Catch up #1

Ok, no one asked for it, so you got it. I’ve been worse than ever aboot keeping up with my correspondence. My friends in Chicago, Vegas, and Michigan are getting along just fine without my long-winded, overly dramatic style of delivery. This cannot continue. If I have to use the intro net to fill the air with my mental debris, so be it. I’m gonna try doin’ it bloggy-style.

Since I’ve been so inconsistent with my e-mails, I’m going to cut-and paste some excerpts from a few I’ve sent out to individuals, so bear with me if a couple of you have seen some of this crap before.

One I sent to Scott:

Greetings from the sweltering Northern Province. I'm up early on a Saturday, my busy teaching day, but just wanted to shoot some pictures to you. The friends on scooters are Ivan the Russian and his new girlfriend whose name I fail to pronounce, so I just call her New. We took scooters up to the mountain, to the Huay Teung Thao reservoir, and passed some cool Wats (temples) along the way. Chiang Mai has the highest concentration of temples in Thailand, and the one with the tall, old-looking tower is the oldest in Thailand, dating back to the early 1400s.

The blue tennis raquet thing is a bug zapper. Two D-cells go into the handle, and you push the button to charge the net. I suggest not putting your tongue on it to test. This is a strange and hazardous country for electrics. The powerlines are often sagging low enough to touch, which is not recommended.

My mozzie net over the bed came out swimmingly, my first net install! Since hanging it, the insect carnage has decreased to a manageable state. The monsoon season will be my next challenge for mosquitoes. It seems I'm delicious....

Songkran is approaching; a traditional waterfight in the hot season that involves simple assault with water rifles. The days begin with a ritual flicking of water onto strangers with the fingers. The days end with supersoakers across the city moat and being slammed with casks of rancid pond water from passing vehicles. I won't be surprised to get a case of the tadpoles. What're ya gonna do, right?

I have my address written in Thai on a slip of paper in my wallet, in case the Tuktuk driver can't speak English. And I have yet to hire a tuktuk (motorcycle taxi) that can speak English. I really like this area where I'm living, as the tourist count is low, and the true Thai experience is all around me. The bathroom is traditional Thai style, however, which means the shower is just out in the bathroom itself, and everything gets inundated. It's truly a water closet.

My students at ALC Airline Academy love me, and my antics, and they are all actively working on doing impressions of my accent. Most teachers here are from UK, Scotland, and Ireland, so an authentic Midwest accent is most anomalous. Despite my total lack of experience, I have been able to create the illusion of teaching acumen. Let's hope I can keep it going....

The squid on a plate I ate the other night has exacted a terrible revenge. I won't patronize that particular establishment again.

I also had "Dancing Shrimp" at the reservoir, which is a plate of tiny live shrimps. They went down without much of a fight, but there wasn't anything they could do against the grinding of giant mandibles. As far as their effect on my gastro tract, the votes are still coming in.