at the beginning of my class.  I went and got a Thai teacher, who found the students at the concert and sent them back to class. 

The concert ended right before last period.  Could it not have been held during lunch hours?  After school?  Very frustrating.

Ko Samet, again.

Another wonderful weekend in Ko Samet.  Headed down there straight after school with Rachel.  Great timing, no bus breakdowns or getting kicked off the bus.  Made the last ferry with more than enough time to spare.  Partied like rockstars.  Still catching up on my sleep. 

(Just a few reminders to Rachel and myself: R falling out of the bed, sleepovers and empty bungalows, chewing gum in the hair, You were here and there and then here and over there, the non sharing of the IPod, Alistair, Jayson, names and forgetting names, the dog watching, weird woman speed walking down the beach, is this awkward?  should i be sleeping somewhere else?, where are you?, come home, where are you?, grapes, it's the british way, buckets and beer, anchorman, another bad bout of french toast, plate of chicken scarfed down by the dog, lost shampoo, what's your name again, new years x2, late night rock climbing? sure., failed attempt at beer pong, bullshit pyramid x2, tree pelting while eating pizza, the 20" pizza challenge, straw hat man, hookah, really?, awkward morning porch moments, annoying family on the ferry over, handcrafted sudoko games made by the inventors of the game - beautiful... and soooo much more!!  If only we could remember it all)  Good times...

Only had a chance to get a couple photos, and this was the only one worthy of posting:

King's Birthday in BKK and Erawan Falls

Friday night - Rachel, Jacqueline and I headed to Bangkok. Saturday, December 5th is the King's Birthday, which also means it's Father's Day. All of Bangkok was in a frenzy. We were expecting this, and all the troubles it would cause us to get to our destination - Khao San Road and Rambutri (backpacker's neighborhood) - from Ekkomai, the Eastern bus terminal.

3 reasons to head to Bangkok: the King's Birthday, Jen, and J and Kelly. Jen, a MediaKids teacher in Ang Thong, is leaving her teaching post in Thailand to unwillingly return home due to personal reasons. She and Maddy, another teacher in Ang Thong (whom I spent time with at Baan Dada Children's Home) were in Bangkok, for Jen's last night. Jacqueline and I were coming to say goodbye. Also, J and Kelly were in Bangkok - two girls that I traveled with through Laos. Bridget, was also there to say goodbye. J and Kelly just returned to Bangkok, after months of traveling throughout Southeast Asia, returning to Thailand through the south, and are leaving tomorrow to return home to Seattle. So, I got to catch up with the girls and say goodbye to so many friends with whom I began this incredible journey.

We took a metered taxi from Ekkomai, which was an incredibly, and unusually long ride. Many of the many streets and neighborhoods were closed due to the festivals that overtook most of Bangkok. The driver eventually dropped us off and said he could go no further. So we walked the rest of the way - maybe about 20 minutes. It wasn't so bad, as we got to walk through some of the festival and catch amazing firework displays. Then we met up with the girls, had a late night out, shared memories and stories of Thailand and talked about the future. It's always sad to say goodbye to so many friends at once, especially when you've shared such life-changing experiences with them.

Saturday afternoon, I alone left for Kanchanaburi - not without difficulty. I knew that I could catch a bus either from Mochit or the Southern bus terminal. I didn't really feel like dealing with crazy Mochit, so I headed to Ekkomai - NOT the southern bus terminal. I'm not sure where my head was, maybe a bit hungover, but I know that Ekkomai is the eastern bus terminal, and 150 baht motorbike taxi (45 minute long journey) later, at Ekkomai, I realized I was dead wrong, and should have known it. Without too much time to complain, I jumped into a metered taxi, that is, one that would agree to take me ALL THE WAY to the southern bus terminal, and an hour or so later, arrived at this bus terminal/ shopping mall - a place I had never been.

Once I was able to navigate my way through the shopping mall up to the ticket counters, and down the back to the buses, I boarded the bus, as my ticket said 16:00, and it was now 4:00 pm. The woman looked at my ticket and shooed me off the bus. A man nearby helped to translate that this was not my bus, but that it would come next, they are running late, and this is actually the 3:30 pm bus. The next bus arrived, I got on, and was again shooed off! Same situation, but this bus was the 3:45 pm, or something or other bus. Then the man, who did have a seat on this bus, got off, grabbed me and pulled me on - he said they had an extra seat. That was nice of him. So, I made it to Kanchanaburi by around 6:00 pm. Ahhh, Thailand and transportation - always an issue. This was only the first of a few bus problems I had this weekend.

I didn't know where I was going to stay in Kanchanaburi (I have been here twice before, but never overnight. The first time was to see the River Kwai, JEATH museum, and the Tiger Temple back in my first week in Thailand on a day tour. The second time was passing through at the bus station on my way back from Sangklaburi - Baan Dada Children's Home). So as not to get confused, the main city in every province is also the name of the province. So Kanchanaburi is the main city of Kanchanaburi Province.

I walked over to a bunch of sawngtao taxi drivers, asking all those getting off buses, "bi nigh, bi nigh" ("where are you going"). I asked if they knew of any cheap guesthouses/ hotels that was near the bus station, as tomorrow I want to go see Erawan Falls in Erawan National Park. The driver drove me around to a few different ones, one of which I finally agreed upon. P.S. Apartments, actually short-term housing for Thais. The places the driver took me around to are for Thais, as in no foreigner would know it was a guesthouse; the signs are all in Thai. It was only 300 baht, and very clean and had t.v. with English Channels. As I was traveling alone, this was a nice wanted bonus. The people were also extremely nice. I grabbed some dinner down the street, and called it an early night.

Woke up early the next morning, was driven to the bus station by one of the tennants in the building, and got on the bus to Erawan Falls - about an hour and a half drive for 50 baht. The bus broke down about half way through, but luckily we were able to pull into a mechanic's driveway, and the problem was fixed in 15 minutes.

At Erawan, I only had to pay 40 baht, the Thai price. You see, in Thailand, there are different prices for Thais and foreigners. Foreigners are charged 200 baht to see Erawan Falls!! I pulled out my Work Permit pass, so I'm not sure if I got to pay the 40 baht fee because of this or because she thought I was Thai. Erawan Falls is a 7-tiered waterfall, and is best seen in November and December, just after the rainy season. At the bottom of each tier, the water collects into turquoise blue pools, perfect for swimming. I hiked the 2 km up to Tier 7 and made some friends with a group of Thai University students. They study at a university in Bangkok, and were up here for the day. We swam at the top, and hiked down to Tier 5 and swam some more. I was then driven by hunger to make my way down, grab some delicious food - Somtom (papaya salad), sticky rice and grilled, marinated chicken.

I then caught the last bus back to Kanchanaburi. This bus was so packed full that people were not only standing squished side by side throughout the middle isle, but a girl was sitting up front next to the driver on his seat, and people were hanging out the doors. The other foreigners and I couldn't believe it each time when the driver stopped to pick up more passengers along the side of the road. Got back to the Guesthouse, and the owners invited me to dinner. Their two daughters study English at a university in Bangkok, so we had a nice chat. Again, I called it an early night and got to indulge in some Western t.v.

The next morning - today, Monday, December 7 - I got on a bus from Kanchanaburi headed to the southern terminal in Bangkok, where I knew I could catch a bus to Sri Racha. Unfortunately, and typically, the bus broke down on the side of the highway after about an hour of leaving Kanchanaburi. We were all informed to get off the bus, and the bus manager flagged down three other buses, and shuttled us onto them. I managed to find a seat, we took off, and then I realized that I had no idea where we were going! Bangkok is huge, and I could be going to any number of destinations. I asked the person sitting next to me, "Ekkomai?" She shook her head, "maichai" (no). Then I asked, "Mochit?" "Maichai". "Southern bus terminal?" "Maichai." She then mentioned some name that I've never heard of.

Well, we all got dropped off on the side of the raod somewhere in Bangkok that I have never been. It wasn't a bus terminal or anything for that matter, just some random corner in some neighborhood unknown to me. After hassling with nearby taxi drivers about how to get to Ekkomai, they finally gave me a public bus number to catch just down the street. Luckily, the bus came just as I was headed to the stop. I waved my arm, ran for the bus, as you do in Thailand, and paid the 20 baht to get to Ekkomai. I arrived about an hour later. With no bus hassles on this trip, I finally arrived home around 5:30 pm. It was a very successful and fun weekend.

Erawan Falls - Tier 1 or 2

At the top - Tier 7

Me and one of my new Thai waterfall friends at Tier 7

Me and new friends swimming at Tier 5