Farang Festive Cheer

I feel like someone going to confession; forgive me for I have sinned. It has been 13 days since my last blog. I have had numerous people asking for another update, and unfortunately the sad fact is that up until now nothing of any major interest has happened. But, finally, I have something worth writing about. Christmas.

Now, being a Buddhist country, Thailand does not actually celebrate Christmas, and that can leave farangs like myself feeling a little down hearted. Its the only time of the year in my family when we make a big celebration out of anything, and its such a family time. To be so far from home, with merely the odd Christmas light and 'jingle bells' on repeat in Tesco, is not really enough to bring about any festive feelings. So, I made my own Christmas. For the past three weeks I have been listening to Irish radio, and putting Christmas songs on YouTube, and my Mom even sent over Christmas decorations for the house! I have a miniature Christmas tree on top of the fridge, and light up snowmen, along with a few wreaths with little santas in them around the kitchen. But, as everyone else headed on an 8 hour bus drive to Bangkok in search of a Christmas dinner last weekend, I decided to take advantage of the gas hob and microwave, and attempt to make a Christmas-like dinner.

Now, without access to an oven, a turkey was out of the question. I managed to get cooked chicken in the local market, and I got it all chopped up so it would be easy to reheat. I had my Mom send over 'Paxo' microwavable stuffing (which tastes exactly like real stuffing!!), I stir fried a number of different vegetables al bought at the market two hours before dinner, and I made potatoes in the microwave. I also had gravy, pepper sauce and white sauce sent over. For desert we had ice cream, and I had a glass (or two) of wine. All this food was accompanied by a Christmas table cloth, Christmas candles, and Christmas crackers. Now, it was tough enough that I was cooking in an extremely limited space, and with such limited cooking facilities, not to mention that I had never cooked a Christmas dinner before, but I decided to make it that little bit difficult by inviting 4 other people to join me! I have to say, I am incredibly proud that I fed that many people a decent Christmas dinner, and with only one mishap (my Muslim housemate's halal chicken breast got a slight bit chargrilled).

Heading back to work this morning was a killer though. Just knowing that your family is at home relaxing and enjoying that Christmas feeling, ad you are losing the head at 12 year olds that wont sit down and do their class test, is pretty horrible. I was just about at the point where I was going to throw something or go on a massive rant (to who I don't know, the kids can't understand a word I say) when I entered a class and was suddenly bombarded with the most amazing hand made Christmas cards to 'Teacher Amy'. Some had such lovely messages, from 'I hope you find a nice man' to 'I wish you are not lonely without your family'. I was nearly in tears.

So, although this Christmas is different to any other, I guess its your attitude towards it that makes it a success or a failure. When coming to Thailand, or any other country, you have to accept that things wont be the same as at home, and you will feel like you are missing out at times. But, if you make a bit of an effort, make new traditions for yourself, and keep your head up, you can find that it feels just as good as at home, because its your own, grown up, independent type of Christmas.

Happy Christmas,
Nollaig shona gach duine,

Sawatdiikha.

The Ultimate Ubon Weekend

Oh, where to start! This is what happens when I go away for a weekend and don't bring my laptop. I end up having a ridiculous amount of info in my head and not enough 'interesting writing space' time to put it down. I run the risk of entering the 'long and boring' genre of blogs. I will try to keep it short and to the point ... for most of it anyway.

So, with the long weekend here in Thailand we decided to make the best of the Monday off, and on Saturday morning myself and 7 other girls made our way from our different towns to the large city of Ubon Ratchatani (or just Ubon to us westerners who have a slight fit trying to pronounce it correctly). We spent our Saturday bumming on rickety buses and trains, followed by looking at a few local temples, the odd shrine to the King, and finding food. My night was made by the stand in the market across from our hotel which served sandwiches. I am talking about bread rolls, egg, chicken, beansprouts and sauce. If I believed in a heaven, I would have been convinced I had died and gone to it.

Sunday came and we spent the day doing the cultural sightseeing thing, feeling like the typical tourist. We hired a minibus between us (6 euro per person for the whole day. Cannot go wrong) and we headed into Ubon' national park, which is massive! I was extremely proud of myself, as I am someone who does not dispute the fact that I am incredibly unfit, and yet I found myself climbing up and down hundreds of steps, metres of mountainsides and up and over rocks in 38 degrees. I will admit, I was slightly put off my how easy the Thai people found it all, but I am a Farang and therefore can partly blame the heat ....

Within this park we took in the sights of 180 million year old rock formations, incredible cliff and mountain-top views of Laos, a beautiful waterfall, and most importantly, cave paintings.

Personally I was interested in the waterfall originally, but when I saw these paintings I was literally stunned. These date 3000-4000 years before history was first recorded, and consist of cliff walls of red paintings of what look like whales, mammoths, and strange human-like figures. The most amazing thing for me was the hands. These people, who we would consider prehistoric cave men who were primitive in thinking and are only interested in food, territory and procreation, had printed their own hands onto this wall so that they left a bit of themselves on the world. Even at that early stage of life, before art was for going against the government or to express deep feelings, it was used to do what each person in the world wants to do; make a mark that can be seen after you leave. Whether its 'Claire woz ere' on the back of a toilet door or even something as common as having children, the paintings just showed that people have always had the desire to leave something behind, something to say they were on the world and did something with their lives. I thought it was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen.

Overall, although so tiring, going to Ubon was one of the best things I have done so far in Thailand. I rediscovered my love of history, I got a bit of exercise, and ate the first sandwich I have had in nearly 10 weeks. Not a bad way to spend a long weekend.

A Bit of Mai Pen Rai

The Thai people live their daily lives by one simple way of thinking; 'Mai Pen Rai'. This loosely translates (Irish style) to 'ah sure 'tis fine'. This means that stress in everyday life doesn't exist at all. People do not run around, they do not worry, and they definitely do not do organisation. This may, or most definitely, result in stress and panic on the part of the 'Farang' (ie. me, the local western white person). 

On Saturday of last weekend, I spent the day having a lovely girly day in Surin with a few girls who are also teaching with TTT in other schools in the province. After getting my nails done, having a gossip, and enjoying a very difficult to find cheese burger with coleslaw and chips, I headed home, only to discover when I arrived home that the internet was down. With my housemates off galavanting, I was looking at a very boring and lonely Saturday night in, with only my ghekko to keep me company. About half an hour into re-reading 'Wuthering Heights', I received a phone call from my friend Dangmo who is a young Thai English teacher in my school.

Dangmo; Amy, Where are you?

Me; At home bored, why?

Dangmo; There is a wedding reception in the school hall. I am here. One of the English teachers got married today. She has asked me to tell you to come now to the party. She forgot to ask you.

Me; Dangmo, I have no dress! I have no present!  

Dangmo (evidently having problems understanding me); Great great, see you in a few minutes. *hangs up phone*

Fuuuucccckkkkk. 

Here I was, sitting in my pjs, eating jelly tots (thanks mother), and I was expected at a wedding in 5 minutes. I have never moved so fast. I rooted out a dress that was too tight around the arms, and after 2 minutes getting a knife at the stitches (I need to stop eating so much rice), and 5 minutes slapping on the little bit of make up I brought to Thailand with me, I was clip clopping down the road in the only heels I own here (the versatility of black heels never fails) in the pitch black Thai night to join the party .... an hour and a half later than everyone else. In Ireland, to be an hour and a half late for a wedding is disgraceful, but here, no. I got stared at when I walked in the door, but I was told later this is because I was the only white person in the room. I am a novelty it seems.The lack of gift didn't seem to matter at all, and I was fed and included with such warmth and relaxation, I simply couldn't feel out of place. I was even dragged by a number of teachers (who I hardly know) to be included in their pictures and join them in the fight for the brides bouquet (the wedding was a western style one, not a traditional Thai one, dont ask me why).

The idea of 'all is fine, why worry', hakuna matata only with Thai noodles, is an attitude which makes so much sense. Why panic about the little things, just calmly go along with them. So, the next time someone calls you and plonks you in a shocker of a situation, just calmly get the kitchen knife to the dress, clip a bow in your hair, and smile. The problem is most likely nothing that a bit of Mai Pen Rai cannot fix. 

Sawatdiikha.

Loi Krathong

I remember as a child watching Mulan, and being amazed, even through cartoon, with the beauty of the scene where the city celebrates with fireworks. I always wanted to see something like that, something as bright and colourful. Last night I attended the Thai Loi Krathong festival, and saw such beauty.

To explain the festival is quite simple. Loi means to float, and a Krathong is a little floating vessel made out of banana leaves and decorated with hair, flowers, incense sticks and candles. The people make their Krathongs a few days before, and the children make them in school, and then on night of the full moon in November they all go to the local lake and float their Krathong out onto the water. This is done to ask forgiveness to the water spirits for any pollution humans have caused over the past year.

The night is also a chance for locals to mix together, have a chat, and enjoy some nice food. There is a temple located beside Rattanaburi lake near me, and throughout the night the local people took the time to go in with their family and pray in the temple. Its nice to see that amid all the bustle of the people around the lake chatting and the music blaring on the speakers, that there is quiet and peace somewhere. Also the smell of the incense mixed with the candles from the Krathongs and the cooking around was fantastic. There was also a firework show during the night, and I have to say, the Thai's know how to do fireworks. These were so well timed, and had such amazing colours. I am rarely impressed by fireworks in real life, but I could have watched that show all night.

For me personally, although the Krathongs were beautiful, and their glow as they all floated together into the middle of the dark lake was stunning, I found the lanterns to be the best aspect to the night. Around the lake, after floating their Krathong, the people light large paper lanterns and set them up into the sky. Its so pretty to see dozens of these orange lights float off so quietly into the dark, and with the backdrop of the full moon in a clear sky behind them, well, its perfect really.

A Perfect Storm

I hadnt planned on writing a blog tonight, but after what I have witnessed in the last half an hour I feel I have to write it down before I have forgotten how incredible it was.

I was sitting eating my dinner in our little kitchen, having a chat with my housemate, when we were all shook (house and all) by a fairly sizeable clap of thunder. Thunder in this part of the world is not unusual, and we both had an idea this was on its way, as in Thailand you can feel the humidity build over a number of hours before a rain storm. But this was something we could never have imagined.

We decided to head up to balcony on our second story to see if there was any lightening, and what we were greeted with can only be described as a magnificent display of the sheer force of nature. The rain started light as it usually is this time of year, but suddenly the heavens opened and we were being completely lashed on, the little roof above the balcony providing little shelter from what can only be described at torrents of water. But we simply couldnt care, as the lightening that was filling the black sky in front and over us with the most magnificent light was something we couldnt take our eyes off. It started off as sheet lightening, but we soon saw that as the storm moved across the sky that it was in fact fork lightening just hidden behind the clouds. Accompanied by rolls of thunder that you could feel through the soles of your feet as it rattled the ground you stood on, the lightening lit up the entire sky, so bright and clear you could see colours such as pink and yellow in the light. The flashes of light gave us momentary picture-like images of the drops of rain that fell from the roof over us, with a backdrop of the tall coconut and mango trees in the fields at the back of our house.

All I kept thinking was how perfect it seemed. The air was light and clear, the rain was slightly warm and refreshing, and there were no buildings or anything of human making between us and the show of light in the sky. And as quickly as it arrived, it was over. The clouds quietly rolled on over us, leaving behind the clearest sky filled with stars and a nearly full illuminating moon. Everything has now resumed to its usual peaceful self, with only a cool breeze and damp grass as a sign that anything out of the ordinary occurred.  It was, without a doubt, one of the greatest things I have ever witnessed.

Sporting a Smile

Sports day at home was a day during primary school which I dreaded. I cant run fast, I have no hand eye coordination when it comes to the egg and spoon race, and I cant kick a ball into a goal if I was standing 5 feet from it .... ok that last bit is a bit of an exaggeration .... maybe 10 feet.

But here, even if you cannot play a single sport, its the greatest fun. There are over 2500 children in this school, and they are all spread between five 'houses', and there are children from M1 to M6 in each house. Every house has teams for each sport and each child represents their house in races etc. The atmosphere and support for your house is what makes this week so fantastic. The children all get involved in going to the matches in their colours with their pom poms and their cheer leaders and shouting for their fellow housemates. As a teacher who comes from an education system in Ireland based on discipline and exams, to see the children so enthusiastic and happy about their school and their teachers is amazing.

All the teachers get involved too, with each teacher being allocated a house and they wear the colour of that house for the few days.I am orange this week (not the most flattering shade I might just add), but my kids are  so funny. I got the greatest kick out of them this week. They are so free with their expressions here, which means LOTS of screaming, jumping around, and shaking everything they have the minute the drums start (the marching band drummers seem to carry those things everywhere with them!).Their stamina also shocks me, with their energy never dimming even a slight bit despite the heat. I stood out in the heat for about 10 minutes today and I felt baked and drained. They even had a parade through the town at half 8 this morning, and all the children attended, ready and enthusiastic, and walked the length of the town (about 25 minute walk) back to the school holding banners, flags, and some dressed in very uncomfortable looking traditional Thai dresses. I was very cheeky and hitched a ride on the back of a motorcycle with a young Chinese teacher who communicates to me through a series of grunts and pointing. I still got my lift back though. I figure that in itself was a successful start to the morning. The kids went on to race each other and play football and dance the whole day, even when many of their fellow students were fainting around them with the heat (the guys with the stretcher got their exercise today anyway). Most Irish kids would have mitched off and gone home or off to the local shopping centre.

But no, here these kids love this week, and I have to say so far I have loved it too. I have gotten to chat with the kids and get to know them more, and I even got my M5s (17 years old) to style me a lovely french plait and teach me some Thai words. I have one day left tomorrow which sees me put on the denims and shirt for a cowboy themed party. No doubt there will be more to blog about. The endless stream of Thai experiences continues.

Sawatdiikha.

The Elephant Experience

There generally isnt much to do around this part of the world. Surin Thailand is a pretty rural farming based area, and is pretty far of the tourist track. But once a year the city of Surin hosts an elephant festival in the hope of bringing in some extra business. So, off we all went to Surin this weekend with the hope of experiencing some Thai festivities.

I hate to complain, because up to this point I have been so thrilled with my Thai experience, but this was a complete disappointment. The town was exactly the same as usual bar a few more western faces who arrived, like us, in search of some excitement. What they found was one show once a day (300 -1000 baht a ticket) which consisted of elephants performing tricks such as playing football and tricks with hoops, and also a number of elephants on the street giving elephant rides. Personally, I love elephants and think they are such beautiful and intelligent creatures, but after this weekend I am sure of one thing. They are not meant to be performers. I didn't go to the show as I felt that I didn't want to give my money to support the mistreatment of these animals in the name of 'entertainment'. They are trained by Thai people who retain control of the elephant by keeping a sharp sickle to the temples of the elephants, and they are not afraid to use it as I unfortunately witnessed on the streets. Some of them were chained around their neck and feet. As you walk down the street you are approached by every elephant owner and offered to pay 20 baht (50cent) to feed the elephant who trudged behind him. Personally, it wasnt my cup of tea.

Although, waiting for friends outside the train station yesterday evening, I found a bit of enjoyment in the whole situation. Being a place popular with tourists, outside the train station was a base for the elephant rides. I was sitting on the steps texting, and looked up to get the fright of my life. I found myself greeted by an enormous elephant trunk in my face. An elephant whose owner had wandered to the side to have a cigarette had found her way over to me, and decided to make friends. She had a good sniff and gave me a few taps, and I got up to give her a rub. It was quite an experience, as one does not really comprehend the size of the these animals until they 'tap' you with their trunks and nearly send you flying. After a few minutes the owner then came over to us, explained to me that she is 3 years old, and is just pregnant. He encouraged me to give her a rub, offered to take a picture of me with her with my camera, and surprisingly didn't badger me for any money or try to offer me to feed her, unlike many others in the area. He seemed to really love this elephant, and she seemed to be treated relatively well in comparison to others around.

To get up close and personal with these animals is quite incredible, and is something that I will remember for the rest of my life, although that memory is tainted by the knowledge of the conditions of these animals and their treatment. In short, I wouldn't give my recommendation to this 'festival'. I would recommend instead to see these animals in a proper and well run sanctuary, of which there are a number in Thailand. Elephants are incredible creatures, but, in my opinion, they are better somewhere they belong rather than doing tricks in an arena and giving rides down streets.

Sawatdiikha.

Braving Reality

While being in Thailand there is a sense of being in a bubble. You leave the bustling Western world, full of its deadlines and traffic, and find yourself in this calm haven where the most stressful thing in your life is spicy food and the odd delinquent in your class. There is a sense of being protected from the world, a sense of 'this is pretty perfect'. But sometimes, even here, the reality of the world you left behind can seep in. Bad things can still happen to you, and how you react to them being so far from home leaves you with a very clear view of the type of person that you are.

We all have fears leaving, and I know at the minute there are a number of prospective TEFL teachers reading this blog, and I am sure you all have concerns with leaving your family. One of the popular concerns is 'what if something happens to someone I love and I am so far from them'. I didnt give this one much thought to be honest; partially as a result of other concerns such as food and fear of flying, and partially because I didn't want to scare myself into not going. Well earlier this week, a young cousin of mine died, and I was forced to face every expat's worst nightmare; being away from home during a family disaster. I of course am devastated, but I didnt come here to tell you about all that.

I came here to tell you that if you want to come here, to go anywhere, do not let fear stop you. I have chosen not to return home, and this decision was encouraged by my family.Yes its been a nightmare coping with this so far from home, but I have learnt a lot about how strong I am, and how resolved I am about being here. Fear should never be something that stops you making a life for yourself, and bad things will always happen in life, whether you are sitting on a beach in Thailand, or an office in Dublin. Go out there, grab life and the risks that come with that action, and live it. We only get one chance at things, as corny as that sounds, and letting the fear of possibilities stop you will be the your greatest regret. Bad things will happen while you are here, and there will be weeks where you think of abandoning ship in the middle of the night and getting on the first plane home. But running doesnt fix the bad thing, or make it go away. It just means that you face it in another time zone. So come, travel, live, and face the bad and the scary. You will find that at the end of it all you are stronger, and your appreciation for your family is at an all time high. Life is there to be lived, not feared. Take it from someone who faced the fear and survived it.

Sawatdiikha.

The Friday Feeling

Having always worked weekends the whole way through college, I have never experienced the Friday feeling until now. Today, Friday 9th of November, I finished my first full week as a teacher. Overall, I am very pleased. I didnt loose any children, or have any injuries as a result of them running around like a wound up toy. I managed to keep them all in the classroom, I had about 70% of their attention, and I didn't make a complete arse of myself. I think for the minute, I can be proud of that.

Although, today didnt go so well. I suppose in every job there are parts of it that test you, and today my last class was my test. A 5th year class, who should have a decent enough grasp of English, who didnt know the words 'brother' or 'sister'. Even after 10 minutes of drawing out stick figures of my family with their titles (a have suddenly acquired a big brother named Mark by the way, in case any of you haven't met him yet), they still hadnt grasped the concept. Not to mention the fact that they answered all my questions in Thai bar yes and no, and spoke to each other every time I addressed them. Talk about banging my head against a brick wall. So, I came out pretty disheartened. Even now I am at a loss as to what to do with them, and angry that they have gotten to this stage in school without knowing the basics you learn in the first class of a new language. I have been in Thailand a month and I think I know more Thai than they do English.

So I arrived home feeling pretty rubbish, made myself some Irish tea and sat down in a grumpy mood to transcribe 900 student names into my roll book. It was at the point where I was about the chuck the whole lot across the room with frustration at the amount of tippex I was using (Thai names in English are reaaaallllly difficult to transcribe) when there was suddenly a teacher at my door. A group of teachers were preparing to lay out harvested rice on blue plastic on the path, and they were coming to show me how it is done. A few minutes later, one of the young male teachers who I sat in rooms with a few times in the last week arrived, and suddenly all the teachers were offering him to do jobs for me, such as randomly pump the tyres on my bike. To cut a long story short, I found myself 'set up' with this poor young guy by the older teachers who were getting serious fun out of seeing this guy squirm. I ended up sitting on the front porch, the two of us sharing a chocolate bar, a big bottle of water, and talking in sign language for an hour and a half before pure awkwardness at lack of conversation forced him to help me fill in my roll sheet. Turns out its handy to have someone around who can read Thai names. The older teachers were truly thrilled by this, and are completely convinced that they have done miraculous work for this poor bachelor dude (who looked truly mortified as he could understand what they were saying) and this lonely little white girl (who spent her whole time laughing at the entire situation)

Lesson learned today; don't ever think that moods will last in Thailand. The people here always find a way to bring you back to that Friday feeling.

Sawatdiikha.

Waiing Away the Day

I wonder will I ever get used to being bowed to. Its quite unnerving to have every person that passes you press their hands together and bow their heads. I feel slightly like the that woman in 'The King and I', except without the oversized dress and the desire to constantly bounce/run around in it. In Thailand this gesture is called waiing, and if you happen to find yourself as a teacher in Thailand every student will do this to you. And I mean EVERY student. I try to acknowledge their wai by saying 'hello' or 'good morning/afternoon' but this usually brings on a fit of the giggles as teachers do not usually respond to the students like this. They giggle here for everything. They giggle if they are nervous, excited, happy, worried, surprised, or even annoyed. Confrontation is something that does not exist here. Don't get me wrong, people give out, just not to the person who has rattled them.

Anyway, my first week of proper teaching is going as well as can be expected. I had a slight disaster on Monday where I found myself a little lost in a class trying to explain simple concepts only to be confronted with the dreaded 'what the hell is she on about' look, but I am going to put that down to Monday laziness on both mine and the students' parts and move on. Yesterday and today have been what can only described as a complete success. Most of my students are turning up (school here is like college, sometimes you just don't bother going), and they seem to like me. My 5th years spent a good bit of time today asking me my age and then thinking I was a teenager because I know all the songs they like and the movies they watch. They are only 4 years younger than me, some even less, but my answer to their questions was 'too old to say, I will get embarrassed!' They understand embarrassment and the desire to not lose face here. Its very important.

Also, I have discovered way of tapping into students' enthusiasm in the classroom, and this is through competition. Nothing could have made my day better than the buzz in the classroom when there is a heated race to get to the end of the line in Chinese Whispers (just 'Whispers' here, no need to cause an awkward situation for myself trying to explain that one). Every kid loved it, whether 12 or 17 and it fits my job description of 'Speaking Listening Instructor' down to a tee.

I must admit though, its challenging. Some kids cannot grasp the simplest of things, such as 'what is your name', and there is only so simple a explanation you can give to a 17 year old without being patronising. It can be very frustrating, as my job is to basically talk really slowly and simply all the time. That takes a lot of mental energy. Thats not including discipline (I have had a few who have pushed me, but the 'dont you dare try that' look seems to be having the desired effect), or keeping them constantly active in some way, or satisfying their insatiable desire to show me every bit of work they do and get it ticked. Its hard work, but I am loving it so far. Hopefully that feeling lasts.

Sawatdiikha.

ps, on a side note, I must thank my Mother for her Irish Mammy Care Package containing knorr pasta sachets and instant mash. The simple things that keep us expats happy :-)

Accepting the bizarre Thai style

For the last two days (Thursday and Friday), the school has been in camp mode. I knew that this was going to happen, but I think the scale of the camp out shocked me a little. For the two days, about 1000 students were camped out on the school grounds. They were fed, entertained, and supervised by a small number of teachers in the school. The kids seem to have a complete blast, and it gave us time to wander around, get our faces known, chat to a few teachers, and most importantly chat to the students in English. Although I think what we noticed most about the camp was how bizarre and different things are here compared to the strict school structure at home

I don't know whether its because we have a very limited grasp of the language and we simply didn't understand the point of everything, but the last two days were the most confusing I have had so far in this country. Simple things confused us, like the first night the children took part in a candle ceremony. They came into the school hall, lit their candles on the way in from a line of teachers who were holding candles. They then placed the candles in a lovely big bowl of sand with lotus flowers in it, and it looked really beautiful in the dark. But then they all sat down, had a random thing where some of them ran to the top of the group, giggled something into the microphone, then went and got a packet of biscuits, and ran back down to their place in the group. Then it moved onto a chair being placed in the middle of the stage, an Thai English teacher came out dressed in a nice Thai dress, said about 4 words, sat down and people took photos with her like she was a celebrity, and then the children just got up and left. 

The next night, we went to a camp fire at the boys camp, where a 50 year old male teacher dressed like a boy scout (they all had uniforms of different sorts depending on what group they worked with) talked into the mike for about half an hour while the children chatted between themselves, only breaking conversation for the odd high pitched 'I see a celebrity' scream. The reason for the scream? Your guess is as good as mine. Then, after the lighting of the fire, there was a quick performance of a Thai wooden xylophone-like instrument  (have to say, that was pretty impressive), followed by a period of time where the teachers would say something for a few minutes into the mike, then play a little snippet of music where some of the children would jump up, dance like a cross between a rag doll and a background dancer for Britney for about 20 seconds, and then as quick as lightening jump back down to their sitting position on the ground. Then came the ladyboy show (which is EXTREMELY popular with the young girls, you wouldn't hear this amount of screaming at a Bieber concert) which consisted of 15 year old boys, with incredible legs and the ability to walk in 6 inch heels in a field better than I would on tarmac, strutting around with handbags saying the odd word and enjoying the screams of the fans. All this was done to entertain the teachers, students, and the director of the school, who thought the whole thing was hilarious. Myself and Saadia just spent the whole time looking at each other saying 'do you know what's going on'?

Not finding an answer, we decided to accept the bizarre. If you can't beat them. or in this case understand them, may as well join them. 

A Wander Off The Tourist Path

So far in my adventures here I have mostly experienced what many would call the 'tourist' end of things, i.e. the markets, shopping, new food, thai dancing, hotels, temples. But the other day, I saw what I suppose I came to Thailand to discover and learn about. Reality. I didnt come here in search of temples or dancing, as good as they are. I came here to see another way of living, to experience a new world through the people who have grown up here. What I did on Monday belongs to that search for reality. I thought about whether to put it in the blog, but I realised that to leave it out would be choosing what parts of reality I want to see, and that's not what I came here for.

After school on Monday, one of the teachers rang us and asked us to join her as she went to a nearby village to run a few errands. Accompanied by her elderly mother (a lovely smiley little thai woman without a word of English but speaks to us even though she knows we dont understand anything) we headed into the remotest area of Thailand I have encountered. The teacher explained to us that this was a farming village, and most of the people here are very poor. She also explained that many of the younger working generation have moved to places like America and Ireland, and they send money back home to their families for food and also, in many cases, to build a proper house. Most of the old houses still stand. They are simply raised houses on stilts to avoid flooding which often occurs, and they are usually one room, about the size of two average sitting rooms. The family of maybe 4 or 5, sometimes more depending in whether grandparents are living there too, live in the one room. They usually all sit outside though, and only use inside for cooking or sleeping, as the weather is usually good.

After dropping off the teacher's mother at her friends house (where they all stuck their head into the car to see the westerners and our lack of tan) we headed off to talk to a family. The girls in the family, twins, are incredibly smart, but they lack the money to go to university. Their family has recently gotten a house, which consists of one main room with two small storage rooms, built for them by the government, as their previous one was unfit for habitation. The teacher was meeting them to discuss their options for the future and their education. As I sat and watched these girls, who are so polite and bright, I couldnt help but think of how I took for granted my entry into University. My parent's attitude was 'education is a must and will always be provided for'. I worked through college, and I started to realise how lucky I was to have that job to get through University. Part time jobs here are non existent. Most people either work full time with their career, in shops or food stalls, or on a farm. I started to really see how the west can be seen as the land of opportunity. I know now its gone to pot economically, but we still take for granted so much. Simple things like our own rooms and our own beds, privacy, nice clothes, nice food, and the opportunity to do so much compared to others in the world. Although I didn't understand what the girls were saying, I could see in their eyes the disappointment of the reality that the likelihood of them getting out of that village and to university is very slim. Sitting there, I felt privileged to have had the ease of the decision to leave Ireland and find another life for myself.

I am not going to suggest any solutions to what I saw the other day, this is not a political rant. This is simply reality, one which we all must face and understand. It had to be included in this blog, because without it, my telling of Thailand would not be real.

Plans?? What are plans??

If you are a person who likes structure, plans and complete certainty in any situation, dont come to Thailand. You will be the most stressed out, wound up and generally peeved off person in the country. Things here never work out the way they say they do, and people never stick to plans. They prefer instead to take things easy, and do whatever it is that they feel like doing.

For example, yesterday was another day where I was ready to teach, and was kind of looking forward to it. But instead, the children were given another day to plan their sports week next week, and myself and the other foreign teachers were whisked off in the school minibus. Those who needed to spent their hour or so in immigration did so, while the rest of us, along with three or four teachers, went shopping in a local market. This was followed by some lunch at the expense of the school, where the food was delicious and plentiful (never doubt the potential of a Thai streetside outdoor 'restaurant').

We arrived home at about 4pm, and at about half 5 I was settling down for a skype chat with the sister when my housemate shouts down that, without any major notice, one of the teachers had rang her to say that she is taking us to a party hosted by one of the teachers, and we were to be ready in 5 minutes. We were whisked off to some remote house out by the town's reservoir where a sunset party was taking place. The host was celebrating his son's acceptance to a prestigious academy to study physics, and he himself had gotten a promotion. Here in Thailand, they are not shy about showing off their own achievements or the success of their children. Also, they are very into showing off their houses, mostly the structure rather than the interior, and garden parties are the perfect way to show your colleagues what you have gained from your hard work.

The party was a complete success. There was hardly an alcoholic drink in sight, with only the men having maybe a beer or two or a bit of the local spirit with ice. This did not stop the party atmosphere though. There was karaoke (a must have at a Thai party) and everyone is fighting for a go. There was also dancing, mainly Thai style, by the women, accompanied by traditional Thai singing from the enthusiastic singers. Myself and Saadia were encouraged to perform a song or two, so we chose two Michael Jackson numbers, which had everyone singing. We also did a bit of dancing and we got to practice the little bit of Thai dancing we learnt in Bangkok during training and orientation two weeks ago. We were also sent home with bags of chicken and rice, as the food (which was all cooked by the host's wife!!) was plentiful despite the fact that there were about 40 people there, all digging in. I have to say, it was a really fun night.

Although nothing in Thailand is ever planned or organised well, the end result if one is willing to go with the flow and take in new experiences is fantastic. Sure who needs organisation when you are having fun?

First Day At School, Minus a Packed Lunch

Starting a new job is stressful! On days like this one needs calm and cool. One needs to be focused and fresh. One does not need a snake in one's shower. But of course, this is Thailand, and a snake in my shower was exactly what I got this morning. We were thankfully saved by a worker in the school who killed it with a brush, and then informed us that it was in fact poisonous (lovely thought to start the day with). The strangeness didnt stop there though.

I never thought of how strange I was going to look to the students in the school. These children have grown up here in rural Thailand, where they have maybe 3 or 4 tv channels which show all Thai tv, all their advertising is with Thai people, and the closest they have gotten to the outside world in this town is Tesco. Everything else is authentic Thai unless you go into the big towns. Considering all of this, it is not strange that they would find me so fascinating, especially my skin. Here in Thailand, being white is a fashion statement, the same that in Ireland we put tan into our moisturiser (the grass is always greener I suppose, except this time its white). I have been named by the teachers in the school as Omo, which translates to very white,or as they say, Snow White. I have to say, I was always a fan of that movie.

So today, after being told that I was not teaching for the day, suddenly had 4 classes. Scared stiff wasn't the word. I have 22 different classes a week, 1st year and 5th year classes, and ranging in ability from really good, to barely able to say their name at the age of 16. The classes are about 25 - 35 in size, which feels ok with the younger group as they are fresh and new and not as confident, but the older crowd are a little intimidating. Although I think they were impressed when they realised I knew what Gangam Style was (they are obsessed with it here!), so major brownie points there.

On a separate note, myself and Saadia were brought to an aerobics class the other night by some of the teachers in the school. I have never done aerobics, but I know that in Irish weather I was reluctant to partake. Aerobics in 25 degree heat while being eaten alive by bugs is .... an experience .... I would repeat it with the help of better clothing and bug repellent, but we have located Yoga classes in the local hospital, so we are well set on them! When in Thailand do as the Thai's do I suppose. Well we have done turkish toilets, indescribable meats, and snakes, may as well do something the Thai's do well.

Sawadiikha

Creatures and Comforts

I am not really sure what has happened since I last posted. All the days here seem to blur into one long sticky hot day.

Well, lets start with a few comforts. We now have a washing machine, which means clean clothes!!! And, most importantly, they have installed brand new electric showers into both of the shower rooms, which means NO MORE COLD SHOWERS!!! I never thought I would be so happy to have a but of warm water. So overall, there have been quite a lot of home improvements.

Continuing with improvements, I can now negotiate my way through ordering food at a food stall. I can ask what it is and understand the main meats, I can ask how much it is, I can then say the number of, for example chicken skewers, that I want, and then I can say thank you and goodbye. This may seem easy to a lot of you, and you may be thinking 'after two weeks I thought you would be a lot further than that'. But this is Thai, not French. If you make one wrong tone, like you go up in tone rather than down in tone, they literally look at you like you are crazy. They seem to have a complete inability to work out what you are saying. I do not know whether this is because I am Farang (white westerner) and they don't have any patience for me, or whether they really think I am talking jibberish. But either way, its the way it is, and I simply have to make sure I learn my tones in my words. Will need to wait for wifi in the house to improve. Youtube really can be educational.

One thing that I cannot get used to is the bugs. Not only do they eat these things (yes I mean street carts full of cockroaches and little worms fried in some unknown sauce), but no matter how much bug spray you put on, the mosquitos and ants and everything else that I see but do not wish to consider seem to devour you.I counted 9 bites at the top of my left leg alone last night. Anthisan is my new best friend.

Overall though, we are learning a lot and surviving quite well.We have sort of worked out the bus system, which seems to be quite limited. It appears that unless we have a private mode of transport, we cannot get from the main town to our rural town after 6pm. This makes any sort of socialising quite difficult and limited. Although myself and Saadia are both in agreement that to stay here on the weekends would result in cabin fever. I think a bit of travelling is needed after this week.

We get our timetables for our classes tomorrow, so hopefully I will have a better idea of my life for the next 5 months here by this time tomorrow.Fingers crossed.

Sawatdiikha.

Bye Bye Bangkok

Where to start! What a hectic few days!

I have moved into my new house in Surin with another English teacher, and am currently typing from a desk in the staff room as I have no wifi yet, so this blog will be a little fast paced, and will miss out on quite a lot I reckon. This is partly because it spans three days, and partly because I have forgotten my mosquito bite cream and my ankle is sending me delirious with the itch.

So, to start with our tour day which took place three days ago. We headed off at the ungodly hour of 6:30am, and firstly stopped off at a coconut farm which also had an orchid farm at the back. I took some absolutely stunning shots of the orchids (see below). We then moved onto the floating market. This was the part which I was looking forward to the most, but ultimately found quite disappointing. The ride to the market was the best bit of it. We all took long boats along the river to the market, and got to see the floating houses and neighbourhoods. It is slightly eerie, as bar the odd bucket with shampoo and toothbrushes, the whole place has a sort of 'hasnt been touched by time' feel about it. The houses are full of flowers and nice little statues, and the owners take such good care of themselves, but I can still imagine at night that the neighbourhood would resemble a scene from 'Pirates of the Caribbean'.

We then moved to the King's Grand Palace and the Royal Temple, which were unbelievably stunning. The detail in every building was incredible. Every one had beautiful paintings depicting stories and mosaics decorating statues. It was so beautiful you didnt know which way to turn your head. There was a lovely piece also that impressed me. In the middle of the temples was a little area which depicted Buddhism, Hinduism and possibly Islam, I cannot be sure of the last. It brings with it the idea of inclusion and acceptance of all religions. Acceptance of the beliefs of others and general goodness is something which I am coming across again and again here. People are ridiculously friendly, and its hard to adjust to the idea that people are being nice just to be nice. They do not want anything in return, they are just nice because they believe that it is the right thing to do.

Anyway, moving on to the next day, we were all (very stressfully) herded onto the coaches to our destinations, and after a pretty nice 6 hours drive through the countryside, we arrived in Surin, the capitol of the province. Myself and my housemate Saadia were then met by a lovely man and woman, and were driven to our accommodation in Rattanaburi, a little town an hour from Surin. Our house is on the school grounds, which comprises of 10 massive buildings. It is closer to a University than a school really. We met a few of the teachers, who were so friendly and helped us with a few Thai words, and then were taken to the market where the woman with us bargained to the best of her ability to get food cheaper for us. We were also given bikes (see below, every girls dream bike!) completely free by the school, and we all have our own fridges in our room, as well as three meals a day given to us for free until the school starts next week. The hospitality has been amazing!

Although there have been things that will take a bit of getting used to. For example, the ghekkos are HUGE. I mean massive. I saw one a few minutes ago and it was the length of my forearm, and you hear them run before u see them which is freaky enough without them running right in front of you. This, along with the praying mantis on the front door, the hopping crickets and beetles with wings, the moths the size of your hand, the millions of mosquitos that like to think your feet are dinner, and the fact that all the locals in the town think we are the most interesting thing since the invention of rice will make for an interesting few days ahead.

Sawatdiikha.

Bangkok Day Seven; Signing and Shopping

Another mad day. Never been so active! I swear if I don't lose at least 10 pounds on this trip it will be as a result of the amount of rice I am eating counteracting the buckets of sweat I am shedding. It is so lovely and cool in the hotel with the air con up full at usual, but the minute you go outside the wall of heat just hits you. Ten minutes and you are dripping.

Although, despite the lack of comfort outside, I had a good day. A lesson on Thai culture began the day, with some light on some interesting aspects of Thai culture and education. This was followed by the long contract signing. It involved about 70 pages, where a signature was required on every single one. But, despite the ache in the hand, I was thrilled coming out. I am no longer unemployed! Its a really great feeling knowing I am finally doing what I want, and I am doing it in sunshine!

A good shopping spree was in order after all these formalities and signing, and myself and a few of the girls on the training week headed off to a local weekend market. I wish I had brought my camera with me to show you all, but it was just fantastic. Literally anything you want, from clothes to food to homewares to gifts to pets were here. I spent a lot for Thailand, but came out with stuff that I would have paid 6 times more for at home. I finally have clothes which are suitable for teaching in this heat, and living in this heat, and they are so colourful and new and cheap! What more could a girl want?

Bangkok Day Five; Why Not Give a 9 Year Old Machete?

It is ridiculous how out of practice I am with doing ACTUAL work. I have spent the last two years folding jeans, and it became second nature to me. But today I got a taster of the next 6 months, as today was the first day of my TEFL briefing before heading off to my placement. 9 - 6 were the hours, and although they flew due to the sheer number of activities and interaction we all took part in, it was still tiring.

Although my tiredness must have been nothing compared to that experienced by our entertainers at our welcome reception last night. With all the travelling that people did the day before, yesterday was a bit of a relaxing day. At 6pm we were all brought into a buffet reception downstairs where we all get to taste absolutely incredible Thai finger food. I swear, Irish cooking hasn't a patch on the food here. Such amazing tastes. The trick is not to ask what it actually is that you are eating.

At about 7pm, we began to be entertained by some local students. They performed a number of Muay Thai, which is a form of self defence and traditional martial arts. These kids were incredible! From the ages of about 18 down to 5 .... yes 5!! .... these children have mastered a number of impressive and complicated routines of Muay Thai. Most were done with long batons or arm shields, but at the end, two nine year old girls came out and fought with machetes. Now, they were blunt from the looks of it, but they are 9 years old, and they are wielding machetes! It was insane! Extremely impressive, and the children are well taught by their teachers and by their monk who would see no major harm done to them (although one teenage girl did break her nose as a result of a wrong step). Overall, the night was a complete success, even if I am now terrified to say no to my students. Never underestimate the potential of a 10 year old Thai child with a stick.

Bangkok Day Four; Death by noodle soup.

After a quiet night in last night with a movie and bed, today was the day of getting to know everybody in the course. After an interesting breakfast of soup, pasta and toast (I will never stop missing my white pudding and sausages), we all went into the hour-long welcome orientation. Here we were told the necessary things to keep in mind, and some of them were pretty interesting. For example, if I bring someone younger than me to dinner, I have to pay ..... must be expensive to socially dine here if you are 60. Note to self, bribing your students with a dinner out will lead to bankruptcy.

Another thing that was mentioned was with regards to eating noodle soup with chopsticks. In Thailand they don't eat with chopsticks all the time. They only eat them with noodle soup. But when I finish my noodle soup (which I must do as it is considered rude to waste food) I have to place my chopsticks on top of my bowl. If I put the chopsticks into my bowl, then that means that I want to die ..... Yes, you heard right. DIE. Apparently putting chopsticks into noodle soup is an age old tradition involved with funerals or death, and to do so will indicate to the waiter that you intend to throw yourself off the nearest bridge.

This place gets stranger by the day.

Bangkok Day Three; Chopsticks and Taxis

Whoever thought that using two thin sticks to pick up thin noodles must have wanted to kill a lot of time over dinner. But, when in Thailand, one must do as the Thai's do, especially when the mention of a fork brings a confused look on the waiters face. This was the predicament facing me when ordering my first bowl of noodle soup last night. Myself and Patricia had ventured out beyond our mad tourist-filled road, and had found a little Thai ... you couldnt really call it a restaurant .... place with food would be more appropriate. After tackling the noodles, finding a little bar with a very good guitarist, a few Chang Thai beers and a good chat, we both found ourselves doing the best thing we have done since we came to Thailand. Thai massages. These are INCREDIBLE. Our mini ones involved a half an hour of lying on the most comfortable deck chair I have ever encountered, and a lovely little Thai lady massaging our feet and legs with lavender oil. So relaxing! Will definitely be going for more. Thats the key to the carefree attitude of the Thai's, getting your feet rubbed. Valium can kiss my newly cultured ass. 

This morning was the time for packing up all the t-shirts and baggy light trousers that I have accumulated in the markets and move to the other side of town to begin my orientation with TEFL International. I spent so much time worrying about remembering everybody's names and remembering all that I learnt in my course last year, that I gave little thought to how I was going to actually get there. It involved a tuk tuk that took us down the road (my first tuk tuk ride! those things can do some speed) and then that followed a taxi ride that took over an hour as the taxi driver didnt have a clue where we were going. This lack of local knowledge, coupled with at least 5 near death experiences with a motorcycles, and a number of stressful calls to the hotel to try and find the place, led to one very stressed Amy. 

But, despite it all, I have arrived! After the months of excitement and preparation, and the thousands of euro, I have reached my destination. I will sign my contract in 3 days and from that point onwards I can call myself an employed teacher! Between now and then should be an adventure, another to add to the dozens I have already experienced since coming here. 

Bangkok Day Two; A Good Deed

I have started now to become adjusted to the madness of the city, and once one does acclimatise to the chaos, one finds that there is a lot of little things to see. The people here and the way they live their life are very interesting. Everywhere you go you see shrivelled up old Thai men and women, skin like leather, who have clearly spent their life walking this city. They sit everywhere and anywhere, but never doing anything, just sitting watching the world go by. Sometimes they have little symbols of their Buddha who they do good deeds during the day for. I encountered one of these good deeds today which solidified for me the Thai's as being good natured people.

Myself and a fellow TEFLer James (whose blog you can find here; http://amobleyinasia.wordpress.com/) were taking a stroll through the city and we came across a vast green area with temples surrounding it. We were taking pictures and discussing whether to visit one of these temples when a Thai woman approached us. She was telling us not to walk on the green area as it is marshy and dangerous. This moved on to her giving us advice about where to go to see the best of Thai culture, and she gave us directions to a river where a boat will bring us to see all the temples for a lot cheaper than us just walking into them. She was so nice, and gave a good 10 minutes of her time to us, making sure we knew the reasonable price of the tuk tuk to the river so they don't overcharge us, and drawing out directions and the name in Thai and English for us to give to the driver. This woman did not need to do this, nor did she need to struggle to tell us in English, not draw things for us. She did this because this is what they believe; that good deeds are important for both those who do the deed, and those who receive the deed.

A fellow TEFLer told me later that she attended a Buddhist birthday party yesterday. This party is not like Irish parties, where copious amounts of drink are consumed and the semi-sober party members are entertained at the expense of the one who couldnt hold the last vodka. No. This party involved meditations to Buddha, and then a gesture which I think is nicer than any material present. The attendees at the party all line up and touch the birthday boy/girl. By doing this, they mean to pass any good kharma they have earned from their good deeds lately into the birthday boy/girl. They literally intend to give them goodness for their birthday. In a country where money is scarce for most, good deeds are important to the Thai people, and to give them to another person is, in my opinion, perfect.

Til tomorrow,

Sawatdeekha.

Bangkok Day One; Culture Shock

Bangkok can only really be described in one word .... insane.

Now, how that word is interpreted is really up to you. If you don't mind at least 6 life threatening near misses in every taxi journey, or inexplicable smells coming from each street corner, or little Thai men shouting 'whats the craic' at you to try and get you into their Tuk-Tuks (the bottle-white skin must give me away), or crowds so big and busy that you cant keep your thoughts near you let alone your friends, then Bangkok is the place for you. If you don't like those things, or cant put up with them at least, dont come to Bangkok. Simple.

Its quite a shock when you arrive I have to say. You can do all the googling you want on the city before you come, but nothing can prepare an amateur traveller for the wall of humidity that hits you when you walk out of the air conditioned airport. We arrived at 9pm and we took a few minutes to get our breath. The air is wet and clammy, and even moving your head from side to side as you look for a taxi can result in a wave of heat and sweat. According to the locals though, this is cold .... I hate to think what awaits me in Surin next week ....

After arriving at the hotel last night, and following a slight bit of confusion and panic over the reservation or non reservation of my room, I settled down to a well needed sleep after 36 hours of no sleep, only to find that my room is located over a bar. A bar with really loud music. Not fun. Luckily bars seem to close at about half 2 here, or at least the music goes down, so I had a nice lie in til 11. We then made our way to the MBK shopping centre. This place is massive! 5 floors of shopping, with everything you want from gadgets to massages to clothes to home wears. It took us a good 4 hours to get around it, and we didnt see it all. Stuff here is mad cheap too. I got three skirts for about 20 euro, a lovely purse for 4 euro, even the taxis are cheap with a 20 minute drive costing only 5 euro between the three of us. The food is equally as cheap, with a take away thai meal costing between 1-2 euro. Although we havent been brave enough to try anything authentically thai yet with our stomachs still recovering from the long sleepless flight yesterday. Coffee, fruit and a subway is all we have been able to manage so far.

Plans for tonight? A few drinks on our road; the tourist-mad Khao San Road. With a night full of dodging men shouting 'ping pong' at you (google it, I just cant explain it) and sussing out the local beer, no doubt there will be more to tell tomorrow. Til then, sa-wat-dee-kha :-)

Is That Snow I See?

Happy Christmas everyone!

No, I havent lost my mind, or acquired a time machine. It is Christmas Day in the Dalton household! With my imminent departure from the continent tomorrow, the Mother has decided that Christmas Day will not be missed and we are all celebrating today instead. As we speak the turkey is roasting in the oven, the wine is mulling on the hob, Bing is crooning in the corner, and the kitchen smells of spiced cinnamon from the Yankee Candle on the island. Even the sunset is on our side and has decided to put on a breathtaking display of colour. Its perfection.

As tomorrow approaches, the expected nerves and desperate blubbering and panic have not arrived. Instead, its more an atmosphere of calm and relaxation mixed with excitement and anticipation. Not to mention the OCD-related joy of looking at a perfectly packed suitcase. Nothing beats that really ;-). When it comes to walking through the departure gates it may be a different atmosphere .... I hate airports on good days ... but I suppose its just another hurdle to overcome, another experience to learn from, like the numerous I have learnt from so far in my hop across the globe.

So tomorrow I leave on a jet plane, dont know when I'll be back again. Next time I write, I will be in Bangkok Thailand.

A Sunny New Path

Ok, I know its been a while, but honestly there is nothing interesting to write about when your life consists of folding jeans 9 hours a day. But, there have been improvements which I feel must be pointed out before my blogging continues over the next coming months.

Well, I graduated university in the last number of weeks ago with my lovely 2.1. Was the most fantastic day with the family, and the weather was incredible for a change. The family also organised a helicopter ride over the city and surrounding areas after the morning ceremony, and then I was whisked off for cocktails before dinner in the Shelbourne. Overall, one of the best days of my life!

Since then I have thrown myself into my plans for my short term future. I have discovered that to do a masters or postgraduate would be a waste of my money and time as the country is on its knees and there is simply no jobs to be had. If you were Stephen Hawking you couldn't get a job as you would either be overqualified for the menial jobs, or there would be no funding for your chosen career based on your education. Plus, as a grant is something that I am not entitled to, and a part time job in a shop only gives you a limited income, there is no way I could afford furthering my education. So, in true Celtic Tiger child fashion, I have decided to leave my home and everything I know and move abroad to work. I have secured myself a job as an English teacher with a reasonable income and future prospects in a growing economy, and I leave Saturday week. Where is this country of opportunity you ask? Thailand.
??
Yes you read right, Thailand. I know the response; wow.... Thailand! Are you going alone?? ....Answer; Yes. .... Completely alone? .... Answer; pretty much yes. I am hired by a company but I know nobody over there, although I will be with one other English speaker in my school. ..... Are you crazy? .... Answer; depends on your definition of crazy. If you mean heading 13000 kms away from everything and everyone I know to live in rural Thailand where nobody speaks a word of English and I speak no Thai is crazy then yes I am crazy. Its fun on this side of the street you know :-)

So I have the visa done, the flights done, the accommodation done, the insurance still has to be done but one thing at a time. Its been bloody stressful I have to say. Dont do this unless you are prepared to lose sleep over it. But the thought of a whole new adventure is exciting and terrifying and wonderful all at the same time. I will hopefully be blogging as I go along, I hope to have internet connection where I am going .... hopefully ... anyway I will try my best to keep this updated. For now, here is a taster of what is to come.

The world is ahead peeps, its all ahead.

Exam Procrastination by means of Battery Hen

I am sure you are looking at that title and saying 'yes she really has lost it this time', but when placed in the position where its a choice between reading a  fourth essay on Adorno's culture industry and googling battery hens, hens win every time.

So to start, I will explain the situation. As I have the unfortunate pleasure of being in NUIM, I have exams after Christmas (hence the lack of new blog entries). I must admit, what I am studying is relatively interesting, but there are only so many hours a day you can read for. So I took a break (a two hour one) and generally messed about on the internet. I went onto the RTE news website to see how the rest of the world was doing without having exams, and there was this little video on the side about battery hens which were rescued from being culled in a poultry farm somewhere in the country. They were going to be culled because their cages didnt meet EU standards. They were looking for people who could adopt these hens .... 600 of them ....

So, what did I do when faced with the sad faces of these poor shaggy hens? I rang the mother. After a bit of persuading, she has given in, and is adopting 6 of the poor creatures to give them a better life on the Dalton farm. Roy will be thrilled with the new additions.

On a side note from the last blog, the dying cat in the kitchen is still .... well ... dying. But the mother has a cold at the moment so she cant smell her so other than the fact that she looks pretty rotten, she is fine. Still eating, drinking, taking over the rocking chair on a regular basis, and still driving the other little man insane.

In regards to the other little man, his broken leg wasn't actually broken, merely sprained, and after a trip to the vets and an unplanned chopping off of his male bitsies, he realised that faking being in severe amounts of pain leads to dire consequences and suddenly had a miraculous recovery. My dad keeps telling him that if he moans again they will chop something else off .... cruel .....

The New Year resolution which I made secretly to myself  to go to the college gym is going extremely well. I went to penneys yesterday and bought a lovely pair of Spongebob Squarepants tracksuit bottoms, and I have looked up healthy eating and exercising. I havent actually gone to the gym yet, but that is just a minor setback ..... I refuse to face reality in relation to the subject until after exams.

Happy new year everyone!