Rocking Out!

Wow, it's been so long and so much has happened I don't even know where to begin. I've been meaning to post so many times and have just found myself busy and haven't been able to do it. It's really hard to get my lesson planning done now that I have Kristen and Trea around. Life is really good now that they're here with me. If you want to read some of what has been happening since we've been here check out Kristen's blog at chronicallysleepdeprived.blogspot.com . She's a little more on the ball with blogging lately. Thailand with a baby is quite different than Thailand without one. Although now that I've typed that I realize that everything is different with a baby than without one so it sounds kind of stupid.

The first two weeks that they were with me were . . . let me say . . . interesting. Both of them were having some serious adjustment issues. I hope Kristen won't kill me for saying so. I think I just got lucky and didn't really have any culture shock this time around and kind of forgot to think that it's the normal thing that happens. Anyway, I was stressing out because Kristen was stressing out because Trea was having a hard time adjusting. Anyway, I believe that things have settled down, for now.

We know know somewhat how celebrities feel when they go out in public because a "farang" baby (see previous posts for what a farang is) is nearly unheard of here. People are like in Trea's face like all the time. Everyone wants to play with her and hold her and touch her. Drove her nuts at first but I think she's gradually getting used to it. This past Monday and Tuesday we had off because of Buddhist holidays. Monday we went to a park by the lake here and just let Trea play on the playground. One boy (probably eight or nine) was talking to his friend in Thai, and basically said, "Whoa, a farang baby. I've never seen one before." It was almost like he wasn't sure they really existed. It's nice to be able to understand at least enough to catch jewels like that.

I'm working on taking pictures of some Engrish here and would like to collect enough for an occasional Engrish display/post on the blog. So keep your eyes open for that.

Also on Monday I found out that I have bronchitis. I went to a doctor who lives down the main road from us. His office is probably five mins. on a songtaew. His English is really good because he studied in England and did his residency in the Philippines. Anyway, I saw the doctor, he gave me some cough medicine, five days of prescription meds: for bronchial spasms, an antibiotic, an antihistamine, and a cough suppresant. My bill for the entire visit was 300 baht, about $8. The doctors here sure like to prescribe a lot of medications but I figure if it's gonna cost me $8 (including the visit) I don't care. Speaking of cheap, I've had a couple of pairs of pants that I bought at the super store here sitting in my closet for nearly a month. They've been sitting there because they sell the pants here unhemmed. I finally pulled them out and had Kristen figure out how long they needed to be. We went into town and took them to a seamstress (they just have these sewing machines out on the sidewalks) who hemmed both pairs for about $1.50 and had it done in an hour.

I don't know if it will really happen but we're toying with the idea of getting a car. That's probably the one thing that IS expensive here. It's kind of a pain to get around without one. Especially with a child. It's not like we live out in the sticks but we're kind of on the outskirts of town and it takes like 20 min. just to get into town on a songtaew. So, we'll see what happens. I'll keep you up to date if we do get one.

As Kristen mentioned in her blog we bought a stove a week ago yesterday and have already made good use of it. It's kind of like a glorified propane camp stove but whatever -- it works. It's a "Lucky Flame" and I know that you all wish that you had a "Lucky Flame." Speaking of flames, check out Kristen's account of the school fire drill. It's definately worth a look and I'm too lazy to write my own account.

Last night was the school welcome party. Every year they have a party to welcome all the new teachers and they put off the party until after Kristen arrived. They had some good food. It was a byob affair as some of the teachers had a few drinks of their own (or shared with others). And what is a party in Asia without karaoke!! They have a tradition of making all the new teachers sing. Kristen told me prior that she WAS NOT going to sing. I didn't know what I was going to sing. Kristen, knowing that I knew a few Thai rock songs, told the school owner that I should sing a song in Thai. Now, there was definitely a part of me that wanted to but also a big part that was very nervous about singing in Thai in front of a bunch of people who SPEAK THAI fluently. But once Kristen mentioned it, the deed was done and there was no turning back. So, I got up there and ROCKED THE FREAKIN' HOUSE!!! All the Thais were totally into it and loved it while all the farangs were jealous because I'm the man. I just thought it was a lot of fun.

We are going to get so spoiled here that it's going to be an adjustment going back home. We get our laundry done here for about $25/mo. The lady washes and irons our clothes (we do our own underwear and socks) twice a week and returns them to our doorstep the same day (provided it doesn't rain -- everything here is line dried). It's so awesome. We really could do our own laundry but it's the ironing that just takes so much time.


Yeah, this is my neatly ironed, folded laundry waiting on my porch as I return home from school.

I will try to be more dilligent with the posting but don't hold your breath.