Upon returning to Bangsak and R35 after my October vacation with Jordan, I promptly boarded a bus bound for Bangkok and the International School of Bangkok (ISB). ISB sponsors the ESL program at R35 and provides funding for a large group of students who wouldn't otherwise be able to attend school, so we were bringing a selection of those students up ISB for an annual weekend visit. The ISB compound feels like 10 blocks of suburban California was picked up and dropped in the outskirts of Bangkok. We were there for Halloween, which our students enjoyed, but was totally exhausting for me. Unfortunately, this weekend also provided me with my first encounter with the flu H1N1, when one of our students fell very ill the morning of our departure. After much discussion, it was determined that I would stay with him in the hospital the first day and night before being relieved by a Thai teacher from R35.
The next holiday was Thanskgiving, and we joined some friends, James and Laura (two other PiA English teachers) for a feast at James's house in Phang Nga.
Preparation took a couple of days, but the semi-traditional Thanksgiving dinner was complete with a deep fried chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and no-bake pumpkin pie (as it happens there are few to no ovens inThailand
The day I returned home, I was greeted by a familiar face from college. Emily Hearst, a friend from UPS was interested in teaching English abroad, so despite the modified teaching situation at R35 (with our Thai co-teachers and boarding students, etc), I let her know when some foreign teacher positions opened in our ESL department. A few days later, I greeted another friend from UPS when Wilson Cecil, who also applied and was also accepted to fill one of the foreign teacher positions, arrived in Bangsak. We have shared in many pleasant and adventuresome times since their arrival, embracing our status as the novel trio of farang. We started the second semester of school with one or two full week of classes, which quickly melted into several months of incomplete weeks with the beginning of the Thai and foreign holiday season.
For me, the holiday season began in November, when I turned 23 years old on the 4th of the month. Though we didn’t celebrate it until the beginning of December, I'll start with some of those pictures...
The next holiday was Thanskgiving, and we joined some friends, James and Laura (two other PiA English teachers) for a feast at James's house in Phang Nga.
Preparation took a couple of days, but the semi-traditional Thanksgiving dinner was complete with a deep fried chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and no-bake pumpkin pie (as it happens there are few to no ovens in
After Thanksgiving we had a bit of a break from the holidays, but still no full week of classes. We started to work on our joint New Year card. Here are some funny pictures that didn't make the cut for the card...
The King of Thailand, the longest reigning monarch in Thai history, celebrated his 83rd birthday on December 5th. Wilson and I stumbled upon some celebrations in Krabi on our way to rock climb in Railay for the weekend. The children waving flags on stage were far too cute to pass by.
When we arrived to Railay, we were nearly struck dumb with awe at how many really strong climbers were all over Ton Sai beach. As this was the first time either of us had climbed in several months, we were a bit intimidated but had a lovely weekend working a couple of solid bouldering projects we found at the end of the beach.
During the next couple of weeks, when we weren't in in class, Wilson, Emily, and I enjoyed a competitive game of Scrabble, a Mexican (the cuisine we all crave...) themed dinner that I planned as a surprise, and a tall game of mini-Jenga.
In preparation for Christmas, we made a trip down to Phuket for food and cooking supplies. At the Central mall, we happened upon a Christmas-Under-the-sea inspired balloon fashion show... an impressive and perplexing thing to witness as the costumes seemed as awkward as they were fascinating, but the models handled them quite well, and there were some outfits whose sea creature we're still not certain of.
For Christmas, we succeeded in decorating a small potted palm tree with lights and home-made decorations. On Christmas eve we gathered at my house to put our small gifts for each other under the tree, share some wine and chocolate mousse, and watch Elf.
We awoke the next morning with the excitement of any small child, and despite our feverish joy, managed to open our presents in a manner that would make our parents proud.
Our gifts unwrapped and replaced by the tree, we cooked our Christmas morning breakfast, complete with french toast, bacon, and fried bananas!
A few days later we celebrated a Christmas dinner with the rest of the foreign ESL staff at R35, and James and Laura came up from Phang Nga to join us. The next week, Wilson, Emily, and I traveled to Phang Nga to celebrate the New Year. Here are our last pictures from 2009...
On New Years eve day we took the tour of Phang Nga bay, with expansive mangrove tree forests, stunning caves, layers of limestone karsts, the famous James Bond Island, and some ancient cave drawings.
We celebrated New Years eve“the best pizzas in the world” according to our crazed German host, delicious Pina Coladas, and front seats to our very own firework display. The next day, we went on to start the New Year in a grand fashion, journeying to Railay beach for an idyllic weekend of sun, sand, and rock climbing. On the 1st, Wilson and I just bouldered on Phra Nang Cave beach while Emily swam, then we all enjoyed a stunning sunset.
On the 2nd, we joined a group for some top rope climbing on Railay East. It was Emily's first time rock climbing!
With the arrival of 2010 and the end of the holiday season, our school schedule has been less erratic, and we have now had several full weeks of classes. Wilson and I agreed that we needed to climb more, we have started a little climbing club with Max, one of my fellow teachers at Grassroots and an old school climber from Oregon. The second weekend of January, Wilson and I drove to Phang Nga and Max started to show us some of the routes. James and Laura joined us for some climbing and we had a few curious Thai on-lookers as well. The plan is to climb in Phang Nga every other weekend from here on out... getting jacked and tan.
The King of Thailand, the longest reigning monarch in Thai history, celebrated his 83rd birthday on December 5th. Wilson and I stumbled upon some celebrations in Krabi on our way to rock climb in Railay for the weekend. The children waving flags on stage were far too cute to pass by.
When we arrived to Railay, we were nearly struck dumb with awe at how many really strong climbers were all over Ton Sai beach. As this was the first time either of us had climbed in several months, we were a bit intimidated but had a lovely weekend working a couple of solid bouldering projects we found at the end of the beach.
During the next couple of weeks, when we weren't in in class, Wilson, Emily, and I enjoyed a competitive game of Scrabble, a Mexican (the cuisine we all crave...) themed dinner that I planned as a surprise, and a tall game of mini-Jenga.
In preparation for Christmas, we made a trip down to Phuket for food and cooking supplies. At the Central mall, we happened upon a Christmas-Under-the-sea inspired balloon fashion show... an impressive and perplexing thing to witness as the costumes seemed as awkward as they were fascinating, but the models handled them quite well, and there were some outfits whose sea creature we're still not certain of.
For Christmas, we succeeded in decorating a small potted palm tree with lights and home-made decorations. On Christmas eve we gathered at my house to put our small gifts for each other under the tree, share some wine and chocolate mousse, and watch Elf.
We awoke the next morning with the excitement of any small child, and despite our feverish joy, managed to open our presents in a manner that would make our parents proud.
Our gifts unwrapped and replaced by the tree, we cooked our Christmas morning breakfast, complete with french toast, bacon, and fried bananas!
A few days later we celebrated a Christmas dinner with the rest of the foreign ESL staff at R35, and James and Laura came up from Phang Nga to join us. The next week, Wilson, Emily, and I traveled to Phang Nga to celebrate the New Year. Here are our last pictures from 2009...
On New Years eve day we took the tour of Phang Nga bay, with expansive mangrove tree forests, stunning caves, layers of limestone karsts, the famous James Bond Island, and some ancient cave drawings.
We celebrated New Years eve“the best pizzas in the world” according to our crazed German host, delicious Pina Coladas, and front seats to our very own firework display. The next day, we went on to start the New Year in a grand fashion, journeying to Railay beach for an idyllic weekend of sun, sand, and rock climbing. On the 1st, Wilson and I just bouldered on Phra Nang Cave beach while Emily swam, then we all enjoyed a stunning sunset.
On the 2nd, we joined a group for some top rope climbing on Railay East. It was Emily's first time rock climbing!
With the arrival of 2010 and the end of the holiday season, our school schedule has been less erratic, and we have now had several full weeks of classes. Wilson and I agreed that we needed to climb more, we have started a little climbing club with Max, one of my fellow teachers at Grassroots and an old school climber from Oregon. The second weekend of January, Wilson and I drove to Phang Nga and Max started to show us some of the routes. James and Laura joined us for some climbing and we had a few curious Thai on-lookers as well. The plan is to climb in Phang Nga every other weekend from here on out... getting jacked and tan.
