Celebrations of Asia

This semester is (very) quickly drawing to a close but even with all the hectic-ness of planning my upcoming trip with Harriet in April, and getting exams/marks sorted for my students, that hasn't stopped me, or the school for that matter, from having time to fit in some more celebrations and expose me to the many dimensions of Asian culture. Firstly, a few of us ventured once again to the Church of the Blessing in Korat to greet some friends of the church from Seoul, Korea and watch them perform some songs, dances, and a play about the story of Isaac. Although I'm not the religious type, it was a nice environment to spend the night and a welcome opportunity to meet new people. One person I met in particular was a guy named Allen, who was from Seoul and had come with his church to speak the word of God and perform around various schools in the city. I was blown away by his friendliness and his genuine interest in introducing himself and wanting to get to know me. (Plus he knew where Wales was and had heard of Cardiff Bay so that straight away was an icebreaker). You might be wondering why I was so shocked, but without sounding stereotypical (although this totally sounds stereotypical), many people I have met over here haven't been so confident in introducing themselves, and this is almost certainly down to their lack of confidence in their English speaking skills (remember I said that hardly anyone in Korat speaks conversational English?). Regardless of this, it was really nice to meet him and makes me realise how lucky I am to meet such amazing people from all over the world.

That weekend, I met up with my friend and went to a Molam concert. Molam is a Thai peformance group whose music is inspired by and celebrates the instruments and musical culture of the Isaan province (the province which I live in -- the biggest in Thailand). When I was first asked to go to this, I just imagine it to be like a regular gig...a couple of hours in the late evening of a Saturday night...how wrong I was. We didn't actually show up at the gig until midnight which was practically in the middle of nowhere (around 40kms outside of Korat) and didn't leave until gone 6am. We spent all night drinking and dancing to this really cool music. Donning perhaps the sparkliest outfits I have ever seen, the group performed a string of songs which all seemed to connect to some story they were acting out (or so I thought...this all was completely delivered in Thai remember...) and everytime the group broke out in song, everyone would be on their feet and dancing. Furthermore, this one group performed the WHOLE night, and were still going strong when I left at 6am. God knows how long they were on until!

The following week welcomed the next big holiday in the Thai calendar, which was (ironically enough) Chinese New Year. At Assumption, the school was decked out with Chinese lanterns, banners, and all the staff were wearing red as a mark of respect (and good luck!). The Brother Director presented each staff with a HongBao (紅包), a red envelope containing money (560 baht!). The envelope is red to bring good luck and to ward off bad spirits. Also I found out that the amount of money you receive has to end with an even digit to again bring good luck (and you give money ending in an odd digit at funerals...).  The Chinese teachers and interns of Assumption also put on several performances showcasing traditional Chinese song and dance, as well as some modern Chinese pop dancing.

In Korat itself, the city put on a three-day celebration; All the townspeople gathered at Yamo monument to celebrate the turn of the new year. Decked out with stalls, Chinese lanterns, glowing dragons and the like, the place became almost unrecognisable. I wandered around alone on the first night but it wasn't until the actual day of Chinese New Year that festivities really got into full swing. For dinner that evening, a group of the foreign teachers went to Korat's only 5* hotel, Sima Thani, for what was an awesome buffet. Considering it was just over 300 baht for the all-you-can-eat buffet which sampled both western and asian dishes, it was well worth the money and happily sent my body into a food coma. Following that, we all ventured to Yamo to see the main event. When we arrived, we were greeted by two large glowing dragons scaling two (maybe) 50ft poles. It was quite the spectacle and marked the pinnacle of the celebrations. As this year is my Chinese New Year (The year of the Goat), it was imperative (apparently) that I was to wear red on this day. In Chinese culture, your year actually is a sign of bad luck, not good luck as I originally thought. And heck, after quite a crappy year last year, I didn't want to take any chances!

(Photo Credit: Natalie Yau)

Let's hope this next year does bring me good luck and fortune! 恭禧发财

Special Days, Special Reunions, and a Special Announcement

As I'm sure you're fully aware of by now, Thailand and my school in particular likes it parties; any excuse to throw a celebration that uses more money than sense, Assumption will jump to the chance (no offense). The last week of January saw my week cut short once more, due to a weekend-long event called ACN night(s) and cancelled lessons in the week for preparation. This event, which was essentially a glorified parents evening, was a dinner party that showcased traditional Thai dances from every class in Assumption and boy, did Assumption put on a show. With each seat being sold at 400 baht (£8), I estimated that the school must have made close to 3 million baht (£60,000) from both nights.

Pop Duo Four-Mod.

Bie The Star!

The stage was extravagant, the costumes even more so. The school really spared no expense (haven't I mentioned that already?!) into putting on this show. As fun as it was to see, it did mean our weekend was cut short as we had to 'work' both nights; i.e. stand there looking pretty so the parents could see the Foreign Teachers. But, it was made worthwhile as we got to see our students perform and show off how talented they all are. In addition to the kids performing, we were treated to some special performances from some famous Thai singers. I didn't quite realise how famous they actually were until everyone just went CRAZY for them. The first night was pop-duo Four-Mod, who according to Wikipedia, had a string of number 1 hits back in the mid to late-2000s. Their style of music was very bubblegum Pop-esque(?), but it was fun to see how excited everyone around us were to see them. Mr. Jon especially took a liking to one of the girls, Mod (trying to get a seflie with them didn't quite go to plan).

That night, I was told that if I "thought they were big stars, wait until tomorrow", when Bie (the Star) performed. Bie came 2nd in the third season of Thailand's version of the X-Factor known as "The Star" (that's where the name comes from) back in 2006. And, as is true for our talent shows too, the runner up usually fares better than the winner, which is exactly the case here. As well as starring on Thai stage and screen, he has also been named as one of the most influential people in Thailand. I also found out that he went to Assumption's sister school in Chiang Mai where he was raised which was pretty cool. His debut single "I Need Somebody" drew the biggest cheers that night, and was my favourite song of his (due to it being the only one with English lyrics...). Overall, it was a fantastic experience and something I felt blessed to be a part of...when will that ever happen again?

Some of my students performing at ACN Night.

Normality resumed after that night (which at Assumption means I only missed maybe one or two classes that week), until I found out that one of my old camp friends, Kayley (aka Nimbus) would be in Bangkok that upcoming weekend! I had not seen her since the summer of 2011 but we worked together at summer camp way back in 2010. So that Friday, I took the normal bus down to Bangkok (where they played Final (bloody) Destination as the on-board movie...um NO.) and stayed with Grit for the night before reuniting on the Saturday. It was such a surreal feeling seeing her again and it almost felt like we had never been away from camp. We spent all afternoon reminiscing on good times from Sealth and what we had been getting up to since then over some delicious food at this amazing Vegetarian and Mediterranean restaurant called Seven Spoons (check it out on TripAdvisor!).  I had a balsamic honey and pulled pork sandwich (okay, neither Vegetarian OR Mediterranean) but it was some of the best food I've had in Thailand and only 240B (just under £5). Our reunion took us once again to Chatuchak Weekend Market but had to unfortunately be cut short so I could make my way back to Korat for a friends birthday. It was great to see you, Nimbus! All the best on your future travels and endeavours.

Camp Sealth Reunion in Bangkok!

When I got back, I had realised that this week would bring yet even more cancelled classes due to special events being held by Secondary 2 and 3. On Monday, Secondary 3 had some sort of integrated learning day...which to me just looked like a chance to make a bunch of Papaya Salad and play games. I joined them in the afternoon section where they put on a mini-concert. Willing students would come up and perform acoustic Thai songs. This then lead to some of the Thai teachers performing. It was so cool to see but kind of hard to get in to as I didn't understand anything that was being said. However, after one teacher began speaking a bunch of Thai, pointed at me, followed by the whole of the Secondary 3 cheering, I realised that I might have just got roped into something...which turned out to be me singing an English song in front of EVERYONE. After repeatedly telling them that I cannot sing, that excuse wasn't quite good enough and I was asked to sing Ronan Keating's "When You Say Nothing At All" in front of around 250-300 fifteen year olds...dear god. (Thank goodness there is no video evidence...yet)

Assumption has some of their own superstars!

Finally, as I'm writing this, we are approaching the final official week of teaching for this semester. CRAZY RIGHT?! To think, that its been almost 4 months since I first stepped foot in Thailand and now if I wasn't staying, this would be the last time teaching my kids....where has the time gone?
On that note, I would like to announce that I have officially decided to renew my contract and will be continuing to teach at Assumption College Nakhonratchasima for another academic year! (Until end of March 2016). It was a tough decision but I realised that I would regret going home after such a short period of time that way by so incredibly fast. Plus, I am really enjoying my time here in Thailand, have met some of the most amazing people, and I've barely got chance to explore this beautiful country I am in. Finally, this time has been a chance to find myself again, and have a fresh start after what has been a whirlwind of a year. So yeah...get ready for another year of blog posts!

Thai Rides and Thai Brides

Week 3 of the second half of the semester is upon us and now I can say that I've started to settle back into school life. Okay, well not completely. I still sometimes see myself falling back in to the honeymoon period after what was a great Christmas break but then the thought of having to sort out lesson plans, washing my uniform, bracing myself for my 'naughty' Secondary 2 students etc soon brings me around. That being said, we have all been eased back into school life rather gently as a lot of school events are planned for this half of the semester meaning the fluidity of my lessons haven't quite gotten into full swing. The first week of classes were affected by Secondary 2 going to Scout Camp and then the following week having Secondary 3 finish exams. This was then all topped off with me being hit with tonsillitis; I was practically in bed for 3 days recovering, missing half of my week in classes and missing some opportunities to go party with the other teachers or extend my trip to Bangkok for our second long weekend...IT SUCKED. But more about that later.

Air Force Show on Childrens Day (10th January) (Photo credit: Grace)

The first celebration of the year came from Children's Day (known as 'Wan Dek'), a national holiday which celebrates the Children of Thailand and their importance on the future development of the country. During this day, parties are thrown and children can enjoy many attractions and public transportation for free. At Assumption, plans were cancelled due to an upcoming inspection but the following day, Grace and I decided to venture to the nearby Air Force Base , which is particularly known for hosting events for Children's day. We were lucky to witness an air show put on by the base with several planes acrobatically soaring through the sky. It was by bad luck that we ended up at this show actually, as the motorbike taxi driver misunderstood where we wanted to go. But it did work out and it was a nice way to spend Saturday afternoon. Also, my faith in humanity was restored when Grace and I were given a ride home by a lady from Bangkok who was visiting Korat for the day. It really is true about Thai people and their friendliness -- the fact she went out of her way to help us because we literally were stranded, it really made me fall in love with Thailand even more.

The second of our long weekends followed that next week due to teachers day (yes, they actually celebrate the hard work teachers do over here!) but unfortunately I was struck with tonsillitis mid week. A trip to the hospital lead to paying for meds that didn't even work and leaving me in bed on and off for 3 days. I had to come in on Thursday to finally get our work permits sorted before going straight back to bed again. Thanks to some advice from my friend Aloy, I spent 500 baht (£10) on some meds that cleared my infection up within 36 hours...success! Sadly, that meant my initial plans to spend the entirety of the long weekend in Bangkok were cut short whilst I rested. However, I did manage to make my way down on the Friday afternoon and meet up with my friend Grit. That night, he decided to take me to dinner at a restaurant near the national monument called Pathe. It just so happened that this was the exact restaurant that I visited on my first night in Bangkok during my orientation! (Which seems like forever ago). I don't know if I mentioned it in a previous post but their Lemon Chicken dish at this restaurant is divine (even though none of the other westerners took a liking to it) so Grit and I decided to share three dishes of that, with some Pad Thai and this Japenese style pork salad (which was rare meat in a tomato soy sauce...wasn't the best thing I've had in Thailand but tasty enough.) 

Grit and I at my first Thai wedding.

The next morning, I was lucky enough to be a +1 to a traditional Thai wedding being held in downtown Bangkok. Grit and I went to the second part of the marriage celebration which was the ceremonial part (this still meant us leaving the house at 7:30am!) and we were able to witness the main part of the wedding where the rings were exchanged and the marriage became official. The Thai wedding is incredibly different to western style weddings and is laced with beautiful traditions that build up to the final part of actually becoming husband and wife. The first part that I saw was the groom's entry. Known as 'sanuk', this is a ceremony where the groom must make his way to the bride, who is hiding in the house or the venue where they are getting married. In order to do this, he must pass through a number of doors/gates to prove that he is worthy and financially able to take care of his bride. To pass each gate, which in this case was a gold piece of string/necklace (pratoo tong), the groom must present a 'key' which essentially is an envelope full of money. As he reaches each gate, the groom will give the gate bearers more and more money (and apparently the amount is decided before the ceremony) until he passes them all and can then enter the venue.

'Sanuk' ceremony - the passing of the gates.

After the presentation of gifts to each other's families, the next part of the ceremony is conducted by an elder (who I initially thought was a priest but traditionally it will be a member of the bride's family). When this is happening, the bride and groom place a white plaited thread upon their heads which is connected in the middle (known as 'sai monkhon') and this represents their two lives coming together and one and that their destinies are linked. It was a really cute symbolism and something which I thought represented the two becoming husband and wife incredibly well. After this, the bride and groom places their hands over a bed of flowers and the elder pours water over their hands in a sea shell (Rod Nam Sang). After this, the guests also pour water over their hands and say blessings and wishes to the couple. I didn't think I was allowed to do this as I was not friends of either the bride or groom, but in typical 'being a farang' (and only farang at the wedding...) style, I was encouraged to go and do this. This was then followed by group photos and queueing up to have a photo taken with yours truly!

'Rod Nam Sang' -- pouring water over the Bride and Groom's hands.

Grit and I left after lunch and went our separate ways; I was planning on meeting my friend First that night for a few beers and then meet back up with Grit the following afternoon as he was busy in work. The last day of my long weekend consisted of walking around, trying some AMAZING avocado and passionfruit juice (thanks to Grit's awesome knowledge of great stalls!) and grabbing some food before heading back to Korat once more.

So long, Cowgirls!

Christmas/New Year Adventures!

I knew this Christmas break was going to be like no other. This would be the first time away from my family for Christmas and after what has been a crazy year from the Christopher clan, I did hit home Christmas morning that I wouldn't be home with everyone. That being said, I was excited for my upcoming adventures. Instead of exploring the Islands like the other English teachers, I decided to make use of the multiple entry visa I obtained to travel to other countries.

Christmas Party Performance.

After the Staff party on Xmas eve, where I danced to a Mariah Carey/Dirty Dancing/Will Smith/LMFAO medley (pretty eclectic right?), drank more wine coolers than I should have and watched in awe as other teachers were winning iPhone 6's and cars(!!) in the staff raffle, I travelled with the rest of the teachers down to Don Mueang Airport; they were off to Phuket whereas I had to wait for a shuttle bus to Suvarnabhumi to then get to Cambodia...such a long night! All in all, it took me no less than 16 hours to reach my final destination of Sihanoukville which weirdly reminded me of an Asian Maguluf or Ibiza...so many westerners walking round giving out leaflets for beach parties and bugging you with their Booze Cruise sale pitches (one even tried to convince me to go to one with an offer of Pu$$y for days...gross.) But regardless of that, I met this cool guy called David, who I ended up spending most of my trip in Cambodia with. Instead of wallowing in self-pity for the fact that I'd be eating Xmas dinner alone, I decided to join him for dinner at an Italian restaurant called Olive&Olive. I had heard good things about it from Dave and was excited to see how good it was for myself. Boy, was he right! It was literally the best Italian food I have ever had...big feat I know (I'm even salivating whilst writing this at the thought of wanting to eat there again). I had tagliatelle with artichokes, bacon and a white wine sauce and creme brulee for desert. The meal all together totalled around $12 (they use U.S. dollars in Cambodia interestingly). Now, for living in Thailand, I would consider that quite pricey, but not thinking about that for a second, it was seriously worth every penny and I would have happily paid more for it.The next morning, and after a 14 hour sleep (I really needed it), I finally ventured to the beach to relax. To be completely honest, I was a little disappointed with the quality of the beach...WAAAY too many westerners around and I was being bugged too much by old cambodian ladies asking to cut my toe nails. After visiting the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia (my favourite beach ever!), I can't help but now always seeming to find something to nitpick with every beach I visit...the sand isn't white enough...the water isnt clear enough...haha, but really it felt like I was at a British beach but the weather was just tremendously better.

Best Italian Food...EVER!

Money was running short whilst on my Cambodia excursion (when using US dollars, it working out a little pricier than expected), so I decided to bail a day early and go back to Bangkok; not without getting a $3 haircut whilst purchasing my bus ticket though...YOLO? After a 4 hour taxi back to Phnom Penh, I eventually landed in a terrential-rain filled Bangkok at 11pm with nowhere to go...phone was on 1% and I was strapped for cash. Luckily, I had some US dollars left over which got me enough to stay in a room in Silom (Bangkok's gay district) where I rested and recuperated ready for exploring the city tomorrow. When the rain cleared and morning came, I left the one hotel, checked into the other one I had already pre-booked and then heading out. My initial plan was to explore Wat Arun with a friend, but as she wasn't available and because I left my sunglasses in Cambodia, I decided to head to Chatuchak Weekend Market. This market in Bangkok is famously known to be one of the world's largest markets, spanning 27 acres with over 15,000 booths selling an array of items. Like I said the main goal was to purchase some cheap sunglasses, but I couldn't help but be tempted by the cheap t-shirts and fake designer items. After a bit of haggling, I came out with no sunglasses and instead a Louis Vuitton hold-all for 1650 baht (the real one would retail at almost 50 times that..not kidding! - so I was pretty chuffed with myself!).

Chatuchak Weekend Market was CRAYYYYY.

That night, I met up with a new friend who is a Sargent in the Air Force for drinks in Silom, it was nice to chill out and talk to someone after spending the majority of the trip so far alone. The next day I was to fly out to Kuala Lumpur, a trip in all honesty I had mixed feelings about. I had already been to KL once this month but this time I would be doing it alone, and without the trusted hands of my friends and ex-boyfriend. This time though, I decided to FINALLY visit the Petronas Towers and see for myself what the hype was all about. Luckily for me, I decided to treat myself whilst staying in Malaysia and checked myself into the Hilton in central KL. What a paradise! This was the first time ever that I had stayed in a 5* hotel and it was just amazing; I could have sat in bed all day it was that great! But, my itchy feet got the better of me and I went around the mall and window shopped, ate some hot plate yee mee (which is chicken, mushroom, noodles and egg in this rich, thick gravy! - delish!) and like I said, make my way up 86 floors to the top of the Twin Towers. Once the tallest building in the world and still remains the tallest twin towers in the world, the towers have a skybridge on the 36th floor connecting the two buildings together, with an obversation deck on the 86th floor which offers spectacular views of the city...shame the weather wasn't on our side because it did turn out a little anti-climatic - if I ever go again, I'd definitely like to see it in the night time.

View from Petronas Towers.

After initial plans to stay in KL for new years with my friends were scrapped, I decided to book a last minute flight to Koh Samui and join my Assumption friends who were already there. Leaving at midday, I finally got into Samui around 6pm - would have been quicker if Thai people weren't so laid-back and slow...ok, I don't mind it sometimes as it does come as a nice change...but on new years eve? COME ON LIKE! I want to go out and party! haha. I finally met up with my friends for dinner and was presented with an AMAZING rainbow tie-dye shirt from Grace which would later become my party outfit. We had some mediocre Italian to prepare us for the inevitable alcohol consumption (although I only had 4 drinks the entire night) and then headed to the beach to watch the countdown. On the way, we had lost a couple of the guys leaving myself,  Grace, Ais, Natalie, and Shubhu partying on the beach whilst the final countdown loomed. The main bar on the beach, Ark Bar, was ridiculously packed and full of boisterous westerners (um...no thanks) so we decided to head to the next bar which was a lot quieter and had space for us to dance and enjoy the environment. As 12 o clock hit, we were barricaded with fireworks from all angles. It was such a spectacular and surreal feeling...I will never forget it. We cheered, screamed, hugged, danced on the beach, frolicked in the sea, and laughed. I really wouldn't have wanted to be anyone else at that moment. It was made so clear to me how amazing this whole experience had been thus far, and will be this coming year. After a whirlwind of a year both emotionally and mentally, I see the new year as a fresh start. And at that point, I forgot about all the shitty things that had happened, and twerked on bar benches to Iggy Azalea instead (such a gay boy...) whilst getting soaked from champagne showers from the next table. As morning hit, the main strip of Koh Samui became a ghost-town; all the obnoxious westerners were still in their pits after the crazy night before, and the beaches were semi-filled with mostly families sunbathing there. It was very relaxing.

NYE on the beach!

The only real unfortunate thing about the trip was the 20 hour journey back to Korat. Thank goodness we were all together because I may have pulled my hair out not talking to anyone, or having no phone (my iPhone died about 6 hours into the trip). But overall, what an amazing trip it was. I felt so fortunate to be able to visit so many places, meet new people, and be in great company. To my knowledge, I will not get any lengthy break until the end of the term in March, so for now, its back to the grind of work and the end of feeling like a tourist.

Such a great moment! Great people, great place, great photo!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, FOLKS.

A Thai-dal Wave of Craziness

My final weekend of this semester was spent at English camp. It was something I had been excited about for quite some time due to my experience working at camps before. Honestly I didn't know what to expect and as per usual, turned out to be completely NOT what I expected haha.

We left for camp at 4am from assumption and made the first stop to Siam Park City, a theme/water park just on the outskirts of Bangkok. Initially, I thought that we would be doing some sort of activity there but it just turned out that we could spend half the day there for free! It was a really sweet deal! Weirdly the park was pretty quiet so we managed to do all the big rides and didn't have to wait longer than 20 minutes in a queue. It was a pretty cool feeling that I was able to bond with the teachers more and get to know more of the students. Naturally, I bonded more with the gay students and it is so admirable that they are so comfortable in their sexuality and identity. We went of quite a few rides together with other teachers and overall it was a great way to spend my Saturday.

Theme Park Selfie!

We took another hour-long bus ride (although it seemed much longer) to the place where we would be staying; Assumptions big sister school, St Gabriel's. Now, this is where the craziness starts to kick in. First of all, we were shown our rooms. In traditional camp style, I was half expecting to share a room with the students, but with it being a school trip I thought they must have stuck all the teachers together in one room. Well, it kind of worked out half and half really...I ended up having to share a room with about 5 other teachers and about 50 teenage boys. (Like staying at Village on steroids haha). I was dreading having to stay in one room...the smell...

That evening finally saw camp get into full swing. Not even 5 minutes in, I was bombarded by about 10 students with various make up items who decided to decorate my face. That's when the craziness began...songs, dancing, WAAAAY too much pelvic thrusting and a whole lot of laughs. It felt a lot like I was back at Sealth and I just lapped it all up. It was a crazy experience. That night, like I mentioned, most of the teachers had to sleep in with the students in perhaps the COLDEST room I had encountered since being in Thailand...I mean, 9 fans in one room! I know it took away the smell of 'teenage boy' from the room but I had to wear three layers of clothes just to keep myself reasonably warm haha. When morning came, we concluded camp with the only thing remotely associated with an ENGLISH camp...English games. My station consisted of using a beachball with 25 questions on in which the students would pass to each other, read the question aloud, and then answer it in a full english sentence; an activity that got mixed responses. Its fascinating to see just how differing the levels of English are not just between years. but individual students in each class.

Dolly and I attacked with make-up

Well, what a great weekend that was. Now just focusing on the Christmas party on Tuesday and then gallivanting across South East Asia come Wednesday!!

Countdown to Christmas

After my trip to Malaysia two weekends ago, I have been pretty busy preparing exams for all my students ready for examination week (literally the most boring week of my life). This week has seen me spent the majority of my time sitting on my backside doing nothing...and it sucks. However, next week we break up for Christmas holidays so that is a sure certainty my motivation for getting me through this week.

When I got back from Malaysia, the staff were lucky enough to have another day off midweek due to a national holiday, so Grace and I decided to venture to the Zoo! Of course, it was nothing we hadn't seen before but it was a good way to consume half a day of activity. The one thing I didn't like about it though was how the animals were so reliant on the spectators giving them food; I mean this in the sense that kids were just throwing bananas at the animals (and pretty mug any animal you could think of...I didn't even know Hippos liked bananas?!) and you didn't see a zookeeper in sight.

Later that week, we headed to the National Park (known as Khao Yai) to go Go-Karting. All of us decided to go and we were all pretty stoked for spending a good hour or so speeding around on go-karts...nope, it was only 10 minutes...and perhaps the quickest 10 minutes of my life. We managed about 6 laps of the course and then had to go. Apart from the short amount of time, it was nice to drive out of Korat into the countryside more; especially as I was unable to camp at Khao Yai with the rest of the group the weekend before. It was actually a surreal experience because it very much didn't feel like I was actually in Thailand...you'd look at the rolling hills and scenery and think you'd be in Wales...but only 20 degrees hotter. haha. In addition to the go karting, they had a tiny farm with bunnies, goats and tiny horses so we spent a little time petting those. (Again...never thought I'd ever be feeding a goat in Thailand...)

In the evening saw the reunion of Ruby and Desmond! They had been with us during our orientation in Bangkok but both went to different schools to teach. However, as circumstances changed they have now transferred to Assumption and the original group of 7 are all back together and its a great feeling! We met to go to the BBQ fest which Korat was hosting. It was essentially a country-western themed festival with clothes stalls for the wannabe Thai Cowboys and cowgirls out there...and well as lots of food stalls which were (surprise surprise) mostly Thai food and not a lot of BBQ (that I saw anyways)...like where were the BBQ ribs at? Also, they had a giant stage with acts that played country music, but in Thai...that was quite something...and with the whole place being decked out like we were in the old west, it provided a great opportunity to take pictures.

Cutest convict in Thailand?

It was so nice to see Ruby and Des again, not just to see them again to catch up, but in the sense of seeing a fresh face we can speak English to and not always be conscious of if we are speaking too fast or if my new 'broken english' sounds too patronising or not (seriously, it's like I don't even speak fluent english anymore - "How do you spell that word?" goes to "How you spell?" and "I do not understand" to "No understand" - I just speak in set words, instead of my brain putting them together to form a sentence). It really has just become the default now as, like I've mentioned before, many people in Korat do not speak a word of English.

As the first half of the semester is drawing to a close, and Christmas fast approaching, the school has really got into the holiday spirit. Cliff Richard's "Mistletoe and Wine" greets us in the walking as we walk on to campus, Decorations are all over the school ranging from tinsel around all the rails, to mini Christmas trees in the classroom and finally a giant tree, navitity and Thai flag made of fairy lights in front of our office. It seems such a contradiction seeing all these Christmas-y things and being in warm weather but it somewhat gives us foreign teachers a little taste of home and being in the Xmas spirit.

Christmas Tree!!

Next week will play host to a massive staff Christmas party put in by the brothers on Christmas Eve. I have been asked to choreograph and perform a routine with the other foreign teachers and I'm really excited for it - we are doing a medley of tracks (you'll have to wait to see what they are) and it's been so nice to fill the dancing void I've been having really since I left uni; especially from seeing those dancers at Yamo too (remember I told you about those?). So at the moment, my free time has been devoted to perfecting the routine ready for all the teachers to see...yikes.

In true fashion of Christmas, some of the foreign teachers decided to do a Secret Santa, which culminated in a wonderful meal last night by a lake (I forget the name of the restaurant) but they bring your food over on little boats! The food was delicious and although mostly fish based, it was welcome change from the crappy school meals I had all week (sorry Assumption...). Being there with everyone just confirms to me how much fun I'm having here and what such a family unit I have become part of. I'm really considering staying here a little longer...

Assumption Family!

As I'm writing this, I'm heading to bangkok for an English camp hosted by the school. I'm so excited because the moment I was asked to do it, I was constantly reminiscing on my times at Sealth and was so eager to put my "camp counsellor" hat back on and ssibg songs and play games etc.

The really cool thing about this camp is that we are doing at a WATER PARK. Ahh I'm so pumped for this. Will post updates when I get back.

My first weekend in BKK.

For this past weekend, many of my colleagues were working at one point during it so I decided it was finally time to go and explore Bangkok. The purpose for going to down to Bangkok was to explore the gay scene; a scene quite infamous in Asia let alone Thailand. It had been quite a while since I had 'let my hair down' so to speak so my friend and I decided to go down and just have some fun. Getting there was reasonably easy actually, with a 4 hour bus dropping me right into central Bangkok for less than £4. What struck me was the heat difference; Bangkok's humidity is much heavier than Korat and expectedly, everything is way more hectic with WAY more westerners! I'm surprised to see another young westerner around Korat, but they were everywhere! As I didn't get into Bangkok until mid afternoon on the Saturday, the places I could explore were limited, so we just explored some of the swanky malls and grabbed dim sum in Chinatown. Bangkok's Chinatown is the second biggest in the world and although I only saw a very small percentage of it, it genuinely felt like I was in China, not like the other Chinatowns I have previously visited where it is still very apparent that you are in a small area of a larger western city.

Chinatown Bangkok.

Later that night, my friend and I checked out some of the gay bars. We first went to a bar called Tawan which hosted a show full of muscled asians. Clearly being the youngest (and thinnest) white guy in the establishment, I felt a little uncomfortable but the show was totally worth the 350 baht I paid to see it...haha! After that, we went to perhaps the most popular gay club in the area called DJ Station. It cost around £6 to get in with 2 free drinks and typical for a Saturday night, it was rammed. The music and scene was good but with it being so crowded, it was easy to get lost. My friend became busy with some other guy, so before long I was roaming around the club alone. But, after a while I got talking to a guy called Harry from New York who was travelling around Asia alone and we really hit it off. So much in fact that we exchanged numbers and decided to hang out the next day and explore the sights. This turned out to be a really sweet deal as my friend who I came with wasn't too keen on the touristy parts of Bangkok. 

The one touristy thing I did for my entire trip in Bangkok.

After grabbing lunch at a restaurant called Cabbages and Condoms (yes...that's its name and I was very pleasantly surprised! Every meal you ordered you got a free condom...great marketing strategy I guess?) we decided to check out the house of Jim Thompson. Thompson was a famous American entrepreneur and architect who moved to Thailand in the 1940s and built this house and filled it full on Thai artwork, decoration and pieces. He also became well known for generating international interest in Thai silk and for contributing to the commercial growth in the silk industry during the mid 20th century. Following his disappearance in northern Malaysia in the 1960s, the house has now become a museum to honour his work and life in Thailand. We had a walking tour with a really sweet Thai lady and although small, the house was exquisite and the pieces scattered around the rooms and gardens were beautiful. Unfortunately due to time constraints, that was really all we managed to do touristy-wise apart from just roaming around Bangkok but I had a blast. As my friend wasn't keen on the touristy things, it was so nice to be able to explore and share the experience with someone as I don't think it would have been as fun going around alone. I will most definitely be keeping in touch with you, mate!

Trying to take a Bro pic...just look grumpy haha.

Sunday evening arrived and it was time to go back to Korat. Shame I didn't get to explore Bangkok a bit more but being here until April gives me the perfect opportunity to come back multiple times. And heck, for 200 baht I'm not exactly breaking the bank either.