Phuket to Bangkok

Sunset at the pool at Nai Harn Villa


Sorry we've been bad about keeping everyone updated. We were taking in as much of Phuket as we could and arrived in Bangkok after an overnight bus ride yesterday.

We've gotten pretty accustomed to traveling around by moped. Dylan's mastered it even on the four lane roads, me on the other hand not so much, I ran into a curb in our villa driveway trying to avoid a water truck while using the gas and brake at the same time, whoops. I'll have to figure it out for Chaiyaphum though. One day we got a biker gang together including 9 mopeds and 15 people. We went all around Phuket it was a lot of fun even though it was raining if not pouring most of the time. Our last night in Phuket a big group of us drove into Phuket Town for the Vegetarian Fest. It's a big festival to rid of bad spirits and everyone dresses in all white and only eats vegetarian food for about 10 days. People who believe the bad spirits are in them put needles and swords through their skin, they can't feel the pain because it's hurting the bad spirits not themselves; but we didn't get to see any of that because it doesn't happen until around the 22nd.

Our last week in Phuket we went into classes in a couple orphanages and a juvenile detention center for a test run to make sure we're prepared to teach. It was a busy week but teaching was fun the kids were cute. My favorite group was a school for boys who are talented at soccer. The students who live there are either orphans or their families do not have enough money to provide for them. Their English was really high and they were really well behaved.

We just arrived in Bangkok, which is pretty much what I expected a big dirty city, but it's fun to see. We had orientation all day today and found out more about our school. We're in the city of Chaiyaphum working at a high school. I'll be teaching 12-14 year olds and Dylan has one younger class but the rest are 15-18. There are 1500 students at the school, so we'll each have 750 students and 23 classes. We see each class once a week for 50 minutes and travel from classroom to classroom rather than having the students come to us, but that's pretty typical. Sounds like most of our students will have very little english, but in towns further outside of Bangkok that's typical. It'll be an adventure, that's for sure, but we're both excited to get into the classroom.

Seeing Thailand From the Back of a Moped

Lunch stop at Rawai Beach

We rented a moped on Saturday night and took it up to lookout point called Promthep Cape for sunset, well we almost made sunset. It was a last minute decision and by the time we made it large crowds of people were walking down the stairs because the sun was almost completely set. On Sunday we spent a few hours cruising around Phuket and from the back of the moped, not having to concentrate of driving, I could take it all in. We went up a bunch of back roads that take you through the greens of the hills with little more than small shacks and houses and the occasional elephant trekking or ATVing site. As we drove by most people would smile and wave, sometimes it looked like they might have been laughing at us, but either it's funny how many more smiles you get from a moped than just walking. We went through some touristy areas or small towns full of small shops, minimarts, restaurants, and tailors. The restaurants are all open air normally with an area completely outside and when it starts to rain they pull down the plastic siding. We have yet to eat at an indoor restaurant and I would be surprised if we do anytime soon. Thailand really is an incredibly beautiful place. It was a perfect day out and everything was so green. There are viewpoints all over Phuket in the hills and mountains. Everything looks so green from one direction and then in the other direction is the ocean.

On Monday it was back to class. Classes haven't been too much work but long days in air conditioning, which is especially difficult when the class is right on the ocean. Next week we go into local schools with small groups and teach lessons, which should give us a little more feel for what we'll be doing in the next few months.

Snorkling today, Patong yesterday

We went back to Phi Phi today to go snorkeling, saw some monkeys, saw some fish. The seas were rough, and the boat we took was fast and loaded with people. It stopped at different beaches, and let us walk around and swim a little. just rented another moped for some exploring tommorow. We went to Patong last night, which is basically the Las vegas of thailand. very flashy, very scary. probably will be the last time we go, but it was worth the trip.