We're here....and sweating.....yep....still sweating...

Hi! We haven't been able to e-mail until now as we don't have the internet at our house and we didn't exactly know where to go. Plus, we've had to get bicycles, a cell phone, observe classes, get things for our house (since it is absolutely empty save a bed and a dresser), and do other tedious things. The tasks are more tedious than usual because it is exceptionally hot here right now (even by their standards). Caleb and I have been having to wear more clothes in this weather than we'd usually wear in order to look "respectable" in Thai culture. Hot! We are looking forward to cooler weather and getting away to the beaches and Northern Thailand soon.

So, we're here and we're sweating. As we write this it is in the 90s and I have sweated through every item of clothing I am wearing. I can't wait to get in front of a non-air conditioned classroom and teach! I feel a good first impression with Thai kids who have barely seen farang (foreigners) before is to have a wild haired, bearded man sweat all over their desks and yell things in a strange language. I foresaw these events today as I observed a 4th grade classroom where I was met by stares and shy blushing 4th graders. At least that's better than the preschool I observed the day before where two little boys stared at me and kept rubbing their upper lips in fear that they too would sprout a mustache in seconds. Being an American in the port town of Surat Thani makes me an oddity to start with. Having a beard makes me a muppet, something you have seen on TV, believe they exist on a fictional street, but hope to never run into in real life in fear that your life will suddenly be sponsored by the number 7 and the letter "B".
Soooo....I had to make a big decision. Keep the beard and scare children or lose it. Let's just say that I will be looking pretty different than I have in the past 8 years. The short and shorn look will not only keep me on the cutting edge of Thai fashion but will also keep me cooler and hopefully stop the steady dripping that soaks my collar each day.

SO what is Thailand like?
Well, hot. Really hot. Makes you sleepy hot. Heat + jet lag + no understanding any words or letters on signs have had a strange euphoric effect on us making the smallest activities seem like some weird dream. I half expect to be walking down the street to see a shark with braces leaping over my head or a tiny person running after me speaking in tongues wearing a velvet jumpsuit (OK, I have weird dreams). None of that has happened but as we float through Surat Thani we have been chased by barking stray dogs and Tuk tuks (3 wheeled motorcabs).

COdie and I have our own house (no roommates) which I am sure we will appreciate later. Now, on the other hand, we would love to have someone to help us with the little day to day things. Where do we put out garbage? why is that man blasting music out of his house all day? how do we get water? how do we shut the dogs up at 3am? why are there cockroaches in or house? where do you go to buy earplugs.....
The bad news with the house is that other than two beds and two dressers there is nothing, I mean nothing, else. OK..there is a squat toilet downstairs and a western toilet upstairs but there is no furniture. After spending the past few days on a tile floor we bought an old used bamboo table from a second hand store. We're pretty proud of our set up. Now we can do any number of things like eat on a flat elevated surface. Yay!
Our street is mostly quiet except for morning and afternoon scooter traffic with people dropping their kids off at a nearby school. Nights are quiet until the inevitable dog fight that wakes us up until it ends. We have a lap pool nearby that the teachers at our school go to for exercise. I think I am going to get some goggles and start lap swimming for exercise. There are evening yoga classes that we will start up with after we get back from the October break.

The best part of Thailand so far has been the food. Piles and piles of delicious Thai food with meals costing us usually less than a dollar. Yesterday I ate dinner three times as we walked through the night market. From the best buttered corn, to seafood Pad Thai, to strange meat on a stick with flies buzzing around it we are always in the mood to try something. There are plenty of deep fried bugs so I will definitely make sure to bring some back for everyone.

Our teaching gig won't really get going until next month so for now we are observing classes but will be teaching both high school and three kindergarten classes. We observed a 4th grade class learning action verbs in team style competition. They got to choose their own team name and everything. And what do you suppose they would pick for teams? The Packers, Bulls, Fighting Unicorns. No such luck as team Emo and team Innocent went head to head.

The teachers at the school are all awesome and have been really nice to us. They are all tired after a long semester and going different ways travelling throughout Thailand currently, so I think we'll really start getting to know people after traveling in October.

We will probably leave tomorrow or the next day and travel throughout Thailand in October as our school needs our passports to process our visas. We're not sure yet where we will be going but will let you know when we get there.


We're going to a book exchange tonight with the other English speakers at a bar. We'll write soon and include pictures of our house and my missing beard.