Teaching and Being Taught Thai

It has been almost two weeks since I wrote my last post. I feel like so much has happened, that I've had to go back and review what I've already said. Even though time travels fast when you're having fun, I'm enjoying myself and I still feel I've been here for ages and known some of the volunteers for much longer than a couple weeks. With that said, I'll start from where I left off...

            After my last post, we were driven to the small community where Julia (from Denmark), Sabine (from Australia) and I were supposed to be teaching for the week. We arrived at the house to find that it was completely empty - no beds, no kitchen tools, nothing. We found it strange and started preparing ourselves to be sleeping on the tile floor. Luckily the neighbour informed our driver that they had moved the volunteer accommodation into the school (remember that Western toilet I mentioned? Turns out the landlord took advantage and decided to raise the rent, so the school didn't want to pay it anymore...Very sneaky). Anyway, after being shuffled around, we ended up at a teacher's house who was emptying out one of her kids' rooms for us. It seemed a little sketchy so we made a call and long story short, we ended up back at the Walker's Inn in Khao Lak. Though we were disappointed about not seeing something new, we definitely couldn't complain. We had just been lined up for another week of resort crashing and amazing food. Because there are so many holidays in Thai schools, we only actually taught a couple days that week, but they were definitely rewarding. We also visited a local orphanage (Enya - the little girl I talked about in my last post - came with us and was our official teacher's assistant. Very handy). It was actually very impressive. The orphanage had set up a coffee shop where you could buy different coffees and cakes, and all proceeds went towards the kids. We gave an English lesson, and then watched the kids show off their dance moves to Gangnam Style (they were even doing back flips!!!). I then had my ass handed to me at pingpong by a kid playing with a book... The week was pretty laid back, and we quickly established our favourite spots in Khao Lak: we found a Scandinavian candy store (for the tourists), and a gelato shop that even sells green tea frapps!!! I'm in heaven (obviously I've been back to this place several times)!!!

            We decided to make our weekend a little more eventful and started with a trip to the MooMoo Cabaret show. Yes, the ladyboy show. Honestly, it was slightly disappointing. They lipsync and dance, but it's nothing spectacular, and we all agreed to leave early and go to a bar... Solution to any problem? Thai whisky!

            The next morning I went scuba diving! I was a little worried because I've had a hard time recovering from an ear infection I got almost two years ago in Dominican, but I thought I'd at least try it out and see. We went to a site called BoonSung wreck - a shipwreck that has broken into several pieces, partially because of the tsunami. The dives were definitely successful and we saw quite a lot: rockfish, porcupine fish, lion fish, stingrays, cuttlefish, catfish, barracudas, lots of eels, different kinds of shrimp and other weird invertebraes. There were also TONS of schools of fish. There were literally times where you had to part the fish to swim forwards. I was surprised though by the lack of colour. I wasn't sure if it was because of bleaching or just the wreck itself, but there was a lot of grey and brown. I'm excited to dive on the other side of Thailand though to compare!!!

            On Sunday, a big group of us decided it was time to get out of Khao Lak, and went on a daytrip to Khao Sok National Park. Apparently, this is the oldest rainforest in the world, and is located about an hour north of Khao Lak. We started by visiting a local market; as usual, I was one of the few who had no issues with loading up on yummy street food and local fruit. We then went river rafting along a river where we fed the fish (every time you through in food, a swarm of them would flap out of the water...HILARIOUS). We also spotted some sleeping snakes along the way. We headed to our next stop for lunch. It was kinda random, but it turns out that an Olympic Thai boxer's family owns the restaurant where all the tour groups go, so you meet him, get a boxing demo, and get to take photos with him and his medal. Next we visited a monkey temple. Basically what happens is the tour vans get there, and the people start 'summoning' the monkeys down from the trees. They then give you fruit to feed them and a ton of monkeys swarm you for food. I sometimes wonder how people come up with these tourism ideas, but there you go. Last on our tour was the infamous elephant trekking. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical about this one because animal abuse is something that I just can't and don't tolerate. It just gets to me. Fortunately, it seemed fairly reasonable, and I didn't witnessed any elephants being hit or tortured. Sabine and I paired up and all the elephants started trekking up a ravine. It was completely terrifying at some points because you're sitting on a metal bench tied in by a string and an elephant is tipping up and down steep hills. It's basically like that nightmare of falling off a chairlift come to life. Sabine and I hung on to eachother for dear life, but all we could really do is break out into hysterical laughter. We took turns riding on the elephant's head, where your legs secured behind the elephant's ears is the only thing holding you on.

            When we found out that we would be heading to the 'luxury hotel' with the other volunteers for the next week, we were relieved, and SUPER excited to see something new. It's actually amazing here: we have AC, TV, a fridge, and a normal hot shower. All the luxuries of home!

            We've now been teaching for a couple days and I think(?) we have the hang of it. I've realized that I'm actually quite a confident teacher. I think all those years in acting really helped (plus, I'm sure teaching in Tanzania and Peru didn't hurt either). I'm also using similar methods to the ones that were used for me to learn French in school, and they're working really well. The challenge for me is adjusting to Thai customs. There are so many little rules that you have to follow related to their religion and social statuses. The one that I still haven't mastered is that you can't point at someone. It's considered deeply disrespectful, but it's such a habit of mine! You also can't show the bottom of your feet, you can't touch a child's head, and of course you must cover your shoulders and knees at all times. You also have to endure the school lunches which are less than appealing, but there is no alternative. We've resorted to bringing a backup supply of cookies from 7-Eleven. It's definitely an adjustment, but the kids are respectful and enthusiastic about learning, so you can't really ask for more.

            After this week, we're headed back to Walker's and I think I've finally hatched a plan for at least the next few weeks. A couple of volunteers from Scotland and I have decided to travel together for now. Next week, we're headed to the islands Ko Phi Phi and Ko Lanta. We are then headed to...Singapore! We needed to leave the country to get our visas renewed and extended, so we decided to make a trip out of it. As of today, we've booked our flights. One of the girls has a friend there, so we'll even have a tour guide. We are then planning to head back and finish up the islands before heading up North to Chiang Mai. I have to say, I'm a little relieved that I've met some people to travel with, and I can't even begin to imagine how many people I will still meet on this trip. It's really amazing to be constantly introduced to travelers from around the world! Anyway, I'm excited for the next few weeks of adventures!

P.S. I just ran home in my first torrential-down-pour-thunderstorm in Thailand. Note to self: Don't do that again!

MooMoos, Magic Shows, and Minor Sunburns

Sunday, January 13th, 2013
MooMoos, Magic Shows, and Minor Sunburns
 I have now been in Thailand for a week. When I first got here, the adjustment was extremely minor and surprisingly easy. The people here are unbelievably friendly and a smile just lights up their world it seems. I can say with great pride that since I've been here, I've semi-learned (pronounciation is still questionable) two Thai words: hello and thank you. Simple, but they go a long way. I've also been mastering my bartering skills (though if you've ever traveled with me, you know that this is one of my favourite activities). It's funny because no matter the price you end up paying, even if it's ridiculously low, they will still smile and laugh and genuinely thank you. Love it! The rest of the world could learn a thing or two from Thai attitude.

 Since I arrived on a bit of a weird day, I haven't actually started volunteering. I quickly learned that it's crazy easy to resort crash here - not so surprising that I was introduced to that skill by my father. I've pretty much been to the pool everyday this week. Apparently it costs 300 euros per night to stay there, but if you play the part, you can go in, use their facilities and steal their WIFI. I think they put way too much faith in tourists... Anyway, pretty much right when I got here, I started to meet people. First some Finnish girls, and a couple Americans. Now that other volunteers are here, I'm surrounded by Brits and Scots and am pretty sure I'm picking up an accent. I have yet to meet any Canadian travelers, so I guess I seem kind of 'exotic' to the rest of the group. It's a little nuts how you meet people, have a drink and maybe dinner with them, and the next day, it's as if you'd been traveling with them the whole time. I think many people come to Southeast Asia with the hope of that happening. Before I left for my trip, I wasn't overly excited to come to Thailand, thinking that it would probably be filled with people wanting to get drunk at Full Moon parties and go to pingpong shows (if you're not sure what that is in Thailand, look it up, trust me). Turns out it's actually a great way to meet travel buddies who are looking to explore and experience the world just like you. Definitely comforting.
 The guesthouse I'm staying at right now is also phenomenal. Anyone planning to travel through Khao Lak should definitely check it out. It's called the Walker's Inn and it's owned by a British man and his Thai wife - who also have an adorable daughter with mountains of energy (hence the pic). They're unbelievably kind and friendly. Yesterday, the owner took all the volunteers on a day trip. First to a waterfall in one of the amazingly lush parks, then to a beach out of town (the one in the pic). He also took us to the hotel where they filmed the new movie The Impossible about the tsunami. I wasn't sure before I came, but it turns out that Khao Lak was one of the worst hit areas in Thailand - I think he said five or six thousand people died in this tiny community. Even the guesthouse was up to the second floor with water and apparently bodies were piled up in the ditch right outside our window. It's crazy to think that just eight years ago, this place was literally a graveyard. And now, there's almost no evidence at all. All the resorts have been rebuilt (and added to) and the community is fully functional. By the way locals act, you would never know that they had faced such devastation in their lives.
 I also haven't yet mentioned that I did go to the schools with a couple of other volunteers, mainly just for the sake of tagging along. They were so happy to have a Canadian with them for the pronounciation...Of course they were asking me to pronounce the names of Asian cities, so I probably wasn't super helpful... On Friday, the schools had a holiday called Children's Day. They pretty much throw a giant carnival for the kids. The one I went to had a ton of games, free food and a stage for shows. Of course, it wouldn't be a Thai show without a MooMoo performance. Tranvestites - or ladyboys as everyone calls them - are a huge thing here and they put on a Vegas style show with lip syncing. And it's sometimes so hard to tell that they're men! I've definitely heard some horror stories from guys here who accidentally take one home...I think that's a mistake you only make once... There was also a magic show, which definitely brought out the inner child. I grabbed a front row seat, and took lots of pictures of course. I guess I'm easily excited.

 Tomorrow we're headed to the schools in the villages. Some of the volunteers get to stay in a super nice hotel during the week. Unfortunately, I'm not one of them. My place only recently got a Western toilet, so I've lowered my expectations. Though after Tanzania, I'm pretty confident in my ability to handle just about any living situation. As much as it'll be fun to teach, I'm getting pretty excited to start moving around and start REALLY traveling. There's so much to see here it's crazy! I've come across so many options of what I could do with my time here, which is the exact opposite problem I thought I would have. One more exciting detail...I found out today that Saskia FINALLY booked her ticket to Bali! Every time I think about it, I get ridiculously excited. SO I've just begun my little adventure and it's already been so satisfying. Can't wait to see what happens over the next five months!

The Au Regimen: Salt, Nitrates, and Carbs

 The Au Regimen: Salt, Nitrates, and Carbs
 So, this is my first entry of what hopes to be a very successful blog. I will say that despite my many travels, I've never kept a blog before and am primarily doing this for the peace of mind of my parents - which may end up being counter-productive now that I think about it... I've only journaled in the past so I hope to keep the 'TMI' moments to a minimum.... (no promises).
 While I really hate writing about myself, I'm kind of hoping that someone who doesn't know me actually reads this and finds it somewhat interesting (and maybe even helpful?), so I'll give a tiny bit of background. I am 22 years old, and I feel like I have a pretty normal life. I just graduated last spring with a degree in International Studies from SFU in Vancouver, and am at that awkward crossroads in life between school and career. I've been waitressing for six years now, and while I love aspects of these jobs - mostly the people and the love of food and wine - I don't want this to define the rest of my life. I've been extremely lucky and traveled quite a bit in the past, reaching destinations like the Galapagos, Tanzania, Peru, and Japan, just to name a few, and so it seemed pretty natural for me to continue satisfying my travel bug before figuring out what the hell I'm going to do with the rest of my life. And honestly, I'm exhausted of thinking about it. It is so daunting trying to figure out what your passions really are, and even harder to get your foot in the door. I sometimes feel like the world is coming down on my shoulders and I have no idea in which direction to throw it. It also conveniently happens to be that I now have about eight months to finish my graduation portfolio from the Photography program at Langara College. Solution to a lack of pictures? Travel (duh). So I'm giving myself five months of freedom to do what I want, when I want, and go home with a finished portfolio and some peace of mind headed into my future. And hopefully, since I tend to be a slightly adventurous traveler, I can create some good stories along the way (I'm willing to try out most things once, and I will DEFINITELY eat anything once - weird foods are a hobby).
 Okay, so I have five months away from home and have probably only actually planned a few weeks of it, but here's the itinerary so far:
1. Skiing in Austria and visiting Florence/Tuscany. (check mark)
2. Volunteer teaching English in southern Thailand for three weeks.
3. Hopefully meet some nice travelers in Thailand and travel with them through Southeast Asia for a month.
4. Either keep travelling in Asia for the month of March OR go volunteer in India for a month (which is HIGHLY enticing right now....any advice from anyone?).
5. Meet up with Saskia in Bali and scuba dive as much as possible in the Indonesian islands.
6. Meet up with Steph in Cairns, and drive down the Eastern Coast to Melbourne before flying home!
(...all of the above will probably change twenty times, but that's kinda the point of the trip...)
 So far, I've completed the European leg of my trip, and have decided to condense it into one entry. As many of my friends know, my family has the tradition of going to Austria at Christmas. We stay at a hotel in a small town in the Alps called Au. I think it is probably safe to say I have now been more than ten times in my lifetime. My grandmother, who is now 91, has been going to this hotel for 75 years, so our family is well-versed with the 'Au tradition'. I won't go into too much detail about the trip - mostly because I'd be pretty bored to write it all down - but basically we skiied in the different resorts around the area (Damuls, Arlberg), and spent time with my grandmother. We actually succeeded (I use the word 'succeeded' very loosely) at taking her cross-country skiing one day. We also indulged in the naked sauna, probably our new favourite thing to do at the Krone Hotel. Europeans do not hold back on the nudity. We do. We try to be subtle and pretend that we're not actually wearing swimsuits under our towels, but it never really works. Oh, wait. That's a partial lie. My dad is naked under his towel. Oh, no wait. My dad's just naked (he fits right in, I'll give him that). My sister, Nick (her boyfriend), and I try to avoid the naked people - who are all in the sagging age range - but we never succeed. We then get to point out all the people we saw naked at dinner, and are pretty much scarred for life. And then we EAT. Eating is probably our biggest past time in Au and a dieter's nightmare. Every night we have hors d'oeuvres in our rooms, get nice and buzzed off of duty-free liquor, and then sit down to a five-course meal that usually involves questionable meats and gelatinous things. And then there's New Year's Eve, which we refer to as 'The Never Ending Meal'. It's normally about eight or nine courses, and just when you think you're done, they serve the midnight buffet. We also eat giant breakfasts filled with coldcuts, cheeses, and breads, and then stuff ourselves with wienerle and pommes on the ski mountain. I also have a deep obsession with germknoedel, which is a giant yeast dumpling filled with prune jam and drenched in custard. So, no, we do not starve, we usually gain ten pounds instead.

 After Au, my family tries to go to another city or place reasonably close by, so that we get to see something new. This year, we chose Florence and Tuscany. The after-Au trip is usually pretty short - only a few days - so we really only get a taste of the place, but we definitely try to smush in as much sightseeing as humanly possible. Since there were five of us, we rented an apartment in downtown Florence. We visited the Uffizi (where you can see Botticelli's the Birth of Venus), went to see Michelangelo's David and Pieta, and climbed to the top of the dome in the cathedral. We also spent a day driving around Tuscany, trying to find vineyards that were open for tasting (I think we tried ten, but only succeeded at two), and walked around the medieval town of San Gimignano. We shopped way too much for italian leather, which is ridiculously overwhelming in Florence, and then we ATE. I think the entire time we were there, all most of us had was pasta, paninis, cappucinos, croissants, and gelato. We obviously also drank a ton of wine. I never realised just how many wineries there are in Tuscany. I've been to Napa and Sonoma, and of course the Okanagan and Niagara, but it felt like there were so many more. Maybe it was only because I don't really know italian wines that well, so all the labels seemed so obscure. I also didn't recognise any of the names. While you can always find your generic wine on the shelves at home, I never saw a bottle of generic italian wine that I'd had at home. As a wine enthusiast and a drinking-in-general enthusiast (that's what working in the restaurant industry does to you), this was AMAZING!!! Definitely will have to go back.
 So now, here I am, waiting for a flight to Bangkok. People keep asking me if I'm excited or nervous about my trip, and I never really give an answer. Honestly, I think I've just been anticipating it for so long, I'm just ready to start and be there. This is probably the only opportunity I'll get for years to just take off and be spontaneous, and it's exciting to not feel the pressures of real life, of a job, or school. I don't really have any expectations either (except maybe not to die...). Funny enough, I also just noticed that I'm wearing a t-shirt right now that says "The world's mine oyster" (ironic, right??). So with that, here I go!!!