So I haven’t updated my travel journal in awhile; I don’t really feel as if I am traveling at the moment but am more in the rhythm of everyday life. Sure there are some small stories here and there, but really nothing too interesting. However, I keep getting e-mails about how I need to update, so here is a rundown of my day. Well Tuesday to Friday……
- 7-7:30 am Wake up, thanks to the rooster who lives under my balcony. (At least he isn’t as vocal as the three roosters who lived under my balcony until about a month ago. They mysteriously disappeared, replaced with new, quieter singular rooster.)
- 7:30-8:30 am Shower, dress, contemplate breakfast options.
- 8:30 am pet Panda and scare Lek (the two dogs that belong to the place I live). Ride bike around corner to get organic homemade yogurt and fruit. (Conveniently located near my laundry lady who keeps my whites looking white). If feeling the need to splurge, head to favorite café for coffee.
- 9-10:00 am Ride my bike through sois (lanes), trying to avoid traffic on my way to AUA. Check e-mail and read news online.
- 10:00-12:00am/pm Beginning Thai class, where I make a horrible student.
- 12:00-1:00pm Contemplate what to have for lunch while goofing off on internet.
- 1:00-3:00pm Lunch, relax, read. Sometimes I find myself at AUA working on a lesson plan, or online, but I try to keep this time to myself as much as possible.
- 3:00-5:00pm Back at AUA, lesson planning and getting ready for the school day.
- 5:00-8:30pm Teach or at least attempt to. This weekday term I am teaching two level two’s (near beginning, with topics like families, neighborhoods, sports, and free time activities, simple past tense and present continuous), and level 11 (upper level, only five classes away from graduating from AUA).
- 9:00pm leave AUA and go out in search of dinner, usually found at a food stall at Somphet market (near my place). Noodles, rice, chicken, pork, banana roti, gyoza and things I can’t identify.
- 10:00pm head home, pet Panda, and read until I fall asleep.
Mondays I have Thai class, but I don’t teach. Saturdays I teach one three hour class in the morning (level B, very beginner) and one three hour class in the afternoon (level 2 again), with an hour break between. I am off at four. I have Sundays completely free.
Exciting isn’t it? A few weeks ago my bicycle was stolen, making life not quite as enjoyable. Sidewalks here aren’t really for walking on, they are for parking motorbikes, payphones, garbage waiting to be picked up, advertisements, and election propaganda. This weekend I gave in and purchased a new bicycle. When I went to pay I was handed some corn on the cob, offered a seat, and chatted with the women before being able to pay and leave (with a promise they would fix my bicycle for free if anything went wrong in the next year).
I do go out with some of the teacher’s for dinner and on the weekends. We go bowling, to karaoke, movies, dinner, etc. Two weeks ago it was on of the teacher’s birthdays and we went to a Thai all you can eat buffet type place. It is basically a large open area resembling a barn of sorts. Metal tables with round holes in the center fill the place. The openings are to accommodate cement buckets with hot coals that are placed in the tables.
Place an aluminum ring on top and you are ready to start cooking. A pitcher of broth (maybe chicken) is brought to the table and then you are left to forage. The long wall and part of the back wall are filled with raw meat, fish, squid, shrimp, organs, fat, as well as vegetables, fruit, sushi, fried chicken, fried squid, gyoza, ice cream, noodles, sauces, and cookies. Everything needed to make your soup and some sides to enjoy while it is cooking.
My favorite part of the evening was the entertainment. If you have ever seen Mighty Wind then you may be able to imagine what took place on stage. A group of four Thai’s in their twenties, who sang and chatted with each other in a folk music type way (but they didn’t play Thai folk music, which is completely different), while playing the guitar and shaking a percussion instrument that resembled a salt shaker. I wish I had a video camera, the movie would have been priceless.
