Family Thai-m ^_^

Spending the “winter” in Bangkok has been surreal. From taking a walking photo-tour of all the strange and extravagant holiday decorations and light displays around the city (the Thais love their festivals!) to zealously celebrating my team’s big win from halfway across the world (GO PACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), I feel that the meaning of the phrase “never in my wildest dreams” is beginning to diminish for me a bit. Certainly the best part of the winter here though was the arrival of the premier customers of Come Visit Your Long-lost Globe-trotting Daughter/Sister Tours, Inc. =)

-I welcomed my guests on the first of February- my dad and my sister had arrived in Bangkok! I met them at their hotel after my shift finished at work and immediately whisked them away to my favorite Thai restaurant by Victory Monument, the location of which has been passed down from teacher to teacher at my school. As we entered the alley and strode into the eclectic teak-paneled diner, the waitress recognized me and asked me if I would like my usual drink, a bottled beverage that tastes like a mixture of red wine and coke and intriguingly named Spy. I then proceeded to order for my family a splendid journey through the world of my adopted country’s cuisine, speaking only in Thai (complete with some special instructions about specific ingredients and degree of spiciness!). The language is still difficult for me, but if there are two things I had to learn quickly it was directions and food. Spicy green papaya salad with lime and peanuts, spicy ground-pork salad with lime and mint, spicy coconut soup with chicken and lemongrass, (do I need to mention that Thais LOVE spicy food?) stir-fried chicken with vegetables and cashews, pineapple fried rice… we thoroughly enjoyed the feast, my dad proclaiming happily “There’s so many different flavors!”

-The next day we took a tour of Bangkok, via every form of transportation imaginable! We took the Skytrain to the river and hopped on a taxi boat upstream to Wat Arun- the “Temple of the Dawn.” We climbed the ultra steep stairs to the top, and looked out over the sprawling expanse of the city. Upon our descent, my sister immediately spied a stand selling coconuts; she devoured every last bit of the sweet juice and flesh in a state of delirious happiness. We crossed the river again to go to Wat Pho, home of the massive golden reclining Buddha that takes up the entire interior of the temple. The day had grown extremely hot and we no longer had energy to make it to the next temple, Wat Pra Kaew, which was not that big of a let-down for me, seeing as I was not particularly looking forward to seeing my old friend the Emerald Buddha again after what happened last time (see previous post).

-Early the next morning we woke up to start a 4-hour road-trip to an island southeast of Bangkok. Instead of taking a bus or taxi like I had been planning, we would be getting a ride from the brother of one of my students! My student had said that they had business near that area and we could ride in the company van, but his brother actually arrived in his personal car, leaving us to speculate about whether he did indeed have business to do or not. Because Sun didn’t speak much English we weren’t able to communicate much more than the limited Thai phrases I knew. When we arrived he refused to accept any money for gas, and concerned, I called my student… who assured that it was a gift for my family! In a state of incredulity I then spoke to a Thai friend who explained that this help for a teacher was not uncommon in Thailand, as “ajarn” is a well-respected profession and my student would gain much merit in assisting us. We couldn’t believe it! We decided on the way back we would buy Sun a bottle of Johnnie Walker Black Label whiskey, a popular choice of beverage here… still not enough to return the great favor.

After a 20-minute ferry ride from the pier, we arrived in island paradise. Our hotel was a series of rooms in round white towers connected to each other by wooden bridges over a thick tangle of tropical foliage. We did a lot during our 3-day stay, but it was surprisingly relaxing for a Sauer family vacation =) We took a half-day snorkeling trip, stopping at different reefs and an island to see bright colorful fish (my sister was too happy to step on dry land, as she had gotten motion sick on the speed boat). My dad and I got to take a kayak out from our hotel and paddle up a little inlet to the beach. We also took an elephant trek, riding through the jungle on movable gray mountains; Megan had her own elephant and both her and my dad got to take turns “steering” as the guide walked alongside! I never dreamed I would spend any birthday doing such cool activities in such a beautiful place (in such an amazing country!)

-Six days was too short for my Dad to be here but I’m really glad he came. Hopefully he might have the chance to come out again and to bring my mom! My sister settled in and got ready to spend two more weeks in this chaotic mishmash of a city. While I was at work, she set herself to exploring. She made it to some destinations I still have never been to! She even went up to Chiang Mai (the city I remember so fondly from my previous travels) alone- her first solo backpacking adventure! We also did some shorter excursions together out from the city- a day trip to Ayutthaya to see the ancient temples and an overnight trip to Khao Yai National Park so she could trek through the jungle to see wild elephants (and I could lay by the pool and absorb the vitamin D I’d been missing in pollution-shrouded Bangkok).

I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with my family and felt their absence immediately and acutely when they left. It was also difficult to talk to my mom and other sister back home while they were here. Now I’m on my own again, missing everyone back home all the more, but their visit recharged my batteries. I have a renewed energy and enthusiasm for being here. I even bought a guitar to teach myself to play! Now that I’ve passed the 6-month mark and the end is in sight, I want to make sure I do all that I had planned when I first arrived.

I miss you all and continue to keep me updated about what’s happening in your lives!

***One special note I wanted to make: the earthquake and tsunami in Japan have had a deep effect on many here- especially on my students, many of whom are Japanese. If you could please consider donating to the relief fund through the Red Cross or any other charity it would be extremely helpful and much appreciated by them and their families
Donate to Red Cross- Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami Relief Fund

White Sand Christmas

I have now been in Thailand for over 6 months. This is the longest I’ve ever been away from home, as my previous travels ended at 5 months to the day. The past few have gone by in a blur- Christmas and New Year came and went, and I spent January anticipating the arrival of my first two visitors! Anyway, this is what I’ve been doing =)

-Christmas Eve happened to be my day-off (which was lucky because I would have otherwise had to work). My friends called me and asked me to make egg-nog, but never having attempted that before and not being a fan of eggs in general, I decided to make coquito instead: a Christmastime drink from Puerto Rico made from coconut, milk, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg… oh and I can’t forget the rum ;) I brought it to work and served a bit as some of the teachers finished their shifts. Verdict: they loved it! We stopped at the Four Seasons and had a drink as well while listening to Christmas songs played by a string quartet and then later sung by an accapella choir. A funky Santa wearing giant green-rimmed sunglasses sauntered around the room, posing for pictures. Later, we went to another friend's apartment to hang out by the rooftop pool; we stayed until 4am mostly just because we wanted to indulge in the fact that none of us had to work the next day.

-The next morning we all went to Bourbon Street, a New Orleans-inspired restaurant that had the biggest mash-up of food I’ve ever seen: everything from traditional English roasts and desserts to spicy Cajun seafood dishes. I definitely got my money’s worth, leaving the table feeling full and exhausted. I then went to another friend’s house to watch movies, and finally, we all managed to un-mold ourselves from our chairs yet AGAIN to eat a not-so-small Italian meal. It was very strange not being with my family- it didn’t really feel that similar to any holiday in my memory. My consolation was to speak with them all on Skype, using the video camera to see all their smiling faces and receive their well-wishes. If it weren’t for technology I seriously don’t know whether I could live abroad!

-A few days later I boarded an overnight bus and then a ferry to go to Koh Phangan, an island in the south of Thailand, best known for its out-of-control Full Moon parties. I had been there as a backpacker before, although back then I had chosen to stay on the opposite side of the island to avoid the insanity of Haad Rin beach. This time I would be venturing straight into the thick of it but remained confident that I would be able to handle it in the company of my friends. The other teachers and I had rented out all of the bungalows at one resort, and we quickly made it into our own, stacking coolers and food around the picnic table in the sand, alternately swimming in the ocean and playing cards, strolling the grounds to browse the various cement plant-holders that freely dispensed timeless and clever (if not grammatically or orthographically correct) advice in the form of decorative inscriptions written in seashells.  At night we would all jump in a sawngthaew- a pickup truck with two parallel benches and a steel frame covered in canvas to form a roof over the passengers’ heads- and hold on tight as we rode to the Full Moon beach.

The way to Haad Rin is treacherous, the drivers constantly switching gears to urge their trucks up and down the steep hills, brakes squealing loudly, as if trying to make it “just one more time”. The first trip was on New Year’s Eve. The signs that we were almost there couldn’t have been more obvious: masses of party-goers in bright colors and neon body-paint carrying plastic beach buckets (the kind used by children the world-over to make sandcastles with) but filled not with fine, granulated particles the ocean has methodically polished for thousands of years and deposited on shore, but with ice, liquor, and mixers; essentially a giant cocktail. I refused to touch a drop of it, mostly because I felt I needed my senses to deal with the intense overstimulation that is a Full Moon Party.

The beach is a curve of about a half-mile, and every single inch of it was filled with bass-pounding clubs, fire-twirling performers, and glow-stick adorned, fist-pumping twenty-somethings in the midst of what had to be the biggest rave in the world (having never been to a rave, I guess I can only assume the similarity). One particular bar, the aptly named Mushroom Mountain, is perched on the side of the cliff so that one has to walk up a steep stone pathway to reach it and the “special” cocktails it doles out. This, combined with the proximity of swelling tides and burning towers that read “Happy New Year”- not to mention the perilous roads to get there- had us counting the ways it must be possible for a wasted reveler to win a Darwin Award* on that island. I took it all in, stayed to wish my friends a happy New Year, and turned around and went back to my bungalow (I’m sure with mouth still agape) to sleep and process what I had just witnessed. The next day it had calmed down significantly as many people left the island, and we went back to our previous pattern of chilling, until it was time to go back to Bangkok and work…

*Darwin Award- recognition given to someone who actively participates in removing himself or herself from the world’s gene pool by dying or otherwise losing the capacity to reproduce.