The bus ride to Koh Chang started off the morning of the Kings big anniversary party, a blessing in many ways, the roads were very quite as the crowds of yellow were already well ensconced around the royal palace and those who weren't were crowded around the telly's in their homes. Ekami too was quiet and we picked up our connection with little trouble. The ferry ride mind you was very funny, I think my favourite companion was the gay boy, his ensemble was pretty (in pink) much every cliche you can think of but the footwear was nothing short of inspired!
How can you top brand new shiny white gumboots with pink lace wrapped around the top and tied daintily in a bow on each side, it set off the pink baseball cap and adhered to the ancient rule of matching, hat shoes and handbag.
With hardly a foreigner in sight the Thai tourists made up the bulk of fellow travels and prices everywhere fell dramatically to match, I wandered about the plethora of dive schools and finally decided on one of the only bunches that were open... what a bunch of cowboys, I should have known by the late departure time (10 am for a dive trip). Sure enough the boat ran aground and we all dove back to shore.
We ended up staying in a bungalow on white sands beach which is beautiful although I imagine quite crowded in tourist season, the waves were quite wild and fun to play in, the ocean was warm, encouraging all day swimming and the afternoons were great for cocktails on the beach as the sunset, in fact one evening we even saw the perfect sunset, you know the kind where the sun actually sinks into the water and you can here it going tssssssh. but there was enough cloud cover off the horizon to do the whole colour symphony thing, God must have had a special angel on sunset duty that night. Of course there was the usual glut of sunset photographers wrapped in futile attempts to capture what is essentially an experience, sunsets are one of the great impossibles of photography though I perpetually have to fight the primal urge to try.
The bars and restaurants along the sunset beach all sell a variety of seafood which is fantastic though some are inexplicably half the price of others! After we wandered down to one of the bars supposedly showing "the world cup" but instead of the soccer we were treated to highlights from the Kings day, this has become a theme, and although it appeared inexplixable at first I have gradually come to understand that this is because of the amount of illegal gambling that has become associated with the event. The rights to televise it were sold to Thai national t.v. instead of either of the cable channels (a source of great controversy in itself) and now the channels that have it are not showing it because they all simultaneously are showing old footage of the King! The powers that be know that no-one would dare criticise the King so a point is being made. (though there is a joke circulating about how in the good ol' days in Russia (under communism) there were two t.v. channels on the second was a soldier telling you to turn back to the first, but here in democratic Thailand we have 7 channels that all show the same thing, now that is choice.
Koh Chang being "Elephant Island" has a number of large beasties (and elephants as well). Baby elephants are very cute though the one that I went over to pat decided that was the perfect moment to take a dump! Washing elephants with a nail brush is an experience some tourists actually pay money for? Hmmm, I guess it saves the animal trainer a job.
The trip back to Bkk started with similar elements of farce that I am coming to expect in Thailand, the ferry couldn't dock because the tide was too far out (again), after an hour a ditch digger arrived and hauled the thing to shore, I climbed aboard wondering how the hell they were going to get the thing back out to sea (and if there was now a hole in the hull, (at least it was open air and the water was warm so drowning was not a realistic fear). Sure enough they again used the ditch digger and we eventually got back to the main land, the bus journey passed without incident and soon I was on the local bus home, it's funny how some men seem not to have realised that certain after-shave has more aroma indicators in common with toilet cleaner than with exotic flowers and spices, and why is this always the case with the guy whose armpit is hovering too close to my nose.
Now safely back at the salt mine otherwise known as Chokchai Rangsit, I came into town today to see a movie and noted that Thailand, for being dubbed the "land of smiles" seemed to have just as many po-faced commuters on the sky train at 9am as the London underground, Interesting, maybe I will do a comparison smile count on public transport in different parts of the world at 8:30 or 9am and find out who really is the "land of the smiles" and who is the "land of pissed off commuters".
Anyway better get to my movie.
Love N.J.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Bangkok 05/06/06
All is not well in the gerbil house, I am having second thoughts about having named the gerbils, Basil and Manuel as Basil has taken to beating the crap out of Manuel and I had to seperate them and have now given Manuel to one of the boys from school. I should have taken his photo before he went, he was very cute, they are all very cute they look like the tiniest little scraps of fur as they flow over your hands and are very keen to play. We have discovered mind you that they are nocturnal and very keen to play all night!
School is settling into a rhythm but they do expect rather a lot of you in extra activities, it's actually all the decorating of the room that takes time. I don't have that many contact hours, but I do have a hell of a lot of marking and have to be here all the hours I am not teaching, and as there is no staff room (Like the new airport it is still being built). I have to sit while the kids break into ten kinds of chaos.
The Thai's are mad about their king, the slightest thing that could be taken as an insult is to be avoided, The king was born on a monday, apparently monday's colour is yellow, not just any yellow but violent daffodil yellow, and we all have to wear it every monday to pay respect. I mentioned yellow was a terrible colour to wear, and was immediately chastised, I wonder how much "lesse majeste" I would be in if they new I lined the gerbil cage with old news print which often features pictures of the various royals.
Off to Koh Chang for the long weekend so I shall try to send this when I get back, or something. Off to dive with the fishies and chill.
PS: Very funny, the Thai's had a screening of Khan Kluay especially for elephants, some people rode their elephants in so they could watch for free, all of a sudden drive in has a whole new meaning, (though how you make out in the back of an elephant is a thing that doesn't bare thinking about really).
School is settling into a rhythm but they do expect rather a lot of you in extra activities, it's actually all the decorating of the room that takes time. I don't have that many contact hours, but I do have a hell of a lot of marking and have to be here all the hours I am not teaching, and as there is no staff room (Like the new airport it is still being built). I have to sit while the kids break into ten kinds of chaos.
The Thai's are mad about their king, the slightest thing that could be taken as an insult is to be avoided, The king was born on a monday, apparently monday's colour is yellow, not just any yellow but violent daffodil yellow, and we all have to wear it every monday to pay respect. I mentioned yellow was a terrible colour to wear, and was immediately chastised, I wonder how much "lesse majeste" I would be in if they new I lined the gerbil cage with old news print which often features pictures of the various royals.
Off to Koh Chang for the long weekend so I shall try to send this when I get back, or something. Off to dive with the fishies and chill.
PS: Very funny, the Thai's had a screening of Khan Kluay especially for elephants, some people rode their elephants in so they could watch for free, all of a sudden drive in has a whole new meaning, (though how you make out in the back of an elephant is a thing that doesn't bare thinking about really).
Bangkok 23/05/06
My second day teaching was infinitely better than my first, Chang, my A.D.D. kid was obviously on his meds today and the difference was amazing, in fact when he is on his meds he doesn't even want to join in boistrous games, he quietly sits doing his work while other children run around him, he is actually pretty bright if you can keep his concentration on one thing for long enough to complete a single task, though watching him medicated also makes me a little sad, it takes the sparkle out of his eyes and the spring out of his step.
The class gerbils are getting so much attention, I feel sorry for the little blighters, I don't know how many pencils I fish out of their cage at the end of each day. The kids are mostly very cute and good, and we are still having fun though preparation for each class takes a phenomenal amount of time and may yet kill me, and don't even start me on resources or lack there of, and this let me remind you is a very well funded private school.
It's now the 28th, time slipped on away from me there, I made it through my first week, but the gerbils did not, expelled! Yes apparently some parents complained that they might give their children diseases!! They told me I could put them in a tree! Half the point of the Gerbils is to teach children responsible pet ownership, how can I do this if they are living in a tree? Not to mention that I trod on a snake the other day (luckily on it's head) but I don't think my gerbils would last a week in a tree with all these snakes around! So they have come home to live in relative peace. After a week they already so chubby, Kevin is the darkest, Basil the fatest and Manuel the sleek little dopey one who spends all her time sleeping.
My passport has been sent off to convert the nonimmigrant B visa into a work permit, all this paper trail and rubbish you have to follow in Thailand is ridiculous. Jury is still out on whether I like teaching or not.
The class gerbils are getting so much attention, I feel sorry for the little blighters, I don't know how many pencils I fish out of their cage at the end of each day. The kids are mostly very cute and good, and we are still having fun though preparation for each class takes a phenomenal amount of time and may yet kill me, and don't even start me on resources or lack there of, and this let me remind you is a very well funded private school.
It's now the 28th, time slipped on away from me there, I made it through my first week, but the gerbils did not, expelled! Yes apparently some parents complained that they might give their children diseases!! They told me I could put them in a tree! Half the point of the Gerbils is to teach children responsible pet ownership, how can I do this if they are living in a tree? Not to mention that I trod on a snake the other day (luckily on it's head) but I don't think my gerbils would last a week in a tree with all these snakes around! So they have come home to live in relative peace. After a week they already so chubby, Kevin is the darkest, Basil the fatest and Manuel the sleek little dopey one who spends all her time sleeping.
My passport has been sent off to convert the nonimmigrant B visa into a work permit, all this paper trail and rubbish you have to follow in Thailand is ridiculous. Jury is still out on whether I like teaching or not.
Singapore 16/05/06
I arrived in Singapore accompanied by a mad Canadian woman, she attached herself to my hip at Bkk airport and chatted in my ear incesantly from that moment on, she was like Michelle on speed! She claimed to also be an English teacher and be working in Chang Mai I quickly discovered she is the most neurotic whinger, I have ever met (oh yes all you English folk take heart. I am really not sure how much of her story was true and how much fabricated in her mind, (she tells me, she really is being stalked by her exhusband 40 years on??? At least in her mind). She seemed ridiculously old to be so untogether, scatty is a word that I am reluctant to use, it seems too mild and cute, an insult to scatty folk the world over to have to share a category. She had arrived in Singapore with barely any money what so ever and ended up borrowing off me to be able to afford to eat, she whinged about her health and her back and I ended up having to hall her stupid suitcase on wheels up stairs for her.
After we had visited the embassy the next morning I managed to wrest her from my side and head off for some peaceful exploring, she appeared surprised at my desire for some respite from her, she had told me earlier she couldn't walk anywhere, so I headed out on a nice long relaxing walk
She was reading the celestine prophecy (really need I add more), I saw her at the airport at the end of my trip, she had left herself 10 minutes (if that ) to get there and check in, she obviously loves the stress, for without it what would she have to complain about. Anyway...
One of the most fantastic things I quickly discovered in Singapore is the amount of fabulous vegetarian food, little India is amazing, colourful, interesting, in fact just like India but clean! Fabulous, why didn't I get a job here?
Singapore, ah what to say about Singapore, it is an Island which has dedicated it's soul to facadism, sentosa Island is so prefabricated I felt myself wanting to claw beneath it's plasticity, it's unreal Disneyfied self.
Yet other parts of Singapore are beautiful and peaceful. Singapore has a way of making you feel relaxed, I think it is it's vast amounts of green, if you want to build I think you can only get a permit to go up, at least that is how it appears when you look up, the architecture is great, it is obviously a well planned city, if countries in Asia can be equated to European cities, Singapore is it's Germany, the trains always run on time!
It's a country not designed for sitters, everything has a designated place it sends the message, look I'm beautiful but please don't touch me, parks are not made with the idea of having children run free range and bare foot, they are made with steep slopes and carefully planned concrete pathways. Yet in a snap it can go from this to the hyper cool colonial charm of Raffles boulevard.
On the plus side it has multicultural comfort the likes of which at least superficially appear flawless.
I flew Air asia, welcome to no seat number, no service and killer eyelash world, Yes it is a first in the queue at the departure gate best dressed in the seat department, mind you the best seat in has got to be a matter of opinion, unlike most punters I prefer the seats at the back (further from impact) so even by keeping my bum in seat till the last possible moment, I still got a window, warning to tall folk, leg room is not something cheap airlines are big on.
Speaking of all things airline I saw a review of film "United 93" by a Mary Riddell while discussing the passengers on that ill fated flight she says, and I quote
"...they saw a universe where those of good faith must take all necessary risks to ensure that the earth keeps turning round the sun and that they are there to see it rise again" well they are patently not here to see it rise and though one can not but feel remorse at this waste of human life, I must ask does the arrogance of human kind constantly astounds me, honey the earth will keep revolving around the sun, it has for millinea, just what makes Ms Riddell think any actions of small weak carbon based creatures is going to change it?
As a final note on Singapore, It took me two days to realise the reason I couldn't buy gum anywhere is because it is illegal!!!
After we had visited the embassy the next morning I managed to wrest her from my side and head off for some peaceful exploring, she appeared surprised at my desire for some respite from her, she had told me earlier she couldn't walk anywhere, so I headed out on a nice long relaxing walk
She was reading the celestine prophecy (really need I add more), I saw her at the airport at the end of my trip, she had left herself 10 minutes (if that ) to get there and check in, she obviously loves the stress, for without it what would she have to complain about. Anyway...
One of the most fantastic things I quickly discovered in Singapore is the amount of fabulous vegetarian food, little India is amazing, colourful, interesting, in fact just like India but clean! Fabulous, why didn't I get a job here?
Singapore, ah what to say about Singapore, it is an Island which has dedicated it's soul to facadism, sentosa Island is so prefabricated I felt myself wanting to claw beneath it's plasticity, it's unreal Disneyfied self.
Yet other parts of Singapore are beautiful and peaceful. Singapore has a way of making you feel relaxed, I think it is it's vast amounts of green, if you want to build I think you can only get a permit to go up, at least that is how it appears when you look up, the architecture is great, it is obviously a well planned city, if countries in Asia can be equated to European cities, Singapore is it's Germany, the trains always run on time!
It's a country not designed for sitters, everything has a designated place it sends the message, look I'm beautiful but please don't touch me, parks are not made with the idea of having children run free range and bare foot, they are made with steep slopes and carefully planned concrete pathways. Yet in a snap it can go from this to the hyper cool colonial charm of Raffles boulevard.
On the plus side it has multicultural comfort the likes of which at least superficially appear flawless.
I flew Air asia, welcome to no seat number, no service and killer eyelash world, Yes it is a first in the queue at the departure gate best dressed in the seat department, mind you the best seat in has got to be a matter of opinion, unlike most punters I prefer the seats at the back (further from impact) so even by keeping my bum in seat till the last possible moment, I still got a window, warning to tall folk, leg room is not something cheap airlines are big on.
Speaking of all things airline I saw a review of film "United 93" by a Mary Riddell while discussing the passengers on that ill fated flight she says, and I quote
"...they saw a universe where those of good faith must take all necessary risks to ensure that the earth keeps turning round the sun and that they are there to see it rise again" well they are patently not here to see it rise and though one can not but feel remorse at this waste of human life, I must ask does the arrogance of human kind constantly astounds me, honey the earth will keep revolving around the sun, it has for millinea, just what makes Ms Riddell think any actions of small weak carbon based creatures is going to change it?
As a final note on Singapore, It took me two days to realise the reason I couldn't buy gum anywhere is because it is illegal!!!
Bangkok 13/05/06
Well I just finished writing 56 lesson plans in ten days, at first I thought I had to write 70 but as it turns out my Math ain't that good (god help the poor little blighters I will be teaching that to! Oh and as I have not yet received the curriculum for Social studies that is on hold.
So for those of you who don't know I have gone from being a casual english teacher to being a home room teacher, I will be teaching english, math, social studies and science/health to a bunch of seven year olds, I think I mentioned that sex education comes into it, ohh the tittering of little giggles, I can hear it now, and then there is how the kids will react! So after all these years I have found myself doing my Mothers job! weird huh.
I have actually enjoyed writing the lesson plans and am looking forward to some of the classes, I think it will all be a bit of a shock to the school, I plan to have fun with my class, science will involve experiments (I have two sorted already oh there will be bubbles and their will be spongey things). There will also be field trips, after all i am only planning on being there for a year so if they don't like my methods it's all the same to me.
This week I have to fly to Singapore, never having been on a "business trip" before I am very excited, these private schools have so much money it's ridiculous, but what I really want is some decent english reading books, I have been spoiled after working at the beautiful (and well stocked) Waverley library and having access to both UTS and USyd libraries for so long. We need Captain underpants, we need Captain knowledge and we need some other half way interesting english language, books it's no wonder the kids don't want to read when all you offer them is Richard Scary.
Anyway enough about work, Oh yes I should mention I have invented my own superhero for math, "Captain infinity" and his side kick "Polygon" (who is a cat always drawn amidst a cloud of bird feathers).
Anyway I am now regretting my decision not to have taken the job I was offered down in the restive south, as if you are a teacher down there you get free self defense lessons and half price off the retail value of weapons!! wow, what a bargain, apparently this is in response to 47 teachers being killed down there in the last 2 years! hmmm maybe not...
Very excited today, New Zealand makes front page news in the Bkk post!!! I mean Thailand (like every other country in the world has the front two or three pages exclusively for local news, but not today no sir. Apparently a N.Z. woman, a drunk driver had over 426 milligrammes of alcohol in her blood, apparently the article goes on to state you can die if you have anywhere over 400 mg, now there is a science experiment for my little kiddies! The best thing about the Bkk post is the little International asides, there was also a little article on how an Australian was endeavouring to sell New Zealand on ebay apparently the auction lasted 3 days before ebay pulled it.
Now for the gross story of the day, woke up the other day with a really itchy shoulder eventually went and looked at it in the mirror, something had bitten me in the evening but I hadn't really paid much attention but boy now I wish I had. My whole shoulder looked not just angry but irate, it had nasty looking pustules and everything, Glen declared it looked like some medieval pox, it has cleared up to a mild rash now, but I still worry I may be host to some nasty alien parasite, whose pupa are, as I write, furtively burrowing and growing waiting to burst (oh god, I really should never have watched alien!).
Have I talked about the apartment yet? It is small, two rooms with an onsuite, but the rooms themselves are reasonably spacious, both rooms have a balcony which has a nice pastoral aspect (it looks out over a field or two of grass, we have workers in conical hats, buffalo and birds (all seasonal), after rain the birds and bugs really get going and that is great. We can watch the sunset from our balcony or the sofa, it comes partly furnished, the aforementioned sofa is faux leather and dips toward the middle in a very uncomfortable saggy sort of way, on the plus side it does convert into a bed for those who need a place to crash for a night or two. a glass topped table, wardrobe and tv cabinet are it besides the bed, ah yes the bed.
Beds in Asia are as hard as bloody rocks, in fact they appear to be rocks with a bit of straw wrapped over them to disguise the fact. The first purchase was some nice foam squabs to make it possible to sleep.
Alright, I shall sign off for now, catch y'all later.
PS: congratulations to Karyn & Lawrence.
So for those of you who don't know I have gone from being a casual english teacher to being a home room teacher, I will be teaching english, math, social studies and science/health to a bunch of seven year olds, I think I mentioned that sex education comes into it, ohh the tittering of little giggles, I can hear it now, and then there is how the kids will react! So after all these years I have found myself doing my Mothers job! weird huh.
I have actually enjoyed writing the lesson plans and am looking forward to some of the classes, I think it will all be a bit of a shock to the school, I plan to have fun with my class, science will involve experiments (I have two sorted already oh there will be bubbles and their will be spongey things). There will also be field trips, after all i am only planning on being there for a year so if they don't like my methods it's all the same to me.
This week I have to fly to Singapore, never having been on a "business trip" before I am very excited, these private schools have so much money it's ridiculous, but what I really want is some decent english reading books, I have been spoiled after working at the beautiful (and well stocked) Waverley library and having access to both UTS and USyd libraries for so long. We need Captain underpants, we need Captain knowledge and we need some other half way interesting english language, books it's no wonder the kids don't want to read when all you offer them is Richard Scary.
Anyway enough about work, Oh yes I should mention I have invented my own superhero for math, "Captain infinity" and his side kick "Polygon" (who is a cat always drawn amidst a cloud of bird feathers).
Anyway I am now regretting my decision not to have taken the job I was offered down in the restive south, as if you are a teacher down there you get free self defense lessons and half price off the retail value of weapons!! wow, what a bargain, apparently this is in response to 47 teachers being killed down there in the last 2 years! hmmm maybe not...
Very excited today, New Zealand makes front page news in the Bkk post!!! I mean Thailand (like every other country in the world has the front two or three pages exclusively for local news, but not today no sir. Apparently a N.Z. woman, a drunk driver had over 426 milligrammes of alcohol in her blood, apparently the article goes on to state you can die if you have anywhere over 400 mg, now there is a science experiment for my little kiddies! The best thing about the Bkk post is the little International asides, there was also a little article on how an Australian was endeavouring to sell New Zealand on ebay apparently the auction lasted 3 days before ebay pulled it.
Now for the gross story of the day, woke up the other day with a really itchy shoulder eventually went and looked at it in the mirror, something had bitten me in the evening but I hadn't really paid much attention but boy now I wish I had. My whole shoulder looked not just angry but irate, it had nasty looking pustules and everything, Glen declared it looked like some medieval pox, it has cleared up to a mild rash now, but I still worry I may be host to some nasty alien parasite, whose pupa are, as I write, furtively burrowing and growing waiting to burst (oh god, I really should never have watched alien!).
Have I talked about the apartment yet? It is small, two rooms with an onsuite, but the rooms themselves are reasonably spacious, both rooms have a balcony which has a nice pastoral aspect (it looks out over a field or two of grass, we have workers in conical hats, buffalo and birds (all seasonal), after rain the birds and bugs really get going and that is great. We can watch the sunset from our balcony or the sofa, it comes partly furnished, the aforementioned sofa is faux leather and dips toward the middle in a very uncomfortable saggy sort of way, on the plus side it does convert into a bed for those who need a place to crash for a night or two. a glass topped table, wardrobe and tv cabinet are it besides the bed, ah yes the bed.
Beds in Asia are as hard as bloody rocks, in fact they appear to be rocks with a bit of straw wrapped over them to disguise the fact. The first purchase was some nice foam squabs to make it possible to sleep.
Alright, I shall sign off for now, catch y'all later.
PS: congratulations to Karyn & Lawrence.
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