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:

Chick Mountain Music Festival: มัน ไก่ มาก

I've become more than a bit obsessed with Thai music during the last few months. I admit that it took a while for me to get used to hearing it all the time, everywhere, but I've found some artists that I really enjoy - so when I heard that a lot of them would be performing at an all night music festival at a military training camp, I could hardly say no.

I first heard about the concert, Chick Mountain Music Festival (Man Gai Mak), from a few of my Thai friends. After looking it up and a lot of assistance from Google Translate, I discovered that tickets were not yet sold out so my friends Clare and Nell and I bought the tix. We prepped the weeks before by listening to the tunes of Bodyslam, Da Endorphine, Suckseed, Paradox and Palmy on repeat.  The concert was held in Kanchanaburi, about 30 km from the town center and started at 5pm.  We arrived to the giant field in the middle of nowhere (in military inspired hipster gear, of course) around 3, picked up our wristbands and waited in line, attracting plenty of stares and posing for a few pictures as we were some of the only farang in attendance. Since we were at a military training camp we had the opportunity to shoot guns and jump from a tower in a bungee contraption... but we opted not to!

At about 5pm it started to rain, a heavy/steady rain, thank goodness they gave everyone a free poncho at the entrance, and it did not stop for about 4 hours. The field turned into a muddy mess, but somehow it seemed the perfect setting for a music festival.  Once the show got started we gradually pushed our way to the front end of the crowd and had a great view for the main acts of the night.  The highlight was definitely Bodyslam, Thailand's premiere rock band, lead by a Suphanburi native, P'Toon! With fireworks and lights and confetti - it was an amazing performance, even better when Toon revealed his 8-pack ; )

It was really fun to see some of my favorite Thai bands live and I enjoyed the Thai music festival experience.  The show ended a little after 3am and by the time we made it back to Kanchanaburi we only had to wait around for a bit before we caught the 4:50am bus back to Suphan looking like hot messes. I'm hoping to squeeze in one more music festival this weekend starring my all-time favorite Thai band, 25Hours, here's hoping it all works out!

Chiang Rai: The Destination is Worth the Journey

As I mentioned in my post about the trip to Koh Mak, Thailand always has a way of making the destination worth the journey and this past weekend's trip was no exception.  Friday was a national holiday in Thailand due to Her Majesty the Queen's birthday which is celebrated in Thailand as "Mother's Day." In Thailand many people fittingly mark this day by returning to their hometowns to spend it with their mothers. Since my mother happens to be in West Africa at the moment, I decided to take the extra day to head up to the northernmost province of Thailand, Chiang Rai.

Nell and I opted for the overnight train for the first part our our trek - unfortunately, due to the busy travel weekend, we were left with only seats instead of sleeper cars.  We were prepared to sit up and sleep for the night, but we were not prepared for the -12 degree temperature inside the railway car - I have not been that cold since February 2010 in Boston - and I never want to be that cold again! I spent the night sneezing and layering up with the clothes I had and was extremely grateful to step off the train into Thailand's usual heat and humidity when we arrived early on Friday morning.

Friday we soaked up everything we love about Chiang Mai: coffee shops, farang friendly hair salons, khao soy, bookstores with English books, and amazing market shopping.  We stayed at a cute and very cheap hostel called Little Bird and had a very relaxing day.  The next morning we left early for a 3 hour bus ride - VIP style - to Chiang Rai. We had done no research on Chiang Rai but we knew we wanted to see what is known as "the white temple." We picked out the first hostel mentioned in our trusty Lonely Planet guides and dropped off our stuff before hitting the streets to explore and do a little shopping.

We made our way to the white temple, or Wat Rong Khun, via tuk-tuk and it was a stunning sight.  It's definitely one of my favorite places in Thailand so far.  In the past 10 months I have seen hundreds of wats, and for the most part they are same same, but different... until I got to Wat Rong Khun.  It is a gorgeous work of modern art, all white (representing Buddha's purity), and the interior has murals of modern images such as Keanu Reeves in The Matrix, the Twin Towers, Spiderman and Transformers. It was started in 1997 and they are still adding finishing touches to various buildings around the main temple.

On Sunday we took a bus back to Chiang Mai where we spent the afternoon and early evening going BUCKWILD at the Sunday Walking Market.  I bought everything in sight. I have no idea how I will transport all of these souvenirs I keep picking up back to America but I think I'll have a very cute, very Asian inspired apartment one of these days! Our journey back should have been an easy overnight bus and then a minivan ride to Suphan to make it just in time for Monday morning classes... but that would be too easy, and this is Thailand.

The bus driver literally taking
apart the bus in an attempt
to fix it. 

The bus left Chiang Mai about an hour late, so we knew we would already be pushing it to get to school on time, but we still would have been fine had the bus not decided to break down 2 hours away from Chiang Mai. This time instead of being cold, we were suffocating from lack of air circulation inside the bus, it was hot and it smelled like something was not right with the toilet on the bottom floor of the double-decker bus - i ya. We sat on the side of the road getting eaten alive by mosquitoes for 2.5 hours waiting for a new bus to come get us.  When it finally arrived, we were disappointed to discover it was not a VIP bus but a regular bus with minimal leg room and seats that did not recline.  Needless to say, the rest of the trip was pretty miserable, and we made it to Bangkok just in time for morning traffic... which left us way behind schedule.  By the time we made it back to Suphan and into school it was already 11:40 and the day was half over.  Thankfully, I was able to make up the lost sleep by going to bed at 6:15pm on Monday night - amazing! As bad as the journey was, however, the destination and the time up North was well worth it and I'm glad I still have one more trip up North this year to look forward to.

Frequently Overheard in Thailand...

I've been living in Thailand for 10 months now, and I've started to notice some words and phrases that I find myself saying fairly frequently.  Certain aspects of Thai life that you would think by now I would be used to, but they still seem to phase me and cause some sort of reaction.  Here's a list of phrases frequently overheard in Thailand...

• "It's hot." - I know back home in the States there has been a bit of a heat wave going on, but Thailand is permanently part of a heat wave. It is hot here. every. single. day. If you look at the weather for my town it looks the same if it's March, July, or December.  Hot. Muggy. Potentially a thunderstorm or two. By now I should probably be used to the heat - but I still find myself saying this at least once a day - maybe when I'm hoofing it up the 4 flights of stairs to my office, or a short walk to get lunch, or if I attempt to sit in my room without the AC on. I just can't seem to accept the heat here. 
• "I'm full." - Since Thailand is all about food, I'm usually starving before every meal, and then 10 minutes into it I'm so full I immediately lapse into a food coma. It's probably a combination of a lot of rice + hot weather + MSG and other random ingredients.  Either way, it's amazing how fast I can go from famished to stuffed. 
• "I almost just died."- It's not that I partake in particularly risky behavior over here in SE Asia so much as it is that walking around town I happen upon many potential threats - a pack of angry street dogs, a motorbike driving on the sidewalk, a frying pan spitting hot oil, a large pipe sticking out of the ground, an active power line swinging 5 feet off the ground, etc. A simple minivan trip to Bangkok can sometimes feel like the end of the world is near while the driver goes 150 km/hour around curves and rushes past trucks full of some variety of livestock. I'm pretty sure that Nell and I say this to each other at least once a week, but hey - so far so good!
• "I have no idea what he/she just said." - I've really enjoyed the smile and nod approach to the confusion that happens daily in my life when people yell things out to me in Thai or try to have a full conversation.  Sure, my Thai has improved a lot in 10 months, and I tend to understand a lot more than I can say - but a lot of the time I have no idea what someone is trying to tell me as I pick up only 3 or 4 words from every sentence.  I just smile and nod or say "khob khun ka" (thank you) and I'm on my way.  I can't even imagine what it will be like to re-enter a society where I understand everyone and they understand me... I guess I might have to start watching what I say! 

And now for some random pictures to add a little flair to this post!

Love Thailand's flowers.

Chillin' with a baby Leopard

My new fave from Pad Thai Lady: Pad Thai Gai Mee Krob (crispy noodles)

Happy Birthday to my Homeland!

This Monday we threw a party for a very special birthday... America! Happy 235th to my homeland! I've celebrated my favorite day, the 4th of July, in many places- the Mall in Washington DC, under the Arch in St. Louis, and with the Boston Pops by the Hatch Shell - but I've never celebrated the 4th out of the country until now.

I was bummed that I had to work - hello? Don't they understand that no one in America works on the 4th!?! I didn't let teaching stop me from celebrating, though, and I rocked my festive attire to school and had my classes sing "Happy Birthday" to America. We also indulged in some fun games and puzzles,  the students were grateful for an easier day and I was happy to share my love for America.  The Thai staff at our school marked the occasion by ordering the Americans some Kentucky Fried Chicken with mashed potatoes and egg tart (this must only be on the Thai menu...) and some Pepsi for lunch, finished off by a Dunkin' Donuts treat brought in by friend Clare from Australia.  It was a wonderful multicultural celebration of America's special day.

Since there are a few American farangs in Suphan, we decided to create our own party that night by taking over my friend's restaurant and filling the grill with American goodies like hot dogs and burgers.  We also whipped up some pasta salad, puppy chow and other peanut butter chocolate goodies, cheese, and a few bags of American style chips - no spicy squid or seaweed flavors at this party! My sister Emily had sent over a box full of decorations including necklaces, a headband, a festive tank top, a lantern, and some garland - so we really set the mood at the restaurant.  Nell mixed up an amazing playlist that featured the Star Spangled Banner, God Bless America, Proud to be an American and even Country Grammar by Nelly. It was the perfect way to bring a bit of America to Thailand, the only thing missing was fireworks, which is actually surprising since it seems like there's always someone shooting off fireworks in Suphan - just not on this day! I hope everyone in the USA had a grand ole' 4th (and a not so terrible 5th if you had to go back to work!)

A Suphan Kind of Weekend

It has recently dawned on me that my time in Suphan is slowly coming to a close - I've only got 3 months left in my little corner of Thailand and there are a lot of people, places and things I'm really going to miss. Since I'm attempting to save as much money as possible so that I can travel for a month before I head back to the US, staying in Suphan on the weekends has become more of a regular thing.  Sure, there's not a whole lot going on here, but we make the most with what we have and this weekend was no exception.

Friday night we had a welcome dinner for 2 new teachers, both from Wisconsin, that have joined our staff for the summer.  Like all school functions, and almost any party in Thailand, it featured a lot of karaoke.  Usually I try to stay away from the microphone, but this time I took the stage for "Stop" by the Spice Girls and "The Call" by the Backstreet Boys, and I was pretty, pretty good.

Due to a very important election held today in Thailand, there was no alcohol sold and most of the bars and hang-out spots were closed for the weekend, so we made our own little party on the sidewalk on Saturday night.  We grabbed some yoga mats, snacks and a few beers (snuck away from our friend's restaurant) and camped out on the sidewalk for a few hours for some life chats and funny stories. There was actually a breeze that appears so rarely in Thailand, so it felt like the perfect summer night.

Samchuk 100 Years Market

On Saturday afternoon, Nell and I had taken a stroll that basically covered the entire town of Suphan, and at one point in our wanderings, we were yelled at by someone on a passing motorbike.  This is not an odd occurrence as passing motorists will often yell out things like "farang" (white person) or "beautiful" or even "I love you!"  We reciprocated with our usual smile and they took it as a sign to pull over and ask for our numbers.   They then joined us for dinner and invited us to join them the following day at one of Suphanburi's main attractions: Samchuk 100 Years Market.  We had been planning on going there anyways so we couldn't turn down a free ride when faced with the prospect of a crowded, hot, and long ride on a public bus.  Sunday morning Nell, Liz and I joined our new friends J and Gas for a trip out to Samchuk. I had been there before and it was more of the same: checking out some of the shops and crazy snacks and desserts offered, eating some delicious green curry, and taking a boat to tour a really old house with some amazing antiques - including things like really old cameras and radios - all that still work! J and Gas were the ultimate Thai hipsters and super friendly - showcasing the classic Thai hospitality. I guess normally I wouldn't meet someone in a foreign country and allow them to take me on a road trip the next day, but Thai people are something special and they really love showing off their country to foreigners, so far I've been alright to trust them with my life! 

All in all, a simple but great Thai weekend, and a good reminder to soak up my remaining time in Suphan.

Thai desserts!

Boat Ride Entertainment

PTL: The Mon, The Myth, The Legend

Pad Thai Lady.

I'm sure I've spoken about my revere for Pad Thai Lady (also dubbed PTL) plenty on this blog, and how I want to bring her home with me in my carry-on luggage, but really she deserves every ounce of praise she gets, and her very own blog post!  This lady can cook.  She doesn't need a fancy kitchen with crazy gadgets and granite counter tops.  No way, all PTL needs is a sidewalk, a few tables and chairs in her living room, some fresh veggies, and a large selection of sauces and cooking oils.  PTL (real name: Mon) is a legend in Suphanburi - she speaks no English, but she serves as the personal chef for a majority of the farang in our town who don't have kitchens in our apartment and who thus seek her out almost every evening to whip up some Pad Thai, Pad See Ew, Khao Pat Gai, Phad Phak Ruam, Phad Kee Mow, etc - rice or noodles - up to you!

As of Tuesday, It's officially been 8 months since I left the USA for Southeast Asia, and while there are many things I miss from America, one thing I know I'll have a hard time leaving when it's time to go back is PTL.  I think she has spoiled my opinion of Thai restaurants in America forever.  I'll never be able to eat at a Thai restaurant and pay $10-15 for a meal I used to get for 90 cents! I'm sure I'll also miss the whole set-up: eating everything with a spoon, never knowing if the water you're going to drink will make you sick later on, the fact that there are no doors or windows on the restaurant, the Thai soap opera blaring in the background, the family photos that decorate the walls, and of course the dogs, cats, geckos and mosquitoes that hang out at your feet while you eat. Sure, it's different - but it's all part of the experience, and I LOVE it. Now I just have to convince Mon to come to America (whatever city I eventually end up in) to continue to serve me delicious Thai feasts, mai pen rai, right?  If nothing else, my goal before I leave is to at least convince her to teach me how to make a mean Pad Thai, which means I better get working on my Thai phrase-book!

In other news, the Social Studies teacher at Sa-nguan Ying School, Kru Tuke, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in America for 6 weeks in a program at Amherst College.  Everyone here is so proud of Kru Tuke and Nell and I are excited (and a little jealous!) to send her off with a list of things to do and see while she's in Boston.  Here's a link to Tuke's blog that she's set up for students and friends who want to follow her experiences in the US: http://discovertheuswithkrutuke.blogspot.com/

Ain't No Party Like a Village Party...

'Cuz a village party don't stop. You might be thinking, what exactly is a village party? Simply put, it's a party in the village. "The Village" is a street in Suphan where my friend Alex lives in an apartment among the locals, some of whom are teachers, parents and students of Sa-nguan Ying School. I was invited to the village party last weekend on account of one of my former students being accepted to a very prestigious school in Bangkok.  Most students I teach in M.3 (9th grade) are hopeful that when they finish the year they will be accepted to a school in Bangkok, which offers some of the best and highest achieving schools in Thailand.

The people of the village, as with most people I've met in Thailand, sure know how to throw a party.  There are 5 key ingredients for every gathering with Thai people and this party had it all:

• Friends: Everyone is invited - friends, families, adorable children, and in this case, all of the farang in Suphan.  It was so great to be able to hang out with the families that live in the village and they were so friendly and welcoming. 
• Food: It's no surprise that one of the first phrases most people living in Thailand learn is "Gin khao yung?" or "Have you eaten yet?" because food is an essential part of Thai living - and of course the food here is so spectacular even if you have already eaten you usually say no.  The village party featured an overflowing table with a feast of som tom, sticky rice, stir-fried pork with holy basil, and many more delicious Thai goodies. As soon as we arrived we were handed a plate of rice and a fork and spoon and invited to dig in, which we obviously did! 
• Drinks: No party with the locals is complete without Thai whiskey and soda water (though it's not exactly my style).  One of the more impressive drinkers at this party was a young mother of 4 who out-drank everyone in the village.  I started to get scared of her when she would fill up my drink, clink my glass and then promptly down hers while I futilely attempted to drink my Singha - and she wouldn't leave until my glass was empty!  She also did this while rocking one of her small children... definitely a champ. 
• Karaoke: Obviously! Karaoke had already begun when I arrived and it was going all night: solos, duets, group dances, Ronan Keating songs, Thai beats, etc. who needs a DJ when you can choose and sing all of the songs by yourself?
• Dancing: Of course, with the karaoke comes the dancing... the main show on this night was a 3 year old boy who jumped for about an hour straight to Thai pop songs. The ladies of the village also impressed with their jazzercise and traditional Thai inspired moves while I showed off my J-Lo moves (kidding!...kinda). 

Here's a few pics and a video of the night. Enjoy! 

The champ herself forcing Nell to down her Singha

Village Party in Thailand from Sarah Rall on Vimeo.

Rules for "playing" Songkran in Thailand:

Songkran, or Thailand's New Year celebration, happens every year on April 13-15.  When I visited Thailand in 2004 with my brothers we were unaware of this holiday and all that it entailed, so this time I made sure I was armed and ready.

These days, Songkran is pretty much one giant water fight for locals and farang alike, but it hasn't always been this wild. For some historical context, I'll hand it over to my good friend Wikipedia: "The throwing of water originated as a way to pay respect to people, by capturing the water after it had been poured over the Buddhas for cleansing and then using this "blessed" water to give good fortune to elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder." Today, it's pretty much grab a water- gun/hose/bucket/chunk of ice and throw it on anyone who may decide to cross your path. Thais refer to the celebration as "playing Songkran" (it's pretty obvious why) and although it's a nationwide celebration, the real place to party is up north in Chiang Mai where people play Songkran for a whopping 6 days.

So what are the rules for playing Songkran? In my humble opinion...

• Be prepared. If you go outside, you will get wet. Mai pen rai, don't get mad, get even. Be ready with a waterproof bag to protect your money/phone/camera, and don't wear anything that can't handle a little, ok a lot, of water.
• Be armed. Don't expect people to be nice to you because you are unarmed. You're going to need a weapon. Emily, Amy and I pretty much bought the first set of water-guns we laid eyes on when we got off the plane, but they were not of high quality and only lasted about 25 minutes before they started to leak more water than they could spray.  My next weapon of choice? A bucket.  The perfect tool for grabbing some of the muddy canal water and tossing it to the crowd. 
• Be creative. The party pretty much stops at night, but you can never be too sure when you round a corner that there won't be someone waiting to douse you with water.  The last night of Songkran, the party was still raging when we decided to head out to dinner so we made some mad dashes across streets, down alleyways, and entered a restaurant from the back entrance crossing an abandoned parking lot in order to avoid getting wet. 
• Have fun.  Songkran is a celebration unlike anything I've ever participated in, in America or any other country I've traveled to.  If you can't have fun in a giant water fight when it's 100 degrees outside, we're probably not meant to be friends.  Thai people know how to have a good time, and taking part in this celebration is seriously one of my favorite experiences in my 25 years on Earth.  Being able to take part in this nationwide party, and watching Thai people turn an entire city into their personal playground, is a beautiful thing.  Sanuk mak mak! 

Now for some visuals:

The New Normal

The first semester is winding down and as I'm preparing to say farewell to my first batch of students (sad!), I've been super busy with grading and testing, so my apologies for the lack of posts! I think I've also hit a bit of teacher burn out, I'm in desperate need of a little break, some long-term traveling, and some visitors (my sister and college BFF) - can't wait! I hit a low last week when only 3 out of my 17 9th grade students turned in a project they had been given 8 days to complete, (it only involved writing 2 paragraphs!) I was so frustrated I actually walked out of class.  I think the message was well received though, I received an apology letter and the late homework at the end of the day with the students literally bowing to me as they placed it on my desk.  Although, to be fair, the bow in Thailand (wai) is just a normal part of culture so I shouldn't feel too special I suppose.

Speaking of "normal" and Thailand, I thought I'd shed some light on the "new normal" that is my every day life.  Three and a half months in, few things in Thailand phase me as they once did, I've come to accept them as my new life, but upon reflection they are actually pretty odd. Here are a few...

Sidewalks do not exist. There is no such thing as sidewalks in Thailand, the word for sidewalk in Thai is the same as street, and apparently that applies to how they should be used - when walking down a sidewalk I'll often have to avoid motorbikes cruising down the block, avoiding the perfectly good road that's right next to me.  I also have to avoid overflowing "restaurants," trash bins, phone booths (they actually still get used here!), stray dogs, dried fish vendors, roosters, etc. I used to love taking long, meandering walks but with the lack of space to do it, I've put those on hold until I'm back stateside. Sidewalks and streets: same same, but different.

5 Star restaurants have a whole different vibe.  I'm quite certain that the best Pad Thai in the world is produced daily by my local street vendor affectionately known to the farang as "Pad Thai Lady." It is unbelievably good, made fresh right before my eyes, and costs about 80 cents for the meal.  She also makes several other delicious dishes that I've come to adore: phat grapow gai, pad see ew, khao phat gai, the list goes on. The building itself, however, is nothing like any place I've ever eaten, or will ever eat in the States due to health codes.  There is a cat that frequently jumps from table to table, a swarm of flies and mosquitoes (most restaurants in the Soup actually provide customers with bug spray at the table), no front door, no clean water, and twice this week mid-meal a man on a motorcycle drove into the restaurant and parked his bike next to our table. This spot is no exception, this is what most eating establishments in Thailand (especially outside of the big cities) look like, but when the food is this delicious, it just doesn't matter.

A good night's sleep is a thing of the past. After a long day of teaching and fighting off the 90 degree temperatures that keep creeping higher, some days I long for a comfy night snuggled in my bed.  Alas, that will have to be a dream deferred, and reality is harsh.  Each night before I get in bed I first cautiously scout for bed-bugs, mosquitoes and geckos that might try to hide under my covers - trust me, they do.  On a quick count today, I woke up this morning with 26 red, itchy bites (really - jing jing!).  I sleep on a rock of a mattress-- there is zero give to this baby, when I flop down I can literally bounce right back up. There is also a mysterious smell that lives in the pipes of all the apartments in our building, I don't understand it, and I've tried everything to get rid of it, but some mornings it's so bad it actually wakes me from my sleep when it seeps into the room.  Good day, sunshine.

Squat toilets. I don't even know how to describe this experience.  Whenever I enter a public restroom I immediately check to see if there might (please!) be a Western style toilet, but all too often they do not exist.  Bathrooms in Thailand have a bring your own toilet paper, bring your own soap kind of deal, and they usually cost a few baht to enjoy.  Once you enter you are greeted by a hole in the ground contraption that involves some interesting strategy.  These toilets don't feature that state of the art invention called a flush so there will be a bucket of water sitting next to the toilet with a bowl that you fill and then dump into the hole until you think it's sufficient.  All I can say is...yikes daddy. Thank goodness for a steady supply of Charmin' to go t.p. and scented hand sanitizer that never leave my purse.

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.   

Happy Constitution Day!

Last week was an odd one, we had no class on Monday for His Majesty The King's birthday - a very, very big deal in Thailand!  Then, Tuesday to Thursday, I had no class with my M.3's because they were all away at Scout Camp - also seemingly a very big deal in Thailand.  Friday we had yet another public holiday, Constitution Day, where Thai people show gratitude to the monarchy for allowing them to take part in governing the country - fun fact: Thailand has had 17 constitutions and charters since absolute monarchy was overthrown on December 10, 1932. (Thank you, Wikipedia.)  To mark the holiday, I took off for Kanchanaburi and its mountains and waterfalls to meet up with some fellow CIEE teachers.

Friday evening once we all arrived we walked around town, checked out some of the markets and took in the World War 2 and Jeath War Museum near the Bridge over the River Kwai.  The museum was basically a collection or random artifacts, rusty armour, bizarre sculptures and a Kimodo dragon out front to add a little excitement.  It was certainly not your typical war museum.  

The next morning half of the group took off for Erawan Falls, which I've already hiked, so Nell and I planned on hitting up the Hin Dat Hot Springs instead, but when we got to the bus station we realized that due to the lack of planning on our part we wouldn't have much time to enjoy the springs since they were a 3 hour bus ride from town.  After staring at a map of the province for a bit we decided to check out Sai Yok Noi Waterfall in Sai Yok National Park.  Once we arrived we quickly realized we were garnering as much attention as the waterfalls as several tourists pointed their cameras at us rather than the falls, I guess Sai Yok is more popular with Thai travelers than tour groups, they were excited to see song farangs! (2 white people!)  The waterfall was not huge but impressive nonetheless and the surrounding area was very beautiful.  We followed signs around the park to a bat cave, but they really just led us into an open field with a Thai mountain man and his cattle.  We did eventually stumble upon the entrance to the bat cave that required kerosene lamps, but since we were the only people there, and the Park Ranger was passed out and snoring in his stand, we decided to save that adventure for another day.  We made it back to town that night and grabbed dinner and drinks with our friends before calling it a day to head back to the Soup early the next morning.  

Now I'm back in the Soup and back to teaching, in the past 2 days Suphanburi has decided to become an unofficial sauna, every time I walk outside I feel like I'm getting a steam-bath, so much for that "cool season." Apparently, it's over and hot season is rolling in - I hope I survive!