Tag Archives: Thailand

Beach therapy – the perfect antidote to transition stress

Within the first five weeks of my arrival in Thailand, I had already spent two weekends at the beach. It’s just too easy and too fabulous. Four hours door to door, and I can be lounging on a beachside beanbag on the lovely little island of Ko Samet.

The first beach getaway was organized for teacher families from my school the weekend of August 11. It was a long weekend after our first week of school, and I felt super stressed that I should use that time to plan my lessons and get a grip on my new position as a middle school English Language Development (ELD) teacher. As the weekend approached, I repeatedly wrote and then deleted texts to the organizer with the intention to bail. Instead, I climbed aboard one of the vans, which took us to a speedboat, which buzzed across the Gulf of Thailand to deliver us to the island. There, we piled into songthaeos, partially enclosed pickup trucks with bench seats that serve as taxis, for the short ride to the hotel.

I joined another teacher for dinner by the water and then headed to bed. Rising before the sun, I walked down to the beach and let the surf roll over my feet. Each wave seemed to wash away another level of stress. I couldn’t believe I almost hadn’t made the trip!

My daily walk and sunrise scenery.

I spent most of the weekend here, reading my book on a beanbag lounge chair at the Reef Bar & Restaurant. I only had to stand up and turn around to order food, a fresh coconut, or cocktails from the bartender.

A few steps from my beanbag, several ladies had set up beachfront massage tables. Here, I’m getting a foot massage.

After three nights, I felt rejuvenated. What a treat! As the saltwater spray kissed my face on the speedboat trip back to the mainland, I felt deep gratitude for such a special weekend.

Despite knowing how restorative this was, I felt the same anxiety creeping in as the next scheduled beach weekend approached. A bit overwhelmed with the minutiae of my new life and job, I toyed with skipping. However, this was a ladies weekend, and I was still trying to find my tribe. I knew FOMO would rule the day. And so, I jumped in another van for another trip to Ko Samet the weekend of Aug. 25.

Check out the gold and bling of this van’s interior.

Sure enough, my sunrise walk replaced my stress with bliss. I landed on the same beachbag lounger and essentially repeated the previous weekend, only with a few different faces. Sunrise strolls and then: read, eat, chat with new friends, swim in the sea, get a massage, repeat.

One night, we popped over to the other side of the island for the sunset. It was a little anticlimactic thanks to the overcast skies, but it was fun to hang out with this lovely group.

At the pier on the way home, I saw this unusual lady. Not sure who she’s meant to be, but she cracked me up.

Now that I know how easy and rewarding it is to treat myself with an island getaway, I plan to do this more often. And I’ll take Tony with me next time!

“Carpet” provides bright spot in vanilla room

Over the years, Tony and I have amassed an impressive collection of stuff from around the world. However, I am determined not to surround myself with “stuff,” so I have intentionally purged until all that remains is meaningful in some way. There’s still a lot left, but each item has a story to tell. Unfortunately, my contract in Thailand didn’t include a shipping allowance, so those stories have been silenced and stashed at a storage facility in Florida.

Here in Bangkok, I stare at cream-colored wallpaper, beige furniture, neutral fixtures, and an off-white tile floor. It’s killing me to know our storage unit is bursting with rich Anatolian carpets, riotously colorful Indian artwork, and stunning carved furniture from China. Not wanting to buy more stuff, I have decided to wait one year in this blandness to make sure I want to stay in Thailand long enough to justify shipping over some of our most beloved belongings.

In the meantime, I couldn’t resist purchasing one carpet to brighten up my living room. Thailand has an Amazon-ish online shopping site called Lazada, where I got lost in a sea of carpets, most of which were either cheap and hideous or attractive and pricey. I finally found one that seemed happy and affordable, so I dropped it in my virtual cart. I’ve been looking forward to rolling out a splash of color and sinking my toes into the pile.

When I got home from school the other day, a small packet was waiting at the door. I couldn’t imagine what it could be. Turns out it was my “carpet.” More of a mat really. A mat with a loud stamped-on pattern.

I thought about returning it, but honestly, I just couldn’t navigate one more unfamiliar thing. Instead, I decided to laugh about another lesson learned and to appreciate this cheesy, cheery addition to my home.

Keeping it real – snapshots instead of feature films

Transitions are tricky. Even when you transition to something better, there’s still a learning curve. My transition to Thailand has been wonderful in many ways: Tony is here and has a year of Bangkok under his belt. My school took such great care of me as I settled in my new house. And thanks to our time in Laos, the Southeast Asian culture is not entirely foreign.

Still, daily life requires learning something almost hourly as I try to navigate life. It seemed all my questions need answers immediately or I can’t function. One of my biggest challenges came as a surprise – being a vegetarian here is not at all simple. I feel like a neolithic hunter-gatherer (albeit hunting lentils, chickpeas, and tofu rather than wild animals) as I try to sort out my meals every day. Worse, my jetlag extended into chronic insomnia, which has robbed me of the rest and rejuvenation needed to power through each new day. I’m left edgy and emotional, not useful qualities in a middle school teacher.

All this is to say many special moments arise throughout my life here, AND I am exhausted. I often think, “Oh wow, I should blog about that!” but by the time I can sit down to write, I just want to crash on the sofa with a glass of wine and a mindless show on Netflix.

I had a revelation yesterday. The whole reason I started my blog was to document this incredible life for myself. I don’t have to wait for spectacular travel experiences or full-length feature stories. I’ll just share the interesting, weird, wonderful, and frustrating moments as they happen. So, stay tuned …

Lovely moment of the week: Our community was introduced to Naziya, a Pakistani woman who trained as an esthetician. Many of her family members have fled to Thailand to seek asylum, and one way they are making ends meet is by selling food. Always on the quest for good vegetarian meals and a sucker for a facial, I invited Naziya to my home for a treatment earlier this week. She cooked saag paneer and garlic naan for me, which was delicious, and I’m pretty sure I look 10 years younger after her glorious facial.

A little loopy (thanks jetlag!) but happy in Bangkok

After one week in Thailand, I’m coherent enough to possibly crank out a quick post. Usually a pro at jetlag (get on the local schedule ASAP, stay hydrated, go for walks when you get tired!), I was sucker punched this time around. Fortunately, I had a very soft landing.

The leadership team at Ruamrudee International School met Tony and me at the airport and shuttled us to my rented house. There, we were greeted by Oon, the realtor who graciously received our deliveries of cat supplies. After quickly setting up the cat litter and freeing Ella from her crate, we began to relax.

During our first week, I attended orientation activities at school, and Tony stayed at my house on stand-by for the internet provider and other contractors. After living in Bangkok for the last year, he is an old pro! He also popped over to his apartment on the other side of town a couple of times to unpack and run errands. Depending on the time of day, it appears we can travel to each other’s neighborhoods in about 30 minutes.

We didn’t have to worry about food for our first week, which was a huge relief. The coordinator of the new teacher orientation, Debbie, became my private chauffeur, shuttling me to and from school for meals. But Debbie was so much more than a driver. She radiated kindness and positivity, bending over backward to meet the needs of our group despite myriad logistical challenges. In fact, all the RIS staff have outdone themselves in the hospitality department. This has possibly been the easiest transition I’ve had in the last 21 years abroad.

The school and my house are located in Perfect Place, a huge community of gated neighborhoods. Frankly, it’s not that different from The Villages in Florida. In fact, rather than buying a car, I have rented a golf cart! I can drive it to school and to an area with restaurants, shops, and outdoor markets. When I need to venture beyond the bubble, taxis are easy to find.

Overall, I am absolutely pumped to be here. I love my house. I love my neighborhood. I love the people I’ve met so far. Bring on the students!

Tomorrow, we start real orientation. Lots of meetings with lots of information. I’m sure it will be intense after this gentle pre-orientation week. If only I could get some sleep …

I’m fading fast, so I’m just going to post a gallery of school pics.

Bangkok dejá vu times two

Still playing catch-up…

I heeded the siren’s call of Bangkok twice this spring: both for medical reasons and just for fun. Many international teachers, including the Dents, visit Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok for their annual check-ups and other health concerns. In fact, Tony and I were just there in November. When I heard a group of friends were planning a medical weekend at the end of February, I jumped on board. I spent two weeks with this group in Washington, D.C., last May, waiting for our new Indian visas so we could return to Delhi. The experience was stressful but bonding. How could I resist a get-away to relive those memories and create new ones? There was plenty of street food, shopping and laughter. Three big reasons to visit Bangkok. And so, I did it again at the end of April. This time, a different group of ladies was celebrating the impending nuptials of of our friend, Kathryn. I arrived a day early to visit Bumrungrad. Three doctors, two ultrasounds, an X-ray and an MRI later, I found out some good news but also some bad news: I probably need foot surgery. Rats! When the rest of the ladies showed up, we crashed at a cute little guesthouse and ate our way through the city. A fun night of bachelorette party silliness and dancing was followed by two hours of pampering at the Health Land spa (oh, yeah, we did that the day before, too). Man, I love this city.

BKK Visit 1 – streetfood breakfast. I wanted to cry from joy.
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BKK Visit 1 – Karen catches a motorcycle taxi to the hospital.
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BKK Visit 2 – Ready to hit the town in our matching tank tops spray painted with Kathryn’s initials in English and Hindi.
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BKK Visit 2 – At the spa-aaaaah.
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Bangkok Weekend

This blogpost is about a month overdue, but here you go.

When Tony informed me he had registered for an education conference in Bangkok the first weekend in October, I said, “I’m tagging along.” We took advantage of the 4-day holiday at school to visit Bumrungrad International Hospital for our annual check-ups, and then Tony spent his days learning about technology integration while I got massages, shopped, walked around Bangkok and caught up with a friend. Here is a quick run-down of Bangkok moments that made me smile:

* We celebrated our 22nd anniversary with dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Soul Food.
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I’m embarrassed to admit our eagerness to visit this restaurant stemmed in part from knowing an excellent pet store is next door. Our babies needed some toys! Guess where we spent more money: the pet store or the restaurant? Here’s a hint.
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* While getting a facial at the Divana Spa, the music made me giggle. The instrumental mix included “Flight of the Bumblebees,” a marching band standard I couldn’t name, “Let Him Live” from Les Miserables, and a few Katy Perry songs..

* There’s something so alluring about a blank notebook, but like icing on the cake, Thai notebooks often feature gobbledy-gook English blurbs on the cover. Irresistible!
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* My friend and teaching mentor, Miriam, met me for lunch at Central Chidlom mall. This is no ordinary food court. The Food Loft features an open kitchen concept with a plethora of delicious options in a hipster setting. Perfect for hanging out for a long chat, which we did. Our “lunch” lasted for four hours!
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* Having a discussion about menopause feels awkward enough. Add to the mix an older Thai gynecologist with limited English. She dropped all her ending sounds and dragged out the long vowels in a high-pitched nasally drone – but with a lovely smile on her face. She discouraged the use of hormones and told me I could control the symptoms with some lifestyle changes. It sounded like this. “Heah in da Eee, we yoo naycha hawmohhh. We exa-sighhh. We ee vegtabohh rainbohhh. Seven cuh-law of vegtabohhh.” (Here in the East, we use natural hormones. We exercise. We eat vegetable rainbow. Seven colors of vegtables.) Fortunately, I saw a second doctor who said, “Yeah, I’m on this hormone, too. If you run out, write me an email and I’ll have the pharmacy send you some refills.” Whew.

Wrapping up winter break at Koh Chang

For the last week of our semester break, Tony and I flew from Korea to Thailand. We decided to splurge on a luxury resort on the island of Koh Chang, which is located southeast of the mainland. On this map, our hotel’s pin is letter A.

View Larger Map

If you check out our hotel’s website, you’ll think “Nirvana” was an appropriate name. Well, let’s just say it should have been called “Not Nirvana.” It may have been luxurious at one time, but alas, those days are over. No worries. Thailand is always amazing, and our week was filled with sunshine, great food, fresh air and stunning scenery. Other than one crappy day of killer seasickness – or a mild flu? – we had a great time.

Our home away from home. I know, it LOOKS like Nirvana. Just trust me.
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This is the railing from which a monkey tried to steal my bikini top. It’s also the railing where a monkey picked bugs off another monkey while straddling Tony’s shirt that was drying there. Ewww! We didn’t want to sit out here because of all the nasty monkeys.
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Tony rented a scooter to shuttle us around the island. We’ve done that before in other parts of Thailand, but Koh Chang presented bigger challenges. It was way hillier with hairpin curves, poorly maintained roads and lots of seemingly drunken backpackers trying out scooters for the first time. After two years with only a motorbike for transportation when we lived in Laos, Tony became an expert scooter driver, and I felt safe the whole time.
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Twice, we scootered north to Kai Bae Beach. The first time, we just played in the water, watched tourists frolicking with baby elephants and hung out in the shade of a big palm tree.
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The second time, we rented a kayak and rowed to a smaller island, where we swam, played cards and enjoyed the serenity.
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We kept returning to Buddha View Restaurant in Bang Bao, a short walk or ride from our hotel. Delicious Thai food and lovely views! One time, we sat at a table with the floor cut out, so our legs dangled over the water.
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Poor Tony. While putting his shoes on at the restaurant entrance, he bent over and dropped his reading glasses in the sea. For the rest of our trip, he had to jack up his kindle font to read his book.
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The restaurant was part of the “fisherman’s village,” which was one of the attractions for me when I was booking our hotel. However, it’s really a collection of touristy shops and restaurants and the launching point for all the dive boats. Ah well, it was still interesting and offered some nice photo opps.
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One evening, we watched the sunset from our hotel’s Rock Walk makeshift bar. Very romantic.
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Well, that’s it. Back to reality tomorrow! It’s always hard to leave Thailand, even when Nirvana is Not Nirvana.
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Check out my Koh Chang flickr set for more photos.

SCUBA: Seasickness Can’t Undermine Beauty and Amazement

“I feel kind of blech-y,” I said to Tony Tuesday morning. “I can’t really put my finger on it, but I just don’t feel right.”

I didn’t have a stuffy head or that ubiquitous Delhi cough. I didn’t feel nauseous or suffer any other symptoms of food poisoning. I just felt blech-y. Oh well. It was our scuba day, so suck it up, buttercup.

Dive Adventure sent a pick-up truck taxi to collect us at our hotel. After picking out shorty wetsuits and fins, we walked down the pier to the boat and settled in for our cruise to the dive site. Our divemaster, Özay, was Turkish, so we chatted about living in Istanbul, diving in the Mediterranean and the chaos of Turkish politics. We were very impressed with Özay and the rest of the Dive Adventure crew. They seemed to care about safety and ocean conservation, values that are sometimes missing with other dive shops.

The first stop was a wreck, but only divers with their Advanced Open Water certification were qualified to explore the deep. A risk taker on land, I play it safe in the ocean, so we chose to snorkel around the wreck site while more experienced divers explored the sunken boat. Tony swam down to touch the mast, but that was the highlight of our snorkeling experience.

Climbing back aboard the dive boat, I felt extremely queasy. I stumbled to the bow, poured myself a cup of cold water and sat down to get my bearings. Prone to motion sickness, I know the drill. Stare out at the horizon, stay hydrated, don’t let the rolling boat mess with your head. But the weird thing was the boat wasn’t rolling. The clear turquoise sea was still and smooth as glass. I leaned over the railing and projectile puked up all my breakfast. Nice.

Soon, the boat was back on the move. We reached our destination in just a few minutes, but I was barely able to stand. Tony hooked up my gear, and I just had to trust that he knew what he was doing. “Please don’t let me die down there,” I said weakly.

At the last minute, we spotted a tube of toothpaste and recalled advice from our last dive experience when I had struggled to keep my mask from fogging up. Tony handed me the toothpaste, and I squeezed a blob into my mask, smushed it around and rinsed it in the seawater. A terrible dive buddy, I only half-heartedly toothpasted Tony’s mask, and then checked his weights, BCD and air before letting him jump in. I quickly goose-stepped in after him. Once in the water, I felt a bit better.

Özay, Tony and I, and three other divers let the air out of our BCDs and slowly sank down to explore the Hin Rap Koh Chang reef. A fairly shallow dive, the visibility was fantastic (and my mask stayed perfectly clear the whole time!). We didn’t see any big or unusual sea life, but I often found myself completely surrounded, morphing into the cloud of tiny rainbow fish. Swimming around the coral reef felt magical, but I couldn’t shake my blechy-ness.

Unfortunately, we had to get back on the boat. I wriggled out of my gear and crumpled on a bench. Tony dismantled everything, rinsed our masks and re-connected our BCDs to new tanks in preparation for the next dive. The boat crew set up a Thai buffet, but I could barely choke down a few bites of plain rice. Fortunately, we soon reached our next dive site: Hin Riha Thek, which translates to “broken boat reef”. The rock barely jutted out from the water. We could see how easily a boat might crash into it.

Özay led the pack with Tony and me right behind him. The water was so murky we could barely see him. I thought my mask was fogging up, but when I pulled it off to clean it, I realized the toothpaste was still working. So it wasn’t the most scenic dive ever. My favorite sight was a shallow barrel coral, pale purple with a scalloped top. Inside several bright orange fish darted about. White coral snaked from the sand into the barrel like tubing. For a moment, it tricked my woozy mind into thinking it was a typical fishpond like people keep in their backyards. I had a little underwater laugh when I snapped out of it.

Back on the boat, I barfed up the rice.

I slumped at the back of the boat, too humiliated to socialize, for the trip back to shore. After disembarking, getting Özay to stamp my dive log, and bidding farewell to our fellow divers, we popped into 7-11 to get Gatorade and some M&Ms and then walked the short distance back to our hotel. Although I felt sure the motion sickness would abate quickly, I assured Tony I was done for the day. I showered and rolled into bed; he took the scooter and zipped off to get some dinner. While he was gone, the Gatorade and M&Ms made an encore appearance. Let’s just say the motion sickness did NOT abate quickly. I slept – fitfully – for almost 20 hours, completely losing one whole day of my holiday.

I’m still not sure whether I was sick when I got on the boat, or if the boat made me sick. Regardless, I’m not ready to give up scuba diving, but maybe I’ll search for a resort with a house reef – and skip the boat ride – for our next vacation.

5 weekends, 5 countries

Yowza.

Maldives
Thailand
Oman
Nepal
India

In the last five weeks, I spent only one weekend in New Delhi. Finally, a few moments to process. So much has happened in such a short amount of time, personally and professionally. Here’s the scoop in chronological order:

Maldives – Nothing soothes my soul like a little time by the sea. Tony and I escaped for a week in Paradise for Spring Break. See my post about our relaxing vacation – Maldives Diary.

Thailand – As an EAL (English as an Additional Language) specialist, I co-teach in grade-level classrooms, usually during the literacy block. The workshop model at our school draws heavily on resources from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University. For years, I’ve heard teachers rave about the Teachers College summer institutes, but I’ve never had an opportunity to go. Unable to get to the mountain, I brought the mountain to me! Well, the Near East South Asia Council of Overseas Schools brought the “mountain” to its Spring Educators Conference, and I was lucky to land a coveted spot in The Writing Project’s Foundation Course. I can see the eyerolls and exaggerated snoring sounds, but seriously, I was like a kid in a candy store. Top-notch instruction with immediate take-aways. That’s the kind of stuff teachers drool over. Another perk was networking and sharing ideas with educators from other international schools.
After 12 years overseas, it would be impossible to attend an international teachers conference and not see friends from my past – thank goodness! This conference was no different; I ran into people from our days in Istanbul, Shanghai and Vientiane.

Oman – As arguably the least-sporty coach at our school, I gave a pathetically weepy speech at the Season 3 Awards Ceremony last week. For some reason, the Forensics Team (debate, public speaking and drama) gets recognized alongside softball, baseball, badminton and track-and-field athletes. Maybe the “real” coaches found me a bit overdramatic, but that’s what we forensics geeks love. As one of four coaches who traveled with the team to Muscat, Oman, in mid-April, I felt overwhelmed with pride for their accomplishments at the tournament. See details at O, Man! Forensics and Fun in Muscat.

Nepal – With the end of the school year in sight, I joined four other ladies for a weekend get-away to Kathmandu to recharge our batteries and enjoy some quality time with two friends moving back to the States. Check out that post at Kathmandu – Ladies Weekend.

India – This is such a busy and emotional time in the life of a teacher abroad. Report cards, placement decisions for next year, language testing, farewell parties for friends moving on, big changes.

Looking back to May 2012, I can say our first year in India was hard, possibly the hardest first year we’ve had anywhere. As Bob Hetzel, our departing school director, is fond of saying, “Whatever is true about India, the opposite is also true.” That makes it particularly difficult to learn the ropes and settle in to this city that defies all western logic. By the end of our first year, we were feeling marginally better about our decision to move here but still overwhelmingly frustrated. Then a departing teacher, who spent five years in New Delhi, shared this snippet of wisdom: “Your second year will be exponentially better. And your third year will be exponentially better than your second year. And so on. You won’t believe it!” He was right.

Year two really WAS exponentially better than year one. Not perfect, but much much better. Despite the daily head-slapping confusion of living in a developing country, we also experience daily revelations. I cautiously look forward to an exponentially better year three. As we add two new members to our household, New Delhi is finally starting to feel like home.
Introducing Ella and Khushi.
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Seaside Date Night

I always hate the last night of a vacation. I’m not one of those people who says, “Well, it’s been fun, but I’m ready to get home!” However, last night was our last night in Phuket, and it was dreamy.

Tony and I spent the evening at Mom Tri’s Boathouse, a gorgeous resort on Kata Beach. We arrived in time to enjoy both Happy Hour and the sunset – two more of my favorite things!

After watching the sky turn from blue to pink to black (while I nursed a chili-and-ginger-infused Siam Sunray and Tony enjoyed a cold Heineken), we moved from the lounge to our table on the beachside deck. Our appetizer of scallops layered with a thin crispy crepe was scrumptious; the bread basket was full of flavorful sticks, chips and rolls; and even the butter tasted better than usual. I devoured the grilled king prawns topped with crushed garlic, while Tony gobbled up a pork chop. Ice cream, mango and sticky rice with coconut milk for dessert. Yum!

Every hour is Happy Hour when you’ve got your sweetie, a cocktail and a seaside sunset.
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