Fallen in Love ( with seafood) :)

Sorry its been so long since I have wrote in this thing. I have fallen in love with seafood lately. I have been eating alot of it. It is delicious. I have been eating these things called prawn they are basically giant shrimp. I have also been eating lots of crab and friend rice. The fish are really good. You can get it fried are bbq. The Thais don't skin the fresh fish like we do. They cook the whole thing. I wasn't sure about it at first. But you get used to it.

I ended up buying a motorbike to get around. I thought I could handle just walking around. But it is just too much of hassle walking and taking taxis everywhere. Having a form of transportation will give me so much freedom to do whatever I want and to just take a cruise in the beautiful country side. I'm going to take my new bike up to a beach about 30 minutes to the north and chill out for the weekend. I have not been there yet. But I heard that it is really beautifull. With mountains right next to the beach.

I ended up not going to the the Island of Ko Pan Yan. I ended up going to a fishing village and exploring that instead. It was really neat. Alot of fish. I rented a long tail boat and took it out to the ocean. It was pretty neat. The fishermen have these huge nets that catch the fish.

As for teaching. It has been pretty fun. I have some wild students. Some of those students remind me when I was young. There are a few that just can't sit still in there desks. I don't blame them though, I still can't sit still in a desk! But it is very fun and rewarding. Many of the students were very shy at the beginning, but they are now opening up and starting to try English. Above is a picture of the students doing there National Anthem before school, and one of my students named male. He is a wild one, but he is very fun to teach.

Other then that, not much is new. We have about 5 days off at the beginning of July. I am planning on going to Krabi, trying my hand at some rock climbing and kayaking.

I am going to be completely honest with you guys! I am craving a big juicy T-bone and a baked potato so bad!

I will get new pictures up in the next couple days.

Martin

Getting Settled in

Hello all,

Not much new here. Just getting settled into teaching. It has been alot of fun and alot of work. The students have alot of energy. It is very hard to keep their attention. But alot of fun. Every day is different. They sure are fun and very cute. The Thais have a hard time pronouncing the r. So the students pronounce my name as Teacher Mountain.

The visa process that Thailand makes you go threw is a bunch of shit! But hopefully we get it figured out in the next week or two. If not, I will have to make a visa run down to Malaysia which is about six hours away. I guess it might not be so bad, Malaysia is suppose to be really beautiful.

There is around 100 farangs (westerners) in this city. I have gotten to know a number of them. Many people from the East and West coast and Canada. It has been quite nice because they are willing to give you hand in finding somewhere to go, or recommending somewhere to visit.

Last weekend I rented a motorbike. I had no Idea where I was going. I just took it out into the country and drove around. Basically got lost for 6 hours. It was really great. The locals out in the country are so nice. The countryside is so pretty. Mountains and rice everywhere. The trees are great too. I understand why people want to have motorcycles and drive around. It is so much fun. The roads out in the countryside are surprisingly really nice and paved.

I walk to work everyday it is about 2 miles. I'm really enjoying it. You get a feeling of what it might have been like at home 40 years ago. All these family owned businesses. Everyone says hello when you walk by. Everyone sells something different or makes something different. You don't just go to Walmart to get something, you get a real sense of community. (No huge Corporations yet :) )

Anyways everything is going very nice. Next weekend I am off to Ko Pangan. An island infamous for its full moon parties. As many as 10,000 people from all over the world partying on the beach. Thankfully I won't be there for the Full Moon this time. But I will be there for a little snorkeling and kayaking. One of the teachers from Canada I work with owns some bungalows on the beach. So it should be pretty nice and relaxing.

Love Martin