I must be becoming Thai. I used to rush home from school, strip off my clothes and jump in the pool. Maybe I am becoming a workaholic or something crazy like that, but I rush home, pull out my books and work for an hour or two on what I am doing next day. By the time I am finished it is a little dark, I go down to the pool, look once or twice and then go back upstairs. It's like probably 28 degrees but I find that too cold for swimming! There isn't even a shock to the body when you go in the pool, nor do you need a towel when you get out but it is too cold for me.
Last night I ate supper at the local street seller. I had my moo guy or whatever it is called....I point and they cook and then sat down at one of the plastic tables and chairs they set up. A Thai fellow told them to get me nam( water). I saw her use the same tin cup she used for everyone and give me tap water. Not wanting to be rude I drank it and I am still alive more than 24 hours later to talk about it.
I also have a swollen gland, nothing to do with the tap water. Like any Thai, I go to a pharmacy and ask her( or him) to prescribe some antiobiotic. She did, but I opted to take vitamin C and water to see if it gets better by itself.
I also look the correct way when crossing the street. Cars and motobikes drive on the opposite side of the street to what we are used to. At the beginning I looked the wrong way but now I run across busy streets instead of using overpasses and always look the correct way ( most of the time anyway). By the way, you have never seen a busy street anywhere in the world like Thailand, I promise you. It is a world class traffic jam 24/7. Police, streetcleaners and anyone else with common sense uses a mask at all times.
Let's see, how else am I becoming Thai? Certainly, I pay as little as possible for anything, I actually went shopping yesterday in a real supermarket and ate something I did not recognize. ( I am going back in a few minutes to take pictures which I hope to post in the next few days)
Now, if I could only learn the language!
Friday, August 31, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Flying Farangs Golf Tournament
I have been looking forward to this tournament for weeks. The Flying Farangs or "foreigners" are exp pat hockey players who do a charity golf tournament once a year in Pattaya.
I played with my school colleagues, who also happen to play hocky every week in Bangkok and are quite fanatic about hockey ( and beer drinking apparently!). They are a great bunch of guys and the tournament was enjoyable. As you can see from the pictures the golf course was situated in beautiful surroundings overlooking the ocean on one hole and surrounding by mountains and beautiful shrubs and flowers.
Luckily, I probably played the game of my life For some reason, I can't seem to drive it as far in Thailand as Ontario but they are all straight. I usually get to the green in 2 ish and yesterday my chipping and putting were exceptional. My score was an 80 which is great for me.
It can be intimidating when you have three friends watching your shots as well as 4 caddies and myriad others you can see in the pictures. They do tend to get distracting if you let them.
When I have been at other golf tournaments, the banquet is usually rubber chicken following by boring speeches and and prizes. This banquet was a few hours after the tournament ended in an upscale new resort in Pattaya. There were cocktails and went cloths when you arrived, beautiful bouquets of flowers and gorgeous furniture. Out by the ocean there were food stations with everything from roast beef to shushi to Thailand dishes. The breadsticks were out of this world, putting the lie to everything Daniel told me about not get any bread here.
Instead of speeches with winners, there was a theatre syle screen which announced the winners of the various prizes. I am sure I won a gross of condoms for being closest to the sand on the fifteenth hole but someone else won it ( by cheating I"m sure). As it turned out, it did him no good because they had put condoms in all of our prize packages and had run out. At most North American tournaments they usually put in a sleeve of balls. I got the condoms, some foods I do not recognize and a flotation device!
Today I am back in Bangkok writing this post. I am going to go swimming, and then maybe cook something( I bought a pot and pan Friday) but am not quite sure how to use them yet. I decided to put off the inevitable Friday night and bought a meal from the food vendor downstairs for about $1.00 but to-night may be the night. I have a fancy grocery across the street. I can buy some fish and vegetables and God knows what could happen. I also have a microwave but I am not sure it will do me much good. I am not sure where to plug it in and if I do figure that mystery out, the front door of instructions is written in Thai. My vocablulary is up to about 10 words now but my reading in Thai is still deficient.
The words I do know, by the way, no-one understands because I put the accent on the wrong syllable. When I say Green Valley golf club, for example, I could go for hours without the cab driver knowing what I am talking about. However, if I say Green Valleeeeeee there is no problem and I get there quickly.
Speak to you again next time. Tanks for visiting.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Koh Samet-Magical
Going to Koh Samet this week-end was absolutely magical. After the smog and busyness of Bangkok it was amazing getting out of the city. After driving down the Gulf of Thailand for about three hours with a group of teacher friends, we finally arrived at the dock and chartered a small motor boat to take us to Koh Samet. In about 20 minutes we pulled into a bay about 15 feet from shore. For some reason, I didn't know what to do or where we were but following the other 5 intrepid travellers I took off my shoes and waded into the water with our backbacks on our backs and courage in our hearts. Actually, it did not take that much courage considering the water was like a bathtub, the beach was deserted and the sun was shining. We had arrived at Tubtim resort, otherwise known as paradise.
In about three minutes we were shown our cabins, changed into our swimming trunks and down to the beach. I absolutely love to get in to bathtub water and when I get out drip dry in about 5 seconds or less. It was absolutely wonderful. Actually, it tookme about one full day to get into a relaxation mode. My cabin was 10 feet from the beach which certainly helped but after running around for the week it does take some time for your body to slow down. Today was a day off in Thailand because the Thais voted on their constitution yesterday and were given a day off to get back to their homes. After I write this I am going to buy a paper and find out how the vote went. You probably already know.
The island is a natural reserve so it is actually in a very natural setting with no sidewalks or amenities of any kind. The pictures of the manicured bushes etc in picasa that you will see are very atypical. All there is is one beach after another with resorts like we stayed in which was very cheap but very delightful to American style resorts with swimming pools and manicured lawns.
Can't wait to go back. Unfortunately, next week is already booked when I am back in Pattaya at a golf tournament with the flying farangs ( Bangkok ex pat hockey players) who will drink a lot of beer and raise money for various Thailand charities. I just hope I do not embarass them too much as I drink my water when they are drinking their beer.
One thing that is different about teaching in a different country is that you tend to make friends of your colleagues and travel together. Naturally you talk about school, curriculum, educational philosophy etc. I suspect this is a really good thing and helps the school move forward, but the jury is out on that.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
The Tourist
Tourist Days-August 9
We had the long week-end so I took the opportunity of doing touristy things For beginners, I went to Khao San road where all the tourists hang out. It was really interesting for a variety of reasons. I met a dot comer from San Francisco who was 32, just sold his business for lots of millions of dollars and was traveling the world. I also met an Irish guy who was funny and enthusiastic. When a 10 year old Thai boy came to sell us some flowers, he asked the Irish guy where he was from. When he said Ireland, the Thai boy told him to “kiss his ass” in Gaelic. The Irish guy laughed so hard he was almost on the floor. The boy then challenged a 6 foot 5 colleague of mine to a thumb wrestle and beat him. I’m sure this boy will grow up to be the leading business person in Thailand at some point in the not too distant future.
Since it was the Queens birthday, the Thais were celebrating Mother’s day. I have a picture you can view of a stage with a huge picture of the Queen and a Thai band playing their drums. At 6:30, probably the time she was born, we all stood,
lit a candle and then sung some patriotic songs ( it was not the national anthem which is played everyday at 6 am and 6pm. And everyone stops what they are doing. The ceremony was actually quite wonderful and the fireworks only made it move spectacular and moving.
I also bought a guidebook on Kho San road because the heavy book I shlepped with me from Canada on South East Asia had all of the pages torn out on Bangkok for some reason!. Apparently, according to the book, the number one tourist attraction in Thailand is the Grand Palace in Thailand. You will see the pictures I have are quite spectacular. Part of the palace ( not where the king lives incidentally) is a wat which is a Thai measurement actually. However it has temples and monuments where religious relics are stores. There are tens of thousands of watts in Thailand but the one on the Palace property is the most spectacular since it houses the Emerald Buddha. Like the Mona Lisa one generally can’t wait to see and is inevitably disappointed with it because it is so small, the emerald Buddha is is a spectacular room filled with gold, jewels and spectacular works of art but the Buddha itself is really small and placed very high up.
The architecture of the building is Paradise and is higher than all of the surrounding buildings so that we ascend from earth to Paradise as we walk on the temple grounds. It is guarded by monkeys in this particular case and if you look at the picture carefully you will see certain human characteristics of the monkeys. The other guards or Yoks guard some of the other buildings where sacred documents are founds.
The palaces, which are the last few pictures of the set are quite European. You will notice some monks in two of the windows chanting since this was a full moon.
Budists in Thailand consider it a duty to be a monk at some time in their life to learn the teachings and experience humility as they walk around in their saffron robes barefoot, shaved head and with an alms bowl for food. The interesting thing for me is that they may only be a monk for a week or more and it is not a lifetime commitment for many if not most of them.
While many of my colleagues were enjoying Koh Samet the kindergarten teacher had to stay behind because she was not feeling very well so you will also see her in the pictures. We took the BTS or skytrain to the Chao Prayo river and then a barge up to the Palace. As with any major tourist site there were hawkers all along the way and many touts trying to sell us everything from rings to Buddhas. After the 3 hour tour we took we decided to have lunch in a nearby restaurant by the river. What I realized in Bangkok is that there is no place you can escape the noise. While we were having our rice and “spicy stuff” overlooking the river we could hardly hear each other because of the noise of the barges going up and down the river.
I live on a side street that is so narrow two cars passing each way and a pedestrian simply don’t mix. The street is not wide enough to even have a sidewalk yet as I write this at 11 o’clock at night there is a steady stream of traffic. I just hope it continues until at least 6 am when I want to flag down a taxi to go to the airport campus tomorrow morning at 6 am. To take me to Bagna Trad road kilometer sip ha ( 15) for those that do not speak Thai. Unfortunately since it is a highway taxis have to pass 15 and make a u turn at about 19. Haven’t figured out how to say u turn yet so could very well end up at the airport, another 20 kilometers of so. Wish me luck. I am going to bed.
We had the long week-end so I took the opportunity of doing touristy things For beginners, I went to Khao San road where all the tourists hang out. It was really interesting for a variety of reasons. I met a dot comer from San Francisco who was 32, just sold his business for lots of millions of dollars and was traveling the world. I also met an Irish guy who was funny and enthusiastic. When a 10 year old Thai boy came to sell us some flowers, he asked the Irish guy where he was from. When he said Ireland, the Thai boy told him to “kiss his ass” in Gaelic. The Irish guy laughed so hard he was almost on the floor. The boy then challenged a 6 foot 5 colleague of mine to a thumb wrestle and beat him. I’m sure this boy will grow up to be the leading business person in Thailand at some point in the not too distant future.
Since it was the Queens birthday, the Thais were celebrating Mother’s day. I have a picture you can view of a stage with a huge picture of the Queen and a Thai band playing their drums. At 6:30, probably the time she was born, we all stood,
lit a candle and then sung some patriotic songs ( it was not the national anthem which is played everyday at 6 am and 6pm. And everyone stops what they are doing. The ceremony was actually quite wonderful and the fireworks only made it move spectacular and moving.
I also bought a guidebook on Kho San road because the heavy book I shlepped with me from Canada on South East Asia had all of the pages torn out on Bangkok for some reason!. Apparently, according to the book, the number one tourist attraction in Thailand is the Grand Palace in Thailand. You will see the pictures I have are quite spectacular. Part of the palace ( not where the king lives incidentally) is a wat which is a Thai measurement actually. However it has temples and monuments where religious relics are stores. There are tens of thousands of watts in Thailand but the one on the Palace property is the most spectacular since it houses the Emerald Buddha. Like the Mona Lisa one generally can’t wait to see and is inevitably disappointed with it because it is so small, the emerald Buddha is is a spectacular room filled with gold, jewels and spectacular works of art but the Buddha itself is really small and placed very high up.
The architecture of the building is Paradise and is higher than all of the surrounding buildings so that we ascend from earth to Paradise as we walk on the temple grounds. It is guarded by monkeys in this particular case and if you look at the picture carefully you will see certain human characteristics of the monkeys. The other guards or Yoks guard some of the other buildings where sacred documents are founds.
The palaces, which are the last few pictures of the set are quite European. You will notice some monks in two of the windows chanting since this was a full moon.
Budists in Thailand consider it a duty to be a monk at some time in their life to learn the teachings and experience humility as they walk around in their saffron robes barefoot, shaved head and with an alms bowl for food. The interesting thing for me is that they may only be a monk for a week or more and it is not a lifetime commitment for many if not most of them.
While many of my colleagues were enjoying Koh Samet the kindergarten teacher had to stay behind because she was not feeling very well so you will also see her in the pictures. We took the BTS or skytrain to the Chao Prayo river and then a barge up to the Palace. As with any major tourist site there were hawkers all along the way and many touts trying to sell us everything from rings to Buddhas. After the 3 hour tour we took we decided to have lunch in a nearby restaurant by the river. What I realized in Bangkok is that there is no place you can escape the noise. While we were having our rice and “spicy stuff” overlooking the river we could hardly hear each other because of the noise of the barges going up and down the river.
I live on a side street that is so narrow two cars passing each way and a pedestrian simply don’t mix. The street is not wide enough to even have a sidewalk yet as I write this at 11 o’clock at night there is a steady stream of traffic. I just hope it continues until at least 6 am when I want to flag down a taxi to go to the airport campus tomorrow morning at 6 am. To take me to Bagna Trad road kilometer sip ha ( 15) for those that do not speak Thai. Unfortunately since it is a highway taxis have to pass 15 and make a u turn at about 19. Haven’t figured out how to say u turn yet so could very well end up at the airport, another 20 kilometers of so. Wish me luck. I am going to bed.
Monday, August 13, 2007
school days
School Days----First Week---August 9,2007
It’s been quite a while since I have felt the adrenalin rush of going back to school. For about the last 9 years or so I have been at a university and you just don’t get that same kick that you do when you see the enthusiasm of parents dropping off their children for their first day of school ( we have students from age two up), the excitement of students almost running to class ( I am sure that won’t last that long) and the pseudo sophisticated high school kids talking about what concerts they just attended!
The class sizes are surprisingly small so I think it is great for kids. The teachers seem terrific and very much want to do the best for children in their own way. I have seen a few classes but am quite busy registering new students who are attending ASB for the first time.
What surprises me, I guess, is the variety of students who do attend. I had one new student who spent the last 2 years in Utah but was coming back home to complete his final year of high school and then attend a Thai university. Another student was the son of a Vietnamese official who was very anxious to do well and ensure his courses met his expectations. It is quite a challenge for me to read the transcripts of our new students since my Thai, Vietnamese and Korean is not up to what it should be after being here for a week. In fact, I am still perfecting hello and thank you in Thai and can’t quite hear the sounds properly to replicate any semblance of recognition from the people I speak with. “Sai” for example, could mean sand if you drop your voice and left if you raise your voice or go up. I can’t even hear what I am saying.
I am also surprised by the facility that the seniors have for English. When they were discussing their summer they spoke in the same jargon as any North American kid. In many cases, they use English because which is the common denominator that they all understand since they are from so many different countries. What surprises me is that they don’t seem to be on facebook yet but I am sure that is coming.
I had to talk with the parents and students the other day about curriculum in a large assembly.. When the principal and guidance counselor spoke, they had instant translation from one of the secretaries. When I spoke a few sentences and then handed her the microphone to translate as they did, she looked aghast and told me to just continue talking. Either I enunciate poorly ( which I am sure I do), or I am using jargon like aligning expectations with curriculum content that even teachers don’t understand. I guess what I learned is to try to speak more clearly and use English even I can understand.
The opening exercises are kind of interesting. We all stand in the field and one class has the honour of raising the flag and starting to sing the national anthem. At 6 am and 6 pm the national anthem is played in the subway stations and everyone stops talking and stops walking and whatever else they happened to be doing. The same thing happened yesterday for the Queen’s birthday, by the way. At the time she was born, at 6:30 pm, I presume, we all lit candles. I happened to be on Koa San Road at the time which is where all the tourists go. There were then fireworks, music and the whole nine yards.
Thank God for the subways and skytrain. To get from one end of Bangkok to another by cab would literally take hours because of the traffic. With the transportation, traveling becomes quick and efficient. The only thing I hate about the trains are the air conditioning. I would rather have it hot all the time. It is probably healthier in the long run.
Bangkok also has ultra modern shopping and dinning. You can get any kind of western foods you want or any other nationality for that matter. I ate in an Italian restaurant the other night which would put any St Clair establishment to shame. I know I should feel guilty but I loved the bread.
This week-end is the Queen’s birthday so I am considering either staying in Bangkok and seeing “stuff” or going to the beach. To be decided. You will be the first to hear about it.
It’s been quite a while since I have felt the adrenalin rush of going back to school. For about the last 9 years or so I have been at a university and you just don’t get that same kick that you do when you see the enthusiasm of parents dropping off their children for their first day of school ( we have students from age two up), the excitement of students almost running to class ( I am sure that won’t last that long) and the pseudo sophisticated high school kids talking about what concerts they just attended!
The class sizes are surprisingly small so I think it is great for kids. The teachers seem terrific and very much want to do the best for children in their own way. I have seen a few classes but am quite busy registering new students who are attending ASB for the first time.
What surprises me, I guess, is the variety of students who do attend. I had one new student who spent the last 2 years in Utah but was coming back home to complete his final year of high school and then attend a Thai university. Another student was the son of a Vietnamese official who was very anxious to do well and ensure his courses met his expectations. It is quite a challenge for me to read the transcripts of our new students since my Thai, Vietnamese and Korean is not up to what it should be after being here for a week. In fact, I am still perfecting hello and thank you in Thai and can’t quite hear the sounds properly to replicate any semblance of recognition from the people I speak with. “Sai” for example, could mean sand if you drop your voice and left if you raise your voice or go up. I can’t even hear what I am saying.
I am also surprised by the facility that the seniors have for English. When they were discussing their summer they spoke in the same jargon as any North American kid. In many cases, they use English because which is the common denominator that they all understand since they are from so many different countries. What surprises me is that they don’t seem to be on facebook yet but I am sure that is coming.
I had to talk with the parents and students the other day about curriculum in a large assembly.. When the principal and guidance counselor spoke, they had instant translation from one of the secretaries. When I spoke a few sentences and then handed her the microphone to translate as they did, she looked aghast and told me to just continue talking. Either I enunciate poorly ( which I am sure I do), or I am using jargon like aligning expectations with curriculum content that even teachers don’t understand. I guess what I learned is to try to speak more clearly and use English even I can understand.
The opening exercises are kind of interesting. We all stand in the field and one class has the honour of raising the flag and starting to sing the national anthem. At 6 am and 6 pm the national anthem is played in the subway stations and everyone stops talking and stops walking and whatever else they happened to be doing. The same thing happened yesterday for the Queen’s birthday, by the way. At the time she was born, at 6:30 pm, I presume, we all lit candles. I happened to be on Koa San Road at the time which is where all the tourists go. There were then fireworks, music and the whole nine yards.
Thank God for the subways and skytrain. To get from one end of Bangkok to another by cab would literally take hours because of the traffic. With the transportation, traveling becomes quick and efficient. The only thing I hate about the trains are the air conditioning. I would rather have it hot all the time. It is probably healthier in the long run.
Bangkok also has ultra modern shopping and dinning. You can get any kind of western foods you want or any other nationality for that matter. I ate in an Italian restaurant the other night which would put any St Clair establishment to shame. I know I should feel guilty but I loved the bread.
This week-end is the Queen’s birthday so I am considering either staying in Bangkok and seeing “stuff” or going to the beach. To be decided. You will be the first to hear about it.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Week One Bangkok
Bangkok Week One
Bangkok is a city of contrasts. Walking near Siam square with its shining new ultra modern office towers on the one hand and street stalls, the likes of which could have been around for centuries, on the other hand is a constant source of amazement for me. Yesterday I witnessed a ponderous elephant lumbering along the main Sukhumvit road amidst the roar ( well hardly a roar) since it is so clogged, but an elephant walking amidst all the traffic of downtown.
Last night I went to buy a pair of pants and a few shirts custom tailored in the Nana district, which coincidentally is the red light district. Here you see scantily clad women selling their bodies and Arab women wearing a burkha with only their eyes showing selling their fake watches and T shirts in the ubiquitous stalls.
It’s Sunday morning of the first week and I am getting a little chance to reflect before I go to the Chatachuk market which is apparently the biggest of its kind. I guess I should go now while it is still a cool 33 degree at 7 am but I would rather wait until my eyes open so I can read the map. I can type and think in my sleep but reading maps is a challenge even when I am awake. I’ve been told to just follow the crowds to Chatachuk.
I am also getting into the food culture. Apparently Thais only eat once a day, from the time they get up to the time they go to sleep so I am doing the same thing. I walk past the stall, point and eat. I am even putting chilies and oil sauce on everything like the rest of the Thais. I just hope that the Thais who see me with the smoke coming out of my ears just chalk it up to me being a farang or foreigner, otherwise it would be rather unbecoming to pollute the atmosphere with all that smoke.
After looking for a week, which seems amazing that we could get apartments so quickly, I am living at” si sip gow” Sukhumvit…or sorry 49 Sukhumvit. I am living in the high rent Japanese area but I think it is worth it because it is right across the road from one of the campuses I will be working at and since you can’t get anywhere in Bangkok in under an hour this is an amazing advantage. It is also across the road from a supermarket which sells American food. I thought my days of eating bread were over, but the store is full of North American foods…sort of disappointing actually.
Talking about school, I am very impressed with the teachers that were hired. There are about 25 of us “newbies” and we are all quite unique. It sort of takes a special kind of person to leave jobs and family behind for an adventure and I think this particular group is dynamite. The two campuses have distinct flavours. One is downtown but like an oasis of calm in a tumultuous environment and the other is near the new airport with acres of land and huge open playing fields, pools, etc. Both campuses only have 600 students in total from K-12 so it should be quite lovely. I hope to get to know all of the students relatively quickly. I also hope to spend most of my time in the classrooms working with teachers on instruction.The emphasis is on character education so I look forward to seeing if that has any merit. In theory it should be transformational. Let’s see if it is.
Oh, and let’s close by talking about golf and massages. I went to play, naturally, at the course beside the airport school. There were 4 of us ‘players’ and 4 caddies. The young girls probably weighed less than our bags. You can imagine the 4 conquering heroes (us) walking down the fairway talking about our shots with these 4 women shlepping our bags and looking for our balls. I wonder how long it is going to take me to get used to this?
Afterwards I had a 2 hour massage for about $8.00. I thought I would hate it but actually it was great. It is probably more like yoga or physiotherapy than what I imagine massage to be but I think it will probably be very good for me and would give Josh a run for his money in terms of knowing pressure points in the body and how to manipulate their bodies to stretch yours. For example, at one point, the masseuse was lying opposite me and pulling her body opposite to mine while forcefully pushing mine, something like being on a rack, I would suppose. I don’t know who gets more of a workout, her or me?
Talking about workouts, I think I will go downstairs, take a swim in the infinity pool ( I think Daniel calls them) eat breakfast, ok… corn flakes if you must know which I bought in the market across the street and then off to the market. Let the adventure begin!
Bangkok is a city of contrasts. Walking near Siam square with its shining new ultra modern office towers on the one hand and street stalls, the likes of which could have been around for centuries, on the other hand is a constant source of amazement for me. Yesterday I witnessed a ponderous elephant lumbering along the main Sukhumvit road amidst the roar ( well hardly a roar) since it is so clogged, but an elephant walking amidst all the traffic of downtown.
Last night I went to buy a pair of pants and a few shirts custom tailored in the Nana district, which coincidentally is the red light district. Here you see scantily clad women selling their bodies and Arab women wearing a burkha with only their eyes showing selling their fake watches and T shirts in the ubiquitous stalls.
It’s Sunday morning of the first week and I am getting a little chance to reflect before I go to the Chatachuk market which is apparently the biggest of its kind. I guess I should go now while it is still a cool 33 degree at 7 am but I would rather wait until my eyes open so I can read the map. I can type and think in my sleep but reading maps is a challenge even when I am awake. I’ve been told to just follow the crowds to Chatachuk.
I am also getting into the food culture. Apparently Thais only eat once a day, from the time they get up to the time they go to sleep so I am doing the same thing. I walk past the stall, point and eat. I am even putting chilies and oil sauce on everything like the rest of the Thais. I just hope that the Thais who see me with the smoke coming out of my ears just chalk it up to me being a farang or foreigner, otherwise it would be rather unbecoming to pollute the atmosphere with all that smoke.
After looking for a week, which seems amazing that we could get apartments so quickly, I am living at” si sip gow” Sukhumvit…or sorry 49 Sukhumvit. I am living in the high rent Japanese area but I think it is worth it because it is right across the road from one of the campuses I will be working at and since you can’t get anywhere in Bangkok in under an hour this is an amazing advantage. It is also across the road from a supermarket which sells American food. I thought my days of eating bread were over, but the store is full of North American foods…sort of disappointing actually.
Talking about school, I am very impressed with the teachers that were hired. There are about 25 of us “newbies” and we are all quite unique. It sort of takes a special kind of person to leave jobs and family behind for an adventure and I think this particular group is dynamite. The two campuses have distinct flavours. One is downtown but like an oasis of calm in a tumultuous environment and the other is near the new airport with acres of land and huge open playing fields, pools, etc. Both campuses only have 600 students in total from K-12 so it should be quite lovely. I hope to get to know all of the students relatively quickly. I also hope to spend most of my time in the classrooms working with teachers on instruction.The emphasis is on character education so I look forward to seeing if that has any merit. In theory it should be transformational. Let’s see if it is.
Oh, and let’s close by talking about golf and massages. I went to play, naturally, at the course beside the airport school. There were 4 of us ‘players’ and 4 caddies. The young girls probably weighed less than our bags. You can imagine the 4 conquering heroes (us) walking down the fairway talking about our shots with these 4 women shlepping our bags and looking for our balls. I wonder how long it is going to take me to get used to this?
Afterwards I had a 2 hour massage for about $8.00. I thought I would hate it but actually it was great. It is probably more like yoga or physiotherapy than what I imagine massage to be but I think it will probably be very good for me and would give Josh a run for his money in terms of knowing pressure points in the body and how to manipulate their bodies to stretch yours. For example, at one point, the masseuse was lying opposite me and pulling her body opposite to mine while forcefully pushing mine, something like being on a rack, I would suppose. I don’t know who gets more of a workout, her or me?
Talking about workouts, I think I will go downstairs, take a swim in the infinity pool ( I think Daniel calls them) eat breakfast, ok… corn flakes if you must know which I bought in the market across the street and then off to the market. Let the adventure begin!
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