Thailand Part II

So in this post I’ll describe the trip itself a little more. We got to Thailand at around 11pm on Saturday night, which sucked, but Bob met us and got us to Khaosan Road. I’m glad he was there, cause the cab driver kept trying to rip us off. Khaosan Road was pretty different than Japan. Basically it’s full of backpackers, and garbage. It was late so lots of people were pretty drunk, and the garbage had piled up quite a bit, so maybe my first impression wasn’t the best. Anyway, we were glad to go to Koh Chang the next morning.

The ride there was pretty uneventful. We basically just followed all the other white people from one stage to the next, until we were on the island and in one of the “taxis”. The first day we pretty much just wandered around our little town area and spent time on the beach. Then the next day we went on an elephant trek, and to a much bigger beach on the top of the island. Everything there was really relaxed, so I really enjoyed it the whole time. Also, the food was so much better than anything I can get in Japan.

Thailand itself was a lot poorer than I expected it to be, and I can’t really understand why. There is tons of tourism there, but so many things seem unnecessarily neglected. Just about everything seems on the verge of collapsing, but I guess if it does they just put it back up again. Granted I was only there for less than a week, so I didn’t exactly see the whole picture.

Anyway, here are some pictures:

See the Whole Album

Thailand Part I

So Colin and I just got back from Thailand, and it was quite a trip. I decided two posts would be best, because one needs to be pictures and stories, while another has to be devoted just to the ride back from Koh Chang.

Koh Chang is a beach island that’s about 300km or so from Bangkok. The island itself is pretty big, and our place was a little over halfway down from the pier where the ferry to the mainland picks us up. Anyway, we started our trip home at about 8am, when a taxi picked us up. On Koh Chang taxis are pickup trucks where you ride in the back, sorta like members of a third world country’s militia. So that ride lasted about 30min or so, and then we got herded onto the ferry, which was by far the most normal part of the trip. It was just a really slow boat. Then came the bus ride to Bangkok.

The bus was run by two Thai people: a middle aged angry looking woman, and an ancient lunatic that sounded like he was always talking with one of those smoking robot voice things. This guy was basically talking (either to the woman, into his cellphone, or to no one at all) the entire time. It took both of them working together to shift into the highest gear (they would both need to push on the stick). That’s not even the craziest part. The old guy was absolutely obsessed with changing lanes. Since Colin and I were in the front seats, we could constantly hear the signal clicking away. He would cut people off all over the place. When there was only one lane he would just signal and then start driving on the shoulder for awhile. I think about the longest he was ever happy in one lane was maybe 2 or 3 min, and that was only when the woman was talking to him. About an hour or two into this ride there was a very loud hissing sound, and then he started swerving even more than normal. After driving like that for about 15min he pulled into a little mechanic’s shop and jumped out. When we all got out we saw that something was wrong with one wheel. They fixed that after banging on it for about 30min, and then we started the crazy driving again. After maybe an hour and a half the wheel blew again, so we went to another mechanic, and they banged on it some more. After that repair we were a lot closer to Bangkok. A couple of times the bus started to ride pretty strangely, but the old guy would get out take off his shirt, grab a little wrench and disappear for 5min. We also got pulled over by the police 3 times.

All these mishaps really delayed our return, so this one German couple was getting worried about missing their flight. Here is the solution the two bus people came up with: the woman hailed a cab from the window of the bus while it was driving on the freeway. The old guy then stopped and one of those median areas between an off ramp and the highway. The cab didn’t stop, obviously, so the old guy tried to tell the Germans just to wait there for another cab. They refused, and then an argument started where clearly no one understood each other. Anyway, the Germans ended up catching a cab in Bangkok, about 5min from where the bus stopped anyway.

As ridiculous as that story is, I can’t even describe what the guy sounded like with his constant jabbering. Once he clearly said the word “banana” in the middle of a rant on the phone, but I have no idea how a banana could relate to any of the issues he was dealing with.

Anyway, I’ll post the pictures and stuff later (including some of him).

Solo Class and Pen Pal Letters

So today when I got to school Nohmi sensei hands me a note written in Japanese and says that Kakio sensei (who I have ni nen sei class with on Thursdays) won’t be at school today. So I was unhappy because I really like those classes and assumed that she would eventually tell me they were cancelled. As it turns out the note was instructions about what I was supposed to do for the class, alone. Well, technically I wasn’t alone the whole time, because the homeroom teachers from each of those classes showed up at the beginning and end to unlock and relock the classroom door, and copy the note onto the board so the students could read it. The classes went fine though, mostly because we just worked on pen pal letters which gave them something to do but also let them get up and talk to each other. Anyway, I read a lot of first drafts, and here are some of the funnier revisions I made (there’s is in black, mine is in red):

I want the letter to you receiving.
- I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

I am a cheer character. What are you character?
- I am a cheerful person. What are you like?

Please don’t spend your body all at one time.
- I hope you stay healthy.

How many minutes are you making? I make thirty minutes.
- Please show this to Kakio sensei (I only said this to him, but he wrote it down at the end of his letter anyway)

Help Wanted

In an effort to encourage participation in next year’s exchange program, Kakio sensei decided to have the ni nen seis write letters to pen pals in Canada. The only problem is that she doesn’t know any Canadian teachers. However, since I know a few I said I would ask and see if I could find a class that was willing to participate. So, if you or someone you know has regular access to about 75 or so 13-15 year olds (even a few years older or younger than that would be ok), I could really use your help. The ni nen seis are capable, for the most part, of writing fairly well in English, and I will be able to help them understand any letters they receive so I think it should work pretty well. I think Kakio sensei wants to start this pretty soon, so if you are able to help can you let me know as soon as possible? Thanks.

P.S. They usually write pretty funny stuff