It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas....

Far from my usual Bah Humbug attitude, I find myself well into the Christmas spirit over here.  Maybe it's the fact that everyone is happy all the time, maybe it's that I'm not trying to make last minute trips to Kenwood Mall, maybe it's the fact that I've spent the last four days listening to Thai children try to sing "Jingle Bells."  Whatever it is, I'm merrily painting my fingernails green and red while listening to "Santa Baby."

I'm hoping to leave Sam Phran as soon as I'm done with school tomorrow.  Hopefully meeting my friend Melissa in Bangkok for Christmas dinner/drinks.  Not sure if I'll be back before the holidays, so this is my Merry Christmas post!

Here are some photos of my children's image of Santa Claus.

I'll be thinking of everyone this sunday.  Have a merry one :)))

What a long strange trip it's been....

And it's finally winding to a close.  My apartment reopened a couple days ago.  I leave Koh Tao tomorrow morning, stay in Chumphon until tuesday when I can make my visa run, then it's back to Nakhon Pathom.  School will reopen on the 20th.

I'm not gonna take off my travel bling, though.  They can take my freedom, but they can never take my turquoise and gypsy bells.  :P

I hear this song three times every night

And I still love it!  My friend and I used to sing it every time.  Feel good song of the year for two expat girls from the US.

Newest Update

School will be closed until December 13th.  I had some fun in Chumphon, visiting the beach, running around with my friends Chris and his girlfriend from BKK, Daisy.  But Daisy had to go back to Bangkok, and Chris is running off to Hong Kong.  Luckily I'm back on Koh Tao with my friends there.  The weather is a little dreary, but it's still a lot of fun.  Monday is the King's birthday/Father's day, I'm hoping for some sort of celebration.  Loy Kratong was so great, seeing all the Thai people on the island coming out and watching (no kidding) beauty contests.  I'm kind of curious what happens here on Christmas.

This flooding has come full circle for me.  It started great, then started to stretch too long, now it's great again.  I love Thailand.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone :)

We even had one here, Thailand style.  The turkey was actually chicken and it was fried up by nice Muslim women in front of 7-11, but we all felt it the same.

That's Joey, Chelsea, Hannah, Jennica, Chris and Daisy.  Add in Claire, and you've got the Thanksgiving crew of Chumphon.  I hope you guys at home have a good one as well!

The official word

Not until December 6th, at the earliest.

Chump-on it! Chump-on it!

The reason I haven't updated about the flooding or my school situation is because I don't know anything about it yet.  I spoke to a woman at my apartment last wednesday about coming home, and she told me it wasn't possible right now.  Neither the school, nor my agency have been in contact with me, and I've tried to call both twice.

The school's official reopen date was yesterday, though the woman at my apartment said that wasn't possible, either.  I'm just milling around Chumphon right now, but it is boring as hell.  I knew it would be, but I had to leave the island for money reasons.  It just got too expensive there for me to stay, and I couldn't pick up any extra cash on the side, like I'd hoped.

On the up side, my friend in Bangkok (who still isn't able to go back to her apartment, but is staying with a friend) let me know that the stores have beer again.  This is good news.  If the beer factories in Bangkok are working again, that means the floods are receding from some areas.

Oh to heck with it.  I'm gonna go to the beach and relax.  When they want me to start work again, they'll call.

Bonus Full Moon Party Photo

Photo courtesy of a friend, Greg.  I met Greg on Koh Tao awhile back.  We bonded over both having escaped Kentucky.  His job is to travel Southeast Asia and blog about it on About.com.  Needless to say, I am deeply jealous of Greg's job.

 That's Greg, pretending to use the sleeping area on the beach.  I would like to add that the painted lightning bolt over his eye was my idea.  Painting his fingernails was his. 

I got the moves like Jagger

Phew.  Been awhile, hasn't it?  So Bree, are you home yet?

Hahahaha.  No.  The flooding is moving to my area now.  So lord only knows when I'll be able to get back there.  I spoke to a Thai friend and said I thought we would see each other soon.  "I think one month" was her reply.  Oh dear.

My first stop on this journey was Hua Hin.  I am never going back to Hua Hin.  It's nothing but old men and prostitutes.  Sex tourism is real, and it is gross.  I avoid anywhere it occurs like the plague.

So I bailed and went to my next destination, my favorite island, Koh Tao.  You all remember Koh Tao, yeah?

So good to see that tiny little island again.

Not sure what else I can say, so here's an image dump...

That's Charles, an Israili guy, and Noy, who owns my favorite bar on Koh Tao.  See those lovely shoes I'm wearing?  Yeah, those didn't make it home with me that night.  :(

 The big guy is Maxi, a tattoo artist from Bangkok.  He was living at Noy's bar tattooing.

That's, um, I can't remember her name.  Charles' wife.  Malaysian.

So we all randomly met at Lotus Bar, and made plans for the next night.  It was Halloween, so we all went a bit crazy.  Maxi painted us.

I was a phoenix, by the way.  The guy with a star over his eye is Adam, who is a jerk.  But we'll go into that later.  The girl with a mask painted on is Miki.  So we hit the town.

I do not have any idea who any of those new people are.  No clue.  There were a lot of tequila shots involved.  Really, any time I see Noy, I know tequila shots will be involved.

And that's Bond.  He is a complete mystery to me.  I have no idea what he does on the island, he just shows up to bars briefly and then moves on to the next.  He offered to help me find a job in high season if I want to live there.  That is so tempting.  I'm genuinely kicking it around.  Anyway, here's the rest of the trip.

 This is Groove.  I met him when I was stretched out on the beach in front of his bungalow.  His mother is Thai, his father is from Hong Kong, he was raised in England.  He is a loud gay kid that was sooo much fun.  He lived in Bangkok, about to go to university.

That's Melissa, from Oregon.  I met her by happenstance on Sukhomvit in BKK one afternoon.  She escaped the floods as well.

Tequila!  Doot doot doot doo doo doo doot doo!  I actually did the Pee-Wee dance after a shot once.  All three of my Thai friends were really confused, and I could not properly explain it to them.  Oh well.

That's Dew and Robyn.  Robyn's from the UK, been traveling all the islands.  She has an interview for a job in Bangkok next week.  Dew has a girlfriend from Finland that looks a lot like my cousin Katherine.  I have no pictures of her because she hides her face anytime there's a camera around.

 And there's me with my Loy Kratong!  I love the idea of Loy Kratong.  You make these fancy flower arrangements with incense and candles.  Put some money, a few strands of hair and some fingernail clippings into it, and then light it up and push it out on the water.  You ask for something good, and the Thai people say that on this day, the universe listens.  You literally float your troubles away.  I love it.

Bye bye troubles.  If you're curious, I asked for the continued love from everyone around me and the safety of everyone I care about.  I have friends I haven't heard from since the flooding business started.  I think about them every day.

Before I Loy Kratonged, I went to the shooting range because, I dunno, guns are fun.

Then I found a bunch of taxi drivers partying in front of 7-11.  We danced to some Thai pop and they gave me a whiskey and soda.  It's kind of like that, here in Thailand.

My last night on Koh Tao.

Bye bye Koh Tao.  Sniffle.  I'll see you soon, I hope.

Now, a special note about fire dancers.  I've talked about them a lot because they are all over Thailand.  Kids start learning to do it when they're really young.  I've met some kids that already work as fire dancers at nine or ten years old.  They'll have a job for as long as they want it, so it's a good thing.  So, here's some fire dancer things.

And look, I got video!  Sadly not of the two guys pictured above.  They were really really good.

Well, this blog operates stupidly, so I'll just link you to the videos.  Here and here they are.  Enjoy.

Flooding in Bangkok

It's bad.  Very bad.  But yes, I am safe on a tropical island just off Chumphon, my school is closed until Nov 9th.  It may be closed for longer.  I'm hopeful.  I don't want to celebrate Loy Kratong in Bangkok.  Although I guess, technically, you wouldn't have to go far from the house to celebrate.  Aheh.  Forgive me, that was a joke in poor taste.

The truth is, Thailand is in a lot of trouble right now, and I worry about how long it will take to recover.  Businesses are gone, people are forced to flee their home.  Food and water is scarce in some areas.  Even this far south, you see evidence of the flooding.  Not in the trees and the beach, but in the 7-11 and the restaurants.  Everything is routed through Bangkok, you see.  And since Bangkok is under water, many things just can't be gotten.  The most alarming is bottled water.  Rain water is not safe to drink, and neither is the water from a faucet.  Even water stations (the kind where you can fill a big jug, it just pulls the water in from a line and purifies it) are turned off in many places.  The news may be good for reporting how many people have died from a strong underwater current in their street, or how a family lost their business and everything they own, but I'm sure they're failing to report the effect that this is having on the whole of Thailand.

I'm safe, but so many people are not.  I'm hurting for money, but I have a family who is able to help me, so many people don't.  If you're the type to pray, toss in a quick line for all the people of Thailand.  I stopped by an alter to Ganesha earlier today.  If you're able, donate some money to help, but everyone will understand if you can't.  No matter where I go on this earth, part of me will always consider this country my home.  These are my people, so let's all band together and take care of them, na.

It's Thailand, all the songs are about broken hearts...

They really are, but that's not actually what I came to blog about.  It's the meaning of the words "I love you" here in Thailand.  The first time somebody told me they loved me, I was mildly alarmed.  I mean, those are big words to throw around.  When somebody looks at you and says they love you, it's kind of a holy shit moment.  Even if you've been dating for awhile (I haven't had a boyfriend since I got here.)

Then you realize that I love you means a lot of things here in Thailand.  It could mean 'let's stay together forever.'  It could mean 'you're kind of cool.'  It could mean 'you're pretty and I'd like you to come home with me.'  It could mean 'this is the only English I know other than hello.'  It could even mean 'I want to be facebook friends.'  No lie.  So, needless to say, when somebody says they love me, I take it with a grain of salt and tell them no.  Just straight up no.  Usually, everyone shrugs and walks away.  Or sometimes big, tough, tattooed muay thai fighters look like they're about to cry and tell you they aren't happy when you are not around.

Oh well, at least I'm leaving him in the country with the right music for this situation. 

Here is my second favorite Thai song.  I can't find any translation videos of my favorite.

Howl at the moon...

Just got back to Chumphon from Koh Phanagan for the Full Moon Party.  It's arguably the largest party in the world, and they celebrate every month at the full moon on Haad Rin beach.

I have never seen such a display of pure, unbridled hedonism.  I honestly saw people having sex in the ocean.  Bucket stalls line the streets.  Blacklights and neon body paint.  There are stages set up on the beach for you to dance.  People jump with flaming jump ropes, there are slides with fire lining the side that start at the top of the bar and end on the beach.  Oh Thailand, what won't you let us crazy farong do?

I was joined at this party by a friend from Koh Tao, which was nice.  Everyone assumed I was his girlfriend so I didn't need to fear for my safety.  Except when the fire dancer threw his stick too far and it landed a few feet away from me in the sand.  Admittedly, that was a little alarming.  Oh, and I guess I did almost fall off a picnic table I was dancing on.

Being a westerner in Asia is a lot like being a child with no adult supervision.  Back in the western world, there are tons of measures and standards set in place for your safety, more than I think any of you even realize.  Those things don't exist here.  You're pretty much responsible for yourself.  For christ's sake, they encourage you play with a flaming jump rope.  I was dancing at a bar on Songkran and the bartender actually brought out chairs for Kat and I to get up on and dance.  It is the land of the free.  There is no tree you can't climb if you feel like it.  No table you can't dance on (though I'm sure they'd find it rude in some cases).  It's not really a shock that we all go a little bit wild when we get here.  Some people injure themselves really badly.  I saw a guy catch his shirt on fire trying to fire dance (luckily he wasn't actually wearing said shirt).  I've had friends end up in the hospital with broken limbs for various reasons.  I try to keep my recklessness moderate.

Now I'm off to try for the fourth time to scrub the green and pink tiger stripes off my leg. 

Party at the 3 In

So, it's not really a secret that I love the rasta bar.  Nor is it a secret that Kat and I are apt to get very drunk and sing Bon Jovi at the top of our lungs, regardless of our audience.  So when a Malaysian guy shows up with a guitar and a party appears, we are there with bells on.  So, here are the pictures from back in Chumphon!

Yup, good times, good times.  Most of the Thai guys I end up hanging out with in this fashion are very impressed that I know all the words to all the Bob Marley songs.  Thanks, Dad!