Pictures!

Joe and I have now moved into the house in downtown KK, which means one very important thing...I can post pictures!


This first one is just so everyone can see us in our speedraceresque helmets (don't worry mine is always fastened when we're actually out on the road). The wat in the background is Wat Nong Wang which Joe wrote about here.






This is just me outside the wat.



















Here's a tuk tuk driver sleeping in the back of his cab outside the wat.



As soon as I have pictures of the new house, I'll post 'em.

I only read blogs for the photos

Sorry for the delay in posting pictures. If you want the boring explination, read on, if not, just know I'm trying and there will be photos soon.

So...

I do most of my computer work in one of two places, neither of which is ideal for blogging. Joe's office is somewhat convenient and free, but his computer is ancient (think back when beige desktops were in) and the internet connection is slower than dial up. Yes, he posts photos from there, but it takes him hours and usually the computer crashes halfway through and he has to start over--I am not that patient. When I need a speedier connection (like for my schoolwork) I head on down to CSK, my favorite 'net café. CSK, however, does not support blogger (but it oddly supports other google applications) so I can't post from there. What this means is that I usually end up writing my posts at CSK, saving them using Writely, and then posting them whenever I get to Joe's office again (where I can't post photos). There are other 'net cafés, but these have a tendency to be, ummm, less than desirable.

There's actually a 'net café in the very building where I reside, but entering at certain times of day is potentially fatal. I've never been a fan of public computers, having mucho previous experience with them at the library, but I would rather lick a random keyboard at good old KCPL then just sit in the chairs at some of these cafés. The gross-out factor is usually due to a combination of the following:

1. Most of the cafés are open 24 hours (when can they be properly cleaned?)

2. Most sell greasy food which can be eaten while using the computers (which no one is cleaning)

3. Some don't have bathrooms, and even if they do no one wants to leave the computer they're paying for to use them (guess what happens)

4. Most are poorly lit and badly ventilated (no where for the smell to go)

Now, take yucky teenage boys, put them in a café at, say 7:00pm, where they play computer games with their friends until 7:00am eating nothing but soda and greasy food, refusing to leave their game if they need to use the restroom (if there is a restroom), in a small, dark, stuffy room and you get an indescribable funk that once forced Joe to flee the café in our building fearing that he would toss his cookies before he even got a chance to log on.

Therefore...

Since I know all of you love me and value my health I will continue to only use CSK which does not meet any of the above conditions that are met by 90% of the 'net cafés here. What this means is that I'm still working on the photos, but next month I move into a real house with a high-speed internet connection, so if you only read blogs for the photos, check back in a few weeks and (*hopefully*) you won't be disappointed.

International Business

It's not hard for a native English speaker with any college degree to find work here in Thailand. Joe had already set up a few contacts for me before I even arrived, and within my first week I had two jobs and had started working. I liked to think of myself as a freelance English speaker: I taught a few small classes at the university where Joe works, on the weekends I taught kids at a local private English school, and in my free time I edited theses for grad students. This was all fine and good, but I still found myself with plenty of free time, and when the opportunity for more stable work presented itself, I couldn't resist.

I learned of a position opening up with an Australian company from a friend who is just finishing her contract, she passed on my resume, and poof I got a phone call from one of the directors of the program wanting to interview me that same day. Ironically, we could not meet in person for the interview as I was leaving town to participate in a "camp" for the graduating English majors at the university to help them revise their resumes and practice mock interviews. Needless to say I got the job (but not until I passed a brief spelling and grammar test), and I had great fun torturing the students with difficult questions during their interviews (they were quite lucky spelling and grammar didn't count).

After returning to KK on Sunday afternoon, I had to leave again on Monday for Lao since my visa was expiring. Now all I needed to do to renew my visa for 30 days was leave the country, so we drove two hours up to Lao, I crossed the border (paid my 30 US dollars), went to the bathroom, and turned around and came right back to Thailand. Legal again!

Tuesday night I again left KK, this time for Bangkok where I needed to complete two days of training before I would be "qualified" for my new job. Of course all expenses were taken care of by the company, including the nice one-hour flight each direction (instead of the steamy eight-hour bus) and a hotel/apartment that was much more elegant than my current abode. Training was about what I expected it would be (although I've signed a very serious privacy statement-so no details!!). I also let it slip that Wednesday was my birthday, and my new bosses were nice enough to take me and a few other company members out to dinner at a nice bar/restaurant where I was serenaded (in very good English) by the live band. Although it would have been much sweeter had Joe (or anyone I had known longer than 24 hours) been there, I can't complain too much.

Thursday night I returned to KK, and hopefully I'll be staying put for a while. Although with my new salary and paid vacation time, you can bet there will be more international traveling in the future.

Juice

There’s a great juice stall on campus with all kinds of fresh fruit and veggie juice. Even better they have a menu that’s mostly in English, although that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s easy to order. Today I wanted a blend of watermelon and ginger, and it took everything I had to go up to the juice lady and say “Sex me up, please!” with a straight face. (For those of you that are a little slow, that was the name of the beverage blend, not a proposition.) Now I just have to wonder does she know what I’m really saying and the drinks have crazy names for her entertainment, or did she just copy them from somewhere else (and if so, where)?

Thai Transport

I’ve been living in Thailand for three weeks now, and I’m always vacillating between sensations of complete normalcy and waves of disbelief. One thing that is very different here for sure is getting from one place to another. In the U.S. it was one of two options: feet or car (or bicycle when Joe was persuasive). Here there is a whole new set of possibilities.

Instead of busses there are songthaews (literally means “two rows”), which are converted pickup trucks that run on (semi) regular routs at (semi) regular hours. Two benches are built into the inside edges of the truck bed and a metal frame and roof offer cover from the elements and some protection against falling out. There are official songthaew stops, but when you see the one you want you can always just wave and it will come over and pick you up. When you arrive at your destination you buzz the driver, hop out the back, and pay 10 bhat (about 30 cents). The only downside to songthaews are the fact that they only run about an hour after dark, which usually means you can get where you want to go, you just can’t get home.

Songthaews might sound slightly dangerous, but not when you consider the alternative: the tuk-tuk (named after the sound the motorcycle engine makes). Tuk-tuks are to tricycles what motorbikes are to bicycles: one wheel in the front, two in the back. Tuk-tuks are a for-hire type of transportation, and are basically a taxi-alternative in big cities like Bangkok. Here in Khon Kaen they take preference over the samlor (same thing but with a bicycle instead of a motorbike). Fares are negotiable, and once a price is decided on you just hop in the back and hold on for dear life because since tuk-tuk drivers are paid only the amount agreed upon, they want to get you to your destination as fast as possible in order to fit in as many rides as they can. They will run anyone off the road and I would suspect if they arrived with only 50% of their passengers they would still expect 100% of the fare.

As tuk-tuks are difficult to find on/near campus (where we live) and songthaews are slow and sometimes irregular, most students (and Joe and I) get around by motorbike. Our motorbike is very reliable—once Joe gets it started. It’s a rented manual and usually it takes Joe about five tries before she doesn’t stall and I can hop on the back and we’re on our way. It’s been a little better since last week when Joe discovered a little switch that said “start”. This might be forgivable if it was written in Thai, but since it wasn’t, the boy has no excuse. One thing I can say is that Joe’s a very safe driver, and we always wear our way-too-cute-for-words matching helmets (unlike a lot of Thais who don’t like to mess up their hair-they just let the helmet dangle from the handle bars!). One thing that is dangerous on a motorbike is me in my work clothes. Skirts are pretty much mandatory for work, and I learned the hard way that short skirts and riding on the back of a bike is a little more Jordan then Khon Kaen is ready for.

I’d like to post some pictures of these various vehicles, but the internet at KKU has been especially slow lately (15 minutes or more to load a page). As soon as I can figure out how to reasonably post pictures, I will.

Beijing 13

I've officially been in Thailand for almost exactly a week now, but I didn't arrive without several minor diversions along the way. The first leg of my journey from Chicago to New York was quite smooth, with only a minor sense of foreboding as I handed my bags (RE: all of my worldly possessions) over to the baggage handlers. Once I arrived at JFK, I raced through the airport, knowing that an hour was enough time to make a connection, but just barely. I arrived at the Air China desk only slightly flushed to discover that my plane would be delayed two hours. This would leave me a twenty minute layover, basically guaranteeing that I would miss my connection from Beijing to Bangkok. I did try in vain to reason with several Air China representatives (I was still naive to Air China's reputation), but they insisted there would be no problem with me making the connection.
After grabbing a quick bite I settled down comfortably near the Air China terminal to wait. After an hour and forty-five minutes and no sign of an airplane at our gate, I had a feeling the delay might have been extended, but there was no way to know for sure since Air China feels no need to make announcements in any language other than Mandarin, even though a large majority of the Chinese people (not to mention the 15-20 non-Chinese passengers) don't understand Mandarin at all. After a whopping 3 and a half hour wait and much confusion, I was off in the air, finally on my way to the correct continent, if not my exact destination.
Air China in the air turned out to be no better than grounded Air China. Luckily, when I was not in the bathroom barfing up what must have been an "expired" vegetarian meal they gave me, I slept peacefully knowing there was nothing that I could do now about missing my connection. If I had waited 10 weeks to see Joe, I could wait one more day.
As we landed on the snowy tarmac after 13 hours in the air it occurred to me that it must not be summer in Beijing, and that maybe my tank top and linen/cotton cardigan just might not be enough in this type of weather. The plane appeared to stop in the middle of nowhere, only one random guy riding his bike through the snow, and we all disembarked, not sure what we were waiting for. As we shivered (some decidedly more than others) those of us for whom Beijing was not our destination discovered that we were all going to Thailand, and decided that it would be best to stick together. A bus finally came five to ten minutes later, gathered us from our confusion, and delivered us into the hands of some very un-reassuring Air China employees.
After taking all of our tickets an putting stickers on them, then peeling the stickers off, then leading us through the (cigarette) smokey deserted customs, and finally to the baggage claim, I discovered that BOTH of my bags were missing. Luckily, I was not alone as one other downtrodden soul discovered that his two bags were also not amongst those randomly grouped next to the carousel. After briefly meeting with the lost baggage personnel, it was discovered that our baggage was not lost, it was simply in the lost baggage room, waiting for us!
Unfortunately, Mr. Downtrodden's bags were both there, but only one of mine was. The bag that did make it to Beijing was full of nothing but books and tampons; neither of which are readily available in Thailand, but are still far less important than my clothing, toiletries, and small computer accessories that no one would want to steal. I returned to file a lost baggage report, assuming that I would have to buy a whole new wardrobe in Thailand (this is me thinking positive).
Mr. Downtrodden and I rejoined our fellow travelers just in time to add ourselves to the list of those planning on taking the next flight to Bangkok in the morning on Thai Air and just in time to ring in the New Year. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I celebrated the coming of 2007 in a smokey, empty Beijing airport with twelve other weary wary travelers just trying to get to Thailand. After hanging out for about an hour while Air China got its act together, we were issued a ticket. No, that's not a typo, the thirteen of us were issued one ticket and when we protested we were told that it wasn't a problem, we just needed to stick together. Gotta love the communists. We were then again directed outside (brrrrr!!!) to wait for a bus (with no heat) to go to the Air China hotel (if they have enough stranded travelers to warrant their own hotel...).
The hotel was fine for the most part, although I did get a few minor glimpses into the Chinese culture. We were told to form into groups of four, and as all the other ladies were traveling with husbands or boyfriends, I ended up in a group with four other guys. I didn't really see a problem here, we had been talking all night, two of them I had even met at JFK before we took off, so I wasn't worried about any monkey business. The woman at the check in desk was appalled. For a second I though she might insist that I take my own room (jackpot!), but we assured her that the situation was ok, and we were comfortable with it, so we traded our passports for room keys and called it a night.
Before hitting the sack for a few hours, I decided to try and let Joe know when to expect me. When I inquired about using a computer, I was led down a hallway to a small locked room where an employee booted up an ancient computer. I could not read email for some reason, but I could write, although it was a little difficult with the employee standing right behind my shoulder, reading every word.
All of us were awoken the next morning at 4:45 am, apparently they bus everyone over at the same time, regardless of when their flight leaves. After that it was pretty much smooth sailing. From the second I stepped aboard the Thai Air flight, I could feel the difference in professionalism, and I knew I would arrive safely.
Although I landed with only my computer and many books and tampons, Joe was there and that made everything perfect. As for my baggage, it still took a week of phone calls to get it delivered to Bangkok and then flown to Khon Kaen where Joe and I had settled down into our tiny efficiency overlooking not one, but two seven-11s. Welcome to Thailand.