Gift (a girl from my uni) and another girl named Nai picked me up in a jeep around noon yesterday. In the back of the jeep was a a barrel full of water and some buckets. These are for throwing the water onto passerby as well as other cars. It took us over an hour to drive down the main road to the moat that surrounds the center of the city. Normally, it would take about 6 or 7 minutes to walk that distance, but the roads are completely packed. Later on we picked up a few more girls.
We spent the entire day drinking while driving around the city moat throwing water at other vehicles as well as the thousands and thousands of people who line the street. 3 days of insanity. You can't go outside if you don't want to get soaked. Its a lot of fun.
That night I went out to Warm Up, and it was more packed than I had ever seen it before. I only lasted about twenty minutes before I realized how ill I had become and I went home to try and sleep. Of course sleep never came until about 9 in the morning.
Three hours later the girls called me again saying they were picking me up in 20 minutes. That was tough, but this time there was a lot more girls in the jeep and the barrel was smaller to accomodate the extra people. Eight of us again circling the moat, getting hit with freezing cold water (people sell huge bricks of ice on the side of the street for the people in cars to drop in their buckets) one second while being blasted with warm filthy water from the moat the next. At the end of every day I am always quite ill, but its worth it. 17 died in the city last year from traffic accidents. This year's tally is 8 people dead and 59 injured.
I'm still covered in bruises from the day at the waterfall, where I slipped a few times on the moss. Of course, it didn't hurt at the time.
Friday, April 14, 2006
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Water Falls
Today was fun. It is the first unofficial day of the Songkrahn festival in Chiang Mai. The real holiday starts tomorrow, but people get excited and start early. I was invited to go to a waterfall in Mae Sa (Northern Thailand) with a girl whom I am kind of friends with. Actually, my relationship with her was rather strange and I once wrote a post in Japanese about some rather crazy things she did.
Anyways, today we went to this waterfall with everyone that works in her office. So it was me, 5 other guys and 3 girls. I had to go through the usual process of them seeing a white guy and assuming/wondering if he can speak any Thai. Of course I can fluently, but although I often seem to get tired of this almost daily situation, I am not sure if I really am. In fact, I'm fairly sure I like the attention. I got almost none (good att) during my childhood and I have been making up for it since.
So there was swimming and drinking and such. Sitting under waterfalls which bash the hell out of you, but feels like a great massage. I have a large bump on my forehead, a scrape on my arm near my elbow, cuts on my feet and torso. I suppose I wrestled with a mountain and came out ok, but scraped up a bit. The facial scar is probably the worst. It didn't hurt until I noticed it of course, but now it hurts when I touch it hehe.
Tomorrow the festival begins for real. A girl from my uni is picking me up around noon and we will circle the city moat throwing water at people. Should be fun!!
Anyways, today we went to this waterfall with everyone that works in her office. So it was me, 5 other guys and 3 girls. I had to go through the usual process of them seeing a white guy and assuming/wondering if he can speak any Thai. Of course I can fluently, but although I often seem to get tired of this almost daily situation, I am not sure if I really am. In fact, I'm fairly sure I like the attention. I got almost none (good att) during my childhood and I have been making up for it since.
So there was swimming and drinking and such. Sitting under waterfalls which bash the hell out of you, but feels like a great massage. I have a large bump on my forehead, a scrape on my arm near my elbow, cuts on my feet and torso. I suppose I wrestled with a mountain and came out ok, but scraped up a bit. The facial scar is probably the worst. It didn't hurt until I noticed it of course, but now it hurts when I touch it hehe.
Tomorrow the festival begins for real. A girl from my uni is picking me up around noon and we will circle the city moat throwing water at people. Should be fun!!
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
5 Nights in Bangkok
I was off from some of my schools, so I decided to skip work and the rest so I could get out of Chiang Mai for a few days and attempt to "relax." But of course, I hate relaxing most of the time because I see it as an awful waste of time. Really, my purpose there was to buy some books that I can't find in CM as well as some clothes because they tend to be cheaper in Bangkok and of greater variety.
I fared well on books I suppose. I bought Cell, Stephen King's new book which is about a plus that happens one afternoon turning everyone speaking on a mobile network at that moment into a zombie. Actually, it was really good. I couldn't stop reading it so I stayed up (not that I can sleep anyways) until 4:30 or so when I finished the book that I had just bought a few hours before. Aside from that, I bought a beginners book for Burmese. I had been helping a Burmese girl to fix up her papers - which means fix up her English so our American teacher can understand what she is trying to say, and in exchange she was only responsible for feeding me and teaching me a Burmese for a few minutes. It seemed easy enough so I figured I could passively study it and see what happens. Finally, I bought a Chinese book. It was pretty expensive, but I thought it offered some interesting information on the first 1500 characters or so.
As for clothes, I scoured the markets for hours and only came up with a handful of shirts I would wear. The most expensive of these being 180 baht (about $4.50 US). Good stuff.
Slightly more exiting than my shopping adventures, I did manage to get to RCA, a street in Bangkok with a number of high class clubs. I went to Route 66 with a girl I met through her older sister in CM. The older sister is one of the Nestle salesteam/distributors that I teach twice a month in CM. It was pretty fun. Not nearly as expensive as I expected it to be, though certainly not cheap in comparison to CM spots. The place we were at was huge. There was a huge hip-hop room and a nearly as big live Thai music room. We stayed in the hip-hop spot and it was pretty fun. The only downside was the smoke. It was just awful, I knew I'd be sick for at least all of the following day. Stop smoking you idiots! It makes me sick. That night, as fun as it was, had me coughing up crap for 2 days. I'm gonna die fairly young because the world isn't catching on fast enough to the problems of smoking. There probably isn't any saving of me now, as my lungs are almost as bad as they forced me to quit smoking 6 years ago, but I won't stop complaining and harrassing those that accost me with their noxious fumes.
The crazy water festival which officially begins on Wed will probably start tomorrow and there will be chaos in the streets. I will try to keep you informed on the good stuff that comes of that.
I fared well on books I suppose. I bought Cell, Stephen King's new book which is about a plus that happens one afternoon turning everyone speaking on a mobile network at that moment into a zombie. Actually, it was really good. I couldn't stop reading it so I stayed up (not that I can sleep anyways) until 4:30 or so when I finished the book that I had just bought a few hours before. Aside from that, I bought a beginners book for Burmese. I had been helping a Burmese girl to fix up her papers - which means fix up her English so our American teacher can understand what she is trying to say, and in exchange she was only responsible for feeding me and teaching me a Burmese for a few minutes. It seemed easy enough so I figured I could passively study it and see what happens. Finally, I bought a Chinese book. It was pretty expensive, but I thought it offered some interesting information on the first 1500 characters or so.
As for clothes, I scoured the markets for hours and only came up with a handful of shirts I would wear. The most expensive of these being 180 baht (about $4.50 US). Good stuff.
Slightly more exiting than my shopping adventures, I did manage to get to RCA, a street in Bangkok with a number of high class clubs. I went to Route 66 with a girl I met through her older sister in CM. The older sister is one of the Nestle salesteam/distributors that I teach twice a month in CM. It was pretty fun. Not nearly as expensive as I expected it to be, though certainly not cheap in comparison to CM spots. The place we were at was huge. There was a huge hip-hop room and a nearly as big live Thai music room. We stayed in the hip-hop spot and it was pretty fun. The only downside was the smoke. It was just awful, I knew I'd be sick for at least all of the following day. Stop smoking you idiots! It makes me sick. That night, as fun as it was, had me coughing up crap for 2 days. I'm gonna die fairly young because the world isn't catching on fast enough to the problems of smoking. There probably isn't any saving of me now, as my lungs are almost as bad as they forced me to quit smoking 6 years ago, but I won't stop complaining and harrassing those that accost me with their noxious fumes.
The crazy water festival which officially begins on Wed will probably start tomorrow and there will be chaos in the streets. I will try to keep you informed on the good stuff that comes of that.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
I Like Fruit - Cool Jobs
I'm suffering from a rather severe anxiety attack at the moment. Its been going on for the past 25 minutes or so. Its fading, but its still making it difficult for me to work on all these assignments I am trying to do today. My heart is beating very quickly, and I'm shaking a little bit. When I tell this story, I will say that it was caused by an apple, but really its more about the seratonin problems in my brain. Don't worry, that will make sense shortly.
Moving along, I go eat at this restaurant about 3 times a week that is very close to my house. The food there isn't really that great as far as Thailand goes and it is overpriced. However, I really dig the atmosphere there and so I go often. Its the only place I seem to be able to do any writing that doesn't involve drinking to allow myself to focus. I can't actually focus on anything for more than a minute or two, so I need lots of distractions to get anything done. Sometimes, I will study one language for a minute or two, then work on a paper, then switch to another language, back to the paper, then maybe a third language. Its the only way I can get anything done.
Recently, in this particular restaurant where I do most of my studying and homework, an extremely cute girl began working there. I wanted to talk to her for a long time, because she was always smiling and seemed really friendly, but I couldn't do it. Then one day, I just started talking to her. But I never asked for the number. I finally managed to ask for the number today. She hadn't been at work for a few days, and I thought she quit or something and I missed my opportunity. So since I saw her today, I realized I had to get the number. I asked her where she had been the past few days, as I hadn't seen her. So I said "เราสนใจรู้จักกัน ชอเบอร์ได้ไหม" which translates to something along the lines of "I want to know you, can I ask for your number?" And she said yes of course. They pretty much always do. I think I've only heard no twice in my three years here.
During this conversation the anxiety attack started. And it lasted up until about mid-way through the last paragraph or so. Thats about 40 minutes of anxiety. It sucks. Oh and her name is Apple.
As for cool jobs, I got one now and maybe more soon. I teach a varying number of 7 year old boys 10 hours a week now. When I say 'teach', I of course mean that a varying number of boys climb all over me for 2 hours 5 days a week. I literally have to tackle them to make them read stuff or answer questions. They are insane. But its fun.
I got a phone call today for a bi-weekly job that would involve me spending 3 hours with 3 people (presumably Thai). The interesting part is that we would go on outings for this. Shooting club, ATV racing, mini-golf, movies, etc. It pays fairly well and it sounds pretty cool, so I'll take it if the schedule works for me.
The other job is organizing an English camp for 150 kids. I wrote up a propsal schedule and I think they like that, but they didn't offer me enough money so I counter-offered and I'm still waiting to hear back. I probably won't get this one. I asked for a lot, because it would be a lot of work and my studies would suffer. But I really could use the money.
Moving along, I go eat at this restaurant about 3 times a week that is very close to my house. The food there isn't really that great as far as Thailand goes and it is overpriced. However, I really dig the atmosphere there and so I go often. Its the only place I seem to be able to do any writing that doesn't involve drinking to allow myself to focus. I can't actually focus on anything for more than a minute or two, so I need lots of distractions to get anything done. Sometimes, I will study one language for a minute or two, then work on a paper, then switch to another language, back to the paper, then maybe a third language. Its the only way I can get anything done.
Recently, in this particular restaurant where I do most of my studying and homework, an extremely cute girl began working there. I wanted to talk to her for a long time, because she was always smiling and seemed really friendly, but I couldn't do it. Then one day, I just started talking to her. But I never asked for the number. I finally managed to ask for the number today. She hadn't been at work for a few days, and I thought she quit or something and I missed my opportunity. So since I saw her today, I realized I had to get the number. I asked her where she had been the past few days, as I hadn't seen her. So I said "เราสนใจรู้จักกัน ชอเบอร์ได้ไหม" which translates to something along the lines of "I want to know you, can I ask for your number?" And she said yes of course. They pretty much always do. I think I've only heard no twice in my three years here.
During this conversation the anxiety attack started. And it lasted up until about mid-way through the last paragraph or so. Thats about 40 minutes of anxiety. It sucks. Oh and her name is Apple.
As for cool jobs, I got one now and maybe more soon. I teach a varying number of 7 year old boys 10 hours a week now. When I say 'teach', I of course mean that a varying number of boys climb all over me for 2 hours 5 days a week. I literally have to tackle them to make them read stuff or answer questions. They are insane. But its fun.
I got a phone call today for a bi-weekly job that would involve me spending 3 hours with 3 people (presumably Thai). The interesting part is that we would go on outings for this. Shooting club, ATV racing, mini-golf, movies, etc. It pays fairly well and it sounds pretty cool, so I'll take it if the schedule works for me.
The other job is organizing an English camp for 150 kids. I wrote up a propsal schedule and I think they like that, but they didn't offer me enough money so I counter-offered and I'm still waiting to hear back. I probably won't get this one. I asked for a lot, because it would be a lot of work and my studies would suffer. But I really could use the money.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Nothing Interesting Today
A number of crazy things have happened to me lately. Last weekend I threw a guy into a table and came mighty close to getting into a brawl. I also managed to get about 10 phone numbers from various girls. But I'm feeling lazy to go into those stories so I won't.
Last night, I went to Glass Onion with Wad and Gateaux for some wine and some whining. Its really interesting how much of my day is spent complaining or listening to someone else complain. I kind of like it actually. The biggest stressors in our lives here are trivial in comparison to the troubles I had in the states.
After Glass Onion, I headed over to meet two Chinese girls, Wei Ni and Gina, with whom I used to hang out a lot, but that kind of died out after a while. I never figured out why. Anyways, I was rather angry to find out that they called me just to ask me some dirt on this guy who recently began studying at my uni. That ended kind of badly for her when I told her to just call him and ask him rather than me. I barely know the guy. She went off to call him and came back crying and wanted to leave.
I have no classes next week so I hopefully can get some of my mid-term papers started. I gotta write a 8 minute informative speech, an article about a speech on women's rights that I am going to attend on Thursday and I have one exam on Monday.
The other day I gave a short introductory speech in my speech writing class and I felt no anxiety at all. This has never happened before. I had taken my usual 100mg of Zoloft late the day before, and I had only took 50mg the morning of the speech so I'm curious as to if 150mg is the magic number for me. Its a bit too expensive so I will just try it next time I need to do something that causes me anxiety.
Last night, I went to Glass Onion with Wad and Gateaux for some wine and some whining. Its really interesting how much of my day is spent complaining or listening to someone else complain. I kind of like it actually. The biggest stressors in our lives here are trivial in comparison to the troubles I had in the states.
After Glass Onion, I headed over to meet two Chinese girls, Wei Ni and Gina, with whom I used to hang out a lot, but that kind of died out after a while. I never figured out why. Anyways, I was rather angry to find out that they called me just to ask me some dirt on this guy who recently began studying at my uni. That ended kind of badly for her when I told her to just call him and ask him rather than me. I barely know the guy. She went off to call him and came back crying and wanted to leave.
I have no classes next week so I hopefully can get some of my mid-term papers started. I gotta write a 8 minute informative speech, an article about a speech on women's rights that I am going to attend on Thursday and I have one exam on Monday.
The other day I gave a short introductory speech in my speech writing class and I felt no anxiety at all. This has never happened before. I had taken my usual 100mg of Zoloft late the day before, and I had only took 50mg the morning of the speech so I'm curious as to if 150mg is the magic number for me. Its a bit too expensive so I will just try it next time I need to do something that causes me anxiety.
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