As we begin to write our last post from abroad we realize that we didn't write about our time in Shanghai. Shanghai was one of our favorite cities from our last trip and it proved to be again this trip. We explored the city with Emily and Kim for 3 full days and enjoyed the night life that Shanghai offered. We had a great dim sum brunch with Sunny and Jae Sun, friends of my brother in law's (Mark). There was a group of us at brunch and it was fun to talk with people who live and work in Shanghai to gain perspective on every day life. Thanks again Sunny and Jae Sun for your hospitality!
We enjoyed our last dinner in Hong Kong last night at the delicious NOBU restaurant right on Victoria Harbour. It was awesome! During our dinner we relished in so many memories and experiences that we have had on this trip, too many to count. We feel very grateful for the support we had from family and friends to go on this adventure and we feel completely fulfilled by this experience. We have loved learning and growing together, while spending 24-7 together. We both admit that not spending every single moment together when we get home will be the biggest change. . . maybe we'll just find jobs at the same company!!!! just kidding! :) We just returned from Mass at St. Joseph's Church in Hong Kong. The place was packed and they had 3 masses going on at the same time. As the first song was sung to begin the Easter celebration, we couldn't help but notice the overwhelming female majority - we looked around us and literally out of 500+ people in the church, there may have been 15 males. It was a great celebration and we are glad we participated.
We are excited to visit with family and friends upon our return and share photos and stories. . .it's been an amazing trip. Here's a run down of what we've experienced just in numbers:
5 Countries
21 Cities
22 Hotels/Guesthouses
16 Flights
9 Buses
5 Boats
2 Trains
Umpteen Taxis
Countless Miles on Bicycles =
1 Happy Couple
Saturday, April 7, 2007
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Night on the Town
Last night we went out with our friend Cecilia in Hong Kong. Cecilia grew up in Hong Kong and her family still lives here (she resides in Beijing). So Cecilia told us to meet at a subway station at 11 p.m. and from there we departed for the very lively bar district on Hong Kong Island. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed ourselves. As a semi-clarification/semi-retraction of our last blog entry, we asked Cecilia why there was a Catholic Church in Beijing if officially the government doesn't support religion. She informed us that in fact, the Church was built before the Communist Revolution of 1949, and was left standing so that ex-pats might attend church if they so chose. She said that if you wanted to attend you needed to bring your passport with you and show it upon entering the church. However, around 2002, this began to change and the government became more relaxed about this policy. As Cecilia put it, the government doesn't encourage religion, but will not stop you from going to church now. Just one of the many changing policies that Julie and I, as outsiders, observe differ from mainstream western media. In fact, just the other day, Julie and I were watching CNN and they did a segment on religious practices in China being "underground" and that people were not allowed to practice their faith openly. According to Cecilia, though, this has changed in the past few years. We have discovered on more than one occasion that our presumptions and our information garnered from Western media is often incorrect or inaccurate. [for instance, we didn't know that there were other political parties in China...in fact, there are about 8 or 9 minority political parties]. This is one of the joys of traveling and meeting people from these countries, it tends to break down miscommunication, misinformation, stereotype and bias. We feel like we have learned so much about the countries we have traveled, and yet, we have only skimmed the surface, and we really have so much more to learn.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Wildcat Pride
Whenever we get the chance to post photos we can. . . so here are a few from Emily and Kim's visit. We searched out the Jesuit church, St. Ignatius in Shanghai. After seeing so many temples we were excited to see a church! Scroll all the way down. Enjoy!
Shanghai!
This is the BUND area, look at all the tall buildings. The Grand Hyatt is the highest hotel in the world, just next to the Pearl Tower. We went to the top for drinks at "Cloud 9", wow, it was really high up!
Let the Countdown Begin
All over Beijing you see these countdown signs for the Olympics which will begin on August 8th, 2008 (8.8.2008). This is so appropriate for China as the number 8 is a very lucky number in Chinese culture.
My Birthday Dinner
This was my birthday dinner at a great Thai restaurant (my new favorite kind of food!) called "Serve the People" it was a great meal with even better company!
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Bye Bye Beijing. . .
We have so much to post, sorry for the delay but we were having a hard time accessing our blog, it is hit or miss here. Emily and Kim Dasher arrived on my birthday (Saturday) we were so excited to see them, show them our apartment, and play tour guides. We celebrated my birthday with a Thai dinner with Kim, Emily, Ryan (of course), Jimmy and Cecelia. It was a great way to celebrate, thanks for all the birthday wishes!!! The next day we had a marathon of a day but it was great. We started out at the Summer Palace, it was Sunday so it was filled with locals which was so wonderful to see. We kept telling Kim and Emily that they brought the good weather as all of a sudden it became Spring in Beijing. The flowers were blooming (Cherry Blossoms all over), the sky was blue and the sun was out! Amazing!!! Then we went to Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. We walked all over and even took a rick shaw tour through the Hutongs of Beijing. The Hutongs are the old neighborhoods that are now being torn down to build high rise apartment buildings for the locals. The Hutongs that still exist have become a tourist attraction as it seems very authentic to get lost in these alley ways where Chinese life seems to be standing still among all the change outside the walls of the Hutong. Our tour guide spoke very little English, I mean very little and he tended to get very animated when attempting to describe something to us. We enjoyed a snack and adult beverage at Ho Hai, a great area in the back lakes of the Forbidden City. Then we took Kim and Emily to the Peninsula for Peking Duck dinner! It was a full day! We sent them on a Great Wall tour the next day which they truly enjoyed and then met up to go to the silk market (insert Ryan's comment: Let's just say the vendors were happy to see us arrive...it seems this was payback for my buddies' visit, since all talk of sports and beer were off the table and it was PRADA and GUCCI that was being thrown around!]. They left for Xian the next day and Ryan and I enjoyed two more days in Beijing. We had one last dinner with Jimmy and Cecelia and gave them a San Francisco coffee table book to entice them to come visit us so Ryan and I can play host to them as they so generously did for us in Beijing. [insert Ryan's comment: at Julie's suggestion, we visited the school I boarded at 3 years ago. It was fun to see and it looked as if nothing had changed. I suggested to Julie that we eat at the local restaurant outside the front gate and she looked at me, incredulously, and replied, "you mean the same place you told me you would eat at and immediately come down with a strain of food poisoning?" Needless to say, we decided to eat elsewhere.]
Ryan and I arrived this morning in Shanghai via the night train from Beijing. We enjoyed our time in Beijing as it gave us the time to reflect on our trip thus far, to feel like locals (mastering the subway and the supermarket!) and to better understand the past, present and future development of Beijing. We are excited to meet up with Emily and Kim today (they fly in from Xian today!)we are off to explore Shanghai!
Ryan and I arrived this morning in Shanghai via the night train from Beijing. We enjoyed our time in Beijing as it gave us the time to reflect on our trip thus far, to feel like locals (mastering the subway and the supermarket!) and to better understand the past, present and future development of Beijing. We are excited to meet up with Emily and Kim today (they fly in from Xian today!)we are off to explore Shanghai!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Top of the Great Wall
Ok, we know we've been behind in posting photos so scroll down and enjoy some pics of our time thus far in China. . . here we are at the Great Wall, Badaling section about an hour outside of Beijing. It was a long steep walk up but so worth it. Enjoy the pics!!!
Friday, March 16, 2007
Peking Duck
Happy St. Patrick's Day! We headed to the only Irish Pub in Beijing, Durty Nellie's (no misspelling there, that's the way they spell it!) and enjoyed some pints of beer and some traditional pub grub. We met a few other Americans there, 1 who works construction for the new American Embassy (the new Embassy will be 10 acres, the largest in the world) and a couple from Kentucky who are here for 5 months teaching English. We enjoyed talking with other travelers and had a good night, Ryan even got a t-shirt!
Friday, we took a tour to the Great Wall. Julie and I had both seen the Great Wall separately on our last trip to China, so we sort of new what we would see...a really long wall. As with everything on this trip of ours, nothing ceases to amaze and the Great Wall is no exception. We had forgotten the feeling of seeing the Great Wall extending over hills and mountains for as far as the eye can see...it is a truly amazing sight. We climbed two towers of the Great Wall, as our tour guide waited at the bottom of the stairs for us, and you come to have a greater appreciation for those that built this monstrosity. It is exhausting to climb a few hundred yards of the Great Wall in the 21st century, let alone build the Great Wall extending about 6200 miles, centuries ago without the marvels of modern construction (yes, some for the Great Wall was built in pieces or connected already existing portions of walls in each province, but even so, it is truly amazing!)
After our Great Wall trip, our guide, Rose, took us to a lunch spot - typical tour lunch, with our expectations quite low; however we were pleasantly surprised when we tasted our meal. Our tour included one other traveler who was from Mexico City, he was here on business (parking equipment supplier) but had been to China 21 years ago. We really enjoyed talking with him about his business, Mexico and what China was like 21 years ago compared to present day. By the way, we thought Beijing was a huge city with 14+ million people but he told us that Mexico City has 21 million people!!! After the tour was over, we headed to the Hyatt for afternoon coffee and people-watching. (although one cup of coffee at the Hyatt is more than our 3 taxicab rides put together!)
We later met with our friends Jimmy and Cecelia for dinner at the Peninsula Hotel. We enjoy their company as Ryan and Jimmy tend to talk about the differences in Chinese v. American law and Cecilia and I enjoy talking about the hospitality industry. Beijing is certainly changing in order to prepare for the Olympics (that's another blog entry in itself!) as confirmed by Cecelia. It was a Peking Duck dinner (I even tried it, so much for being a devout vegetarian!), one of the best we've had in China. . . everything we ate was absolutely delicious!
We're off to explore today, heading to Xian tomorrow!
Friday, we took a tour to the Great Wall. Julie and I had both seen the Great Wall separately on our last trip to China, so we sort of new what we would see...a really long wall. As with everything on this trip of ours, nothing ceases to amaze and the Great Wall is no exception. We had forgotten the feeling of seeing the Great Wall extending over hills and mountains for as far as the eye can see...it is a truly amazing sight. We climbed two towers of the Great Wall, as our tour guide waited at the bottom of the stairs for us, and you come to have a greater appreciation for those that built this monstrosity. It is exhausting to climb a few hundred yards of the Great Wall in the 21st century, let alone build the Great Wall extending about 6200 miles, centuries ago without the marvels of modern construction (yes, some for the Great Wall was built in pieces or connected already existing portions of walls in each province, but even so, it is truly amazing!)
After our Great Wall trip, our guide, Rose, took us to a lunch spot - typical tour lunch, with our expectations quite low; however we were pleasantly surprised when we tasted our meal. Our tour included one other traveler who was from Mexico City, he was here on business (parking equipment supplier) but had been to China 21 years ago. We really enjoyed talking with him about his business, Mexico and what China was like 21 years ago compared to present day. By the way, we thought Beijing was a huge city with 14+ million people but he told us that Mexico City has 21 million people!!! After the tour was over, we headed to the Hyatt for afternoon coffee and people-watching. (although one cup of coffee at the Hyatt is more than our 3 taxicab rides put together!)
We later met with our friends Jimmy and Cecelia for dinner at the Peninsula Hotel. We enjoy their company as Ryan and Jimmy tend to talk about the differences in Chinese v. American law and Cecilia and I enjoy talking about the hospitality industry. Beijing is certainly changing in order to prepare for the Olympics (that's another blog entry in itself!) as confirmed by Cecelia. It was a Peking Duck dinner (I even tried it, so much for being a devout vegetarian!), one of the best we've had in China. . . everything we ate was absolutely delicious!
We're off to explore today, heading to Xian tomorrow!
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
A Walled City
Well, we are both feeling better. . . yes, that's right both of us. We seem to do everything together on this trip so, I guess that means getting sick too! Ryan got the flu the day after I had fully recovered so we were down and out for a few days but we've turned it around and are doing much better (thanks for all the emails!). No more "American Choppers" for me (ok that was a weak moment!) I've actually become more of a News junkie. Yes that's right!(I can hear my sisters giggling now!) with CNN and BBC, as 2 of the 5 English Channels we have, we watch a lot of news. [insert Ryan's comment: we also have ESPN! But how disheartening to find out that it was ESPN ASIA which features soccer, and only soccer, 24 hours a day].
Exploring Beijing, we've notice more and more that there is constant construction. The street blocks in Beijing are about twice or maybe three times as wide as those in San Francisco. There is no such thing as, "just a few blocks walk", every block is about 1/2 a mile in length. I feel that we have comfortably mastered the Beijing Subway and enjoy using it, especially around rush hour, when going 1.5 miles can take about 45 minutes in a car, i.e., one day we took a long walk around the Back Lakes of the Forbidden City and then decided to take a taxi home, the taxi was $3 but it took 45 minutes because the traffic was so bad.
We have both been reading books about China. I am reading "China Wakes" and Ryan is reading "The Writing on the Wall", which allows us to learn more about China's past and it's future potential. These books have also helped opened our eyes to see things differently. For instance, when we're in the taxi on our way to any destination we see these huge walls on the roadside. It's almost as if they don't want you to see what is behind it. Every now and then, we catch a glimpse and it's an old run down neighborhood. We read that often times instead of fixing the problem, they put a wall or just paint over it. Unfortunately, we feel that this makes it difficult to SEE so much of the authentic Beijing neighborhoods and it's difficult to find your destination. We see Western companies, hotels, and buildings and then right next door you see an ancient ruin or the Forbidden City. . . it's an amazing juxtaposition of architecture and history.
Today, we had our second Mandarin language class with our teacher "Jade". She is very kind and is a great teacher. Our friend, Cecelia who works at the Peninsula Hotel referred her to us, she teaches many of their guests. She comes over to our apartment for 1 hour sessions. We did 2 this week and we'll probably do at least 2 more next week. I can count to 10!!! Genius, however, has had more Mandarin and has a fantastic ear for the four tones. He is very good and loves to learn more. .. we are having fun with the language classes. Ryan take every opportunity to practice, including trying to talk to every taxi driver, I enjoy sitting in the back seat and just listening to the communication!
Tomorrow we are off on a day tour to see the Great Wall. . . together!
Exploring Beijing, we've notice more and more that there is constant construction. The street blocks in Beijing are about twice or maybe three times as wide as those in San Francisco. There is no such thing as, "just a few blocks walk", every block is about 1/2 a mile in length. I feel that we have comfortably mastered the Beijing Subway and enjoy using it, especially around rush hour, when going 1.5 miles can take about 45 minutes in a car, i.e., one day we took a long walk around the Back Lakes of the Forbidden City and then decided to take a taxi home, the taxi was $3 but it took 45 minutes because the traffic was so bad.
We have both been reading books about China. I am reading "China Wakes" and Ryan is reading "The Writing on the Wall", which allows us to learn more about China's past and it's future potential. These books have also helped opened our eyes to see things differently. For instance, when we're in the taxi on our way to any destination we see these huge walls on the roadside. It's almost as if they don't want you to see what is behind it. Every now and then, we catch a glimpse and it's an old run down neighborhood. We read that often times instead of fixing the problem, they put a wall or just paint over it. Unfortunately, we feel that this makes it difficult to SEE so much of the authentic Beijing neighborhoods and it's difficult to find your destination. We see Western companies, hotels, and buildings and then right next door you see an ancient ruin or the Forbidden City. . . it's an amazing juxtaposition of architecture and history.
Today, we had our second Mandarin language class with our teacher "Jade". She is very kind and is a great teacher. Our friend, Cecelia who works at the Peninsula Hotel referred her to us, she teaches many of their guests. She comes over to our apartment for 1 hour sessions. We did 2 this week and we'll probably do at least 2 more next week. I can count to 10!!! Genius, however, has had more Mandarin and has a fantastic ear for the four tones. He is very good and loves to learn more. .. we are having fun with the language classes. Ryan take every opportunity to practice, including trying to talk to every taxi driver, I enjoy sitting in the back seat and just listening to the communication!
Tomorrow we are off on a day tour to see the Great Wall. . . together!
Thursday, March 8, 2007
China Speaks
We have been enjoying the comforts of our apartment the last few days as Julie is recovering from a bout of food poisoning and male nurse Ryan is making sure she gets enough sleep, food and drink.
Therefore, it seemed like a great time to check out the new DVD Player management provided us. I ran down to the store and bought a couple of DVDs...for 3 dollars. I bought CRASH and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. We both thought the movie was great and provided a lot of food for thought. The following day, with Julie still feeling a bit ill, I turned on PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. The first half of the movie looked promising, although I never got to the second half because the DVD Player broke down. So, I did the prudent thing (or what I thought was the prudent thing) and called management to see if I could get some help. After speaking with management in broken English/Chinese, essentially yelling "DVD BROKEN" into the telephone, the repairman, SONG, came knocking on our door. SONG is a very nice, middle-aged, repairman, who speaks ZERO English. I tried and tried to communicate to him that the DVD was skipping and was not working properly (although it had worked hours earlier). He realized the obvious language barrier and called for assistance. I thought to myself, "Great, now he is calling for someone who speaks English and with whom I can communicate." The doorbell rings 2 minutes later and in walks "VINEY" (I believe his name was VINNEY, but his name tag said VINEY). Anyway, VINEY did not speak English either and he was just called in to help SONG with the DVD Player...about this time I noticed that SONG had been using the TV Remote and not been fixing the DVD Player, but trying to figure out if something was wrong with the TV. It was clear I had not effectively communicated my problem, so I said "Not TV, but DVD is broken", thinking to myself that statement would solve the problem! SONG and VINEY then radioed in for further assistance and moments later ERIKA walked in the door. Her English was limited, but she knew more than VINEY and SONG. So I explained that the DVD Player was broken and inquired as to whether I could get another one. After which, all was sorted out. So, about 60 minutes, 3 workers and 1 DVD Player later, we had worked out that we would get a new DVD Player. Very funny indeed, but simple interactions such as these, are a constant reminder to Julie and I that we are in a country of 1 billion+ people and (unlike other countries we have visited) English is not a major concern or priority, since tourism is not a number one business in this country. Certainly, business folk have a better understanding of the English language and are interested in learning, but coming from a place like Thailand or Cambodia, where it seemed everyone spoke some English, it takes some time to get accustomed to it.
Oh, another first for us...I come home from the gym yesterday (no, that isn't the first) and Julie is sitting on the couch watching 'AMERICAN CHOPPERS.' Yes, this is the show where father and son build Harley-Davidson motorcycles and it overflows with testosterone...I asked Julie if she had ever seen this show and she said, "No, but it looked interesting." I immediately took Julie's temperature as I thought perhaps she had relapsed and her fever returned because this was certainly out of the ordinary. Fortunately, she was fine and it seems she has found a new show...move over Oprah! Anyway, Julie is much better today and we will go to dinner with Jimmy and Cecilia tonight. Jimmy told us to meet him at 'bao li da sha' - we have no idea what that means, so we are crossing our fingers our taxi driver understands!
Therefore, it seemed like a great time to check out the new DVD Player management provided us. I ran down to the store and bought a couple of DVDs...for 3 dollars. I bought CRASH and PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. We both thought the movie was great and provided a lot of food for thought. The following day, with Julie still feeling a bit ill, I turned on PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. The first half of the movie looked promising, although I never got to the second half because the DVD Player broke down. So, I did the prudent thing (or what I thought was the prudent thing) and called management to see if I could get some help. After speaking with management in broken English/Chinese, essentially yelling "DVD BROKEN" into the telephone, the repairman, SONG, came knocking on our door. SONG is a very nice, middle-aged, repairman, who speaks ZERO English. I tried and tried to communicate to him that the DVD was skipping and was not working properly (although it had worked hours earlier). He realized the obvious language barrier and called for assistance. I thought to myself, "Great, now he is calling for someone who speaks English and with whom I can communicate." The doorbell rings 2 minutes later and in walks "VINEY" (I believe his name was VINNEY, but his name tag said VINEY). Anyway, VINEY did not speak English either and he was just called in to help SONG with the DVD Player...about this time I noticed that SONG had been using the TV Remote and not been fixing the DVD Player, but trying to figure out if something was wrong with the TV. It was clear I had not effectively communicated my problem, so I said "Not TV, but DVD is broken", thinking to myself that statement would solve the problem! SONG and VINEY then radioed in for further assistance and moments later ERIKA walked in the door. Her English was limited, but she knew more than VINEY and SONG. So I explained that the DVD Player was broken and inquired as to whether I could get another one. After which, all was sorted out. So, about 60 minutes, 3 workers and 1 DVD Player later, we had worked out that we would get a new DVD Player. Very funny indeed, but simple interactions such as these, are a constant reminder to Julie and I that we are in a country of 1 billion+ people and (unlike other countries we have visited) English is not a major concern or priority, since tourism is not a number one business in this country. Certainly, business folk have a better understanding of the English language and are interested in learning, but coming from a place like Thailand or Cambodia, where it seemed everyone spoke some English, it takes some time to get accustomed to it.
Oh, another first for us...I come home from the gym yesterday (no, that isn't the first) and Julie is sitting on the couch watching 'AMERICAN CHOPPERS.' Yes, this is the show where father and son build Harley-Davidson motorcycles and it overflows with testosterone...I asked Julie if she had ever seen this show and she said, "No, but it looked interesting." I immediately took Julie's temperature as I thought perhaps she had relapsed and her fever returned because this was certainly out of the ordinary. Fortunately, she was fine and it seems she has found a new show...move over Oprah! Anyway, Julie is much better today and we will go to dinner with Jimmy and Cecilia tonight. Jimmy told us to meet him at 'bao li da sha' - we have no idea what that means, so we are crossing our fingers our taxi driver understands!
Monday, March 5, 2007
Chilly China
We arrived on Friday night to Beijing, we were excited and nervous to see the 'apartment' that we had rented prior to our arrival. We found this apartment through one of Ryan's colleagues that he met at the Law firm he worked at during his time in Beijing two years ago. However, we really didn't know what it looked like, where it was, or if we would like it. The taxi cab promptly dropped us off at an apartment, the doorman took our bags and then Ryan showed him the Chinese name of our apartment. . . he quickly frowned and shook his head "no". I thought, oh no, we've been dropped off at the wrong place, it's 9:00 at night and no one speaks English, how are we going to get to the right apartment? Well, the good news is that we were just around the corner so the doorman helped us with our bags and walked us to the correct apartment building. We thanked him and walked into the lobby. We got the key and found our way to the 10th floor and walked into our apartment. It's perfect, it has a small kitchen, a nice size living room and bedroom, a bathroom with great water pressure and hot water (after a couple of months of traveling we've learned to check these simple things!) and a washing machine!!! We were very surprised and excited. We were not in the apartment more than 10 minutes when the phone rang, sure enough it was Ryan's colleague, Jimmy, and his girlfriend, Cecelia who were downstairs. We welcomed them up to our apartment and enjoyed talking to them for a couple of hours. They filled us in on the 'happenings' of Beijing and all that we should do and see in China (Jimmy is a former tour guide and Cecelia works at the Pennisula Hotel). They were so helpful and welcoming that we went to bed with a great feeling that night.
The next day, we awoke to snow on the ground, in absolute shock, I said "Ry I think that's snow!", as I looked out the window. What a stark contrast from the heat and humidity of Bangkok! We bundled up with whatever long sleeves and long pants we could find, retired the flip flops we've been in for 2 months, and set out to explore. It didn't take long before we were in the next department store buying puffy long coats to keep warm.
Today we attempted to go to the Forbidden City but after about 10 minutes outside we were so cold we couldn't even walk. We found a noodle shop for lunch to warm up. We had to buy a few more things to keep us warm. . . gloves, scarves and hats should do the trick. Ryan's mandarin has come back to him remarkably well and he helps get us around. . . now if I could only learn a little then we will be in good shape! We are working on our travel plans for China as there is so much to see and do here. . . we'll keep you posted!
The next day, we awoke to snow on the ground, in absolute shock, I said "Ry I think that's snow!", as I looked out the window. What a stark contrast from the heat and humidity of Bangkok! We bundled up with whatever long sleeves and long pants we could find, retired the flip flops we've been in for 2 months, and set out to explore. It didn't take long before we were in the next department store buying puffy long coats to keep warm.
Today we attempted to go to the Forbidden City but after about 10 minutes outside we were so cold we couldn't even walk. We found a noodle shop for lunch to warm up. We had to buy a few more things to keep us warm. . . gloves, scarves and hats should do the trick. Ryan's mandarin has come back to him remarkably well and he helps get us around. . . now if I could only learn a little then we will be in good shape! We are working on our travel plans for China as there is so much to see and do here. . . we'll keep you posted!
Saturday, March 3, 2007
Bustling Bangkok
Can you tell how hot we are??? It's about 90 degrees with 80% humidity. . . Ryan had to 'borrow' long pants to go into the Grand Palace hence his blue pajama bottoms! We arrived in Bangkok, found our guest house ($10 a night) and then set out to see the city. We took a water taxi down the river and saw many of the high end hotels, then we took the metro to a shopping center and got lost in a good book store. It was quite a relief to walk into the air conditioned mall that we spent some good time walking around, they even had a movie theatre with movies in English, tempting, but we decided to check out the night market instead. We went to the night market which was huge, it had a beer garden, live band, and every kind of Thai food imaginable. . . plus your usual trinkets, silks, fake purses etc. The next day we set out early to see the Grand Palace and the Wat Po. After two people stopped us on the street to tell us we couldn't go into the Grand Palace with shorts we were close to aborting the mission but then realized that Ryan could just 'rent pants' to see the Grand Palace, so we pressed on in the heat! The Grand Palace was amazing, so beautiful and full of so much history. This is a photo of us just outside the gates. We did the audio tour which always gives you more information than they have printed anywhere. After the Grand Palace we walked to the Wat Po to see the reclining Buddha. . . it was amazing. We took some great photos and stood in awe for awhile. We also put coins (20 baht) into the 180 pots that surround the reclining Buddha for "good luck".
We returned to our guesthouse in hopes of meeting up with our friends from Travel to Teach who were passing through Bangkok. We found them there and enjoying hearing all that went on in Nong Khai after we left. . . The Belgiums (Lotte and Katrijin) are off to Bali and Joyce and Prig (Joyce is from the Netherlands and works for Travel to Teach and Prig is a University student in Nong Khai) are off to Cambodia so we shared travel stories over a few Tiger beers and enjoyed each other's company.
Thailand is a wonderful country, so welcoming and warm to travelers. We truly enjoyed our experience and our travels through out this country. We loved seeing so much of it, from Udon Thani, Nong Khai, Chiang Mai, Surat Thani, Ko Samui, Ko Phangnan to Bangkok it is really an amazing country and one worth visiting!
We're off to Beijing!
We returned to our guesthouse in hopes of meeting up with our friends from Travel to Teach who were passing through Bangkok. We found them there and enjoying hearing all that went on in Nong Khai after we left. . . The Belgiums (Lotte and Katrijin) are off to Bali and Joyce and Prig (Joyce is from the Netherlands and works for Travel to Teach and Prig is a University student in Nong Khai) are off to Cambodia so we shared travel stories over a few Tiger beers and enjoyed each other's company.
Thailand is a wonderful country, so welcoming and warm to travelers. We truly enjoyed our experience and our travels through out this country. We loved seeing so much of it, from Udon Thani, Nong Khai, Chiang Mai, Surat Thani, Ko Samui, Ko Phangnan to Bangkok it is really an amazing country and one worth visiting!
We're off to Beijing!
Sunday, February 25, 2007
The (second) Honeymoon
Well our friends left yesterday and Julie is already missing all of the sports talk...truly, it was a great time and it was a perfect dose of friends and a taste of home. By the way, I should mention, that by the last day, Julie asked me, "Hey Ry, let's go play Smashball on the beach." This came as somewhat of a shock to me, since I didn't know Julie liked Smashball or had ever played, but she assured me it was "just like tennis and would be easy." So off we ran down the beach, with two paddles and a small rubber ball. Let's just say it wasn't long before we realized that we weren't going to be Smashball champions or go down in the Guiness Book of World Records, and despite our best efforts to get a "rally" going, Julie took the SMASH in Smashball quite literally.
Ko Phan Ngan was a beautiful, less developed island that offered the basics, a beautiful beach, a few eateries, a lot of bars, and sparse accommodations. The beach was filled with young people looking for a party. Julie and I thought we could hang with the partiers (and our buddies), although despite our noble efforts we were wiped out after the first night and spent the next day napping on the beach! [Insert Julie's comment: please note that napping on the beach includes full sunscreen toe to wrist clothes and my wide brim hat, no sunburn for this girlie!] That day, I seemed to have lost our hotel key, which I am certain was due to the fatigue, not any personal traits. (Don't worry, Julie found it by the end of the day!) [Insert Julie's comment: I was trying to figure out how to explain to the guesthouse owner, in Thai, that my husband lost the key. . . I should have asked our Thai language teacher that phrase in advance knowing my love's history with keys.]
Julie and I are now back in Ko Samui. I asked her if she wanted to stay in the beautiful 2 star hotel we stayed at with the guys :), but she chose option B, the nice, quiet honeymoon-like resort on the other side of the island. Our room has a DVD player, so yesterday Julie went and inquired as to the resort's video library. She came back and told me there were no movies that we would want to see...so, today when I was walking by another guest perusing the video library and saw some great action/adventure movies, I was curious what Julie meant when she said there were no movies WE would like. [Insert Julie's comment: I guess after several days of 'guys' I was ready for some romantic comedies and they didn't have any, oh well.]
We spoke to our families today, which was wonderful. It is always great to hear every one's voices and to find out what is happening back home.
Ko Phan Ngan was a beautiful, less developed island that offered the basics, a beautiful beach, a few eateries, a lot of bars, and sparse accommodations. The beach was filled with young people looking for a party. Julie and I thought we could hang with the partiers (and our buddies), although despite our noble efforts we were wiped out after the first night and spent the next day napping on the beach! [Insert Julie's comment: please note that napping on the beach includes full sunscreen toe to wrist clothes and my wide brim hat, no sunburn for this girlie!] That day, I seemed to have lost our hotel key, which I am certain was due to the fatigue, not any personal traits. (Don't worry, Julie found it by the end of the day!) [Insert Julie's comment: I was trying to figure out how to explain to the guesthouse owner, in Thai, that my husband lost the key. . . I should have asked our Thai language teacher that phrase in advance knowing my love's history with keys.]
Julie and I are now back in Ko Samui. I asked her if she wanted to stay in the beautiful 2 star hotel we stayed at with the guys :), but she chose option B, the nice, quiet honeymoon-like resort on the other side of the island. Our room has a DVD player, so yesterday Julie went and inquired as to the resort's video library. She came back and told me there were no movies that we would want to see...so, today when I was walking by another guest perusing the video library and saw some great action/adventure movies, I was curious what Julie meant when she said there were no movies WE would like. [Insert Julie's comment: I guess after several days of 'guys' I was ready for some romantic comedies and they didn't have any, oh well.]
We spoke to our families today, which was wonderful. It is always great to hear every one's voices and to find out what is happening back home.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
The Beach
Ahhh, we finally arrived in Ko Samui after 2 planes (Phomn Pehn to Bangkok, Bangkok to Surat Thani), 1 bus, 1 ferry, and 2 cars. . . we arrived at the hotel and met up with the boys. . . Jack Grimes, Matt Guidice, Dan Romanski, Keith Marshall, and Brian Murphy had made the 16 hour trip to visit us and Thailand. We have been having a great time catching up with all of them, gathering news from home while relaxing on the beach. Coming from a family of all girls where many of our vacations included deep talks, beach walks, laying on beach or by the pool and relaxing. . . this is a little different speed for me. It seems as though there is always some type of game to play. . . a card game, a volleyball game, a frisbee game or just simply tossing a ball around. Let's just say it's a little more activity but being the only girl it is very entertaining to just watch. The first day we rented motor scooters (don't worry I was insistent on helmets all around and at least a test drive before we set out on the open road!) and then went and played football golf. A game where you kick a soccer ball into a hole in the grass, something I didn't think would take more than a few hours (thinking then I would be back at the pool or beach) well, we finished up in just under 3 hours (in about 90 degree heat and 90% humidity) and then decided to hit every hotel pool (of course, creating a pool game at each one) along the road back to our hotel. There have been many, many funny moments along the way and I am consistently amazed at the appetites of this young gentlemen. . . I mean they can eat anything at anytime!!!
After three days in Samui we decided to check out one of the other islands in the area. . . so this morning we took the speedboat to Ko Phangan, a smaller island just north of Ko Samui. It is a little more of a party scene here for Europeans and the like and the host to the infamous "full moon parties" which we will miss by just a week! It is absolutely beautiful and the water is so warm and blue. we are having a great time with the boys, our first visitors! We are just relaxing now and I think the pace might have slowed. . . just a bit!
Thought you all might enjoy a photo from the beach!
After three days in Samui we decided to check out one of the other islands in the area. . . so this morning we took the speedboat to Ko Phangan, a smaller island just north of Ko Samui. It is a little more of a party scene here for Europeans and the like and the host to the infamous "full moon parties" which we will miss by just a week! It is absolutely beautiful and the water is so warm and blue. we are having a great time with the boys, our first visitors! We are just relaxing now and I think the pace might have slowed. . . just a bit!
Thought you all might enjoy a photo from the beach!
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Crossing the Street
Ryan trying ever so gingerly to cross the street. . . remember the soundtrack of Hanoi is BEEP, BEEP, BEEP. . . you can see why!
Ankor Wat
I know we haven't been great on posting photos. . . it takes forever to load. . . here are just a few! enjoy!
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Angkor Wat
Julie and I woke at 4:45 a.m. in order to meet our tuk-tuk driver at the front gate of our hotel. This was the morning that we would sacrifice a couple of extra hours of sleep, a morning read of the newspaper and some coffee in order to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. We met our driver in darkness, we got in the tuk-tuk and off we sped towards Angkor Wat. The ride to the Wat, although only 4 kilometers, served to wake us up as it was cold and the exhaust from the tuk-tuk blew in our face (not quite the smell of morning coffee). Anyway, we come to a point in the road where our driver pulls over and tells us to get out...it seemed a little suspicious at first, as we were in complete darkness, under the stars, and although we could hear voices, we couldn't see anything. After being reassured by our driver that he wouldn't leave without us, we walked towards the voices. We followed the voices along the path through the first temple and towards Angkor Wat. Julie and I were awake by this point and were anxious to see the sunrise over the Wat. We saw a crowd gather near the pond that sits in front of Angkor Wat and we meandered over that way, taking our time as it was only 5:30 a.m. Dawn soon broke and the stars began to fade, and with that the towers of Angkor Wat silhouetted against the rising sun; it was amazingly beautiful. It was like you would picture it out of a movie or on a postcard and we took it all in, ignoring the clamoring sounds of people and tour guides moving about us. It was awesome. We were so happy that we had made it for the sunrise and after staying for another 30 minutes (having seen the sun rise) we walked away, satisfied with ourselves and our trip to Siam Reap'(although it wasn't over!)
We came back to the hotel and had breakfast and then had a guide pick us up and take us on a tour of Angkor Wat and other surrounding temples. We actually walked to the Wat and up the large stairs...actually they weren't really stairs but sandstone blocks that were worn from centuries of decay. We began our ascent and at times were gripped with vertigo, climbing the full 37 steps up to the top of the towers. Once we reached the top we were exhausted, yet proud of our accomplishment, giving ourselves the proverbial 'pat on the back'. As we were standing there, giving each other kudos for the climb, thinking we were the only ones who could make it up to the top, we were bombarded by a tour group that had already made it to the top...it was like summitting Mt. Everest and looking at a busload of people who had reached the summit long before you! As we stood looking at the crowd there was a woman who was probably 90 years old and bent over at the waist, moving very slowly...Julie and I looked at eachother, dumbfounded, wondering how this woman made it to the top. Sure enough, moments later, we saw her husband (presumably), who was even older than she was and who was moving a lot slower than she was and an even more unsteady gait than his wife, at which point, we didn't feel quite as accomplished as we had moments before we saw the couple. After walking around for about 45 minutes we decided to descend. We were told by our guide that the government had placed a handrail to climb down the sandstone blocks, so people wouldn't fall. This seemed logical. Although once we got to the area of descent and looked at the handrail, we thought it was a joke - it was an extremely thin metal rail that could barely hold my weight, which was made even more dangerous by the fact that everyone was sweating profusely, so that you could not actually maintain a good grip on the metal rail, but slipped all the way down. Once we did reach the bottom, I thought I'd ask the question on everyone's mind, "so, has anyone ever fallen down these steps?" to which our guide told me, "Yes, in fact, within the last six months, a gentleman slipped and fell to the bottom and died." He said it so non-chalantly, which made the statement that much more chilling, as if this happened more often than we'd hoped. Glad we heard that after we came down...although would have been nice to know before we went up!
Anyway, whether it was due to sunstroke or dehydration, Julie and i asked some questions of our guide that we are sure will go down as one of those 'not so bright questions' tourists ask him. First, one of us (not going to mention which one of us, although rest assured, we both were guilty)pointed to a pillar in the structure and asked our guide, "What do they call this?" He looked at us and said they call this a "Pillar", enunciating with such emphasis that we don't think he thought English was our first language. Next up, we were looking at a sculpture on the wall of the temple depicting heaven and hell and all of the bad things that happen to you in hell and one of us (again, not mentioning names) asked the guide, "So, did they do that in hell?" To which our guide graciously responded he was not sure. Yes, it must have been sunstroke or dehydration. We both got a good laugh after listening to our questions and realizing they probably made the guide think we were a few cards short of a full deck.
On the tour with us were a married couple from France, now living in Hong Kong. They were very nice and we chatted them up during the tour. We ended up meeting them for drinks after the tour at the Foreign Correspondents' Club. We had a great time and told them we may see them in Hong Kong when we head there in April.
We are taking the bus back to Phnom Penh tomorrow. The following day we are headed to Bangkok, then on to Ko Samui to meet friends from home. It has been a few exhausting days of travel - the last 4 nights we have stayed in 4 different hotels - but well worth seeing Angkor Wat and other surrounding temples.
We came back to the hotel and had breakfast and then had a guide pick us up and take us on a tour of Angkor Wat and other surrounding temples. We actually walked to the Wat and up the large stairs...actually they weren't really stairs but sandstone blocks that were worn from centuries of decay. We began our ascent and at times were gripped with vertigo, climbing the full 37 steps up to the top of the towers. Once we reached the top we were exhausted, yet proud of our accomplishment, giving ourselves the proverbial 'pat on the back'. As we were standing there, giving each other kudos for the climb, thinking we were the only ones who could make it up to the top, we were bombarded by a tour group that had already made it to the top...it was like summitting Mt. Everest and looking at a busload of people who had reached the summit long before you! As we stood looking at the crowd there was a woman who was probably 90 years old and bent over at the waist, moving very slowly...Julie and I looked at eachother, dumbfounded, wondering how this woman made it to the top. Sure enough, moments later, we saw her husband (presumably), who was even older than she was and who was moving a lot slower than she was and an even more unsteady gait than his wife, at which point, we didn't feel quite as accomplished as we had moments before we saw the couple. After walking around for about 45 minutes we decided to descend. We were told by our guide that the government had placed a handrail to climb down the sandstone blocks, so people wouldn't fall. This seemed logical. Although once we got to the area of descent and looked at the handrail, we thought it was a joke - it was an extremely thin metal rail that could barely hold my weight, which was made even more dangerous by the fact that everyone was sweating profusely, so that you could not actually maintain a good grip on the metal rail, but slipped all the way down. Once we did reach the bottom, I thought I'd ask the question on everyone's mind, "so, has anyone ever fallen down these steps?" to which our guide told me, "Yes, in fact, within the last six months, a gentleman slipped and fell to the bottom and died." He said it so non-chalantly, which made the statement that much more chilling, as if this happened more often than we'd hoped. Glad we heard that after we came down...although would have been nice to know before we went up!
Anyway, whether it was due to sunstroke or dehydration, Julie and i asked some questions of our guide that we are sure will go down as one of those 'not so bright questions' tourists ask him. First, one of us (not going to mention which one of us, although rest assured, we both were guilty)pointed to a pillar in the structure and asked our guide, "What do they call this?" He looked at us and said they call this a "Pillar", enunciating with such emphasis that we don't think he thought English was our first language. Next up, we were looking at a sculpture on the wall of the temple depicting heaven and hell and all of the bad things that happen to you in hell and one of us (again, not mentioning names) asked the guide, "So, did they do that in hell?" To which our guide graciously responded he was not sure. Yes, it must have been sunstroke or dehydration. We both got a good laugh after listening to our questions and realizing they probably made the guide think we were a few cards short of a full deck.
On the tour with us were a married couple from France, now living in Hong Kong. They were very nice and we chatted them up during the tour. We ended up meeting them for drinks after the tour at the Foreign Correspondents' Club. We had a great time and told them we may see them in Hong Kong when we head there in April.
We are taking the bus back to Phnom Penh tomorrow. The following day we are headed to Bangkok, then on to Ko Samui to meet friends from home. It has been a few exhausting days of travel - the last 4 nights we have stayed in 4 different hotels - but well worth seeing Angkor Wat and other surrounding temples.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Good Morning Vietnam!
The last few days have been amazing as we have spent it with a good friend from Phillips Spallas, Kieu-Nhi Le. She is currently working in Long Xuyen, Vietnam, for a NGO that supports and provides scholarships for young women at risk of being sold into the sex trade. All Julie and I kept saying to each other is that the work Nhi is doing is absolutely AMAZING. We saw so many pictures and listened to so many stories about these young women. These children would be leading a very different life if it weren't for Nhi and the program she is running [the program actually only has funding for 300, but they currently have 468 girls enrolled in school, so they are always looking for additional funding]. Nhi told us some interesting stories as well, such as the housing program in Vietnam...most peasants live in wood shacks propped on stilts so that when the Mekong Delta floods, their wood shack is above water [these wood shacks look like they might blow over in a light wind]. The peasants have health insurance provided by the government because they are so poor, however, if they get a new house (one of the government's new initiatives], they lose their health insurance! Therefore, the next time they get sick, which is inevitable in any family, they have to sell all their household items and oftentimes sell their new house to pay the medical bills!! After that they are back to square one, although now they have to rent a shack or build a new one! Therefore, most would rather keep the free health care, then get the new house.
We spent the evening before last in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). What a place! It was so lively as they are getting ready for 'Tet' [New Year's Celebration]...the Vietnamese New Year celebration lasts anywhere from 1-3 weeks (depending on which city/town/village) - what a party! So we were able to partake in some of the festivities! We went to dinner in Saigon with Nhi and some friends who were visiting from Dallas (2 doctor friends that were visiting Nhi and looking at some new medical projects). These 2 doctors were really funny and we got along splendidly. They are doing amazing work themselves, traveling around the world helping impoverished people around the globe. One was a plastic surgeon and the other an anesthologist, they perform up to 20 surgeries a day (when they are traveling). The surgeries range from a cleft palate, cleft lip, burn reconstruction, or tumor removal just to name a few. They had amazing photos and stories of the lives they have effected. After dinner we went to a Latin club/bar, with a live mariachi band!! The next day we traveled to Long Xuyen to see where Nhi lives/works (about 5 hours away from Saigon). We had a great meal in her City (about 300,000 residents)and walked around the 'flower mart' at night which was out for the New Years Celebrations. I've never seen so many yellow flowers, yellow for long life! Today we joined a gift ceremony (sponsored by the doctors from Dallas) where we handed out a 10 lb. bag of rice (which will last a week), a bag of groceries and $5 to over 100 poor people in the province. The smiles were amazing as they came to receive these gifts.
Tonight we are in Chou Doc, Vietnam. We will depart tomorrow morning by boat and travel up a tributary of the Mekong River all the way to Phnom Penh, Cambodia (it should take around 4-5 hours). We figured we have traveled by bike, car, bus and plane, why not travel by boat too!
Julie and I just finished our Valentine's Day dinner...at a very swanky hotel...but it is Valentine's Day, so we thought we would celebrate in style! Happy Valentine's Day. . .we send our love.
We spent the evening before last in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City). What a place! It was so lively as they are getting ready for 'Tet' [New Year's Celebration]...the Vietnamese New Year celebration lasts anywhere from 1-3 weeks (depending on which city/town/village) - what a party! So we were able to partake in some of the festivities! We went to dinner in Saigon with Nhi and some friends who were visiting from Dallas (2 doctor friends that were visiting Nhi and looking at some new medical projects). These 2 doctors were really funny and we got along splendidly. They are doing amazing work themselves, traveling around the world helping impoverished people around the globe. One was a plastic surgeon and the other an anesthologist, they perform up to 20 surgeries a day (when they are traveling). The surgeries range from a cleft palate, cleft lip, burn reconstruction, or tumor removal just to name a few. They had amazing photos and stories of the lives they have effected. After dinner we went to a Latin club/bar, with a live mariachi band!! The next day we traveled to Long Xuyen to see where Nhi lives/works (about 5 hours away from Saigon). We had a great meal in her City (about 300,000 residents)and walked around the 'flower mart' at night which was out for the New Years Celebrations. I've never seen so many yellow flowers, yellow for long life! Today we joined a gift ceremony (sponsored by the doctors from Dallas) where we handed out a 10 lb. bag of rice (which will last a week), a bag of groceries and $5 to over 100 poor people in the province. The smiles were amazing as they came to receive these gifts.
Tonight we are in Chou Doc, Vietnam. We will depart tomorrow morning by boat and travel up a tributary of the Mekong River all the way to Phnom Penh, Cambodia (it should take around 4-5 hours). We figured we have traveled by bike, car, bus and plane, why not travel by boat too!
Julie and I just finished our Valentine's Day dinner...at a very swanky hotel...but it is Valentine's Day, so we thought we would celebrate in style! Happy Valentine's Day. . .we send our love.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Hoi An, A Clothing Mecca
Julie and I have been enjoying the last few days in Hoi An. After our 18.5 hour trip from Hanoi...Yes, you heard that right, 18.5 hours...we thought it was going to be a shorter trip, but alas, there must have been a "language barrier" issue. Regardless, our train trip was fun as Julie and I hunkered down in our 4 sleeper cabin with two guys from Japan. They spoke limited English and the extent of our knowledge of Japanese consisted of Siyanara ("goodbye"), so it was a short conversation. They were great cabin mates up to the point when they woke up at the crack of dawn, because they were getting off the train earlier than we were, and didn't go back to sleep, leaving little hope for Julie and I to catch additional zzzzz's, while they moved around and chatted away. Anyway, they debarked at the city of Hue and we thought we were only an hour from Danang, our destination (our ulitmate destination was Hoi An, but the train doesn't stop there). Well, an hour passed, then two, then three and I continued to nervously look at the train attendant who didn't speak a lick of English in the hopes that she might give us a "This is it!" glance...she never did that. Well, after 3.5 hours we pulled into the station at Danang. We then take a taxi about 45 minutes to the sleepy seaside town of Hoi An. This town is a UN-designated World Heritage Site as many of the structures were unaffected by the wars with the French and Americans and they are still in fairly good shape. Julie and I decided to "splurge" and went for the hotel room that was 45 bucks - yes, this means you get a 4-star hotel with 5-star service...complete with a tennis court and swimming pool. [Insert Julie's comment: although many of you may think that the 4 star hotel was my suggestion, I assure you it was a joint decision, as are all on this trip! I think we both liked the idea of a never-ending hot shower!] It is pretty nice and we spent the day at the swimming pool. Later that evening we ventured out into the streets to discover one of the things that distinguish Hoi An for most travelers...tailor made clothes. Yes, we shopped....and shopped...and shopped...resulting in a number of new clothes for both of our wardrobes (how we are going to pack the clothing into our backpacks with the already limited space, we are not sure). [Insert Julie's comment: Ryan was a great bargainer and it was fun to pick out our own fabrics and liners. . . truly custom made.] It was a lot of fun and we had a good time talking with some of the shopkeepers.
Yesterday, we went to the beach for some relaxation...because things have been really stressful...right! We rented bicycles and rode about 2 miles of town until we ran smack dab into the beach. It was a beautiful, idyllic setting, with palm trees overhead and very few people on the beach. Except, of course, for the individuals selling goods...then I realized why there weren't many people on the beach...because it wasn't all that relaxing when a new person comes up to you every 2 minutes and asks you if you want to buy the exact same goods his friend asked you about 2 minutes ago!! It was crazy. I was sitting there wondering if these people really get people to buy there stuff or services when I look over and, sure enough, Julie was getting a foot massage from one of them!! [Insert Julie's comment: I'll be honest, it was one of those mistakes that I will learn from. . . I could only say "No" so many times, it was exhausting! Needless to say, a foot massage on a sandy beach isn't really relaxing (think sand rubbing on your skin a la massage!)]. We left soon thereafter, as the others started gathering once they saw us pay for the foot massage.
We have been walking around this beautiful city, taking in all the sights and sounds. We went on a, Old City Heritage Tour today, which was more interesting not for the contents of the buildings, but the buildings themselves. They are so well-preserved and offer a glimpse of Vietnamese life, centuries ago. After the tour, we went back to the pool and relaxed (another stressful day!).
Yesterday, we went to the beach for some relaxation...because things have been really stressful...right! We rented bicycles and rode about 2 miles of town until we ran smack dab into the beach. It was a beautiful, idyllic setting, with palm trees overhead and very few people on the beach. Except, of course, for the individuals selling goods...then I realized why there weren't many people on the beach...because it wasn't all that relaxing when a new person comes up to you every 2 minutes and asks you if you want to buy the exact same goods his friend asked you about 2 minutes ago!! It was crazy. I was sitting there wondering if these people really get people to buy there stuff or services when I look over and, sure enough, Julie was getting a foot massage from one of them!! [Insert Julie's comment: I'll be honest, it was one of those mistakes that I will learn from. . . I could only say "No" so many times, it was exhausting! Needless to say, a foot massage on a sandy beach isn't really relaxing (think sand rubbing on your skin a la massage!)]. We left soon thereafter, as the others started gathering once they saw us pay for the foot massage.
We have been walking around this beautiful city, taking in all the sights and sounds. We went on a, Old City Heritage Tour today, which was more interesting not for the contents of the buildings, but the buildings themselves. They are so well-preserved and offer a glimpse of Vietnamese life, centuries ago. After the tour, we went back to the pool and relaxed (another stressful day!).
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Beep Beep
The sound of motorcycle horns is the soundtrack to Hanoi. We arrived yesterday via Bangkok and have been overwhelmed ever since we hit the ground! It didn't help that our first taxi ride, did just that, took us for a ride. We pointed to the hotel that we wanted him to take us to in our guide book before we got into the taxi, we agreed on a price and thought "ok, we did everything the guide book tells us to do". Then between dodging cars, motorcycles and buses he honked his horn constantly and was on his cell phone the entire ride. We arrived at a hotel and someone opens the door for us (I was thinking in our American standards, oh a bell hop!) this guy shows us the card of the hotel that we asked the taxi driver to take us to and says the hotel is full but that he will take us to another "good hotel." Ryan caught right on, (thank god!) that the taxi driver had called his friend to meet us at a random hotel with the card from the hotel that we wanted to go to and was going to swindle us somehow. We promptly got our backpacks, paid the taxi and walked briskly away from that hotel and the guy who I thought was a bell hop! Wow, we are really in a different country! We walked around until we found the hotel we had in mind (thanks Frommers!) and settled in, of course, spending more than we wanted but at this point we didn't care. We then walked around Hanoi, what a city. Envision a see of people on motorcycles and bikes filling the streets, no space to walk on the 'sidewalks' as that's where they park the bikes and where the store owners put their goods. You are constantly walking carefully and with eyes everywhere, no time for gazing at each other! We read in Frommers that we should "walk, don't run" across the street (your first instinct is to run as fast as you can across the street and out of the tires coming towards you) so I think we might have the hang of this now! (insert Ryan's comment: honestly, it truly is playing HUMAN frogger.)
Today we took a cyclo (a bike with a buggy in front for the two of us to ride together in) to the Literature Museum, Fine Art Museum and the Army Museum. The Army Museum was interesting as it had a lot of weapons, downed aircraft and bombers from the US Army that made us realize how recent the war with this country was and made us wonder if 30 years later we could imagine ourselves touring through Iraq as we are touring through Vietnam. All of these sites were very interesting and different, but the most fun was the cyclo ride as we had some protection from the motorbikes and got to see more of the city without fear of being run over! (insert Ryan's comment: again, our cyclo driver tried to get more money out of us, telling us we agreed on a different price, therefore making for a spirited encounter for Ryan and ... o wait, Julie walked into a cafe...there goes my alibi!)
We decided to take a break from the walking and dodging of motorbikes and sit at a cafe balcony. . . 2 hours later we were fully entertained but just watching this bustling city go by. We head to Hoi An tonight on a train (13 hours) and then will enjoy a new city tomorrow.
Love to you all, keep the comments coming we love seeing them!
Today we took a cyclo (a bike with a buggy in front for the two of us to ride together in) to the Literature Museum, Fine Art Museum and the Army Museum. The Army Museum was interesting as it had a lot of weapons, downed aircraft and bombers from the US Army that made us realize how recent the war with this country was and made us wonder if 30 years later we could imagine ourselves touring through Iraq as we are touring through Vietnam. All of these sites were very interesting and different, but the most fun was the cyclo ride as we had some protection from the motorbikes and got to see more of the city without fear of being run over! (insert Ryan's comment: again, our cyclo driver tried to get more money out of us, telling us we agreed on a different price, therefore making for a spirited encounter for Ryan and ... o wait, Julie walked into a cafe...there goes my alibi!)
We decided to take a break from the walking and dodging of motorbikes and sit at a cafe balcony. . . 2 hours later we were fully entertained but just watching this bustling city go by. We head to Hoi An tonight on a train (13 hours) and then will enjoy a new city tomorrow.
Love to you all, keep the comments coming we love seeing them!
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Gentle Giants!
So we just got to the internet cafe, after leaving everyone at our guesthouse, watching the superbowl! Pretty funny that it is broadcast around the globe - we don't see many Thais watching the game - their big game was last night, it was Thailand v. Singapore in a soccer match. The previous game (last week) ended in a major controversy when a referee's call threatened to throw the countries into political turmoil.
Chiang Mai is bustling and coming from Nong Khai it took us a day to get accostomed to the traffic, people and all the Westerners! It sounds odd, but Julie and I were used to not seeing many Westerners, and if we did, we usually knew them by name or at least by face. Anyway, we had a slight debaucle when we arrived at our guesthouse ($9/night) around 9pm the first night and we get to our room and there were two single beds!! We checked out another hotel - but it was a dive (sort of like a hosptial, with white walls, no windows - but very dirty), so we went back to the guesthouse and pushed the single beds together (not necessarily the most comfortable night we have had!)...our guesthouse is run by two fellas from San Diego - actually they last lived in Hawaii (Auntie Kathy and Uncle Bob, they may have been your neighbors because they lived in Waimea for a year! We are experiencing the utmost hospitality from them.) They sold their place in Hawaii and moved to Thailand! Anyway, this guesthouse used to be a garage - but they spent a lot of time refurbishing the place and it is great. (at least I (Ryan) think so...the jury's still out as far as Julie is concerned - :)). After our first breakfast we had a trek and a full day of sightseeing planned.
We went on a 1 day TREK (insert Julie's comment: opted for this rather than the camping and 2 day, 1 night since Ry has a little cold, and well, I lucked out of the camping!!!) We were picked up by a mini van, a driver (Mr. Arm) and our tour guide (Tommy). The name of the tour was Mr. Whiksy Tour (insert Julie's comment: yes, that's the way they spell Whisky, we didn't want to offend them by correcting their spelling!) We then headed out to the mountains and began the trek. . .first stop, elephant trekking. We ride up to the elephant "camp" - a place on the side of the road that looks little more than a pit stop. We are then told to get on the elephants with our guide...there was an odd man out, so we offered for him (a man from Beijing) to get on our elephant - very cosy! Julie, myself, Dong and the guide got on the elephant. The elephant was enormous(a gentle giant, indeed)! It lumbered along at a very slow pace and every now and then the guide would hit it with a tool that looked like a pick axe (I continued to reassure Julie that this probably didn't hurt the elephant, but I wasn't so sure)...regardless, we continued along for about an hour, when we came back to square one and the elephant ride came to an end (we also exhausted our food supply of bananas and sugar cane, which we would feed to the elephant about every 45 seconds when it would put his trunk in our faces - without the food I don't think the elephant would have budged.)
Then it was off to trek through the national forest. We came to a Karin tribal village and were told to go "explore the village." It felt a little wierd "exploring" the village because you felt like you were intruding on their lives as you walked past people doing laundry and going the bathroom...we learned that the government provides the village with raw materials to make clothing and other souvenoirs to sell to tourists, in an effort to get the tribes to cease their opium growth and trade. We felt the village was a bit contrived and our thoughts were confirmed when our guide told us that all the villages see so many tourists per day, that there really isn't an 'authentic village'...and if a tour tells you there is - they are lying!
We continued hiking to a waterfall and onto another village (Hmong) - which was interesting. We were told that the Hmong are nmadic peoples and that every few years they pack up their bleongings and homes and move to anothe area (the government provides them with enough space to do so).
Finally we arrive at the Bamboo Rafting. We were told to expect to get wet and it not being a particularly warm day, we were a bit weary at first. Literally, these are bamboo poles tied together by what looked like a piece of string, and we were told to stand up and balance ourselves, barefoot, on the raft. This sounded a bit dangerous, but when told that one of our group members could not swim and he WAS going to do it, we kept our mouths shut! So, 4 of us and a guide began down the river...little did we know that we were a spectacle of sorts because on the banks of the river Thais sat and picknicked watching the foreignors ("farang") attempt to keep their balance and stay dry. It was good fun and no one from our raft fell in.
Last night we went to the Sunday Night Market which featured local arts, crafts and food. This Market was unbelievable and made other markets, both here and back home, look small. It encompassed about 10-12 square blocks and probably had about 100K people (Thais and foreignors, alike). It was great and Julie and I savoured the sights and smells, even indulging in some local flavors for the ridiculously cheap prices of about 30 cents.
We are having a great time and will be heading to Vietnam tomorrow! We are having a relaxing day today as I am recovering from a cold and Julie is all shopped out (yeah, right!).
Chiang Mai is bustling and coming from Nong Khai it took us a day to get accostomed to the traffic, people and all the Westerners! It sounds odd, but Julie and I were used to not seeing many Westerners, and if we did, we usually knew them by name or at least by face. Anyway, we had a slight debaucle when we arrived at our guesthouse ($9/night) around 9pm the first night and we get to our room and there were two single beds!! We checked out another hotel - but it was a dive (sort of like a hosptial, with white walls, no windows - but very dirty), so we went back to the guesthouse and pushed the single beds together (not necessarily the most comfortable night we have had!)...our guesthouse is run by two fellas from San Diego - actually they last lived in Hawaii (Auntie Kathy and Uncle Bob, they may have been your neighbors because they lived in Waimea for a year! We are experiencing the utmost hospitality from them.) They sold their place in Hawaii and moved to Thailand! Anyway, this guesthouse used to be a garage - but they spent a lot of time refurbishing the place and it is great. (at least I (Ryan) think so...the jury's still out as far as Julie is concerned - :)). After our first breakfast we had a trek and a full day of sightseeing planned.
We went on a 1 day TREK (insert Julie's comment: opted for this rather than the camping and 2 day, 1 night since Ry has a little cold, and well, I lucked out of the camping!!!) We were picked up by a mini van, a driver (Mr. Arm) and our tour guide (Tommy). The name of the tour was Mr. Whiksy Tour (insert Julie's comment: yes, that's the way they spell Whisky, we didn't want to offend them by correcting their spelling!) We then headed out to the mountains and began the trek. . .first stop, elephant trekking. We ride up to the elephant "camp" - a place on the side of the road that looks little more than a pit stop. We are then told to get on the elephants with our guide...there was an odd man out, so we offered for him (a man from Beijing) to get on our elephant - very cosy! Julie, myself, Dong and the guide got on the elephant. The elephant was enormous(a gentle giant, indeed)! It lumbered along at a very slow pace and every now and then the guide would hit it with a tool that looked like a pick axe (I continued to reassure Julie that this probably didn't hurt the elephant, but I wasn't so sure)...regardless, we continued along for about an hour, when we came back to square one and the elephant ride came to an end (we also exhausted our food supply of bananas and sugar cane, which we would feed to the elephant about every 45 seconds when it would put his trunk in our faces - without the food I don't think the elephant would have budged.)
Then it was off to trek through the national forest. We came to a Karin tribal village and were told to go "explore the village." It felt a little wierd "exploring" the village because you felt like you were intruding on their lives as you walked past people doing laundry and going the bathroom...we learned that the government provides the village with raw materials to make clothing and other souvenoirs to sell to tourists, in an effort to get the tribes to cease their opium growth and trade. We felt the village was a bit contrived and our thoughts were confirmed when our guide told us that all the villages see so many tourists per day, that there really isn't an 'authentic village'...and if a tour tells you there is - they are lying!
We continued hiking to a waterfall and onto another village (Hmong) - which was interesting. We were told that the Hmong are nmadic peoples and that every few years they pack up their bleongings and homes and move to anothe area (the government provides them with enough space to do so).
Finally we arrive at the Bamboo Rafting. We were told to expect to get wet and it not being a particularly warm day, we were a bit weary at first. Literally, these are bamboo poles tied together by what looked like a piece of string, and we were told to stand up and balance ourselves, barefoot, on the raft. This sounded a bit dangerous, but when told that one of our group members could not swim and he WAS going to do it, we kept our mouths shut! So, 4 of us and a guide began down the river...little did we know that we were a spectacle of sorts because on the banks of the river Thais sat and picknicked watching the foreignors ("farang") attempt to keep their balance and stay dry. It was good fun and no one from our raft fell in.
Last night we went to the Sunday Night Market which featured local arts, crafts and food. This Market was unbelievable and made other markets, both here and back home, look small. It encompassed about 10-12 square blocks and probably had about 100K people (Thais and foreignors, alike). It was great and Julie and I savoured the sights and smells, even indulging in some local flavors for the ridiculously cheap prices of about 30 cents.
We are having a great time and will be heading to Vietnam tomorrow! We are having a relaxing day today as I am recovering from a cold and Julie is all shopped out (yeah, right!).
Thursday, February 1, 2007
Our Last Day of School
Last night, we had our final meal in Nong Khai. We went to dinner with our Belgian buddies and opted for some Mexican food...it is run by a 30-something guy who was in the military and cursed like a sailor, but the food was sure good! The founder of Travel to Teach, Kirsten was at the restaurant as well so we got to talk with her about her story, how she started Travel to Teach and her vision. She is a 60-something year old woman from Sweden who came here on a holiday to volunteer and then decided she could creat a better volunteer organization than the one she experieced. Five years and many locations later (they just opened in Costa Rica yesterday) she is very happy with where the program is going. We shared our appreciation and experiences with her, she was thrilled to hear how much we enjoyed our time.
Then we went to our local watering hole, Surreal, and I had one last banana milkshake - they are so healthy for you, what with all the bananas and milk, I usually have two of them a night...they might be as healthy as a chocolate brownie frappucino, but I haven't reached a conclusion yet. [Insert Julie's comment: I think the milkshakes here are made with coconut milk so I'm not sure how "healthy" they are but they sure are good! Ryan says their good calcium!]
Today, Julie and I woke up and rode our bikes to school for one last time. On the bike ride over to school we talked about how we would miss the kids and teachers (I spoke of how I would miss our director, Julie was unusually quiet at that point)...but also, how we were both ready to move on from Nong Khai and explore more of Southeast Asia.
We pulled up to the school (me on my hot pink bike and Julie on her cool blue one) and the entire student body was lined up to go over daily prayers and announcements. The Director explained that we were leaving. Then the director sat us down on and the students, one by one, all came up to us and presented us with flowers, drawings and even a stuffed animal. It was very touching and Julie and I appreciated it very much. The Director then gave us each a present and we took a ceremonious photo with him. We then gave the Director our gift (bottle of Scotch) and then opened our backpacks and began tossing out the sports equipment (soccer balls, volleyballs, badminton sets, jump ropes, bouncy balls) to the kids that we purchased the previous day at the store. The kids went nuts and pandemonium ensued - the director looked a bit out of sorts and we realized it was too late to "put the toothpaste back in the tube." After a while, with the help of the faculty, the Director regained control and we took a few more photos and said our "goodbyes." The Director turned to Julie and said, "I want to say so much to you, but I do not know the words." I thought it could have been the tipping point in Julie's relationship with the Director, but then the Director immediately turned to me and said "Ryan you could wear anything" as he touched my pants "because you are so handsome." Awkward moment, indeed. [Insert Julie's comment: I wasn't quite sure what to do at this point other than take Ryan's hand in mine and squeeze it!!!] Julie's moment with the Director once again picked up steam as we were leaving and the Director said, "Julie you are lovely and very pretty." [Insert Julie's comment: no mention of me being a GENIUS, intersting!!] Julie said, "thank you" and all seemed right with the world.
We rode out of school with our gifts and flowers and we are back at our dorm. We will be leaving in a few hours for Chiang Mai. We are very excited for the journey that lies ahead, and we look back on the road we have traveled with a sense of accomplishment and happiness. We have met some wonderful people, made some good friends, had some interesting experiences and become a part of this community.
Then we went to our local watering hole, Surreal, and I had one last banana milkshake - they are so healthy for you, what with all the bananas and milk, I usually have two of them a night...they might be as healthy as a chocolate brownie frappucino, but I haven't reached a conclusion yet. [Insert Julie's comment: I think the milkshakes here are made with coconut milk so I'm not sure how "healthy" they are but they sure are good! Ryan says their good calcium!]
Today, Julie and I woke up and rode our bikes to school for one last time. On the bike ride over to school we talked about how we would miss the kids and teachers (I spoke of how I would miss our director, Julie was unusually quiet at that point)...but also, how we were both ready to move on from Nong Khai and explore more of Southeast Asia.
We pulled up to the school (me on my hot pink bike and Julie on her cool blue one) and the entire student body was lined up to go over daily prayers and announcements. The Director explained that we were leaving. Then the director sat us down on and the students, one by one, all came up to us and presented us with flowers, drawings and even a stuffed animal. It was very touching and Julie and I appreciated it very much. The Director then gave us each a present and we took a ceremonious photo with him. We then gave the Director our gift (bottle of Scotch) and then opened our backpacks and began tossing out the sports equipment (soccer balls, volleyballs, badminton sets, jump ropes, bouncy balls) to the kids that we purchased the previous day at the store. The kids went nuts and pandemonium ensued - the director looked a bit out of sorts and we realized it was too late to "put the toothpaste back in the tube." After a while, with the help of the faculty, the Director regained control and we took a few more photos and said our "goodbyes." The Director turned to Julie and said, "I want to say so much to you, but I do not know the words." I thought it could have been the tipping point in Julie's relationship with the Director, but then the Director immediately turned to me and said "Ryan you could wear anything" as he touched my pants "because you are so handsome." Awkward moment, indeed. [Insert Julie's comment: I wasn't quite sure what to do at this point other than take Ryan's hand in mine and squeeze it!!!] Julie's moment with the Director once again picked up steam as we were leaving and the Director said, "Julie you are lovely and very pretty." [Insert Julie's comment: no mention of me being a GENIUS, intersting!!] Julie said, "thank you" and all seemed right with the world.
We rode out of school with our gifts and flowers and we are back at our dorm. We will be leaving in a few hours for Chiang Mai. We are very excited for the journey that lies ahead, and we look back on the road we have traveled with a sense of accomplishment and happiness. We have met some wonderful people, made some good friends, had some interesting experiences and become a part of this community.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Welcome to Laos!!!
these amazing mountains were the backdrop to our entire weekend, pretty incredible!
Just another day. . .
Today was another fabulous day of teaching. We find that each day tends to present it's own challenges, gifts and 'ah ha' moments. At school today, there was a Review Board committee from the School District; they were observing classes, meeting with the teachers and reviewing documents, so things weren't business as usual. For example, we walked into our 4th grade class (normally our most challenging and chaotic class) and they were silent and seated. . . we were in awe. I was in the middle of teaching a lesson about numbers (still trying to get the counting down) when the Director walked in, I politely 'wai' (the proper greeting where you put your hands in prayer form) and said "sawadee ka". He then proceeded to walk right past me and over to Ryan and says "Teacher, I want you to join me and the Committee for lunch in the Directors room". . . as if I wasn't a teacher as well!! Of course, Ryan graciously accepted (for both of us, I think!)and the Director promptly walked out. Ryan looked at me and said, "babe, I think you are invited too." [insert Ryan's comment: to be honest, I wasn't quite sure!]. It has now become our running joke and daily laugh how much attention the Director pays to Ryan.
As many of you know Ryan, there are few moments, if ever that you see him frustrated or upset. . . today I was witness to a classic moment of discipline. One of the students who is consistently talking, out of his seat, or just not paying attention was at it again when Ryan called him up to the front of the class. I wondered what he was going to do, a new lesson, perhaps make him sing a song by himself. At this point, Ryan draws a circle on the board and turns the boy to face the board and points to it and says "stare at the circle". A bit confused at this new form of discipline, the boy points, stares, puts his ear to the circle then turns around and laughs. At this point, I couldn't do anything more but laugh out loud myself. Unfortunately, I think this defeated Ryan's purpose but it was a classic moment. [insert Ryan's comment: once the class saw Julie laugh, they started laughing too and all hope for further study was lost].
Then there was our 5th grade class who upon our arrival were silent and seated again (not business as usual). . . we quickly notice that one of our most challenging students is outside the class but talking to a student through the open window...we tell him to come in and he ignores us...and the class chimes in that he is sick and cannot come inside the class. It seemed odd that he was sick, yet physically present on school premises and not allowed inside the classroom.
Now it's time for lunch with the Director, the teachers, and the Committee. We walk in and the Director says, "Ryan please sit here", pointing to the head of the table where the head Committee members are seated. I look at the Director (now keen to his ways) and ask him in my most friendly voice, "where would you like me to sit?" and he nonchalantly gestures to the seat next to Ryan and walks past me. One of the Committee members spoke English very well and told us about his 'friend' in Montana "Joe Smith" which he repeated numerous times to us as if we might know "Joe Smith" from Montana, USA. He was very kind and interesting to talk to during lunch, I think I got a few words in! Of course, it wouldn't be lunch without the Director calling Ryan "genius" and "handsome" at which point I just must agree and chime in! [insert Ryan's comment: actually the Director used the word smart and Julie yelled "Genius", presumably in jest, however the Director snapped back, "Yes! Genius!!"]
We laughed the whole way home thinking about all the crazy things that happen to us on a daily basis. We are winding down our stay in Nong Khai and share a deep appreciation for Travel to Teach and this experience. We have two more days of teaching (still trying to get those ABC's and 123's down) and then we are off to Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) for a few days. We decided to get the Director a bottle of Gold Label Johnny Walker Scotch Whiskey as our departing gift, I am going to give it to him. . . I can't wait!!! I just hope he'll let Ryan go with me to Chiang Mai!
As many of you know Ryan, there are few moments, if ever that you see him frustrated or upset. . . today I was witness to a classic moment of discipline. One of the students who is consistently talking, out of his seat, or just not paying attention was at it again when Ryan called him up to the front of the class. I wondered what he was going to do, a new lesson, perhaps make him sing a song by himself. At this point, Ryan draws a circle on the board and turns the boy to face the board and points to it and says "stare at the circle". A bit confused at this new form of discipline, the boy points, stares, puts his ear to the circle then turns around and laughs. At this point, I couldn't do anything more but laugh out loud myself. Unfortunately, I think this defeated Ryan's purpose but it was a classic moment. [insert Ryan's comment: once the class saw Julie laugh, they started laughing too and all hope for further study was lost].
Then there was our 5th grade class who upon our arrival were silent and seated again (not business as usual). . . we quickly notice that one of our most challenging students is outside the class but talking to a student through the open window...we tell him to come in and he ignores us...and the class chimes in that he is sick and cannot come inside the class. It seemed odd that he was sick, yet physically present on school premises and not allowed inside the classroom.
Now it's time for lunch with the Director, the teachers, and the Committee. We walk in and the Director says, "Ryan please sit here", pointing to the head of the table where the head Committee members are seated. I look at the Director (now keen to his ways) and ask him in my most friendly voice, "where would you like me to sit?" and he nonchalantly gestures to the seat next to Ryan and walks past me. One of the Committee members spoke English very well and told us about his 'friend' in Montana "Joe Smith" which he repeated numerous times to us as if we might know "Joe Smith" from Montana, USA. He was very kind and interesting to talk to during lunch, I think I got a few words in! Of course, it wouldn't be lunch without the Director calling Ryan "genius" and "handsome" at which point I just must agree and chime in! [insert Ryan's comment: actually the Director used the word smart and Julie yelled "Genius", presumably in jest, however the Director snapped back, "Yes! Genius!!"]
We laughed the whole way home thinking about all the crazy things that happen to us on a daily basis. We are winding down our stay in Nong Khai and share a deep appreciation for Travel to Teach and this experience. We have two more days of teaching (still trying to get those ABC's and 123's down) and then we are off to Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand) for a few days. We decided to get the Director a bottle of Gold Label Johnny Walker Scotch Whiskey as our departing gift, I am going to give it to him. . . I can't wait!!! I just hope he'll let Ryan go with me to Chiang Mai!
Monday, January 29, 2007
Who Let the Dogs Out!
****please see the added link on the right hand side for our trip photos***
I think we mentioned in an earlier post that in the town of Nong Khai there seem to be more dogs than people. Upon our arrival to Nong Khai, we were warned that we would probably be chased by dogs while riding our bikes at some point during our tenure at Travel to Teach. We were also told just to ignore them and they stop chasing you, since you have left their "territory" and they lose interest. I listened intently to this warning and took copious mental notes...Julie on the other hand, well she had a different idea...which leads into our most recent adventure.
Julie, myself and our Belgian buddies were coming home one night from the local watering hole, which serves great food. It was around 11 p.m., which is the "danger zone" for Dogwatch 2007...you know, like those times they say not to swim in the water because it is more likely that sharks will be present, i.e. blood/chum in the water, dead fish around you, etc.?, well 11 p.m. in Nong Khai is prime time for dog chasing. Although to be honest you don't really think about it, even though every dog looks like it is a wild dog or wolf or even some that look like hyenas with big teeth...anyway, I digress. So there we are, all biking back together talking with each other about the evening, Julie and I in front, biking side by side and Lotta and Kattrain (Belgians) biking behind us. All of the sudden we hear this loud bark and growl that came from our right, I glance over and see this large black dog coming towards Julie. Julie takes one look at the dog and instead of remaining calm (as instructed) and continue pedaling at a normal speed, Julie pushes everyone out of her way and takes off like a rocket! I am being serious when I say that it was like a Road Runner cartoon were Wily Coyote straps on the rocket to his back to catch the Road Runner. I see the dog take off after Julie...apparently provoked by Julie's response because the CHASE WAS ON!! [Insert Julie's comment: I know this story sounds crazy but you have to realize that we are biking down a road with minimal street light and all I kept thinking was "I'm going to get bit by a dog and get some crazy disease", hence the quick pedal to get out of the dog's 'territory'.] After about 50 yards the dog gave up as Julie almost pedaled out of Thailand! I caught up to Julie at our house, that is where she "waited" for me. [Insert Julie's comment: Ryan and our buddies where just a few pedals behind me.] I have learned my lesson and when Julie and I ride home together at night, she rides in front so if she needs to use rocket fuel, she can take off!! [Insert Julie's comment: actually now everyone is well aware of my fear of dogs (scary dogs, not like "Dusty" Aunt Bethy!) and they tend to create a shield around me if we see the dogs out late at night, it seems to be a good system . . . until the next chase!!!]
I think we mentioned in an earlier post that in the town of Nong Khai there seem to be more dogs than people. Upon our arrival to Nong Khai, we were warned that we would probably be chased by dogs while riding our bikes at some point during our tenure at Travel to Teach. We were also told just to ignore them and they stop chasing you, since you have left their "territory" and they lose interest. I listened intently to this warning and took copious mental notes...Julie on the other hand, well she had a different idea...which leads into our most recent adventure.
Julie, myself and our Belgian buddies were coming home one night from the local watering hole, which serves great food. It was around 11 p.m., which is the "danger zone" for Dogwatch 2007...you know, like those times they say not to swim in the water because it is more likely that sharks will be present, i.e. blood/chum in the water, dead fish around you, etc.?, well 11 p.m. in Nong Khai is prime time for dog chasing. Although to be honest you don't really think about it, even though every dog looks like it is a wild dog or wolf or even some that look like hyenas with big teeth...anyway, I digress. So there we are, all biking back together talking with each other about the evening, Julie and I in front, biking side by side and Lotta and Kattrain (Belgians) biking behind us. All of the sudden we hear this loud bark and growl that came from our right, I glance over and see this large black dog coming towards Julie. Julie takes one look at the dog and instead of remaining calm (as instructed) and continue pedaling at a normal speed, Julie pushes everyone out of her way and takes off like a rocket! I am being serious when I say that it was like a Road Runner cartoon were Wily Coyote straps on the rocket to his back to catch the Road Runner. I see the dog take off after Julie...apparently provoked by Julie's response because the CHASE WAS ON!! [Insert Julie's comment: I know this story sounds crazy but you have to realize that we are biking down a road with minimal street light and all I kept thinking was "I'm going to get bit by a dog and get some crazy disease", hence the quick pedal to get out of the dog's 'territory'.] After about 50 yards the dog gave up as Julie almost pedaled out of Thailand! I caught up to Julie at our house, that is where she "waited" for me. [Insert Julie's comment: Ryan and our buddies where just a few pedals behind me.] I have learned my lesson and when Julie and I ride home together at night, she rides in front so if she needs to use rocket fuel, she can take off!! [Insert Julie's comment: actually now everyone is well aware of my fear of dogs (scary dogs, not like "Dusty" Aunt Bethy!) and they tend to create a shield around me if we see the dogs out late at night, it seems to be a good system . . . until the next chase!!!]
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Mr. Toad's Wild Ride
Ok, so you all have been on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in Disneyland, right? Well, picture that ride, without the safety features and that was the 3.5 hour VIP bus ride we took from Vientiene to Vangviang in Laos (Why they call this "bus" a VIP, we have no idea because it was anything but...) Yes, we had bumps in the road, dodged animals (actually hitting a pig) and a driver who was appropriately nicknamed "Ricky Bobby" ala Talledega Nights. We were passing cars on the left and right (on a what was barely a two lane "road") and Ricky Bobby thought it a good idea to search out and run over every pothole in the road so that our heads hit the top of the mini-van we rode in with 8 other people.
Needless to say, we made it to Vangviang, a small sleepy town made up of Western backpackers and the local Lao population. Although we had been forewarned that this village was a stop over for backpackers on their way to Luang Prubang from Vientiene, we couldn't get over just how many Westerners there were and how the restaurants had a choice selection of Western food. We stayed in a bungalow ($18 a night) off the Nam Song River and really enjoyed the place (we were informed by the proprietor that Kylie Monigue stayed there in 2002 - claim to fame). The first night we ate at the "resort" restaurant because we got in late and met some Brits who were traveling through Southeast Asia. Two older couples who were very friendly and talkative, we enjoyed their company. The next morning we woke up and located a kayaking and caving tour...yes you heard me correctly, Ryan and Julie sought out a kayaking and caving tour. Locating a tour is quite simple, the hard part is choosing one...Vangviang is sort of the Southeast Asia Interlaken (Switzerland)...with many outdoor activities and extreme sports to take part in. So we signed up and in a few hours were in a tuk-tuk heading out of town with our kayaks strapped to the roof and our Lao guide, "Tee", sitting next to us.
We arrived at our departure point on the Nam Song River and our initial thought was "How hard can this be?" Well, after the first 5 minutes we realized that we may be in over our heads - literally. You see, Julie and I were in the same kayak, Julie in front and I in back and for those of you who haven't been kayaking-for-two, there is a great deal of communication that needs to take place - AND COMMUNICATE WE DID!! We were yelling "Forward paddle" "Back Paddle" "Left Side" "Right Side" ... and we usually ended up going down the river backwards...we know that Tee was thinking to himself, "I do not get paid enough for this." After about 2 hours of joy on the river, and only a few "are we there yets" from Julie, Tee said we were headed to shore for some caving...what a welcome relief, we both thought. So, we got out of our kayaks (soaking wet!) and met a man who provided us with headlamps...I thought this was a bit much, I mean, we've all been in caves in the US that are well-lit, usually with a staircase and lots of people AND really those caves aren't too deep, right? Well, another reminder we weren't in America. We get to the entrance of this very large cave and see a few people rock climbing, we smile and wave and head into the cave, which doesn't look all that deep from the entrance and I don't even bother to turn on the headlamp. Then our guide points to a black hole, which I thought was a wall, and says we will go in there. Julie and I look at each other with a look of trepidation, but excitement and the "we can't turn back now" nod. So we followed our guide into the darkness, think Disneyland Matterhorn-like. I should mention that we were the only 3 people in the cave once we left the rock climbers at the entrance. The cave is pitch black, until our eyesight becomes accustomed to the darkness and gradually we can make out the contours of the cave wall, of course once we figure out how to turn on the headlamp, the cave reveals itself opening up to a very large area with high walls on either side. We both were taken aback at the enormity of our surroundings, as our guide was telling us that this cave was used by the Vietnamese soldiers during the Vietnam War. Our guide pushed on further into the cave, which revealed passageway after passageway and huge "rooms" with crystallized rock walls. [Insert Julie's comment: this is when I start to freak out. . . I mean we are in LAOS, deep inside a mountain with a little battery powered headlight and no one else can hear us. . . with a Lao guide who doesn't say much.] After we walked another 10 minutes further into the cave our guide turns to us and says, "we can head one direction towards the exit (a different one then we came in) or we can head further into the cave." At this point, Julie and I thought this was something out of a Jules Verne novel. I look at Julie and she says "I am ready to leave, NOW." Frankly, so was I. We felt as if we were so deep inside the mountain, the air was stale and the walls seemed to close in on us. So, we asked our guide to head towards the exit. He skips away saying "Follow me." Julie and I run after him, trying to keep up. Finally we reach a rock wall and he turns to us and says, "Ok, we have to go under the rock, watch what I do." And he lowers himself through the tiniest of cracks between two rocks. Julie turns to me and says, "I don't know if you are going to fit, Ry." And then she takes off through the crack. [Insert Julie's comment: of course my comment began with a "LOVE"]. I was standing there wondering if I could squeeze myself through, when I suddenly realized that I either do it, or go all the way back the way we came, which by this point, was a very long, dark walk. So, after much huffing and puffing I squeezed my way to the other side and saw the light of day.
We made it out of the cave, but we weren't out of the woods yet...we still had another hour of kayaking to get back to our pick-up point. Julie and I worked on our commands again, "Right, Left!!" "No not backwards!" [Insert Julie's comment: of course all of these 'commands' are followed by LOVE"]. Then we hopped back in the water-logged kayak and were off. At many times during our trip down the river we saw foreigners taking a leisure motor boat ride up the river...Julie looked back at me, with her hair and face wet with river water, sitting in a pool of water and said "Those people are genius!" (ala our school director). And I had to agree. We finally made it to our destination (Tee took us right to our resort), got out of the kayak, thanked our guide, and headed to the resort bar. . .bought two BeerLao and sat on our porch overlooking the river, feeling like a job well done.
That night we went to a local restaurant. However the local restaurants really cater to Westerners and at every place their are couches and television. Each restaurant plays different movies or television shows and your dining spot is not so much chosen based upon the menu as it is based upon the movie playing at the restaurant. It seemed a bit strange to be watching American movies (and Friends episodes) in a remote, small village in a Communist country...but 'when in Rome.'
The next morning we woke up early and caught the bus back to Vientiene. True to form, it was just as bumpy as the ride up to Vangviang and our driver was just as crazy as the first. Anyway, we made it back to Vientiene, then caught a bus across the Friendship Bridge back into Thailand. We are relieved to be back in our 'home away from home' and are looking forward to a good night's sleep.
Needless to say, we made it to Vangviang, a small sleepy town made up of Western backpackers and the local Lao population. Although we had been forewarned that this village was a stop over for backpackers on their way to Luang Prubang from Vientiene, we couldn't get over just how many Westerners there were and how the restaurants had a choice selection of Western food. We stayed in a bungalow ($18 a night) off the Nam Song River and really enjoyed the place (we were informed by the proprietor that Kylie Monigue stayed there in 2002 - claim to fame). The first night we ate at the "resort" restaurant because we got in late and met some Brits who were traveling through Southeast Asia. Two older couples who were very friendly and talkative, we enjoyed their company. The next morning we woke up and located a kayaking and caving tour...yes you heard me correctly, Ryan and Julie sought out a kayaking and caving tour. Locating a tour is quite simple, the hard part is choosing one...Vangviang is sort of the Southeast Asia Interlaken (Switzerland)...with many outdoor activities and extreme sports to take part in. So we signed up and in a few hours were in a tuk-tuk heading out of town with our kayaks strapped to the roof and our Lao guide, "Tee", sitting next to us.
We arrived at our departure point on the Nam Song River and our initial thought was "How hard can this be?" Well, after the first 5 minutes we realized that we may be in over our heads - literally. You see, Julie and I were in the same kayak, Julie in front and I in back and for those of you who haven't been kayaking-for-two, there is a great deal of communication that needs to take place - AND COMMUNICATE WE DID!! We were yelling "Forward paddle" "Back Paddle" "Left Side" "Right Side" ... and we usually ended up going down the river backwards...we know that Tee was thinking to himself, "I do not get paid enough for this." After about 2 hours of joy on the river, and only a few "are we there yets" from Julie, Tee said we were headed to shore for some caving...what a welcome relief, we both thought. So, we got out of our kayaks (soaking wet!) and met a man who provided us with headlamps...I thought this was a bit much, I mean, we've all been in caves in the US that are well-lit, usually with a staircase and lots of people AND really those caves aren't too deep, right? Well, another reminder we weren't in America. We get to the entrance of this very large cave and see a few people rock climbing, we smile and wave and head into the cave, which doesn't look all that deep from the entrance and I don't even bother to turn on the headlamp. Then our guide points to a black hole, which I thought was a wall, and says we will go in there. Julie and I look at each other with a look of trepidation, but excitement and the "we can't turn back now" nod. So we followed our guide into the darkness, think Disneyland Matterhorn-like. I should mention that we were the only 3 people in the cave once we left the rock climbers at the entrance. The cave is pitch black, until our eyesight becomes accustomed to the darkness and gradually we can make out the contours of the cave wall, of course once we figure out how to turn on the headlamp, the cave reveals itself opening up to a very large area with high walls on either side. We both were taken aback at the enormity of our surroundings, as our guide was telling us that this cave was used by the Vietnamese soldiers during the Vietnam War. Our guide pushed on further into the cave, which revealed passageway after passageway and huge "rooms" with crystallized rock walls. [Insert Julie's comment: this is when I start to freak out. . . I mean we are in LAOS, deep inside a mountain with a little battery powered headlight and no one else can hear us. . . with a Lao guide who doesn't say much.] After we walked another 10 minutes further into the cave our guide turns to us and says, "we can head one direction towards the exit (a different one then we came in) or we can head further into the cave." At this point, Julie and I thought this was something out of a Jules Verne novel. I look at Julie and she says "I am ready to leave, NOW." Frankly, so was I. We felt as if we were so deep inside the mountain, the air was stale and the walls seemed to close in on us. So, we asked our guide to head towards the exit. He skips away saying "Follow me." Julie and I run after him, trying to keep up. Finally we reach a rock wall and he turns to us and says, "Ok, we have to go under the rock, watch what I do." And he lowers himself through the tiniest of cracks between two rocks. Julie turns to me and says, "I don't know if you are going to fit, Ry." And then she takes off through the crack. [Insert Julie's comment: of course my comment began with a "LOVE"]. I was standing there wondering if I could squeeze myself through, when I suddenly realized that I either do it, or go all the way back the way we came, which by this point, was a very long, dark walk. So, after much huffing and puffing I squeezed my way to the other side and saw the light of day.
We made it out of the cave, but we weren't out of the woods yet...we still had another hour of kayaking to get back to our pick-up point. Julie and I worked on our commands again, "Right, Left!!" "No not backwards!" [Insert Julie's comment: of course all of these 'commands' are followed by LOVE"]. Then we hopped back in the water-logged kayak and were off. At many times during our trip down the river we saw foreigners taking a leisure motor boat ride up the river...Julie looked back at me, with her hair and face wet with river water, sitting in a pool of water and said "Those people are genius!" (ala our school director). And I had to agree. We finally made it to our destination (Tee took us right to our resort), got out of the kayak, thanked our guide, and headed to the resort bar. . .bought two BeerLao and sat on our porch overlooking the river, feeling like a job well done.
That night we went to a local restaurant. However the local restaurants really cater to Westerners and at every place their are couches and television. Each restaurant plays different movies or television shows and your dining spot is not so much chosen based upon the menu as it is based upon the movie playing at the restaurant. It seemed a bit strange to be watching American movies (and Friends episodes) in a remote, small village in a Communist country...but 'when in Rome.'
The next morning we woke up early and caught the bus back to Vientiene. True to form, it was just as bumpy as the ride up to Vangviang and our driver was just as crazy as the first. Anyway, we made it back to Vientiene, then caught a bus across the Friendship Bridge back into Thailand. We are relieved to be back in our 'home away from home' and are looking forward to a good night's sleep.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Monks
Last night we taught the monks at the temple. There were about 8 of them, all under 23 years old (I believe the youngest was 14 years old). To our delight, two of the monks were from Laos (and just our luck, they spoke English very well) so we asked them many questions about Laos, since we are headed there this weekend! The monks were very helpful. Some of the younger monks asked us about American movies, we were told they like James Bond and Lord of the Rings...one of the monks told us his favorite type of music is hip-hop and that Linkin' Park is one of his favorite bands. After leaving the temple, we met our Belgian friends at a local restaurant to get some green curry and some Leos (local beer, not Papa).
Teaching at school was fun today and lunch with the director was entertaining as usual...I asked him how his weekend was and he said (in broken English) "I get drunk." Yesterday he said, "Ryan you are a very cheerful man" and I responded by saying it was because of my wife that I was so cheerful (because it is true and I felt Julie's frustration mounting), he looked at Julie and made a sound like "Hummmmph" and then walked away...I have no idea what that meant, but it obviously signaled the end of our communication that day. [Insert Julie's comment: the Director LOVES Ryan and when talking to 'us' only looks at Ryan, compliments Ryan and starts conversation with Ryan. . . so now you know why I get a little frustrated as I try to be a part of the conversation as well! His favorite thing to say is "Ryan, you are GENIUS!!!!"] So we got on our bikes and drove out the long driveway, and each time we do so, we get bombarded by our students who yell "Bye-Bye!" and try and slap you high-5!! It makes us feel like mini-celebrities.
After we have tried so many times to upload our photos we have created a Flickr account, please cut and paste this link into your browser to see our photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanandjuliedunn/
Sawadee Krap ("Hello" in Thai)
Teaching at school was fun today and lunch with the director was entertaining as usual...I asked him how his weekend was and he said (in broken English) "I get drunk." Yesterday he said, "Ryan you are a very cheerful man" and I responded by saying it was because of my wife that I was so cheerful (because it is true and I felt Julie's frustration mounting), he looked at Julie and made a sound like "Hummmmph" and then walked away...I have no idea what that meant, but it obviously signaled the end of our communication that day. [Insert Julie's comment: the Director LOVES Ryan and when talking to 'us' only looks at Ryan, compliments Ryan and starts conversation with Ryan. . . so now you know why I get a little frustrated as I try to be a part of the conversation as well! His favorite thing to say is "Ryan, you are GENIUS!!!!"] So we got on our bikes and drove out the long driveway, and each time we do so, we get bombarded by our students who yell "Bye-Bye!" and try and slap you high-5!! It makes us feel like mini-celebrities.
After we have tried so many times to upload our photos we have created a Flickr account, please cut and paste this link into your browser to see our photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanandjuliedunn/
Sawadee Krap ("Hello" in Thai)
Thai Cooking
Below are some photos from our English Camp. Yes, pink polo shirts were the color of choice (Julie was thrilled) and we wore them through and through!
Last night we had a cooking class. We learned how to make coconut soup. We have become real Martha Stewarts over here - Thai style! We now have 3 new recipes in our repertoire: coconut soup, red curry and noodle salad. everything over here is spicy and our Thai chef instructor always says "not spicy", which means it is spicy for us Westerners, but not for Thais.
Today we are going to teach at the Wat. The monks are always a pleasure to visit with and we enjoy our time there very much. Tonight, Julie and I are taking two rookies (yes, after two weeks here we have reached semi-veteran status!), so that will be fun. [Insert Julie's comment: we look forward to the Monks tonight as we had a challenging day at school. . . Ryan disciplined one of the students by having him stand outside. We are teaching them the song, "You are my Sunshine" and Ryan told the misbehaving student to sing the song in front of the class by himself. . . talk about tough punishment!! I was giggling in my head the whole time but had to maintain my teacher demeanor, as did Ryan!!!]
We have been searching for planes, trains and automobiles in an effort to figure out how we are getting around Vietnam and Cambodia...complicating the situation is upcoming Chinese New Year, making booking travel and accommodations semi-difficult. But it always is an adventure and we are enjoying every minute of it.
Last night we had a cooking class. We learned how to make coconut soup. We have become real Martha Stewarts over here - Thai style! We now have 3 new recipes in our repertoire: coconut soup, red curry and noodle salad. everything over here is spicy and our Thai chef instructor always says "not spicy", which means it is spicy for us Westerners, but not for Thais.
Today we are going to teach at the Wat. The monks are always a pleasure to visit with and we enjoy our time there very much. Tonight, Julie and I are taking two rookies (yes, after two weeks here we have reached semi-veteran status!), so that will be fun. [Insert Julie's comment: we look forward to the Monks tonight as we had a challenging day at school. . . Ryan disciplined one of the students by having him stand outside. We are teaching them the song, "You are my Sunshine" and Ryan told the misbehaving student to sing the song in front of the class by himself. . . talk about tough punishment!! I was giggling in my head the whole time but had to maintain my teacher demeanor, as did Ryan!!!]
We have been searching for planes, trains and automobiles in an effort to figure out how we are getting around Vietnam and Cambodia...complicating the situation is upcoming Chinese New Year, making booking travel and accommodations semi-difficult. But it always is an adventure and we are enjoying every minute of it.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Mastering Clothes
My group of students, mastering clothes. Notice the models with all the clothes on, each team had to 'dress' them when I called out a clothing item.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Camping. . .in Thailand???
As many of you know, I am not a big fan of camping and Ryan and I rarely camp at home, I mean NEVER camp. [insert Ryan's comment: actually there was that one time we almost got swept down the river, but that's another story...]. So, how we found ourselves in a two-person tent in Northern Thailand remains a mystery to me!
We were asked by Travel to Teach to assist with an English Camp from Friday to Saturday for high school students in Udon Thani (about 45 minutes away). We were picked up on Friday morning at 7 a.m. and taken to the school (beautiful and big) then up to the mountains to the camp site. We were then told to take the students on a 'hike' (again, we are wondering what are we doing???). Envision Ryan and I, soaked with sweat, sunscreen and mosquito repellent, with 7 other 'native English speakers', 150 kids and about 15 Thai teachers all hiking in the heat of the day when the sun is at it's strongest from noon to 2:00...classic. I'm sure you can all see the crazy looks we were giving each other as we were sweating and huffing and puffing our way through the 'forest'. The first day we were a bit confused as it seemed like they only spoke to the students in Thai...we thought this odd since this was called "English Camp" !! After an adult beverage and some good laughs with our Belgian friends (Lotta and Katrain) we were ready to make this the best we could. Ryan and Katrain were asked to the be MC's for the campfire and welcome the director of the school and the camp. After introductions, each group of schoolchildren performed in English for the entire camp (8 performances in all!). There were a group of students (all young boys) that they call openly 'lady boys', basically they are openly gay and feminine young boys. We were pleasantly surprised at the support and openness that the Thai culture provides them. They taught me some great dance moves to an English hip hop song [insert Ryan's comment: Julie taught them the Britney Spears' "Oops, I did it again" dance]. Ryan taught the students 'the wave' and asked each one of them 'what is your name' to which they respond with a long-hard-to-pronounce Thai name and then they say 'my nickname is. . .'. He had them all laughing all night long. Being the 'married couple' we got our own little tent. .. right next to all the kids and woke up to a whistle blowing for exercises at 5:30 a.m. :)
The second day of camp was really fun and encouraging. They broke the students into 5 groups and then rotated to different stations. I had the 'dressing' station to which I taught the students 'shirt', 'shorts', 'flip flops' etc. I really worked on their pronunciation as the 'sh' and 'fl' sounds aren't in their language and seem to be very challenging. Ryan was in charge of a scavenger hunt which was fun for the first 2 rounds and then he was running in an all out sweat around camp (again in the heat and high sun) the winners all got ice-creams as their reward! The director of the camp cried when we said good bye, she was so thrilled to have us help and she was so warm. We learned alot this weekend and laughed so much, we were glad that we went and felt like we made a difference. [insert Ryan's comment: Julie has maintained her cover as a 'vegetarian' quite well and despite my occasional slip up, people believe she has been one for years].
We were asked by Travel to Teach to assist with an English Camp from Friday to Saturday for high school students in Udon Thani (about 45 minutes away). We were picked up on Friday morning at 7 a.m. and taken to the school (beautiful and big) then up to the mountains to the camp site. We were then told to take the students on a 'hike' (again, we are wondering what are we doing???). Envision Ryan and I, soaked with sweat, sunscreen and mosquito repellent, with 7 other 'native English speakers', 150 kids and about 15 Thai teachers all hiking in the heat of the day when the sun is at it's strongest from noon to 2:00...classic. I'm sure you can all see the crazy looks we were giving each other as we were sweating and huffing and puffing our way through the 'forest'. The first day we were a bit confused as it seemed like they only spoke to the students in Thai...we thought this odd since this was called "English Camp" !! After an adult beverage and some good laughs with our Belgian friends (Lotta and Katrain) we were ready to make this the best we could. Ryan and Katrain were asked to the be MC's for the campfire and welcome the director of the school and the camp. After introductions, each group of schoolchildren performed in English for the entire camp (8 performances in all!). There were a group of students (all young boys) that they call openly 'lady boys', basically they are openly gay and feminine young boys. We were pleasantly surprised at the support and openness that the Thai culture provides them. They taught me some great dance moves to an English hip hop song [insert Ryan's comment: Julie taught them the Britney Spears' "Oops, I did it again" dance]. Ryan taught the students 'the wave' and asked each one of them 'what is your name' to which they respond with a long-hard-to-pronounce Thai name and then they say 'my nickname is. . .'. He had them all laughing all night long. Being the 'married couple' we got our own little tent. .. right next to all the kids and woke up to a whistle blowing for exercises at 5:30 a.m. :)
The second day of camp was really fun and encouraging. They broke the students into 5 groups and then rotated to different stations. I had the 'dressing' station to which I taught the students 'shirt', 'shorts', 'flip flops' etc. I really worked on their pronunciation as the 'sh' and 'fl' sounds aren't in their language and seem to be very challenging. Ryan was in charge of a scavenger hunt which was fun for the first 2 rounds and then he was running in an all out sweat around camp (again in the heat and high sun) the winners all got ice-creams as their reward! The director of the camp cried when we said good bye, she was so thrilled to have us help and she was so warm. We learned alot this weekend and laughed so much, we were glad that we went and felt like we made a difference. [insert Ryan's comment: Julie has maintained her cover as a 'vegetarian' quite well and despite my occasional slip up, people believe she has been one for years].
Thursday, January 18, 2007
The Children of Thailand. . .
Travel to Teach offers a variety of service outlets during our time here; one of which is helping at an orphanage. Yesterday was our turn to help out. . . or rather play with the children. We were thinking of all the little ones in our family (Jackson, Hudson, Madison and Mia) as these children were all so little (the youngest was 12 months and the oldest 2 years) and so needy. We walked into a small room and were immediately greeted by 12 children who were all looking at us as if we were from another planet...we quickly brought out their toys and they were off to the races...playing, fighting, yelling and screaming. After a while it was time to feed them. The four volunteers were handed cups with a rice pudding like substance in it and a spoon; instead of feeding them in an orderly fashion, it was first come first serve type of operation. No high chairs, no bibs, just a bowl of rice pudding and a spoon. Initally, we were concerned that not all of the children got food...however we were reassured once we looked at each face and saw traces of rice pudding on each one!! Side note: they do not hold the children to feed him/her (which seemed rare) the adult sits indian style and places the baby's head upside down on the adults knees...very awkward, but it seems to work for them.
Last night we were teaching the monks again. We really enjoy our time at the Wat ("temple"). There were only 5 monks last night and only 2 of them spoke English well, but it is always entertaining. They are so curious and inquisitive and always seem to ask intelligent, thoughtful questions. The oldest monk last night was 18 years old, the youngest was 14 years old. We were told that the older monks were "in the forest, doing some meditation."
Last night Julie and I had date night...because we just don't get enough time to ourselves :). We were reflecting on our two weeks in Nong Khai saying that it felt longer, and yet when we leave it will be too soon. We really enjoy the people we have met and the places we have seen thus far. More volunteers arrive this week and a few are leaving so it is a constant welcoming/good bye party. Hello!! to all of you back home. keep your comments and emails coming, we love to read them!!
Last night we were teaching the monks again. We really enjoy our time at the Wat ("temple"). There were only 5 monks last night and only 2 of them spoke English well, but it is always entertaining. They are so curious and inquisitive and always seem to ask intelligent, thoughtful questions. The oldest monk last night was 18 years old, the youngest was 14 years old. We were told that the older monks were "in the forest, doing some meditation."
Last night Julie and I had date night...because we just don't get enough time to ourselves :). We were reflecting on our two weeks in Nong Khai saying that it felt longer, and yet when we leave it will be too soon. We really enjoy the people we have met and the places we have seen thus far. More volunteers arrive this week and a few are leaving so it is a constant welcoming/good bye party. Hello!! to all of you back home. keep your comments and emails coming, we love to read them!!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
7 Strangers Picked to Live in a House. . .
If you scroll down to the beginning of our blog you will see a photo of the outside of our dorm/house. We will try to post some photos of the inside of the house as well. We do live with 7 strangers. . . all volunteers with Travel to Teach. We are at the Meechai dorm which as we have learned is a little bigger, a little nicer and a little quieter than the other dorm. Ryan and I both like our dorm and the fact that we have our own room is HUGE!!! We also have the internet/computer room here so we like that too! Our roomies include: 2 women (23 and 24 years old) from Belgium, one is a speach therapist and the other works with at-risk youth, 1 Canadian guy (19 years old) who is here in between studies and trying to 'find out what he wants to do', 1 Swedish guy (20 years old) who has been here for several months and 1 Austrialian guy (20 years old) who is studing Buddism and is now traveling during the week to another city to teach. . . then there is the 'married American couple'. . . us! We have a very good mix of cultures and backgrounds and try to learn from each other. We tend to spend a lot of time getting to know the 2 Belgian women as they came together as well. The other dorm has a mix of Germans, Austrailians, Dutch, Brits, and Canadians. . . a very diverse group.
We have come to learn to expect the unexpected in Thailand and always bring your camera. On Sunday, we went to pick up our laundry at the house 2 doors down (laundrymat of sorts) where they wash them, hang them and iron the clothes for us for under $1 for 3 loads (many of you know how often we tend to do laundry so this is a huge treat to drop it off and have someone else do it so inexpensively!). We are walking out with our bundles of clothes when the owner stops us and asks us to stay. . . we are soon whisked into action behind a table that is crowded with the neighborhood children. We soon figure out that this is their local 'Children's Day' celebration and they wanted the 'farangs' (foreigners) to hand out the cookies to the children. We smile (not sure what we have gotten ourselves into) and hand each child a bag of cookies and chips after they polietly wai (the hello in Thai, made by bringing your two hands in a prayer position up to your mouth with a bow of the head). . . it was so cute and touching. After this BIG community celebration (there were probably 30 kids) we picked up our bags of folded laundry and walked home with smiles on our faces. We were sad that we didn't bring our camera to pick up our laundry as it would have made for some great pictures... now we know. . . always bring the camera!
Note: Scroll down to see new photos on old posts!
We have come to learn to expect the unexpected in Thailand and always bring your camera. On Sunday, we went to pick up our laundry at the house 2 doors down (laundrymat of sorts) where they wash them, hang them and iron the clothes for us for under $1 for 3 loads (many of you know how often we tend to do laundry so this is a huge treat to drop it off and have someone else do it so inexpensively!). We are walking out with our bundles of clothes when the owner stops us and asks us to stay. . . we are soon whisked into action behind a table that is crowded with the neighborhood children. We soon figure out that this is their local 'Children's Day' celebration and they wanted the 'farangs' (foreigners) to hand out the cookies to the children. We smile (not sure what we have gotten ourselves into) and hand each child a bag of cookies and chips after they polietly wai (the hello in Thai, made by bringing your two hands in a prayer position up to your mouth with a bow of the head). . . it was so cute and touching. After this BIG community celebration (there were probably 30 kids) we picked up our bags of folded laundry and walked home with smiles on our faces. We were sad that we didn't bring our camera to pick up our laundry as it would have made for some great pictures... now we know. . . always bring the camera!
Note: Scroll down to see new photos on old posts!
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