Ko Tao Diving Weekend

In August Thailand celebrates Mother's day. Thanks to this holiday we received a 4 day weekend. A small group of us decided to go to Koh Tao for some scuba diving. Me and a friend had no experience with diving so we did our PADI open water scuba diving course. It was a blast.

We also did some stand-up paddle boarding, sailing, and partied with our Dive Masters. Below are some pictures from my time in Koh Tao.

View From the Boat

Sunset 

Koh Tao Beach

Diving Crew

Learning Some Diving

A Real Diver Now!

SUP at Sunset

All Geared Up and Ready to Go

SUP 2

SUP 3

All Smiles

Who Needs Fins!?

Taking a Dip While Sailing

Sailing With Captain Ryan and C.C.

Hua Hin Weekend

One weekend in September a small group of friends and I visited Hua Hin for the weekend. Hua Hin is known as "the King's choice" in Thailand. I had a really a nice weekend here. We stayed at a person's apartment through Air B'n'B (Shout out to Shirley and Becky for the accommodation find!). It had a nice pool and was right on the beach. From here we walked down the beach to a hill which had a temple with a lot of monkeys as well as monks chanting. We also visited the art market that was going on and I got my shop on, buying a pair of shorts with a really low dropping crotch. Extra room means extra comfort right? ;). Speaking of extra comfort, on our last day in Hua Hin I went seeking a massage. I found a place and it was the best massage I have ever gotten. The massage therapist could tell my tight spots (for me it's hips and shoulders) and she really worked on them. A funny moment was when her dog came into the room and licked up all of the massage oil out of the bowl on the ground.

I was really lucky to spend a nice weekend away with some of my friends and cannot wait to do it again.

Below are some pictures from the weekend, thanks for reading!

View of Hua Hin 

Mini Statue

Statue on the hill

Large Statue

Mmmm... Garbage

Mama Monkey

Nat looking out at the ocean

John and I

View from the hill

Urgent breaking news story.... CANNONBALL!

Living in Bangkok

Living in Bangkok has been a very mixed experience for me. Overall, I do enjoy living in Bangkok at this point in time, and I would like to point out some positive and negative things about living in Bangkok.

Cost of living:

Living in Bangkok is very affordable. The essentials are not nearly as expensive for me as they were living in Canada. For example, I rent a one bedroom condo with a nice living room, small balcony, kitchenette, and bathroom with a shower that has hot water. My condo also has a shared pool. The cost of this is 9000 Thai Baht which is approximately $300 CAD.
One month of internet access is 450 Thai Baht ($15 CAD).
One month's phone bill is 400 Thai Baht ($13 CAD).
One load of laundry costs 20 Thai Baht ($0.66 CAD).
Public transit ranges from 7 Thai Baht ($0.33 CAD) on a SongTao to about 300 Thai Baht ($10 CAD) for a 1 hour taxi ride.
Eating out at a Thai restaurant costs between 30 Thai Baht ($1 CAD) for a basic meal with water to drink to around 120 Thai Baht ($4 CAD) for a larger meal with a couple of litres of beer.
One litre of beer at a moderately priced bar costs 90 Thai Baht ($3 CAD).
The cost of a one hour massage is generally 200 Thai Baht ($6.66 CAD).
The cost of going to the movies on 'cheap night' is 100 Thai Baht ($3.33 CAD).
A Dairy Queen Blizzard(Mini) costs 29 Thai Baht ($1 CAD), (Large) costs 79 Thai Baht ($2.66 CAD).
I purchased a pretty nice little folding bicycle for 6000 Thai Baht ($200 CAD).
A new pair of on sale Adidas running shoes costs 1500 Thai Baht ($50 CAD).

Lifestyle:

My lifestyle is a strange one relative to most people I know, so of course my view on this is my own and may not apply to all. Getting around Bangkok is not that difficult, especially if you live near the city centre. Even living int the suburbs like I do I can easily get anywhere in Bangkok as long as I am patient. There are heaps of taxis driving at all hours of the day -- though they will not always pick you up if they don't want to drive to your destination. There are also busses, an underground train, and a skytrain.
Riding a bicycle is a nice way for me to commute 5 km to and from work every day. I wear a surgical/medical mask to protect myself from the pollution on the busy street. Leisure rides are a bit trickier, since I live far from any type of green space. There also is not a lot of green space in the city of Bangkok, so riding around a beautiful park on your bicycle is easier said than done. However, in traffic it is really convenient to weave between the gridlock and leave cars in the dust.
If I do not feel like riding my bicycle I can take a Songthaew which is a truck with seats in the back that costs 7 Thai Baht ($0.25 CAD).
There are markets everywhere, selling all kinds of things. On the small street I live on there is a market which sells fruits, vegetables, meats, and a random assortment of other things. 10 km from where I live is the Chatachuk Weekend Market. This is arguably the biggest market in the world. Here you can buy everything from exotic pets like snakes to Thai folk music.
In the evenings it is very easy to find something to do in Bangkok. On weekdays I visit with friends, playing sports after work in the school gymnasium, heading to the city to play volleyball, going to the movies, going for a drink, or just relaxing at home. On weekends there are a ton of bars and parties to explore. Some of the favourite destinations include:
KhaoSan Road - Backpackers hub in old Bangkok. Market stalls, bars, live music, hookah, and often buskers (saw an amazing beatboxer and breakdance crew last time I was there).
RCA - Dance clubs.
Sukhimvit Soi 11 - Clubs, bars, and restaurants. A bit shady due to proximity to an alleged prostitute neighbourhood.
I still have a lot to learn and explore within Bangkok but so far I am enjoying the lifestyle here and the opportunity to experience Thai culture.

Work:

I am employed by a Thai school with an English Immersion program which is loosely based off of Manitoba's French Immersion program, and uses Manitoba curriculum. I work from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. However I am often at work earlier and later than that finishing grading, prepping, cleaning, or working with extracurricular activities. I teach grade 5 - grade 9 physical education. I spent one half of the year teaching in the gymnasium, the second half I am mainly teaching in the pool. I didn't expect to enjoy the pool as much as I do... A nice break from the hot and sweaty gymnasium. I am generally given ample prep time during the day. Our school utilizes in house subbing, and since I do not have a full schedule I sub quite a lot. The subbing ranges from dancing with the nursery kids to teaching math to the grade 9 students. The subbing helps keep variety in the job. The staff that I work with help make everyday enjoyable, and the kids drive me crazy at times, but are really cute and respectful most of the time. This year I receive 2 weeks holiday in October, and 2 weeks holiday in March, along with December 24th - January 4th off. The school has 2 buildings full of classrooms along with a gymnasium, pool, and a few outdoor play areas. We also have a nurse on duty every day, who checks the younger students temperatures every morning to ensure that students who are sick do not spread their illness. So far I have found the job to be enjoyable and challenging which is quite nice.

Culture Shock:

So living in an Asian city has forced me to feel some culture shock. Some Thai people speak some English, but not a lot. A Thai person will often say an English word different than a native English speaker due to their accent. (Ex: A Space Condos would be said: A Spassse Contdo). Also, I have mainly heard Suvarnabhumi Airport pronounced as (Sue-Ven-A-Poom), so even speaking an English word to a Thai speaker can be quite tricky. The food is different. Rice is common at every meal. Spicy dishes are too spicy. Not spicy dishes are still spicy sometimes. I grew up eating meat and potatoes so all this spicy food is a new ball game for me. I have not had digestive issues during my first 3 months here **Knocks on wood**. Personal space when in the heart of the city or at a busy event is non existent. After growing up in a town of 5000 people in Northern Manitoba I find myself feeling a bit claustrophobic here in Bangkok. The roads are organized chaos. Drivers tend to do whatever they want, but within reason. Nobody wants a crash especially due to strict manslaughter penalties, but people still drive pretty aggressively and sporadically. There's no Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer. There is however a rainy and dry season. The rainy season is a bit exaggerated, there is still a lot of sun during the rainy season. Pollution of all kinds is very present. Air pollution makes it tricky to live a healthy lifestyle. Noise and light pollution make it difficult to find a peaceful moment while out and about.

Travel:

Bangkok is a major travel hub for South East Asia, and cheap flights are almost always available to anywhere you want to go. There is a lot to explore within Thailand, and relatively close to Thailand you can visit Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, South Korea, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Japan, and Nepal. (All countries within approximately 3000 km of Thailand, or 1000 km closer than Vancouver is to Toronto).

Based on my experience the difficult things are a small price to pay for all of the great things I am able to experience living here in Thailand.

Thank you for taking some time to read this post.
Below are some pictures to demonstrate my experience living here in Thailand.

Songthaew (1 Type of Public Transit)

My Folding Bike

My Kitchenette

Our Building's Pool

My Living Room (J-Club in the evenings, haha).

Kindergarden Students

Kindergarden Lions During October Camp

Logger, Sesame Street Characters, and Forest Animals

Grade 9 Students

Ko Samet Weekend

After completing my first full week at work a group of us headed out to an island called Ko Samet. This island is about 3-5 hours commute from Bangkok depending on traffic. After work on Friday we arranged for a van to pick us up at 7/11 (If I didn't mention it yet there is a 7/11 on every block in Bangkok). There were about 8 of us who piled into the van and went on the journey. The time passed easily in the van thanks to our stellar conversation. If we didn't know each other very well yet we did after that van ride.

After the van ride we took a speed boat to the island. Our driver was a dude with spiky dreads who is nicknamed Sapparo, which is the Thai word for pineapple, because his hair resembles the top of a pineapple. He did successfully get us from the mainland to the island, however I must say a few things about that boat ride. The water was a bit choppy, and he made no effort to slow down or ease into these waves. A lot of bumps were experienced, we all felt lucky to have survived that ride. At times he would not pay any attention to steering the boat and would instead be hugging me, because I agreed with him that one of my friends on the boat is in fact crazy. This boat ride was also the first time I was able to see the stars since I arrived in Thailand. I really appreciated that. Don't take that beautiful sky for granted, stop and look up every now and then.

Once we arrived we checked into our beach hut accommodation and grabbed supper together. We ate at a waterfront restaurant for every meal. At night the restaurant was decorated with star shaped lanterns it was quite beautiful. After supper we went to a bar called Naga which had some really great tunes pumping, a black light covered dance floor, glow in the dark paint, lounge space with pillows and comfortable seating, a boxing ring, pool table, two bars which served drinks, laughing gas balloons, and Hookah. The best thing about partying here was that when you get really hot and sweaty from dancing you could go for a refreshing swim in the ocean with your friends, then come back and dance some more.

During the day there was plenty of time for relaxing on the beach. Kite surfing, parasailing, and tubing were all possible if you had the desire and funds to purchase it. I went for my first Thai massage and instantly fell in love with this type of massage. I know what you are all thinking reading this, and no it did not involve any massaging of my private parts. The best simple description I've heard for a Thai massage is a deep tissue massage that is also like assisted yoga. One hour of glorious muscle relief for the cost of 200 baht (which is approximately $6.50 CAD). That night we went out to the bars again. The DJ at one of the bars was being pretty annoying with the horn and yelling gibberish into the microphone so we went back to Naga and danced the night away again.

Sunday afternoon we checked out, packed up, and left for Bangkok at around noon. It was a really nice weekend which left us all feeling refreshed and excited about our next trip back to Samet.

Thanks for reading! Here are a few pictures from my weekend in Samet.

The Beach

At the Pier

Rocks and the beach

GOTCHA! (Moving butterfly)

At Naga

Some of my wonderful friends

2 Sleepy Soi Dogs

Map (Ko Samet is A). 

Statues

Working at the School

My first full day of observation at work was on a Friday. The day before I bought myself a new ukulele, selfie stick, and a Samsung Galaxy S4, so I was feeling top notch heading into work Friday morning. My observations at the end of my first day included that it was loud, hot, and exhausting. The days have felt like they have gone by very quickly so there must be more this job than a loud, hot, and exhausting time.

I was able to observe the previous teacher teaching the grade 6 - 9 students (aged approximately 11 - 14 years old). These are the oldest students in the school. Physical Education did not appear to be a priority and the previous teacher informed me that the students are used to a lot of free time during P.E. class. That was something that I knew was going to change when I took over the classes. The gymnasium does not utilize the air conditioning-- or the lights for that matter-- unless there is a big event with the parents coming. This means open windows and fans serve as lighting and cooling. Most days here have been between 30-35 degrees Celsius and feel like 40-45 degrees with the humidity index (think the opposite of a windchill factor). My office does have air conditioning and most other rooms do also, so even in this heat sweaters are a common theme at the school due to the air conditioning.

My first week taking on the role of grade 5-9 physical education teacher was really nice. There are 4 different grade 5 and 6 classes, but just one class of grade 7s, 8s, and 9s. So in total I teach 11 Physical Education classes since each class is scheduled to have one 50 minute P.E. class per week. Along with teaching a creative writing club once per week, teaching one hour of English homework classes per day, and substitute teaching when other teachers are away I kept fairly busy. Homework classes actually did not start during the first week due to orientation activities. An 8 year-old student named Kitty who is in one of my homework classes would always ask me "When are you coming to teach us in homework class!? Why weren't you there yesterday?" This student had only met me one time on Friday yet she was very excited to have me help her with her school work. I really enjoy working with enthusiastic, respectful students.

The first week was a really nice time to establish routines and rules for my students, and to get to know them. I teach over 300 students, and our campus has well over 1,000 students, so getting to know names has been a real chore. All of the students have Thai names but go by English nicknames such as Talk Show, Jackpot, Garfield, Thunder, Jump, and anything else you could imagine. This is helpful for remembering names sometimes, but can get tricky when you teach 5 different students named First. Teaching all 300 of those students for less than one hour in the first week certainly made learning their names feel like a daunting task, but one that I am certainly up for.

My first impression of the school is that it is beautiful. I work at a Thai school with an English Immersion program as opposed to an International School. The school I work at has both a Thai department and a Foreign department. It is also split into Key Stages of Kindergarden/Nursery, Grade 1-4, and Grade 5-9. All of these departments and Key Stages are always communicating with one another and it has made for a very interesting workplace with a lot of different activities and ideas implemented to give the students a great experience. I am certain to enjoy a lot of uniquely Thai school experiences and I am excited to experience it all.

Thanks for reading, below are a few pictures of the school and my purchases.

Sweaty Mr. Justin

Large Spider at Work

Postcards/Photos on my Desk

Buddha Pool

The infamous Selfie Stick

My new Ukulele

First week in Bangkok

Arriving to Bangkok and getting set up was very interesting. A lot of things were different than anywhere else I have ever been before. My first couple of days included visiting the school, which is pretty neat. It has a nice open air design with a lot of funky little statues of animals and other things as well as a pool. On the walk over to the school on my first day I saw a woman bathing a monkey on the sidewalk! Very strange! I also spent a night on Khaosan Road which is a huge backpackers road with heaps of bars, massage places, restaurants, market shops and other things which I will leave up to your imagination. Taking a cab home that night was quite the struggle given my limited grasp of the Thai language, and the cab drivers limited grasp of English. A few of the Thai staff at the school gave us their contact information so we called them and they explained to the cab driver where I was going.

Crossing the street here is comparable to playing a high stakes game of Frogger. There are not specific cross walks but there are areas that allow you to cross the road while frantically waving your hand and trying not to get ran over by cars going as fast as 80 km/h. I have discovered that there is no need for my morning coffee anymore, since I have to cross the street every morning on my way to school. There are often walkovers which are about 25 feet high constructed to help you avoid traffic. On my fourth day in Bangkok I managed to find one that was not completed. So if you don't mind four foot gaps from the top of the stairs to the walkover this is perfect.

I am not sure what is trending in other countries, but Selfie-Sticks are currently all the rage here in Bangkok. A Selfie-Stick has nothing to do with your alone time, but more to do with taking selfies by putting your camera on a stick and using a blue-tooth remote control to signal your phone to take the picture. At first I thought this was a hilarious item, but a couple of days later I decided I had to have one. So keep an eye out for some Selfie-Stick-tastic photos on the blog.

I have two more things to point out about adjusting to life in Bangkok.

1. Don't resist the bum gun.
2. You're going to smell a lotta smells. 

The bum gun is a hose beside the toilet which you can use like a bidet in weapon form. It is a great tool once you get over any reservations about spraying water in around your bum hole after dropping a steaming hot turd. I looked into it and the full name for this tool is: Asian Thai Bidet Toilet Spray Sprayer Shower Rinse Hygiene Bum Gun. The word hygiene is very fitting because hygienic is just what it is. I don't know how I will get on without the bum gun in my life. Toilet paper and baby wipes just won't cut it anymore!  

And the smells are unavoidable. In a city this densely populated be prepared for your nasal passages to be assaulted by a barrage of interesting smells. Crossing a bridge without gagging during your first week in Bangkok is truly an accomplishment.

Despite the smells and new experiences the Thai people I have met have been so welcoming, helpful and lovely that it has not been such a difficult adjustment. My next post will be about my first day at work and my first weekend away. Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it!

Khaosan Road

Khaosan Road

Toilet, note the Bum Gun on the wall

Roadside Elephant Shrubbery

Bangkok City Traffic

Spirit House