hard to make out, but there wee thousands of monks sitting under these lanterns meditating, which they do for days iby ther grand palace. 

the "bot" (i have yet to find what this is in english...it's like an alter at a church, where the thais go to wai and there is the most important image of buddha in the temple.) 

a float or a parade coming up soon 

 

 

last night we went down to some sort of monk's thing near the grnd palace (wan pra.) beautiful lights, lots of monks and nuns, quite a magical evening. 

also...waiting for the boat. 

waitin for the boat 

market street in chinatown 

walking through chinatown 

back in bangkok, rin and i on our balcony 

hanging off the edge of a tower... 

craig eating his first rambutan 

more photos! (finally) in Pattaya with the other teachers, eating at the top of a rotating restaurant 

rambutans in bed (also known as: another exciting weekend in bangers)

Back in school, Monday morning, first day of the term, and all I can say is, HOLY SHIT, THERE ARE A LOT OF STUDENTS HERE! Of course, a week before the term began they decided to tear up the end of the soi here, which all of the 3,000 students have to pummel down in their Benzes each morning, making it one lane, and quite crowded. Quite the disaster getting to work, especially when we had to be here at 7am. Dressed up, ready to roll. Feels good to be back in the swing of things, though tired, indeed.

Spent the weekend not doing too much. Went to Pattaya on Friday with the other teachers, didn’t do much. We were meant to have bonding games on the beach. However, after a year on the beach in Phuket, I found a nice little patch of shade with some other teachers and drank water. A little relaxing, but a long drive with a nasty driver in a mini bus, I honestly would have preferred to work on lesson plans.

Friday night was spent at home watching the rain and sub-titled movies. Saturday after waking up at a leisurely hour, Rin decided to take me back on the boats. I had plans of my own and wanted to make it to Chinatown, so we sailed on over and explored the small sois and cheap prices…quite possibly the cheapest in Bangkok. I bought some red jade, 40 baht ($1.) Only to drop it on my tile floor and to watch it shatter the next morning…gives me an excuse to go back.

Saturday night was spent playing cards and eating rambutans in bed. Getting some rest before school opened. Which reminds me. I introduced a teacher at school here to ramubutans in Pattaya. He had never eaten them before. This fruit has got to be the most bizarre fruit in the world, but awesomely delicious. In Phuket during the rambutan season (a work almost impossible for the farang tongue to pronounce) I lived on these prickly sweet things. He couldn’t understand them, and who would have ever thought to crack one of these babies open? But for 20 baht (50 cents) for a bag full, I cannot say no.

Rambutan:

(file not being shown properly, will fix tomorrow)

Yesterday we slept in again, went to the market, cooked and watched movies, and had a couple of friends over at night. Not too much. Starting to feel like home…

And tonight it’s palm shopping, as I am finally getting back into using my palm and want some games!

http://www.reisereporter.de/Bildarchiv-Malaysia/Terengganu2/Malaysia-Terengganu-Markt-Kuala-

romantic boat ride

Yet another holiday yesterday, nice to have a day off in the middle of the week. Wednesday, holiday…does this make me a doctor? Am I expected to go and play golf?

Went out on Tuesday night with a few guys from school and their girlfriends for a few drinks. It’s nice to be able to go out with people I work with, as in the past, co-workers always seemed to remain co-workers. Went to a big spacious place made of logs and twigs, sitting precariously on wobbly platforms. On the way there Rin and I hopped on the back on the back of motorbikes, not thinking a thing. However, when we got to the traffic light, Rin’s took off and left mine, a 18 year-old Thai boy pulled a u-turn in rush hour traffic to void the police, as neither of us were wearing helmets. (Against the law here.) I screamed, grabbed him around the waist and screamed at him in Thai. Finally, after lots of apologizing and wai-ing, he got me back in Rin’s presence, and we enjoyed the rest of the evening.

Yesterday we woke up at a leisurely hour, as it was a holiday and Rin’s last day beore he starts work! After sitting around our place in sarongs breathing in fake cold air watching subtitled moves, we decided to get dressed and head to some celebration involving the King, two white cows, throwing rice (but no, not a wedding…) and lots of crazed Thais looking for some good luck (if you collect the rice then you will have good luck…) Well at least this is what I understood from our conversation. So we hopped on a bus, walked down by Khao San in the weltering heat, made our way to the park, only to find a few workers cleaning up after the sacred cow rice tossing party. (And to find out the King didn’t actually go, as he was tired.)

After seeing the disappointment on my face, as we always seem to arrive at places a little too late, Rin grabbed my hand and told me to walk with him. He walked me through the amulet market and bought me a little gold ball to wear on a cord around my wrist to bring me good luck. Then we walked down to the pier and without telling me where we were going got us tickets to take a boat ride up the river for dinner. We rode for about 45 minutes in the sunset, watching as the monks wandered on and off the boat at the different piers. I can’t say where we arrived, but we had a leisurely dinner, went for a alk and slowly made our way back to our place.

I am really enjoying my days here in Bangkok. Something new every day. Some new side of myself I am rediscovering as I finally unwind in this city that seems to be a little too bizarre to swallow at first. But as you low upon it, it grows on you, and I truly think I could be here for a while.

Addiction.

I have found today that I am in dire need of a new addiction. Something to think about, something to obsess over. Something to spend lots of time investing on perfecting. There are not many addictions I have not yet had, so this is becoming hard.

I once had an internet addiction, and I think I miss that. Checking every site in my ever growing favourites list thirty times a day. www.madphilosophers.com. www.bored.com. Three email accounts. www.ebay. Doing google searches on everyone I know. www.campuskiss.com. www.uwo.ca... Anything new? www.citysearch.com. Loking up flights from Germany to the North Pole, seeing the price, for fun. www.blogger.com. Fat Eye for the Skinny Guy…got anything new for me today? www.mullets.com. www.ajarn.com. www.thebestsiteintheuniverse.com. Buil my own Passat at www.vw.com. Watch my declining funds at www.us.hsbc.com. And yet again at www.tdcanadatrust.com. Check distances between cities: www.mapquest.com. www.monster.com. Could there be jobs better than my own? Blog of this, blog of that. Google this, google that. Google my dog if I am bored. But as the internet connection slowed, so did my interest in learning about new things. New info overload, I am a little burnt out.

Addiction to lights. Buying every possible kind of pretty light to avoid the bright hideous lights that make me want to burst into flames. Market hunting, lamp shopping. My room is now too bright itself.

Addiction to filling the water bottles. One empty, to the water machine. One half empty, ‘hurry, drink it…then I can fill it.’ (This on not yet quite subsided.)

Addiction to garlic chicken. (See yesterday’s entry, also, not yet subsided.)

Addiction to buying wine, addiction to keeping the laundry hamper empty. Addiction to crisp collars, addiction to reading everything ever written on existentialism. Addiction to espresso, addiction to thinking espresso is only for yuppies. Addiction to avoiding becoming a yuppie. Addiction to books, addiction to playing and cleaning a zen garden. Addiction to chocolate, addiction to mango an sticky rice. Addition to cheap instant coffee. Addiction to coloring in coloring books. Addiction to stickers. Addition to lip gloss. Addiction to never-chipped-nailpolish. Addiction to even numbers. Addiction to crossing my legs. Addiction to sleeping on the left side of the bed. Addiction of addictions.

And now I need another. I have burned through them you see, and I need something new, only for a few days, to occupy my time. Addiction of anything.


ps, Rin got a job yesterday. I came home from work, he told me, and I burst into tears. I have yet to see the logic in my emotions.

back, and here to stay

oye oye oye. Dropped of the map for a week or so, but back in action. Upon reflection in our new place, Rin and I decided it would be best if we went to get some of our stuff from his mum's in Lang Suan. Another week in the jungle, I am beginning to find that place to be more like home than Bangkok. Since moving here I think we have spent more time in the woods than out of them. Nice, natural, 'sabai sabai', cheap, but little dull after a while. I would look forwad to having to do laundry from the well, to give me something to do. After hanging the clothes on the line I would go out to check every twenty minutes to see if they were dry, secretly hoping they weren't, so I would have something to do in another twenty mnutes.

And so we arrived back here last Thursday night after another daunting train ride, to a home of our own, cool air, a nice view, new sheets, and a new lease on life. (Perhaps a little dramatic?) It's nice to finally be out of the brothel hell we were living in, or sleeping on the floor of this airport, or this Isarn man's room. And, our touring being finished, I will soon be living with a fully employed boyfriend! Three cheers for that!

Back at school, making lesson plans. Basically, the way Thai schools work, they don't need us (farangs) in this week, but the Thais have to be here to eat Som Tam and watch game shows, (who knows what else they do...) and so we have to be in school to show our faces. So far today I have completed the following:

-wrote seven emails, one of which to myself so I would have something to look at in my inbox later
-refreshed my blog eleven tims to watch the stat counter increase
-went to the bathroom
-made coffee
-after drinking half the cup, noticed it was full of ants, threw it out, made more (to pass the time.) this was three hours ago. still have not touched it.
-looked at cell phones online
-looked through my blog archives
-did a google search on my older brother. The results are as follows. None of whom are actually my brother.) http://ww.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=%22Christopher+Burtch%22&btnG=Search&meta=
-upon looking at Google, noticed I missed Mother's Day, and wrote an email to my mother including both the words 'shit' and 'fuck.' (Showing my sorrow or forgetting the day, as it is not the same in Thailand.)
-read the email I wrote to myself.
-had a meeting with the Anuban teachers. They liked my new red shirt.
-looked through the new books for this year, making sure the page numbers were correct, incase the publisher made a mistake (this would allow me to write an email, thus taking up more time.)
-refreshed my inbox and blog, seeing which was faster. The inbox won.
-went to lunch. Had grilled chicken and garlic on rice with a fried egg and pepsi. (They were out of coke...) Discussed where everyone went on holiady. I think I win the most boring holiday competition. (Well, maybe second. One teacher stayed in Bangkok, and all he had to show for himself was a river taxi ride. "I'd never done that before." Been in Bangkok for a year and a half.)
-played in the soi, talking more about having a Thai-significant-other (our topic of choice most days.)
-was told I am famous in this area, as one teacher went home to find his wife talking about the farang woman she saw with a Thai boyfriend. The teacher said I taught here, and now, I am famous.
-looked at photos from the exciting vacations I didn't go on last week.
-refreshed my blog
-turned on two computers in the computer lab to see which was faster, the faster one would be my new friend. -this computer won, and now I sit here writing.

Shortly I will refresh my inbox, publish my blog, go back to my office, get my bag, go sign out, hail a motorbike taxi, and wobble sitting side saddle with sandals and a skirt, trying to weave my way back to my new home.

More excting adventures to come tomorrow.