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Thailand.  Land of teaching and learning.

20-25AUG02  I contacted ECC and set up an appointment to finalize the details of my TESOL course.  I also made yet another attempt to get my camera fixed.  

I signed up for the TESOL course from 02-15SEP at ECC.  I reserved a room at the A-One hotel in Siam Square.  And I tried, really tried to find the Kodak Repair facility.  Phone calls were made.  Addresses were given and written down.  Web sites were checked.  Blank looks were received from taxi drivers as the clock ticked.  Finally, I decided that when I return to Bangkok, I'll set aside a full day for the project.  

I decided to take the Skytrain to Tony Roma's Ribs.  With help from the staff, I got on the right train and had a wonderful half loaf of onion rights and barbecue sauce.  It's true a half a loaf is better than no loaf at all.  And with barbecue sauce it is nearly heaven.

The next day I caught the bus for Ko Samui.  After twenty hours of in transit fun, I arrived in Chaweng.  I was really looking forward to seeing Nee.  When I checked with her friends, I found she was in Bangkok (it figures).  We probably passed each other on the bus.

Kris, a friend of the Mysterious French Babe is on a nearby island and I hope we can meet each other.  

I'll be here for a week or so, then back to Bangkok to begin my course.  I hope Nee will return before I have to leave.  In the meantime, I'll just have to be content with a beautiful beach and great Thai massage from Kip and Duan.

25AUG-15SEP02  Pom called Nee to let her know I was in Ko Samui.  She came back early and we were re-united.  We were a bit of an item on the beach so we decided to return to Bangkok a day or two early.  We checked into the A-One Inn near Siam Square and walked around getting to know the area.  We saw Austin Powers III, Goldmember and ate dinner at The Outback Steakhouse.  Following dinner, I had what I think was a brief dengue relapse:  intense abdominal cramps and a high fever.  After four hours of misery, I was okay but weak.  

The following Monday, I reported for Introduction to Tesol at ECC.  For details of the course, visit http://www.eccthai.com/eccthai/training/tesolhome.asp .  The other students were a mix of Thai, Phillipinos, Americans, and a stray Dutchman.  I liked them all.  The instructors were okay and the course went by quickly.  I learned some new stuff and remembered how much I hate grammar.  I made a B.  

In the evenings, Nee and I would go out for Thai food or bring street food back to the room.  There was not much homework so life was easy.  Nee is addicted to a Thai soap opera about a weathy Thai family who has adopted the beautiful, but humble, daughter of a woman the head of the family saved during WWII.  The beautiful daughter with a heart of gold, is scorned by the haughty, evil, nasty, mean sister of the rich man.  The mother, terribly scarred by the atomic bomb, is lurking around in the bushes for a glimpse of her daughter.  There is an evil son and a good son, who looks like Elvis.  Elvis falls in love with the beautiful but humble Japanese daughter.  There is much more to the store...but, I'm sure you can fill in the blanks.

My %$^^## Kodak DC240 is broken, again.  Just when I managed to get the battery cover replaced---no small feat because the location of Kodak must be top secret---the camera did the same thing it did in Indonesia.  Here I can't count on the Miracle of Fatima, so it's back in the shop for a month.  Thank goodness for Nee.  She has made two more trips to Kodak's top secret headquarters.  When the camera is fixed Kodak will ship it too Udon.  

Nee continues to try to teach me Thai and I am teaching her English.  First thing in the morning, we will catch the train for Udon Thani.  Nee will visit her son and other family and I will look for a teaching job.

15-26SEP02 The train trip to Udon was long, scenic and cheap (about $3 each for a 12 hour trip).  We found a hotel with aircon, TV, fridge and hot water for about $6 per night including breakfast.  Next I tracked down an internet connection.  With all the basics covered we began to look for transportation.  We couldn't find any places that rented motorbikes so we eventually found a used motorbike dealer and struck a deal for a Suzuki 120cc for about $300 US.  

After a cursory check of my passport, I determined that my visa expired on the 17th.  First I asked around for the location of the local immigration office.  The tuk-tuk driver took us to AUA Language Center instead.  This turned out to be fortuitous because I met Alastair and gathered information about teaching English in Udon.  He didn't know of an immigration office either.  But he did give me a map of Udon and directions to the bus station to Nong Khai.    

So the next day I took the motorbike to the bus station (with a few directions from locals) and took the bus to Nong Khai on the border with Laos.  There I paid an exorbitant $25 US for a Laos visa and spent an hour following a guide through the intricacies of visiting Laos for 15 minutes then returning to Thailand with a stamp good until 10/16/02 in my passport.  The bus was cheap with a round trip price of about $1 for 110km.  But, the bus returned to a different bus station than where I'd left my motorbike.  After some consultation, I took a tuk-tuk to the correct bus station.  No, it was yet another incorrect bus station.  Then we went to the train station where we found two people who spoke English well enough to argue about which bus station I really wanted.  I kept pointing to the map and saying "bus station, bus station" and, glory be, I finally arrived at the correct station and retrieved my motorbike.

Next we began searching for a longer term residence.  After several false leads and some fruitless cruising, we got a reference to Mono Mansion from the snack shop next to the Udon Hotel.  Nee checked it out and it turned out to be quite nice.  For about $80 per month we got a nice room with aircon, hot water, refrigerator and sattelite TV.  We pay for electricity.

It's a nice large room on the third floor with a view of trees.  We settled in.  Nee had to visit her family for the funeral of her Aunt and I spent the day and the evening checking out the shops in the Charoen Center.  I bought a cheap reading lamp and a few goodies for the fridge. The next morning I found Steve's Bar and Restaurant and had the Belly Buster English breakfast and traded in an already read novel for a new previously read novel. 

Nee came back the next day and we went to Robinson's Department store to buy some towels and a coffee pot.  Now our comfort was complete.

Dhom, the manager of Mono Mansion, is an endless source of information.  She has worked for the UN and for the US Embassy in Bangkok and speaks excellent English.  She gave me some tips for job searching.

First I checked out the Rajaphat, a local teacher's college upgrading to university status.  There I met Bill from Wisconsin who was teaching there.  All the allotted positions are full so I got a name to check with periodically in case someone doesn't show up when the term starts in a few weeks.  I also checked out BCC where there is a possibility of a class or two for 6-12 year olds.  In the meantime I continue my search.  

One day we took the motorbike to visit Nee's family near Thak Kan Tho.  A round trip of 150 km was not too bad on a motorbike.  I met Nee's mother, grandmother, Top (her son), various aunt's and uncles, cousins, etc.  We headed back to Udon to arrive before dark.

I managed to find an internet connection with slow (but, fastest in Udon) speed and willing to let me install FrontPage.  Then I downloaded and printed my resume, added an "about me" page to my website, printed copies of my teaching certificates  and typed a cover letter for the Chairman of the Language department at Rajaphat.  

Today, I emailed Diana for a care package from home.  I asked for barbecue sauce, tie-die reading glasses, vitamins and other stuff that has piled-up awaiting a shipment.  With at least  3 more weeks scheduled for Udon there is a good chance I'll get my goodies.

26SEP02-15OCT02  Samo, samo.  We've spent the last couple of weeks on a very lazy schedule.  We sleep late, watch TV, take an occasional walk in the park, eat then sleep some more.  

One day we took the motorbike to visit a Buddhist temple about 60km from Udon.  There we talked with a monk who blessed a piece of orange cloth for the safety of the motorbike.

I've been jousting with various bureaucracies.  I managed to raise someone at University of Texas at Austin and they were kind enough to send a letter of verification for my 1969 BS in Radio-TV-Film.  This document is necessary before I interview with the Chairman of the Language department at the  Rajaphat Institute.  It is hard to read the situation, what with cultural differences and all, but I think I'll get the job.  If I do, then the contract period is for one year.  

I've spent many expensive minutes on the mobile phone with Kodak over the last few weeks.  It took until today to get someone to acknowledge that it is repaired.  They will send it to Udon but they don't accept credit cards.  Soooo, I have to go to a bank.  Send a transfer to their account.  Fax a copy of the receipt to Kodak.  And the repair price is nearly twice the original estimate.  I am not a happy camper.  Somehow I don't think I'll buy another Kodak product.

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