Surat Thani, Thailand October 2013
As my plane took off from Honolulu I realized that I was literally only going to live through one hour of Monday, October 14, 2013. It is so weird to think that you can just completely skip a day, but it didn't bother me as I landed in Taipei, Taiwan around six a.m. on Tuesday, October 15, 2013. During my seven hour layover, the emotions from leaving my amazing home for the past three years and traveling even farther away from my family finally sank in. But as the theme of this blog goes, "That is the price you pay for the richness of loving and knowing people in more than one place".
I have been lucky enough to be paired in a house with two current teachers, Ness and Shane. They have been more than helpful and my saviors to adjusting to the culture shock that is Thailand. Apart from taxiing me around on their motorbikes, they have provided me with the ups and downs, dos and don'ts of living in Thailand. I have counting from 1 -10 down and I can say/understand baht when it comes to 1 -100. The food and transportation is extremely cheap here, roughly 60 baht (two dollars for a lunch plate) and 20 baht (less than a dollar) for a tuk tuk ride around in town. I have already found my favourite (my influence from the 5+ British teachers I am teaching with) coffee shop at My Cup and a "healthy" place to eat near the school I am working at.
My favourite part about The Language (the company I work for) and pretty much everywhere else is Thailand is getting to do this:
(Just kidding I love everything about the company so far, but this defiantly helps getting to walk around everywhere with out shoes/slippers)
I also did a little adventure with one of the other teachers, Annika, to "Exercise Island". There are a billion little stations for working out and courts to play games like volleyball and badminton.
The way they make their ice cream too is just brilliant. It's so fancy and it tastes like heaven.
After three full days in Surat I am starting to get more adjusted and slowly finding my way around. I've been taking pictures of all of the street signs where I need to go to show to the tuk tuk drivers who don't understand me. Thank goodness for technology or I would be stranded.
I am excited for this weekend and our journey to the coast to relax by the beach and play in the ocean….a little place called Khanom. I think will help with my homesickness for Hawaii.
