Chapter 3 Part 1

We arrived in Thailand during their winter.  They were all freezing.  Anytime we tried shopping for clothes, all we could find was thick heavy coats and sweaters.  Now, let me clarify.  Their “winter” varies between 80 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit.  Their summer varies between 90 and 100 degrees.  So could someone tell me how they could be that cold?  It was actually quite hilarious to watch them but then could be quite miserable for us.  Thai people don’t really have air condition.  Some choose to buy a little unit and install it in their house.  However, most don’t.  They use fans.  And when it’s hot out, fans just don’t cut it.  At the apartment, it wasn’t too bad because we had the fans turned on.  School was a different story.  I couldn’t turn them on because all the kids were freezing.

 

“Teacher, please, no fan.  Very cold.”  

“Cold?  How can you be cold?  It’s so hot.”

“It’s winter.”

“Oh, I see.”

That’s pretty much how the conversation went with each class for a couple months.  So without the use of a fan in class, or on the occasion I could turn them on, I still sweat like crazy and felt so disgusting.  To add to it, we didn’t have a motorbike for the first couple months of being there so we had to walk everywhere or take the mini bus in town.  We chose to walk home most of the time.  First thing to do when getting home:  take a shower.  But I guess the good thing about it always being hot and sunny is we could tan anytime we wanted.

Chapter 2 Part 2

We arrived on a Wednesday and stayed til Saturday.  Friday, I had orientation with the teaching agency that I was employed to teach conversational English with.  It was the usual filling out paper stuff and asking how our flight was.  Saturday, we headed to Sungnoen, the city we’d be living in.  Sungnoen…take a guess at how you say it.  It’s pronounced like Soongnone with lots of singing inflections of the voice.  One thing we learned right off the bat, Thai language is probably the craziest language that ever existed.

FYI to anyone ever in Thailand, if you see the phonetic Thai (thai in English letters), just know that it’s never gonna sound how it looks.  We learned that lesson too.  The city right before ours is pronounced like SeeCue but it’s spelled like this:  Sikhio.  How does that make any sense…who knows and we got tired of racking our brain trying to figure it out. 

Back to sunny Sungnoen…it gives the definition to the word rural.  Thailand in itself is not a civilized country.  Sungnoen, well it’s beyond not civilized.  The people of Thailand in general have great personalities.  Friendly, outgoing, love to talk.  But then, you experience them.  They make you want to bang your head against the wall most of the time.  Not all of them, but most of them.  They lack common sense and they definitely cannot drive.  Let me repeat this:  they definitely cannot drive.  If they aren’t the worse drivers, then I am scared to see the competitors.  It really doesn’t matter what city you go to.  They all look the same.  If the country would be clean and well kept, then it wouldn’t be so irritating to see the same over and over again.  But, it’s not.  The entire place is dirty.  Sure, you might find a nice hotel to stay in but when you walk outside…dirty.  Sungnoen, isn’t any different. 

We, going to a town where few and far between foreigners go, received lots of stares.  Some came with a smile and nod.  Others came with the look of death.  You could hear their faces screaming, “Get the hell out of my country.”  

I started school a couple days after arriving and boy was I nervous.  I had never taught before.  I especially wasn’t sure how I was going to teach someone to speak English.  But, week 1 was there and I had to just go with the flow.  As each day passed, I got to meet my students and prepare myself for what was ahead.  I was teaching level M3 and M6…we would call that 9^th and 12^th grade.  The majority of these kids never cared about English so didn’t bother in ever learning anything besides the basic hello.  Needless to say, teaching them was quite a challenge, and in some cases, impossible.  I didn’t think I could be more thankful for the time to get off and the weekends as I had become in those months. 

Chapter 2 Part 1

Sitting on the plane, waiting for takeoff was quite exciting.  He had flown several times before but for me, it was my second time and the first for Honey.  She didn’t enjoy it like we did…she was stuck in her cage in the cargo hold, but being the awesome parents that we are, we made sure she had a huge dog bone to occupy her time.   

We had an 18 hour nonstop flight from Los Angeles to Bangkok, Thailand.  Crammed into the lovely economy class wasn’t that bad.  Why…we slept pretty much the whole way.  We’d hear the trays of food being passed around and wake up just long enough to eat before our heavy eyes shut again.  There were screens on the back of the headrest on the seat in front of us with plenty of movie selections to choose from.  It would have been wonderful to pass the time if we could have actually stayed awake for even a portion of the movie but sleeping ruled.  It’s a good thing we slept.  Coming from Louisiana it was 13 hours ahead so the shut eye helped us adjust.

We landed in Bangkok about 5:30 am (Thailand time), made our way to stand in line to get our passport stamped, and then went to find our luggage.  And there she was, in her cage anxiously waiting for us.  That tail was about all we heard for the next few hours until we were able to take her out.  It was wagging so much and hitting the cage nonstop.  She wanted out and who could blame her.  We had to fill out paperwork in the quarantine section for her and even though there was another couple in front of us, it still took a long time.  I think he was writing in slow motion.  He handed us the papers and we handed him money.  Then, we made our way to customs and handed them more money.  I wasn’t sure if we were ever gonna stop paying for her.  We already dished out plenty getting her ready to get there, but she’s daddy’s little girl and he wasn’t leaving her behind. 

Next came time to find a taxi…one that would let dogs into their vehicle.  Even though we had to negotiate the price for a bit, we found one that was quite helpful.  He took us to the tourist agency so we could find a hotel…a mistake on our part but being in such a huge city and having never been there before, we didn’t know where we could stay with the dog.  They found us one but we ended up having to pay twice the price for it…which we found out when we got to the hotel.  Good thing was that it was nice secluded bungalows offering just what we needed—peace and quiet. 

All good stories need a chapter 1

“Squirrel, squirrel, where’s the squirrel? Daddy, I don’t see a squirrel.  Oh oh, there’s the squirrel.  Gotta catch it.  Gotta catch it.” 

Oh yes, this was the life for Honey.  Laying in the air condition all day eagerly awaiting us to get home from work, getting all the attention any dog could ask for and playing outside until we made her come in.  But…all that changed in the blink of an eye. 

We each grew up a goal…a goal of traveling the world. But, where and when to begin was the question.  So, on we went with our lives.  Then came that opportunity.  

Over the next few months, we had to plan our journey that would take us to Thailand.  We were all the way in Louisiana and had to travel to Los Angeles to take a long 18 hour nonstop flight.  A search for all the best prices, packing, and remodeling became a way of life. We rented a large storage unit and slowly started filling it with boxes and anything else we chose to keep.  Since Honey was coming with us, we had lots of paperwork and procedures to get her ready…shots, health certificate, get her approved to enter Thailand, etc.  Preparation of everything was key.

I think we lived at Lowe’s or some other home store for a few months.  We were always there looking something else we needed for the house.  Paint, paintbrushes, tiles, sink, mirror, cabinets, countertops, appliances…the list goes on.  We worked on everything til the last minute and unfortunately wasn’t able to finish everything but glad we got as much done as we did. 

Finally, it came time for us to head out.   We rented a car, loaded up our luggage and off we went.  We left late on the Friday evening of October 29, 2010 and took turns driving.  The weather in Louisiana wasn’t very chilly but as we made our way across the states, well…being in shorts and a t-shirt in 30 degree weather didn’t make for pleasant stops when having to fuel up.   

Grand Canyon

We made a detour to the Grand Canyon.  What a beautiful sight.  I swear it was 50 mph hour winds and we chose to not be blown off a cliff so camping out there as we originally planned was out of the question.  From there, we head to Los Angeles and made it there late Saturday night.  On Sunday, we went to Long Beach for a few hours and though the sun was out, it was still a bit cool to be running around in a swim suit, but we braved it anyway.  Honey had a blast.  It was her first time to the beach and we couldn’t help but laugh at her.  She’d walk into the water, then a wave would come and she’d start hopping sideways to somehow try to miss it.  She ran around throwing sand everywhere and was kinda sad to leave, but we made our way back to the hotel to get cleaned up and then headed to my friend’s hotel to watch the Saints game.  It’s a small world sometimes.  She happened to be in town training for her job and was staying right down the road from us. 

Then came Monday…oh yes Monday.  We repacked everything in our bags, loaded up the car once again, and set off for a bite to eat.  Later about 1 that afternoon, we dropped off the rental car and hopped on the bus that took us to the airport.  We had the bus all to ourselves.  It was awesome!  We arrived at the airport and walked around a bit in the area we were in and then began the waiting.  Our flight wasn’t until 9:30 that night…so yes waiting indeed. 

Check in started about 7.  That process in itself was a bit of a headache.  It took forever.  We had to run to catch our flight, but we made it without any problems.  Then it was time to just sit back and…fly.

Alas!

The blog I've been contemplating over for months has finally arrived.  I am excited to embark on this journey as I live out the one in front of me.  I must warn anyone reading this that I love to talk (which plays into the random babbling on I tend to do.)  So please forgive me! 

I guess first on the list is how it all began.  (I started writing a book a few months back so I will transfer a bit from there.) 


Thanks for all your support.