Ponderings

Things I miss from home (besides obvious things like family and friends and pets, haha):

1.) My pillows. I NEED my pillows.

2.) Being able to turn on the tv and watch it aimlessly when I am too tired to do anything else.

3.) Staying in on a Friday or Saturday night and not feeling like I HAVE to go do something at all times. I really like doing absolutely nothing with a few people. Just hanging out and laughing. Maybe putting in a movie with the intention of watching it but then ignoring it the whole time because you are laughing too much. haha

4.) Cooking. I love cooking. It really relaxes me. I could spend days in the kitchen chopping vegetables and mixing ingredients and be perfectly content.

5.) Target. Target is a great place. Nothing else is quite like it.

6.) I have met some awesome people here and made lots of great friends, but I miss having friends around who know me backwards / forwards / better than I know myself. It's been a little difficult for me to have a new group of friends every couple weeks. I've never really been one of those people with a ton of friends (those social butterflies), I just always had my good solid group. It was fabulous.

7.) I love walking around here cause there is constantly something to look at, but sometimes I just want to go for a relaxing walk like in a park or something. hahaha

8.) I really hate how the water tank keeps being emptied lately. At home, I never had to worry about such things. This isn't particulary a Thai cultural thing or epidemic, it's just a really unfortunate series of water tank events that seems to keep happening to me. It's a conspiracy. hahaha

9.) I'm really tired of answering the questions like "so you like living in Pattaya...???" Um, no. Newsflash- Pattaya as a whole is disgusting and I do not like it AT ALL. I am a classy girl and have found some classy things to do here. I go to the island, go to local markets, get massages, and the occassional movie. The main reason I chose to live here was because I was all by myself and I had no idea what to do and I needed to meet people. Those are in fact, good reasons.

Things here I love:

1.) I never have to drive. haha I can pretty much walk anywhere and I love walking. If I can't walk there or I'm too tired, I can take several different forms of public transportation. Both of these options are much better than every single person in the city having their own car. I'm concerned that I will completely forget how to drive by the time I get home.

2.) I love Thai food. American stuff kinda sucks. I can't even call it food anymore. hahaha I need to take some cooking classes so I can keep eating things I like even when I go home.

3.) 7-Eleven. 7-Eleven is fabulous. It has everything you need in a hurry (except for a bathroom). I pop in one about twice a day.

4.) The people are so incredibly low stress here. I love it. Nobody ever freaks out about anything. At home- everybody is always freaking about really stupid things. Mai bpen lai.

5.) Low stress people = low stress job. The teaching environment here is a completely different atmosphere. Education is just as important, but the teachers aren't running around like chickens with their heads cut off all the time.

6.) Fruit. It's an obsession. I'm really getting into the tropical fruits lately. A current favorite is salad ragahm. So good!

7.) It doesn't matter if I wake up late and don't have make up on with sleep lines across my face and am wearing my hideous track suit for school. People will still tell me that I'm sexy when I walk to school. hahahahaha What a confidence booster! hahahaha

8.) Generally I pay $1 to $2 on a meal. If I pay more than that, it is very expensive.

9.) Food stalls, clothing stalls- anything being sold on the street. It is just very convenient.

I really need to get some sleep. hahaha