When The Apocalypse came to Bangkok

As you probably already know, Thailand recently experienced severe and devastating floods throughout the northern and central regions of the country. I’ll blame my absence in the blogosphere on this fact, though it may be lacking a bit in validity. The truth is that the Thai Floods of 2011 left majority of the teachers in Thailand with an extra month and a half off from work, for which we are making up for heavily since the semester started up again on December 6th. With no Christmas break and 6-day teaching weeks, finding time to blog proves difficult – but, as my father continues to remind me, not impossible.

I’ll spare you a long, drawn out reproduction of how the floods began and the series of events that, inevitably, led to 500+ deaths in a three-month period of time, one of the worst floods in Thai history. If you haven’t followed it on the news, or are simply unaware of such facts, here are a couple links to follow that give the gritty details.

Wikipedia's Timeline of Events

Food update: Oct. 20, 2011

Suffice to say, myself and those who live immediately around me are blessed to not have had to endure what other parts of the country have during these floods. It's been declared the world's fourth-costliest disaster as of 2011, only surpassed by the tsunami in Japan this year.

Nathan and I first heard of the chaos when we found out that our plans to visit Chiang Mai during the October holiday (“semester one break” for my students) were to be cancelled – Chiang Mai, at least for a brief time, was completely under water. We set our holiday sights further south and ended up in Phuket, but not before taking a day trip to Ayutthaya. It was here that we caught the ancient ruins just before the rivers rose and spilled onto the land, leaving statues of Buddha to peek over waist-high water.
At this time we still couldn’t have grasped the magnitude of the floods as they made their way further South. The river was swollen, and the houses surrounding all mildly flooded. It appeared destructive, and yes, a bit ominous. But if someone had told me that the next two months would feel like the coming of the Apocalypse I might’ve sneered.

Ayutthaya, early September

Ayutthaya, early September

Ayutthaya, early September

Ayutthaya, early September

To me, the rainy season in Bangkok was as brutal as it was enchanting. Never before have I lived somewhere where it can rain like clockwork (clouds more black than grey, so thick that 4pm looks like 7) each and every day, sometimes for hours at a time. Yes, the Pacific Northwest is rainy. But it’s rainy in that puny, “spittle” kind of way. A light misting that never really goes away, but was hardly ever there in the first place. But here? Oh man, it RAINS. Torrential downpour is really the only way to put it. When those clouds open up, every street will temporarily flood, and there is not the slightest chance of making it anywhere quick enough that you don't get wet. Most Thai people just stop what they’re doing and stand under awnings during these monsoon rains, bowing out of their responsibilities for the moment and giving Mother Nature her time in the spotlight.

But the country seemed ill prepared for the destruction that came with this year’s rainy season, and as the flood waters made their way South – through Bangkok – to the sea, spending at least a few weeks wading through water seemed inevitable.

The Chao Praya flooded in many areas, overflowing nearby klongs and destroying the homes of those in the more rural north and northeast districts of the city. Crocodile farms by the river issued “warrants” for escaped crocs, inspiring groups of Thais to go hunting for crocs who took the opportunity to roam cage-free. The schools shut down, and the government evacuated most residences surrounding the river. In fact the government issued a weeklong “holiday,” urging everyone (All 10 million or so) to evacuate to nearby provinces. Overpasses became parking lots for those hoping to save their cars from wreckage. And those who hunkered down began to, well… panic, essentially. Grocery stores and 7-11s across the city were stripped of all noodles, canned goods, water, and anything else worth having around during the End of The World.

People everywhere began to build barricades along their homes, businesses, and company buildings. Most used sandbags, but some were even careful enough to use poured cement, most walls built to be as high as 3 feet. Even those living in the districts out of the “affected” zones (such as my own) prepared heavily. Blow-up rafts and big rubber boots started selling like wild on every street corner.

Our condo, barricaded up.

Despite the preparation for the worst, businesses rarely shut down

Awaiting the "inevitable"

The nearest pier on Chao Praya river, overflowing. No boats running in late October.

Sandbags used at display shelves during Loy Krathong

Meanwhile, the majority of Bangkok remained surprisingly, blissfully, confusingly, bone dry. Each day Nathan and I would wake up and check around the outside of our condo (which had its own massive flood barricade around the perimeter.) to see if the “flood” had arrived… some twisted version of waiting for Santa. But strategically placed dams did their job, and central/southern Bangkok was spared from water damage.

As exciting as it would have been to trudge through river/sewage water for a while, crocodile hunting for fun and getting good use out of a pair of rubber boots, we were –of course—fortunate to be safe from harm during this time. The same can definitely not be said for all in Bangkok. However, with true Thai mai pen rye (“no worries”) spirits, those affected have mainly remained steadfast, cooperative, and united through the disaster.

In the month or so since Bangkok has been declared “flood-free,” the city has almost entirely returned to normal. Almost all of the sandbags have been picked up and taken away, barricades have been broken down, and –hopefully—each crocodile is accounted for. It was certainly a celebration when water bottles returned to grocery stores.

Now the schools are back in action and making up for lost time. Thankfully only two of my student’s homes and families were directly affected by the flooding, but my heart truly goes out to those still suffering. The Floods of 2011 were definitely not an experience I ever could have predicted going through upon moving here, but such is this crazy ride called life. I’m just trying to take each twist and turn in stride, and always maintain a chai yen yen.

6 Months in the "Land of Smiles"

It’s now been over 6 months that I’ve been living and working in Bangkok, Thailand. I can communicate at a bare-bone level in Thai, I can convince a vendor to give me the Thai price at least 8 out of 10 times, and I can teach an entire class of thirty-six 7 to 9 yr-olds how to do long division. I have gotten food poisoning only once, but felt homesick countless times.

I have stayed in bungalows where I step out of my bedroom and onto deserted, white beach. I have kayaked through caves in some of the most stunning cerulean waters on the planet. I have ridden on elephant-back through a jungle to get to the incredible Namuang Falls, and ridden on another elephant's neck, feeling its thick, coarse hairs on my legs while I made my way with her through a monsoon rainstorm. I have seen 8-yr olds hoolah-hoops lit on fire and shared cocktails out of sand buckets. I have been witness to impromptu break-dancing shows, impromptu lady-boy shows, and live music that taught me to appreciate the Thai language even more. I have fed massive giraffes two inches from my face, held a baby tiger cub, and had an intimidating Asian elephant stepping lightly on my back. I have been kissed by an orangutan AND a dolphin, and seen rats the size of cats feasting off sidewalk scraps.

I have ridden bikes through some of the oldest ruins in Thailand, witnessed the harsh yet beautiful evidence of Thai history up close. I’ve crossed through grid-locked traffic – of elephants – and been continuously surprised at the detail of my local temples.

I have seen just the tip of the iceberg in flood devastation, families trying to clean the diseased river water from their homes and bloated animal bodies floating past flooded restaurants. I have seen pervasive Thai smiles despite poverty to levels of absurdity, and seen more adamant religious faith than ever before.

I have grocery-shopped alongside saffron-swathed monks and seen a few handfuls of bums use the sidewalks as personal lavatories. I have been waied by a chubby 3-yr old Thai girl in bright orange suspenders, and I have waied countless elders, administrators, and friends. I have found friendships with Thai bar owners, sushi chefs, coffee-stand owners, security guards, students, and teachers, and lost more friendships with state-side folk than I’d like to admit.

I have been frustrated, furious even, with lying salesmen, cheeky taxi drivers trying to steal an extra ten baht, and the entire cultural difference of Asian lifestyle in general. I have also been amused by Thai cultural idiosyncrasies, moved and motivated by random acts of Thai kindness, and come to truly love living a lifestyle that challenges, surprises, and astounds me every single day.

The past six months has been a whirlwind of cultural experiences for me, mixed in with the realities of becoming an Aunt for the first time and building a serious relationship while living abroad together. Where the next six months will lead is still a mystery to me, with some pretty huge decision to make up ahead. For right now, I am taking each day as it comes, enjoying the freedom of independent travel and the daily struggles of life and work out here in this crazy country. Everyone is asking where I will go from here, but to me the mystery is one of the best parts. If you don’t know where you’re going… the options are endless, right?

Here's a quick slideshow with some of my favorite shots from the past 6 months... enjoy!

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Yahk by Thanon Chan, rayo rayo!

Living in a city of 13 million people continues to be a source of amazement and curiosity to me. How do so many people manage to make their way through the maze of noise, buildings, food-stalls, shopping malls, wats, and more?? Even more so, how do 13 million people handle the chaos, congestion, and entirely overwhelming experience of Bangkok traffic? The answer is seen darting down every hidden soi, and zig-zagging in between bumpers in a grid-locked thanon. As I am car-less and forced to explore other means of getting to and fro, I thought I'd share a bit on the eccentricities of Thai transport. Enjoy.

Metered Taxis

Metered taxis tend to be the most economical route to take in Bangkok, as the meter starts at only 35Baht, roughly 1USD. The meter climbs slowly and if you split the cab ride with a few friends, even a more expensive long-distance ride is a great deal. The cabs are all brightly painted, especially in a bright pink -- The King's color. 

       Taxis are the pits in grid-locked traffic, and if you get in one at the wrong time (anytime between 4:30 and 9:00pm), you can expect to be sitting in the overly AC-ed cab for close to or sometimes ever over an hour. 

       The taxi driver's here are exceptional at getting thisclose to each other (and everything else in their way) without hitting anything. The first few weeks in Bangkok, I did a lot of wincing... but after a while you realize just how competent these drivers are. 

An excellent representation of the car:taxi ratio on the roads of Bangkok.

 Tuk-Tuk

Probably the most famed form of Thai transport, and definitely the one I utilize the least. Tuk-tuks are motorized three-wheel carts that are open on the sides. The drivers are usually spastic, at best, and terribly eager to rip you off. Admittedly, riding in a tuk-tuk is pretty damn fun. The jolting and heaving and racing down roads is a definite way to get your heart pumping. But unless you know exactly how much it should cost you to get where you are going (and you aren't afraid to barter/argue in Thai), I don't think they're quite worth the price.

 The Motorbike Taxi

Motorbike taxis in Bangkok are easily the most accessible and most convenient way of getting around the city, especially in heavy rush-hour traffic. They are also easily the most dangerous form of transportation here, but coincidentally the form I take most often. The taxi-men work in little colonies, donning brightly colored vests over their clothes to signal the company they work for. They can be found in little posses at pretty much every street corner, hovering outside of apartments and gathering at the base of the BTS stations, waiting for customers. 

      I love motorbike taxis because they are usually incredibly cheap -- usually between 20-60baht for a one-way trip -- and equally as convenient. When you need to get somewhere in a hurry, a motorbike taxi can dodge, dive, and daredevil its way in between cars. Shooting around turns and driving a hairs-width from other vehicles, these drivers usually have me saying prayers by the time we reach our destination. But there is no denying the exhilaration from being on the back of a motorbike flying down the road, especially after doing some hard negotiating in Thai to get a fair price. True assimilation. :)

A typical clan of motorbike drivers, waiting for customers

The Bangkok Skytrain (BTS)

Bangkok's elevated rail system, the Skytrain, is one of the most ueseful ways to get around central city. With a central station located at busy the Siam shopping district, and two lines to travel on (Sukhumvit and Silom), it is the choice of transportation for over 400,000 people every day. This can make for quite a sardine scenario in the evenings, but trains come by about every five minutes, so it's never an inconvenience to wait for the next one. Fairs are extremely reasonable (between 10 and 40B) and flying high above the traffic during rush hour is reason enough to hop on often.

Songthaews

In Thai, the word songthaew translates directly into “two rows.” Fitting. Songthaews in Bangkok are essentially just red, covered pick-up trucks that have two rows of bench seating planted in the bed. Thai commuters use them as shared taxis, especially for shorter distances. Songthaews are great for such shorter jaunts – at only 5.50 Baht (30 Baht to 1USD) they are beyond even the best bargain – and a true “Thai” experience. The drivers rarely speak English and the songthaew routes aren’t marked at all, so it’s really only smart to take one if you know exactly where its headed. In other parts of the country, you can wave down a songthaew and just tell the driver where you want to go. If he happens to be going that direction, he’ll nod and you can hop on board. If not, he’ll drive off and you simply wait 5 minutes till the next one comes along. 

I often take a songthaew to get to yoga, as I usually have time to kill before the 6pm class starts, and the trucks move quite slowly. When the trucks get packed there is usually only standing room, and you may need to even hang off the back. But this, like with most of Thai transportation, is just as fun as it is dangerous.

River Taxis

Something I didn't know about Bangkok when I first moved here is that it was once coined the "Venice of the East." The reference makes sense to me now, of course, as I've become familiar with all the various klongs (canals) and the grand Chao Praya River -- main arteries in Bangkok's transportation system.

       One of my favorite routes to take visitors on when they first visit, is the songthaew jaunt to the Saphan Taksin BTS station, which is directly adjacent to the Sathorn river taxi stop. There, you can hop on an express river taxi and ride it up or down the river as far as you want for only 16Baht. Stops include popular tourist locations like the Wat Arun and Khao San road, as well as a variety of more localized, hidden gems. The river taxi gets you breezing past grid-lock traffic for a fraction of the price. . . and who doesn't like to spend some time on the water?

Living in Bangkok can definitely be daunting, especially for someone who spent a few too many years living in barely-there Richland, WA. But with the various forms of transportation at my fingertips, it's been anything but a dull experience to find my way around the big city madness. 

Science Experiments, Loose Teeth, and Lesson Plans: What I'm really doing out here in Southeast Asia

Sorry for the belated update. I'd go on and on with excuses on why it has taken me too long, but frankly that's a bore and who cares? So on to the important stuff, the update itself.

I have a feeling some of my friends and family might not understand exactly what it is I am DOING out here in Thailand for the year. Sure, I'm "teaching English" -- but does that mean I'm really just on a year long vacation, hanging out with a bunch of TEFL grads and partying on the beach in between hungover lessons on proper apostrophe placement? ...Not even close. Okay, though I DID give a riveting lesson on apostrophes just last week. I'll explain...

My School

I currently work at a Sarasas Ektra, one of 24 Sarasas-affiliated bilingual school that are peppered all over Thailand -- mine is located just a 15-minute walk from my apartment.

Sarasas Ektra was granted license as the first bilingual school (Thai-English) in Thailand in the early 1990's and functions as a private school. The campus started as a special bilingual program called "Extra Class," created to have gifted students learn English directly from native English speakers to assure their English was precise and effective. The program was so popular and successful, it developed into its own entity, Sarasas Ektra.
There are three campuses all within walking distance of each other: Infant Campus (Kindergarten 1-3), Primary Campus (Grade 1-6), and Secondary Campus (Grade 7-12).

I teach Grade 3, so I work on the Primary Campus. The campus itself is very nicely maintained, a majority of it open-air and intertwined with gorgeous tropical plants and flowers. The school is 50% Thai and 50% English, which is apparent in everything from the posters, to the snack stands, to the "what's for lunch today" menus on campus. The campus is also 50% Buddhist and 50% Catholic. This means we honor and celebrate both Buddhist and Christian holidays (yay!) here. It has made for some fascinating festivals and ceremonies, where Buddhist prayers mix nicely with prayers to various Catholic saints.

If anyone is interested, I'll do a short video tour of my campus, and post it here online sometime soon.

My Class

So for this year, I am the Homeroom English teacher for Grade 3F -- they are an "Extra" class, meaning they are the gifted students among their grade. There are only 5 teachers teaching these gifted, "Extra" classes and I am thrilled to be one of them. During the summer session I taught a much slower-paced, younger group of Second graders. Being thrown from that bunch into a group of highly intelligent, knowledge-craving Third graders with attitudes to match their know-how... well, it's proven to be equal parts challenging, rewarding, and amusing.

Though my title is Homeroom English teacher, I am responsible for teaching far more than English vocabulary and how to use English Grammar. As an Extra class, they spend 70% of their week learning from me, in English. I teach the concepts and the English to go with these concepts, and the other 30% of the week is taught by Ms. Beng-orn, my co-operative Thai teacher -- she teaches the same concepts and subjects to the students, but in their native tongue. 

As an Extra class Homeroom teacher, I am responsible for teaching the following subjects each week:

Math

My kids are math wizards, and LOVE doing Math in class. Good, considering I'm not a huge fan of the subject -- so their enthusiasm keeps me motivated to make the 4 hours a week we dedicate to it fun and interesting. Currently we are studying number patterns and counting/writing number up through the millions, but July begins our heavy division/multiplication section.

Social Studies

Everything from Geography, Climates, and the Earth's layers, to Global Climate Change, Making/Reading Maps, and the histories of the ASEAN nations. I only get to teach this subject one time a week, but It's so much fun. :)

Science

My father would be proud... I teach four hours of Science each week, currently on the topic of Heredity. We've already done an extensive science experiment involving plant heredity and the passing of traits from various plants to their seeds. I did a lesson recently on Types of Twins and my class went bananas over the idea of Siamese/Conjoinal Twins. We'll be watching a documentary I found on the subject in class next week. future topics include Natural Resources, Pollution, and Chemical Reactions. 

English

This is more of what you'd expect, but more involved than you probably realize. The students work out of an English book, an English Workbook (daily exercises and general lesson practice), an English Writing book (for taking notes in English and practice with sentence formation on paper), a Creative Writing book (which I utilize often, as my class is extremely creative with their writing), and an English Dictionary (for them to fill with Thai translations and use as they please). 

This is the one class that I teach every single day, 7 hours each week. Topics, of course, range from proper use of Pronouns to lessons on Adjectives, reading comprehension, speaking practice, and of course, consistent streams of new vocabulary. 

Phonics

Phonics is usually taught specifically by Phonics teachers, but due to a change in the curriculum this year, Extra Class teachers were made to take on this responsibility. Though teaching it is new to me, I don't mind taking it on -- it's just another excuse to integrate what we've learned in other lessons of my class, and lets me take the time needed to make sure the kids are using proper pronunciation and enunciation with the language. 

Health Education

The Sarasas schools recently decided to add this to the course material for the students, and I use two hours of my Science lesson each week to include it. The book we teach from is wordy, and a bit heavy for Third Grade in my opinion (previous lessons include the dangers of alcohol, cigarettes, and glue sniffing and future lessons include sexual harassment), but I've enjoyed the challenge. We begin our food pyramid lesson next week, wish me luck!

Multiple Intelligences

This is another topic that up until recently, was taught only by the Thai teachers. Again, with time comes change and so Extra Class teachers are expected to participate in teaching this subject to the students. I only teach it once a week, but I enjoy it! We spend the lesson exploring the various Multiple Intelligences and doing activities that both illustrate and explain each Intelligence. I'm excited to see how it will help me to gauge the activities my class responds well to, as well as what they learn less from.

As you can see, it isn't your average 23 year-old American's workload. No, I am --in fact-- officially a bona-fide, genuine, hard-working Elementary School Teacher (complete with the miniscule paycheck.) And honestly? I LOVE IT. 

I work every single day from 7:30AM until 5PM (I chose to teach an after-school class of 12 students each day, as well) and spend every minute that I'm not teaching in my classroom, grading papers and homework, writing up lesson plans and getting to know my kids.

Which, speaking of my kids, did I mention that there are THIRTY-SIX of them?? Yep, 36. Thirty-six bright, funny, talkative, wild (and often outrageous) 7-9 year olds.  This is also a culture shock from summer session, when I taught two classes of 15 students each, all of which whom were younger and more inclined to lose teeth in the middle of a lecture than cop an attitude with me over an assignment.

My G3F class is amazing. They are quick learners and confident in their intelligence (almost to a fault). They enjoy practicing their English with me, and appreciate my wacky, dorky sense of humor. To be honest? They're nerds. Okay, I know that sounds mean... but let me explain. Other teachers draw pretyt flowers on the board to decorate their vocabulary lists and have the students sing songs about gardens and flowers.... I gave my students the opportunity to make their own tongue-twisters in phonics using the Digraph sounds "ch" and "sh" -- I received 36 tongue-twisters about man-eating sharks, shipwrecked pirated, hungry chimpanzees, and chubby aliens. 

To get them to understand Regional Climate Maps showing various heat patterns around the world, I had to relate it to something they definitely both understand AND enjoy: heat-vision goggles and what the world would look like if you looked at it through a Predator's eyes. 

Yup... they're not your average group of third-grade Thai students, but I absolutely love them. 

Their biggest (and really only) fault is their complete and utter lack of manners, but we are working on this. Sarasas is very keen on well-behaved children and a certain, almost military-like demeanor among the kids. 

As the soon as the year began I realized my students had fallen far off that band-wagon somewhere along the line, and are in serious need of discipline. Let's just say this is a daily lesson... for them, in respect and proper behavior. For me, in patience and creative forms of discipline. 

The class is smart, and will learn loads no matter who their teacher is. But I have made it my personal goal to be the cornerstone in their lesson on respect and behavior at Sarasas. They will be a different group of kids by the time I'm through with them, I can promise you that. :)

Wai Khru Day, 2011

On Thursday, June 16th, we held Wai Khru Day at the Primary Campus. Wai Khru is a Thai ritual in which students pay their respect to their teachers in a formal ceremony that begins with Buddhist prayers and chants. These chants express their gratitude and respect for teachers and asks for blessings of their studies in return. The foreign and Thai teachers are each presented with an offering of flowers from their students, and a representative student from each class performs a kowtow wai at the feet of the teacher. I had never even heard of this ceremony before coming to Thailand, and the whole thing was both incredibly surreal and moving. Definitely a once in a lifetime experience for me.

Overall, teaching in Thailand has been so different from anything I could have ever expected or prepared for. Without a teaching degree or even a TEFL certificate, most of my experiences as a teacher have been of a trial and error nature. But I can't begin to put a price on what I've learned here, and what I continue to learn every day.

The student representatives prepare for the ceremony

Sitting and waiting for the ceremony to begin

Me and Ms. Beng-orn, my Thai teacher

The kowtow bow

The director Mr. Pisoot, addressing the students

One of my students, Tawachit, and myself

Tawachit, Supichaya, Ms. Beng-orn and I

The Case of the Missing Cats, and my first interaction with a Bangkok Police Station

*Disclaimer: The story you are about to read is not fiction; no names or details have been changed for the benefit of this blog. This story is entirely true, and entirely anticlimactic. I apologize accordingly.*

So we have 9 days of holiday before summer session starts back up on the 9th of May -- pretty exciting to have some time off to relax, recoup, and see some sights. My friends Aggie and Piotr, a Polish couple who teach at a nearby school, are using their time off to do some sight-seeing within the neighboring countries. They asked me to look after their two cats --sisters, Nikki and Lana-- while they were away. I happily agreed, as I had been considering getting a cat for myself, just as a companion and someone to cuddle with before Nathan makes it here in the end of May :)

Saturday afternoon, Aggie and I went all over town hunting down extra cat litter, food, etc. and rounding up the cats with their respective boxes and such to make the move over to my apartment. Aggie and Piotr left early in the morning on the next day. Sunday morning, I took off to pick up some cat toys and a coffee down the street (there's several pet supply shops around my neighborhood, conveniently enough). When I left, Lana was curled up on the couch, and Nikki had perched herself up on one of the many shelves in my small, studio apartment. I headed out the door, making sure to lock it behind me, and took off down the street.

Thirty minutes later, I returned to the apartment only to find... the cats were absolutely no where in sight. I spent a good fifteen minutes slowly roaming my itty-bitty apartment. I jingled the cat toys to lure the cats out from wherever they were hiding, called them by name and any other way I possibly thought to. I checked in all their usual lounging places (under the bathroom counter, behind the toilet, on the couch, on the shelves, etc.) -- no where. I searched in cabinets, even inside drawers -- no where. I checked behind the couch, in the shower, above the cabinets, in the closet, and - even though I don't even HAVE space under my bed, I checked under the mattress just to be safe... still, no where. It was if they had simply just... vanished... in the 30 minutes it took me to walk to the store and back. Hard for two (rather large) cats to do in an apartment that can't be more than 30 sq-ft.

Immediately, I worried someone may have taken them out of the room. My apartment has excellent security guards and helpful office-workers, but I knew that technically pets were not allowed in my apartment complex. The cats had spent most of the night crying and meowing like crazy the night before, I assumed just from being in a new place without their parents. Surely the late-night meow-ing didn't irritate someone enough to complain, causing the landlord to come in and snatch the cats away in my absence? I went downstairs to find out.

After some broken English/Broken Thai conversation my favorite security guard, Pirat, found a Thai girl that could translate for me. Together, the three of us viewed the security footage of the hallway I live in... sure enough, there was me... leaving at 11:15am..... and then there I was again, coming back -cat toys in hand- to the room at 11:42am. Nothing and no one in-between.

Pirat told me he'd be on the lookout for any feline passer-by, and even came back up to the room to do another search with me. Again we checked every corner, cubby, inch and drawer -- nothing. The cats seemed to be just absolutely NOT in the room. Yet the windows were closed, and in fact haven't been opened once since I moved in. The balcony, too, was closed and locked. With the front door proving to be clear or any break-in and any escape option ruled out... I was stumped. Frustrated and concerned, I started making phone calls. First to Nathan and my parents (moral support was beyond necessary at this point and they're always the first to help me think logically through life's mysteries.), then to Aggie, Jesse, Stephanie, and even Mr. Al. Thankfully, Jesse answered right away and agreed to come over and help me solve the mystery of the missing cats.

When he arrived we searched the apartment (yet again), and decided to ask one more time about the video footage before taking our little search party to the neighboring area. This time Pirat was helpful enough to show us both the footage I had already viewed, and the footage from the camera on the opposite end of the hallway. The second camera's footage gave no further evidence. No one came to the apartment door --or even walked through the hallway-- while I was gone. And no little, furry, escape-artists were seen at the bottom of the screen, either.

And so, Jesse and I took off. Walked pretty much around the extended block of Soi 27, while Jesse stopped every so often to ask, in Thai, about the missing cats (thank goodness for Jesse! I recall what Nicole said when she first introduced him to me, "but he's leaving in July so just don't get too attached!" - I understand the warning, now, but it's far too late - I'm so thankful he was so willing to help out and I'll miss him when he goes!). No one had seen a thing, aside from the usual stray Soi-Cat.

Defeated from the neighborhood stroll, we made one more trip up to the room, one more in-depth search in the corners of the apartment -- Nothing. I didn't know how I would possibly tell Aggie that within 24 hours I had somehow managed to magically misplaced her poor cats!! We decided to make some more phone calls. Maybe someone had taken the cats and decided, since they weren't to be in the apartment, to just take them to the closest shelter? Where in the world was the closest shelter? If someone had, in fact, stolen them from my apartment, does this make this a matter worth taking to the police? And just how, in Thai, does one say, "oh hey, well yeah, so... I'm cat-sitting but it's the craziest thing, see, I took off for 30 minutes and these cats well uh, they just, uh... disappeared.. into thin air. Just, uh, *poof* --gone." And even despite language barriers, what on earth can the Bangkok Police Department do about cats that have appeared to develop teleportation over night?

Thirty minutes and a few phone calls later, we decided to try the Police Station just in case they could help us with "stolen' cats. The station we went to is located about a 15-minute cab-ride away, and doesn't have much to it. The Buddha sitting on the station porch was easily the most ornate part of the entire building, the rest of it leading into a small concrete room with a few office-style tables and chairs. Three officers listened to Jesse and I take turns spitting English/Thai mixtures and using charade-style communication to get the point across. This is where I have to speak highly of the Bangkok Police team, for not only were they patient and understanding to two incoherent foreigners, but they were willing and helpful enough to make time for us right then and there. For the most part, the officer seemed to understand the situation, and offered to drive Jesse and I back to the apartment so he could come check out the room and search for the cats himself.

Though I truly hoped to head up the stairs to my studio and find the cats just lazily lounging on the couch, unharmed, I couldn't help feel that hot pang of dread in thinking that, if this were the case, I have sufficiently wasted at least 5 or 6 people's time with something that hardly constitutes as an emergency.
But as we walked through the door, into the studio...
... still no cats.
However, I immediately noticed something different. A pile of clothes from my closet were pushed just slightly hanging off of the shelf inside, sticking out of the closet doors, just a bit. I made a b-line for the closet while the others shuffled in. I pushed aside the pile of clothes and yelped just a bit when I saw: A cat. Lana, in fact, in all her lazy chubbiness -- curled up and looking at me like I had just spoiled the best nap of her life. I quickly picked her up and put her on the couch next to Jesse, making sure to avoid eye-contact with the policeman as my embarrassment grew. I turned back to the closet and started feeling wildly inside, reaching way back to the corners I can see, moving piles of clothes and shoes and my suitcase all precariously shoved inside. A box lies in a cubby at the bottom of the closet and I yelped again when I felt behind the box and felt the fur beyond it: Nikki.

I couldn't quite decide whether to laugh or cry, so I thanked the policemen, the security guard, and Jesse for their time and help and thanked God that the only outcome of all this mess was simply me, looking like a jackass. Never have I been so happy to find two animals and so tempted to murder them at the same time.



So there you have it. Anticlimactic, as I warned. But it's just another perfect example of how, at the very least, life in Bangkok is never dull.

Nikki, in her second-favorite lounging spot.

Songkran Festival 2011: Koh Samet and the Art of “Going on Holiday”

This week has certainly been an eventful one. Monday brought about a pretty epic bought of food poisoning, source still unknown. Think it was bad butter/toast combo for breakfast on campus. I’m not sure if I’ve ever been quite that sick in my life, but I guess there’s a first time for anything. Ironically, I chose to only bring one dose of my anti-bacteria medication leftover from Semester at Sea. My rationale being, I suppose, that I never once got sick on that adventure, so how bad could it really be out here in Thailand? Har har har…

Thankfully I was feeling well enough to go to school the next day to teach and help out with the Songkran Festival for the kids. The short week made for a good review week for the students, and I came up with a Jeopardy-style review game to go over all the material we’ve learned thus far in class – the kids loved it! Hopefully I can use the same idea for my 1^st graders in the fall.
Sarasas celebrates Songkran every year by canceling afternoon classes and having the students put on a cute little parade around the campus. The teachers and administrators get perfumed flower-water rubbed on their hands and flour-paste painted on their cheeks in celebration of the Thai New Year. Then the kids get to go crazy with a campus water-war! This definitely gave me my second wind – nothing helps a lingering fever quite like getting soaked with cold water from dozens of student’s water guns. Plus getting to spray my students was pretty great as well 

Ms. Kim and I

Louis and I - He's a teacher's pet :)

These Hawaiian-style shirts are a Songkran tradition,
and seen EVERYWHERE during the holiday

Water Madness

Post water fight

After changing out of my soaking wet clothes, I met Dan and his girlfriend, Natalie, at the driving range for a bit. Natalie just got back from a scuba diving trip to Borneo, and her stories make me itch to run and get my scuba certification as soon as possible!


Wednesday morning I decided I felt rested and good health enough to make my trip to Koh Samet. I had purchased the bus ticket the previous weekend, and my bus was set to leave from Khoa San at 8am. My air-conditioned mini-bus takes travelers all the way down through Rayong to Ban Phe Pier, where all the ferries leave for a variety of islands. The roundtrip ticket I bought included both the bus and the ferry, and was only 600Baht ($20.00).


I figured that I’d find a bus full of backpackers to chat it up with on the drive to the pier, but ended up having the bus all to myself on the drive down! Hundreds of Thais also made their way to the pier, most traveling the back of pick-up trucks, armed with water-guns and massive barrels full of cold water.


--Let me take this moment to emphasize JUST how epic and widespread this phenomenon of Songkran really is. The holiday is three days long (seven in Chiang Mai), and I’m not kidding when I say that it is probably these three days alone that keep the plastic toy water-gun industry in business. EVERYONE – child, adult, men, women, drivers, tourists, etc – has a water gun, and absolutely EVERYONE is a target. Pick-up trucks of teen Thais chuck bowls of water at each other and people on motorbikes stop at random stalls on the side of the road to get sprayed by hoses and have flour paste painted on their faces. Living in Thailand during Songkran is like living in a water park… any form of transportation is a “ride,” and if you go absolutely anywhere, at all, you are going. To get. Wet.

Perfumed flour paste is sprinkled on just about everything...

  We made it to Ban Phe in great time and hopped on the ferry for Koh Samet. I started to get that familiar exhilarated feeling of being on a boat with a tropical destination ahead, something that never gets old to me. The ferry ride was an hour long, and as we took off I looked around at my fellow passengers. A group of Thais (or maybe they were Philipinos…) in the front broke out a bag of freshly cut watermelon and pineapples and started snacking – someone passed me an offering dried mango rolls to me, I took one and passed them along the line. A cute couple got comfy and cracked open a couple cans of Leo beers in the seat next to me. A family of Chinese (or maybe they were Korean…) immediately got out their cameras and started capturing photos of just about everything. A father held on tight to his baby son as the little boy stuck his head out of the ferry and waves his hands in the wind, like a puppy in the passenger seat. Four Indian men (perhaps they were Punjabi…) opened a bottle of 100 Pipers whiskey and started mixing it with apple juice, clinking plastic cups and talking excitedly in Tamil. An old woman laid herself out in the middle of the boat, her bare feet catching the ocean spray.

I looked around me and had to smile. Though I may never really know where any of these people are from, one thing rang undeniably true: The act… no, the art, of “going on holiday” is most definitely a worldwide, cross-cultural ability.

I decided to find accommodation once I got to the island instead of book ahead, knowing that I’d have options everywhere. I would have loved to stay more than one night, but I knew the prices for everything would be jacked up high for the holiday, and even my small bungalow resort was a rip-off for one night (1000Baht, $33.00 – for those keeping track, this means that roundtrip transportation and accommodation for this island getaway really only cost me about 55 bucks. Not shabby, though still more than anyone would have to pay for a low-season trip.). I stayed at the Samed Resort, cute little beach-side accommodation located on the north beach of the island, Ao Noi Na.

Samed Resort

View from my bungalow

     After a couple hours exploring my beach and the surrounding areas, I settled in for lunch (chicken red curry with rice and a cocktail – delicious) with a pretty spectacular view. After lunch I made my way to Had Sai Kaew (Thai for Diamond Beach), the popular, rowdier beach of the island. More water fights, more painting of the face, etc., were found here, except nowhere to the Bangkok’s level of intensity. The island’s water is a precious commodity here, and any resident who wants to participate in the water festivities has to purchase a barrel to have imported onto the island.

Another bungalow resort nearby

View through the restaurant of one of the resorts

My view from lunch.

chicken curry, a cocktail, and rice in the shape of a heart...
could it get any better!?

I relaxed a bit with a 100Baht pedicure and found a local bar playing great music to sit and sip some Chang and people-watch for a while. It was there I made friends with Craig, an older Englishman who was babysitting the pub for his friend while they were on holiday. His friend Jack came by and the three of us chatted for a while, trading travel stories from India (breathtaking) and opinions on the fate of England’s futbol team this year (heartbreaking). 7pm came around and I headed back to my side of the island in search for a fire dancing show.


Though no fire show was to be found near my resort, I did find two nice Canadian women, Christy and Sandy, who were staying on the same beach. I sat with them for a while and we played pool over pineapple shakes. Both were teachers as well and, ironically enough, Sandy has worked for Sarasas before! She had some useful input, and Christy gave my her expert advice on what to do next time I’m on the island – best places to shop, best bars, where to end your night (at Silver Sand, next to the Thai lady who cooks up fresh burgers and hotdogs at stand till 3am – wonderful.), where to go snorkeling, which boat trips to take –and which to avoid. We talked late until I decided to head for bed, the perfect end to a short yet beautiful trip to Samed.

My ferry left at 11:30 the next day. One iced coffee and THE best banana pancake of my life later, I was headed back to Ban Phe. Every seat was full for the trip back, which ended up taking close to 5 hours, instead of the expected 3. Mai pen rai though, I was in no rush and was feeling quite content from my little getaway. Not everyone, however, shared my sense of Thai contentment. A French couple, who sat in front of me on the bus, started to panic as we got closer and closer to our drop-off point on Khao San.


See, Bangkok’s style of the Songkran celebration is a lot rowdier, to say the least, than Samet’s… and certainly wetter. We’re talking fire hoses spraying into traffic and entire buckets upon buckets being washed onto every individual on sight, down every road, nook, and cranny – there’s simply no way to avoid it. No problem, except for the Frenchman decided to bring his guitar with him, and no weatherproof case to keep it safe. Not a very smart idea. He proceeded to freak out at the Thai driver in broken French/English, demanding the driver take them to their guesthouse and cursing at the sight of every spraying hose. The driver was starting to lose it as well, confused on why the guy was freaking out on him and unable to stop anywhere but the scheduled destination.


I tried my best to play peacekeeper, trying as nicely as possible to explain to the Frenchman that a.) our driver could not speak English, so yelling at him was futile, and b.) the Thai aren’t out to disrespect your property. Just show them you have a guitar and say “please no water” and most likely, they’ll find some other part of you to get wet and spare your precious instrument. I wanted to tell him that if he really wanted to keep his guitar safe he should have left it at home before embarking to Thailand during the infamous “WATER Festival,” but I bit my tongue. Mai pen rai.
Friday marked my final –and wettest—experience of Songkran, when a group of fellow Sarasas teachers and I headed back to Khoa San, the center for Songkran mayhem, music, food, and one hell of an epic water battle.


Six of us piled in a tuk-tuk around 3, and by the time we got to Khoa San we were all drenched (tuk-tuks make the ultimate in-traffic water targets). I armed myself this time, with a plastic water gun that had an alien-shaped water reservoir backpack attached to it – pretty awesome. As soon as you head onto Khoa San, it’s like a real-live version of Call of Duty… only with water, not bullets. The whole street is a battlefield, and every time you get squirted in the ear from any which direction, the urge is automatically to dart around, looking for revenge on the perpetrator. Everyone moves along Khoa San, shooting each other and stopping to dance at random bars that have music playing and chairs to dance on. Those who don’t have water guns have buckets of flower paste, and they waste no time coating your cheeks, forehead, neck and hair with it – especially if you’re falang.


It can be a bit much, at first, having everyone touching you and attacking you with water from all angles, but it’s all in good fun. No one actually aims to hurt or annoy you, and the atmosphere is one of new beginnings and true, joyous celebration. Okay, and maybe it helps that they serve cocktails by the bucket on the street, but you get the point.

Five hours of play, two plates of chicken pad thai, and countless water-gun refills later, we were all spent. I wished every Thai I saw “Happy New Year” (“Sawat-dii bii mai”) on my way to the taxis, and thanked my lucky stars I got the chance to be here, in Thailand, for this epic and amazing holiday.

(some send-off images...)