Wow.  I really took a serious hiatus from writing.  I apologize.

When you move to a foreign country and set up your life, you just tend to get in a routine and the daily activities become mundane.  I stop considering them as something that other people are interested in reading about.

I know I cut off the Japan trip at Osaka.  However, we did actually cut the trip short.

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I know that I haven’t quite finished talking about Japan yet, but I really wanted to write about the people who unknowingly sowed the seed in me to travel.

My Grammy and Grampy.

I know I could simply write them an email, but I wanted to share with others what they shared with me.

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OSAKA

The first thing that stood out to me was how different the people in Osaka looked from those in Kyoto and Tokyo.  They had more distinctive features and were more unique even amongst themselves.  They also queue up on the right side of the escalator instead of the left.

It seems as if the further you get from Tokyo, the more relaxed the people are.  Relaxed about walking and smoking.  Relaxed about street cleanliness.  Relaxed about jay-walking.  Although Osaka is only a short 15-minute jog on the shinkansen, it is quite different from Kyoto. Continue reading →

KYOTO

I am really glad that we ended up spending the largest chunk of time in Kyoto.  I enjoyed it far better than Tokyo.  I joked to Spencer before we left for Kyoto that perhaps it would be Bizarro Tokyo (since the letters can rearrange to make ‘Tokyo’ and it used to be the capital).  He didn’t think it was that funny.

The vibe in Kyoto was much more laid back.  Not Thailand-level laid back.  This is still Japan, after all.  But, more people biking around, fewer business suits, and less urgency.  More people meandering rather than rushing.  More strolling conversation than silent cell phone surfing.  More sitting down to eat rather than grabbing a quick bite.

And the shopping…

But I will get to that.

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TOKYO

I won’t bore anyone with the details of traveling from The States to Japan.  It was completely uneventful.  No disaster movie turbulence.  No unexpected delays.  No regurgitation.

After having laid-over in Narita airport on half a dozen occasions, I finally actually entered the country and got a Japan stamp in my passport.  Another item crossed off the bucket list.

Japan…is…amazing. Continue reading →

After successfully surviving my first school year in Thailand, it came time for me to start my well-deserved holiday.  Which began with a whole lot of tedious travel…

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Over the last nine months, I feel that I have learned a thing or two about Thailand, life, and myself.  I would like to share some of those revelations with you now.

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Year of the Snake came in with a bang.  Well, many bangs actually.  Seems that a never ending volley of firecrackers is the approved method of celebrating Chinese New Year. Continue reading →

For eight months I have relied on hired cars, public transportation, and the kindness of friends (and sometimes strangers) to get me to and from school and other destinations in Songkhla and Hat Yai.

For the round trip of most of the entire first term, I took a car, two motorbike taxis, and a mini bus.  Starting in late September, I cut out the car, added an additional motorbike taxi, mini bus, and tuk-tuk in the morning, and swapped one of the afternoon taxis for a ride from Rafik (a fellow teacher).  In December, I started going to the gym.  Add another motorbike taxi to get from the gym to the mini bus.

The public transportation between Hat Yai and Songkhla ends at 8:00 pm.  Therefore, if I want to spend time with friends in Hat Yai, I have a curfew of 7:30 pm or I have to take a “metered” taxi home at a cost of 500 baht.  That’s $15.  To put that in perspective, my usual round trip with two motorbike taxis, two mini buses, and a tuk-tuk costs only 110 baht (just shy of $4).  And although the taxi has a meter, they WILL NOT turn it on for you at night.  They know that you have no other alternative and won’t drive you for anything other than flat rate.

Additionally, being a slave to public transportation has impaired my photography and leisure activities.  If I pass a sight that I want to shoot or a place I would like to shop or investigate, tough luck.  I can’t tell the mini bus to stop.  I could stop the motorbike taxi but it would cost me more money just for a quick look-see.  And I don’t feel right asking a friend to drive me around on a photo excursion.

The upshot of riding on so many buses is that I have had the opportunity to read 14 novels in the last three months… Continue reading →

Anyone ever tried taking a trip with a large group of Thais?  Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?  Well, let me tell you something.  It is a confusing process.

The school generously decided to do a two-day team building trip to Trang and Nakhon Si Thamarat in December for Father’s Day.  All expenses paid.

Here’s how the plan went originally:

Meet at the school at 8:30 am on December 5^th.

Take a VIP bus.

Tour S-Tech College in Nakhon Si Thamarat that same day.

Go to dinner that evening.

Second day, go to Trang and have a relaxing day in the islands.

Return home.

Have another four days off.

Here’s how it ended up going: Continue reading →