A Little Work, A little Play, and Sad Goodbyes

Nick and I have had a fun, but mostly uneventful few weeks, save for an experience that left me with a sore backside, but we'll get to that later. We're loving Samui, however for reasons we don't need to delve into here, work has been a little scarce; my classes were canceled last week, which had only amounted to a meager 6 hours in the first place. Finally, I picked up another wimpy 3 hour shift this Saturday - $27 for two weeks is plenty of money right? Meanwhile, Nickly-pickly-pie has gained economic dominance by maintaining his hours at Rajabhat and taking on additional hours teaching hotel staff from around the island.
I accompanied Nick to Al's Resort to observe him teaching the Rajabhat-sponsored free hospitality English course, open to all interested hotel staff from Samui. On this day he was teaching a lesson on non-verbal communication. Interesting topic for an English course, right?

I had the pleasure of meeting with a Thai teacher from the University who was absolutely enamored by Nick's teaching abilities. How could you not be engaged with such a dynamic teacher?

Nick broke the 45 adults students into 6 groups and they had to put on a skit demonstrating one of the forms of non-verbal communication (facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, proximity, tone, posture) and the rest of the groups had to guess which form was being displayed. They were quite humorous.






It was a classy little affair, complete with fine linens and mineral water served in crystal ware. A family style Thai lunch was served before class and during the break students received a snack of coffee, fruit and pastries. Chocolate croissant? Yes, please!








Dan and Nancy, our buddies we met in Laos, finished their travels of southern Laos and Cambodia and decided to wrap up their 6+ months of travel in the Gulf of Thailand. So, upon the completion of Nick's lesson, we hopped on the moped and scooted on down to Lamai where we met up with Dancy for a Friday night out.

We were happy to be back in Lamai for some more scrum-diddly-umptios Indian food.



Then it was off to Sham-ROCK, an Irish pub in Lamai, featuring a cover band that plays rock music from America and other western countries. They also play a smashing version of the Thai reggae song, "Doo Ter Tum", which has been a hit for the past 10 years or so. This was the best cover band we've seen in Thailand, actually, probably anywhere.






Here's a short video of the cover band rockin' out to "Zombie."


Be sure to check out the "Doo Ter Tum" song here, sung by the original band Job 2 Do.




Dan and Nancy requested "Doo Ter Tum" because they were appalled that Nick and I hadn't heard it. Oh, and because they absolutely love it. As you now know from listening to the video above, it is a catchy, dance-inspiring tune and should be listened to with caution, lest you break into an uncontrollable seated jig.

Our waitress - who can be seen wearing green in the background of this photo - was an absolute crack up. She definitely got on well with Dan. At one point in the evening he busted out his imaginary fishing rod, and she let him reel her in from the opposite end of the bar, resulting in her running toward our table erratically, flailing her arms, appearing as though she was being, well, reeled in uncontrollably.

We opted to rent a beachfront bungalow in Lamai for the night, in loo of the 40 minute motorbike trip back to our house in Maenam. When Dancy told us they were able to get an ocean front A-frame bungalow for just 12 buckaroos a night, of course we said, "sign us up!" If you are ever in Samui on a tight budget one of these little beauties could be yours.






Isn't it cute?
















There are a few catches though. It's literally just an A-frame thatch bungalow on the beach with two beds and a fan, which means:

1. It's hot.
2. You "get" to use a shared bathroom.
3. There's not much space, so if you have luggage - thankfully we didn't - you will need to sleep next to it, which is actually perfect because
4. The walls are paper thin. If someone really wanted in it wouldn't be much of a hassle other other than the difficulty of being inconspicuous. The thin walls also pose a problem at around 5am when the accommodation staff begins work and carries out a 4 hour conversation right outside your bungalow.
5. Finally, check out time is 10am and you should expect a knock on the door promptly at 9:30 reminding you of such.

The view from the open door is quite nice though. The room served its purpose; we had a fun, worry-free time out in Lamai with our friends.











We then headed back to Maenam, down our dirt road, and into our nice, quiet, air-conditioned house.

Saturday afternoon brought a beautiful kayaking excursion along the shore with stunning views of both Koh Samui and Koh Phangnan. We were accompanied by our commando of a friend Simon who, during the paddle back to the beach, stopped to smoke a cigarette. We thought we'd paddle as hard as we could for a few minutes to try to create a nice gap, as we had been feeling guilty that we were slowing him down most of the afternoon. He must have been stopped for five to ten minutes but he still managed to catch up to us at an shocking rate.

We've been trying to get back into a healthy exercise routine. I've gone on a couple of embarrassingly short jogs, while Nick has been doing some hard-core workouts with Simon including weights and Muay Thai fighting training. Nick likes to note that Simon says he should be "ring ready" in about a month because he's such a natural. Show off.

On another note, this little roadside restaurant is graced with our presence a few times a week for lunch. It features delicious Thai dishes for around $1.20 each. We learned the hard way to get a table further from the street in order to avoid the pungent smells from the gutter.








Also a little random is my view from the back of a songthaew. I thought I'd let you see what I see on my way to the supermarket or when riding to work instead hoofing it in avoidance of sweat or rain. It's a pick up truck with benches and a roof in the bed. You tell the driver your destination, ask how much, and then agree to a price that is far more than Thai people pay. Curse this white skin!





Originally we intended take a ferry over to Koh Phangnan on September 23 to accompany Dan and Nancy to the full moon party. If you remember from an earlier post, the full moon party entails a beach full of 30,000 moon crazed people dancing and carrying on, a scene we were happy to avoid as a solitary couple. We thought it might actually be fun with some friends, but had to opt out due to financial and work constraints, so instead we met up with Nancy and Dan in Chewang before they left Samui.
Other than the pricey food and beverages, Chewang offers a bevy of drunken shirtless wonders. These particular Australian lads were quite attracted to the bright lights of the stage, where an unsuspecting cover band lost some territory. Hmm... What is he doing?








Oh, I see. He's craning his neck to read the lyrics for a song he doesn't know so he can push his way in front of the band member's microphone and sing instead of her. Totally reasonable.

I wish I could say that this is the first or the last time that members of this Aussie posse graced the stage that evening.




We finally had to leave out of shear embarrassment for our white skinned counterparts. On route to the Green Mango for some dancing, we passed by a lovely Thai woman holding this sign. Of course Nick had to have a picture with it. For our facebook friends we'll post a picture of the back of this sign, which is what got our attention in first place, but is wholly inappropriate for the blog.




Just two nights before the actual full moon and the full moon party which we knew we'd miss, we took the opportunity to celebrate the lunar festivities with a good howl.









And then we boogied. Sadly, this might be the last time we see our friends for quite some time. We'll miss you guys!











Instead of embarking on a ferry trip, Nick was finishing up his course at Rajabhat, where only two students showed up for his last lesson. :( Nick will really miss his university students; they were a blast to teach.







Yesterday I finally received a few teaching hours of my own! My seven students were ages 10-15, one of whom included my boss's daughter - yikes!











This is the view from the third floor classroom of the school. It's not disappointing.











We're not sure what work has in store for us over the next couple of weeks. There are rumors of hotel work for Nick and October English camp (like summer camp) for me, but who knows? We're going to use some of our spare time to do some writing, reading, relaxing, sight seeing, calisthenics, and swimming.

Speaking of swimming, I'm supposed to tell the story of why I'm writing this with a sore tushy, shoulder and wrist but Nick tells it better so here's a little cut-n-paste action:

"A wayward beetle became trapped in our pool. Ty straight up David Hasslehoffed herself right into the drink to save his nasty little life. Upon scooping him out of the pool and walking him to his sanctuary of shrubbery, Ty took a spill on the slippery pool-side tile and cranked her neck, twisted her wrist, and bruised her buttocks. I hope he's grateful; he probably croaked shortly thereafter anyway, but I didn't have the heart to mention it after all the sacrifice that went into the rescue."

So painful! I'm sure it looked hilarious. Dre and Joe, it wasn't much unlike the fall off the bucket while we were building the deck; one second I was vertical, the next I was flattened and laughing/crying at my circumstance. I hope I can avoid another falling spree like that of 2007. Elephant...pool...it's not looking good.

As always hugs, misses and kisses,

Ty and Nick

SNAP!

If you have a couple minutes this is worth the read.

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2009/01/11/120-taking-a-year-off/

First Weeks in Samui

So as I mentioned in the last post, I've been doing some teaching at the college.

Thai's are fun to teach. They're extremely communal and love to laugh together, work together and help one another out whenever possible. Even at the college level we do a lot of skits, acting, and games. We laugh a lot.

On the right here is a pic of my classroom at Rajabhat University sans students (later I'll get some photos of them to add, I promise). It's actually a pretty posh place with projectors and cushy seats that remind me of a fancy airline or something. So I feel like "I'm kind of a big deal" (Anchorman).

This is my desk; as you can see it's very personalized complete with the junkiest, most likely-t0-shatter-in-the-event-of-a-head-on-collision helmet you've ever seen in your life. Since then I've bought a proper one that looks a little overkill for a scooter, but hey, it just might save my life you know? Those scooters still scare the heck out of us by the way. Every day there's another funeral at a local temple from some bike accident or another (1.5 deaths a week on average which is pretty crazy for a road that only loops 50 kilometers). Anyway, sorry to be all maudlin and all, but they just freak me out.

The main building in the University is a standard square with five levels, courtyards, cafeterias and the like. It's quite pretty.

If you're wondering about Ty's working digs, she will take some pictures soon hopefully. She's working with two different groups. At first she was subbing for the little tykes which were cute little 5-year-old Thai kids (one just straight up barfed all over his nap mat; Ty said it was just like that kid on Southpark and it sounded like it was pretty projectile too which added a chunk (pun intended) of interest to the whole matter. Her other group is adults; she teaches anywhere between 1 and 3 adults private lessons which she seems to enjoy quite a lot.

When we're not teaching, we're playing of course. As I alluded to above, the scooters scare the dickens our of Ty and I but they are a necessary evil. A taxi to my college costs about 12 bucks each ways (I make about 22 bucks a lesson which would have me paying 2 bucks to work. I'm no mathmagician or anything but I think I'm coming out behind on that one. Anyway, so we're renting this hot pink little bike by the month. Damn it's powerful (tops out around 80 Kilometers an hour or so which is plenty fast if you ask me).

One person who has effectively eased some of our bike anxiety is our new neighbor, Simon. Because of Simon we've had the chance to practice a lot lately. As of two days ago, Ty refused to ride on the back of my bike because having another person on the back jacks up the balance and makes these puppies much more likely to tip and dip - gulp. Shortly after we got to our new place though, our neighbor Simon took us under his wing and organized a small calvary of local teachers for a tour around the entire Island which doubled as an orientation building event and as a time to get used to the bikes. The next pictures are some of the sights Simon took us to; the idea was he'd just point them out and then we can come back on our own time and explore if we dug em. This is his favorite secluded beach for swimming.

Ty and I love swinging on these big swings that occasionally can be found hanging from the tops of coconut trees. Tim and Kelly Borsheim like to swing too by the way. Ask them about it.

Somewhere along this motorbike excursion I saw a Papaya Salad hut and had to photograph it. This is my latest culinary love - consider it a variation of Ty's Roti obsession. I love them. Fresh unripe Papaya, lemon, chile and a lot of other goodies. Yum.

This is Simon. He's my good natured neighbor that I talked about above. He's the English bloke who arranged this seven hour long tour for us newbies out of the kindness of his heart. Ty and I enjoy Simon's company quite a bit as he's kind and funny as hell which is a plus in our books (we have different books). I've been working out with him lately too as he's got a solid repertoire of some pretty kick-butt Muay Thai knowledge that he's been teaching me.

Along the way, we stopped at a super touristy waterfall area. Because it's only at the beginning of the wet season, it left a little to be desired in the way of overall H2O (that's a scientific term for water for any layman reading) output. Apparently the thing flows like Niagra after the rainy season.

Ty lookin' all pretty (and precisely nineteen shades darker than melanin deprived me) in front of the falls.

So after the water fall, we arrived at this famous temple that harbors the under-composed body of this mummified monk who predicted his own death (read about it below if you're curious) crazy stuff.

I got in big-time trouble for taking this picture; apparently the monk is not to be photographed, but hey, it's not like I could give it back so I thought the least I could do was throw it on the blog. Check out those shades. It's like Siddhartha and Rhianna had an illegitimate.

If you rub the center knob in the middle of this gong long enough and with enough skill you can produce an eerie elongated ring (think wet fingers around crystal wine goblets but on audio steroids). If you get the thing to hum, it's supposed to be super auspicious. The kid on the right showed me how to do it eleven times; I finally figured it out baby which is great because I need all the luck I can get knockin' around on the death-mobiles.

Careful, he bite.

We stopped here for a cool inland photo of Samui.

We also stopped at this funky little artistic place called "Magic Garden" which is filled with sculptures and other various weird things that we couldn't resist posing with. It seemed funnier at the time. I'm not going to comment on the next photo series, but you'll get the idea...

Okay, I lied, I love this one and you should too.

Slappin the bass man! Big time!

We started motorbiking at 11 in the morn and we didn't get back to Mea Nam until after sunset! I was so tired mentally from trying not to die that I almost didn't enjoy the views. Shew! Caught this one just in time.

After our epic bikeride we got cleaned up and WALKED out to this place called the "Three Legged Dog Bar" which is an establishment literally named after Mesa, the resident adopted three legged dog. Ty, as usual, immediately fell in love with him - hence all the glimmering patterns of elation dancing across her face.

Come here Mesa! I'll give you a cookie if you high five me with one of your three awesome legs!

Priceless.

Okay, so here comes, ostensibly, a bit of a non-sequitor, but I think it's fitting. Shortly before Mesa high-fived Ty, I felt compelled to dress up like a giant bunny and do some impromptu break dancing along the street and inside the bar. If your curious, I wasn't drunk at all which scared the Thais even more. Instead, I was delirious from the amount of mental focus it takes to negotiate the windy curves of Samui on a scooter all day so in short, this is how I blew off steam. The thai people think I'm officially "Ting Tong" (crazy) and I don't blame them. On a brighter side,the owner of the bar is thinking of using the Youtube video for his marketing campaign. "Hare of the Three Legged Dog" get it?

View them at your own risk.

We miss everyone. If you're sick of my writing, I am too. Ty will do the next post and tell you all about her take on this whole crazy life we're living.

Muchas Amor,

Nick and Ty