Home

So everyone, this looks like its the end. Katie and I are safely back in Erie at the moment, soon to be traveling to Vermont, then ultimately Boston to begin our job search etc.

We've really enjoyed our time abroad, and appreciate all those who were keeping up with us, reading our blogs, and saying hello occasionally. I hope you have all enjoyed the pictures and some of the stories. I'd be happy to expand on anything as soon as I have the privilege of talking to you all in person.

Thanks again; it's been great fun.

-Luke

cambodia, vietnam and thailand

Quick update. Angkor Wat is amazing. Remember those Sukhothai pictures - this is better. Cambodia, at least this part, is much more relaxed than Vietnam, much less pushy, and generally much happier. This is a nice way to end our trip. A not nice way is protesters in Bangkok. Just like last time, though, it is very localized. The military has stepped in quickly, and I think, should stop this from getting out of hand, like last time. For those of you at home, where we are staying and where this stuff is happening is a long ways from each other. The city itself is still functioning normally, except that one part. The airport is 2okm outside of town. No worries, things should be fine for our return on the 18th.

Can't wait to see you all. Be home soon. Very much looking forward to it.

-Luke

quick note

We have made it from Hanoi to Hai Phong, the town bordering Ha Long bay, where all the awesome pictures come from. We have avoided being ripped off at pretty much every corner here in Vietnam and are hoping for a bit of a more relaxing trip from here on out. Tomorrow we try to catch a boat from here to an island, Cat Ba, then take a sailing trip for a few days through the bays.

Unless you've been here, you've never experienced anything like Hanoi traffic. Trust me. Seriously, Thailand traffic is like playground antics when compared to this.

Will inform more later, must go to bed now.

-Luke

And, we're off

We have officially been in Chiang Mai for 6 months now, which concludes this part of our journey. Last night I had my last class, we went for our last dinner at a restaurant we call "Japan", and today we check out of our room.

The trip has been interesting in a lot of way: what we have seen, where we have gone, who we have met, and what we have learned. It's impossible to comprehend the magnitude of anything like this while still sitting in the same place, but over time, I think a clearer picture will be painted. I do know that I had great time, and wouldn't have done it differently if I had the choice.

We are now headed to Bangkok today, to fy to Hanoi tomorrow and vistin Vietnam for 2 weeks. We then head to Cambodia, then back home. Then into the lion's den of job hunting.

Thanks to everyone who read the blog while we've been gone. Its nice to know there are people back at home who are interested - we will see you all very soon.

Expect probably one more blog while in Vietnam.

Thanks again,
















luke

Ninja

As many of you know, we have a ninja. Not our personal ninja to do our bidding, like an awesome monkey, rather a security guard ninja who hangs out in front of our building every night to make sure people don't come in and steal our stuff. Now, you may ask, how do you know he's a ninja. Have you ever witnessed ninja moves or anything awesome? The answer is simply no. But we know he is. He exudes ninja.

We decided it would be in our best interest to befriend ninja, as we call him. Since he is there every day, if anyone messes with us ninja is a good ally to have on our side, plus he speaks Thai and Burmese and Hill Tribe language, but no English, so he's good for our Thai practice. Every day when leaving and coming home between 6pm and 6am, ninja is there, so we talk to him.

Now, I use the terminology of "talk" lightly. We speak a little Thai, and have incredible control and use of the 25 words we know. This is, however, as far as our vocabulary reaches, so our conversations require a lot of hand-gestures and acting. We do, however manage to communicate. Ninja, Katie and I have talked of home, cars, girlfriends, children, travel, jobs, and a myriad of other topics with our profuse gesturing and bad pronunciation.

We recently learned that ninja is going home for 4 months to be with his daughter and help with the rice farming. Tonight is, in fact, his last night as our ninja. We made a plan a while ago regarding a potential gift for our ninja, as he has been so friendly to us, and he likely rarely gets any appreciation for his job. We chose to buy him a trophy in appreciation. Luck would have it, that a trophy store is literally across the road from our building. With some help from my Thai student, I had them engrave the trophy in Thai, saying, "Thank you, security guard, for you to have being been thank you our Thai teacher." (more or less a direct translation). Here is a photo of the trophy. (we had a photo on the computer, which turned out AWESOME on the top)




















And, here is the photo of Katie and I giving it to him. Despite his rather placid expression, he did seem to enjoy it, and has been quire robust when we inevitably pass by him in the evening.

Our Last Month

So, here it is - our last month. March has brought with it stiflingly hot weather - mid nineties most days, and a permanent haze across the city and into the mountains due to the burning of the rice fields. Occasionally, like today, there is a clear morning, and once again we can see the temple on the hill from our room.

We have begun the last leg of our teaching. Strangely enough, this may be our busiest month of teaching yet, keeping us nice and busy for the final stretch. The last month of any time in a certain place that has a distinct end-date is always an uncomfortable purgatory between what was and what is to come. This happens with jobs, schools, and cities - we happen to be doing all three at once. With any luck our schedule will keep the antsy-ness to a minimum.

We are also on the hunt for jobs. We have focused our search on Boston, as it seems to be the best "city" (sorry Burlington) on the East Coast for our needs. Katie is looking for internships at museums and jobs related to art or event planning, and I am looking for anyone who will hire me. I'm hoping to be able to use my German or international experience, but beggars can't really be choosers in this economy. If anyone has any great connections or ideas for me, I'm open to all suggestions.

In the first 2 weeks of April, Katie, Natalie and I will be traveling to Vietnam, where we will hopefully meet up with 2 other friends of ours to do some exploring. We are planning to take a couple days on a sailboat to some white sand beaches amongst giant limestone outcroppings in the sea.



This is the type of place we have yet to experience in Thailand, not because it doesn't exist here, rather because we haven't had the time or the money to travel to those places. Vietnam should be an amazing trip. On the way back to Bangkok we are also stopping at Angkor Temple in Cambodia, a world heritage site of miles and miles of ruined ancient temples. It should be a very memorable experience.

interesting thailand news

This is the funniest article i've read in Thailand :)


Enraged Aussie pounds Bangkok police

BANGKOK: Life in Thailand can sometimes get a bit frustrating for expats when things don't quite work out as they would in their home countries. This, coupled with the booze-heavy lifestyle enjoyed by a fair percentage of Westerners living in the Kingdom, occasionally leads to “Angry Farang Syndrome”.

A prime example occurred one afternoon last month outside Thong Lor Police Station. Station Superintendent Col Suthin Sapphuang was sitting in his office around 3 pm, when he heard a commotion from outside the station. When he got downstairs, he found the noise emanated from a large middle-aged Westerner who was busy beating the inside of a police van with such fury, that none of the watching officers dared to go near.

Col Suthin ordered his deputy and three inspectors to go and try and calm the 50-year-old man, identified by name in the original report, but referred to here only as “the Aussie”.

After the officers’ efforts to calm the Aussie down failed, they decided that a dose of pepper spray might do the trick. After the Aussie was liberally doused with the noxious spray, police decided he was calm enough for them to dare open the door.

However, as soon as police had the Aussie out of the truck, he exploded again, freeing himself from the clutches of the officers and going on a rampage, chasing and punching as many policemen as he could.

The enraged Australian managed to injure a number of officers before he was finally overpowered, in the process of which he, disturbingly, lost his trousers. The photo of the incident in the Thai press shows the Aussie with his trousers round his ankles, his dignity somewhat spared by a small superimposed red dot.

The Aussie was bundled to the ground by the officers, and the group then rolled into the gutter. In acknowledgement to the Aussie’s determination, it took six officers to keep him subdued long enough to get the cuffs on.

The Aussie was initially arrested following a complaint by a taxi driver that the Australian had stolen his cab. The taxi driver, Phanomphon Pranison, 40, told police that earlier that day he had picked up the Aussie opposite Sukhumvit Soi 16. The Aussie didn’t say where he wanted to go, but when they got to opposite Soi 22, the Aussie asked to stop so he could go to 7-Eleven. A few moments later, the Aussie got back in the cab clutching two bottles of beer. In hot pursuit was a member of staff from the shop shouting that the Aussie had not paid for the beer. When Mr Phanomphon got out of the car, the Aussie climbed into the driver’s seat and took off in the taxi, Mr Phanomphon said.

Mr Phanomphon reported the crime and police soon caught up with the Aussie, putting him in the cells at Thong Lor Police station. The Aussie, however, did not take his confinement lightly. He caused such a commotion that police began to fear for the safety of other prisoners, or worryingly, that other prisoners would take it upon themselves stop to the Aussie’s antics. They decided to take him to the cells at nearby Phra Khanom Court, which is when he began attacking the police truck.

The Aussie was initially to be charged with theft and immigration offences. The report did not say if any charges would be added for his post-arrest behavior.

Muay Thai Boxing

Last night, Cameron, Ally's brother, and I went to see a Muay Thai boxing match. This is not something I would typically go to, but I decided it is a cultural event, albeit different from museums and temples, but culture nonetheless.

At 9 pm we went into a makeshift building, surrounded by makeshift bars, and sat at makeshift picnic tables. It looked as if someone had turned a rough boxing gym into a stadium of sorts. We sat down and waited for the first fight to begin. Little did we know, the first fight was to be a couple of children - 8-10 years old. They did a ceremonial dance/warm-up, touched all corners of the ring, paid their respects to Buddha, then bitterly fought. Seeing children fight was strange. At first, I thought it was a terrible institution and I didn't want to keep watching, but upon further thought, I decided, in a way, it is like any other sport that children do. It happens to be more violent, but more than hockey or football? Violence isn't an issue in this country, so it doesn't seem to cause further harm.

There were a total of eight fights. One man had his face kicked as he was falling down and had to be helped off the ring because he was so dazed. Another got kneed in the chest so much that he couldn't stand up for several minutes. One of the more interesting fights of the night was between an Austrian woman and a Canadian woman. These two had learned to Muay Thai, kickbox, however they seemed to bring their western styles with them, because they kept punching each other in the face over and over again. They hadn't been trained in blocking, must be. The taller Canadian ended up winning over the thicker and shorter Austrian, however they both looked like they could kill me.

The night ended with a really tall, skinny English guy fighting a Thai guy. They were certainly the fastest, and certainly the most skilled. In a way it was really interesting to watch, as you can see their reaction time and their adjustments towards one another far before they even touch. Thai boxing, in that way, is very much like dancing. One moves, and like two positive ends of a magnet, the other pushes away. Their legs are constantly moving in a fast-step dancing style and they bob their shoulders like they are running in place. When all was said and done, the Thai fighter won, but the fight was fair and balanced (no fox pun intended).

Overall, it is something I don't need to do every weekend, but seeing it once, and live is something that was definitely worth doing. Cam and I are probably the least likely people to be seen sitting in a boxing arena, but hey, when in Rome.

Pictures to come when Cam sends them to me.

I've been slacking off lately - yes. I haven't been writing many blogs, largely due to the fact that I haven't been doing a lot of new things. Not that this is a bad thing, just have been doing daily stuff that's not too exciting for all of you at home.

We did get a new motorbike, however, so here's a picture of that...







Its called the pink panther. Luckily in Thailand there aren't really gender specific colors, so the pink is what it is.




Otherwise, Bill and Charlotte will be arriving here in a few days, which is very exciting. We're going to hang out in Bangkok for a few days, head down to the beach for a few days, then come back home to good ole Chiang Mai.



Here are some interesting pictures we've taken with no particular theme or order.


















I wish I knew what a stuuing rooser was.

















this is our ninja. he rocks.
















remember, safety first, kids.

more Engrish

(from a small ruler with bunnies and a small plastic maze w/ball inside)


Matters Needing Attention:

-This product is easy to burning,aloof the high temperature please,because maybe beget any danger and the product's definition distort.

-The product only befit measure and study, unable to do other definition's measure.

(my personal favorite)
-Needed the paterfamilias accompany,if the children haven't 3 years.



this no explanation becoming,needing.





Latin Club

A dancing club where adds you a hotness
in the fashionable and elegant atmosphere
with professional dancers who will make you
fascinate in a hot step

See you on this December
at Panna Place, second floor



(I just cant wait to adds me a hotness so I can fascinate in a hot step!!)