Can't find the letter to Kevin's teacher, I will be sure to do this today.

Today, we had a large dinner at my parent's house, if only you could have seen their faces as i was eating my small bowl of ยำนื้อ . My wife minces it much finer than what we get in Thailand, it is nearly a paste when she finishes it. So they are watching me dip my rice into this red paste finally when they were almost done they asked what it was. When they were told beef, they asked why it was red though. Because it is not hot my wife replies, curious I finally told them the beef was raw that is why it is red. Funny funny reactions, but the ones who tried it liked it, while at the same time begging for glass after glass of water. I think it had about 4 peppers in that small bowl.

The children all stayed with them, they will be camping this week while they have a vacation from school, so the house will be very quiet this week My package I ordered from Thai Hypermarket - Book Store should be coming this week, hopefully while the children are gone. Then I can put some serious concentration into my new Thai Reference Grammar.

I can read most of what I see, at least enough to get a grasp on the main idea. Reading and writing is where I am having most of my problems in the language. There letters that still confuse me, and there are a few letters that I never even seen before yesterday. While reading quickly and not paying enough attention to the context I get severely thrown by ฟ พ ผ ฝ ฬ The other set I have the most problems with is ฎ ถ ภ ฤ ฏ ก

I am considering printing a large images with them all for the wall above my desk. The letters are all too similar in appearance for me to differentiate while reading fast and even while reading slow at times.

More to come ....

Where to begin, well I don't know how much is permitted, but I will begin I guess with a breif description of my family prior to daily postings.

My name is Joshua, I met my wife in the States at a wedding in Detroit, Michigan about 8 years ago. At that time we were both married to other people, but shortly after we were both divorced, and both due to mates cheating. We met again 6 years ago and began dating. I have one daughter, Tai(7). She has 3 children Kevin(14), Mary(11), and Daniel(10).

The girls bonded very quickly and act as blood sisters. Kevin the oldest is starting his first year of high school now. He barely understands his language, and NEVER speaks it. The other children all three undertsand and speak well on the otherhand. Their mother is teaching the girls how to read currently.

It is so cute to see the 7 year old white girl speaking in Thai. The first time she had done this was about three years ago we heard in the car and she immediately got to shy to show her face when she realized we noticed what she said. Manivanh comes back to the car from inside the post office and Tai says "Mae, kuhn yark gin kanom".... Was very cute, it took her a few days after that to begin using it again.

The girls LOVE their karaoke CD's and that is all they listen to. Their mother and myself are happy with this and buy them what they want, we prefer them watching that moreso than watching the sexually motivated dancing and attire of Britney Spears and Christina Aguilara.

Our oldest Kevin, spends alot of time at his computer. His grades at school for the last 7 years have been between 96-100%, and he has had perfect attendence at school since his education career began. So we allow him to use his computer as much as he wants, consider he is so responsible in the more important areas of his life. Tomorrow I will post a letter he wrote to his teacher a few weeks ago.

On the spur of the moment, I decided to drive down to Bangsaen Beach this morning. I had been thinking about going there for a while ever since a friend of mine said he had enjoyed a couple of visits there recently. I kept putting it off, but then I noticed in the Bangkok Post on Friday that there was going to be a seafood festival at the weekend. Seemed like a good excuse to go. It didn't really matter I don't like seafood that much. Any good excuse for a road trip.

I had been to Bangsaen once before but that was really a long time ago. I think shortly after I first came to Thailand. I went with some friends. This time I drove down there alone by car. I wanted the freedom to be able to explore the area. I did contemplate taking my map book of Thailand, but the distance between Paknam and Chonburi was only a few inches on the page! Probably wouldn’t have been much help. That is a problem with driving in Thailand, no really good map books. Certainly none that have all of the roads.

Other than maps, driving in Thailand isn’t really much of a problem. We drive on the left here, the same as my home country England. Petrol stations are a lot easier. I don’t think I have ever seen a self-service station here. As you drive into the petrol station, a guy quickly stands up and waves you enthusiastically towards his pump. There are two types of petrol that cars use. “91” and “95”. I use the latter so I just say “gao haa, dtem dtank”. Which means “95” and “fill the tank”.

While one guy is doing that, another comes along and asks if I have any rubbish and then proceeds to clean the windshield. He even checks my tyres. Compared to England, petrol prices in Thailand are really cheap. But, the prices have been going up so much recently that it has caught everyone’s attention. To be honest, I never really paid much attention to the price of petrol before. A friend came over from America last week and he asked me how much was petrol. I had no idea. I just ask them to fill the tank and then I give them a thousand baht note. However, today a thousand baht note wasn’t quite enough. He wanted a 1040 baht! OK, now I am noticing the price. It is 21 baht a litre. Expensive.

Bangsaen is in Chon Buri Province which isn’t really that far from Paknam. I went there last year with Gor to watch the Buffalo Racing. Driving there was quite easy. I took Sukhumwit Road halfway into Bangkok. It was slow driving through the traffic at Samrong but then picked up after I turned right at the Bang Na-Trad intersection. This first part of the journey took about half an hour to cover 8 k.m. Not too bad for a Sunday morning. During rush hour it would take a lot longer. Maybe even an hour!

At Central City Bang Na, I went up onto the tollway above the main road. Thai people call this the “longest bridge in the world”. I am not sure whether I would call it a bridge but it is certainly long. This tollway goes all the way from Bang Na to Chonburi for a total of 50 kilometres. Compared to the road below there were hardly any cars so I could keep a constant 130 km/h all the way. About 20 minutes later I was in Chonburi! The price of using that road was 55 baht.

When driving in Thailand it is relatively easy to use the road signs. The pictorial warning signs are much the same as other countries. The direction signs are nearly always in Thai and Roman script. Certainly on the main highways anyway. When I see bilingual signs like these my eye automatically goes to the English version. However, it does help sometimes being able to read Thai because the English is sometimes a lot smaller! After driving through Chon Buri for a few minutes, I spotted a sign written only in Thai for Tambon Bangsaen. Not exactly what I was looking for but I wanted to explore the area. Tambon means district.

I drove down a narrow road for a while basically following my nose and a tour bus in front. When I first hit the sea I was a little disappointed. There was only mudflats like we have back in Samut Prakan. I knew people said the beaches at Bangsaen were dirty but I didn’t think they would be this bad. I kept on driving until I reached Laem Taen. This time there were more cars so I got out to take a look.

The air here was really good compared to the industrial city of Paknam. I wouldn’t call it fresh, but the wind was certainly cooler than what we usually have. The tide was in but I could see that this wasn’t a swimming beach. There were a lot of big rocks as well as mud. However, I could see patches of clean sand here and there! I was getting warmer! I kept on walking and then around the corner I could clearly see what must be Bangsaen Beach in the distance. Compared to where I was now, there were hundreds of people on the beach and in the water. I decided to head back to the car and drive down to Bangsaen Beach.

The first sign that I was nearly there were all of the cars parked along the road. These weren’t only double parked but triple parked in places! I had to drive several kilometres before I finally found somewhere to park. I do remember coming here before but I didn’t recognize anything. Everything has changed so much. Also, it is so different to other beach resorts like Pattaya and Cha-am. Along the beach road at these resorts are a lot of shops, restaurants and night clubs. Here in Bangsaen I couldn’t see any sign of beer bars or night-time entertainment.

At Bangsaen they had done a lot of landscaping. Between the main road and the beach is a wide granite walkway. On either side people were selling food like som tam (papaya salad), fried chicken and seafood. There were some souvenir stores as well as bicycle hire shops. There were quite a few children cycling up and down the granite walkway. I would say this was a really safe and family orientated beach resort.

At the top of the beach there are hundreds of palm trees, which give plenty of shelter from the sun. Then there is the forest of deck chairs and beach umbrellas, all huddled close to each other to block out any sunlight. It was an amazing 15 deckchairs deep. They say that Thai people don’t come to the beach for a swim. They come here to eat and chat with their friends under the beach umbrellas. Each group of deckchairs has a central table. When you sit down, someone will come up with a menu. You can order any food you like and they will bring it straight to you on the beach!

I walked through the beach umbrellas and out onto the beach proper. The sand at the top looked quite clean and dry. But further down towards the sea it looked wet and muddy-like. However, this didn’t seem to deter the Thai people from playing in the sand and jumping up and down in the sea. I say Thai people because I didn’t see any other foreigners for the whole time I was there. In fact, I think foreigners are a rarity as a couple of times little children pointed to me and shouted to their mothers “mae mae, farang”. Which basically translates as “Mother, mother, look at that white faced devil!” Well, sort of.

I also knew for certain that there were no Westerners in the sea because just about everyone was swimming with all their clothes on! This is Thai style. It doesn’t mean they cannot afford a swimming suit. Nor does it mean they are worried about skin cancer. (I was probably the only one wearing sun cream and a baseball hat.) The Thai people have a much higher level of decency compared to many Westerners. That is why so many Thai people are shocked when they see Westerners in their skimpy bathing suits or going topless.

Apart from eating, the other main activity on the beach is playing on banana boats. These are long blow-up plastic boats (in the shape of hot dogs) which are pulled along by jet skis. They are everywhere in Thailand and Bangsaen was no exception. There were also kids flying kites and playing in the sea on inner tubes.

After walking along the beach for about an hour I decided to head back to the car. I was getting hungry. Along the way, I came across the information centre and picked up a brochure for the area. Inside was a map. I could see that if I had kept on driving along Sukhumwit Road I would have come across a major road that goes straight to the beach. Probably well sign-posted too. Never mind, it was best going the back roads.

I decided not to eat at Bangsaen Beach. Way too many people. Instead, I drove back to Laem Taen. Here the deckchairs were only four deep and I could get some better service. Just about every food stall seemed to be selling som tam. As it is my favourite I decided to order this spicy salad together with some grilled chicken. After my meal, I laid back in my deckchair and soon started to dose off. There was a lovely breeze and I felt very comfortable.

I wouldn’t say Bangsaen Beach is a perfect beach resort. But, it is certainly a lot closer to Bangkok than Pattaya. It is also more family friendly which is important for people who don’t like the sleaziness of Pattaya. However, for better beaches, you have to head further south down the eastern seaboard. First to Sriricha and then Pattaya. Much further down is Rayong and the islands of Koh Samet and Koh Chang. These have beautiful white sandy beaches and crystal clear water. Unfortunately, you cannot really do any of those as a day trip. Bangsaen is so close to Paknam, that you could almost just come down here for lunch! I will certainly come here again, though next time I will probably come with some friends.

Over the weekend there was a nice big seafood festival in Bang Saen. I wasn't really there for the food though - They had a nice big stage set up and some bands coming to play. I saw Clash and managed to talk my way backstage but man those guy sleft fast, I didn't get to talk to any of them.

There was a fantastic firework display aswell, some of the coolest ones I've seen in a long time.

Depending on your take on these creatures you with be either facinated or terrified but I am pretty sure if you spend some time outside of Bangkok there may be a time when you run into one of these guys...as the heading says, snakes.

Personally I love snakes, and yesterday was yet another day of excitement.
I have managed to take photo's of about 6 different types of snakes in the last few months so my friends know that if they see one they should give me a call.

Well this time it was "do you wanna see a cobra"...yes I thought.
So I ran across the road to his house.
He had almost stepped on it, the cobra-only a small one but still lethal- had reared itself back with it's hood open and then gone under the shoes outside to hide away.

I ran home to get a long pole so that I could chase it out from it's hiding place but just as I got back a Thai man pulled up to
find out what the comotion was.
When we told him he decided that the best thing to do was to kill it.

Although I was not too happy with the idea, snakes are normally not as bad as people make them out to be, it was probably all we could do as the grass round his house is really long and it's about the 3rd time the snake has been seen recently.

So he took the pole from me and chased it out and proceeded to bash it...but just before he killed it the snake was rearing up and I managed to get some nice photo's of it with it's hood open...beautiful really.
After he'd killed it he pushed with the pole down into a water system and then said...."Well at least now the fish have some food." True I suppose, the life cycle continues.

Now we just got to watch out for the big one we think is living under his house

Hi

I am a teacher from England who took a years sabbatical to experience life in the 'amazing' country of Thailand. I learned much about Thai culture and life in a Thai School . I now would like to take this opportunity to share with you some of those experiences over the coming months.

What is it like living in Thailand?

When you first step off the plane it is the heat you notice first. All day and all night it is hot but fortunately you can get out of the heat in air-conditioned rooms, shops and cars. I love the fact that you can walk around in a T-shirt and shorts 24 hours a day without feeling cold. The temperature never seems to drop much.

One thing I learnt very quickly was to slow down, to take things slowly and not to worry. Thai's have a saying 'mai pen rai ' (my pen rye) which means no worries/never mind. In England, I am used to working to a deadline, to rush here and there before going on to do this and that. In Thailand everything slows down. It is a bit like moving underwater. 'If it doesn't happen, don't worry, there is still time'. 'Mai pen rai'

I feel like a child visiting an amazing place for the very first time. I want to lap up everything around me. The beautiful golden temples dotted around the landscape, the elephants roaming the streets, funny little taxis that look like golf carts, the friendly people and the incredible food stalls. There is so much to take in. Most are new experiences but some the same, like the Shell petrol garage or MacDonalds which you see dotted around town just like home.

Like a child I find myself having to rely on others to show me when and how to go about the basic and 'natural' actions of daily life. The very simplest of things like posting a letter can become an adventure.

I rely on people to interpret what is being said. I often don't know what is going on, what is funny or what is serious or what people are thinking or saying. It sometimes feels like the world is going on without me.
One of the hardest things for me to get used to was communicating what I want. Imagine being in a place where not everyone understands you. Every time you try to do something, you get a different result than the one you wanted. You feel powerless and frustrated by this. Sign language helps, but what could mean a good sign in English may be a bad one in Thai.

This afternoon, I heard the best news for a long time. My townhouse will be ready by next Saturday! It has been a long time coming. I actually bought the house back in April. It was the summer holidays and it would have been the perfect time to move in. However, it was an empty shell at that time and needed quite a bit of work to make it livable. Well, comfortable enough for a Westerner like myself to live there!

I wouldn’t say it is my dream house. It doesn’t have a garden and it isn’t in the countryside. It also has neighbours on both sides. But, the dream house will come later. Maybe much later. The main reasons I bought this townhouse is that it cost only 1.5 million baht and is about a 10 minute walk from the school. It is also centrally located in Paknam. It is near enough to Sukhumwit Road to be convenient but back enough to be relatively quiet. Well, time will tell about that.

The house has four floors as well as a roof garden. The second floor was originally a balcony looking down to the first floor. But, I had the floor extended so that there is now a big room on the second floor. This will be the office for my company, which I will set up later in the year. The third and fourth floors were originally all open rooms. However, they have now put in walls so that the third floor has two bedrooms with shared bathroom and toilet. The fourth floor is like a studio apartment with bedroom, living room and bathroom all-together.

It has taken just over two months for them to refurbish the townhouse. All of the Thai style toilets were ripped out (no squatting for me). They put in proper Western toilets and hot water showers. Washing Thai style involves a big tub of water in your bathroom and scooping icy cold water all over you. No thanks, I’ll pay extra for the hot water shower.

I also had all of the windows and outside doors changed. The quality of the originals weren’t that good. Now the rooms are more sound proof and will be better with no gaps between them. I am not that keen on the mosquitoes! Anyway, all of the windows now have mosquito screens. In addition, each of the bedrooms have air-conditioning. The only room that doesn’t have it is the living room on the ground floor. Maybe I will regret not doing that later.

Obviously, all of these changes to the house have been quite expensive. But I think it is worth it in the long run. Now I will have to go out and start buying some furniture. I am not too sure how much money I will have left after all of this. So, I guess I will only buy the essential items first. I’ll go out tonight to Central City Bang Na to look at some furniture. I will also try and get some idea of prices of things like fridge, washing machine, beds etc. I have the t.v. already. Actually it was free. UBC was having a promotion, which ended last month. I signed up for their cable t.v. package and I got a free 29 inch t.v.! Seemed like a good deal. I needed a t.v. anyway.

Well it's Friday and another week of teaching down.

Not that I'm complaining, one of the great things is that I am actually really enjoying work, I teach Prathom 1( grade 1) and each day lends itself to new challenges and experiences.

One of the biggest challenges with teaching kids, I think, is trying to remain as calm and patient as one can all the time. It can be a lot of fun but tough too teaching kids. I have one student ( now bare in mind these kids are about 7 years old) who is constantly interupting me, fighting with the other kids, spoiling games and generally quite defiant, but he is after all just a kid and in general actually quite a good one.
It could be that he lacks attention somewhere or that maybe he
has different needs and can't be still in the same environment as others.
I think he really tries sometimes but he just can't help himself, sometimes when I tell him off he'll keep on talking to himself, I don't think he means to do this in a defiant way I think he just can't stop himself talking. Quite amusing actually.

The education system is actually quite strange, from grade 1 kids are at school all day( until 4 pm!!) don't really do sport and then the majority learn extras on weekends.
We didn't even finish that late in high school( unless we had sport)
and our weekends and holidays, that was about having fun!!
Well the thai kids are made to study study study.

It's not hard to see where the parents are coming from though, they obviously just want the best for their kids.....I think it's a bit too much though...which is where i think fun really needs to come into the classroom especially with kids this age.

And that's were the patience comes in, I want my students to learn but I don't want them to ever be scared of me , or hate school....it should be fun and they should enjoy learning...not frightened into it