I want to ride my bi-cy-cle! I want to ride my bike!

One week ago:

The usual setting about 8 o'clock at night- everyone sitting outside the guest house/ school / bar.
I walk up drinking a diet coke and people ask me to join and I sit down.

Rick: I've been trying to think of a way for you to get back and forth from school.

Me: Me too. I think I'd like I bicycle, with a basket.

Rick: hmmm...

Everyone else: Nah, just get a motorcycle. A bicycle will take forever.

Me: I don't know if you've noticed but I'm really klutzy and I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a very good driver.

Willy: Motorbikes are so much easier than cars!

Me: No. I'll crash.

Willy: Healthcare is great here.

Me: I don't care. I don't want to get hurt in the first place.

Willy: Listen, I got in a really bad accident and they fixed me up for only $53.

Me: The healthcare will not be able to send my mom here.

Willy: A bicycle will take forever and you'll get all sweaty.

Me: I'm in good shape and I walk fast. I'm pretty sure a bicycle won't be a big deal.

I got up and at the same time attempted to sip my diet coke and walk to the trash can. I tripped and fell flat on my face, ending with a cut on my leg and a bump on the head.

Rick: She's really klutzy and she walks really fast.

So, today... I bought a bicycle!!! I'm so excited! I finally mastered the use of a baht bus (taxi) and I took one to the Big C (something like a giant-humongous-extra-super-walmart) and got my bike. The entire time I was singing "I want to ride my bicycle!" haha It is blue. I made sure it had reflectors, and I bought a lock, and... a motorcycle helmet!!! haha It's pink! I couldn't find a regular bike helmet for the life of me and I asked about it to a girl who spoke very good English and she told me they only had motorbike helmets. I decided a motorcycle helmet probably provided more protection anyway. I really like it! I'll prolly keep it forever! haha Anyways, lucky for me they were having a sale, so I got a really good deal. I bought everything and took it outside and took all the bubble wrap off right away and rode it home! I was kinda nervous riding it home, because I've never actually ridden a bike on a busy road before and these roads are busier than at home, plus the added facts that it was beginning to rain and they drive on the opposite side here, but then I figured that nobody would hit a stupid farang (foreigner) and I was wearing my helmet.

Anyways, here is my awesome bike, parked outside my apartment / the guest house / school / bar... I have no idea where I live. It's very confusing. haha

Exploring Pattaya

Over the weekend I decided to explore Pattaya. I have decided to stay here and teach Kindergarten and I needed to know whether or not I could live here. So Friday night the "ladies downstairs" (as they are often referred to as) decided to take me out on a girls night. We went to the famous Walking Street. Mostly famous for it's "lady-boys" (transvestites), discos, and bars. It was definitely an interesting experience being out in that environment with 4 Thai ladies. haha Walking Street kinda reminded me of New Orleans... except stranger in some ways. It's hard to describe. Anyways, it was fun. I had a good time, but it's something that I probably won't be doing too often. haha All of the girls took care of me and treated me like I was special or something, which was really nice. It made me feel welcome even though a lot of times I didn't understand what was going on. haha

With Raht, Kit, Da, and Reesa... the "ladies downstairs" at a disco.

Then on Saturday, we all stayed in and I went exploring. I found Pattaya beach and the strip where all the malls were. Not only does Pattaya have 2 malls, but it has 3 subways!! haha I got so excited. They don't have turkey though... I'll have to settle for chicken. Then Sunday we went to Koh Larn to go swimming. It's a little island that is about 20 minutes from here. We all hopped on various motorbikes and went to catch a ferry. The island doesn't have a dock, so you have to get off the ferry in the middle of the ocean and get on a very canoe. haha Transportation really fascinates me here. haha I can probably count the number of times I've been in a car. Every other time we go somewhere, it's in a strange new vehicle. haha Riding a motorcycle with three people on the back has become very comfortable to me. haha Anyways, the beach was pretty amazing. I'll probably be going there most weekends. It only cost $4 for the whole day. It was funny though, because nobody else wanted to swim. I swam all day. I found coral at the bottom of the ocean. Rick got in for a little while, and Rick's friend, Willy, did too. But nobody else wants to get any darker, so they stay fully clothed and under these huge tents.

My ultimate destination- Koh Larn and the cool big canoe that we hopped onto from the ferry in the middle of the ocean. haha

So far this week has been very busy with teaching, Thai class, and today I signed my contract. I only have 3 more lessons with my adult students and I am going to miss them. I am excited about my new job though. I am also going to be working part time for languagecorps, answering skype calls for potential languagecorp-ers who have questions. I think people should know what they are in for... I certainly had a lot of surprises when I got here. haha It'll be good though, cause I get free rent and a little bit of extra money. I'm hoping I'll be able to use it on more weekend trips and things.

Some of the ladies from my class! Kag, Manee, A, Toi, Fa, and Mhee.

Bugs, More Fruit, and Interviews

The past few days have been very interesting.

My class is absolutely wonderful. They are the most eager group of learners I have ever seen and they are very thankful for everything they learn. I usually see a few of them walking to class and they run to walk with me. They say "Teacher! You so beautiful! Hi, how are you?!" haha Some of them come to class bringing me things. These things are either fruit or juice boxes. haha For example, today I lugged home a bag of dragon fruit, a bag of bananas, a bag of mangoes, and 2 kiwi juice boxes. haha During the lesson we play lots and lots of games. We always play O X's (tic-tac-toe). They LOVE it! Sometimes we play memory, a lot of times we make up new sentences, a lot of times we play "interview", and today we sang "head, shoulders, knees, and toes". At the end of each class, they pray for me in Thai and we talk about what we did yesterday and what we are doing today. Then they usually sneak off to the fruit cart that rolls by our classroom and buy me more fruit... I have a lot of fruit in my room. hahahaha

Then I go to Thai class. I am loving Thai class. I have taken my fair share of foreign languages (German, ASL, Spanish...), but Thai has def been one of the better experiences. I think it's because I actually get to use it. I try to use it anyway. haha I think the Thai people appreciate it. I don't know. They smile a lot when I try to use, maybe they are just laughing at me. hahahaha Oh well! So far I can what is your name, my name is Katherine, How much is that shirt?, How much are these pants?, How much is this movie?, pineapple, orange, banana, coconut, watermelon, numbers, how are you?, thank you, where are you from?, I am from America...

Obviously, I've been shopping and eating fruit and randomly talking to strangers on the street. hahahaha

Last night I sat around with some of the ladies who work here and with Rick's wife. I was really excited that they asked me join them because I really thought that they didn't like me. Raht, she picked me up at the airport, doesn't exactly like everybody. So I was REALLY excited. haha It was really interesting. A lot of the time I had no idea what was going on because they were all speaking in Thai, but it was kinda nice being around girls for a change, even if they were all older than me. I feel like I've been around a lot of men lately. Anyways, Rick has told me that Thai girls constantly eat. It is true. They never stopped. haha We ate pumpkin seeds. We ran out. They went across the street to the convenience store to buy watermelon seeds. Then the bug cart came by. They bought bags and bags and bags of bugs. Cockroaches, maggots, crickets... plus frogs. All deep fried. They loved them. Apparently they are quite good. I politely declined and watched them eat. The cockroaches were huge. I had never seen a bigger bug. I was very happy that they were dead. They ate the whole thing

Today I had to give a one-to-one teaching lesson. I met with a girl who works at a restaurant a couple doors down from the school. Her name was Furn. She couldn't speak English at all. It was fun though. I taught her the English alphabet. While I was teaching, a lady named Eed asked me how I charged to teach English. I told her I'd get back to her. haha I couldn't believe somebody was already asking me for private lessons.

This is a very long post.

I am also interviewing for jobs. I had an interview today in Pattaya for a Kindergarten 2 class, 4 year olds. Going to the interview was quite an experience for me, seeing as how I suck at directions. I had to hop on the back of a motorbike and give Mr. Thai Man a map and some how make him understand where to go. I got the job and I have to decide by tomorrow. I also had a phone interview for a 10th and 11th grade class in Songklah, which is South of here. I got that job, but I told them that I wanted to come visit before I committed to anything. In order to go visit I would have to fly there. So, basically... I have to decide between the two places and if I want to go to Songklah I have to fly there and back by Tuesday. I am a HORRIBLE decision maker. On one hand, I love the little kids and teaching kindergarten, being near the languagecorps staff would be good, but being in Pattaya wasn't exactly the ideal for me. On the other hand, I've never taught 11th graders, especially 50 of them at one time, but Songklah is supposed to be much much calmer and quieter than Pattaya and prettier. It's rough.

I have about 12 hours to decide. Awesome. To contemplate this decision, I bought a coconut off the street. The lady cut it up for me. I took it to the beach and sat down to eat it with a toothpick. I cannot believe that this is my life.

Forgotten Things

Things that I have forgotten to mention:

1) People seem to forget that I am here because of a profession. I am a teacher. haha Anyways, I've taught a class for two days now. I really enjoy it. My class has about 10 people in it, all women aged from about 28 to 50. They love me! haha They really boost my self esteem. Anyways, the first day was kindof a disaster. I had no idea what to do because I had never watched anybody before and I had never been introduced or seen them or anything! But I didn't completely crash and burn... haha Then then second day went a lot better! I was so excited! They interviewed eachother about their names, where they were from, where they were born, and what their job was. Then I presented pictures of eat, wash, clean... action verbs. They acted out the pictures and guessed what the word was. Then they played tic-tac-toe, which they call X O's. They get really competitive here! I'm glad I had competitive roommates last year to teach me how to keep up! After class I stayed back a few minutes to talk to a few of the students. They are so friendly. I can't even begin to describe how nice they are here. You just don't find that kind of genuine niceness in the United States very often. I had a great time! I went straight home to work on my lesson for tomorrow!

2.) Pineapple! Fruit in general in absolutely amazing here! I love fruit and their is something magical about it here. haha In Thailand, I can buy it on the street at any time of the day. My favorite though, is when I buy it from teh carts that you can find wheeling by you on the street. I stop the cart and point to what I want (usually pineapple!) and they cut it up for me right there! It is so good! The pineapple is the best! I have also taken to gettingfresh pineapple juice in the restaurants. So good! Seriously, amazing!

3.) Sleep. Pattaya does not seem to sleep ever and therefore I do not sleep. I have never had very good sleeping patterns, but it has been very very bad here. When I got to southeast Asia about a month ago, I became a pretty good sleeper. I would go to bed like a normal person at night and usually sleep through it. I think it's because everybody wore me out. Now though, Pattaya keeps me awake at all hours. I am tired all the time. Tired and uncomfortable. My bed is very hard and I am always cold for some reason. Prolly cause I don't have sheets... haha I can solve this problem though. I had a very relaxing wonderful day today and I plan on sleeping allllll night long.

4.) Aerobics. My first few days in Pattaya I would get very annoyed every day at 6 o'clock when loud music could be heard outside my window when an aerobics class started. Then I found out that the class was free. I can now be found outside on the street doing aerobics everyday from 6 to 7 with all the Thai people. hahahaha

5.) Markets are a wonderful thing. I love bargain shopping. I love shopping. It cures all.

6.) Thai massage. Thai massage is a lot of stretching. I got one today for a total of $6. It was a full hour long. Afterwards I spent 15 minutes talking to 4 of the massage therapists outside the shop about where I was from, where they were from, etc. It was lots of fun.

I'm sure there are other things... but like I said, I am sleep deprived and I am going to sleep alllll night long tonight. Plus, that aerobics class really wore me out. hahahaha

Bungalow 405

I have finally lived my dream of going to a resort by myself. I just came back from the most wonderful and blissful weekend of my entire life in Koh Chang, translated "Elephant Island". Rick and Indy (two of my teachers), and I and traveled to Koh Chang on Friday morning by car and ferry. I had absolutely no idea what I was in for for the weekend. I have decided that it is best to just not ask questions and come prepared for anything. To my extremely pleasant surprise we pulled up to a resort. :) I have never been a happier girl. Not only were we at a resort, but I had an entire room to myself! Complete with western toilet, toilet paper, pillow, CLEAN sheets, shower, and bath tub! I was in heaven!

That afternoon, Indy and I walked along the white sandy beaches just enjoying the sunshine. We found these amazing swings that are tied to the huge palm trees, so we literally got to swing over the ocean! It was so fun! Then the three of us went to dinner on the beach. I ordered fish. They waiter came out with a whole fish, eyes included. haha Apparently I didn't eat most of the nutritious parts of the fish, ie: eyes, cheeks, guts, things they don't serve in America, but the fish was fabulous. haha The next day I spent by myself. I went running on the beach in the morning and pretended I was cool enough to do that even though I'm not. haha Then I spent the entire day going from the ocean to the pool and back again. It was absolutely amazing. I kept thinking I was going to go get a massage, but then I'd go look at the ocean again and I couldn't tear myself away from it. Thailand must be the most beautiful place on the planet. That night we went out for an early dinner to the this seaside area place... haha All these restaurants and shops that sit on docks on the water. It was fun. I finally got to try papaya salad. I had it with crab. Rick and Indy thought I was crazy for ordering it because it's really spicy. I kept insisting that I liked spicy food. I don't think they thought I could handle it. I loved it. Then Indy and I went swinging again, we love the swings. This morning we got up to go to the waterfall. It was amazing. We hiked up through this jungle area and at the end of the hike was the waterfall and I went swimming in it. Rick and Indy weren't there yet (they were kinda slow... ) and I asked a Thai family to take my picture for me in front of the waterfall. Then they all wanted to take a picture with me. I'm prolly gonna find about 20 different pictures of me with different Thai people on the internet now. hahaha

Now I'm back in Pattaya writing a lesson plan. I am student teaching my first class tomorrow. Apparently I will be student teaching them for the next two weeks. I've never been to observe a class or met them or anything, so it works very differently than it does at home. I am teaching adult beginners and they are learning about object pronouns. It should be fun. We are playing a lot of games. I think we'll start off with 20 questions, cause I need to get to know them and their jobs and stuff. Anyways, it should be interesting. I should go figure out how to make some game cards and stuff... hmmm... I don't have any materials...

My mission tomorrow: buy a pillow.

Leaving The Villa

I am now in Pattaya, Thailand. In a few hours, I will somehow be making my way to Koh Chang, which is Thailand's second largest island and can be trasnslated into "Elephant Island." My last couple days in Cambodia were lots of fun. My last night was crazy. We were planning on going to the infamous Koffee Korner for dinner and happy hour before meeting everybody at the Mekong River to catch the boat ride. Well, all of a sudden the sky opened up and monsooned all over the place. We were going to wait it out, but us at the villa were hungry. We practically swam to Koffee Korner. I don't think I have ever been that dirty before in my entire life. The rain kept coming down as we were trying to get there and all I kept thinking about were the two dead rats that I saw that morning on the street when I was walking, not to mention the piles and piles of garbage that are usually on the street. All the Cambodian kids were on the street playing in the rain because it was prolly the cleanest the have ever been. hahaha We made it to Koffee Korner sopping wet and had dinner and then headed back out into the rain to get back to the villa where Dara was picking us up. Then we went out to the riverside to meet everybody. Lucky for us the rain had stopped by the time we had gotten on the boat. We floated the Mekong for a couple hours just talking and hanging out. By the time we got off everybody wanted to go a bar. I was tired, I went to the bar anyway and watched everybody be stupid. It was entertaining. hahahaha They had connect 4 there which is such a genius idea. America should really remember that. Anyways, I had to leave in the middle of class yesterday to catch my flight back to Pattaya. I'm really going to miss all my villa roommates. Hopefully I'll get to see some of them in Vietnam sometime this year. I am staying at the school here, which is nice because it has internet and I can hook my computer up to it! YaY! haha So I can finally put up some pics!

Eating lunch at the OKAY! guest house is lots of fun every day!

Coffee in a bag! Genius idea-until the bag breaks...

The best mode of transportation= tuk tuk!

Check out my awesome pants! The whole group in front of Cambodia's Royal Palace!

My lovely room on the porch.

Tomb Raider

Climbing all over the remains of a temple with Genessa!
Before dinner with Amy, Genessa, and Greta!

In front of Angkor Wat with Greta!

Tomb Raider!

Everybody!

Me and Amy in front of a HUGE hollow tree!

Hi! It feels like a lot has happened since I've last updated. I have already finished my first week of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) training and I've traveled to Phnom Phen and Siem Reap! Last Friday was a fun day because we only had a half day of class and we were tired from a long week of extremely tedious presentations, but during class I had to face my absolute worst fear... singing... in front of people... by myself... with no accompaniment whatsoever. hahaha I found myself sing to the tune of "row, row, row your boat" with my dialogue about going to the movies in front of 11 other people. It was pretty terrifying, but I didn't do too terrible. :) After class, 11 of us piled into a minivan to begin our journey to Siem Reap for our excursion to Angkor Wat.

Our drive to Angkor Wat was not fun. 11 tired people piled into a van with luggage for a 6 hour ride never is. Add in the terrifying lurching stops for the cows that randomly cross the highway and the bus that is suddenly coming at you from the wrong direction and it makes it about 5 times worse, and about 10 times more interesting. It was fun to see the countryside though and to see different parts of Cambodia.

We were staying at the Green Village Guest House. I roomed with Amy. Our rooms were alright. haha They were what I expected anyways. The first night we hung out at the bar downstairs where the owners made us food. Some people went out on the town for a crazy night, but I opted for sleep. Khmer people are extremely accomodating and friendly. The next morning we woke up early to go to the temples! We had a crazy tour guide who spoke English, but honestly I couldn't understand barely two words that he said. He had a funny habit of spelling things and really enjoyed the sexual ennuendos that were carved on the temples. Let's just say he was a character. We went to three temples; Banyon, "Old Barahm" (Tomb Raider), and the massive Angkor Wat. They were absolutely amazing. I liked Old Barahm the best because it was more "jungle encrusted" than the rest. Angkor Wat was absolutely HUMONGOUS. At the end of the day we climbed a mountain to see the sunset at the top.

The next morning, Greta and I got up and walked around the city. Siem Reap is interesting. A big tourist attraction. It doesn't seem to fit together because it has designer stores everywhere and then next door is the slums. Then we went out to the last temple, where they're weren't very many tourists at all. It was in complete ruins, so we got to climb all over it. It was so much fun. I wish I hadn't had been so tired, because I think I would've liked to climb around a bit more. :)

Now we are back in Phnom Phen for the week. I have three more class days here and Thursday night I fly back to Pattaya, Thailand. Then, I think I am going to Laos for the weekend to go white water rafting... I'm not quite sure though... You definitely learn to be flexible and go with the flow with Languagecorps. hahaha I'm excited to move on, but I'm going to miss everybody I've met here too. I'm hoping that we will all keep in touch. It's going to be a fun week. Today we went to the Central Market, which is the other major market (besides the Russian Market) that we haven't check out yet. I bought a "Lacoste" shirt for $3. I was pretty excited. On Wednesday we are going to rent a boat and have it take us down the Mekong River. It's going to be a busy week and somehow I've got to make time for class and writing my resume too!

Tuk Tuks and Fisherman's Pants

I feel like I've been here for weeks, but it's really only been a few days. Right now I'm in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia. I arrived in Thailand last Friday, but I'm not going to tell you about that because I was less than happy that day. On Saturday, somebody picked me up and I went to the bus station with a guy named Paul. Paul has some time off work and decided to go through the TESOL training in order to travel a bit. Paul and I took a bus to Bangkok and hopped back onto a plane which took us to Cambodia. When we got to Cambodia, Trea picked us up, along with Amy. Amy is from the UK and has a year left of uni, but decided to do this over summer break. Anyways, a tuk tuk picked us up to take us to our airport. A tuk tuk is not what I was expecting. haha A tuk tuk is a moped with a cart attached to it that should be meant for about 4 people to ride in max, but in Southeast Asia, they cram about 7 or 8 people in them. So, their were 4 people, 4 suitcases, and 4 backpacks in this tuk tuk. It would have been a fun ride, but then Amy's suitcase fell out of the tuk tuk, we ran over it and it went down the street. She had to jump out in front of hundreds of motorbikes and go catch it. haha It was kindof scary. Then, later 2 motorbikes ran into our tuk tuk!! haha I was worried about them, but nobody stopped or seemed to care that we had just been in an accident. Since then I've had several rides in tuk tuks and they've all gone rather smoothly. haha

Their are 11 of us in Cambodia for two weeks and 7 of us live in the same villa. My room is upstairs and on the porch. Everybody else seems to think I got the bad deal, but I love it. I have a screen door and then a glass door and then a curtain, so everything is nice and open and I feel like I'm outside. Everybody is completely different here too, but it's been a lot of fun getting to know them. We all come from completely different backgrounds; different ages, professions, homes, traveling experience. It's interesting to hear how we all ended up here.

Over the weekend we took a tour of Phnom Pehn. We went on tours of the Royal Palace and of a temple that I keep forgetting the name of... I should ask somebody. haha Anyways, we're all kindof being left in the dark about a lot of things while we are here. It has definitely been a learning experience. One of the things nobody prepared us on was that their is a dress code at the Royal Palace. Several of us were out of dress code, including me. I was wearing shorts that day. Well, they made me rent these fisherman's pants which were a bit too big. Our very nice tuk tuk driver, Daria, had to help me hitch them up and tie them in a strange way so that they looked even stranger than normal. Needless to say, it was absolutely hilarious. haha We all looked so funny. I'm actually glad nobody told me about the dress code, because it made for some really good pictures.

Today was our first class day and it felt really good to be in class. I genuinely enjoyed it. It made me realize how much I really was not ready to graduate. I like learning. Teaching English is going to be really fun too. I get to apply some of the things I already know, but it's completely different also. A completely different student and subject area. You have to present the information in a different view. Ít'll be nice to do something different.

The rest of the week is full of class and hanging out at night! Then we are off to Angkor Wat this weekend, which I've been looking forward to the most about Cambodia!!