water

There's a shiny metal box outside my office, where water is kept colder than the ambient temperature. I just got asked by a Thai teacher if it was clean. I replied that I thought it was, I've been drinking it for a while (I started shortly after I was told that the other metal thing with water is not for drinking). She asked if I was sure, and I quickly responded No, generating in her one of the most heartfelt laughs I've gotten out of one of my Thai coworkers. As I walked off, she said, "In the future, it will be clean, coming soon." I hope I don't find out the hard way what she means.

Scheduling

I got office-spaced on yesterday. We spent the whole day trying to figure out what was going on, betting on whether or not my students would show up (one class, not at all; another class only the girls were there), and with the last period cancelled, I sat at my desk watching an old sci fi movie called Capricorn One and grading midterm paragraphs (referring to them as essays won't do). A few times I considered ducking out early, because I could do the work at home, or the next day.

I should have left, because ten minutes before I'm scheduled to be out of the office, they tell me the English contest I was supposed to help with that day got moved to 7 30 the next morning, which is half an hour earlier than I usually come in. I try to explain that, no, I don't have other plans, but I would have liked more notice. Anyway, I come in at 7 30 on the dot, sit around grading those same papers, and at 8 am (normal showing up time, remember), I'm handed my list of English questions I'm supposed to read to the competing students. One of the questions involved asking about a Thai royal, and I only left out a few of the twelve syllables before the Thai teacher took over. At least I was able to pronounce "Her Royal Highness Princess..." correctly.

So I sit at my desk grading for a bit more, and around 8 15, I go read these questions about general English knowledge. So glad I went to bed early and got a good nights sleep. Wait, no I was the one who did laundry, drank beer, and watched Gremlins last night. So leave early and keep your head down is the moral. I never thought I'd be in this kind of office atmosphere, but it's one more experience I can notch on my belt. Is anyone still confused about why I'm coming home in a month?

So I finally made it up to Bangkok for a weekend. It's a nice little city of ten million down town people. I spent my time in a place called Khosan road, which is a popular hang out for backpackers. I haven't seen that many white people since I was in America, and I hadn't had a hot shower like that since I was in Jordan (the country). On sunday, my friends went to a cooking class, and I thought I would leisurely stroll down a street, then come back. I've told people this before, but now I really learned it: walking off by yourself and trying to come back is easiest when the city uses a grid system. In short, I have never been so lost as I was Sunday afternoon in Bangkok. I saw a few of the sights and mostly hung out by the pool a lot, so I had a fine weekend.

I think the rainy season has officially started because I haven't really seen the sun in a couple of days. I thought it would cool things off, but actually the only difference is that humidity is so pervasive that sweat doesn't go anywhere unless it drips off. I'm sure it will flood enough to be annoying pretty soon. But if you haven't heard yet, I'll be back soon. More on that later.

We had a long weekend for the beginning of Buddhist lent, aka three months when monks stay at the temple they're in and out of the rainy season. To celebrate, I took a trip up to see the science teacher I replaced, the snakes he researches, and hang out with some graduate students doing research at an ecotourism reserve. The place was great and I had a really fun time in the field doing some nerd talk with biologists. We took a group photo with a camera trap, used radiotelemeters to find hidden birds, took a night hike in search of herps, and played language centered drinking games ("never have I ever" becomes "I have never" with esl students and I prefer the wording myself). If anyone knows what kind of bug this is, let me know. I argued with the Thai student who told me it was Ephemoptera, and I've determined that it may be Neuroptera, all I know is that I've never seen a dragonfly with antennae that big, but its otherwise a very good mimic of a predatory insect.

Hospital

After being here a few months, I'm well on my way to getting an official work permit. This includes a trip to the local hospital and physical examination including a VDRL test. I thought for a bit that VDRL would test for lots of things because that's what the name sounds like, but apparently it's just for syphilis. I was told in the van after touching down in Bangkok that this was a required test to pass for employment and I tried to explain to my employers that from now on they should tell people that kind of thing before they fly to the other side of the world and start work. Now that I have officially been declared 'unreactive' to the test, I can voice an opinion about it. The only thing worse than being told I had syphilis and subsequently fired from a job would be if I were complaining about the test on the internet.

I have also been officially measured. This has actually come up a lot recently so I'm not just bragging. I am 187 cm tall and 70 .5 kg massive. Blood pressure is 118 / 64 and the nice lady remarked on how low my pulse is. It's written as 60, but I thought the machine was even lower. Actually, the date on the form says its the year 2554, so who knows.

A few things stuck out as memorable. I had to sit and wait in four different places, which is not surprising; I've been with my dogbitten friend a couple of times and her experiences were similar. At one point I sat next to a sign that said X ray 1 in big letters on the top, then there was a sign that said Pregnancy, no X ray on the bottom. I made it a point to watch the technician actually take the needle out of its package for my blood test, and in this land of wrapping everything at least twice in plastic, I would have been thoroughly surprised otherwise. He did a good job, but I have really easy veins to hit, and he didn't wear gloves. The really surprising thing to me is when I saw the nurse's shoes. First, it was surprising that I noticed women's shoes, and secondly, they were wearing heels. They are all about the image here in Thailand.

First Day of Sports Week

Classes this week have been occasionally cancelled in preparation for a little event called "Sports Days". Kids missed my class so that they could practice cheering for the competitors. I barely understand the concept of cheering and practicing for it makes no sense to me whatsoever, but now that I've seen some of their routines, it is impressive. Along with the massive artistic sets that have been prepared, it's quite a production. Another thing that bothers me, but would be acceptable to lots of my western friends, is that most of the cheering has so far been for running, which I consider a non-sport.

Today, there are no classes, and though we have to be here today, offices and classes are locked to prevent wandering children, I guess. The gymnasium was even closed up this morning so that more people would pay attention to the communal happenings on the soccer field. A long track was set up with corresponding cheering sections watching runners go round and round. The sun was hot and luckily, as the day progressed, the gym became free and unorganized sports took over that particular area.

I do not remember having a 'field day' in any of my school years, but I can guarantee that I would have been one of the kids in the gym, playing volleyball, basketball, or badminton in the most unofficial way possible. Basketball is simple enough because the rims are bolted to walls, but they remove the volleyball net so that kids had to build a "net" out of their shoes. This actually sums up many of my observations of Thailand: they do have the net, the ball, and the will, but these things are purposefully removed to serve something of the greater good or the master plan. Needless to say, I spent my time playing the unorganized, pay-no-attention-to-the-color-of-my-shirt, activities. This is partly because that's what I've spent my life enjoying the most and I appreciate the way it brings everyone together in friendly competition, but it's also partly because I'm one of two people not wearing the team colors today (i.e., I don't actually own a yellow shirt), and I feel out of place in a sea of synchronized colors.