So Kristen spent her first week in Thailand in Phuket (on the West Coast of the Southern Peninsula) and Koh Tao (an island on the East Coast). She took a diving course on Koh Tao with Cam and Chelsea, and learned that she was meant to be underwater. Apparently she rocked the course, and was proficient at all the little skills and techniques she needed to master in order to get her certification. They saw lots of different tropical fish and coral, and thoroughly enjoyed learning how to breathe underwater. Chelsea and Cam even saw a shark (black tip) although Kristen wasn't around to see it at the time. Unfortunately our camera got chipped somehow, so was no longer water proof- this was not noticed until after a snorkeling session which means no pictures for now!!!!
The three amigos met Paul on Koh Phan Ngan (pronounced k-oh Pen Yang) after he survived 30 plus hours of travelling with no sleep. They tooled around the island for a day, and then decided to rent scooters to explore a little further.
The scooters were a blast, and we travelled the whole island, looking at waterfalls, seeing a monkey, elephants, back alleys and palm trees everywhere. Unfortunately, the day ended in disaster. A dog ran in front of the scooter while Paul was driving and Kristen was on the back. We weren't travelling incredibly fast, but the road had a skim of sand over it at that point, and when the brakes were applied, the bike slipped in the sand. We ended up on the ground and in serious pain.
Cam and Chels got us to a hospital, and they took good care of us. Unfortunately Kristen received some fairly serious road rash on her calf and backside, and minor abrasions on hands, knees and elbows to go along with some major bruising of her thigh and butt. Paul escaped with relatively minor cuts and scrapes but was fairly concussed by the fall (helmets were being worn) and still can't remember the period surrounding the crash. Both of us received great care at the hospital and from the nurse at the clinic near where we were staying and the wounds are well on their way to being healed. Paul's head is doing much much better and only the wound on Kristen's calf is still serious enough to keep her out of the water. Hopefully she will be able to join us for a swim in the next day or so. We are keeping everything clean and so far not even the slightest sign of infection in any cut or scrape (antibiotics might be helping!).
After a few days of taking it very very slow and licking our wounds (figuratively) we moved on to Krabi on the Andaman Coast (West side of the Malay peninsula). We have been lounging on the shell strewn beaches, eating at wonderful Thai restaurants and exploring some coves and beaches near the beach town of Ao Nang. We went on a Longtail boat ride to Hat Rae Lae yesterday to see some incredible limestone spires, swim on a wonderful beach and poke around in some caves. One of the caves had large carved phalli which the local fisherman leave there for the spirit of a princess who inhabits the cave. The hope is if they can keep her happy, she will help keep their catches full. Seems like a good idea!
Today we are supposed to be on the way to Malaysia, but things have been a little messed up with our travel plans. Hopefully our van will actually pick us up soon and will take us to Hat Yai where we will get on a bus to Penang. We are going to take a day or two there to look around and see what is what, and then we will head to the Perhentian islands in North Eastern Malaysia.
We will try to update you soon!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Friday, July 8, 2011
Goodbye for now China!
So this is it. I head off tomorrow to meet up with Kristen in Thai gau (Thailand to those who can't speak Mandarin). Its been a long, hard (that sounds dirty) couple of weeks, but I am finally finished marking the last of my 267 exams. I have packed up the place into vacuum bags and set out the dehumidifying desiccant packs (Jinshitan has 98% humidity for most of the summer and mold is a real problem), cleaned out the fridge and packed my bags.
The last few weeks have been a blur. I have been working on creating curriculum documents for the new program that I am in charge of next year. Who would have thought that four months into my teaching career I would be coming up with the theoretical and practical basis for a locally developed course? Pretty sweet, but tiring considering I still have had to teach a full course load and mark, mark, mark. I have over 260 students, and they were all finishing review papers, essays and handing in late homework assignments... oh and writing final exams. In any case it has been extremely busy.
We have also had to deal with some pretty extreme weather over the last couple of weeks. Not only has it been stiflingly hot, but we also got to experience our first typhoon. It actually may only have been a named storm, but the students all called it a typhoon (Meike or Meile was the storms name apparently). It rained for 24 hours straight. HARD. In fact it rained so hard that a retaining wall that was holding up a cliff beside the Junior high campus collapsed, bringing down tonnes of dirt and concrete and fence. Luckily it happened at night, and it hit a part of the building that is rarely used. As far as I know there has been no structural damage but neither has there been any sign of a cleanup attempt. In fact no one has even roped the area off. They are too busy putting in grass ( in the winter they take away all the grass on campus to store it in greenhouses and bring it back... now).
We have been given a bunch of things by teachers to lazy or slow to sell off their gently used appliances and items. Lamps, ovens, a dryer, vacuum, clothes racks, spices... you name it, people dumped it ( and we are really grateful! All the new toys are wonderful... and way cheaper than having to go shopping for them- THANKS TEACHERS!).
One of the things we have picked up are two bikes. I have been out on the bike a lot recently because it has been so nice out and it has been a real treat to have some added mobility. Unfortunately I had a run in with a crazy taxi driver who tried to overtake a kelp truck (yes a truck hauling kelp to the market). For some reason he chose to overtake on the shoulder, where I happened to be riding. Like all drivers in China he was relying on his echolocation- his horn was going off in repeated beeps and blares- so I knew he was coming for some time. Unfortunately the curb was about two feet high so there was nothing I could do except jump off my bike as fast as I could. Needless to say I was halfway off the bike when his rear panel hit my pedal and handle bars and sent me for a little spill. Not damage to me besides a scraped arm and a bruised knee. The bike... well the pedal busted off and the handlebar got a little mangled, but all in all it survived relatively unscathed. Trusting to the old maxim of "get back on the horse as soon as you can" I jumped back on the bike and took off on an hour bike ride along the beach.
I also had a chance to go out for dinner with the High School Principal and his lovely wife. We went to a hole in the wall restaurant (one of my favourites: it serves mashed potatoes with cilantro, chili and gravy... along with donkey dumplings and "race dog") with the only other Canadians still in Jinshitan. It was great to hang out with "the authority figure" in a more relaxed setting as he is someone I actually really enjoy talking to. His wife is an absolute gem as well, and one of the sweetest people we have met here.
To cap off this last blog entry of the first six months in China... some observations:
1- Things that are ostensibly food are really not meant to be eaten despite their avouched nutritive properties.
2- Never, ever will we attempt to drive in China.
3- Every time you think you have found the dirtiest washroom, you are always surprised by an even more putrid one.
4- China is not a place for the question "why?"
5- When speaking Mandarin, it is best to be forceful and bluster your way through any attempted phrase... in any case you won't be understood by your intended recipient, but you might impress them with your manner.
These four months have been a shock, an adventure, a challenge, an eye opener, a hell of a lot of hard work and a lot of fun. There have been a few times when we have been so frustrated that there was shouting, fewer times when tears were shed, and a few times when we wanted to pack it in and call it quits. But there have also been times that have been magical, that have been exciting and interesting and strange all rolled up into one. And so, even though we are leaving China for a few months, we will be back to do it again for one more year....
The last few weeks have been a blur. I have been working on creating curriculum documents for the new program that I am in charge of next year. Who would have thought that four months into my teaching career I would be coming up with the theoretical and practical basis for a locally developed course? Pretty sweet, but tiring considering I still have had to teach a full course load and mark, mark, mark. I have over 260 students, and they were all finishing review papers, essays and handing in late homework assignments... oh and writing final exams. In any case it has been extremely busy.
We have also had to deal with some pretty extreme weather over the last couple of weeks. Not only has it been stiflingly hot, but we also got to experience our first typhoon. It actually may only have been a named storm, but the students all called it a typhoon (Meike or Meile was the storms name apparently). It rained for 24 hours straight. HARD. In fact it rained so hard that a retaining wall that was holding up a cliff beside the Junior high campus collapsed, bringing down tonnes of dirt and concrete and fence. Luckily it happened at night, and it hit a part of the building that is rarely used. As far as I know there has been no structural damage but neither has there been any sign of a cleanup attempt. In fact no one has even roped the area off. They are too busy putting in grass ( in the winter they take away all the grass on campus to store it in greenhouses and bring it back... now).
We have been given a bunch of things by teachers to lazy or slow to sell off their gently used appliances and items. Lamps, ovens, a dryer, vacuum, clothes racks, spices... you name it, people dumped it ( and we are really grateful! All the new toys are wonderful... and way cheaper than having to go shopping for them- THANKS TEACHERS!).
One of the things we have picked up are two bikes. I have been out on the bike a lot recently because it has been so nice out and it has been a real treat to have some added mobility. Unfortunately I had a run in with a crazy taxi driver who tried to overtake a kelp truck (yes a truck hauling kelp to the market). For some reason he chose to overtake on the shoulder, where I happened to be riding. Like all drivers in China he was relying on his echolocation- his horn was going off in repeated beeps and blares- so I knew he was coming for some time. Unfortunately the curb was about two feet high so there was nothing I could do except jump off my bike as fast as I could. Needless to say I was halfway off the bike when his rear panel hit my pedal and handle bars and sent me for a little spill. Not damage to me besides a scraped arm and a bruised knee. The bike... well the pedal busted off and the handlebar got a little mangled, but all in all it survived relatively unscathed. Trusting to the old maxim of "get back on the horse as soon as you can" I jumped back on the bike and took off on an hour bike ride along the beach.
I also had a chance to go out for dinner with the High School Principal and his lovely wife. We went to a hole in the wall restaurant (one of my favourites: it serves mashed potatoes with cilantro, chili and gravy... along with donkey dumplings and "race dog") with the only other Canadians still in Jinshitan. It was great to hang out with "the authority figure" in a more relaxed setting as he is someone I actually really enjoy talking to. His wife is an absolute gem as well, and one of the sweetest people we have met here.
To cap off this last blog entry of the first six months in China... some observations:
1- Things that are ostensibly food are really not meant to be eaten despite their avouched nutritive properties.
2- Never, ever will we attempt to drive in China.
3- Every time you think you have found the dirtiest washroom, you are always surprised by an even more putrid one.
4- China is not a place for the question "why?"
5- When speaking Mandarin, it is best to be forceful and bluster your way through any attempted phrase... in any case you won't be understood by your intended recipient, but you might impress them with your manner.
These four months have been a shock, an adventure, a challenge, an eye opener, a hell of a lot of hard work and a lot of fun. There have been a few times when we have been so frustrated that there was shouting, fewer times when tears were shed, and a few times when we wanted to pack it in and call it quits. But there have also been times that have been magical, that have been exciting and interesting and strange all rolled up into one. And so, even though we are leaving China for a few months, we will be back to do it again for one more year....
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