hiking in jungles with girls

During a recent English Camp field trip with my students, we went "hiking" through the jungle at Chae Son National Park in Lampang.  While we all can't look at cool as the park ranger, I consider my impromptu hiking outfit pretty top notch. 

While I may have considered "hiking" a quaint euphemism for a nice stroll through the jungle, the girls were quite exhausted along the way; needing to stop to make use of their eucalyptus inhalers.  While continually being asked, "Teacher, are you tired?" I became thankful of my Washingtonian upbringing consisting of common tramps through the woods and snowy hikes up mountains to get fresh tracks.  

After emerging from the jungle, the ladies refreshed themselves with soda in a bag and meat on a stick.  They laughed at the judgement they received from Patrick and I for their choice of snacks.  

English Camp

That beautiful blue bus is Uttaradit Darunee's flagship vessel.  Equipped to hold some fifty people it is decked out with a sweet sound system and t.v.s for all your karaoke and movie watching pleasure.  It helped to transport our students around Lampang for our English  Camp field trip.  

Hot springs in Chae Son National Park. 

The water is hot enough to boil eggs in just a few minutes. 

Patrick eating dinner with our adorable seventh grade students.  

Sukhothai

Spent the day riding bicycles through the remaining ruins of the old capital city Sukhothai.  

The ancient buddhas were an impressive sight and around every corner a new buddha presented itself.  I love the flakes of gold pressed against a buddha's foot or hand, the remnants of golden wax, the smell of incense, and the occasional flower placed inside a buddha's open hand. 

Since arriving in Thailand, I have wanted to visit Wat Si Shum, home to the majestic Phra Achana.  This renowned buddha's golden flaked hand is an iconic image around Thailand and sitting beneath it's towering stature I couldn't help but feeling a great amount of awe. 

Sunset at Rayon

Patrick and I signed up for what we were told would be a weekend trip south to the beaches.  Our school was offering three different trips to choose from, all supposedly centered around visiting a beach.  

Around 40 hours after we departed from our school in the north, with countless stops along the way, nonstop karaoke, a night sleeping at a naval base, and dinner at a rotating restaurant, we finally arrived at Rayon beach just before sunset.  

Patrick, Allison, Jeannie, and I (the four lone foreigners) grabbed our suits and made to the shore.  We were able to get a quick swim in before the sun dipped below the horizon.  

The next morning we were up for a 7am breakfast and a 16 hour bus ride back up north to our school, arriving sometime just after midnight and ready to teach in a few hours. 

oh, the fun we have!   

so Thai...

It would be a wonderful understatement to say the Thai people like to take photos.  

***

On a recent school trip down to Pattaya, we went to what could easily be considered Thai heaven.... a whole museum whose purpose is for the visitor to interact with the paintings on the wall and... take your photo while doing it.

Two hours and many, many, many photos later I emerged from the museum with a bunch of photos that are purely ridiculous in nature and that I don't really know what to do with....

SO, I hope you enjoy.

"The Angels of Uttaradit"

This is simply the cutest thing I've ever seen.

"Bad-ass Butterfly"

"The Broken Bridge"

"White Girl in the Desert"

"Under the Sea"

"The Little People"

"Bringing 'N Sync Back"

"The Make-out"

"The Diving Bell"

"Zombie Rose"

"Afternoon Stroll"

New Year's Party at School

Living in Thailand you soon discover that everything is told to you on a "need to know" basis only; a.k.a  you are only told vague information about the specifics you ask about and the information changes constantly.  

At the beginning of the month, my school hosted a New Year's party for the teachers.  I was first told to wear normal teaching clothes.... later that I could wear anything I felt like.... then I heard rumors that the party was a 60's theme party.  Okay, I thought, I can try and pull something sixty-ish out of my small clothing selection (long skirt, necklace, hippy headband thing).

When I showed up, everyone else was dressed like this:

Early that day I had also been talking with a fellow teacher about the cultural norms of alcohol.  I was told that Thai women do not drink.  So, of course I was expecting this nice teacher party full of sobriety. 

Nope.

 Upon arrival you could choose between alcoholic and non-alcoholic punch and you were also given your own personal bottle of Regency rum.  There was also a keg of beer and the school's director was toting around his own personal box of red wine. Let's just say people got smashed. 

No Thai party is complete without a strange beauty pageant....

 and of course lots and lots of dancing and karaoke. 

No matter what the occasion or event, Thais have this special ability to always have fun.  Sometimes it makes me feel like such a serious person (and yes we are all serious sometimes), but I generally thought I was quite a carefree happy person.  Let's just say my fun factor is shattered by any and every Thai women I've met here!

I can only hope I'll have an ounce of their energy when I'm their age. 

Sukhothai

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After all my traveling, I feel that I went on my actual first mini vacation with Patrick this weekend.  Traveling and vacationing are two very different things and this weekend we truly vacationed; we rode bikes around the ancient ruins of Sukhothai and spent two days lazing around the pool. Sukhothai is truly beautiful and I finally got to see the iconic Phra Achana in the "Temple of the Bodhi Tree."  

I literally took hundreds of pictures biking through the ruins and will post more when time permits. 

 xoxo