A Monk, A Bus, and a Native-American-Looking Thai Guy

Sitting here at the "new" bus station in Chiang Rai right now. We've spent the last 2 nights here at "Ben Guesthouse." A lovely ranch-style guesthouse with a nice pool, which came in handy yesterday.

Yesterday we were very busy & it didn't help that I didn't get much sleep the night before. I stayed up til 3:00am watching the Panthers finally win their first game of the season against the 49ers 23-20. But anyways me, Steph, Kelsey, and Marianne decided to go to Doi Tung in Nothern Chiang Rai. The bus ride up took around an hour and a half because the bus driver would stop every 10 minutes to try and get more people on.

Finally the old Mercedes bus drops us off at the base of the mountain. We are immediately approached by an old Thai man whose skin looked like leather. He offered to take the four of us and a monk to the top of the mountain to see a royal garden in his little blue song songtow. Who knows how long he had been waiting at the bus stop hoping to see four innocent looking Americans get off and want to pursue Doi Tung. We bargained with him for a few minutes while the monk waited patiently and we finally agreed to pay 125 baht/person for a round trip.


The ride up was beautiful, though I did feel a little nauseous, but the stomach ailment was worth the view at the garden. There were dozens of beautiful scenes that caught our wandering eyes. Between all of us we may have taken 200 pictures, but not one could really capture the true majesty of this garden.

After an hour at the garden, we found our monk and started back down the mountain in the little blue songtow, with our Native-American-looking driver stopping several times to point out some stellar views. This guy really liked me for some reason. There were several occasions where he put his hand on my leg, which was a little odd, and he kept talking to me in Thai like I was his old drinking buddy. But I would just smile and nod my head and try to be polite. He also gave me the first hand-shake of the trip when we bid farewell at the bus stop.

The bus ride back to Chiang Rai was miserable. When we jumped on I could tell the bus was already overcrowded. The money collector nudged and bumped her way through people to get to us and collect her moneys. She kept telling the bus driver, her teammate, to pull over and pick up more people. I shouldn't have to tell you this, but more people equals less comfort and I was standing up in the aisle with my chin tucked against my chest trying to keep my legs from locking up. I was by far the tallest person on the bus, and the most uncomfortable (see photo above). Every 5 minutes Steph, Kelsey, and Marianne would turn around and just start laughing at me because of how awkward I looked surrounded by all the tiny Asian men. After 30 minutes of this hell I was finally offered a seat, a seat beside the monk who journeyed Doi Tung with us earlier. It was a nice conclusion to the day. The Chiang Rai bus station never looked so good.

Lee's Journal Entry from 10/20/10

Orientation is over, but Steph & I can't go to Rayong because our apartment is being painted. So yesterday we jumped on a 9 hour bus ride north to Chiang Mai. The bus ride was anything but uncomfortable. It was like flying. There was an attendant, a meal, & televisions playing American movies that went straight to DVD. It seems like Asians love America's terrible movies, especially ones with animals and Brendan Fraser. The bus drove through the night & we slept through the night.

Once we arrived in Chiang Mai we were greeted by another CIEE participants coordinator. "Are you Kelissa?", he said. "No, she will be here in 45 minutes", replied Steph.
We told him we knew her & we sat down & started chatting. The gentleman politely offered to give us a ride from the bus station to Jai Dii house, our hostel.

Our hostel was very comforting at first glance. It was opened 8 months ago by some beanpole Frenchman and his Thai girlfriend. I immediately went to he bathroom & sat down to take care of some business & saw a sign that said, "DONT USE TOILET PAPER, USE BIDET." I quickly concluded that the bidet was the culprit of the wet floor.

I had never used a bidet before, so you can imagine how it went. If you can't imagine how it went I will tell you. It was a disaster! I walked out of the bathroom soaking wet.

Chang Love

Rewind a bit to last Monday when we wrapped up the teacher trainings and Thai culture lessons in orientation, they told us we were ready to educate to Thai youth and now it's time for some real fun... an overnight trip to Kanchanaburi, a province bordering Myanmar about 3 hours by bus from Bangkok.



Our first stop of the evening was at the Bridge on the River Kwai, which was built by Allied POWs during WWII while Thailand was under Japanese occupation... there's a movie and book about this which I fully intend on watching and reading as soon as I get a chance. Dinner on the river was fantastic, and all the Thai food was muy sabroso as usual, but I must say that the enormous chicken drumsticks was the standout dish for me... think NC State Fair drumsticks, but hotter and crispier... yesh.


(view from the restaurant... you can see the lights on the bridge in the background)


We got to the resort, and after a few minutes of walking around I got the impression that it was the kind of place where you'd film movies like Dirty Dancing or something of that nature. It was in its own little world with mountains and a small lake in view, and just gorgeous... so we immediately bought out all the beer in the hotel and got to work.



Our group took over the downstairs game room area equipped with a pong table, pool tables, VIP karoake room, and DJ room that played dance music while showing borderline stripper girls on a projector screen. It smelled like Spring Break.

Up way early in the morning for main attraction... ELEPHANT TREKKING!! I'm going to make this short and just say that it rocked. They gave Lee an umbrella to hold during the ride, and we thoroughly entertained ourselves by singing "maaaake waaaaaay... for Priiiiiin-cess Leeeeeee..." throughout the duration of the ride.



Chang Love.



Next up: Chiang Mai...

Q: Why does this mango smell like a foot?

Sawatdee Kaa! Random thoughts and highlights from Bangkok...

* Orientation has been pretty awesome - it's kinda like I'm in college all over again, and this hotel has been my dorm. I've been meeting people from all over the place, lots of peeps from Boston and Cali in particular.

* Bangkok, simply put, is cray-cray. I thought that NYC was a big city... it ain't nothin compared to this place. Shopping here on Wednesday was like trying to shop in a TJ maxx on Black Friday. Also, it's 85-90+ degrees here everyday, and you're cloaked in humidity and pollution... sweat errrywhere.

* Food is dank here... and cheap as hell. A plate of noodles or rice from a street vendor is 30-35 baht, which is roughly a little over $1 USD. Sweet dollar menus everywhere. Food in a restaurant is still only about 80-100 baht.





* I bought a mango one day on the street for 6 baht... i got back to the hotel, peeled it with my hands, and realized that it smelled like a foot. Lee confirmed this fact. We still ate it because we were hungry. Someone told us that we probably ate a durian, a fruit which is banned from some hotels and modes of public transportation due to its smell. This temporarily comforted me until I saw a picture of a durian and realized that it's spiky on the outside. The fruit I bought was definitely not spiky. Therefore, I can only believe that I ate a Foot Mango.

* I went to an internet cafe down the street, and it was filled with little Thai boys furiously gaming. I learned later that Thais don't read books - they play violent video games and listen to Kpop (Korean pop). On a semi-related note, there's 4 music channels on the TV here in the hotel room, and one of my favorite videos is by a rapper by the name of Thaitanium. Clever

* On Friday we went to the Grand Palace, the holiest of places for Buddhists in Thailand. About 8 other girls and I got called out for dressing "too sexy" and were made to put on long sarong-skirts (see below). They were actually pretty awesome and I wish I could have kept mine...



(blessing Lee)



* Met our school coordinators on Friday - I will be teaching 18-19 DIFFERENT classes each week. 40 students per class. High schoolers ages 12-18. No A/C in the school. This will be challenging... I should have brought more silly bandz because I only have 150...

* We got Thai massages on Saturday after orientation, 1 hour for 150 baht (roughly $5 USD). Lee got his by a dude. A 6'4'', 250lb dude with a ponytail. He was also given a pair sheer cotton jammies to wear. Really wish I had photo documentation.

Bangkok Is Lawless

Almost a week in Bangkok and this place kicks tons of ass. Waking up and going to orientation everyday is pretty lame, but it's also essential and very informative. We have been staying very busy, so I will just hit the high points.

We have been making lots of new friends from all over the place, but it seems that most them come from Boston or California. I've gotten at least 4 comments from people on saying "yall." I guess I'm a redneck. Everyone in the program is very friendly with the exception of several girls that I never want to see again.

Last night we had a massive fiesta on the 5th floor. There were 40 of us out in the hallway being incredibly loud. Some of us were playing drinking games like f*ck the dealer and Catchphrase while others were chatting.

At some point 10 of us decided to hit the streets. We ended up at a chill joint called the "Boom Boom Bar." We were the only ones in there so we immediately made it our own. We played a couple games of pool, and then I decided to serenade everyone via karaoke. After flipping through their week catalog I found Seal's "Kiss From a Rose", but unfortunately the machine wouldn't recognize it. This was a huge heart breaker. So I looked through the catalog again and found The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun." I got too excited and immediately signed up for it not thinking about how difficult it is to sing. Midway through I realized that I was too drunk and everything coming out of my mouth sounded like a collaboration from Britt and Doc. After the performance I paid my tab and walked back to the hotel with my tail between my legs.

Steph and I just got our first Thai massages. We got an hour long massage for 150 baht ($5). Mine was somewhat interesting because I had never had a real massage before and it didn't help that I got it from a man...a 6'6" Thai man.

Bangkok Playlist

1) Hall & Oates - "Out of Touch"
2) Sleigh Bells - "Run the Heart"
3) Monsters of Folk - "Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.)"
4) La Roux - "Tigerlily"
5) Killswitch Engage - "Just Barely Breathing"
6) The Black Keys - "Sinister Kid"
7) Arctic Monkeys - "This House is a Circus
8) We Are Scientists - "Tonight"

*Also. If presented with the opportunity don't ever drink Chang beer. It tastes like victory, but it apparently has formaldehyde in it and will produce an unbelievable hangover the next day.

1st stop: Aloha!

you know that feeling when you step outside and you just feel GOOD about life? it's pretty much like all that all the time in Hawaii. it's the kind of environment where you feel like you can do any activity you want outside, which just so happens to be convenient because there's a million places to explore. i also feel that it's the perfect melting pot of people: asians, americans, asians who are super american...

we stayed with Britt (Lee's sister) at her house a few miles from Waikiki. their house itself was melting pot of roommates: Christie from Jersey, Seth from Arizona, Emma from Kauai, and Ella was visiting from Finland. it was awesome hanging out with them and several other North Carolinians like Chiou and Shawn; we also met a ton of their friends and it felt like I was actually living there and not just being a tourist.

i was actually a little bit sad after each picture i took there, because no picture did hawaii's beauty any justice. please just go and experience it for yourselves!! i'll be back for sure. it's just awesome looking at the beach/ocean/mountains simultaneously all the time.

here's a few photo highlights anyway...


Sauntering down to the Makapu'u tide pools on Tuesday. thank you, $2 old navy flip flops, for not giving out on me during the 30 minute descent.




New mexican restaurant opening with new friends!




North Shore where we sunned, shaded, and snorkeled on Thursday




Actin a fool in front of Diamond Head




Making the hike up Koko Head - imagine doing about 1,500 lunges on an incline.




At the top of Koko Head... twas worth the sweat.




TUTTI FRUTTI, where taro and honeydew melon froyo is the dankness.




We're about to board the plane in Taipei... landing in BKK in 3.5 hours! :)

What's Good Hawaii? - Part 1

Hawaii was magical once again. Britt picked us up from the airport in her 1993 manual 2-door Jeep Cherokee that cost her a cool $650. I was very happy to see her. It had been 6 months since she left the states. We drove towards her house in Honolulu and stopped by a liquor store a gathered some refreshments for the evening. I got Keystone Light. I figured "when in Rome."

We pulled into Britt's house around 9:30pm and walked into a party with beer pong and bumping jams blaring out of a $10 stereo. Steph and I met at least 8 people within the first 2 minutes of our arrival, including Britt's Finnish friend Ella, who is hilarious. Two of Britt's roommates, Christie and Emma had established their dominance in Beirut all night. Unfortunately for them, they were unaware that I consider myself to be well advanced in the game. Needless to say Steph and I knocked the two queens of their throne's, and after two beers I was drunk. This was mostly due to the Xanax I had been taking for our flights, or at least that's what I hoped it was.

We didn't stay at Britt's place long. The party then moved down to Waikiki to a chill place called Lulu's. We were all about to walk in when Ella asks several of us to wait for her while she chugs here bottle of vodka and coke. Apparently she hates drinking beer. Once we got in the joint, the DJ was playing some tight 90's gangsta rap, I instantly fell at home.

And the Quest begins...

first of all, WELCOME! :) if you're reading this, then by now you know that Lee and I are deploying ourselves to the land of Thai for 5 months to bestow our knowledge of the English language upon young children, and then traveling throughout the region afterwards for a few months. in order to preserve our memories and experiences and also to share them with our friends and family, we'll both be posting from time to time on here. we hope that you'll find it interesting, maybe get a few laughs, and most importantly feel connected with us while we're away. Yay for the interwebz!

A few things to note:

- although we'll be including some pics in the blog, all pictures can be viewed on Facebook of course

- yes, i am very well aware that the masthead photo is off center. if anyone knows how to fix this, let a sista know.

- i hate capitalization. Lee Really Likes CAPITAL LETTERS

that's it for now. we're leaving in the morning for Bangkok... check back soon for updates :)

estefani