Monk Sighting

We spotted some orange-robed monks this morning, walking down Soi 3 (our street) in our neighborhood. It's 6am and I'm frying up my eggs for breakfast when my roomie Meredith calls out and announces that the monks have arrived. Sure enough, they were walking door to door, collecting the morning offerings.

In Thailand, monks will go out and the followers are to present food and water offerings, if they have it available. The neighbors directly across from our home put something in the monks bowl; I'm sure it was delicious! My camera hand wasn't quick enough to the draw, but next time I'll be sure to snap some photogs.

First Day Teaching

This blog is dedicated to Michael Oakley and the delicious egg sandwiches he made my house mates and I for breakfast on the start of our first day. The man can cook.

My job finally arrived, and it arrived in a hurry! Managing a class of fifty students and teaching to students who barely understand English is so different from any of my experiences volunteering in classrooms thusfar; that being said, my volunteering with Junior Achievement has prepared me tremendously. Any experience running a classroom and teaching helps in a big way, and JA provided all of those learning experiences. And don’t let me forget my mother the teacher, aka the Ace up my Sleeve who is always an email or phone call away with teacher tips!

Overall, my first day was pretty easy going. Students had just returned from a short break from classes and the school was a bit chaotic adjusting to the new term. My department head informed me and my fellow teachers (roommates) that the first two periods were for classroom cleaning and assigning materials and we would not be needed. This left me with only two classes for the day. Since the curriculum just called for introductions and getting comfortable with the students, I was able to breeze through both classes! The students are all, mostly, polite and well behaved. They like to chat during class but that is normal. They have cute American accents!

I can already see how much learning happens on the fly. Teachers must constantly readjust what they are doing and how they present information, and it’s not just the broad areas of teaching either, it’s also the little things! For example—I caught myself wasting too much time erasing the white board and not structuring my writing on the board in such a way that kept the class focused and engaged. Sometimes my body covered up what I writing. I made mental notes and addressed this in my second class. My “white board” utilization and management has already improved! As they say, “practice, practice, practice.”

Tomorrow will provide more opportunities for learning: I have a full day of six classes! Barely enough time to take a lunch break!

Saigon, Vietnam

A happy reunion at the Saigon airport. I met sister Melanie and her fiancé Ivan at baggage claim. We stepped outside and were picked up by Ivan’s family and taken to their place. His mother, Vicky, his step-father Andrew, and his brother Michael, were all so very nice and gracious hosts. They are a very fun family and I can see that Melanie will fit in very well. Our flights arrived later in the evening and the international travelers were very jet-lagged, so we visited for but a few moments, called home to Denver, then retired for the evening. The next morning I woke up to the smells and sounds of our wonderful hosts’ cooking meat for breakfast. Ivan made eggs with vegetables and Melanie helped Vicky make delicious fruit juice from fresh fruits. We spent the day as good tourists; first we walked to the local Ban Thanh Market and perused the aisles of fresh food, exotic meats, and of course, souvenirs. Then we walked over to a large cathedral—Melanie commented on the similarities to Notre Dame and French design—

then we visited the Post Office, another work of structural and architectural art. For lunch we met Ivan’s folks at Pho 2000. This place is famous for having hosted President Clinton for lunch. Pictures cover the wall displaying this momentous feast for the small restaurant. The Pho was incredible, as was my avocado shake! Following lunch, we were given a tour of the inner office of the U.S. Consulate office, where both Andrew and Vicky work. The Vietnamese who work with them were all smiles and full of jokes.

Our next stop was focused on war history; we went to the War Remnants Museum and boy, did we get our war history, mixed with plenty of propaganda. The Museum cast America in a very bad light, and understandably so from their perspective, and the perspective of many Americans who opposed the war. And who are we to judge, when our own text books and museums carry the appearance of propaganda and one-sided historical accounts to foreigners in our country. About halfway through the museum tour I recognized two others in the building: one of the teacher’s from my Thai Training Program, Tara, and her boyfriend, Lee. They’re from Canada and are working in another part of Thailand; I hadn’t seen them since training ended, and what a coincidence that they should tour Vietnam and the same museum on the same day and time! It was great to see them there!

After about two and a half hours in the museum—complete with terrible pictures, big guns and tanks, and sad stories—we left and went to a nearby café for a sit-down. Ivan ordered the pineapple cake but hey, he’s on vacation. Lastly, we tried to squeeze in the Reunification Palace but, alas, it closed at four p.m., so we missed out. We returned to home base. With the rest of the group, we went to the top floor of the building and had snacks, looking out over the city lights at night. Then off to dinner at Ben Thanh market again for delicious fresh food, especially seafood. You know its fresh when you see the food moving in water buckets nearby, then the cook picks out the critter and sets it directly on the grill. It was a wonderful dinner. We finished off the night with a walk through town, one of the famous malls, up to the city river, and back through to the apartment.

Breakfast the next morning featured more fresh juice and some interesting sandwiches, like a French baguette with a Vietnamese twist and, of course, full of Vietnamese foods! Delicious! I said my goodbyes and thanks to the host family, then the driver took me to the airport en route to Mel and Ivan’s tour for the day. We ran into some trouble on the way to the airport, so hugs had to be fast and furious as I leapt from the vehicle and ran inside, but I made it in time. One hour and a half on a plane, another hour in a train and bus, thirty minutes walking, and I was back home in Thailand before I knew it.

I hope to see more family out in SE Asia…

Home Away From Home

Wednesday this week involved driving from apartment complex to apartment complex looking at rooms and talking prices. Myself and two other teachers from training, Michael and Meredith, have all been assigned to the same school and were interested in living in the same building. Well, none of us were pleased with what we were seeing. The apartments were all studios, basically no different than living in a hotel room with refrigerator or TV or couch for the next five months. So we asked our placement coordinator and Thai translator, Pak, to have our taxi driver take us into neighborhoods in search of houses for rent. This proved more difficult and after some driving through unappealing neighborhoods, an industrial sector, and then out along the middle of nowhere boonies for a while, we had all but given up. The day was late and we had been in a cab for five hours. We discussed staying at a hotel for a bit and continuing our search later in the month with the help of our fellow Thai teachers we’d be meeting next week. We asked (through translation) to have the cab take us through one last neighborhood near the bus stop, closer to town central, before we would go back to our hotel in Bangkok for the evening. Amazingly, that was just the last stop we needed to make. The cab driver spotted a for sale sign and we pulled over. The owner arrived shortly after we called, and the front gate was unlocked—yes this place has its own, locking front gate. We unlocked the front door and entered. The place looked great! The house is absolutely beautiful. Marble floors throughout in beautiful Thai patterns. A mahogany wooden staircase to the second floor. 3 bedrooms, living room, full kitchen (no appliances), two full bathrooms, and two extra rooms for good measure. Michael and I were sold, instantly. Meredith, the more level headed one, noticed some areas that were a bit dirty and reminded us to calm our excitement to be sure that the landlord cleaned from top to bottom before we jumped head first into the pool. So we talked all the necessary arrangements and agreements. Done deal. Perhaps best of all, the monthly rent ends up being slightly lower than our allotted housing stipend from our school, which means more money in my savings accountJThe tiny apartments we looked into would have been more expensive than the allotted stipend! So we found a great deal. Slight drawback, the house is not furnished, whatsoever. Well, besides one desk, which will be nice. Our arrangements were made to move in Friday.

Friday: we take a cab from Bangkok to Samut Sakon and to our new home. Our landlady is very, very nice but her English is virtually non-existent. Her name is Duang pon. She is a teacher and her husband is a police officer. She had some locals from our village at the house hard at work cleaning. One of them, named Num, owns a stationery shop up the road from us and has a decent command of the English language. We spoke to him and he’s going to help us find a used fridge for cheap. After signing our contract, the landlady takes us to Big C’s, which is the large shopping center/food court/grocery store/cinema and home good store. For about only $300 total, we picked up our floor mattresses (don’t have enough for a full bed just yet!), bedding, pillows, cleaning supplies, TP, speaker system for music, some cooking supplies and a coffee pot, three fans to keep us cool at night, and some cookies. We made out like bandits in proportion to how much we spent! The cab ride back home was quite comical, stuffing the trunk full of fan boxes and grocery bags, the back seat with folded floor mattresses, our trash can in Michael’s lap on the middle, and Meredith literally sitting on the floor of the car with me on the back seat. The cab driver thought we were pretty silly! But we made it home!

First night in the new home was a rough one; despite the neighborhood being significantly quieter than our hotel in Bangkok, which was above bars that played music until 2am, the reality of the situation spoke loudly to my mind. Knowing that it’s just me and two roommates in a new city, miles away from the big capital, thousands away from home, was a bit daunting. I survived, and I know that with each day my sleep will become deeper, better, and more long-lasting. But I will always miss home and family and friends!

Day two in the new home got off to a good start. I cut up some watermelon from the local market for breakfast for the roommates and I. We wandered out and about for a bit to explore nearby shops, then had some traditional Thai food for lunch. Our land lady came by in the afternoon and led us in a Thai Buddhist blessing of the house—this is done whenever someone moves into a new place. She took us into the town central to show us more good stores and where to catch the buses into Bangkok for weekend activities. She also showed us the route to our school and the bus stop to get there; we wanted to make sure we know how to get to work! Turns out our little village neighborhood is about two miles down the main street of town from the school! It should be a ten minute bike ride is all. I went back to Bangkok for the evening to stay in a guest house, shower up in the morning, and head to the airport for Vietnam with sister Melanie and her fiancé Ivan tomorrow!

Bangkok

Staying at a hotel, Star Dome, on the cheap along tourist central Khoasan Road, above the bars playing nonstop cover song after cover song until 2 in the morning. Needless to say, sleep did not come easy. Thankfully, I only had to manage three nights in this predicament while we waited for our placement company to take us apartment shopping. One of the nights we stayed up till 2am, anticipating the loud music, and watched one of my new favorite shows, Curb Your Enthusiasm, on my roommates hard drive. Now, I’m not much for TV, but this show is by Larry David, the creator of Seinfeld, so I will gladly make an exception. On day 3 Meredith and I took a walk to the Grand Palace. This particular weekend was sandwiched by a Thai holiday (Royal Ploughing Day) on the front end, Friday, and another holiday (Buddha’s birthday) on the back end Tuesday, making for a five-day weekend, so a lot of places were closed. This of course included the Grand Palace. The grounds were open and we walked through to take pictures, but the tour options to go inside were not available and the Emerald Buddha was similarly closed off to public for the day.

Berlin

I landed in Berlin and took a bus/subway combination to the Three Little Pigs Hostel. Thank goodness for my previous trip to Melbourne where cousin Nate taught me how to use their rail system because it was a very similar system in Berlin.

I did some solo wandering in the morning and got a good feel for the nearby landmarks and historical points. Then at 11am, I met up with a large group at a Starbucks—of all places—where some dedicated tourists offer free tours (all hoping for tips at the end). My group’s tour guide was a chap from England, a recent college grad who majored in history so had plenty of knowledge to share throughout the tour. I stayed with the group for three hours, then tipped the guide and broke away to do some of my own in-depth research at a few spots.

The sites were incredible and ominous. The main street, WilhemstraBe, was the same street that Hitler paraded down to celebrate his victories and rally support. That street still goes by the same name. I couldn’t believe it! I just had the feeling when, looking at the sign, that someone would have changed the name by now, given the historical significance. Then there was Hitler’s bunker, in the middle of the city, just one block away from the Holocaust Memorial. The bunker is sealed off from public access and still buried away, probably never to be exposed by the government. A good reason for this is the large apartment complex standing guard over the bunker. The people living there are already bugged enough by tourists wandering up to their front doors. In fact, the apartment complex arranged for a sign to be put up with information about the site in order to deter visitors to the door. The government did not put anything up, this was done by private individuals who got sick of waiting for the government to identify the landmark of global significance!

The Galerie Topographie das Terrors is a great resource for anyone studying the rise of Hitler, the war, and then aftermath leading up to the building of the Berlin Wall. It’s also a major tourist attraction as it is located directly behind the last 200m of the all that remains standing of the Berlin Wall (see above photo). Despite the heavy history of the city, the people were quite cheerful and friendly. Not once did I get a bad vibe or feel any bad stares. And in spite of the heavy history, I was able to find some humor as well. In the mad power scramble of the Nazi regime to grab resources, businesses, etc., and to drive out Jews, the Nazi’s nationalized a condom manufacturing company because the owner was Jewish. An odd choice, don’t you think? I would have liked to have been a fly on the wall when the Fuhrer was given that progress report: “sir, we have built hundreds of new tanks, enlisted new soldiers, we are working on projects with Volkswagen, and we have just picked up our very own condom company.” “Sound great, uh, what did you say that last one was…?”

Cruise Highlights

Traveling Europe with my sista! What an awesome vacation and I am so fortunate and so grateful that my little sister was able to arrange all this for me. I am a lucky brother and have an incredible sis! Watching Shannon dance again. Even though it was the same show I saw last year, she still is entertaining to watch. And she had a few new solo parts as well. I got to watch some video of her lip-synching as the main singer of the show; I cried once when Shannon danced as Mary at the Christmas Ballet, and the singing video almost brought me to tears again. I’m sure if it was actually her voice and not the other girl’s, I woulda cried.

Western food—I love Thai food but this trip was a nice break from my new diet. Speaking of Western food, give it up for Ben and Jerry’s. I didn’t eat this as much as on the cruise in Brazil—was too busy with European sweets off the ship—but believe me when I tell you I savored those three times with my friends Ben and Jerry. Calling home to mom and dad, and then calling grandma Jan shortly thereafter; its fun to share our travel adventures with those back home. Favorite scenery goes to Geiranger, Norway. Best food goes to France. Prettiest gals goes to Copenhagen, Denmark. Best weather goes to Berlin, Germany, but this is hard to judge since I was only able to spend a day in most ports. Best desserts (chocolate covered waffles) goes to Amsterdam, Holland.

Copenhagen, Denmark

I was able to enjoy two stops in Denmark, both at the same ports in Copenhagen. Stop one: took pictures at the famous Little Mermaid statue which, honestly, I did not see what the big deal was. However, across the way from the statue was a very interesting grouping of buildings that have served as an army base and continue to operate as such to this day. Approaching up to the base we saw an awesome sculpture and two big, white swans swimming in the creek. The base featured some old cannons and a windmill. The scenery, nestled at the edge of town and overlooking the ocean, was pristine. From there we walked through the main streets of town, had snacks at a café, then visited a Castle wherein the Royal Jewels are held. Traveling Europe on the cheap means that sometimes you just take pictures of famous locations where famous items are stored, and not see the items themselves; this was one of those times

Stop Two found us enjoying some absolutely wonderful pastries: a chocolate cake, a berry custard crepe, and something else that looked delicious and had some kind of hard cookie texture under a mound of berries and whipped cream. To die for! This was followed by more walking and some more photos of statues and notable landmarks/structures until we really cut loose, shed our rules and standards, and walked into Christiania. This small, independent autonomous village has been such since 1971 and, from all I understand of it and witnessed that day, does not recognize Danish or E.U. laws and policies. It was a total peaceful hippie commune. Bob Marley and smoker gear for sale throughout, a brightly-artistically painted garbage truck, compost piles, people with dreadlocks, tents, but nevertheless a fully functioning society complete with cafes, restaurants, and clubs. A sign on the way out says, “you are now entering the E.U.” I’m not sure if they really do have established freedoms and no limits to that freedom or if this is one flea not yet big enough for the dog to scratch…but I am interested in researching this a bit further and to do some online translation of some signs I photographed to get a sense for the town’s political ideas.

Geiranger, Norway

Geiranger, Norway: Fascinating. Gorgeous. Beautiful. Oh my goodness I want to live here! This small village (200 people) is at the end of the Geiranger fjord, one of the most scenic and photographed areas of the country. At its deepest, the fjord is 1,200ft, at its widest it’s 1,600ft, and it runs inland about 10 miles. We left the ship and, after some minimal photography, we began a two and a half mile hike up a steep mountain. Mind you, this is not a mountain by Colorado standards; nevertheless, there are snow-capped mountains standing at the base of an ocean fjord, so I was at peace. We stopped ½ up the hike to relax with some goats at a goat farm, the continued to our final destination: Storsaeterfossen, i.e. Storsaetter, Waterfall. I won’t go into detail, instead leaving this picture to the task:

Amsterdam

Apparently, the Queen’s Birthday is the biggest, most celebrated holiday in Amsterdam. Combine with an overnight stay on the Royal Caribbean and you have a recipe for fun. We went off ship as soon as possible and upon entering the canaled city, we were lost in a sea of orange, their national color. So many locals walking about wearing orange, some in costumes (Oompa Loompas, etc).

There were many drunks, we saw several street fights, everything you could imagine for a wild party, except one thing was missing…toilets! Toilets are not very common in Amsterdam; they’re hard to find and when you do you have to pay for them. Ok, ok, so there are public urinals for the men, but these are literally right out in the open, in the middle of a sidewalk intersection sometimes, with no stall doors, only stall walls and people walking by in all directions! How can parts of Europe be so advanced, become so advanced, and somewhere along the way forgot about the necessity of toilets?

Of course, what is fun without some dancing? We returned to the ship in the evening. I watched one and a half of Shannon’s shows then we went back out for some night life. The night life was not as “legendary” compared to the huge masses of people we had seen out partying throughout the day, but we enjoyed walking around, snacking (had a chocolate-covered waffle and some pizza) and people watching. We were sitting down at the pizza place with the “whistling waiter” (he thought he was so funny to whistle after everything he said, but it was only funny the first few times), and watching WWF fake wrestling, wondering how anyone could ever think it to be entertaining, or real. We went back on ship and back to bed. In the morning we got out and about for more sight-seeing and photos, as well as a little shopping. We started with Dutch pancakes=yummy! Then the sights: castles, important historical landmarks, pictures of locals, and Anne Frank’s house. We didn’t do any tours, we preferred to walk around instead. I ended up breaking away from the group in the afternoon to do some of my own wandering. I carefully snuck back unnoticed to one of the famous tulip flower markets and bought Shannon a bouquet of 50 stems to give her on the ship as a thank you. She was very happy with the flowers!

God Save the Queen

In Southampton, England watching the Royal Wedding was interesting in that, there I was, forced to participate in a spectacle that months ago I swore I would avoid at all costs, participating as a result of sheer proximity to the event and being in a country so attached to this day that it would have been absurd to turn a blind eye. And you know what? I enjoyed something that I never thought I would. It was great seeing a crowd of hundreds gathered in the local square celebrating, eating, and making merriment. We “went for a wander” (English expression) through the town and shopping centers, pausing for internet at a café that serves authentic “porridge.” Our timing couldn’t have been better; we arrived at the party to watch the ceremony on the big screen a bit before the first royal kiss on the balcony. Then the queen decided they were on the balcony long enough and the whole wedding party turned around and went back inside. So we went out, passing through the British balloons, the tables of groups full of food and drink, and went for a picnic in the park J Shannon’s roommate, Jessica, lived in England before moving to Colorado, so she taught us about all the delicious English snack-a-roos, particularly the honeycomb chocolate bars…which if Shannon doesn’t eat all of them on her flight home, then the family will get to enjoy a sampling.

As you can see from the pictures, the celebration was present everywhere in England, even in the large shopping malls!

Normandy

Shannon and I, along with two crew mates from the ship, rented a small car at the Le Havre port of call and made a two hour drive into Normandy, me at the wheel. They drive on the right, American side of the road and side of the car. The drive was scenic, especially in the area leading up to the beaches, lush with small farming operations.

I thought long and hard about a single word that could be drawn upon the summarize the tremendous feelings and contemplation that overcome oneself standing at the memorial graveyard and above the battle beaches; I could not find a word that gave voice to those unspoken volumes. I am incapable of describing the emotions, the gravity, the sights, the silence that seems so loud in a place such as this, all of this coming together with the weight of what has happened along those beaches, what the heroic actions led to, and what might have happened had the allied forces not won.

Guernsey, Channel Island, U.K.

We had read that this town was notable for their dairy as well as a strange kind of bread with fruit and spices mixed into it. The bread was ok—I think I was the only one who rated it so generously—and the milk was good. Not as good as the dairy milk from home, mind you. We went on a nice, self-guided tour of a castle right on the outpost of the island, overlooking the ocean below, complete with waves crashing at the base of the tall rocky cliffs providing a natural defense. Apart from this, we wandered quite admirably, having become one-hour instant locals: set me and my sis loose in a foreign town for an hour and we can find all the good stuff within walking distance, then find our way back with no map. There were some quaint shops and more food snacking, as well as delicious, homemade ice cream! The ice cream and the castle were my favorite parts of this port.

Brest, France

This entry is intentionally short. Good food, good sights, but just a truly European experience for this: When we exited the ship, we should have spoken the tourist info center. If we had asked what there was to do in Brest, then answer might have been something like this: “well, one of the main tourist attractions is a large bridge across the channel, but it is under construction. And there is lots of good food, but most places close at 2pm so you probably won’t make it to a creperie in time. And then there are pizza places next door to creperies, but it is impossible to eat both in the same place.”

Welcome to Europe

My schedge could not have played out more perfectly- our teacher training ended on April 22nd and teaching was not to begin until May 18th. So with a near month-long break, I set off for Europe to jump aboard the cruise ship that my sister, Shannon, works on as a musical dance performer. So I took a flight from Bangkok, layover in Malaysia, then direct to Paris, France. This is where my Europe cruise vacation story begins...

I’m standing at the pre-arranged meeting point, inside a tourist information center along the pier at La Rochelle, France. Suddenly, a well-groomed but obviously American accent leaned into my ear with the best, “bonjour” impression I have heard. Turning, I’m thrown off momentarily by the purple, French beret and a dark black jacket that I swear is European. Then the recognition: Shannon!!! What a happy hug we shared! Asking, I found out that Shannon found had actually bought the chic black jacket back home at a Target…such a shopper! We immediately marched to the nearest café for our token French chocolate croissants, then wandered around the city and traded each other the “up and up” of our lives and plans for the future. We returned to the ship in the afternoon and moved me into my own cabin on the second deck—with a window view overlooking the ocean!

Teacher Training in Phuket, Thailand

There can be no better introduction to Thailand than staying in a nice, westernized hotel along the beach in beautiful Phuket. I have all my comforts from home still, complete with free and fast internet, western toilets, and warm showers. The skype reception has been great. My next tech experience will be a Thai cell phone, which I'll have to buy when I get back to my school. They're fairly cheap. Surprisingly, there is a pretty good presence of 3G networks in Thailand...

I see beach dogs everywhere and that just makes me miss Ozzy...Interestingly, the most popular vehicles on the island so far seems to be Suzuki Samurai's. Makes me feel right at home! The Thai's also give great massages, and for a great price! Hour massage = $15!!! But they sure drive like crazy...

Oh, and I met the perfect, quintessential beach hippy. He grew up in Hawaii and retired in Thailand. He's been here for 20 years running a Vegetarian Restaurant and brews Kombucha to sell as well. I spoke with him a few times, and stopped by a third time but his staff told me: "he's gone to watch the sunset and will be back later." 15 minutes later he pulled up on his bicycle. Funny stuff!

I'm on a strict bottled water diet and fruit smoothies along the beach. The food here is cheap and delicious. For dinner I alternate between curry one night and pat thai the next. The ocean water is warm and wonderful. There aren't too many creepy critters in the main town areas. Plenty of mosquitoes, sicadas- they make a terrible noise when you try to sleep- and lots of stray dogs and cats wandering to and fro.

The group of soon-to-be teachers training with me are all wonderful and we are a diverse crowd; majority from the states but some from England, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Austria, and New Zealand. Our group did some great snorkeling at one of the other islands for one of our weekend breaks and saw amazing fishies. The next weekend break was spent on Kho Phi Phi, another famous nearby island which was the location for the filming of Leo Dicaprio’s film, The Beach. This island was incredibly beautiful! My tan gets better every day!

Training has been pretty intense so far. We are in class from 9-5 Monday through Friday learning how to teach, then have weekends to relax. Developing lesson plans has really given me an even greater-than-already-existed respect for my teacher mother. What effort and preparation must go into even just one day of teaching!!!

The Thai's have a song out here that translates to: "You can use the sky as your paper and the ocean for your ink, but still you cannot write all the nice things your parents have done for you." So true, this song. I am so appreciative of all the nice things our parents have done :-)

The last week of our training is spent live in classrooms not too far away from our hotels. The willing students do not know that we are actually still in training; they assume we are and have always been teachers. There is nothing to protect us from their stares as they wait for us to impart learning unto them. We survive as a group and suffer no casualties. Though we only have to teach for 30 minutes each, we all return to the back of the room where we observe the others, and each one of us returns dripping in sweat from the heat of open air classrooms and nervousness being in front of the high schoolers. The practice has its intended effect, I think, because we all have now experienced a Thai classroom, have learned a lot, and will be ready for the months ahead.