This week I started teaching a basic conversation class to the faculty here. I'm not really sure why I'm teaching this class since my students are all in the offices that almost never have contact with foreigners. I have students from the housing , public relations, administration, and pay roll offices. Their English is ok and we're having some fun with the lessons. I'm trying to make the class interesting and fun for them but sometimes it's difficult. Oh well the class will be finished on the 10th and then I have to head off to work Summer Camp on the 15th.

On Monday, I got a package from my friend Andy! He's a nut! He sent me playdoh, a Wyoming $2 bill, a baby bueno duckie (a small stuffed yellow duck) with jelly beans, and part of the story he's writing. I had fun having the people in the office try the jelly beans since they always make me try thai deserts. I think they all liked them...but who wouldn't they're basically sugar!

.

YAY! After 6 months and 1.5 weeks I officially have furniture! I now have a real apartment so no more camping in my bedroom. Yesterday I got a TV stand(it's really a desk but whatever), and the chairs, coffee table, and another fan (this one's tall so it's extra awesome) from Collin's apartment. I like the guy from housing he took me into Collin's apartment and would point at things and go "you want?" and if I said yes he had the two women with him move them to my apartment. It was fun. Now I have a real apartment I can live in.

.

I am back from Songkran, aka. Water Wars! My original plans fell through so at the last minute I wound up tagging along with Collin and Dez on their trip to Pai and Chiang Mai. The trip was a blast even though my travel buddies sucked. I'm glad we wound up running into a bunch of other teachers from Surat in Pai so I wound up hanging out with them for the week. Now onto the day by day description of the trip!

Tuesday the 6th
We got on the sleeper night train to Bangkok. Collin, Dez, and I spent the first half of the trip in the dining car eating and playing cards. Then we all went back to our weird beds and tried to sleep. We all got a little sleep but not much since we were in the fan car and it was hot.

Wednesday the 7th

We arrived in Bangkok at 6am (i think...the sun was just coming up). We asked about train tickets to Chiang Mai but they were all full till 2pm so we decided to check the buses. On this trip I learned there are 2 bus stations in Bangkok and taxi drivers DO NOT know the difference. We told the taxi driver to go to the Northern Bus Terminal and we wound up at the Southern Bus Terminal...so we could have bought tickets to get on a bus to go BACK to Surat. Sadly we didn't realize this till we had paid the driver and were in the building. So we had to go find another taxi who took up to the right bus terminal. We had to wait a couple hours but we got onto a bus at 9:30am and got to Chiang Mai around 7. The bus was super scary though...the window next to me had shattered at one point and was all glued back together. you could hear the wind through my window!

Once we got there we went to the guest house 'Same Same' and got a room. Then we asked them if we could get tickets to Pai for the next day and they said they were sold out. While I was taking a quick shower Collin went out and found us bus tickets to Pai just down the street, so only the buses from 'Same Same' were sold out. Then we went to a restaurant, The Swan, that is owned by one of old teachers from Surat, Nick, and his girl friend, Tai. After we ate Nick and Tai closed the shop and took us on a tour of the city.

Thursday the 8th

We woke up early and got on the 9:30 minibus to Pai. I hate mini buses! There is almost no leg room in them! We got into Pai at about 1 and got rooms at a guest house. Then Collin and Dez rented motor bikes and we went out to go see the waterfalls. The waterfalls didn't have a lot of water going down them but we were up there during the dry season. After spending the rest of the day up swimming and watching the water we went back into town. Of course Collin and Dez weren't quite sure which way to go so we went the senic way, aka. the wrong way, for awhile before we turned around and followed the signs back to Pai.

That night while we were out we wound up running into Colin, Robbie, and Bryan from Surat. I had met them before but none of use really remembered each other. I spent the rest of the night hanging out with them cause Collin and Dez decided to head back early (this became a common trend with them). We hung out at this cool place called 'Bamboo' they had bonfire pits in all the seating areas and the BEST chicken and cheese sandwich ever. Bryan, Robbie, me, and a traveler friend of Bryan's ate 4 of them. No we did not each order one. First Bryan's friend ordered one and shared with everyone. Once it was gone we decided we needed another and all shared it. We did this 2 more times because they were delicious. When I finally got back to the guest house I was locked out but Dez was still awake listening to my Zune.

Friday the 9th

Another fantastic day in Pai! I woke up first even though I was the last to get to sleep...go figure (this is another pattern of the trip). So I walked around town looked at the used book store bought water at 7-11 (or 7 according to the Thai's). I also wound up helping a random girl pick out her next tattoo and went to lunch with her and her friend. Finally Collin and Dez woke up so we went out to try and find a cave or another waterfall. On the way we were told that there is no water at the other waterfalls so we decided to go swimming in the river. We spent a few hours at the river and then went to Pai Gorge to watch the sunset. The gorge was pretty but it wasn't overly impressive.

That night I went to the night market and walked around while Collin and Dez took naps. I wound up meeting some crazy guys at the french fry stand (I'll run into them again in Chiang Mai). After Collin and Dez decided to wake up we went out again but they went back to the guesthouse after about an hour so I hung out with Bryan. We hung out with some German (I think) travelers at thier guesthouse for a while before we went back to Bamboo. We hung out and talked to a bunch of random travelers while we were there. I wound up ordering the awesome chicken sandwich (secretly the only reason I wanted to go back to bamboo) and shared it with Bryan and another guy (forgot his name...oops). The other guy immediatly went to order one after I gave him a bite and he came back sad because they said that I got the last one of the night (yay me!). So I let him have a couple more bites cause the sandwich is amazing and I'm cool like that. When I got back to the guest house I was locked out AGAIN and this time Dez didn't wake up. Luckily Bryan, Robbie, and Colin were in the guesthouse next to us and they let me crash with them.

Saturday the 10th

We left Pai at 1:30 and got back to Chiang Mai at 4:30. We got our room again at 'Same Same' (note: I will spend as little time as possible in this room cause it sucked. I will never stay at Same Same again). We went to dinner at an Italian Pizza place around the corner that was awesome and then went back to relax. We sat outside talking to our Dutch neighbors for a while and then went to bed early.

Sunday the 11th

This was the first day of the water wars (Chiang Mai starts early Songkran doesn't really start till the 13th). I woke up early again and went to the used book stores near Same Same before I went to the Swan to get lunch and play with the water. While I was hanging out the three guys from the Pai french fry stand showed up (Jo, Mark, and Ben) but we couldn't remember where we had met in Pai. Since Sunday was officially part of Songkran lots of people weren't quite ready for people to start the water fighting. This made the day awesome cause traffic wasn't congested and you could sneak attack people in the red truck tuk tuks (they're not really tuk tuks but that's what we call them in Surat). We were the only big group on our corner playing with the water. The guys from Pai all had water guys and I had a bucket that we doused people with. It was really fun poaching tuk tuks and soaking the people inside them. The boys would jump into the tuk tuks and shoot everyone before jumping back out.

I also wound up picking a pseudo fight with some Thai guys down the street. For some reason they were set on trying to soak me with cold water and throwing me into the moat. I wound up throwing a few of them in too but in the long run I wound up in the moat more. It also didn't help that the guy who owned the shop next to The Swan kept throwing me in too. But I wound up pulling him in with me the last time. On Sunday I got thrown into the moat 5 times :(

After water fighting I went to the Sunday night market and bought a ton of stuff. I got some cool Thai pants, a new purse, more journals (I'm addicted to them), some shirts, and a bamboo container that's really pretty. Then I went home and got cleaned up before I met up with EVERYONE from Surat...ok it wasn't everyone but it was a lot of people. We wound up trying to go to a club called 'Discovery' but as soon as we got there the group dispersed and we spent the rest of the time trying to find everyone. After we found everyone Robbie and I headed back into town so I could give Collin the key for the room. Then Robbie and I walked around and talked for a few hours. Robbie also helped me get into my building since I was locked out yet again!

Monday the 12th

I woke up first again even though I was the last one asleep. So I met up with Bryan and Zora (his friend from Hungary) and went to breakfast. We wound up confusing the poor waiter cause only Zora and I were at the table and we were trying to order 3 meals. The waiter finally understood when Bryan came back. After breakfast we went back to water fighting which was a blast. Sadly it wasn't as fun as Sunday but that was because everyone was out fighting and the traffic was barely moving. There also weren't as many tuk tuks to attack. While we were playing I was told by the guys from Pai that I was the French Fry girl (they finally figured out where we met).

After playing in the water I would up meeting up with Jo, Ben, and Mark and hanging out. Jo and I got bored with the place we were at so we walked around the moat and talked. He had fun picking on my American accent and I had fun pretending to be an idiot American (this became a running joke for the week).

Tuesday the 13th

The first OFFICIAL day of Songkran. I played in the water for a little bit but it wasn't as fun as the days before. While I was playing I got invited to go to Doi Suthep temple in the mountains with Bryan, Colin, Zora, and Robbie. So we all crammed into a real car with a crazy 71 year old driver. Bryan stole the front seat so the rest of us crammed into the back seat. I wound up sitting mostly on my hip which wasn't that comfortable. Our driver was nuts he drove down the middle of the street and at times in the wrong lane! We finally got to the temple and had to walk up 300 steps which wasn't that bad...it was like walking up to my apartment. Then we walked around the temple which was pretty (temples are all starting to look the same) and looked at the awesome view of Chiang Mai. After walking around we got back in the car...this time the brilliant idea was for me and Robbie to share the front seat since we were the smallest. I wound up sitting mostly on Robbie with my hip smashed into the door...much more uncomfortable than the back seat. On the trip back the driver decided that the shoulder was his own personal lane and tried to merge into cars! It was an experience!

After the temple and more water fighting I wound up hanging out with Paul (a traveler from England). We talked about random stuff while we watched the worlds biggest roach attack some ants and the rats. When I got back I was finally not locked out!

Wednesday the 14th

Yet another day of water fighting. I was starting to get sick of the water so I spent a lot of time watching people and hanging out when people took breaks in 'The Swan'. That night I went out with Bryan, Colin, Robbie, and Zora to a Jazz club to say bye to some people that I didn't really know. Colin, Robbie, Zora, and I all crammed into a Tuk Tuk which was very reminiscent of the car ride 2 days before. After listening to Jazz music we headed back. I wound up crashing in Robbie and Colin's room cause I didn't want to go back to Same Same and be locked out again.

Thursday the 15th

Woke up to Collin calling me to say we were losing the room in a few hours and I had to get my stuff. Thanks for the warning Collin (note: the day before Dez told me we were checking out on Friday)! So I had to go get my stuff and since I didn't want to leave Robbie and Colin offered to let me crash with them again. After I had moved my backpack into their room we went to the train station to get tickets home only to find they were sold out through Monday...so we went to the bus station and we got some of the last tickets that got into Bangkok at a decent time. Then we went to do some water fighting.

That night I went to a fish spa with Zora, Robbie, and Colin. It was so weird having a swarm of fish chew off your dead skin. My legs felt really weird afterward! Then we went to an Indian restaurant to say bye to another person I didn't know. The Indian food was really good even though we had to mostly get veggie stuff since one girl was a vegetarian. Then we went out for a while.

Friday the 16th

Woke up to absolutely no water fighting. It was so weird the day before it was an all out war and Friday there was nothing! It was nice not having to worry about our stuff getting wet as we hung out in town waiting for our bus to leave. Colin and I left Chiang Mai at 9:30 pm. We think we got on the wrong bus but the station was such a mess we didn't really care as long as we got to Bangkok.

Saturday the 17th

We got into Bangkok at about 6:15. I got into a taxi and went to the Southern bus station almost as soon as we got there (Colin stayed in Bangkok). I got to the station at about 7:15am and was on a bus home 15 minutes later. I got home at about 6:40 pm and just relaxed.

Songkran was a blast! If I stay for another year I am so going back to Chiang Mai! I'm also really glad to be home and relaxing for real! Mom you are going to laugh when you see the pic of the purse I bought!The bamboo container

My purse made by a woman from a hill tribe.
Yes mom those are pom poms!

.

Wow in a week I'll have been in Thailand for 6 months. Time has flown by with lots of adventures and fun. I've learned a lot about Thai culture but not too much of the language (I'm working on it though). I've also learned how to be a teacher and how to ride a motorbike since I've been here :D I can't wait to see what I'm going to experience in the next 6 months! The second half of my year will be starting with the Songkran festival which is essentially a giant water fight! I can't wait for the festival cause it should be a blast plus it's been really hot here!

I've also discovered that caffeine affects me again...since I haven't had my daily cup(s) of coffee and Pepsi's in the past 6 months. The other day I had a cup of real coffee around 2 o'clock and was buzzing until 10. It was not a good time! I kinda miss coffee but water is better for me and it's cold.

Last week I got a super cute hand made letter from Cami. She says that she really loves me, misses me, and wants me to come back. I miss her and Grayson a lot too they're like another little brother and sister to me.

.