boat's bombs...
Well here he is... I can't figure out how to rotate the picture. Sorry. Tilt your head!
Hello Everyone,
Now, I know you have been hearing all the news about the bangkok bombings, and you were really concerned about my safety. Well I am here to tell you a story about the closest thing to a bomb that I have encountered. I really wanted to eternalize this story which is why I'm writing it down.
So the other day, after lunch, Boat (my student) came into my classroom. I asked him what he did at recess. "I was playing with bombs Miss Crystal."
I replied in absolute alarm, "WHAT?!? What do you mean you were playing with bombs?"
He assures me, "Don't worry. They are just little bombs. They explode when they get wet."
Now I am actually concerned. "Where did you see them?"
"Behind school. Just little ones."
My class was about to begin so I called the principal over and told him what Boat was saying. The principal went with Boat to check it out.
Boat came back to class a few minutes later holding the "bomb." It was a tiny plant, that when you push it the little seeds pop out of it. Ha ha! How's that for language barriers!
Another cute story while I'm bragging about my adorable children...
My little girl Gao was walking out of class today with a rose hanging out of her bag. I asked her where she got it and she said a boy gave it to her. Then I looked over at Nicky and he said, "I gave her the flower miss Crystal."
I reply, "oh yeah? Why?"
"Because I love her!" was his doe eyed reply. Classic.
I love this class... they may be a thorn in my side, but I wouldn't trade them for anything!
Miss you all!
nudie bar...
Hi Everyone!
Sorry it has been so long since I have updated. I've been pretty busy... and frankly, my life just isn't that exciting. This January has been fun... but I've kinda stopped being a perpetual tourist and started just living in Bangkok. It's actually kinda nice, I haven't even been to a beach yet.
But alas, I promised I would report on my experiences in Pattaya, so here I go. The owner of our school decided to take all the staff on a trip to the closet beach town. She put us up in this really awesome hotel, and took us out to dinner and to this crazy elephant show. It was actually ridiculously generous. The lady won't buy me chart paper, but apparently doesn't mind shelling out serious dough for this trip but whatever, I'm not bitter.
Anyway, Jeff, Lisa, Emily, Daniel and I decided to drive down on the Friday night for that weekend to check out the night life in Pattaya. This city in infamous for being the prostitution capital of Thailand. A reputation that it definitely upholds. The whole evening was kind of a disaster. On the drive there we got stuck in ridiculous traffic, and it was crazy crazy hot! So we got out of the car, and realized that their was something dripping from under the hood of the truck. A bunch of Thai guys came and tried to help us, but no one really knew what the problem was. Luckily it all worked out. Traffic moved, we got to a mechanic... but still kinda sucky.
Then the hotel that we booked didn't have rooms when we got there, so we had to go down the street to a different hotel. At this hotel, we had to deal with the rudest Thai lady that I have encountered so far. And the room we got was kinda sketch and I had to sleep on the floor because Jeff, Lisa and I were all sharing a room and the beds were singles. Money well spent.
So then we went down to "Walking Street", nope not just a nickname... there is actually a neon sign hovering above the entrance way to this street. Basically this street is like a night market for really dirty men who are shopping for thai women. Literally. I really wish I was being dramatic. The roads were lined with scantily clad women trying to entice you into their bar, many advertising that evenings ping pong show. I won't elaborate to much on what that means, and proudly, I have not been in the audience for one of these events.. but basically it's naked women firing ping pongs out in to the crowd from various holes in their body. Enough said right?
The street also has roadside bars, where you can get beer, wine, whisky, or the dozen ladies that are sitting behind the counter. I'm trying to write this post with a wee bit of humour, but I was actually extremely uncomfortable and outraged the whole night.
We ended up at a legit, non-nude restaurant to discuss the evenings plans and grab a bite to eat. I said I would go out clubbing, or I would sit at a pub, or I would walk the streets, I just really didn't want to go to a nudie bar. So you can guess what we did. That's right, in I go to a nudie bar... awesome. Everyone tried to convince me that it was part of the experience, and it would "interesting." I was not convinced, but I wasn't about to stand in the street with all those dirty men by myself, so in I went.
Basically, there were all these girls on stage, looking really sad. They were either without clothing, or wearing teeny bikini's with the triangle part pulled to the side to expose themselves. And if that isn't disturbing enough - they all had tags on them, like cattle. So if I guy was interested in the girl, he would request her number, and she would come and sit with him, and kiss him, and touch him, and then he would pay like 10 dollars to take her home. Ugh.
Those of you who know me well, knows that I am not very good at subtle facial expressions. I must have spent the whole night with my jaw, literally dropped. Anyway, I guess this guy noticed... and he came up to me, and started chatting with me about the whole scene. He told me he was married and faithful to his wife back home in the states, and his friends were into this whole scene. Later that night I saw him at a club we went to making out with this Thai girl. Boys are gross.
So we left that gross bar, and went to a legit one with this live thai band singing English songs with such crazy mispronunciations that it was hard to tell what the songs were. Downfall was pricey beer... so we unfortunately moved on to another nudie bar, with promises of better priced beer. This bar was even worst than the first one... because the women looked like they were in really rough shape. They had scars, and didn't ever smile, and their wardrobe, though minimal was very tattered. We didn't stay to long before we headed to a dance club. The club would have been a pretty sweet scene if it weren't for the kind of crowd that Pattaya attracts. As a result, Emily, Lisa and I got pretty bored. Lisa headed back to the hotel, and Emily and I walked around the street. Then we went back to the club for a bit and decided we would leave the boys and head back ourselves. YUCK overall for the whole experience.
I guess I could say I'm glad I went because it left me with no desire whatsoever to go back. Now I know nudie bars are not for me.
The rest of the weekend was pretty fun. A bunch of other staff came down, we left the dirty part of town, and went the this great hotel with an amazing pool, got stuck in a rain storm, played some cards... good times were had. This made me happy cause if all I had was the smut, I would have felt pretty let down.
Anyway - things with me now are going pretty well. I'm really getting into the teaching groove. I have a few new students that are pretty nice additions to the class, and I'm really getting used to Bangkok living.
Now I'm just looking forward to Mom coming and seeing what this gig is all about.
Sorry for the lack of pictures. Shockingly, I did not want to Kodak my Pattaya moments.
EMAILS MAKE ME SMILE!
Love.
cambodia... part 2
Hello all -
So I am FINALLY on my last installment of my october with me papa. This post is dedicated to the wonderful children of Cambodia. Now I have already spoken of the spectacular temples that puts Cambodia on the map for housing one of the 7 wonders of the world... but with that beauty comes a war ravaged, poverty stricken country.
When we rolled up at the temples in our Lexus we were bombarded my children selling post cards, books, scarves, knick knacks, and pretty much anything they can get a tourist to buy. I think that the most troubling part for me, was not that the kids had to sell these goods to feed their families, but that they were trained to pull on the heart strings of the tourists.
These children would ask where I was from and I would say Canada and they would say, "Canada, capital Ottawa, speak two languages English and french, etc" They could spell off trivia from any western country to impress the tourists. There was a 2 year old that could count to 10 in about fifteen different languages.
There are many reactions to these children, some tourists are sensitive and just say no to everyone politely, some just get pushed to the extreme and start to get mean. One couple I saw actually had a great response, they wouldn't buy anything from the kids, but they carried around a bag of food to give to the starving children. I think that is what I will do next time. Meanwhile, here I am rolling around in a Lexus telling kids that I couldn't afford their 1 dollar scarf. I just started asking them questions about school and stuff to try to change the subject. They were really sweet children.
Their was one really challenging moment for me. Dad and I were wandering through the market, and a little boy, maybe six years old, carrying a newborn baby. He asked me to buy some milk for his baby brother, I agreed. He took me to this shop, and I bought him a big can of milk powder. Then, this other girl with her baby brother saw that I bought the boy some milk, so then she followed me around for 3 hours asking me to buy her some, she was crying, she was begging, she was yelling, she was pulling on my shirt. I couldn't handle it, it broke my heart. I wish I could have helped all of the kids but you really can't. No matter how many things you buy for people, there will always be someone else who needs something. It's really depressing and makes you feel hopeless and defeated.
Overall, this part of the Cambodian experience really made it for me. Yeah, the begging was really intense and really heart breaking but it also made me realize what a position of priveledge I live in, and how I am obligated to try to do what little I can to help even out the balance of power and money. These kids have next to nothing and still have smiles on their faces... it's so inspiring.
