January has been a very long month (that is still dragging on), especially after getting back in the classroom after returning from beautiful Koh Tao.
As my tourist visa was expiring a needed to go on a visa run. This is a border run to usually either Laos or Cambodia. I went to Cambodia and it was a very strange experience. The whole thing is very odd, since there are companies whose business consists of driving people in order for them to stay longer in Thailand. Just one more thing to spend money on in the pursuit of living in Thailand. So after my one-month extension at 2000 baht ($60), I needed to go on this visa run, since I couldn't get another extension in Thailand. Complete waste of time and money.
Needed to leave my house just after 5 am to get downtown to Sukhumvit to get on the bus for 6:30am. Bus ride takes four hours each way. Arrived at the Cambodian border at noon, and was ushered through numerous lines and then through lines of duty free shopping ("lady!! cigarettes?? whisky?? cheap cheap!!"). Many times had to give the people my passport, then they'd give it back later.. Very strange.
Included in the price of the run was lunch, drinks and a massage? So went past the border, where we had to wait for over an hour to get everything processed (I believe to get Cambodian visas). So were taken to this building for lunch. Then walked into this building with security and metal detectors, and then through rooms upon rooms of people gambling! It was sooo strange, this weird makeshift casino. Had to go through all these rooms until we got to the back and had a boring buffet lunch.
Very weird experience. They were gambling in baht, so I'm guessing they were Thais, but not sure. Gambling is illegal in both Thailand and Cambodia. We had exited Thailand, but not officially entered Cambodia, so they had set up this casino in no-man's land! Sooo weird. Had lunch with all these avid Thai/Cambodian gamblers. Then into this other area for the visa run company, in which they gave us thai massages.
After this, had to wait in line again to get our visas into Thailand, then went back on the bus to Bangkok. Whole thing cost 2200 baht ($70). Just seemed like we were paying for all these strange things that we didn't need though. Very frustrating.
So, back in Bangkok. I was waiting on this letter from the ministry of labour (or education... not sure), inviting me to teach in Thailand. Kept asking about this letter, since I needed it in order to get a non-immigrant B visa. Got my manager to phone operations, the next day, magically, the letter has arrived!! Just needed to do some pressuring, and things work out.. So had received this letter before my visa run to Cambodia, but needed 21 days left on my current visa in order to change over to a non-B in Thailand (yes, the most confusing system in the world.. but it gets worse..)
Came back from Cambodia, needed to visit Immigration three days later to get my non-B visa (so I would still have over 21 days left). Thankfully got my visa (there has been a lot of problems lately, apparently not only if you are a white female do you get your visa the same day), but it cost another 2000 baht ($60)!!! After just spending that much to go to Cambodia... Whole thing is the biggest cash grab ever.
Now I have a three-month visa, good until April. The next step was applying for a teacher's licence, which then gets me a work permit (three months working and I'm still not legal..) Only problem now, is that the ministry is tired of dealing with work permits and now wants the schools to do it themselves. The schools have no idea what they're doing, don't have the paperwork etc. So now may be a long time until I can get a teacher's licence.... This is how things work in Thailand.
That so far is the deal with my visa situation. We also had a day off on the 16th of January for Teacher's Day, a national holiday. The day before at school, we had an assemby for the teachers. Very strange for the foreigners. This involved a lot of gift giving for the higher level teachers. But gift giving involves a gesture called wai krue which is like the typically wai, but the person gets on their knees and shuffles over to the person on their knees (the person is seated, the other person cannot stand higher than them). The person then gives the gift, does the wai gesture (hands in prayer position), but then lays their whole upper body on the ground before them in an almost worship-like pose. They lay like this for a minute or so then raise up, the higher person nods to them, then they shuffle away again on their knees.
A whole group of children around the age of Pratom 2 came up to us teachers and brought us flowers and notebooks sort of in this fashion. One child came to each teacher and waied them, bowed their head and a prayer was said. Quite the experience...
That weekend, it was my friend Lauren's birthday and she decided she wanted to go up north to this town called Korat to visit some friends of hers. So a bunch of us went up there for the weekend. The way there we took a second class bus, which took four hours since it stopped sooo much. Then on the way back took first class, which was only 50 baht more and took three hours. A lot nicer...
Korat is apparently the second biggest city in Thailand, but it seemed quite small. It's the gateway to Isaan (Northern Thailand). Very quiet, not much there. There were no taxis, so we had to take tuk-tuks everywhere, which was quite fun. Also had a very, very nice hotel room. Three other girls and I shared it for 650 baht ($20). Even had a TV with cable!! Felt like we were living the high life.
Went to the Korat zoo on Saturday. Rented bikes (including a two-seater and a two-person tandom bike) and biked around the zoo. Was quite a good zoo actually, very fun. Tons of crazy monkeys. Also there were elephants and giraffes that we feed bananas to.
Went for a nice dinner that evening, had so much good food, including many curries. And Lauren's friends bought red wine! Was such a treat. Went back to their house, in which they surprised Lauren with an ice-cream cake. Apparently British people have never heard of ice cream cakes. It was hilarious. We were eating the cake and Lauren said all of a sudden "my cake is reallllyyy cold. It's so strange..". We said "uhm, maybe because it's an ice cream cake????". Lauren: "an... ice cream..... cake??"
We couldn't believe she'd never heard of an ice cream cake, she came back and told all her friends at home how she had an ice cream cake for her birthday.
After the cake, we went to a private karaoke room that her friend's had rented. It was soo much fun. The room was really nice, with couches and a huge TV and microphones. We were so worried there wouldn't be any English songs, but of course there was a ton. We had a blast singing and dancing to as much songs as we could fit into the three hours that we were there.
This weekend, spent some time in Siam on Saturday doing some shopping. Then watched a Japanese movie, which was quite good. Then yesterday, went with a friend to this tiny island called Koh Kred, which is just in a bend of the Chao Phraya river. It's very close to where we live, and I had been meaning to go for quite some time.
Was only a 15 minute taxi ride away, then got on this little boat to cross the river. It's like a tiny, secluded village so close to the big city, very neat. The main thing they do there is pottery, so everywhere they were making and selling pots. Sold tons of food and other things there as well. We walked through the shops, then walked around some temples. Saw what looked like a cemetary, with many ruins. Then walked around the whole island which took a bit over an hour. Was so quiet and green!! Palm trees and tons of fruit trees, bananas, mangos, papayas etc. Was very swampy, with all the little houses built on stilts. Just seemed so rustic and rural, and was probably half an hour outside the hustle and bustle of Bangkok! Very nice, might have to go there more often, especially since it's so close.
So that's what my January has looked like so far. This weekend may be going to a beach, either Hua Hin or Koh Samet, which are both about four hours away. Am really enjoying these weekend trips, really good way to go back to work on Monday. My friend Meagan has booked her plane ticket and will be coming to visit on February 24th for six weeks. So I am getting very excited about that. Will be traveling for the month of March, hopefully up through Northern Thailand and into Laos. Unfortunately, a bunch of my friends that I've made here are leaving soon, so that will be difficult. The people I met that did the TEFL program only signed 4 or 5 month contracts, so will be going. My Irish friend, Emily, also decided to go back home, so will be leaving soon as well. Can't believe I still have nine months here!!! Seems sooo long at the moment, but I think the next couple of months will fly by.
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