NO I WILL NOT!

It seems to me that my pending trip over the seven seas (or rather, just one) is the best thing to come to everyone I know. Not because I will be able to see my family, or because it will be nice to hear stories of when I go home, but rather, because I am soooooooooooo wealthy that I can afford to buy something for everyone I know. (Thai teachers.)

To date, I have received the following requests which I am to buy, carry back through customs and other headaches, and shop in three different states to find. No problem. I didn't want to do anything while I was home anyway.

-makeup from every company that doesn't exist in Thailand in neutral tones.

-three bottles of CK one Summer perfume from duty free, only.

-one bottle of Clinique Happy.

-a pack of Crayola crayons for every student I teach (80 or so).

-bags from J.Crew, for travelling, of course.

-one laptop.

-three gold Cartier bracelets, averaging about $2,500 each. (Cartier in Vermont?)

-snacks

-chocolate cookies (brought into Thailand, during the hottest time of the year.)

-the entire Neutrogenia line, times 3.

-jewelery, with small diamonds (only small ones?)

-(pointing to a picture in a magazine) "those shoes, those pants, and that shirt, but red."

-lipstick from Almay, because it is owned by Clinique, and clinique is too expensive

-story books for every classroom

-tables for the kids (sure, right into my suitcase)

-cologne middle eastern men wear (Don't ask)

-cigarettes, the long ones

-viagra

-a Fossil watch

-any other watches you see

Anything else? Upon receipt of two magazines from my loving mother (thanks mum!) I heard one of the Thai teachers say to her friend, "Isn't Heather's mum nice? She sent some magazines over so we would know what to order! Isn't that nice? Do you want anything?" Upon which this other woman I had never seen in my life promptly ordered three tubes of lipstick. I didn't know I was running a mail order business. (On my dollar, might I add...)

And so, when I go home, I plan on purchasing the following:

-a keychain for Rin

-thousands of dollars worth of stuff for ME.

It's booked. I am ready. Now I only have to wait for two months, and then I am taking a journey back home for a couple of weeks of qulity time with friends and loved ones.

Thai Airways came out with a direct flight to New York that cuts the travel time down by more than a third, with no stops. On September 30th, will be boarding, non-stop to New York. I can't wait.

A Date.

The time had finally come again for a four day weekend in Thailand (our last one was a month ago...) I was so tired by the time last Friday rolled around that I was ready to crawl into bed and sleep until Wednesday. However, as things worked out, I was still working on Saturday and Sunday, with time to sleep on Monday and Tuesday.

When Sunday came around, I realized Rin and I hadn't been anywhere together, in a 'date-like' setting for a long time now. So we made an afternoon of it.

When he finished school and I finished teaching we met up an decided to go shopping, and ended up going to see Superman Returns which is about eight hours long, and possibly the most expensive nap Rin and I have ever taken. It was misery waiting for the end, and waiting for some noise in the movie so we could try to keep ourselves awake by eating pringles. After four days, it finally finished and we ran out of the cinema, feeling like we had accomplished something.

We then moved on to a seedy (but not that kind of seedy....) massage place near my school and parked in for a two hour massage. This is near a spa we used to go to, but it is about half the price. To the naked eye it looks like a nasty Chinese massage parlor, with the girls sitting in a fishbowl in the middle wearing numbers, waiting for someone to come and pick them, much like in your run of the mill brothel here in Bangkok. However, I asked many times, and was assured by my friend who tried, and found out, there is no "extra." We have been here quite a few times before, for a good, cheap, comfortable massage, with the scent of menthol and starched sheets in the air. However, on Sunday, Rin's old woman came in about 20 minutes late, finished about 20 minutes early, and had a screaming match with her daughter on the phone who was begging for money for her boyfriend. After her angry screaming match, she kneaded her fingers so hard into Rin's back, and I have been trying to undo the horrid things she did last week. And on top of it all, at the end of the massage, as we were about to give her and my lady a 80 baht tip (yes, a skimpy tip, though 50%...but they were terrible!) And she insisted we give her a 100 baht tip. I left so angry, it really ruined my day. My first date with my boyfriend in a long time, and she goes making me think about all the things that piss me off about this country.

After our massage we went down to the (stinky) river and sat watching people fish off the bridge until we found our appetites and went to a "moo grata" (like a bbq buffet, Korean type place) and for 79 baht stuffed ourselves with all the sesame chicken, cumin pork and salmon bbqed by yours truly.

So after a solid afternoon of quality time relaxing, eating and sleeping in a movie theatre, it was nice to remember what life is like without responsibility.

Back at school for the long-haul, no more holidays for a long time now. But I am counting down the days until I head home.

Neglect.

I have had a few emails telling me I have began to neglect my blog, haven't written home, etc. But the thing is, there is nothing to write. I haven't only been neglecting my blog, I have been neglecting some sort of life I came to Thailand to have.

I work about 14 hours a day, and most days come home too tired to eat, take a shower, have a piece of bread with peanut butter and crawl into bed with the air on full so I pass out into a coma for a few hours, before I do it all again.

I have been taking on and kicking out students, not to mention hiring a new teacher to lighten my load at school, which is not the easiest thing to do. Between interviews with fools (I had one guy come in, possibly stoned, in a dirty t-shirt, greasy hair, workboots and ripped jeans telling me how easy the job would be, and when can he start?) , to training a new teacher, for making excuses for the lack of materials (ie, a desk for said new teachers) and getting end of month 'to-do's checked off the list.

Life has been insane, and I am tired. I don't think I have had a grown up conversation in a while. I spent a vast majority of my day today trying to find a gluegun with the appropriate gluesticks in order to put the bow back on JJ's headband so she would stop crying. When I returned it to her in one piece, she forgot I had it.

Oh the joys of teaching Kinder.

I did, however, manage to meet with the group from America here to study the tsunami. It was so great to see some familiar faces and to see a project like theirs taking place. I gave a talk at their hotel on their first morning in Thailand, and even managed to score some American magazines and home teeth-whitener for Rin and myself. (Thanks mum!)

This weekend is a four day weekend, as it is the beginning of Buddhist lent. I am taking 90 3-5 year olds to a temple without fans or any relief from the heat for a 2 hour talk with some monks tomorrow. (Not my idea, trust me...) I am teaching Saturday and Sunday, and then, after shopping and spending some hard earned cash, I am going to sleep and try having a 'grown-up' conversation with Rin.

We shall see.