burmese brothers

yup......so now i have 2 burmese brothers. i moved in last night and it's ok. the two guys i'm living with are super nice to me and are really trying to make me feel at home. they keep giving me things that will help make my stay with them more comfortable. first they had a mat, blanket, pillow, mirror, small table and a rack for me to hang clothes on. then they told me they should get a taller table for me to sit at with a chair (cause being western i probably don't like sitting on the floor---but let's not forget that i spent the last 5 years in korea) so i told them the shorter table was great. next........right after i woke up from a nap......the younger of the two guys presented me with a chair. his english isn't very good, so when he has something to give me he usually says, (in the softest voice), "teacher.......(noun)".........while holding out with both hands the item he's giving me at the time. so cute. they are trying really hard and it's so nice of them. we had our first class this morning. it went well. the students are great. they are already talking, which is wonderful and most times the hardest thing about teaching adults. i have to go right now. hopefully i'll write again in the next few days.

survived my first "disaster"

yes.....i have had---and lived through---my first "disaster". things are bound to go wrong somewhere along the lines when integrating yourself into a new culture. here's the story of my first glitch here in mae sot:

the guesthouse i was staying at from when i first arrived was beautiful. not so cheap for thai standards, but at 250 baht (which is roughly $7.50cdn) i'm not going to complain. it was clean, had sheets on the bed, two pillows, a towel, a clean bathroom that usually had toilet paper in it, to name a few of the things this place offered. well when i showed up on their doorstep in the early hours of sunday morning the guy in charge wanted to know how long i was staying. i hadn't even showered since the day before, having taken the over night bus, hadn't yet talked to the woman running the program i was about to bevome involved with and i had no idea what side was up let alone know how long i needed a room from him. i guessed that by wednesday i might have a better idea of what was happening so i told him i'd stay 'till atleast then. it wasn't 'till tuesday that i met the group i was set up with and they are also the people responsible for my food and housing. they said they wouldn't be ready for me 'till sunday and i thought......"great. i like where i'm staying. it's got a lot of interesting people staying there for me to meet. i'll just tell the guy i need to stay 'till sunday." well when i got back that night i didn't see him and when i woke up wednesday morning i saw him and told him i needed to stay 'till sunday. his response was "oh no. i promised your room to new guest coming today. but don't worry. you can stay in mary's house......much cheaper for you. only 100 baht/night. homestay. no problem." and before i knew it this smiley faced burmese woman was accepting me in her house and had already prepared my room with a mat, towel, mosquito net and lock and key for the door. now.....i took one look at the place and thought "ok. maybe one night won't be so bad. then i'll figure something else out. this could be an adventure." so i put my things down locked the room and went out to go to the office and get some ideas for my class down on paper. i returned some hours later for my afternoon shower. i opened the door of my room only to see it full of mosquitos and watched a mouse/rat/rodent of somekind crawl out of the room between the wall boards! inside i freaked out. didn't know what to do next really. i didn't want to stay there with mice, but didn't want to hurt the woman's feelings. i decided to go ahead with the shower and i'd talk to aryca (the volunteer coordinator) about it when i saw her later that night at a going away party for another volunteer friend working at the medical clinic. well, susan, my nova scotian friend i have met here, asked me about mary's house when she saw me (things travel fast here in this small town seeing as she already knew my housing had changed) and i told her about the situation and how uncomfortable i was with the uncleanliness of the place and not wanting to offend the woman. she said "just leave". i had no idea it was that easy. susan offered to come with me and tell the woman i wouldn't stay afterall. we got my things and stored them in her room 'till after the party and i am now staying in the guestroom where the volunteer office is. which isn't clean either, but for any of you who know me well........you'd be shocked at how well i have dealt with the spiders and other bugs!!!

so i'm in a mice free room (so far anyway!!) and guess i'll just stay there 'till my "apartment" is ready. that should be interesting! but i have survived my first disaster of this time in mae sot.

my class

so here goes try #2 for my post tonight---uugghh!!! i lost the first one.

today i met the group of burmese people i will be teaching. they are the f.t.u.b.--federate trade unions of burma. there are 4 women and 3 men in the group. they are super kind and caring and worried about how comfortable i am going to be. they have rented me my own "apartment"---i quote this because we may have very different ideas of what this means! (this may be a very good idea, as the building i would have stayed in is also the neighbourhood farm! there are chickens, ducks and 11 cats that free range the yard and bottom floor of the house! and i'm sure we will have a chicken attend a class or two!!) we had a small meeting so we could see each other, discuss when i move in, arrange the class time, etc. they reminded me many times to tell them any concerns or questions i have. one guy told me that i am part of their family now---their little sister. (this man is also part of the burma political prisoner's union. he told us that he was imprisoned twice before---once for 4 years and than again for 7. when we asked him why he was arrested he said "because i was part of the student's union and then because i was part of the teacher's union" well holy! if that's not a hard core criminal.....i don't know what is! and we're not talking simply behind bars......we're talking 11 years of hard labour and torture.) the group decided that they wanted as much time with me as possible so they don't want to be broken into two classes.......they all want 3 hours of english instruction per day. so we decided that we will have class from 8am-930am.....break 'till 10......then have class from 10-11:30am.......then i'm free for the day. not so bad.

i also signed my contract today. the volunteer program coordinator and i decided on a finish date of june 9th (yea!!!). this means that i will finish teaching on june 9th........go south 'till the 15th-ish......be back in korea the 17th (which is only one day after t's bday!)........and be in canada in time for my high school reunion, which is the 21st-23rd of july.

i will spend the next couple of days making up the placement test.....lesson planning.....and relaxing. i move into my apartment on sunday and begin classes on monday. i'm sure i will have more stories as i get to know my students. i hope all is well with you.

oh yeah......mom.....here's my phone number (actually the office number) starting with the country code: 66 55 533357. we need to arrange a time for me to be in the office and then you can call......otherwise i'm not likely to be there.

orientation

today was orientation day (i think i have 1 or 2 more days of orientation). holy! it's a lot of info to take in. the people i will be teaching are working on free trade (i think). i will also live in their house. should be interesting. the volunteer co-ordinator who set me up with this group says they are really kind and concerned about me being comfortable living in their space. they're worried that they only cook burmese food and i may not like it. that's my problem.......not theirs. heck....they're giving me a place to live since i'm teaching them english.......feeding me is also kind of their responsibility but if it is totally gross (which i don't imagine it is.......gosh curry every night........that's my dream!) i can also eat somewhere else for 1 or 2 dollars/meal. this place is so cheap. i can come to this high speed internet cafe for about 45 canadian cents an hour! so i'll probably come here every night to check my email/msn/blog. not much else to write about. i'm sure in the coming days with meeting my group......moving in......starting teaching......and getting acquainted with the town i'll have more to tell. oh and for those of you who have asked for my address (and may god bless you!) it is at the bottom of this entry. i will post the office phone number for my mom and anyone else who may have a fantastic deal with the phone company. all we do is set up a time for me to be in the office to answer the phone. i love you all and miss you too. t and i have the countdown going and it's about 14 weeks from now 'till i get back to korea for the visit and then about 18 weeks 'till i get to canada. bye for now.

my address:

Loree-Beth McKay (incase you forgot!! hahaha)
P.O. Box 114
Mae Sot Tak
63110
Thailand

i made it

so here i am in mae sot.......which should ba called mae "hot"! it is so hot in this town. koh tao and bangkok were hot.....but......wow! it must be near 40 degrees here. mae sot reminds me a bit of africa........not just the heat.......the look of the town too.

i met the contact for the burma volunteer program today and she seems really nice. she's so accomodating. within the group of burmese people i will be teaching there is a guy who runs a preschool or something and they are going to see if i can work with his kids. i originally asked if there was a children's program, since i love working with children and that's where my esl experience is, but there isn't an opening right now with the one position the burma volunteer project has..........but maybe i'll get to work with this guy's preschool. we had a short meeting aand i met the other volunteers in the area. they all seem like a nice bunch of people. one women is actually from annapolis royal! it's such a small world! (for any of you not from nova scotia.......this is a town further down the valley i'm from.) i start orientation tomorrow and that's about all i know so far.

i am wiped out from this heat and slept most of today. i'm off to get something to eat. i'll write again soon.

help me!

now i'm not the most computer literate person i know.......so bear with me.......but if any of you other bloggers can help me.......please do. if you haven't noticed (but i'm sure you have) the "about me", "links", "previous posts", and "archives" lists should all appear at the right and on my blog they are at the bottom. this happened when i went to edit the one post that had a big space between the title of the post and the post itself. if you know how i can fix this let me know. thanks.

having fun in a new world

i'm at zeno's place right now.....where he is staying in bangkok.....and it is waaaaay different than i'm used to, being a backpacker and all. he's here for a month working for the american embassy and the housing they provide is at a hotel that is far beyond anything i will ever be staying at on my own. when i walked into this place to meet zeno the other day you should have seen the looks on the faces of the bell boys and service people at the desk. usually at these kind of places there are people all over you saying things like 'may i help you sir?/ma'am?'.....'what can i do for you, sir?ma'am?'........rushing to be at your every need or desire. well when i walked up to the entrance, (now picture me with a backpack on the front and back and a smaller bag in my hand.......shoes stuffed in the side pockets and a water bottle hanging off the sides), people looked at me like i'd just landed from mars. it took several minutes for anyone at the front desk to even make eye contact with me, let alone help me. finally i told a woman that i was here to meet a friend, told her the room number and she called it. she sounded a little like this: 'mr benjamin? you have......a......friend here?......wanting to see........you?......ok.......i shall....aahhh.......bring her to you.' there were many pauses and question marks in that little conversation, but when she escorted me to his room and saw the embrace she knew i was in the right place.......well......sort of. funny! gotta run for now. i'll blog again hopefully not too long from now. i go to mae sot tomorrow night on the night bus. hope it's not too bad.

nothing better in life than friends

well i have always known my friends were one of my favorite things in life and always knew that i loved having them around but it was only that much more apparent to me this past week. i really did have a great time reading and relaxing on koh tao, but really missed my friends. now having met up with a friend and her friend that she's traveling with i have been having so much fun. we got into a little poolside action and some shopping yesterday. they're at a cooking class this morning (something i will do in chang mai one day) and when they're finished i will see them for a few hours before they leave bangkok. i will meet my friend zeno this evening for some more fun before heading to mae sot. friends are awesome. i miss you guys back in sokcho.......especially you t......but i'll be back, even if only for a visit.

in transit

just dropping a note for those interested. nothing much new. i'm in a town called chumporn (i think that's the spelling) just waiting for the bus on my way back to bangkok. i will hopefully meet a friend tomorrow if everything goes as planned........spend the day with her.............then the next day meet up with another friend for a couple of days. friends are a good thnig to have around. it has never been more aparent to me than over these past few days when i've been without mine. time will hopefully not seem so long once i'm in a routine of teaching again. the island was great. got a little too much sun......but there's never enough time spent sitting at the beach reading....sleeping....thinking......dreaming...........ahhh.........thailand is so wonderful! hope all is well with everyone. i'm gonna make one last stop at the toilet before this bus ride and i'll check in again when i have something else to write about. later.

solitude

i apologize for the lag in posts, but internet on the island isn't great and is expensive. this may be the last post before i get back to bangkok.

i'm not sure about this travelling alone thing. i have only travelled with friends in the past and this is a bit lonely. i am used to being the host of gatherings with friends back in sokcho and when friends weren't over, teddy was. i know alone time is good but i finished work hours before anyone else back in sokcho so i had every afternoon to myself. i always felt like i had alone time. but this is most difficult week. once i get through being really homesick for sokcho and meet up with friends in bangkok in a few days, it'll be better. then it's off to teaching. having a routine will make things not seem so lonely.

so i'm staying in the same bungalows that friends and i stayed at 2 christmases ago. oddly enough i'm in the same room jenn and greg had! weird! it's more expensive than i'd hoped but bug free and clean-(ish). i'm moving to the bunglows nextdoor tomorrow morning for a cheaper place that's as nice or nicer. actually i have faced two big bugs and not freaked out. being alone with bugs was one of my biggest fears but so far not so bad. (and greg......for your interest i didn't kill either of them---left one and shooed the other one out the door!) thanks to jenn i have a bug net draped over my bed so i can sleep in peace. thanks jenn!

best get out of this place before i have no money to pay for the new bungalow in the morning. not sure when the next post will be but don't worry. things here are safe.

the heat is on!!

i made it to bangkok.....finally (and it is so hot!!!). i don't recommend china eastern air to anyone thinking about it. not a very cool airline and they routed me through shanghai for my transfer and it was so confusing. i must have shown my passport to immigration 2 or 3 times! definitely not the easy "here are your 2 boarding passes" kind of transfer. also, the food isn't great.......and isn't that what we really fly for......the food? hahahaha. just kidding! on the bus coming to koh san road from the airport i met a very nice pakistani lady who lives in germany and comes here twice a year for business. she and i shared a room last night which made it so cheap (only about $4.70cdn). i was confident enough in travelling here (having been here 3 or 4 times) that i didn't get any travel guide books. thought i'd just make ot to koh san road and get somethnig there. well that confidence shrivelled into nothing when i was getting transportation at the airport but luckily enough the pakistani woman (i can't even remember her name!) offered for me to come with her. i'm sure she could sense my nervousness and thought she better do something about it! things are ok now. i have booked my transportation to koh tao and have purchased a used copy of the islands and beaches lonely planet guide. i feel more prepared now. but sometimes the unplanned vacations are some of the best. i wanted to take the over night sleeper train but it is booked for the next few days. not wanting to waste any more of my beach days i decided to go with the bus. i'm not gonna like it but when i'm finally on the beach reading or sleeping, it'll all have been worth it. i just got an email from a friend i consider an angel. my friend monique and i met her and her boyfriend when we were getting into a situation we may have needed rescue from when we were travelling in africa, after landing in mali. it turned out that she was from edmonston new brunswick and her boyfriend was from hull quebec. it was so great to have met fellow canadians (or is that canadiens?!) anyway, it turns out that the girl of that couple will be in bangkok from the 11th to the 15th. i hope our paths cross. i'm gonna go for now. will get a facial to help pass time 'till my bus. email or post comments as often as possible. bye for now.

endings and beginnings

so here is my blog! it was so easy to create. i spent waaaaay too much time thinking about creating it and how i'd figure that out.

i finally finished my contract at the preschool in sokcho last tuesday........goodness 5 years goes by so fast! it was time to leave the school, but i will miss my apartment, friends and sokcho very much. i said good bye to my friends today and miss them already......especially teddy. i'm sitting in my friend tobi's apartment in seoul right now and will stay with her until my flight tuesday morning. i fly to bangkok and will stay there for one night then it's off to the beaches of koh tao the next day! i'm hoping to take the overnight train and arrive on the 9th. koh tao is a beautiful island on the gulf side of the southern part of thailand. i was there with friends two christmases ago and loved it. i hope to have an equally enjoyable time this time around. after that i plan to meet a friend in bangkok around the 16th for a few days and around the 18th make my way to a town called mae sot, located near the burmese border, where i will volunteer to teach english to burmese refugees. i will be there for 3 months and then i have about 10 days to relax in thailand and vicinity before coming back to korea for 3-4 weeks. i plan to fly to canada around the last week of july. (don't know if you've noticed any of the "around"s that appear before any of the travel dates i have mentioned---but that's what happens when you're unemployed and can choose what to do and when at any time!!) so that's about all i know of my plans thus far. keep checking here for future writings of my adventures over the next months. enjoy!