Another Reason to be Angry at the Floods...

Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Adventure of the Day: 5 minutes of excitement over a film festival!

So, another (much less serious) reason to be angry at the Thailand floods — the postponement of the Bangkok  World Film Festival!

I spent way too much time in fake Photoshop making this.

A little background: Last week, sitting around the hostel, my teaching situation still in limbo, my eyes happened upon a copy of the Lonely Planet Bangkok guide. So I said to myself, I said, "Self —" (Sorry, only my UA friends will get that Dempsey reference) I figured I would pick up the book and get some ideas of what to see in Bangkok.

Well, right in the front of the book is a list of events/festivals/etc. by month. I check out January, February, and March, skip April through September (I most likely will already have departed dear Thailand), and land back at October, November, and December. October has the Vegetarian Festival, which I already experienced in Pattaya (though I didn't find that much great vegetarian food). When, to what to my wondering eyes should appear in November but the World Film Festival! In Bangkok! Away to the internet I flew like a flash, tore up the keyboard and opened the website*. The site's banner lists the Festival as being from the 4th to the 13th of November — this upcoming week! And right down the road from where I'm staying/working! And I don't have a teaching job yet, so I can go see a bunch of them! You can imagine my excitement. I mean, look at all the exclamation points I'm using!

But alas, all my hopes and dreams of approximately 4 minutes were dashed by scrolling down the page. You see, with the impending floods the Festival has been postponed. Not a week, or a month, but until January 2012. At least I will still be here, though not (likely) within walking distance. Sigh.

In any case, the program sounds pretty great. Obviously there's a lot of independent films from all over the world. Some I'm particularly excited about are Kids with Cameras (USA), Lung Neaw Visits His Neighbors (Mexico, Thailand), and Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Werner Herzog's lauded film using 3D technology to capture the 30,000 year old paintings in France's Chauvet Pont d'Arc cave. Check out the trailer.

Maybe Hopefully Certainly the floods will have dissipated by January, and I'll report back then with reviews of the films I've gotten to see. Until then!


* I have no idea what prompted the use of lines from Twas the Night Before Christmas. But I figured if I used one line, why not use multiple lines? My brain is random like that and/or I'm already getting in the Christmas spirit!

Thailand Floods

That Dirty Water.

Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Adventure of the Day: There will be Flood.

There's this little story that's been whispered around Thailand recently. You may not have heard about it, but the teeniest bit of water is coming towards Bangkok. It's not like it's been practically the only story covered by the Bangkok Post or anything.

In all seriousness, the months-long flooding has devastated the north, affected over 2 million people, and killed more than 300. Ohio's got lions and tigers and bears, but at least they didn't have crocs swimming through the water killing people. And as Bangkok straddles the very river most of the floodwaters are following out to sea — the Chao Phraya — the city has been busy battening down as many of its millions and billions of hatches as possible.

A very well fortified store on Sukhumvit.

And I'm right in the middle of it. You can feel the tension in the air of the city. I don't know Bangkok well, but even I can tell it's a bit too quiet out on the streets. Many businesses had already started constructing sandbag barriers at their doors a week ago; many are building nearly meter-high concrete walls on on the sidewalk just outside their doors.

There hasn't been any flooding on my street (Sukhumvit Soi 1) or on Sukhumvit, the main road we're off of, yet. I don't if/when/where/how the waters will hit. I've mentally/logistically prepared as much as I can, given the uncertainty. If I prep for 4 feet of water, there'll probably only be a trickle here. If I'm sure there'll be nothing, we're likely to get hit big-time. It's the hurry-up-and-waiting that's getting to me.

In any case, I'm staying. Though the start of the school term has been pushed back indefinitely, I've got the job and bed at the hostel two stories up — definitely above the potential flood zone. The 7-Eleven's are devoid of food but there's the food stalls and outside and plenty of water at the hostel's bar. 

Photo by someone else, courtesy of a Google search.

And I know I've got it so much better than the millions whose homes are uninhabitable and who have lost their jobs. I feel that leaving now would be practically equivalent to abandoning Bangkok, Thailand, and the people in their time of need. The country needs people to keep spending money, investing in the economy, and just be there to lend a hand. Who knows — maybe that's the reason providence/fate/God brought me here.

I hope the flood comes safely, but soon. Because the sooner the waters drain out into the Gulf, the sooner Thailand can begin its recovery. Please look through some of the slideshows over at the Bangkok Post site. With so much focus on the capital, the north — while getting relief — isn't getting as many headlines, and those areas have been affected the longest. And this set (from the Denver Post of all places) is a particularly stunning, in a devastating way.

And if you're interested in helping, check out the Thai Red Cross website. Even if you can't donate from America, it's nice comforting to see that 180 million baht (and counting) has been given at this time of colossal need.

So Many Photos, So Little Time (and Memory)

Location: Soi 1 Guesthouse, Sukhumvit Soi 1, Bangkok, Thailand

Adventure of the Day: Trying to download, back-up, delete, post, and generally accommodate all of the many photos I've taken!

One of the things that’s been preventing me from posting is the insane numbers of pictures I’ve been taking.

You see, I take the photos on my camera (duh). And then I have to put them on my computer as a backup, because that’s just smart. But because I’m paranoid about something happening to my dear old Cheese* (he is more than four years old), I have to back up the photos yet again. Without an external hard-drive (I keep thinking I should buy one, but all honesty I would be just as worried about losing it), I’m backing them up online via Google’s Picasa. But I have too many photos for Picasa’s allotted space, so I have to weed out the really important ones to save. Which isn’t too hard seeing as most of the photos I take I look at a week later and don’t recall why I took the photo in the first place.

Another reason it’s important for me to get the photos on Picasa — I can directly link them to this very blog, so there’s a whole lot less downloading time. And if I’m backing them up on Picasa, why not link to them?

But it takes a ton of time for me to actually get the photos on Picasa (especially with inconsistent internet access/speed), so I have to wait to blog about something until I get the pics up. Cause I’d really rather not write a blog post without pictures. I want to share my experiences, and that means sharing photos of what I’m doing. Plus, as Trippy Tricia taught me in Intro to Web Development, visual elements are essential to a dynamic and enjoyable web experience. But then there’s the question of what size I should post the photos.

Extra big and beautiful in all their HD, 2000+pixel glory…

Sunset on Koh Phangan.

Still really big...

A more manageable size…

 

Or small, allowing more to fit in each post. 

The last thing I have to do with my photos is upload the good ones to Facebook. Cause I really want to inspire envy in my friends. And because I’m a writer, I have the undeniable urge to caption practically every photo. But again, this is more for my benefit than anyone else’s. I have the memory of a fish, and writing down why I took a photo helps me remember what actually happened. 

Never fear, though. I've just fully updated my Picasa account, and during the many hours of servitude at the desk here at Soi 1 in the coming weeks all my various adventures will be rehashed! 

I wish my Cheese actually looked like this

* My computer’s name, for those unaware. Cause it’s a Mac. Get it? Mac and Cheese. This probably amuses me too much.  

I Get by with a Little Help from My ... Frodo

Location: Soi 1 Guesthouse, Soi 1 Sukhumvit, Bangkok

Adventure of the Day: Braving the busy, bustling, Bangkok.

Bang! Kok

I’ve been in Bangkok more than one week, and it both feels like I’ve been here forever and that I’ve only just arrived. I’ve seen so much and yet only a fraction of the city. That, compounded with being completely on my own in Asia for the first time, job hunting, and the general hum of anxiety over the impending floods hanging in the air, and it’s been quite a wild ride.

It’s so surreal to think I’ve been in Asia for six weeks now. The culture shock/emotional freak out was bound to hit me sooner or later, and it chose this last week or so to do just that.

What really set me off was walking away from the Triangle Lodge last Friday, away from half of our little group, David, Hannah, Hayley, and Meghan. And I was walking toward Bangkok and the split from Joe and Kate to be completely on my own.

But what comforted me in that time of uncertainty? Of course it was those oh so familiar words of the sage Frodo and Bilbo Baggins.

Yes, as is the case in most big moments in my life (and let’s face it, most every moment in my life) I got a very sound piece of advice from LOTR.

And look at it this way — no matter how bad the possible floods in Bangkok might be, they can’t be as bad as Mordor. 

My Ride to Never Never Land

Location: Koh Phangan Island, Thailand

Adventure of the Day: A three-hour moto drive across around the north of the island

Staying up until 5 A.M. is absolutely fantastic, provided you can sleep in. Which is exactly what I was able to do on this fantastic little vacation in the southern Gulf of Thailand.

We're here on Koh Phangan to experience the Full Moon party. It's a wild multi-night extravaganza of neon florescence, music, fun, and what I'll diplomatically term "perception enhancers." I had a blast just people watching. For example, most of the South American and European foreigners when confronted by my declining of their advances just talked about how beautiful I was. Some Americans? I was "gay."

That's not to say there weren't some great Americans I met. The guys on the train, for example. We ran into Sam, Spencer, and Mike at the beach. Then there was guy from California who spotted my Santa Monica tank and came over to chat. He's on the beginning of a two-year world tour using the money he had saved up before his fiancee up and left him.

So that was Tuesday night (aka Wednesday morning) and because my schedule is blissfully of my own making I was able to while away the hours after waking up at 11 A.M. reading, sitting in the sun, and going for a beach walk.

Hannah on the back of David's moto.

But who really wants to do absolutely nothing all day? So by 2:30 I'd figured out I wanted so see a bit of the island. With Kate and Hayley we waited and eventually the woman who runs Smile Travel arranged for her son and two of his friends to be our motobike drivers for a three hour tour.

We went through the middle of the island. Well, rather the middle top third of the island on a road that passes Baan Madua Wan and made our way to Ao Chaloklum beach. Halfway up the road we asked our drivers to stop at Phangan Homemade Ice Cream, which we'd seen on the map by saying "I Dtim," which means ice cream in Thai.

Me at Ao Chaloklum.

When we arrived at Ao Chaloklum the sand was super fine, the view gorgeous, and we met up with Joe, David, and Hannah on their motos! Oh, to rent a moto or not to rent a moto — that is the question. Financially smarter to rent. For Joe, David, and Meghan it was 150 B (that's Baht) for 24 hours, plus whatever gas it needed. Whereas I paid my driver 700 B for three hours. But there's something to be said for being able to watch the scenery and take photos while P did all the work. Although I probably would have been wearing a helmet if I'd rented my own. 

A shot that does the view no justice.

Anywho, after about an hour along the Chaloklum we set off again. On the main road there were some beautiful views as we rounded curves and topped hills, but when our guides took us on a detour on a road winding through the northwestern corner of the island it was even more spectacular. With each successive rollercoaster-like rise, I felt like P was Peter Pan and I was Wendy, being flown into the lagoon-studded Never Never Land. I don't exactly what we passed, but it must have been Ao Haad Yao, Haad Salad, and Ao Mea Haad. We also passed by tons of "for sale" signs on property. If only.

Hayley on a moto, and the Utopia sign.

There was also a resort type place called Utopia. Which I had to take a passing over-the-shoulder shot of, seeing as I've finally been able to read Thomas More's Utopia on the island. A rather fitting book for the location.

Our drivers. P is in the green shirt.

Our last stop was most definitely the best. We left the hills behind and got to a much flatter section of the island where the road hugs the coast. It was also clear that the sunset would be beautiful. So Kate's driver hollered something in Thai to the other two guys, and they then asked us if we wanted to stop. As if they needed to ask. We said OK, "Chai," and they pulled over to the Freeway bar and tattoo parlor.

Kate and Hayley and Freeway.

Freeway is probably one of the hippiest places I've ever seen. And I went to school in Ithaca for four years. Lots of cool wooden accessories and furniture, pads to sit on right on the beach, hammocks, guys in dreadlocks, the works. The woman at the bar was super nice, and it was happy hour to boot!

Bue. Ti. Full.

Definitely the coolest thing about the place is the view. It was 5:30 and the sun was setting over the completely low tide. That meant there was about a 100 yard stretch of flat sand, covered in tiny cone-shaped shells and only an inch of water.

El Toro.

Then we spotted one of the most hilarious things I've seen in a while: a man running around out on the sand with a bull on a leash. With the thin layer of water making it look like they were walking on water, Jesus-style. Of course I had to go out and ask what that was all about. The man said that he does bull fighting, so he exercises his bull out on the sand.

Soon we had to go, and after flying through Thongsala past the pier we arrived at, we were back at our little portion of Baan Tai road. Incredibly thankful for the fabulous trip, we "Korb khun, ka"-ed* profusely.

All in all, a good day. And even better, it led to a productive night of writing for several hours in the warm sea-side breeze under a lightning-bolt of inspiration.

* Thai is so different from trying to learn English. They don't use our western alphabet, so any spelling of a word or phrase in our alphabet is completely phonetic and subjective. The first time someone told me the phrase meaning "Thank you" I thought it was "Ka poon, ka."**

** Also, that "ka" you end the sentence with is only if you are a girl. You end a sentence with "krab/kab" if you're a guy. It's essential meaning is, "I am a woman/man saying this sentence." I don't know what the point of it is. Maybe to distinguish the lady boys?

I Swear I Didn’t Fall Off the Face of the Earth…

Location: Pattaya & Koh Phangan, Thailand

Adventure of the Day Weeks: From teaching 36 children to sitting beachside in the blink of an overnight train!

Really, I promise I didn't fall off the face of the earth, or get in the way of a very hungry and pregnant elephant (more on that later). I just passed out every time I got back to my room. Literally (not literally). Why do you ask? 

That’s eight steps per half flight. Two steps on each landing. 82 steps total. No elevator. And I don’t mean it as a complaint. Sure, getting up there after a long morning of teaching was a trial, but after two weeks of it I have legs of steel. Well, I'm sure they'd be well on their way to legs of steel if I were to continue living there. There's something to be said about not having conveniences like elevators. 

Anywho, when not on the staircase I spent my time in Pattaya learning the Thai language, getting an education in Thai culture, and most importantly practice teaching. It was an absolutely crazy schedule but so incredibly rewarding. 

The first week I was working at a private kindergarten about 30 minutes outside of Pattaya working with Meghan, Hannah, and Hayley. The little ones were mostly the children of employees at the local Navy base, we were informed. Actually, Hayley and I were supposed to be at an orphanage, but Monday morning were informed they had the week off, so we went to Attitaan Kindergarten. The first class was 30 minutes with 20-odd 3-4 year olds (K1) with all four of us. Then Meghan and I moved on to an hour long class with about 34 5 year olds (K3). It was so nice to have the support of another teacher that first week. 

However, the second week I did end up at Baan jing jai Orphanage, on the outskirts of Pattaya (on the East side of Sukhumvit Road). I was prepared the first day for 20-25 3-7 year olds. I had four 5-10 year olds. And every day there was exponential increases. Tuesday I had five students, Wednesday eight, Thursday 14, and Friday 36 students, ranging from 3 to 11 or so. Needless to say my lesson plan that last day went right out the window. 

But the kids! Their little faces as they were learning, the moments when they used whole sentences without my asking them to, were what this whole endeavor really is all about.

Before I knew it, it was Friday 7 October, and it was our last day in Pattaya. The week prior six of us (seven including David, who's doing the program in Vietnam) made plans to travel down to Koh Phangan for some fun and decompression during the Full Moon festival. But it was the last night all nine of us were together. 

We took our time getting to Bangkok on Saturday, before taking the overnight train down to Surat Thani in the south on Sunday night. The night train was such an amazing experience. We were in the caboose, which was a blessing and a curse. We didn't have any people walking past up — less interruptions, but less getting to know people. But we're a lively bunch, so we walking around the train we did get to meet people. Two really cool guys from India in the car before ours. They gave me some little crackerbits-things that were pretty spicy, and good with a drink. 

Then I walked all the way up to the front of the train. Not really dangerous, seeing as it's a train and there's no way to get lost when there's really only one long hallway. But going in-between the cars was fun — particularly the further up I went. The air-conditioned first and second class cars gave way to non-air-conditioned second and third class. Third class didn't have beds, and the lowest level didn't even have reclining chairs. All the way at the front I met some men in official uniforms. I asked if that was the last car, and they had me sit down. About this time the train stopped, so needless to say I was a bit confused. Then the most senior-looking man asked me to write down my name. So I wrote — like I'd been doing all week on the board at school — "My name is Anne." Then he...just wrote down his own name! I said goodbye and made my way back down the train. 

But I got stopped again when I ran into four Americans in Third class. Their names were Mike, Michael, Sam, and Spencer, and it really is a small world — they're graduates of University of Santa Barbara, where Kim goes! We talked for about an hour, Meghan and Kate eventually joined us, all the while squeezing together so train employees and people selling food could pass.

I got a relatively OK night's sleep before we arrived in Surat Thani at 7 AM on Monday. We got off the train and found some people (rather, they found us) providing high-speed transport to Koh Phangan, so instead of a six hour ferry ride we were in our beach bungalows at the Triangle Lodge by noon.

So now I'm sitting here in the "restaurant" area of the main building. There's no real hotel — just six bungalows right on the beach. I am literally fifty feet from the ocean when I'm sleeping. However, we only have one plug in our bungalow and my computer, Cheese, doesn't like to pick up the internet over there, so I'm sitting at the front desk while the family that runs the Lodge sits watching TV on the deck of the restaurant. They actually live right here on the deck — there's beds and their dining table on half of the porch. There is the grandmother, a couple and their eight-month-old, the man's brother, and another woman of the family.

I'm going to try and upload photos soon. Over the next few days I'm just planning on relaxing, sleeping in the sun on the beach (but out of the way of red biting ants), and recording some of the amazing things I've experienced in my four-plus weeks in Asia. Just writing that is crazy — I've been here more than a month already!

A Great Hobbit Day

Location: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Adventure of the Day: It's so hard to say goodbye

I hope everyone had as great a Hobbit/Lost Day* as I did. Though it's real bittersweet being my last full day in Phnom Penh and having to say goodbye to Sara and Tabatha who are staying in Cambodia and Vietnam bound Mike, Allegra, Jay, Zoey, Ed, and David, it was also a pretty great day. Last classes of the session. I got to explore the amazing Russian market, had some speedy tuk-tuk rides, enjoy a fabulous and all too short river cruise, and finished off the day with a group karaoke dinner party. And tomorrow those of us going to Thailand will be out the door by 7 A.M.

It's difficult to fathom how much has happened since I got here 12 days ago. It's difficult to believe I only arrived 12 days ago. The time has flown by and yet I feel like I've been in Cambodia and Phnom Penh for ages. It's such a completely different environment and the people, streets, and experiences have affected me forever.

When I first arrived Dara, a Khmer employee of Language Corps and the hotel, gave me a city map. Just a simple double-sided paper one. It lists tons of restaurants and bars, as well as the major sites. I've gotten to or seen: the Central Market, the Russian Market, the Cambodian-Vietnamese Friendship Monument, the Independence Monument, Wat Phnom, The Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda, the Riverside, Tol Sleng Prison, the Killing Fields, Siem Reap, and the multiple temples at Angkor Wat Park. And all week I was in classes 9-5:30 learning about warmers and modeling, minimal competencies and phonemes. I've been so busy blogging has been a struggle, but all these experiences will be addressed.

I'm beyond excited to get to Thailand, find a job, an apartment, and begin a real life here. But Phnom Penh has been a great city. The food has been stellar and the people kind. Despite my reservations about coming to Cambodia, I've fallen into a great affection for this city and country. But how sad can I be to leave when I'm going to the island paradise that is Ko Chang, Thailand? And how can I really say goodbye when I know I'll be back?

Now off to bed, falling asleep to LOTR. Because it's Hobbit Day, and I'm in the middle of my very own journey. 



* September 22 is the birthday of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings and was the premiere date of Lost. Thus my obsession.