Been a hiking Viking

Waterfalls, sport and Vikings

The breathtaking views from Erawan National Park

Good Lord, it’s been three months since I wrote to you last.  Where does the time go?!  I have been working away diligently.  All work and no play makes Sinead Nua a dull blogger but I managed to squeeze in some fun and games here and there so I do have a few tales for you.

We celebrated the Queen’s birthday in August and, similar to the King’s birthday which doubles up as Father’s Day, this was also a celebration of Mothers throughout Thailand.  As I mentioned before, the Thai royal family are very highly revered and celebrations held in their honour are always community involved affairs.  As usual the school put on a show in which the students and their Mums partook with a great sense of ceremony.  And, as is normal for Thai celebrations, we were granted a long weekend.  I don’t know how these Thai folks get anything done with all these holliers but I’m not one to complain.  I went back to the home of the 10 baht bar, Kanchanaburi, to resume my failed trip.  This time I was determined not to fall foul of the dreaded lurgy and I planned an excursion to Erawan Waterfall.  I, and my travelling comrades, hired motorcycles to transport ourselves through the beautiful landscape where we stopped for coffee and photographs as we pleased.  The drive was exhilarating, with the open road stretched out before us and the mountains framing our view.  It was refreshing to get out and breathe the rural air.  Living in Nakhon Sawan you feel somewhat stifled by the traffic and smells of the city and, at times, even claustrophobic at the hoards of people everywhere.  But here in the mountains it felt freeing and, for once in a long while, I could breath.

We arrived at the national park to find buses and trucks packed into the car park, and hundreds of people swarming the pathways.  We joined the long line of visitors trundling along the uphill path to make our way to the seven waterfalls that promised to wow us with their magic.  Each level was even more beautiful than the last, all very different yet each with its own draw for the crowds of bathers that relaxed in the balmy water.  One level had a smooth vertical rock that was used as a water slide, another had a lip that jutted out like a mezzanine level where people bathed and enjoyed the view of the others splashing below.  The top level was where we decided to get in the water, and after the ascent in the humidity it was a welcome sight.  We derobed and popped ourselves in the smooth water.  I had heard about fish that nibble at your skin, rather like one of those fish pedicures and thought it might be a nice beauty treatment that would leave me glowing on the drive home.  No, not at all what transpired.  I ended up being gnawed at by huge over friendly fish that left me squealing like a little girl.  Little bit embarrassing.  On the descent I encountered a makeshift ‘shop’ nestled in the trees where one could buy traditional Thai dresses.  I guess it shows business acumen, afterall there are no competitors and you never know when someone may have the hankering to buy a full trad gown on an amble in the woods.  I always kick myself for not thinking of these great ideas first.

Traditional Thai dress anyone?

With this transient lifestyle I’ve adopted there are ups, such as spontaneous trips, and there are downs, such as saying goodbye all too often.  I’m just about getting used to saying goodbye to people and understanding that friendships here are part time.  I’ve learned in the past that you keep some friendships burning via social media but most of the associations I make here will probably fizzle out after we leave.  It’s hard to know right in the moment which friendships will pass the test so all goodbyes here are hard.  I had such an experience again at the end of August when my two housemates finished their teaching contracts and left Nakhon Sawan.  It was incredibly fun living with them and seeing them leave was sad, but I am kept regularly updated with sickeningly enviable photos of their travels and it’s made me excited about my own adventures ahead.

Along with new housemates, September brought with it some refreshing wind and a chill in the air that I have not felt since Christmas when the weather went from ‘freaking hot’ to ‘balmy’.  It will never be ‘cold’ here but the rainy season is a welcome change from the searing hot season.  There were days when I was so weary from heat and sunlight that I felt no desire to do anything or be anywhere.  Spending most of my days sitting under my air conditioner, I found hot season a challenge to say the least!  Now I’m feeling lovely bustly breezes on my morning drive to work, although this is usually a sign of rain to come so the threat of being pelted by raindrops the size of golf balls always looms closely.

Our school day trips were scheduled for mid September and I was looking forward to an excursion with the little monkeys.  The theme was ‘food’ according the school syllabus so the K2s were treated to a trip to the supermarket to buy ingredients that they would whip up into pizza and the K3s had a venture to a nearby organic corn farm.  School trips are always taxing as you’re on your feet all day, hyper aware of every little munchkin’s whereabouts.  The supermarket was a particular highlight, especially in the seafood section where each of them picked up a raw shrimp and started playing with it.  I have to admit, if I ever have kids of my own I would like them to be filled with enough personality and fun to sing to a raw prawn in the middle of Makro.  The kids drew a lot of attention from fellow shoppers when they broke into the alphabet song at the tops of their voices in the cereal aisle, proud moment. 

After school trips were done, the school started buzzing with plans for the School Sports Day.  The students took part in various competitions in preparation for the big event but the main focus was to be the chants for each team.  The school was divided into four camps, the theme being ‘Clash of the Warriors’.  We had Vikings, Gladiators, Pirates and Samurai, and the kids were excited at the prospect of being kitted out in fitting costume.  Each day the kids practised their chants which comprised of English and Thai song and dance.  Teachers busily whipped up costumes, posters and props while students learned all about the warriors they were to imitate on the day.  My big creation was to be a Viking ship, that the kids were going to parade through the streets and shout their chants from.  I had it all planned out, it was going to be super cool.  Except that I hadn’t planned for the searing Thai sun to melt the glue and leave my Viking ship a floppy sorry mess.  Parts started dropping off it from the minute we set off on our parade and by the time we arrived back at the school, a mere ten minutes later, my graceful ship was nothing but a limp pile of cardboard.  I would never have succeeded at invading Dublin.  Nevertheless, the day proceeded with great energy and sportsmanship, and each team earned a deserved trophy for it’s participation.

 

We are the Viking Warriors!

At the end of September my students left for a months vacation and I prepared to begin Summer school.  The Science theme of Summer school left me blank, I quit Science the first chance I got and now, 22 years later, I am furiously searching the interweb, panicking about the prospect of teaching the blasted subject for two whole weeks.  After about a half hour on Pinterest I calmed myself and prepped for two weeks of pure playfulness, from learning about Penguins to shooting bottle rockets into the air.  I think Summer school may actually be for teachers rather than students!  We also have meeting the Pre-K kids to look forward to.  They come in during the second term to learn basic stuff like counting, the alphabet and colours, but mostly to get them acclimatised to the school environment for when they become K1s and rule the gaff.  Their first days are a blend of cuteness and hilarity. 

Of course, the most exciting time of October comes in the final fortnight when the teachers scatter to their chosen vacation spots to top up the fading tans.  My chosen destination this October is Bali, and I’m super excited to be going there finally.  It’s somewhere I had on my list since deciding to move to this part of the world.  Now it’s so close I’m a ball of nerves at the thought of going to a country where I don’t speak the language.  I know that’s a pretty crazy thing to say, since I’ve lived in Thailand for a year (yes, a whole year, my anniversary was mid September!)  but I kind of managed to be understood here and I’m apprehensive that my crazy charades may not work out in Balinese.  However I am excited that this trip will feel like a proper holiday with a flight, a currency exchange, a new language and new food, the latter being the most exciting part.  I love Thai food but, boy do I need a change!  So, I look forward to two weeks of sun, sea and stuffing my face.

On my return I go straight into term two, which is the shorter term of the school year, so my departure will be looming closer and closer.  I was due to leave at the end of the previous term but I decided to extend my contract by five months, and my original departure date has since come and gone, leaving me feeling very unprepared to leave.  I still feel very new here.  I hope that in February, homesickness will settle enough to convince me to head back.  I often feel a sense of panic at the thought of not being able to do certain things as freely as I can here, like jumping on a bus and alighting at a paradise island, picking up dinner for less than a quid, walking into a bar with a bottle of whiskey and paying only for mixers (that one’s bonkers), and other such mad things that Thailand allows, and that I have taken for granted over the past year.  I will look forward to seeing my family and friends again, of course, but the financial hardship and red tape I constantly encountered back West is something I don’t miss one bit.  I guess it’s time to start researching the plan of action for 2015!

All hail 10 baht bars...oh, and teachers.

The going's on so far...

Flippin’eck, it’s been ages.  Where does the time go?  One minute I’m donning my school shirt and prepping my first lesson of the term and the next I’m planning a mid term holiday.  They say time flies when you’re having fun and, although I’ve mostly been working, I can say that is absolutely true!  So far the school term has been buckets of fun, the little people have been keeping me on my toes and I’m pretty sure I’m losing weight from the belly laughs.  I finally feel like I’m making progress with being a teacher, I’m starting to see the benefit of my lessons on the kids.  When they repeat something they’ve learned in the playground, it feels like I’ve struck gold.  On occasion I found myself woop wooping them, much to their own confusion.  Teacher be crazy…

Wan Wai Kru floral arrangements on display at the school

This term we celebrated a special day for teachers, called Wan Wai Kru, which, as far as I understand, translates as ‘day to respect teachers’.  The kids make floral arrangements, similar to lois used during Loi Krathong, to present to their teachers in a ceremony that takes place at school.  The kids present their flowers and bow before the teachers.  I expected it to solely concentrate on the Thai staff who work tirelessly, not only teaching the kids for the majority of the school day but also writing daily reports, prepping crafts and general duties within the school.  On the day the foreign language teachers all lined up as spectators, but when our classes were rising to present their bouquets we were too called up to receive them.  At first I felt uncomfortable having the children bow before me but it was a humbling, yet special experience.  At home we don’t have an event that shows gratitude to teachers, so it was an alien concept to me to thank someone so ceremoniously for doing their job.  However, since becoming a teacher I’ve wondered what the kids I teach will take away from their kindergarten experience and I look back at mine and remember, not the details of each day but rather the feelings I felt whilst being there.  I felt safe at kindergarten, I forged my first friendships with peers, my teacher was a familiar face and I trusted her enough to leave my Mother every day.  Kindergarten was my first experience of feeling secure outside my family and my teacher played a huge part in giving me that sense of security.  So, school syllabus aside, I think a teacher plays a vital role in a child’s life.  You’ve got Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and even Grandparent’s Day, so why not ‘Teacher’s Day’?  So, I started to accept the bowing and left the school hall feeling all warm and squishy.  Then, in my afternoon lesson, still feeling the love, I got puked on.  Warm milk puke.  All over me.  Swings and roundabouts.

Finish line!

For the month of June I got stuck into a training schedule in preparation for a 10k run.  I was feeling a bit rootless and aimless, one of the side effects of living a temporary life in a foreign culture, so I signed on for the run and got my arse down to the gym.  I was on a strict diet of yoga (at which I am spectacularly rubbish, I am convinced that Thai people are mostly made of elastic and I am mostly made of concrete), swimming, walking, weight training and, of course, running.  I started out pretty awful, with my thighs screaming at me to slow the hell down.  I blame Florence and The Machine, you run to that and you’ll find yourself in Cambodia by sundown.  Not surprisingly I limped my way around Sawan Park for most of my runs.  I tried a selection of stretches I found on the internet and spent my evenings lying on my tiled floor contorted around a skipping rope.  Luckily my flatmates are imperturbable.  Anyway my regime was successful and, not only did I complete the run in a respectable time, I raised some dosh for a worthy charity and now my skirts fit better.

I was feeling elated, and excited about stuffing my face with a proper English breakfast, when disaster struck.  My ‘carb loaded’ dinner of seafood pasta from the previous night came back to haunt me and I found myself with food poisoning that floored me for the rest of my celebratory Sunday.  I tentatively ate a 7Eleven toastie on Monday afternoon and started to feel vaguely human again.  On Monday morning one of my colleagues queried if I was “mai sabai” which means unwell, and I nodded meekly.  I since learned that ‘mai sabai’ can also mean ‘hungover’ so I may have mistakenly earned a bad reputation amongst the Thai members of staff.  Moral of the story: if there’s a chance you may be allergic to anything don’t take your chances with it the night before a 10k run.  I should know this by now, but that’s another story…

Breakfast view, pretty even in the rain

On the following weekend the country celebrated Asarnha Bucha Day, which to my knowledge is the celebration of the Buddha’s first public sermon.  Thai people flock to their hometowns to visit their local temples and farangs flock to tourist destinations to take advantage of the cheap low season rates.  I ventured down to Kanchanaburi, which isn’t very far south of Nakhon Sawan, but the route is to go way south to go back north again so I spent almost 8 hours trundling along the highway with broken air con.  I arrived feeling the onset of a sinus infection (honestly, I’m like the geek we all knew at school who was constantly sick) which slashed my plans of hiking and swimming in glorious waterfalls.  I checked into my room and went foraging for food and found a cute little restaurant where I had a western meal and a glass of wine.  The waitress brought the wine down in a coffee mug and explained to me that because of the holiday it was forbidden to serve alcohol.  After my gruelling journey I almost hugged her for getting around it and I enjoyed every last sip of that wine before hitting the hay for the evening.

The next morning I woke up bright and breezy, and headed out to find a breakfast with a view and boy, did I find one!  A guesthouse on a neighbouring street had an infinity pool with a view of the River Kwai with mountains melting into the distance and free coffee!  So I settled in with my book for the morning and ordered the softest most fluffy pancakes known to man.  After hours had been whiled I wandered down the main street towards two of the big tourist attractions in Kanchanaburi, the Death Railway and the JEATH War Museum.  I had no knowledge of the impact of WW2 on this side of the world but my saunter through the museum gave me an insight into something that I think most countries at war fail to see, when you get down to basics, we’re all the same.  Whilst I pored over the personal items that belonged to the various soldiers stationed in Thailand I noticed we all have the same aspirations, fears, hopes and daily routines.  The old typewriters, shoes, bicycles, grooming equipment and kitchen utensils housed behind glass all echoed the ghosts of the people who once used them, people like you and me, and I wondered to myself, “why the hell were they all bombing the shite out of each other, weren’t they all the same?”  It seems that some things never change.

One of On's other students cooking Tom Yum

Feeling hungry and in need of a more positive life affirming experience I turned to food, naturally, and took a Thai cookery class.  I met with On at On’s Thai Isaan, a vegetarian restaurant on the River Kwai Road (Mae Nam Kwai).  I chose three dishes from her menu to learn, Pad Krapow which is a rice dish with Thai basil and anything you want to add (I like crispy pork – Pad Krapow Moo Glop), Pad Thai and Penang which is a yummy curry with coconut milk.  Once each dish was cooked I was escorted into the restaurant and invited to eat the whole thing while On prepped for the next dish.  You can imagine how I felt after the third dish.  The words ‘beached’ and ‘whale’ easily come to mind.  After my three dinners On showed me how to make an extra dish, my favourite Thai dessert, mango and coconut sticky rice.  It was like Christmas dinner, Thai style.  How I wished I’d worn elastic waisted trousers!  I rolled back to my room via a bar that was serving beer out of takeaway coffee cups, getting around the ol’ alcohol ban again, although it’s pretty obvious what’s going on when you see a bar from across the street filled with jolly people drinking out of takeaway coffee cups.  Got to love the Thai ‘let’s try it til we get told otherwise’ approach to problem solving.  In a way I think they’re rather like the Irish in that respect, many times I’ve heard at home, “Ah sher, 'tis grand, we’ll change it if someone says anything” and really meaning, ‘then we’ll change it back once they’re gone’.  From one rebel city to another.

I finished off my weekend away at a quirky little establishment that I was very excited to visit, a 10 baht bar, which was one of various stalls set up on the street comprising of a little bar packed with bottles and hugged by stools lined up along the pavement with a makeshift table on the road made of a 2x4 and some paint can stools.  Most of the drinks were 10 baht, some costing 20 or 30.  I decided to be classy and went for the mid range 20 baht whiskey and coke.  None of the cheap stuff for me, I have my standards.  They had homemade fruit flavoured mixers which were either tasty or my taste buds were numbed by the incredibly gross Blueberry flavoured shot I sampled.  Alcoholic stereotypes aside, as an Irish person, who once spent the best part of a tenner on one drink (a G&T in Dublin, never again), the chance to go to a bar and spend 46 cent per drink is an exciting prospect and I partook repeatedly throughout the evening.  On the plus side, the drinks are presumably watered down as I managed to journey back to Nakhon Sawan hangover free, or ‘sabai’ as they would say here, and with some cash still in my wallet.  

http://onsthaiissan.com/

Images: Sinéad Millea & 10k shot courtesy of Cassidi Hunkler.