Suphan Bucket List

The clock is ticking on my time in Suphan, after 12 months, suddenly the end is upon me way too fast - 6 days! I've finished teaching, so what lies ahead this week is proctoring the kids Thai exams and getting grades in while simultaneously packing up my apartment and trying to make sure I see all of my favorite people and visit all of my favorite spots in the last week. I actually have pretty much every meal mapped out over the next six days to ensure that I get to enjoy all of my favorite dishes one last time. It is going to be so, so hard to say good-bye to Suphan - I've really grown to love my little home amidst the rice paddies. In order to make the most of my last week here, I've written up my own little bucket list of things to do in Suphan before I leave... I've got until Saturday and I've already checked off a couple of things, so I'm off to a good start.

• Visit Banya's coffee shop at least once a day.  This shouldn't be too hard since I already do this every day, Banya makes the most delicious Thai iced coffee, her shop has the only couches I've seen in Suphan (jing jing) and she's a good friend who is so fun to hang out with. 

• Eat as much Som Tom from Dton's, Pad Thai from Pad Thai Lady, Bamee noodles from the noodle shop, and banana shakes from "BSL" (Banana Shake Lady) as is humanly possible. 

• Take at least one long walk through town every night. Nell and I started doing this a couple of months in and it's one of my favorite ways to experience Suphan. People are driving past yelling "hello" or "I love you!" and there are certain groups of people that see us every night and flash us the biggest smiles and say "welcome to Thailand!"... every single time we walk past them. 
• See a Suphan Football Club game. I managed to do this last night, and it was such a great time. I loved cheering on Suphan and my fellow fans were super amazed to see me reppin' my Suphan FC Jersey, one man said to me "I love you because you love Suphanburi." Love you back, dude. 

• Hang out with Game, Spicey, Ex, Sek, Pipe, Aobb, Tong, etc.  (These would be the names of a few of my Thai friends, 555). There are two nightlife spots in Suphan that I've really enjoyed lately, lots of great live music (perfect for my budding career as a Thai music groupie), good people-watching, and it's a great chance for me to pick up some Thai slang and learn random bits of Thai culture that I normally wouldn't know - like it's not okay to get your hair cut on Wednesdays.  Why? "Ancient tradition." This seems to be the answer for most of these little cultural quirks, that explanation works for me.

• Soak up every last second with my students. Even though they will be in and out all week for Thai exams, I plan on pretty much stalking them to see them as much as possible before I peace out. 
• Enjoy everything. I really don't want to get too caught up in the idea of counting down and leaving and saying good-bye. I want to live it up, have fun, and be happy and thankful for all of the wonderful people, places and things that make Suphan so wonderful. 

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)

Thailand's Exotic Fruits

One of my favorite things back home during summer is the fruits that are in season - pineapple, watermelon, grapes, cantaloupe, etc.  Luckily, I can get most of these fruits in Thailand year-round due to the consistently hot and humid weather.  However, Thailand has a whole slew of fruits that are available during the rainy season that I had never seen before, some of them delicious and some strange... or maybe I should just say different. Here's a sampling of some of the fruits you can find in a stroll around the markets or in a cart on random street corners. I should note that most fruits in Thailand take some serious effort to eat - it usually requires some sort of sharp instrument and some messy fingers - but it's usually worth it.  Thankfully, most of the fruits are cut up and served ready to eat by the vendors. 

Rambutan: Possibly the oddest looking of the bunch, these super sweet fruits are similar in texture to large grapes.  On the inside they look like they could be big grapes... but the outside is a prickly arrangement of red and green spikes. 

Jackfruit: One of my favorite discoveries of South East Asian fruits, I can't find a good way to describe them, but they start as one giant prickly oval shape and are cut into little bright yellow bits.  Once again, they are super sweet (as are most things in Thailand) but not overly juicy or crunchy.  According to Wikipedia it's the second largest and heaviest tree-born fruit out there. I'm so glad that someone else cuts it up for me, because I don't think I could ever figure out how to extract the edible bits. 

Durian: Known as the "king of fruits"... and also the one that smells the most disgusting.  Many people say it smells like dirty feet before the fruit is cut open, and due to this trait, it is often banned in buildings and on public transportation. Durian also features spikes on the outside but is apparently very delicious if you can get past the smell and actually taste it - I haven't tasted it yet, but it is on my list of things to do before I leave. 

Image courtesy of Google Images

Dragon Fruit: This fruit has a fleshy inside that is full of tiny seeds and kind of resembles an artichoke on the outside... if an artichoke was bright pink.  Dragon fruit, in my opinion, lacks flavor and isn't my favorite thing to nosh on.  

Mangosteen: This fruit just started to appear around Thailand, and I'm told it's imported from Indonesia.  I've been hearing about it for quite some time, so I was eager to test it out.  It takes some effort to get to the fruit but once you're in it's pretty delicious, really sweet and a little tangy. 

Music Monday: Featuring "Bird"

I probably should have started sharing some of my favorite Thai music with you way back when, but it's never too late, and I think Bird is the perfect start - 555.

This song has been playing in my head about 40% of the time since I moved to Thailand, and that could be helped by the fact that I always hear it blaring from songtows passing or karaoke parties, and every time I say the words "too much" in class it is followed by a chorus of very cute students singing "so much very much."  I'll let you check it out for yourself.  A lil' background: Bird, the singer, is a 52 year old Thai pop star with serious dance moves and this song spent a lot of time this past year in the #1 spot of Thailand's music charts.  It's hard to believe he is 52 - but no one in Thailand seems to age - it's quite the gift! This song definitely has staying power... and by that I mean good luck getting the refrain out of your head!

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:

Tour de Asia by the numbers...

I have returned from part 1 of my epic summer adventure! It was a whirlwind trip with two of my best friends that was full of delicious food, beautiful scenery, crazy characters, lots of shopping, immigration lines, jazzercise, Asian beer brands, florescent body paint, dim sum, tuk-tuks, flash mob dances, tour guides, and jumping shots. Sadly, it ended this morning with a tearful good-bye to Megh at the Hong Kong airport, but it was so much fun having a visitor from the US and checking out so many amazing places together, definitely a trip I'll remember forever.

I'll post some more details on each stop later, but for now here's a breakdown by the numbers of my 3 week jaunt around Asia:

• 3: Countries visited.  Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam.
• 2: Special Administrative Regions (SARs) visited. That would be Macau and Hong Kong, which are SARs of China. 
• 10: Cuisines sampled.  While my life in Thailand revolves around rice or noodles, the rest of Asia sure has a lot to offer.  I ate some of the best meals of my life in the past 3 weeks, including a few Michelin starred hot spots.  It was definitely a treat for the taste buds! We tried out some Cambodian, French, Vietnamese, Chinese (Cantonese), Italian, American, Thai, Mexican, Australian, Portuguese - delish! 
• 16: Passport stamps added. With lots of back and forth and in and out for the odd day trips, the trip to Bangkok a few weeks back to add pages to my passport certainly proved to be necessary. 
• 13: Modes of transportation.  Tuk-Tuk. Cyclo. Minivan. Chartered Bus. Longtail Boat. Airplane. Ferry. Cab. Bicycle. Canoe. Songtow. Car. Elephant. 
• 1: Number of poisonous snakes held. Yep. For some reason we decided to take a photo with a boa constrictor. Booyeah! 
• 348: Impromptu singing sessions.  Megh and I tested our harmonization skills and Nell attempted to tune us out but joined in with the occasional high note, for some reason we were human jukeboxes for the entire trip, not necessarily a bad thing in the land of karaoke. 
• 5: Currencies used. To put our singing skills to good use, we decided to make up a song for every currency: Thailand - "I like big BAHT and I cannot lie" (Sir Mix-A-Lot). Cambodia: "I've got RIEL" (J-LO and Ja Rule). Vietnam: "Let me see that DONG." (Sisqo). Hong Kong: "DOLLAR, Dolla bills y'all" (Wyclef and Akon).  Macau: "Who's down with MOP? Yeah you know me" (Naughty by Nature). 
• 5: Types of accommodation. From the room full of dead creatures in Koh Kong to the 3-floor private apartment in Phnom Penh, we definitely hit some highs and lows in our choices of accommodations.  There were mosquito nets, hotel slippers, overnight buses, dead cockroaches, bunk beds, cold water showers, beachfront views, t-shirts as towels, and outdoor toilets. 
• 896: Pictures taken. My camera ran out of memory the very last night of the trip -success! Here's a very small sample and a couple of my favorite shots from the trip. 

Vietnam: Thai Tour Group Style

Last week I was living the dream. I was part of an Asian tour group, to an Asian country, complete with matching bucket hats and luggage tags and a 20 hour bus ride bursting with karaoke.  Although the tour guide only spoke Vietnamese and Thai and I could not understand (mai kow jai) a lot of what was being said, I still immensely enjoyed my experience in Vietnam.  As soon as we drove into Vietnam from Laos I was blown away by how beautiful it was, and also, how different it was from Thailand.  I guess I was expecting it to be "same same but different" since it is a fellow Southeast Asian country, but right from the start I realized it was no place like home.  The people, the language, the food, the currency, the music - it was all new. We stuck around central Vietnam, and I'm already itching to go back and see the Northern and Southern parts of the country, but here's some of the highs and lows from the trip to Hue, Da Nang and Ha Noi:

Highs:

• Hoi An: I am obsessed with this town.  From the Ancient City (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) to the amazing markets and streets flooded with custom design clothing shops to the French bakery that sold chocolate croissants, a-ma-zing.  This was definitely my favorite stop, the market was full of people and bursting with color (delicious fruit! silk lanterns! fresh flowers!) and I definitely dropped some serious Baht/Dong/Dollars there (Vietnam accepts all three currencies).  
• Dipping my toes in the South China Sea: Growing up in landlocked Missouri (unless you count the Muddy Mississippi) I've always had a deep love for oceans, and one of my favorite things is to get my feet wet and watch the waves.  We arrived at our hotel in Da Nang pretty late, but the moon was the perfect light for a little adventure to the beach.  After spending a few minutes trying to figure out exactly which body of water we were in, I was happy to enjoy the moment and listen to the waves as they rushed ashore. 
• Motorcycle city: I had heard that Vietnam was full of bikes and motorcycles, but I didn't expect to be that impressed because Thailand has a ton as well, little did I know the number of bikes in Thailand pales in comparison to Vietnam, the streets were teeming with two-wheeled forms of transportation, even the Vietnam version of a tuk-tuk looks like a bike with a wheelchair seat strapped on the front. It made for some scary moments in the market where I thought I might lose a foot or two while trying to purchase a conical rice-paddy hat, but luckily, I survived. 
• Shopping spree: Traveling with 80 Thai teachers from school only added to the greatness of this trip, it was so fun to interact with all of them outside of school when they often seem so intense.  They really let loose on this trip, and I quickly learned that Thai tours are all about three things: eating, shopping, and bathroom breaks.  Our bus made stops every hour or so to fulfill one of these needs.  I wasn't exactly planning on going wild at the markets, but what can I say? I was inspired by my fellow teachers and their excellent bargaining skills.  My apartment floor is currently covered with gifts I picked up for my family and friends (and myself, let's be honest) and I don't even know how to begin to distribute them. 

The Lows:

Apparently Vietnam imports bananas from Laos.

• Bus time: there was a lot (a lot, a lot) of time spent on the bus. I could barely walk straight when I finally arrived back in Suphan at 4am on Sunday.  While the roadside scenery in Laos and Vietnam was beautiful, captivating and so vastly different than anything I'd seen before, it was hard to appreciate after 20 hours of full blast Thai tunes and the tour guide yelling dirty jokes in Thai into the microphone.
• America's history in Vietnam: When we first entered Vietnam and the sprawling hills, everything I'd learned in my history classes about the tough battle fields of Vietnam was suddenly so realistic- huge hills, dense forest, winding roads, etc.  Our tour guide pointed out as we were rounding one curve that there were no tall trees in the area because they had been destroyed by America's bombs during the war.  It was hard not to feel guilty.  We also had the opportunity to check out the Vinh Moc tunnels in Hue, a village created 30 meters underground to shelter people from the bombs.  Amazingly, 60 families lived in these tunnels and 17 women gave birth there!  Luckily, the underground villages were never hit by America's bombs.

Striking a pose at the Vietnam/Laos Border

Sa-nguan Ying Teachers!

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.

Same Same, but different.

I feel like I took a trip to America this weekend - Siam Paragon Mall in Bangkok - it hosts many major American retailers and all of the world's top luxury brands.  After a lot of traveling and teaching and Thai food over the past 2 months, this weekend I treated myself to some things I've really been missing - goldfish crackers! Mexican food! pretzels! bagels! Starbucks Peppermint Mocha!  It was expensive by Thai standards - but a great shot of home on Thanksgiving weekend as well as a good dose of Holiday cheer since I was able to enjoy Bangkok's Christmas lights, trees, and Santa decorations.  I even got to meet a famous Thai singer in the process - I have no idea what his name is, but everyone else was playing paparazzi so I figured, why not?

Celebrity Sighting: His hair is a work of art. 

I also hit up Chatuchak Market - one of the world's largest outdoor markets (over 10,000 stalls!) and quite possibly the most overwhelming place I've ever been.  It takes Christmas shopping to a whole new level - if I can figure out how to ship a box to Switzerland the Rall fam's Weihnachten in der Schweiz could have some Thai flavor in my place.

For anyone looking to impress the staff at their local Thai joint - see below for a few of my fave phrases in Thai - there are days when I feel like my Thai is really coming along, and then I listen to a Thai conversation and find that I understand maybe 1 in every 80 words...yikes.

Hue how/Im leau = I'm hungry/I'm full.  Thais like to eat, and, why shouldn't they - their food is aroi mak (very delicious) aside from being jing-jing prik (very spicy).  I've noticed that there's no bad time to eat - the vendors seem to always be open - and anytime you want gai or moo (chicken or pork) on a stick, you barely have to walk 5 feet to indulge, of course over-indulgence (and maybe it's the excess amount of khao (rice) as well) lead me to alternate between being either very hungry or very full.

Bai nai? = Where are you going? I get this all the time when I'm walking around, especially in The Soup.  Tuk-tuk drivers and moped taxis along with shop-owners and random people - everyone seems very interested in my destination.  People also like to yell out random English phrases - I admit it will be a rough transition when I go back to the States and don't hear people yell out "beautifulllll" as I walk down the streets.  I've already perfected the Miss America wave and I'm loving every minute of my current fame, 555 (hahaha)!

Nee arai? = What is this?  I find myself asking this a lot, mainly with food, but especially when I see a version of the Thai dessert.  Thais are really into jelly in all its forms, sweetened condensed milk is used in excess, they love to mix flavors, and rarely does a dessert taste like it looks - let's just say I really miss brownies.

Meuan ghan = Same Same  - one of my favorite Thai phrases. Thais say this, both in Thai and in English, all the time.  This weekend in Bangkok I saw shirts that read "same same, but different" - this pretty accurately depicts the true meaning of the Thai saying - they always say same same, but they really mean, not at all.  This bus will get you to Bangkok just like the minivan, same same - but different, because you'll stop and pick up every other person standing on the road for the 100 km drive and it will take 3x as long, mai pen rai!

Christmas Decorations in Bangkok!

635 Baht for a box of Cheerios...yep, that's more than $20!

A very happy gal with my Starbucks PepMocha!

Off to the Souuuup!

I am finally set up in my new apartment and my home for the next year in Suphan Buri (aka The Soup) - it's a great little town in the midst of a lot of rice paddies - I dig it.

We finished up Orientation with a trip to Kanchanaburi - which is a beautiful city - I think for a lot of us the area made us fully realize that we live in SouthEast Asia.  It had a very tropical/jungle/muggy feel to it, and there were some really beautiful mountains in the distance.  We didn't have time to explore the waterfalls of the area  but we did get to go rafting on the River Kwei and ride elephants - which is definitely a highlight.

The bamboo rafting was so relaxing, our guide was singing Thai songs the entire time and a few people remarked that it was "just like Venice"...only not at all.  Elephant riding was amazing and terrifying at the same time.  Nell and I were on the same elephant, Kondi, she was a cutie, and I think her mahout thoroughly enjoyed making fun of my Thai skills - I must be pronouncing Thank You (Kob Khun Ka) completely wrong, because whenever I say it to a Thai person they laugh and repeat me.  Good thing I have a year to practice!  At one point the mahout hopped off and must have given Kondi a command to run because she went buckwild - my back was banging into the seat and I currently am sporting a huge welt because of it - Kob Khun Ka, Kondi.  The mahout then let me take the reins and I got to sit on Kondi's neck - I definitely got a new perspective on how strong and enormous elephants are.  Once I relaxed I really enjoyed my time as a mahout and may consider a second career while I'm here.

My other big adventure yesterday was a trip to the grocery store in town - it pretty much blew my mind and completely overwhelmed me.  While some of the other Americans rooms came with a microwave or a kettle - mine came only with a fridge - so there wasn't much I could buy in terms of food - I'm hoping I'll figure that out as I go.  I did have fun exploring the options though, found some really great Pringles flavors: Seaweed, Blueberry & Hazelnut, Grilled Shrimp, and Soft-Shelled Crab.  I'll let you know when/if I ever try them.  As I said I'm still working on that whole "try new foods" thing.  Once we left the store, 5 American girls with lots of purchases, we were told that the van had left so we were taking tuk-tuks home...it was quite the "We Live in Thailand" moment.  We managed to squeeze it all in though and I'm feeling much more settled now.  

Nell and I are going to walk around Suphan Buri today to check out our surroundings and try to get our bearings.  Hopefully tonight I'll have time to post some pics on facebook.

Interesting Thailand tidbits: 

• The number 5 in Thailand is "Ha", so instead of writing "LOL", Thais will say "555"
• The animal sounds are totally different - we demonstrated our version of a bee, a cow, a dog, a monkey to our Thai teacher and she then showed us how Thais would demonstrate--it was quite hysterical, hopefully at some point I can capture my students on video and send your way.
• The Thai words for curry and prostitute are the same - it depends on the tone used.  So you could think you are asking for "curry powder" and really be saying "whore dust".  I think I'll stick to plain rice for now...