Thailand... An Introduction...

LET'S SEE HERE.

On Christmas day I left for Thailand. I ran out of my apartment Friday morning amidst the trail of a hurried and messy Christmas week, leaving shards of wrapping paper, dirty clothes, and a coffee pot still containing coffee in my wake. I didn't have time to think about packing until 2 am Thursday night. Secret Santa, report cards, fighting with student loans, Christmas parties... I forgot I was even leaving Korea.

Wearing three pairs of socks, leggings, jeans, two tee-shirts, four tank tops, a sweater, a jacket, a hat, and a scarf, I waddled with Michelle to the bus stop where we met Erin and her boyfriend Matt. Michelle and Erin teach here as well and Matt is visiting. After a couple hours we set foot in the Incheon airport, where only months before I entered disoriented and jet-lagged, completely clueless about Korea, never before having a full time job, my summer tan still fully intact. I was now pale, burnt out, and ready to leave the arctic tundra for a bit.

The plane food was phenomenal. Not just because I like plane food (which I do), but because it wasn't kimchi or Ramen noodles or tofu soup. The chicken mixed in vegetables and some sort of mysterious gravy might as well have been filet mignon. I enjoyed it that much.

The trip was going all-too-perfect, and luckily China solved that. After checking us through immigration, they stole all the passports of 20-somethings going to Thailand, and I stood in a herd of frustrated, confused English teachers. We waited for about twenty minutes before an official came out, holding a stack of passports and painstakingly calling out our names. This was a dark and unnoticed foreshadowing of the way China works. I got my passport back (I'm sure there are a few copies of it somewhere on the black market now) and went on my way.

We finally arrived in Bangkok after another delicious plane meal and went to sleep in our hostel. Sleeping in shorts? Magical! Walking outside without wanting to die? Stupendous! NOT LIVING ALONE ANYMORE? Euphoric.

May I mention that was one of my favorite parts of this week. I fell asleep every night in mid-conversation. I can't wait to have that in my life again...

Bangkok is hot, dirty, and packed to the brim with amazing food. Everyone wants to cheat you. You can't believe anything. We took a boat down the canal to get a few streets down to see some temples. As soon as we walked up the stairs, a really nice man came up to us, took our map, circled things we should see, and told us to have a good day and walked away. "These people are so helpful!" I thought. Seconds later a tuk-tuk (kinda like a rickshaw?) pulled up and the man offered to take us to a bunch of places- for a $1. Turns out they worked to gether, and the tuk tuk kept asking to make "stops"- he wanted to bring us to factories and tailors and all kinds of places... because all the people are interconnected to sell things and make money. Genius! That was the last time we rode in a tuk-tuk.

Want a list of what I ate? Ok. Pad thai (about once a day- with chicken, seafood, tofu, shrimp), pineapple fried rice, green curry, red curry, spring rolls, spicy tuna salad, chicken and basil, coconut curry, ginger fried chicken, chicken and cashews, yogurt and granola with fruit, fresh fruit EVERY DAY (pineapple, mango, papaya, watermelon- they chop it up for you right on the street), banana crepes, barbeque...

After a day in Bangkok we left promptly at 8:30 for Ko Chang, an island east of Thailand.

I ate dinner, lunch, and breakfast on the beach every day. I slept in various forms of bungalos (sometimes erronously called resorts), draped myself with mosquito nets every night, doused myself with mosquito spray every day, laid in a hammock whenever I could, petted puppies and kittens, floated away on a raft, got a Thai massage, watched tattooed guys spin poles with fire flaming on either end...

Amazing. Thank you for all of your prayers I'll write more later. I returned straight to work today and I'm working 12 hours tomorrow. I'm working Saturday as well.

Happy New Year's!