Welcome to my journal page. Here you can read about what I have been up to. I figure this is more convenient for everyone as opposed to a bulk group email. I will try to update this section and this whole site for that matter as often as possible.
Want to know a bit about me?Click here.
03|27|03
O.K. So I never said this was going to be easy.
What's that? Another quote from George Bush?
No.
That's just me making a comment on my journal postings. Time seems to go so fast, it's been over a month since my last posting?
So much to talk about. I will try and write more often from now on.
So much has happened...Spent the last ten days at the beach, there's a war, some weird virus is killing people in Asia, I've started my new teaching job.
I'll write all about it soon.
03|18|03
Sad news. Found out that my Zia Pia passed away the other day.
Horrible news that is blowing my mind.
How can this be? Doesn't seem real.
My heart goes out to everyone back home.
02|19|03
Very tired, but I'll get to that.
The weekend:
We went up to Sukhothai, the former capital of Thailand. We hit the bus station Friday night and bought tickets. What resulted sucked. We ended up on this dump of a bus. A bus full of Thai people, leaving at 10 pm, with no washroom and air con that only worked part of the time. Fifteen minutes after the bus leaves the station we make our first stop.The bus is stormed by people waving skewers of bbq chicken, squid and other funky stuff. We thought we were being robbed or something.
The trip was uncomfortable and long. A six hour trip took us 10!!! Did I mention there was no washroom?! And the worst part was we couldn't even sleep because the whole way they blasted Thai music.
We also kept making stop after stop after stop...
In any event we got there at dawn and swore only to buy first class tickets from then on, lesson learned.
Spent that first day looking at ruins, rented bicycles and went around the park. Very cool, good time.
The next day we rented a motor bike and went looking at further temples and ruins. That was super fun. We went all over, it was really neat because there was no one else around. We were literally the only people there, in the middle of the country side at a 700 year old buddha temple.
Look for the pics and some movies soon.
Super duper weekend...oh and we took a first class bus home.
Get home and get a call, I start work tomorrow?
The job:
I have had no preparation, no meetings with the boss but first thing Tuesday morning (Monday was a holiday) I'm in front of a class teaching.
I was to go to the office and get lesson plans and stuff but as I'm walking up to the building the Thai teacher and supervisor come running out. Immediately I'm in a cab heading North. One of the teachers called in sick and I was taking his place.
I had six classes. Grade 4,5 and 6. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The first day was to be an orientation day, this was birth by fire.
An hour later we were at the school and we walk right into the class, 35 kids are looking at me.
The Thai teacher and supervisor were like go...do whatever.
The key here is just act like you know what you are doing.
I think it went well tough, I survived the day.
Some of the kids thought I was from Hollywood, others thought I was David Beckham the British soccer player.
Hey, I got three roses from the girls and two teddy bears!
It was an all Thai school in the middle of no where but they spoke pretty good English, I was surprised.
So today I started my regular class. Six kindergarden classes!
Have you seen the movie kindergarden cop? You know how the kids look at Arnold when they first see him? Eyes big and mouths open? Was kind of like that at times.
These kids are so cute. Full of energy which can be a problem at times but all in all I think it will be good.
Very basic stuff, songs, vocab., games.
Classes are 30 mins so they go by fast.
At that age though they don't understand all that much so it gets kind of tricky, I'm interested in how tomorrow will go.
Hey, it's an air con room so that is a nice bonus.
In any event, I'm only going to work there for the next three weeks.
Then it's the summer holidays, then I start at a different school...one that is only ten minutes away on foot.
The job I'm working now is good but the commute sucks.
Hey speaking of holidays it's only three weeks away! We are going down to Phuket and Krabi (sweet beaches) then down to Malasia and Singapore. The plan for that is to get arrested for chewing gum.
These two countires are so safe, prim and proper. I think you get a ticket for walking too fast.
Hey my friend Yona from University is coming to Thailand on the 11th. She'll be teaching too, but down south. I'll pick her up at the airport and have her stay here for the night. I'm excited for her...I remember when that was me. It's nuts how one minute you're the one getting picked up at the airport the next your the guy picking someone up. I think that's kind of cool.
Hey I ate food from the street today for the first time. Pork soup, hope that works out. I'm tired of the food downstairs and I was too beat to go to the mall. I'll let you know how that goes...next time.
Hope all is well with you.
Latez
Um, how many times did I just use the word hey? I think it's bed time...tired!
02|14|03
Happy Valentines Day!
Hey, it rained today. Very weird...first time in two months. The heat, oh the heat. It averages about 35 a day now, and that is just the start. The warm dry season is ending and the HOT wet one is weeks away.
You do get used to it though. Funny how now when it's 25 it seems cold.
We're going up to Sukhothai this weekend. It's the birthplace of Thai culture and it's way up north...yup, another night bus. Lots of temples and stuff to see. It's a three day weekend so that's a bonus.
I'll take pics and post them next week.
02|06|03
Bless antibiotics.
Seems like I'm fine now.
Anna is also better.
Kasia has been having a more difficult time though. Turns out she has bronchitis. She is slowly getting better but has had to visit the hospital several times.
Sash, as usual is perfectly fine.
So all in all no worries, just some of the usual things that happen when in a tropical country.
We're fine though.
Think we're going to the beach this weekend to unwind. Oh and also 2 for 1 pints of beer at this pub downtown tonight.
02|01|03
Well, it took two months but I'm finally sick.
Yup, the good luck has ended.
Bad stomach...you can imagine the rest. Anna also has it, but not as bad.
For me it was a Vietnamese restaurant. I was in trouble 15 minutes later.
Thought I was better the next day so I cooked up some deep fried chicken and tofu.
We both ate that and have been paying the price ever since.
Three days and counting! Think I'm going to try and wait it out, it's not that bad (no pain) and I don't really want to go to the hospital.
Kasia is also home in bed tonight. She has a fever and flu.
Theme for tonight- Sickfest on the 12 floor brothers and sisters.
Tonight is the Chinese new year and all I can hear are firecrackers going off. Sounds like machine guns. Lots of celebrating.
Hmmm, come to think of it, with all the violence between Thailand and Cambodia this week maybe those are machine guns.
Cool, Tremors is on hbo...they're in the gol darn ground Earl! I gotta go.
That reminds me, if anyone wants me to pick them up a dvd let me know. I can get anything and they are 150b or $5.50 Canadian. They are real dvds dude!
***Update: Went to the hospital today...I've got something! So now I'm on antibiotics and some other stomach stuff. Owww, my tummy hurts.
01|24|03
For anyone who doubts that Thailand is a developing country...
Remember Leprosy?
Last night me and Troy, another Canadian dude in our building were going to Ko San Rd.
We caught a songtow. I was on the back left he was hanging on the back right. There was this guy right in front of him that looked like the living dead. Missing fingers, brown eyes and so many bumps on his face there were no smooth surfaces.
I looked and didn't look again. I didn't know what it was until we got off. Troy told me. I was like, why didn't you ring the bell?! We should have gotten off.
Man oh man did that guy look bad.
So we freaked a bit and bought some bottled water to wash our hands.
Did we ever get a shot for that?! How is it transmitted?!
Turns out it isn't that bad but boy, that was exciting for a while.
Dude, I was three feet from a leper!
01|04|03
First off, sorry for the delay everyone...here is a new entry.
O k, this is going to be a long one.
Whew, where to begin?...
So Christmas was fab.
Before dinner we partook in a Polish Christmas tradition, the breaking of the host with a person and sharing your wishes for them in the coming year.
The fondu was a three hour marathon and after we were all so stuffed we just came home and went to bed.
Christmas morning, opened gifts...I got some really cool stuff. Sopranos Dvd, local hat, a ton of trinkets, clock (in Thai), and the best...all expenses weekend at Kanchanabury (Bridge over the river Kwai, elephant trek, national park, waterfalls...swimming in falls!)
Yeah so we were all pretty pleased with how things went.
Went to eat at the mall and started for the world trade center for skating!
It was so weird to go skating, and in Bangkok of all places.
Was very busy, and I was so excited. It was funny how fast it all came back to me. Haven't skated in 10 years but I was fine...for a bit. After an hour and a half I became a bit cocky and made a fool of my self. I was actually airborne and Anna, who was 20 feet behind me swore she could hear the thud.
I dragged my now soaked ass off the ice and waited outside. Could hardly walk, my hip killed.
In my defense the ice was super bad, bumpy and puddles everywhere. Also the skates we rented sucked and were all plastic. Oh and ever three seconds there was someone falling so whatever.
Sash on the other hand, who was born and raised in Canada, skated for the first time. He did very well, Anna and Kasia never fell either.
Was really fun and my injuries were quickly forgotten the next day when I saw the sand!
But wait, Christmas day wasn't over yet.
We had to catch a 10 pm bus to KoChang.
Now cabs in this city are hit and miss, sometimes you get a good one, sometimes you get taken for a ride. Our trip from here to the bus station was one of the worst yet. In retrospect we should have told the guy to stop and got another one. Truth be told though I was having too much fun at the time to think about the danger. This guy was short and fat and had a lead foot. He was weaving in and out of traffic at excessive speeds, at one point as we were turning at an intersection there was a small explosion under the dash board. Thing is smoking, he is unfazed. Then he starts shaving as he's driving, the whole thing was just too much.
Next thing you know we are on a bus heading to freedom!
The bus trip was about five hours, five very surreal hours. Tried to sleep but was very uncomfortable. It was one of those times where I was fading in and out of sleep, most of the trip flew by...we were there before I knew it. The weird thing was about half an hour from the town they turned on all the lights and started playing this cool Thai music. It was the weirdest thing, I was like...hugh, what's going on? Are we there?It was 3am. Damn that music was good.
So it is 3:30 am and we are dropped off in the middle of this town, no bus station.
Seeing as it is the middle of the night you might expect the town to be dead...nope.
People everywhere, asking us where we want to go. Food vendors...people just walking around. Very weird seeing as we were half asleep.
We visited the 7-11 where I discovered a chocolate bar that seems an awful lot like an Oh Henry bar. It's called a rally bar and guess what? Made in Canada! I bought a few.
We caught a songtow (back of a pickup truck with benches) to the ferry which was 20 minutes in the middle of nowhere. It was me, Anna and some Thai guy with a guitar wearing sunglasses.
Again, very weird. Driving through the bush, completely dark except for the moon and stars, doing 120km looking at this dude.
We get there and wait for a couple of hours for the 6:30 ferry. We were very close to the Cambodian border. Beautiful sunrise, dude singing in the background with guitar, dog walking around, woman who owns the restaurant there preparing...and me and Anna trying to get some sleep on those crappie wooden benches.
It was one of those moments.
So it's the next day and we've slept about 3 hours. Get on the ferry and get to the island. It was wayyyyyyy more lush than I was expecting. Dude, it was a jungle.
Worrying part is there were no beaches in sight, just rocks and red earth.
Get on another songtow and start into the island. Very beautiful!
Turns out the nice beaches were on the other side of the island. We see a nice one and get off.
Spent that day drinking beer and sitting on the beach. Found a very nice place right at the end where we ate and camped. They had these really nice gazebos right above the water.
The downside was this was the rich German beach. All older people and families. We were definitely out of place. As a mater of fact after we pitched our tent there the first night we were approached and told not to do that again. Funny, I thought they didn't own the beach?
Whatever, we decided to try our luck the somewhere else.
Oh but get this, I think I saw this guy there that I listen to on the radio. His name is Art Bell and he hosts his own talk show. I didn't bother him, he looked comfortable and I was all hot and tired. I swear that was him!
Caught a songtow to the next beach. The guy dropped us off in the middle of the jungle, nothing but vegetation and straw huts!
Walking, walking...and then...lonely beach. We were home.
This place was the bomb! We ended up staying there the rest of the week. It was full of people like us, very chill, very friendly. Great beaches and the food!!!
We got a bungalo for 300b a night (10 Canadian) on the beach. It was one of the best yet, even came with a mosquito net over the bed.
We went swimming lots and hung out at the bars/restaurants. Our favorite one was the treehouse, check out the pics.
So back to the food. We discovered that bbq was the thing to get. Every night they had about 20 people working this huge bbq. You could get squid, chicken, pork...The chicken was the best, with baked potato...$3. That with a cold beer beside the ocean! We had this four nights in a row it was so good. Oh man, I still dream about that bbq.
And that was just one place, at others there was so much more...I have to stop talking about this. I'm getting hungry.
One day we rented a motorbike and went driving around. Those things are very hard to drive and I'm amazed we didn't get hurt...I guess I'm a good driver. Some of the turns are hairpin and on steep hills. I saw two accidents (small ones) as I was driving around. It was fun but I will not be doing that again. One of the Canadian dudes that was there went out on his own, we saw him the next day on the beach. He was missing skin from about half his right arm, left wrist and legs. Bleeding and puss...we were like, did you see a doctor?! No...I'll go when I get back. I'm going in the saltwater every twenty minutes to disinfect it. Turns out he used the front brake going up a hill and flipped the bike. He slid in his shorts for about ten feet.
To our surprise he didn't get the plague and loose his hand...he is fine now.
New years was a blast. We sat on the beach drinking wine, watching fireworks and listening to the sea. People everywhere...great time. Definitely one I'll always remember.
Woke up the next day feeling like crap. Made our way to the bus station in Trat and to our horror all the busses were booked until 11:30 pm. What were we going to do for 9 hours?!!!
Thank God one of the woman who worked there took pity on us. She got us on the next bus, it was at the very back where employees sit but we were on our way home.
Back in Bangkok with out even a scratch. It was my first taste of this type of vacation, It was like a resort....most were white people and you could get whatever, whenever. Very relaxing, it was almost too much work to breath... a true vacation.
12|24|02
Hello all.
Everything and everyone here is fine, we wish you all the best for Christmas and the New Year.
Tonight we are going for fondu and opening gifts then tomorrow ice skating and packing.
At around 10pm we are getting on a bus and heading to the beach. We'll be there for a week, back on the 2nd of Jan.
So yeah, Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year!
12|20|02
And now on to the topic of elephants.
Dude, have you ever been chillin' in a restaurant only to look out the window and see elephants walking down the street?!
First time happened two weeks ago. Me and Anna were eating pittas at this place and this baby elephant walked by.
Apparently you can buy and feed them bananas for about 50 cents. I haven't yet, I have mixed feelings on the subject. I think it is so mean to do that to an animal, especially and elephant. Still though it was cool.
Happened again tonight, we were eating dinner in this super fancy place. That's a story in and of itself. The prices were crazy cheap, and it was a very nice place. I swear the whole thing cost us about $16. Back home easily would have been over $100. It was an Italian restaurant...weird though. For the first half hour we were the only ones in there. There was a guy playing the piano...kind of like we owned the joint. Soon others came...I guess Thai people aren't big on real food.
Anyways while there five big elephants walked by.
Hey you know what else is weird about things so far?
I've been here almost a month and I've not gotten sick. In fact I haven't even taken one pill...for anything. Not even an Asprin. This is very strange, most people have something go wrong, drastically wrong in the second or third week. One of the girls here had her boyfriend from Halifax come, the first day he got it. Sick for two weeks!
So yeah, I'm sure now I'm going to get hospitalized after proclaiming victory over Thai food.
Damn it, getting eaten alive my mosquitos (I'm writing this on the balcony at 11:30pm)...going to bed. Night!
12|15|02
So here is another crazy thing about this country.
There are a ton of employees wherever you go. Sad but true, labour is so cheap and there are so many people in poverty willing to work.
I've heard stories that people in the service industry make 100 baut a day, that's $3.50 Canadian! And they are the lucky ones, they are in an air conditioned restaurant.
So today me and Anna felt daring and went into the MK restaurant. It is a Thai chain that specializes in soups. You go in order the ingredients and make the soup on the table.
We had no idea what was going on, no one spoke english and everything was in Thai.
Whatever, we ordered some mini corns, greens, tofu, squid and chicken, spices...ten minutes later, great soup! Surprising but good, we pulled it off somehow.
This place was typical though, employees everywhere. I swear, I put down a fork turn around and it is gone.
Check out the second video I added to my pictures section. Look at all of them! Waiter, waiter, waitress, waiter, waitress...woman moping floor.
When you walk in you immediately have three people hovering over you, freaked me out for the first few weeks but now it is just normal. Come to think of it today we were hailing a cab and the cabbie drove past two business men who were trying to get a cab and picked us up. White people really get the attention.
Back to the service thing though.
My First week here I went to Topps, yes the same Topps supermarkets in the U.S. (Donuts are good here too papa.) I was looking at some toothpaste, I put it back and kept walking. I turned around three seconds later and there was a girl re-arranging it, making it perfect again.
Labour is so cheap, in CD and VCD stores they don't have security measures like back home (magnetic things) They just have one or two people in each isle watching you.
Weirdest things is people doing medial jobs seem happy doing it. Back home a kid making a sandwich doesn't give a crap, if you want something chances are they'll be like don't bother me. Here you have four people enthusiastically helping.
Uh-oh. Gladiator is on HBO...gotta go.
12|12|02
And now on to the topic of saluting.
This one still puzzles me and makes me feel weird, weird but oddly kinda cool at the same time.
First time occurred as I was making a beer run. We were at this get together a few floors up, english teachers. A few people wanted stuff from the store in the lobby, I decided to take a walk. I'm feeling pretty good as I just finished a Chang. I get out of the elevator and meet the door guard (in full guard gear). He snaps to attention and salutes me. He stands there saluting me as I smile and back away.
I was like, did that really just happen?!
The more I think of it the more I think the dude was having some fun with me. They do it but this one was over the top. Some of the guards are really funny, jokers. I wish I could communicate with them.
Also happens as you walk into the mall. The guards at the door salute you!
Funny how they only do it to the few white people they see.
They other kicker is the bow thing, can't remember the name for it. It's the one where the person bows their head and puts their hands together. You get that at times too.
In any event, enough of this...I've got to get my ass back to the beach.
Have a good weekend.
12|11|02
So check this out...
In Bangkok there are dogs everywhere.
Honestly when I first heard of this it worried me but now seeing things it really isn't all that bad. I heard some crazy stat that 30% of dogs here had rabies, so not true.
Now the unfortunate part is that these dogs aren't like their well groomed Canadian counterparts.
Here there are mangy muts staggering about as far as the eye can see. I swear every ten feet there is a 7-11 and another dog. They mostly just sit or stretch out wherever, never pet them. I assume they are fed scraps from the many street vendors.
They don't even bat an eye as you walk by...then again the locals here don't bat an eye over all the dogs around so I guess it all works out.
They are everywhere!
I'll take some pictures soon and post them.
12|10|02
So yeah. Have been here almost two weeks. Funny thing is this is all becoming almost normal. I'm getting used to asia and big city life. It's fun now. I still get heckled and stared at but whatever. I already have so many stories, it's hot here but no so hot anymore. We went for a dip in the pool yesterday and were complaining that it was too cold...too cold?! It was 29 degrees!!!
We went to a huge outdoor market this morning...heavy asia. Bought a pair of oakley sunglasses for $8, LOL.
Oh and I haven't gotten sick yet, very strange....most people do. Then again I haven't started eating off the street yet, most people eat off the street. Dude the food here is good and so cheap...under a buck. I'll post pics soon.
Anyways, all is well and things are fine.
Very safe, not much to worry about.
I'll write next about the dogs...my favorite thing about Thailand so far.
12|09|02
great big beer update:
Yes man, the beer update. I'm sure you'll all be happy to know that the price of beer her is just great. You can go into any store and but whatever you want. My favorite is the local favorite, Chang beer. You can get a big fat bottle, a liter, for $1.15 Canadian...and it's 6.5%! Now you can beat that with a baseball bat.
The moral of the story is this, beer and water...the liquid diet for Thailand.
12|02|02
Monday Morning, writing this from home. Just figured out how to hook up the internet!
Spent the weekend at this amazing beach, I will post the pictures shortly.
Place called Ko Se Met, an island that is a national park.
Left Friday afternoon and got there around 11pm. It is the high season so there were a lot more people on the island than we planned for. We had a pretty big group and finding rooms turned out to be a challenge. All the places at the main beach were taken so we had to go to the next by cab (back of a truck-50 cents).
We were looking for bungalos on the beach which go for between 300-1200 baught a night or around $12 canadian. Some are really nice, right on the beach...others, as we found were not. The first place we stopped at on the second beach was manned by this dude. He was the most messed up I have ever seen someone. Im not sure what he was on but it was weird. It was me, Anna, her sister Kasia and boyfriend Sash. We were standing there like, Is this for real.
Sorry my keyboard is screwed and I cant figure out how to get certain characters.
Anyways this dude is just looking at us. He keeps reaching for the same key, looking at it and returning it. This went on for several minutes with him looking super confused. We motioned for him to give it to us and after a bit of effort we had two keys...hurray, sleep! We find our rooms but they have peoples stuff in them. Then an older lady comes out (I guess the Mother/owner) and all hell breaks out. Shes pissed, another son comes out, then one of the girls comes back to see that we have her key, she starts freaking out on them...we just left in a reign of confusion.
We finally found a place, went for a dip, beer...bed. Water was soooo nice.
Next day was great. Look at the pics, I couldnt believe it. Went snorkeling, swimming, tanning, lots of lazy stuff.
Ate at this great place called Jebs on the beach. Dude the food. Soooooo good, ended the night with a beer and a Mackerel bbq.
Oh and then went to this bar for free buckets. It is a bucket of vodka or rye with pepsi and real red bull...the stuff with anphetamines in it. It really comes in a big bucket too...makes you hyper...no way anyone could finish one.
Next day more relaxing and beach fun. The one thing about the beach though, there are tons of people selling you stuff. Fruit, massages, blankets...kind of funny at first but it gets played out fast.
Lots of fat dudes too with their local Thai girfriends, lame.
All in all a great weekend. I am a bit browner and a lot redder. Wish I could live there.
The weird thing is we really did nothing all weekend but ended up super exausted...hard work being a beach bum.
11|29|02
Ok, so now that some of the shock and jetlag have worn off here I am. Dude, so hot!
Oh man, that flight...rough. THe airline, Japan air was great it's just the duration...27 hours. Got to see Chicago and Tokyo though, that was cool.
This place is heavy culture shock...so many things here are so foreign, just too many to write about now.
I'm in an internet cafe thing by my appt. Pretty good, $1/hr.
Things here are kind of like I thought they would be. The heat, language...smell. Takes some getting used to but whatever, it's Asia.
Just on my way to the 7-11 for some powder stuff and to try and get an internet time card. Then I think I'll stroll across the street to the market to buy some tomatoes and some sandles, shoes just don't cut it here. Once I get internet I'll start posting pictures.
Going to the beach this weekend. Takes 5 hours by bus but it'll be worth it. It's not that far but traffic here is so bad.
So is the pollution. Unreal!
Got brave yesterday and tired my first bit of Thai food, some rice and veggies...was good. I made sure to say my pet...means not hot.
Also is weird being the only white guy. First time that has happened in my life. We are in a really Thai area, no tourists. People just stop and stare, funny.
Learning a few basic phrases too. Hello, thank you.
All in all things are going well. No worries.
I'll write again on Monday, when I'm a little browner.
11|22|02
Two days to go! So tired. Spent the last few weeks finishing things up.
It has been super hectic, think I have most things in order though.
I'm really getting excited.
Good night.
10|13|02
I am still in Canada, preparing for my departure date.
Nov.25th is coming up fast, I can't wait!
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