Sarika Waterfall

We had the day off of school today and Piat and Kay took us to Sarika Waterfall. After an hour or so of Kay's crazy driving (I say this somewhat jokingly...) we finally got there. The nature walk was great, and the waterfall, even though the water was low, was fabulous.Piat's on the left, Mark's in the middle, Kay is on the right.A real-life banana tree, complete with fruit and flower!
Swingin' from the vines...From the top of the second terrace of the falls looking out to the jungle. Pretty spectacular!

Day Five

Today was amazing!! For me it was likely a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Tomorrow Buddhists celebrate the birth, death, and teaching's of Buddha. Everyone has the day off, so the school paid their respects today. We were actually asked to participate in the ceremony. After talking about what this day means to Buddhists, I feel so honored to have taken part in it. I don't have pictures (the school took tons that I'll get eventually), but it was truly something that I will cherish from the trip.

Day Four

Tuesday was our first full day at the school. We started our morning by being introduced to the school...the entire school...all 3200 students, plus 140+ teachers and staff. It was a little nuts. For sake of scale, the stage is down in the lower left corner, and the assistant director is speaking...

I'm also getting used to Thai food. As long as I don't eat anything spicy I'm doing good. I have, however, eaten more rice in the last three days that in possibly my entire life... Fred was at the school yesterday and we went out with the science department for dinner. We had five dishes, each of which was amazing, but the chicken cashew was the highlight of the meal. I have never had chicken so tender in my life...


This is the view from the fourth floor of the school (of seven floors) looking out into Bangkok. The contrast is high, so it's tough to make out some of the tall buildings. The actual downtown is off to the left out of sight.

First Night!

This is the few of Bangkok from the hotel on my first night in town. It had just gotten done pouring rain, but it brightened up nicely and it was a fabulous night. I'll get more pictures up in the coming days, along with more posts. We have very scattered internet, but I am journaling daily. Now it's just a matter of time before I can post them.

Day Two - Monday, May 28

Morning from Thailand!! This morning may be the last post I leave for a while. It depends on the wireless access at the school and surrounding area. It's about 7:45a and we're just getting ready to leave the hotel for our orientation meeting. At 11:00a we officially head out for the schools. I found out the official name of our school and general location, as well. I'll be at the following for the next three weeks (except for weekends...we travel on the weekends...):

Nawaminthrachinuthit Triamudomsuksanomklao School
248/89 summakorn Village Ramkhamheang Rd.
Saphansung, Bangkok 10240

www.ntun.net/

...it's kinda a mouthful, and I've got no idea how to actually pronounce it.

anyway, that's all from here. i'm also trying to post pictures, but all my websites are coming up in Thai, so I'm not totally sure where everything is at the moment...

Day One – Saturday, May 26/Sunday, May 27

Sawasdee krap!

The big day’s over almost over! I must say that it was a day filled with more highs and lows than I ever anticipated. Leaving was way more difficult than I ever expected it would be. I just think that I’ll be gone from basically the only world I’ve ever known for an entire month. That’s a little tough to wrap my head around…

The trip to New York (JFK) was completely uneventful, but being a NWA flight, you can already see that, I’m sure.

It’s from New York that the day really gets going. The difference between my Thai Air flight and the NWA flight was unbelievable. Words may seriously not be able to describe it. First, simply walking onto the plane it was incredibly warm and friendly. When I finally got to my aisle seat, I was greeted with my own blanket, pillow, and water bottles…not a bad start. It also had fabulous food. Meals of grilled salmon, along with a second of chicken curry, were not what I really expected out of airplane food. The entertainment wasn’t half bad, either. I think there were over 40 movies to choose from, along with music and video games.

After 18 hours in the air I finally arrived in Bangkok. It didn’t take too long before I realized I was going to be in for quite a trip. I would definitely say I’ve had a small case of culture shock. Everything from the language, the mannerisms, the driving (other side of the road, no yielding to peds), the weather, etc, is foreign (…obviously). It’ll take some time, but I think it’ll be okay.

I got to the hotel around 6:00p and found out some of the fellow teachers were going out for Thai food. We ate at a great little place right down the road from our hotel, the Thai-Pan. It was a great meal, but I am definitely going to need to adjust my appetite to agree with Thai. Thankfully, the Thais love just about anything, so I should be safe for eating (I’ve already seen numerous Italian restaurants).

I did find out my school is in the eastern suburbs of Bangkok. I’m still not sure where, but when I find out the actual name of the school, I’ll let everyone know. I think they even have a web-site. Tomorrow morning will come bright and early (even more so with jet lag) for an orientation session, followed by heading out to our schools around mid-day. Hopefully by the evening I’ll be settled in and be able to report in.

The day has arrived!!

It's finally here! I'm taking off for Thailand this morning, bright and early Saturday morning. The first flight takes off from Minneapolis at 7:00a, heading to NYC and JFK. From there it's straight over the top of the world and into Bangkok. I get into town at 4:10p local time. I'm not totally sure the time difference yet, but it'll be an interesting adjustment period, I'm sure. I believe I'll be able to shoot out an update while at the hotel, but if not, I will hopefully be able within a couple of days. Regardless, the next post will come from afar!

First Post!

Hey there! So, I'm new to this blogging thing. I swore I would never do it, but an opportunity to provide a running journal of my travels was too much to pass up. We'll see how it goes and if I find out it's even worth trying to do.

In a little less than seven days I'll be heading on a little trip to Thailand to teach high school students. I'll be there for a month, three weeks of which will be dedicated to the schools and attempting to teach science and math to students who speak Thai (which I speak absolutely none of...). It should be quite the trip. I have really no idea what's going to go on, I hardly know the details of what I'm actually going to be doing. Thankfully there are no unexpected obsticles between me and the country with only a week to go, and all I really have going through my head is a sense of excitement!

It should be fun, but it's coming up so fast. I'll try to update daily, but internet connections and actual free time will highly dictate if that actually occurs. And worry not, pictures will be posted early and often once I actually have something to show. To those few that may end up reading this...ENJOY!