Sorry for the delay

It has been a while since my last post. My apologies. I have tried. I started writing about English Camp. I began a post about Christmas. I even started a post about our friend's new puppy! But all of the posts are sitting in my drafts. I couldn't finish any of them. I'll be honest. This past week has been really hard. I cried for the first time since leaving the States, and I'm just sad.

Being in Thailand right now isn't that hard. With 95 degree weather and absolutely no hint of Christmas cheer, it was hard to believe that it is the end of December. But Christmas is still happening at home, and I'm not there. Erin was in the Nutcracker, and I missed it, yet again. But Erin wasn't only in the Nutcracker, she was Clara. And I missed it. I will have plenty more opportunities to see her dance, but it still hurts.

Garvey came home from school, so the whole family is together. I can hear the chatter in the kitchen while I am on the phone with my mom. Of course we will stand around the kitchen counter again, but I miss it. Thailand is lonely.

It is really hard to make relationships here. And it is even harder for women. The Thai men really shouldn't talk to us because men and women aren't friends here. The foreign men do talk to us, but they have to be careful. They often have Thai girlfriends and wives who get very, very jealous when they see us talking. The Thai women don't want to be friends with us because we are the competition for men. And foreign women? Koreana and I are the only ones. I'm finally realizing why that is the case. It is because life is so darn hard here. Thank goodness I have Koreana. I really don't know what I would do without her. But even with a built-in friend, life is still really hard for women. Living in the north, people are very conservative. We constantly have to watch our step. The city is small enough that we are always seen. And Thai people love to gossip. We always have to cover our shoulders and knees. If I am ever seen in a sleeveless shirt I am told, "not polite." Or, "ooohh, so sexy. Why you wear?" Note to self, just suck it up and sweat through the t-shirts. Our students see us everywhere. The parents see us even more often. We can't be seen in a bar. Women aren't supposed to drink here. For the men, it is expected and encouraged. But we have to be really careful. When we do go out, we have to be sure that it is a place where we won't be seen, and only with people that won't say a word of it. Even the people that are friendly with us, it is hard to be friends. The cultural differences are vast. And the language barrier is never helpful.

School is very challenging. For the time being, I dislike my job. My kids are wonderful, but my job is nearly impossible. My Thai teacher doesn't give me any support at all, and I come home feeling defeated every day. I go to school with a smile every day, but it is draining. I finally broke down with my teacher last week. I told her that without an assistant and more help with the students I can't do it anymore. English is definitely not her strong point, but when I started crying, I think she got the point. She said that I will have an assistant in the new year, so we shall see. Until then we have a field trip, my kids will learn the water cycle song, and maybe we will start identifying shapes. I just need to keep myself busy.

So, there it is. I cried. And I have cried quite a few times. I even did the one thing that my mom absolutely forbid me from doing. I called her and cried. In my defense, I wasn't crying when I dialed the number, I only started when she answered. I really do love living here. I think it is an amazing experience and I know that I am learning a lot. But sometimes it is hard to take that step back and realize it.

Oh wow, Koh Tao.

Koh Tao was our last stop and my favorite by far. It is the smallest of the islands and known for its scuba diving. You can be certified in a 4 day course for next to nothing. For the full certification, 4 days of training, multiple open dives, accommodation, and food, it costs less than $300! How crazy is that?! Welcome to Thailand. Sadly enough, we didn't leave ourselves enough time to take the course, but we were able to go snorkeling. But luckily, this means I have to go back to Koh Tao. I have decided that the opportunity is too great to pass up, and I must back to Koh Tao and be certified. Would anyone like to join me?

The island is very small, but absolutely wonderful. It is filled with a young crowd of divers and party goers. Everything on the island is located along one beach, and within walking distance. The streets were lined with delicious restaurants opening out over the water. At night the beaches are filled with fire twirlers and loud American music. The video at the bottom includes a few of our fire show experiences, and it is definitely worth watching.

While in Koh Tao Koreana and I had our first Thai massages. They were amazing. We were lying along the beach, listening to the waves breaking while being prodded and massaged for an hour. And it only cost $10! Thailand is pretty sweet.

There are also quite a few restaurants in the area that show movies in the early evenings. While having a beer our first night in town we watched the Hangover! If you haven't seen it, you must. I already bought my pirated copy, and after watching it three more times, it is still funny. One of the photos shows the Britney Spears music videos we were watching while waiting for our movie on the beach. Britney Spears on the most beautiful beach I have ever seen? Gosh, this must be heaven.

Our time on the island was wonderful, but I was ready to go home by the end. I wasn't ready for our trip home, however. While this trip didn't involve any neighbors throwing up or sleeping in airports, it did involve an interesting overnight ferry.

Koreana and I decided to take the overnight ferry from Koh Tao to Suratthani. From there we would take the mini bus to Phuket and the plane to Bangkok and then the bus to Khon Kaen. It all seemed simple enough. We had done the same exact trip on the way down, so this was going to be easy. And by taking the night ferry we would save a night at a hotel, so things were looking up... until we got to the ferry.

We each received a number when we checked in. It corresponded to our mattress. Well, I am using the term mattress loosely. The number corresponded with the sheet on the floor and the 14 inches of floor space we had on the boat. I felt like an illegal immigrant fleeing Koh Tao in hopes of finding a better life on the mainland. Oh my word. The pictures don't do the boat justice, but for the sake of my parents, or anyone that wanted me to survive the trip, I think that is a good thing.

About 30 hours later, we had made it home safely. Our entire trip was wonderful and filled with stories. My foot is still swollen, but my nose is covered with freckles, and I'm loving it!

To check out the video, go to this link.

You get a view like this for $9 a night?!

Koh Phangnan was the next stop on our island extravaganza. We were a few days late for the full moon party, but I was still feeling the effects of that night. The island is known for the party scene and, well, not much else. It has lots of beautiful beaches, but most are pretty isolated. Koreana and I chose to stay in one of the isolated resorts and experience the beauty of the island, not the full moon stragglers.

Our room cost a whopping $9 a night, but check out our view! Honestly, for the money we spent, I didn't expect any less. We stayed in a small bungalow atop a hill on the northeast part of the island. We enjoyed the views, the pool, the food, and the nearby beaches. We rented a motorbike for the day and explored the island. We ate homemade coconut ice cream, saw a few waterfalls, bought gas, and found many beaches.

Driving was wonderful. I will admit, I was nervous. To start, my foot wasn't in peak condition. On top of that, we only had one helmet between the two of us. Then there were a variety of other factors that made my heart race. For example, a lot of the roads weren't paved, and those that were, were covered in sand. No one in Thailand follows the rules of the road, or rather, there aren't rules on roads in Thailand. Oh, and I have never driven on the left. Mai pen rai! It was fabulous. For the first time since October 18, I had freedom. For the past 2 months I have depended upon friends, coworkers, songthaew drivers, bus drivers, tuk tuk drivers and taxi drivers to get me around. It was a breath of fresh air to drive the motorbike. The breath of fresh air did include the occassional bug in my mouth, but it was worth it.

Koh Samui

The island was beautiful. Our resort sat atop one of the hills of Koh Samui and had a 180 degree view of the bright blue ocean. We were within walking distance of the beach, and only a short ride in the back of the resort truck to the town of Lamai Beach.

We were able to see the most famous beaches of the island, Lamai and Chaweng, and few of the more hidden gems as well. This island was the largest of the three we went to, and it had a lot to offer. The second night we were in town Koreana and I went to the Lady Boy Cabaret. It was hard to believe that many of the performers were actually men. The talent was less than impressive, but the fact that many of the men were prettier than me, I was impressed by that alone. It was a real show, to say the least.

The next night on the island was the night of the full moon party. Full moon parties originally began on Koh Phangan, so I assumed we were out of luck. Zoe, one of the girls at the resort, told us that she would be going to the party. We were psyched to find out about the speed boats that shuttled people back and forth for the night of the full moon party. We booked the trip with 6 other people at the resort, and we were pumped. We were all picked up at around 9 pm and transferred to the beach on the north part of the island. We were told to wear our necklaces and informed of the schedule of return times. As we stood on the beach we saw a very large speed boat come close to shore and immediately fill with people. None of us were brave enough to push our way into the crowd, so we waited. About an hour and a half later, and 20 or so fireworks later, we were still waiting. As the boat approached, everyone just started making a mad dash. Everyone in my group was already up to their necks in the water and climbing into the boat! I knew I had to go. I definitely didn't want to be separated this early in the night, so I followed the crowd. I climbed onto the boat and stepped onto the cushion on the bench. The only problem was, the cushion wasn't totally on the bench. I went down. Hard. I stood up to avoid being trampled and made my way across the deck. I found a seat with the rest of the group I came with, and held my position. People were swarming the boat. They were coming from all directions. It was scary. Then I realized that wow, my foot hurt a lot. I looked down and saw that my knee was a little bloody from my spill. No big deal. I'm on the boat. Let's go.

We sat. And we sat. We waited as more and more people came aboard. I could hear people yelling in Thai and broken English, but I wasn't paying much attention. Wow, my foot really, really hurts! Yeah, that doesn't feel good. And, nope, I cant' totally move my toes. Okay, I'm overreacting. Let's go to Koh Phangan!

We continued to wait. Finally, we were able to figure out what was going on. A police officer, one of the first I have seen in this country, had come to the beach. He was not allowing the boat to leave until 10 people got off. He should have demanded 30 people, but no one moved. We sat for at least another 10 minutes. No one was moving. Then our group started to chat. There were 8 of us in total, and we could just get off and do our own thing. But before we went anywhere, the boys demanded we be refunded our money. They weren't happy about our demands, but eventually agreed. I stood up to get off the boat, and I knew I had a problem. My foot was in bad shape. I told Koreana I thought I broke it as I hobbled off the boat, into the water, and up the beach. She thought I was joking. I wasn't.

We were put in a songthaew and shuttled back to the resort. We made a stop to buy beers for our own full moon party and were genuinely happy about our decision to skip the boat. I was simply relieved to not have to walk anymore. All in all we had a great night. The people from our resort were awesome and we had a wonderful time over the next few days. I had a little bit of trouble with my foot, but it happens. I definitely hobbled and popped pain meds, but I made the best of it. And my parents, well, they had already dealt with a broken hand in Mexico, so they were seasoned pros when it came to another one of Meaghan's broken bones in a foreign land.

My foot is still swollen, and it still hurts, but I'll be fine. Some of my shoes are still too tight to wear, but I probably brought too many pairs anyway, and this just makes my decision easier in the morning. The foot didn't stop me from seeing the important things on the island, even though it probably should have. The last photos are of the famous Grandfather and Grandmother Rocks... I'll let you figure it out.

Oh, how I get to the places I go.

Traveling in Thailand is hard. Well, traveling is hard when you live 6 hours from Bangkok and you are traveling on a budget.

Our trip started late on a Saturday when we walked to the bus station. We decided to walk with our backpacks on to save a few pennies on a tuk tuk. We were also a little antsy, so we set off at around 10 pm. Our bus didn't leave until 11:30, and we had plenty of time. We sat in the bus station and were just stared at. The combination of white skin, books and real luggage, we were quite a sight. The strangest thing to see is that Thai people don't read. Ever. While sitting in their boring stall at the night market, on a plane, train, or in a bus, they never ever read. But there will most likely be a television at a ridiculous volume within earshot, so they are content. Koreana and I tried to read our books, but the piercing eyes burning into us and the screaming actors and actresses on the Thai soap opera made it a challenge.

We finally boarded the bus and we were on our way. The bus company that we take to and from Bangkok is actually quite nice. They feed us lots of food, give us at least 3 beverages, and have massaging seats. The six hour trip is usually pleasant. It is one part of the trip that I look forward too. Well, I look forward to it when I am dressed appropriately. And I forgot my socks on the way down, so it was painful. The air conditioning was on so high that I literally could not feel my toes. My teeth were chattering. Even with the blanket provided, my hoodie and my jeans, I was frozen. I have never been more relieved to step into the heat of Bangkok in my life.

And we were onto the next part of our journey. We had to get to the airport. But not the major airport, the domestic airport, Don Mueng. Yeah, we don't know how to pronounce it either. And that was definitely a challenge with the taxi driver. We both tried saying the name of the airport multiple different times, and finally Koreana succeeded. When the taxi driver finally said, "ahhhh, Don Mueng" it sounded exactly the way we had said it. Oh, the Thai language. We were at the airport by 6 am, so it was time for a nap. We put on our raincoats, socks with sandals and we sprawled out on the floor of the airport. We couldn't check in until 9:30, so we had some time to kill.

When we finally checked in everything went smoothly. We flew to Phuket on the hour long flight and ended up in paradise. The airport is literally on the Andaman Sea, and the runway alone was beautiful! We spent one night in Phuket, ate famous Muslim Pancakes, lounged on the beach and relaxed before heading east.

We set off early on Monday morning to get a bus to the east coast, Saratthani. The woman we bought our ticket from was ready to put us on a 9:30 am bus. Well the bus pulled up, and it was full. So she made a few more phone calls, and told us we would be on the 10:00 bus. And the bus pulled up, and it was full. So, she made a few more phone calls, and I began to sweat. I knew that the bus would take at least 4 hours, and that we would need to buy a ferry ticket once we arrived. We absolutely could not miss the last ferry. Finally the woman came back and told us we were guaranteed on the mini bus at 10:30. Okay, my heart rate became a little more normal.

When the mini bus arrived, we had seats. We had the two seats left in the very last row in the far left corner. There were four seats in total in the last row. There was a couple with a 2 year old in the other two seats. This was going to be interesting. The 2 year old climbed and kicked and whined. I thought things were bad. But things were about to get much worse. The woman sitting next to me started throwing up about 14 minutes into the trip. I have the worst gag reflex and she just started vomiting right there! I looked at Koreana, but luckily for her, she was sound asleep. I searched my purse for my ipod, I needed the noise immediately. I found it without too much of a struggle and I blasted it. The problem was, songs end. There is always a brief moment of silence. Enough silence for me to hear that the daughter was now throwing up too! Oh. My. Goodness.

I fell asleep after a long struggle and woke to everyone getting out of the bus. No, we weren't in Saratthani yet. We were just at a rest stop. But I was psyched. I couldn't get out of the bus fast enough. Koreana was behind me and was shocked to hear about my crazy throw up experience. Moments later, the happy little family walked by with their clear plastic bags filled with throw up. We couldn't help but laugh.

When we loaded up the bus again I was sure to put my headphones in immediately. The family had bought fruit during our stop, and I knew it couldn't be a good idea. This time around it took about 20 minutes before the throwing up started, and Koreana was asleep yet again. The little girl even threw up on her shirt and shoes, so they had a little wardrobe change right next to me. I was beside myself. I put on my Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me podcast, and tried to focus on Who's Carl This Time?

When we finally arrived in Saratthani we were quickly ushered from our minibus to a little travel agent down the street. I knew it couldn't be good, but we bought the tickets regardless. We needed to get onto the ferry. Sure enough, we were ripped off, but we had tickets. And by this point, it was all that mattered.

Our ferry ride was relatively uneventful, thank goodness. We made it to Koh Samui in about 2 hours and were picked up by the resort. It was a pleasant ending to a very long and crazy journey.

Way down south...

In less than 3 hours I will be on a bus headed out of Khon Kaen. For the next two weeks Koreana and I will be island hopping down south. We have vacation because the silk fair is in town, so we are getting out!

First we will take an overnight bus to Bangkok where we will catch a plane to Phuket. We will spend one night in Phuket before going to the east coast of Thailand, on the Gulf of Thailand. We are planning to go to Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao. The photo is one I found on the internet from Koh Samui. We don't have definite plans on any of the islands, but we want to explore as much as possible. Koh Samui is known for its very inexpensive snorkeling and scuba diving, so we will definitely be taking advantage of that! We would also like to see Ang Thong Marine National Park. This park is made of 40 small islands and is where the movie The Beach was filmed.

We plan to hike, ride motorbikes, swim, read, explore and most likely, get lost. It is hard to plan much in advance because of the lack of information available on the internet. While we can find places to stay and things to do, it is hard to find schedules, prices and other important information. Mai pen rai!

These next two weeks will be interesting. I will try to keep you updated as often as possible and to not get too many freckles.

Talk to you soon with photos of my own!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Turkey Day!

After an early morning skype with the entire family at the Thanksgiving table, I realized how thankful I am for skype. It's a silly materialistic thing to be thankful for, but I am really, really thankful for it! Oh, and I want to put magicJack on the list as well. These two technologies have kept me in touch with everyone at home, and I haven't once had to think twice. They are free. They almost always work perfectly. They are absolutely amazing!

Of course I am thankful for my family and my friends, but skype and magicJack, my two best friends lately, are going to the top of the list.

So happy Thanksgiving to everyone at home! Enjoy the food. Be happy it won't make you sick. And eat an extra piece of chocolate pecan pie for me!

Also, here is the photo that I wrote about a while ago. This is the retouched photo where the people made my nose narrower, fixed my hair and got rid of my freckles!

mmMmmm Pad Thai

We have had a lot of delicious food here, but my mouth still waters at the sound of pad Thai. There is a reason that pad Thai is the most well known Thai dish in the US... because it is amazing! Thankfully, Koreana loves Pad Thai just as much as I do. We would be happy to eat it every single day of the week. Don't worry, we won't let ourselves eat it that often, but we would like to! We decided to find the perfect pad Thai while in Khon Kaen. A few were good, but nothing spectacular. And then we found the one. It is a small place located in the night market up the street. It is run by a husband and wife, and the son runs food. They are very nice, they now know us, and they make amazing pad Thai. It has just the right amount of spice. It has just the right amount of sprouts and peanuts. Gosh, it sounds good, even for breakfast!

While on our quest for perfect pad Thai we came across an interesting way it can be made. The noodles are made the same way, but the egg is not mixed in. Instead, the egg is prepared in a thin, omelet- like shape, and wrapped around the noodles. We happened to have this style of pad Thai one time by accident, and we have not known how to order it since. On Monday we decided to ask our Thai friends exactly how we would ask for it. They told us it is called pad Thai ho kai. Yes! Score! Dinner would be fabulous!

Koreana and I went to the night market, but our favorite people weren't there! There booth was completely missing. Well, we would just have to practice our Thai at another booth. I walked up and asked for song pad Thai ho kai... and he understood me. It was too good to be true. There is no way that I put the correct falling emphasis on the syllables. But ten minutes later our food was in front of us, just the way we had asked for it. It was pretty darn good, too! It wasn't quite our favorite little family operation at the opposite end of the market, but it was good.

It was good until Koreana and I both got sick. We were really sick. And it was bad.

So, my apologies for the delay in blogging, but food poisoning put me a little behind schedule. And while pad Thai still sounds delicious, we have both decided to steer clear for a little while. Or at least until tomorrow.

PS- This is a photo of pad Thai ho kai. It is clearly all fancy restaurant-ed up, but it gives you the idea.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Bri!

I hope you have a wonderful day. I miss you tons!

Love, Meaghan

My City is Better Than Yours.

My city has a temple. I bet your city doesn't have a temple.

Koreana and I decided to venture to the temple today after a wonderful sleep last night. We were both a little nervous about going to the temple, and we didn't hide it very well. As the silly Americans in Thailand, we can get away with most mistakes that we make. But we would prefer not to make the cultural mistakes. Going to the place of monks we knew there were plenty of opportunities for mistakes. Luckily for us, everything went well. We went to the temple, did everything correctly and took tons of photos. Well, we think we did everything correctly, and we are perfectly content with that. Below I have attached a video from the temple.

After our morning excursion we came back to the apartments with the intention of finishing our lesson plans. I got distracted. Instead, I worked on my snapfish photo book. And boy, that can be quite time consuming. I made very good progress and I hope to have it shipped home soon.

Tonight we went to the gym, had a great workout, and left to eat dinner on the way home. We were stopped by our friends at Games Toy. The funny thing about Games Toy, other than the name, are the owners, Apple and Naam. They constantly sit out front at a table drinking whiskey. Starting at around 3 pm everyday they are out there. We have heard through the grapevine that their rich daddy just bought them the store to keep them busy, and based on their work ethic, I believe it. We decided to stop and chat very briefly. Apple quickly jumped on his motorbike to go buy more whiskey for us. And Naam introduced us to the other people at the table. We met Please. And as she said, "My name is Please. Like pretty, pretty Please." Okay, easy enough. The buy sitting next to us said, "My name is Aid." Hmmm... we weren't sure if we had heard correctly. So he said, "My name s Aid. Like H- I- V." Hmmm... was he just spelling Hid? Or was he saying "h" at all. Wait. Wait. Aid? Like HIV. Oh. My. Word. That did not just happen. Koreana and I were both laughing hysterically. That was by far the best explanation of a name I have ever received. Aid, you win.

2 Free 1!

Ummm... excuse me? What exactly does that mean? 2 Free 1. Is it 2 for 1, or 2 free when you buy one? Or buy two get one free? Gosh, I really don't know. It's quite unfortunate that as a native English speaker I can't even understand the English signs here! Thai signs, of course I don't understand those. But English signs?! Throw me a bone! I found the sign outside of Starbucks at a bakery and I couldn't help but laugh. It may have been very funny, but I think it was a combination of being delirious, my throbbing headache and the ridiculousness of all signs in Thailand.

Today was nothing special. It started like most days, as I was woken up by a blaring parade just outside my apartment. There were drums, all sorts of musical instruments, music blaring out of the back of trucks and cheering people lining the streets. But since when do parades being before 10 am? This parade was in full force by 7 am! My head began hurting last night and I went to bed early to ensure a good night's sleep. Khon Kaen didn't allow it. I have no idea what the parade was even for, but apparently something was a big deal and far more important than my sleep.

I was up for the day. I skyped with Garvey and he tried to help me fix my iPod. Over the summer I put photos on my iPod for Jen after she lost her camera. It was the only way we could think to bring the photos from Marid to Saratoga. Months later, I have no idea how to take the photos off of my iPod. Garvey finally explained a way that we thought it could work. Twenty minutes later, everything was gone. All of my music- gone. All of my playlists- gone. Our plan was a failure. I spent years collecting that music from tons of people, and it was gone with one wrong click. My iPod is getting a fresh start, and my ears will probably be bored very soon.

After my mini iPod fiasco, Koreana and I headed to Starbucks for a day of work. I was still feeling a little sick, but I knew I needed to do work. We spent about 4 hours in Starbucks and it felt like a little piece of home... almost. I have spent countless hours in Starbucks doing work. But in Starbucks in the states there are usually not tens of little shoeless Thai children running laps, screaming and dragging toys behind them. Too bad I didn't have an iPod to listen to.

Regardless, I was able to finish lots and lots of work, and my head didn't explode. Walking out of the coffee shop, the sign pushed me over the edge. 2 Free 1! Oh my. I need a nap, I can't even handle the signs with Thainglish. And back to the apartment I came to watch the Ellen Show and Music and Lyrics. Boy, I love my 3 television channels.

When 85 feels cool.

You know you live in Thailand when 85 degrees feels cool. I actually called it chilly this evening when it was 80. Weird. Just because I wasn't sweating profusely does not mean it is cool. Come on, Meaghan. Get it together. You're a New Yorker.

I may be a New Yorker, but I am becoming comfortable here. Thailand is my home at the moment, and it is really beginning to feel like it. I have favorite spots. I have a favorite place for pad thai, and a favorite fruit stand. I have a lunch spot and an iced coffee spot. The people at the photo place wave and say hello every time I walk by. I know the people at the gym, and they know me. I see familiar faces, and it is pretty cool.

Yes, I stand out a little. My hair is blonder than anything a Thai person could dream of. The lightest hair dye even offered in this country is dark brown! I don't always have my shoulders covered, and I have a visible tattoo. I also speak English, so that's a dead giveaway right there. I don't always wai perfectly and I am far from twig thin. Even Ronald McDonald knows how to wai! People stare at me, but they are getting to know me. They nod and they smile. They still stare, but at least they make the polite gesture.

It is a wonderful to feel comfortable, but life is still a challenge. Everyday I say hello, goodbye and thank you to everyone, but I constantly worry about my pronunciation. I wonder if I am wai-ing correctly, or if I should have wai-ed that woman that I just barely made eye contact with. It is stressful to order food, take a tuk tuk or buy anything. I constantly have to use hand gestures and props. Often, i just have to settle for what I am given.

Life isn't easy. It's pretty great, but it's tough. Now I need to do another Rosetta Stone lesson, I must learn the language.

A good day.

Today has been a good day. A really good day. It all started last night when Koreana and I began planning our upcoming trips. We began researching all of the amazing places throughout Thailand that we want to visit. We have a two week break at the beginning of December, and we must start planning. We also have a long weekend for the new year and we are deciding which island and full moon party will be best. Gosh, it's hard being me.After we planned a little, I was exhausted. I knew I would pass out the second my head hit the pillow, but I was wrong. Instead, I lay awake in bed. I whipped out my book, and finished it! I only had about a hundred pages left, but I finished it. There was a nice little spin at the end, and I really enjoyed it. By now I knew I had to sleep, and I did.I woke up this morning dreading a cold shower. Luckily, the city cooled off a little last night, and I wasn't dripping in sweat when I woke. I forced myself out of bed and got into the shower. And somehow, I had hot water! This is only the third time since I have been in my apartment that my hot water has worked. It was a miracle. Today was off to a good start.

Koreana made it out of the apartment on time and jumped on our favorite songthaew, the number 9, and made it to school bright and early. The coffee was good, the kids were good, and it wasn't hot. The morning was awesome. While at the parade

two of the older students approached my Thai teacher and had a short conversation before we were told to follow them. As we walked away Teacher Lawan said, "you be on TV evelyday." What?! Sure enough, we were on television. The school has televisions in every classroom and does morning announcements from the TV studio.

Koreana and I were told we had to introduce ourselves to the school. The show is not broadcast in the English Program, so we knew no one would understand us. We basically just rambled. We talked about our favorite colors, our families, whose dog is cooler and our favorite foods, including pork on a stick. Yeah, we said pork on a stick. And we said it more than once. We even licked our lips a few times. We stumbled out of the room laughing hysterically. Thank goodness no one could understand us, we sounded like fools.

Twenty minutes later, one of the Thai teachers approached me and asked me to teach her daughter English. Score!

My wonderful day continued as my tricky visa situation was fixed, as though it was nothing. When I entered Thailand, immigration didn't see my visa in my passport. I was automatically issued a 30 day tourist visa. I would need to leave the country tomorrow. Luckily, one of the Thai teachers took me to immigration in town and everything was fixed. I have until January 17 to have my work permit and visa solidified. Plenty of time.
And as though my day wasn't wonderful enough already, my kids were actually good! We had fun. They listened. I didn't have to scream. And, I wasn't dripping sweat all day. The temperature felt cool at 83! The photos today are from the photo shoot we had during snack break. As you can see, school is a bit of a shit show. (That was for you, Mom!)
On our way home from the gym this afternoon Koreana and I went for dinner. Oh. My. Goodness. It was absolutely delicious. We had pork on a stick from our favorite people, but we also had chicken and rice with a delicious chili sauce. Everything about it was amazing. And, we completely avoided fish balls- bonus!

When I returned to the apartment I decided to call my mom before she left for work. While I talked her through the process of logging in, she and I were able to Skype. I saw her face while we talked! That is huge. It is one thing to be able to hear someone's voice, but I saw her expression as she laughed about Lazy Sunday and my teacher saying "runch." I was even able to take her on a brief tour of my apartment. I recorded a tour for everyone, and that is the video below.

Now, I am going to continue to procrastinate. I really need to make a few worksheets, but I think I will make a few more phone calls. If you are on Skype, my name is meaghandooley, let's chat!

PS- If you want to laugh, check out this video. It is on fail blog on youtube. Basically, there are all sorts of things where people simply fail. Dancing, playing wii, driving, you name it, people fail and post it. This one is especially funny, and the skateboarders just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Lazy Sunday

It is almost noon and I just got out of the shower. I only woke up about 20 minutes ago. Maybe I am adjusting to the noise and light in the morning, or maybe I was just exhausted. I was up until almost 3 chatting on the phone (having friends on the west coast is a challenge). The temperature isn't unbearable, only 90 at the moment, and my door is open so I can hear the birds chirping and the hum of the traffic. It's a wonderfully lazy Sunday.

I used to really hate Sundays. It always meant finishing homework and getting everything done before Monday morning. But I am enjoying my Sundays in Thailand. I like having the the day to prepare for lessons. I look forward to going back to school. I am excited to do my work.

As I write this, I am realizing how wonderful it is to feel this way. Not only it is awesome that I love my job, but it is amazing that I love my job after last week. Last week was really, really hard. My students are out of control. They have not had a consistent teacher all year long, and they are crazy. Last semester alone, my students had 4 different foreign teachers. The teacher's assistant that was around last semester has now left to study at university. The Thai teacher in the classroom is rarely in class and often has other teachers teach her lessons. The students think I will leave them, just like the rest of their teachers. But I have news for them. I'm not going anywhere. I may not have a voice from having to yell so much last week, but I am here to stay.

This is the first time, in a long time, that I have felt truly challenged. I want these students to succeed. If anything, I will teach them to behave. I am here all semester, and we will make it work. I already love them. I think Not is wonderful. Uefa is brilliant. Neung and Song (One and Two in Thai... they are twins) are a handful, but I will figure it out. Boss will learn to listen, and Earth will never cheat in my class again. I have a lot of students that need work, but today I will make my plan. By next Sunday I want to be even more excited to return to school.

I like my freckles.

I don't only like my freckles, I love them. I love that I get tons of freckles on my nose and even a few on my lips when I have been in the sun. While spending so much time outside I have definitely earned a few more freckles, and I'm loving it. But Thai people, like most eastern Asians, strongly dislike dark skin. Dark skin is viewed as lower class. Those who are dark skinned, historically, work outside as laborers. The higher class stayed inside and had porcelain, doll-like skin.

The shelves of grocery stores are filled with whitening face wash, whitening lotion and whitening masks and creams. White is what everyone wants. It is a little creepy. Tonight I even saw a package at 7-11 that said "Skin Whitener and Freckle Remover." It was on display at the very front of the store.

The desire to be pale and white didn't bother me as much as it fascinated me. It is very interesting to see the Thai teachers with whitening creams in the bottom of the desks, and the frequent commercials on TV and the skin whitening clinics. I am just a silly farang in Thailand, so I am stared at regardless of freckles. I found it all very interesting until I had my photo taken. I need about 172 copies of passport style photos in all different sizes for my work permit, visas, etc. I went to a photo place near my school and had my photo taken upstairs. The photographer fixed my hair and made sure my shirt was buttoned all the way to the top. I told the nice lady at the front desk that I would be back the next day for my photos. When I picked up the small plastic bag of photos I was shocked. It looked nothing like me. At all. The photo people had applied perma- lipstick to my lips, fixed my stray hairs, and erased my freckles. All of my color was gone. I looked like a doll. When I picked my chin off of the counter and looked back up, the three Thai people behind the counter just smiled with pride. The photo looks nothing like me and that is exactly why they were so happy.

When I gave my co- teacher the photos she was thrilled! She took out her camera and showed me photos of me that she had taken for the bulletin board. She looked at the pictures and said, "no good, no makeup." She then held up my fake photos and smiled and said, "very good, very good." Eww. Go use your whitening cream and give me back my freckles.

Stereotypes exist for a reason. Yes, Thai people love the doll look. I think it's weird, but I'll get over it. There is another stereotype, however, that is absolutely hilarious. The problem with "l" and "r." In Thai, and other eastern Asian languages, "l" and "r" sounds are basically interchangeable. Either sound can be used and the word is the same. This problem was first brought to my attention in the movie Team America. During the movie an Asian character sings the song "Lonely." But with interchangeable sounds, he is really singing about being ronery! There is one inappropriate line, but click here to see the clip.

My kids are constantly messing up the sounds. They love to put "r" in everything. Raugh. Kirogram. Ronger. You name a word with an "l" and they will switch it. The problem is, I have seen the movie, as well as the rest of the foreign teachers. We wander the halls singing "Ronery, I'm so ronery." Even when I am in the middle of class and I am have my students repeat me saying "ruler," I can't help but raugh hystericarry when they say, "rurer." And then of course they all ask, "Teacher Meaghan, what funny?"

It is one thing for the students to mess up, but it is everyone! Even my co-teacher, the head of the English Program, asks me every day, "you eat runch?" "Yes, Teacher Lawan, I eat runch."

My Life in Loud

Thailand is loud. My kids are loud, the cars are loud, the dogs and cats are loud, the music is loud. Life is loud.

Every morning the construction starts at around 5:30 am. There is sawing, and jackhammering, and yelling in Thai. Moments later, the roosters start. And the roosters must speak Thai as well, because they definitely do not say "cock a doodle doo." While walking to school the songthaews honk their horns to every person they pass. Once on the songthaew, someone is buzzing the buzzer every few hundred meters to get on and off. The motorbikes buzz by. Once at school I usually have about 5 minutes of quiet in the staff room, and the music begins. At 7:30 every morning the Thai music is blared over the speaker system throughout campus. The students begin to pour in. They scream. And they yell. Everyone is so loud! At 8 am we line up and walk to our morning ceremony. Over 3200 students and 300 teachers gather in the quad for the "morning parade." The students stand in lines and recite certain prayers, sayings, and sing. And boy, do they sing! They scream the national anthem, the king's song and the school's song. The principal then makes what feels like hours of announcements while we bake in the morning sun and the speakers make my ears ring. After the never ending announcements and daily award ceremonies, it is time for morning exercise. The entire school spends about 6 minutes doing some type of activity in lines. Some days it is aerobics, other days it is Thai dancing and other days it is some crazy aerobic, dancing, kickboxing combo. After that the school turns into a mad house for the rest of the day. Children sprint back to their rooms, yelling and stomping. There is no separation between the classroom time and play time, so school is controlled chaos. In my classroom, I'm still working on the controlled part of the controlled chaos, but I have faith that it'll happen.

After school the noise only grows. Almost every store front has music or a television blaring. Even the open night market is completely wired and everyone is watching their individual televisions on maximum volume to compete with their neighbors. By this time the advertising trucks have also begun to loop the city. They trucks drive around the city blasting Thai advertisements and playing Shakira "She Wolf" on repeat. A truck drives by my apartment every 20 minutes without fail.

By bedtime, my upstairs neighbors start to get noisy. I can only imagine what is going on up there, because we all have the same exact setups. There is nothing that can be moved, yet it sounds like they are constantly moving furniture. The advertising trucks continue into the night, and the dogs begin to howl and fight.

It's a noisy place over here. Luckily, I invested in earplugs!

PS- There are a few imbedded links, so check them out!

Count your blessings

This phrase drove me crazy when I was younger. I hated being told by my dad to count by blessings. Yes, I was grateful to have a bike, but I really did want the girly pink bike with white tires. And, yes, I was happy to have clean clothing every day, but I really wanted the cool clothes from Limited Too!

Well, if I my dad hadn't taught me to count my blessings before, I sure learned tonight.

After a very long day at work, a great workout at the gym, and a few good hours with new friends, I came home to sleep. I checked my email and saw one from my dad that immediately caught my attention. My mom totaled the Passat last night. Everyone is fine. Everyone is perfectly fine. But wow, that really scared me. Driving home from western New York with Chip and a friend, she probably fell asleep at the wheel. Less than 12 miles from home, and she fell asleep. According to my dad, she hit the curb, blew her tires, hit a few mailboxes, and ended up on the opposite side of the road. The airbags deployed and my mom sprained her wrist.

My first long road trip was with Devin. We were driving to Colorado. "Don't be a hero." If my mom said it once, she said it a thousand times. She told us to never be a hero and try to make it to the next exit, but always pull over. I can't say that I haven't attempted to be a hero at least a few times, but her voice is always in the back of my head. Her voice is also in every single one of my friends' heads. I always use her line. "Don't be a hero!"

We have all blinked for longer than we should. Just be careful. Yes, my parents literally just paid off the Passat, but mai pen rai. I still have my mom and my brother and my brother's best friend. I'm counting my blessings.

The bracelet

Every day I make my list of things to do. Often I make more than one list. I have grocery lists, Christmas shopping lists, lesson plan lists, things to bring to school lists, things to bring home lists, people to call lists. You name it, and I have a list. I even put things on my lists that I have already accomplished, just to check them off. Blogging has been on my list for weeks.

I find blogging intimidating. I began blogging back in May before my travels around the world. It seemed that I wasn't blogging often enough, or my entries were too long, or too short, or there weren't photos, or I wrote something inappropriate. I wanted to make sure that everything I wrote was a story, or a great event that people would love to read. But, I have grown up since May. Yeah, right. But, I do think I have learned more about the blogging world. It isn't about the huge events or the hilarious stories, it's the little things. Or at least, that is what this blog will be for me.

I want to share my little stories. I don't want to worry about blogging or stress about writing the right thing. I just want to keep you updated. So, welcome!

My new blogging resolution hasn't been perfect yet. I already stressed over the title of the blog and the web address, but it is what it is.

Before I left for my travels this past summer my grandmother gave me a present. As I went to open it I said, "Grandma, you didn't have to do this." She replied, "I know. Open it." (For anyone that knows my grandmother, you can here her saying it!)  Well, okay then, I'll shut my mouth. I unwrapped the box and saw the Kohl's price tag, typically Grandma.  Inside there was a small silver bracelet engraved with, "Live Fully." The inside of the bracelet is engraved with "Be Brave. Be Bold. Be Wise. Be Happy." I immediately put it on and I have yet to take it off. At first, I didn't take it off because I didn't know where else to keep it while traveling. But it means something more to me now. I have told my grandma I haven't taken off the bracelet, and I love it, but I'm not sure she believes me. She has every right not to! I used to wear the jewelry she gave me only when I went to visit.  I would always rave about how beautiful it was, or how often I wore it.  I thought I was doing the right thing at the time.

The bracelet is always on my wrist, and it constantly reminds me to live fully. I know what that means to me, and now all of my three loyal readers will know as well, and that's what matters.  So here I am, being brave and blogging about my bracelet, but there is plenty more to come.  It may be exciting, it may be boring, and it may be inappropriate (sorry, Dad), but it's my bracelet.  My bracelet from Grandma.