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