My Time is Running Out

Cue the Muse!!! [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JLfCCGOers&w=560&h=315]

Sidenote: this song has nothing to do with this post, except the title. But it's a good song. So there's that.

So here we are, a month into second semester, and this is when I begin freaking out.

This is what I feel like:

This is what I WANT to feel like:

I have only three months until my contract is up, and my time in Thailand comes to an end. THREE MONTHS?! Where the hell did all the time go? Back in February, I was thinking, "Oh, if I don't get to it now, I'll just do it second semester." Well, second semester is rapidly going away.. we're already near midterms! There's still so many things I want to do and places to see, and I get anxious thinking about not being able to do it all. I have to keep reminding myself to be realistic and that there's no feasible way to see everything in Southeast Asia, or even just Thailand, that I want to this time around. I have to prioritize what I really want to do, and then the rest I'll just have to save for a return trip.

Despite this reality check, it doesn't help me not feel depressed about it. I'm sort of over the whole teaching thing already, and I'm totally stoked to go home and see my friends, family, and the East Coat (Beast Coast for life!), but I'm not done traveling yet, dammit! I MUST SEE IT ALL!!! When else am I going to be so close to so many places? The Malaysian beaches, the Singaporean nightlife, the Laotian rivers.. they're all within my grasp! I imagine this conversation playing out when I get home:

Random person: So did you get to see XYZ while you were there? Me: (getting sad again) No, I didn't, but I really wanted to! Random person: Oh man, I can't believe you were so close and didn't go!!! Me: >>>>>:(((((( (shoots lasers out of my eyes at random person)

This is where I am mentally right now, a big ol' mess of alternately wanting to go and wanting to stay, and it's driving me bonkers.  I've been keeping pretty busy with school, aerobic dance class (my knee despises me right now), Game of Thrones binges, and weekends in Bangkok, so the time seems to have gotten way from me. We have a 4 day weekend coming up in July, and then I think we will have another one in August, but then at the end of September, I'm done! Time certainly does fly by when you're having fun. And not having enough time to jetset around this beautiful corner of the world is not a bad problem to have. Nothing that a massage and a gin and tonic can't solve, anyway...

Popping In

Can you just "pop in" to your own blog? I think you can. Anyway, I'm doing just that so I inform all of you loyal readers (hi Dad) that I'm working on posts about the rest of my G.S.E.A.S. and about being back at school! Which just started! Yeah! In the meantime, here's a terrifying owl in Bangkok:

Great Southeast Asian Sojourn, Part 1: Vietnam

March 1 marked the beginning of our summer vacation, or what we in the Salaya Club have dubbed our "Great Southeast Asian Sojourn." We had a few bumps on the way (missed flight, lost baggage, lost credit cards), but somehow we made it to Hanoi. And what a city! I seriously love that place. The vibe is totally different than Thailand, and more what I was looking for when I moved to Asia. I could feel a certain buzz and energy in the air that I don't sense when I'm in Bangkok, or even Chiang Mai really. The people were super friendly; more friendly I think than in Thailand. Land of Smiles, Schmand of Schmiles! Also, I enjoyed the food a lot more. Maybe I'll move to Vietnam in October?? 

Since this is Vietnam, the city has a bit of a French influence which you can see in the architecture, which is very pretty, and the presence of bread! The cool rainy weather was a nice break from the insufferable Thai heat, though our feet were pretty disgusting after walking around in flip flops all day. Vietnam is also cheaper than Thailand (hooray communism?!), though using the Vietnamese dong makes for some good jokes. 20,000 dong is about one dollar. Seriously, the jokes write themselves. Since it is communist, you will see that red color all around (the Vietnamese flag is red with a yellow star), propaganda souvenirs, and bars shut down at midnight, or rather the whole city seems to, but there's underground bars and clubs that rage all night, if you know where to find them.

Also, the cultural drinking experience in Hanoi is the "bia hoi," which is local beer that they brew daily. There's a small street/corner in the city that has all of these little streetside bars (bar meaning a 10x10 patch of sidewalk) that brew their own cheap beer (maybe 5,000 VND per drink) each day. The batch is new everyday, and has to be drunk that day. It was an awesome way to experience Hanoi nightlife, and mingle with locals. I only wish that I had made it there more than once. 

What it all comes down to is that I love Hanoi, and would live there in a heartbeat. Do I really have to go back to Thailand? Thankfully not yet...

After Hanoi, we overnight bused it to Hoi An, a sleepy beach town. It was cute and quaint, but I didn't find much there to entertain me. I think it's going to be hard for each successive place to live up to the standard that Hanoi set. After two nights in Hoi An, and another overnight bus, we are currently in Nha Trang, where my grandaddy Lillard was stationed in the war, and near where Autumn's dad was at Cam Ranh Bay. Tomorrow we will leave for Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon, where we will spend a couple days before heading for Cambodia. One country (almost) down, three more to go! 

Old Enough to Party

Figured it was about time to check in and post another update! It's been just over 2 months since I've been in Thailand. On the one hand, it feels like I've been here for AGES, especially with December being such a whirlwind. On the other, I also feel like a newbie here, and I still have so much do.. which it is true! It's also weird being here during the holidays. Sure, there's Christmas decorations everywhere and Tesco is stuffed to the gills with gift baskets, but it also just feels like a regular week. I still have to go to school and teach (ok, this week it's just Christmas songs YAY), and I'm not doing any of my normal Christmas traditions. More so than ever, being away from home for the holidays really makes you realize that being with your family is what makes the holidays FEEL like the holidays (cue the world's smallest violin). MISS YA, FAMALAM. BUT NEVER FEAR! This holiday season I'm switching it up. Sure, we might be ordering pizza for Christmas dinner (OH YOU JEALOUS HUH), but come Friday afternoon, we will be headed to Koh Pha Ngan for a full week, and spending New Year's Eve at the infamous Full Moon party. Basically, I'm not torn up about it. This is when I break out my "chicka chicka yeahhhhhh" dance.

When I surface, I shall be tanner, drunker, and happier. See ya on the flip side, los interwebs.

Winning

Number one result on Bing, what what!

Google, I'm coming for you next..

This is just to say...

... that there will be some good blog posts coming up! Yep, a blog post about future blog posts. How meta. I've just returned from a crazy 5 days in Chiang Mai and the past couple weeks at school have been busy, so I haven't been able to write at all, but I have a few things I do want to write about knocking around inside my head. You can expect posts on the following:

• American Thai food vs. Thailand Thai food. Yes, they are different. 
• Life in Salaya (our town)
• the Thai personality (generally speaking) and customs /habits
• Perceptions of a country as a tourist vs. as a resident

I might also delve into the underbelly of Thai society at some point, mostly because an incident at our apartment building that happened not more than a couple of hours ago spurred me to do some Googling that revealed some startling information. 

Keep an eye out for one of these posts this weekend, hopefully! 

"Teacha, Teacha!"

We are nearing the end of our first full week of classes, so I thought I would take this opportunity of having cooperative WiFi to talk about my school a bit. My school is called Kanchanapisek Wittayalai Nakhon Pathom School (KPN or Kanchana for short). There are 9 affiliate Kanchanapisek schools around the country, so ours is distinguished by putting the province, Nakhon Pathom, in the name. It's a "royal project" school, so it attracts the best students from around the area. Thai secondary (Mathayom) schools are divided into levels M1 - M6, with M1 being 7th grade, and M6 being 12th grade. I am currently teaching 2 levels: M3 (so freshman) and M5 (juniors). I have 10 M3 classes, and 8 M5 classes, and I only see each class once a week. Since each class has about 25-30 students (maybe a few more), that's a lot of kids whose names I am definitely not going to remember at all.. I am not even going to try.

What I do want to learn is some of my students' nicknames, because these things are HILARIOUS. Sometimes they will have a short Thai name, but often times they (or their parents I think) have picked random English words. So I have students whose nicknames are Champ, Cartoon, Ice, Boat, Best, View, and Toffy. Some other teachers have other ridiculous names, such as Oil, Pond, Curve, and Biggy. I am not sure what the reasoning is for the choices, but it's amusing nonetheless.

Even though I have told my students my name, the title of this post is one phrase I hear from Thai students constantly. "Teacha, teacha! How old are you?" "Teacha, where you come from?" "Teacha, how long are you in Thailand?" These are the tame, expected questions though; often they like to get a little more personal, or downright absurd. Some of my favorite exchanges so far:

Male Student: Teacha, do you have a boyfriend? Me: No, I don't. Student: I am single. Me: I don't date students.

Male Student #2 (it's always the boys): Teacha, why do you have light skin? Me (a little flabbergasted): Why do you have dark skin???? (That one was a hit with the students.)

Female student: Teacha, what color are your eyes? Me: They are hazel, which means green and brown. Female student: Oooohhh suay, suay [beautiful]! (Kid, you get an A from teacha.)

Sigh… kids are kids no matter what side of the world you're on. I know I am probably forgetting some silly student stories (there's a new one everyday), but that just means I will have to same them for another post. Stay tuned, and sawadee ka!