For the last time, no, I do not want a pretty lady or a taxi.

Penang, the Pearl of the Orient. Or so they say. I spent the last four days in Penang to sort out visa paperwork for my employment in Thailand. Penang, which is a small island on the west coast of peninsular Malaysia, has a very rich history, and is a veritable melting pot of cultures. Here is a picture of Penang, or as it is officially named, Palau Penang (Palau means island, I think):

The head of the arrow is unfortunately covering the island. If you click here you can see the island in google maps. Life on the island, as I experienced it, was not as exciting as guidebooks made it out to be. The island is very, very small. From what I saw, it is also divided into two sections: the working people/backpackers section and the rich, tourist, resort section. The island had the feeling of a cheap, kitschy, Miami beach. Lots and lots of ocean front high rises, all-inclusive resort hotels that guests never have to leave, "authentic" markets that sell everything from fake gucci to fake (insert other trendy name here). Overall, I was not impressed. Granted, I only spent four days there. But I tried to see as much as I could. There were a number of interesting sites, one of which I wanted to see but never got to it. There is Penang Hill, which is a large hill that overlooks the entire northwest section of the island. I've got pictures of that, which was actually really beautiful. To get to the top of the hill, you have to take a cable car up, which takes about 45 minutes. I also visited Fort Cornwalis, which is the fort Francis Light built for the East India Trading Company when it first came to the island and set up shop. It was a pretty mediocre fort, as far as forts go. But when I was walking there I saw a lot of activity in the roads surrounding the fort, and started asking people what was happening. Turns out Penang was hosting one of Malaysia's most prestigious motorcycle races of the year, but it was the day I leave. Bummer. One more interesting fact, that I thought was pretty funny, about the fort. The chapel is one of the only buildings still standing from when the fort was built in the late 1700s. The first service held in it was the marriage of Francis Light's widow to a man stationed at the fort. Quite fitting.

Aside from that, Penang had a few touristy sites to visit, like the Toy Museum. The museum boasts to have the biggest collection of toys in the world. I might have to agree; it was a pretty staggering number of toys. Overall though, if you're planning a trip to South East Asia, don't feel bad skipping Penang.

Blogging from Bangkok

I had wanted to do this when I first got to Thailand, but my layover from Bangkok to Chiang Mai was too short to sit down and find the time to type this out. I think my desire to blog from Bangkok had more to do with the simple alliterative value than anything substantial. I also get the pleasure of writing this during Chanukah, so I guess it was a good thing I didn't do this until now.
At the very moment of this writing, I am sitting in a badly conceived "authentic" Thai restaurant, eating overpriced, poorly prepared food in the Departure wing of the Bangkok airport. In typical airport fashion, the mood is subdued. I think at airports everyone watches everyone else and fabricates elaborate stories of where they are going and where they are coming from. At least I do. I have found that points of transit are prime people watching locations. Airports, train stations, and bus depots are gold mines for witnessing human interaction and seeing the variety of crazy there is in the world.
I was really bored before, so I decided to take my camera out, place it on my table, and just start filming. The movie ended up being about 25 minutes because I forgot my camera was still filming. I am hoping that I can somehow edit the video to make it into a Mystery Science Theater-esque short. I guess I will have plenty of time to watch the video on my return trip. Maybe this will become a new hobby of mine, who knows.
Well, I have to finish eating and find my gate soon. Malaysia, here I come!

Mae Rim Loop

A friend and I decided to take a drive around the Mae Rim Loop last week, and I finally got around to organizing the pictures this weekend. The Mae Rim loop is a roughly 20 kilometer loop around some gorgeous (as you can see to the left) mountains a little north of Chiang Mai. It was strange, as it was my first time out of the city, to see how quickly the landscape changed from urban to completely rural. The drive was really fun, especially now that I've gotten comfortable on my motorbike (which I still need to get pictures of). The roads are very curvy and steep, perfect motorbiking roads. About halfway around the loop is the Queen's Botanical Gardens. There were so many different flowers, trees, and plants there. It was pretty astonishing to see the variety they had in the gardens. You can see more pictures like the one above just by clicking RIGHT HERE!! More updates are coming soon. I've been trying to finish my work at school early because next week I have to go to Malaysia to renew my visa. Woe is me. I'm going to Penang. I found this travel guide about the city in the New York Times. Apparently, Penang is one of the food capitals of the world. I guess I know what I'll be doing while I'm there.

Wat a Day!

Actually three Wats to be precise. This past Sunday, a few friends and I decided to head over to the local bus station and take a bus anywhere. We had originally wanted to go somewhere specific, woke up at 5:30 a.m. so we could have a full day, only to get to the bus station and discover that the bus doesn't leave until 1 p.m. So we took the next bus leaving the station, which happened to be to Phayao. Phayao is about 3 hours northeast of Chiang Mai. It's a beautiful, small town next to a big lake. We hired four guys to drive us around for the day, so we got to see the whole city. The main attractions are three Wats within the city. One is in the middle of a lake, another is on the shore of the lake, and the third is in the mountains overlooking the city. It was a lot of fun, and definitely worth the trip. Below is a link for the pictures.

Phayao Pictures

What's in a name?

Sorry for the delay in posts. Now that school is in full swing, I've been in teacher mode or trying to go out and do things in the city. So the blog has been a tad neglected. But I had some down time and thought I would share one of the stranger things I've experienced thus far at the school itself, Thai names. Thais have very long, complex official names. Nearly everyone, therefore, has a nickname they generally go by. Naturally, I've had to learn the nicknames of my students. When I first went around with a seating chart trying to fill in everyone's name, I discovered that nicknames in Thailand are not quite like nicknames in the US. If your name is Christopher, you might go by Chris. I'm sure you all know what a nickname is. But here, nicknames are completely arbitrary and totally strange. I have students named Beer, Porn, Snooker, and Benz (yes, like the car). I play basketball with people named Golf and Cartoon. Obviously, they know what these words are. I doubt that whoever gave them their nickname randomly assembled these letters unknowingly. What I don't understand is the choice for the nicknames. But, that's Thailand, gotta love it. I posted one seating chart below, complete with nicknames, so that you can experience it all for yourself. Enjoy.

Loy Krathong, part 2

As I said before, the pictures are much different than the actual experience. I shot this video to try and capture what it was really like. The quality is pretty bad, but you can get the gist of it.

Loy Krathong

This will just be a short post, because words do not do this festival justice. I just experienced Loy Krathong two nights ago. Let me just say, wow. It's almost as if they combined the explosiveness of New Year's with the drunken debauchery of Halloween. The festival itself has very serene, peaceful origins. The Krathong, or small floaty thing as it is technically referred to, is meant to symbolize a person letting go of the bad parts of themselves - grudges, anger, past wrongdoings, etc. For all the Jews out there, a little like Tashlich, but instead of food, they make small rafts. For all you Catholics out there, a little like....well I think Catholics hang on to that for a while. Anyway, the origins are very peaceful, but the celebration consists of people getting very drunk and setting off large amounts of fireworks within a very close proximity of one another. I'm not just talking Roman Candles, either. I'm talking about blow-off-your-finger and lose-your-hearing fireworks. So there are fireworks going off literally all around you, people are releasing these krathongs, and they are also letting Khom Fai go into the air. Khom Fai are like miniature hot air ballons, and they have a similar purpose to the Krathongs. So the night sky is filled with fireworks and thousands of Khom Fai floating away, people are all around you setting off fireworks, sparklers, small clay explosives, and on and on. The pictures (which you can see here) are quite calm, but the experience is actually very loud and not calm. Still, all in all, a very worthwhile experience for anyone to see. Also, if you're interested in learning more about Loy Krathong, here is the link to its Wikipedia page.

Teacher Josh!

I had wanted to post something sooner, but the week flew by before I knew it. The first week of school is in the bag, and I can already tell it is going to be quite the experience. I spent the week seeing how the school ran, shadowing the teacher I am replacing, seeing how he ran the classroom, what the students are learning, etc, etc. I am teaching fourth grade, and as you would expect, the kids are hilarious. Things at Dara are quite different than any school I have experienced, as a student or teacher.

To start with, all the students seem to have freedom throughout the entire campus. From the youngest age to the oldest, students can walk around, sit outside, leave class, or do whatever else they want. They are not required to stay in the class. If a kid needs a break, he just asks the teacher to leave, and goes and does his thing. It threw me at the beginning, but I am coming around to the idea. It cuts down on the number of behavior issues in the class because if a kid is bored, he just leaves.

Classes also begin and end much differently here than in the west. At the beginning of each class, when the teacher comes in the room, the entire class stands up and addresses the teacher. At the end of each lesson, they thank the teacher in the same way. Very strange. But beyond those two moments, the kids are non stop energy, asking tons of questions, and struggling to learn English.

They call me Teacher Josh (though they have trouble pronouncing the sh, so sometimes I am teacher John) and they are very curious about where I am from, how old am I, how much I weigh, and any other question they can say in English. At this point, they are learning shapes, colors, prepositions (in, on, next to) and other basic stuff.

One of the funniest things for me is that all the kids have nicknames because their Thai names are so long. So I have kids in my class named Snooker, Cartoon, Benz, Bambi. I don't know if they gave themselves nicknames, or if someone gave it to them. My goal is to have them give me a Thai nickname.

That's it for now. I will try and update this more with stories than just describing what I am doing, but that requires a lot more effort. So we'll see if it works out. Happy Halloween!

Moat Walk!

Today I took it upon myself to do a little sightseeing around the old city of Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is a very walker-friendly city (it's only about 8 km across), and it is very hard to get lost. The city itself is divided into the old city and the new city, and expands from the inside out. The border between the two is a large moat which surrounds what used to be a very imposing brick wall that encircled the city. Think medieval castle with moats and parapets, but around an entire city. So, long story short, if you are ever lost, simply find the moat. Remnants of the wall are still found all around the moat, and the four main gates which provided access to the old city are still standing. In total, it is about a 6 km walk. To give you some scope, here's a map of the city.

Walking around the moat was great because it let me see how the city changes. Starting at Tha Phae, the very touristy part of the city, I made my way towards the more local areas. I began seeing more restaurants, clothing stores, some hair salons. You know, usual neighborhood stores. At the southwest corner of the moat, I came upon a gorgeous public park and began watching some guys who had met up to play some kind of game. One of guys stretching on the side started talking to me and explained the game. It is called Takraw (think taco, but with an r before the o). If you look it up in Wikipedia, it says it's like volleyball, but with your feet. These guys were playing a different version, from what I could tell. There was no net like in volleyball. Instead, as you can see in the video, they all stand in a circle and try and kick, knee, elbow, or head the ball into a net hanging about 15 feet above them. The guy told me they get different points for doing different things. So heading the ball in is 15 points, elbowing is 15, if you kick it through a circle you make with your arms, that's more. I don't remember the entire scoring breakdown, but it extremely elaborate. Oh, and he said they keep score for 40 minutes and whoever has the most, wins. Here's the video:

It was a quintessential Thai game in that the overall objective is to score as many points yourself and win, but you cannot do that without helping out your opponents. You can only score if the ball comes to you from someone else and you knock it in. So any kind of selfish or destructive playing will only hurt your chance to score. It's an oddly harmonious game.

After watching the Takraw game, I made my way north on the west side of the moat. This being the farthest from the tourists, it was the quietest side. On the northern side, I discovered a few electronics stores and stocked up on some stuff I needed. Then, I made my way back down to the Tha Phae gate, hopped on a Songthaew (shared taxi that's actually a pick up truck with two benches and a roof in the bed) and drove back to school. Pictures of my moat walk are on my Picasa page, which if you don't already have bookmarked, you can see here.

And we have internet

Finally got internet access in the room. It was very strange not having it at hand. I have become extremely attached to the internet, it would seem. Try it yourself and see how long you can last without checking your email or surfing the net.

Well, my first posting from my room should be about the school. I went around today and took a few pictures. There will be more, I promise. I walked around to try and remember my way around as much as I did to snap a few pictures. The campus is surprisingly big, and very spread out. The pictures started as location shots, but then I started doing close ups of flowers and butterflies, real manly stuff. Right after I took all the pictures of flowers and butterflies I wrestled a tiger and chopped down a tree just by looking at it, just to reaffirm my manliness.

No post, radio

A little update. A lack of internet access is the reason for the lack of postings. Believe me, there is more than enough material, just no way to get it out there. The IT department should be back at the school sometime in the next few days, and then I should have internet access in my room. Until then, it's sporadic access care of Nay's Cake & Bakery.

It Begins...

3 flights, two layovers (though they were more like rushovers. I have to leave more time between flights next time) and about 20 hours later, I have finally arrived in Chiang Mai. The fifteen minutes I spent in Hong Kong were nice; Bangkok was also very pleasant in the same capacity. But Chiang Mai will be my home for the next 6 months, so onto that. I did not expect this, but the moment I walked out of the airport in Chiang Mai, I was hit with that old familiar smell of a city in a developing country. Thoughts of Ghana and India flooded my memory as the smells of auto fuel, sweat, and damp air enveloped me. These are not bad smells, just very unique smells that can only be experienced, and made me feel even more comfortable in my decision. I like to think I thrive in these kinds of places.

I am staying in a swanky hotel tonight for about the cost of a Motel 6, and will be meeting people from the school tomorrow. They will show me my room, take me around (I hope) and help me get a sense of where things are. Then I have a few days to get settled before I start teaching. Until then, know that I arrived safely with all my bags, and I'm ready to begin this adventure.

I don't remember it feeling like that...

It is first class, and you'll pay every penny's

worth.

I went to Passport Health today to get my vaccines for Thailand and boy are my arms tired! Actually, they feel really sore, like I did 1,000 bicep curls. You probably heard me counting. But seriously, not only did I get five shots, but each of those shots average out to $75. I did get a sweet Garfield band-aid out of it though, so it all balances out in the end.

The whole Passport Health experience is a little ridiculous. They charge $65 just to show up and "consult" with you. The consultation involves a nifty little booklet explaining all of the horrible diseases you could contract and get vaccines for. The nurse reads through it with you and basically gives you a shopping list of shots you need. This is probably done to scare you into getting every shot they offer, which is exactly what I did. The way I looked at it, I could spend $575 today, or possibly get horribly sick there and then pay about that much for treatment. So the good folks at Passport Health gave me the shots, three in the left arm, two in the right. I don't remember other vaccines feeling like this, but I also don't think I ever got five at once. Just one more step towards my trip. It really is happening.

The Call

This being a blog about my adventures in Thailand, I felt it prudent to begin my blog with a post about the call I received that catapulted me into this journey. To set the stage, it was Sunday, September 27th, 9:30 p.m. The Colts were running roughshod over the Cardinals, and I had just downed my eighth liter of water in my usual ritual to rid myself of a cold as quickly as possible (it works, I swear). It's not often you receive a phone call with 16 numbers, no dashes, area codes, or any other remotely identifiable characteristics. I tend to screen my calls, but decided this may be worth answering. Turns out, I was correct. They offered my the position, and thus began my adventure.

Below, you can see a picture of the actual phone used to accept the position:

Some might say the phone simultaneously embodies violence and sexuality. Notice the sharp lines and articulated contrast. Also note the "JOSH" label on the phone. This was done because my father and I have the same model phone. Honored though I was to follow in my father's footsteps of requesting the same free Sprint upgrade model, I thought it wise to label mine to prevent future embarrassing mix-ups. Not only is the label functional, but having a label with your own name on your own phone is a surefire way to get noticed. Sadly, this very phone, the instigator of my entire forthcoming adventure, will not make the trip with me. Fare thee well, JOSH phone, fare thee well.