We're With the Band.

Dreams really do come true. Last week I posted about my plans to stalk and finally see my favorite Thai band, 25 Hours, and this weekend everything came together perfectly and I not only got to see the band I got to meet them after the show!

I had planned on heading down to the beach town of Cha-am on Saturday with a few friends to catch 25 Hours perform as part of the Reggae on the Rock Music Festival, but when I found out they were playing a solo show in Ayutthaya, the next town over, I could hardly say no to the chance to see them do their thing.  Nell and Clare and I (we're becoming total Thai music groupies!) headed to Ayutthaya after school on Friday and made our way to the pub where they would be playing.  We wanted to get there early to figure out the ticket situation, since Google Translate was not helping us figure out if we needed tickets or if they were for sale. After the tuk-tuk drive that included a few wrong turns, we found our way to the empty pub and the staff told us to come back at 10 so we could purchase tickets for 150 Baht - $5! A total steal.

We dropped our stuff off at a hostel and grabbed dinner before making our way back to the pub, we ended up being the first people there, and the only farang in attendance for the evening. After a rocking opener that of course featured Thailand's favorite English song, Zombie by The Cranberries, we found ourselves living the dream as "front row farang" attracting the attention of the fellow concertgoers and the band themselves as we pretended to sing along to the Thai songs.

Once the show ended we weren't quite ready to end our night, but we spotted the band hanging out by the back entrance so we made our way over to them and asked for some photos and started chatting. They told us how happy they were to see farang who knew their music and they were happy to practice their English with us. We ended up hanging out with them for quite awhile and not only do they make amazing music, they are all really cool guys and really interesting people. We discussed our favorite types of music and they told us the meaning behind all of our favorite songs, they even sampled a bit of their new single that's coming out next week. I still can't stop smiling thinking about our encounter and I've been listening to their music on repeat. Here's their latest single, check it out. It's good, I promise:

An Unexpected Visitor

Last month I received an email from my sister-in-law in Switzerland asking if she and my brother could surprise my sister Kathleen with a trip to Bangkok... obviously I said yes! Last week on Friday, Kathleen thought she was heading to the Zurich airport for a browse through some of its still-open shops and instead was handed a plane ticket to Bangkok and told she was boarding in 45 minutes. Luckily, my bro and sis did a great job packing her bags and she arrived with a suitcase full of necessities for the week and tons of Swiss choco for me - bonus! My sister-in-law Maureen joined us in Bangkok for the weekend to help a friend with some apartment searching and it was really fun to have a few members of the Rall fam in town to spend time together while enjoying the local flavor.

Since I still had to teach, I had to squeeze everything that I deem to be "The Best of Thailand" into 1 week.  We managed to check out Suphan, Bangkok, Kanchanaburi and Ayutthaya and made the most of our time in each place.

HEAT: I'm not sure this would be "best of Thailand" but it's definitely a big part of any trip to this country.  I don't think Kathleen's body was quite prepared for the shock of coming from the Swiss Alps to the sauna that is Thailand. Kathleen insisted I sleep with the air conditioning on every night and of course I came down with a cold because of it - maybe I've finally adjusted to the heat?

FOOD:  I had to show off all of my favorite spots - so we hit up Banya's coffee shop almost every day for some of her legendary Thai-style iced coffees.  We made it to "Pad Thai Lady" twice and Kathleen agreed it's the best she's ever tasted. We then spent one evening out at my friend Dton's restaurant so Kathleen could try Thailand's salad: som tom! Dton made it extra spicy for us and although our mouths were on fire, it was delish! Kathleen was also a major fan of the in-season mangoes so we had to try it in some form every day - mango shakes, fresh mango, mango with sticky rice and coconut milk, etc.

SIGHTS: With little time to spare, we managed a few out of town trips, first to hike Erawan Falls 7 tiers in Kanchanaburi where we had some fun with the fish that eat the dead skin off of your feet - weird but also oddly satisfying! One day I got permission to leave school early and we made it to Ayutthaya to rent a tuk-tuk and tour the city's ancient ruins for the afternoon.  I couldn't remember much of my Thai history but I think Kathleen got the drift from the Thaienglish signs posted around the temples.  Kathleen also made it into Bangkok to tour the Grand Palace one day while I finished up my week teaching.

SHOPPING: Thais love to shop, so when in Thailand... why not go to all the markets and try to buy as much as your suitcase will hold? Kathleen and I had fun perusing the local markets and managed to pick up some pretty clutch gifts for our family members back home - including some of the ever-present and frequently worn "Couples Shirts" spelling out L-O-V-E for my bro and sister-in-law.  (Hope they will rock those in Zurich, super fashionable!)

PEOPLE: My students were very excited to welcome Kathleen into the classroom as the "teacher's assistant" for the week.  It was really fun to be able to show my sister my normal life in Suphanburi, my friends and my favorite places to see and things to do.  Kathleen agreed that Thai people are some of the nicest and happiest people she's met - gotta love 'em!

LUXURY: Ok, so maybe this isn't normally associated with Thailand, but we did manage to squeeze in several massages and a pedicure during her short time here.  And, on our last night in Bangkok my brother hooked us up with a stay in the Grand Hyatt downtown - it was ah-ma-zing. I don't think you realize how dirty and dusty and sweaty you are while living in Thailand until you surround yourself with luxury and get to take an actual shower and relax on a real mattress. I was all about the hotel robe and didn't do much besides move from the comfy bed to the executive lounge for some free drinks and cookies to the pool and hot tub outside.  I could get used to that life... but for now it's back to Suphan and back to teaching! Thanks to my bro Matt for sending Kathleen and Maureen my way and letting me show off my corner of the globe!

Field Trip!

Life in the Soup has settled into a fairly regular routine these days, teach M-F 8-4, tutor or teach a prep course until 6:15 or 7, hope there's a good movie on the lone English TV channel, and then hit the hay.  I've entered serious money saving mode recently since I've started planning my "summer break" (March-May) trips.  So far I've booked flights to Bali (Indonesia), Langkawi (Malaysia) and a school trip to Vietnam.  Hoping to hit up Cambodia, Laos and possibly Hong Kong as well - I need to have pages added to my passport for all of these stamps/visas!  With all these big trips on the horizon, I'll likely be sticking close to home for the next few weeks.  Although, keeping myself entertained in Suphanburi for a whole weekend has proved to be very tough - there's just not that much going on in what we farang lovingly call the "Detroit of Thailand".  

This week I was able to enjoy a midweek reprieve when we took a field trip to Ayutthaya with the M.2 class (8th graders).  They have been studying the city and its history/ruins in their social studies class so they were split into groups and assigned a teacher to show around.  I was so impressed that they memorized everything and their English was so good. It was really nice to have someone explain what I was seeing since last time I was there I relied on the Lonely Planet guidebook for the low down. I also had my third opportunity to ride an elephant (not your average field trip!), although I felt bad for these elephants because Ayutthaya is a flat/hot/dusty city and I think the elephants probably enjoy themselves a little more when they are in their natural element in the forest or by the water.   

It's hard to believe but the first semester is already coming to a close, I'll spend the next few weeks writing exams, filling out behavior reports, and finalizing student grades - which should be an interesting process because although some students have many missing grades, I'm not allowed to fail anyone. I'll have to come up with some sort of crazy way to scale the grades.  It doesn't seem like a very effective practice to let everyone pass, but I guess it's just one of those things I'll never understand about the Thai education system.   

A birthday cake, a chest x-ray, and some ancient ruins

Hello, Hello.  My birthday weekend began with an iced coffee and a pineapple pastry from Nell, no better way to start my 25th year!  When I got to school I was given my first piece of mail here, a birthday card from my sis Kathleen that sang and featured a recorded poem she created, super cute.  The kids were also very aware it was my birthday thanks to Kru Nell passing along the message.  While I was teaching my first class of the day I was serenaded by my M.3 students "Happy Birth Day To You," it was pretty special, and once I returned to my office I found my desk overflowing with cards from the students in Kru Nell's M1 and M2 classes.  Some of the cards were extremely artistic and detailed, and all of the messages were amazing, here's a sample:

• "Kru Sarah I hope you happy in birthday and every day  You're good teacher.  You teach me so fun."
• "Happy Birth Day.  Have a good thing come to your life."
• "Happy Birthday Kru Sarah.  Kru Sarah is very good teacher.  Have an enjoy. I love you."
• "November 12, your birthday! I like you so much.  You are rejoice!"
• "Happy Birthday Kru Sarah have a good time Health, and I ask God to protect you forever."
• "I wish you healthy.  You are so cute and beautiful. I wish you beautiful more than everyone.  I wish you happy in your Birth Day and everyday. I love you."

Small sample of the birthday cards!

I also received a delicious birthday cake from the EP program and was treated to my 4th "Happy Birthday" serenade of the day - I'm so thankful for a great work environment! Amidst all the birthday celebrations, there was some Visa/Work Permit business to attend to so Nell and I made our first...and hopefully, last visit to the Suphanburi Hospital.  It was an experience!  We were greeted upon entry by a few elderly patients on stretchers chillin' in the hallway.  The forms were all in Thai so our co-teacher, Kru Phon, took control. Once in, we were moved around from room to room, including one stop where Kru Phon said we needed to get our "butt checked," Nell and I both couldn't contain our laughter and were also seriously scared for what sort of procedure we were about to undergo, but after asking Kru Phon for more details and a few pronunciation lessons and quick game of charades, we figured out she meant to say: "blood checked," crisis averted.  As we were moving through the hospital, and attracting the attention of every single patient/doctor/nurse, we also passed a few prisoners shuffling along, carrying their heavy shackles while security kept an eye out, yikes! We then had to give a chest x-ray, assuming the most interesting position and using some seriously outdated technology, before we were shipped off to another room and another line.  Next, we sat down with a doctor where I attempted to tell him I had asthma and was allergic to penicillin...and I'm pretty sure he understood nothing, but he signed off on my letter of good health and I should be good to go.  I can only pray that I stay healthy in my year here and don't need to go back for serious medical issues!  

On Saturday, Nell and I decided to ship out to Ayutthaya, a 2 hour bus ride from the Soup, and a tourist hot-spot due to the ruins and temples you can find there (Ayutthaya is a former capital city of Thailand).  Nell and I rented a tuk-tuk (our favorite mode of transportation) for 3 hours to take us around town to all of the famous spots, most of them were built in the late 1400's to early 1600's, and it's pretty amazing that anything is still standing, although some look as though they are one brick away from toppling.  Once we returned to our hostel we took off again for a longtail boat tour around the city where we were able to see a few more temples with a beautiful sunset in the background.  We were also able to see the effects of the flooding around the city, with many buildings featuring a very high water-mark and some temples inaccessible due to the still high water.

Nell and I spent the night in relative luxury, we splurged on a slightly more expensive hostel for the bonus of hot water and I must say it was quite a tease, it made my cold shower this morning even more painful!  Sunday we did a little more exploring around the city center, the market, and we took a lot of jumping shots around the ruins before grabbing a bus back to the Soup where we pretty much passed out from exhaustion due to 2 days full of walking, climbing stairs and fighting off 95 degree heat.  All in all, a wonderful weekend and a good start to 25! Thanks for all the birthday wishes, I could get used to this whole 36 hour birthday thing with the time difference from the States to here! : )  Here's a link to some more pics on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2312213&id=1606236&l=53655f3be9

Love the tuk-tuks! 

Rocking the fisherman pants!