Oh My Buddha

(Somewhat Reluctently) Not a Peanut Butter Blog

[chiangmaithai]

What Schools Do Right in Thailand

Ok, before I ruffle any feathers, let me say that I know my experience teaching here is limited to an affluent private school.  So some of these may be unique to my experience, but I do believe most of these are common characteristics. 

1.  Plenty of time for play. 

Our school has several scheduled breaks in the school day where the kids can read, go outside and play, eat snacks, talk to their friends, etc.  

There are also plenty of PE, music, computer, club and activity based classes in their weekly schedule.  Not to mention the regular parties, celebrations and performances that cancel lessons and entire school days!

2.  Teaching is a Sustainable Job

Teachers are actually in front of children about half to 2/3 of the school day.  The rest of the time is spent planning, grading, in department meetings, prepping materials and all the other work that (in the US) happens before and after school.  You can be an excellent teacher and still realistically do all your work in school hours.  Not to mention a full hour for lunch!

Teachers are also appreciated by students, parents and the government.  There are “Teacher Day”s during the year - one is a celebration in school and the other is a day off from school.

I received enough flowers to fill a bucket!

3.  School is a Safe, Fun Place for Students

Yes, students are tested too much.  But for the most part, school is an open and inviting place for students to grow.  At my school students are given countless opportunities to explore and exhibit their strengths, in athletics, music, arts, academics, etc.  Students are celebrated by teachers, administrators and fellow students.

In addition, there is little bullying between kids.  On the whole they truly feel part of a community.  They look out for one another and feel comfortable and happy at school.  As a result, the students at my school were each their own weird, adorable selves.

[chiangmaithai]

Thailand Top Five

As of Friday we will officially have spent one calendar year in Thailand.  Here are my top five favorite things about living in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

5.  The Festivals

I’ve said it before, but Thais like a good party.  Being here an entire year meant we got to celebrate a lot.

Yi Ping and Loy Krathong

The Flower Festival

Chinese New Year

Songkran

4.  Buddhism: Culture and Attitudes

Call me crazy, but I love living in a country that’s laid-back, overwhelmingly accepting of differing lifestyles and focused on staying mindful and positive.

I am not trying to generalize about an entire culture, religion or country, I’m just saying that the atmosphere felt palpably different than anywhere I have been before.

It’s nice not to take yourself so seriously all the time.

3.  The Massages

I’ve had a few massages before coming to Thailand.  Usually the occasional groupon after running too many miles.  They were nice enough, but nothing special.  

Thailand has changed the game completely.  First of all, the massages are $4-6 dollars instead of $40-60+ dollars.  Second, they are torture.  They strip away the fru-fru nonsense, like lotions and music, and throw you on a line of cots that resemble a WWII infirmary.  Then they go to town stepping on you, digging their elbows into your poor, tender muscles, sitting their entire body on your legs, all while chatting with their coworkers.

Oh yeah, and as the picture indicates, one of the places to get said massage is at the Chiang Mai women’s prison.  It’s a rehabilitation program giving the women a viable career option after incarceration.  (America, take note)

It’s awesome.  It feels so terrible for the hour, but so amazing for the next 48.

2.  The Food

Duh.  

Truth be told I’ve had a love/hate relationship with the food.  It hasn’t been the healthiest for me and I don’t love feeling like I’m swimming in sugar and oil at every single meal, but it’s delicious.  

I never really got sick of it.  We ate Western food occasionally, but didn’t seek it out that often.  Give me all the Khao Soi, Thai iced coffee, Burmese salad, coconut ice cream, banana curry, pad kra pow and fresh fruit smoothies a girl can eat.  Nom nom nom.

1.  The KIDS

I can’t believe this one myself.  Teaching was supposed to be a means to an end - the way to fund our life abroad and all its adventures.  But somewhere along the way I fell in love with elementary school kids and all the joy they brought to the year.  

I’m really going to miss these little guys.

[chiangmaithai]

Best Signs at the Chiang Mai Zoo

Just dropping in quickly to show you some of the greatest signage I’ve seen in a while, all courtesy of the lovely, spacious Chiang Mai Zoo:

And finally...the wall outside the bathroom...

Well, since I’m already here, I’ll add a quick ostrich picture too.

[chiangmaithai]

Bua Tong Waterfall

Wednesday we had off from school.  Not wanting to waste a free day (although, we've spent many a days this year doing nothing), we finally hit up the Bua Tong waterfalls, aka "Sticky Waterfall"

The waterfall is about an hour north of Chiang Mai, inside a national park.  The drive itself was pretty cool - saw a giant fat Buddha, two water buffaloes, fields on fire for the burning season.  Anyway.  From what I've read (there isn't a lot of information at national parks here, in my experience) the water here comes from a spring with an abundance of calcium carbonate.  As it cascades down the rocks it leaves behind enough to coat the rocks, leaving them "sticky" enough to climb up and down.

I was a little nervous at first, since I've been known to fall on occasion (all occasions?) but they really were like walking on concrete.

Seeing as it's back to 100+ temps every day, it felt nice to be in the water.

You can't really tell from that photo, but we were getting soaked here.  I loved it!

All in all it took about a leisurely hour to walk up the falls.  Probably one of my favorite hours in Chiang Mai.

I guess they're a little far away for most tourists, but I'd absolutely recommend the falls to anyone who can find a way to get there!

[chiangmaithai]

Thailand Day In the Life:  School Edition

My apologies - this post has been in draft for months.  Because I'm nosy, one of my favorite bloggers posts are "day in the life" posts.  So I decided to put one together here and show you a typical teaching day in Thailand.

5:20  Alarm goes off.  (Really only about 1/3 of the time do I get up to go to the gym before work, but today was one of those days)  Go lay on the couch and browse the internet for a few minutes before getting up.  *This is harder than it sounds, because most of life in the US happens when I'm asleep and it's easy to get lost in the timesucks of Facebook and Instagram

5:50  Short half mile job to our swanky hotel gym.  Cross my fingers that the other early raisers haven't taken all the equipment, even though the gym technically doesn't open until 6.

6:30  Finish running or whatever I'm doing at the gym.  Promise myself tomorrow I'll go after school so I'll have more time.  (Spoiler:  I probably won't)

6:40  Arrive home.  Shower.  Gabber away at Dan.  

7:10  Hop on the back of the bike and ride to school.  Check out what fruits are at Warorot market.  Watch out for lettuce ladies blocking the road.  The ushe.

7:20  Finger scan in at work.  Eat school breakfast.  Usually rice with some vegetable and meat combo.  This was rice, stir-fried cucumber, ground chicken, dried seaweed and spicy sauce.

7:45  Time for the morning assembly!  Music plays throughout the entire school, the kids manically run from all directions in grade-specific lines and we sing the Thai national anthem and recite characteristics of a good student (some days in Thai,some in English)

8:00  Homeroom.  Kids do Thai or English vocabulary.  Snoozeville.

8:20 - 11:35  The first four lessons of the day.  There are eight lessons in a school day and the first four are before lunch.  Usually I teach between 2-4 of these lessons.  It's easy and it's fun.  Sometimes too many kids shake their whiteout pens at the same time.  That's about as rough as it gets.<3 teaching here  

11:40  LUNCH  We get a sweet, sweet school-provided midday meal and it is awesome.  You choose 3-4 out of 12 options, plus salad and fruit or dessert.  I didn't take a picture of my lunch today but it was a delectable pumpkin and egg stir-fry, weird asian mushrooms, broccoli with mini shrimps and a sweet black rice and coconut milk dessert.  I regularly eat too much.  Also, I never eat rice at lunch.  I want the other items more and, I mean, #riceeverydamnday already happens, but the students and Thai teachers think I am INSANE.  It is practically a daily conversation.  "Teacher, no rice?!"  Rice = food (as in, literally the same word)  So I guess I'm basically having a giant snack, or something.

11:40-16:00  Final four lessons.  Usually I teach 1-3 of these.  Some days I even teach 4 year olds or 7 year olds.  The rest of the time is spent grading (easy), lesson planning (easy), meetings and playing on the internet.  It's a very sustainable teaching job.  I never leave overwhelmed or overworked.  Not to mention, there are breaks built into the day for the kids to play and eat snacks.  

16:00-17:00  "Extra class"  Even though the kids have been in school for 9 hours already, many stay for an additional hour of homework help.   A lot of times this is just playing and reading.

17:00  Time to go home.  FINALLY.  Despite the relative easy of the day, it's still a long time to be at school.  Finger scan out and ride home.

17:15  Occasionally I go to the gym with Dan if I haven't gone in the morning.  Usually I do not.  Instead I play around on the internet and/or read.

18:30  Eat some amazing Thai food.  Yes, we always eat out.  Yes, it's always amazing.  And yes, it's cheap.  Most often under two dollars.

20:00  Whatever the heck we want.  Sometimes it's trivia at the pub.  Sometimes watching TV series.   Sometimes it's just some exploring.  It's wonderful to live obligation-free.

22:30 or before zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[chiangmaithai]

Strange Foods I've Eaten: Volume Three

First I would like to say that YES I have eaten bugs and YES they are delicious, but I already posted a picture.  I will eat more if I see them.  

Banana Flower Salad.  Man I'm behind on my posts - I ate this in Cambodia way back in September.  Anything covered in peanuts can't be bad, but if I recall correctly the flowers from the banana plant were also very agreeable.  That sentence is odd, but I'm leaving it.

Also in September!  This is ice cream, or should I say, "ice cream".  The preparation goes like this: 1. stir some kind of milk water; 2.  pour said milk water onto a frozen circle; 3. scrape the now frozen milk water into rolls; 4. serve upright in a paper cup; 5.  cover in hot fudge and candy

Good, obviously (see step #5)

Burmese Tea Leaf Salad.  This dish, while not Thai, is blow your mind good.  I've tried eating raw tea since then and it is NOT GOOD, so I'm not sure what magic goes into this salad but it is goddamn delicious.   Filled with tea leaves, other sliced veggies and several crunchy beans, it is unlike anything I've had before.  It's a must eat.  Arroy. <-- that's me using my Thai

Charcoal ice cream from some truck at Thapae gate.  I waited in line without seeing the flavors ahead of time and since I don't like Matcha Green Tea I was left with charcoal.  But it worked.  It tasted a little bit like ice and a little bit like nothing and sadly not at all like chocolate, but I still give it two thumbs up. 

GOOD GOD.  This peanut powder shake.  Drown me in peanut powder shakes.  I swear a peanut butter milkshake wouldn't be as good as a peanut powder shake.  

Amok Curry from Cambodia.  More specifically, amok curry from a shack next to the Angkor Wat temples.  It was a creamy coconut curry with the usual chicken and noodles and a few veggies.  A solid meal.  I'm not sure this constitutes "strange" except that I haven't seen it anywhere in Thailand.

Now, let's move away from "strange foods I've eaten" to "strange foods I've seen"

Neither banana flavored ice cream nor cheese flavored ice cream nor milk flavored ice cream seemed like something I'd enjoy, so I can't tell you about these except they do exist.  And I have no clue what yakult pipo is...  I guess I wasn't feeling adventurous that day.

Deep fried crab sandwiches.  Dand DID eat one of these.  It was fried and had crab sticks, so I don't think I need to waste my breath (fingers?) telling you that it was awesome.

I hate grass jelly and I hate lychee and I really hate juice, so these will remain a mystery forever.  So Sorry.

[chiangmaithai]

In Love with Pai

Just call me Agent Cooper.  

Last weekend was Teacher's Day in Thailand.  That's right - a day off to respect teachers.  Are you listening America?  To celebrate Dan and I ventured off to the northern city of Pai, Thailand.  Even though we only had two days, it was an adventure from start to finish.  Pai is about three hours from Chiang Mai and the ride there is littered with hair-raising curves up and down the mountains.  This ride is no joke.  I have never had motion sickness before, but I spent the last hour of the trip up with my head down trying not to revisit my breakfast.  Unfortunately for us, on the way home the woman in the front of the bus couldn't manage the same restraint.  So that was fun.  

Pai itself is beautiful.  Situated right in the mountains, Pai has a cozy, backpacker vibe.  There was tea, beer and kombucha everywhere.   (There also were tons of white hippies, go figure)

I didn't take a load of pictures and frankly we weren't there long enough to do as much as we wanted, but here is a sample.  We rode bamboo rafts through caves  with 2,000 year old paintings and coffins,  toured the mountain on a motorbike, visited the iconic "coffee in love" and spied all the quirky, cartoony decorations around the main square.

Pai is a popular side trip from Chiang Mai and with good reason.  I always expect highly publicized places to be underwhelming, but Pai lived up to its relaxing reputation.  I'd definitely recommend a trip to anyone with the time to spare.  

[chiangmaithai]

There is still time to come visit!

[chiangmaithai]

Holidays in Thailand

Hello all!  Happy Holidays from Chiang Mai!  This post is only one week into 2015, so I feel like I'm doing pretty well here.

I wouldn't say it really felt like Christmastime, since it's still, ya know, really hot all the time.  But Chiang Mai is never one to turn down a celebration, so there were plenty of Christmas trees and decorations all around town.

One thing I don't get - but sort of love - are the strings of lights going down the length of the tree.

Christmas morning we went to one of the more upscale breakfast places and had GINGERBREAD PANCAKES!  It was like being transported to the North Pole for a few brief bites.  There even was a live band playing outside.  

We also had a fabulous dinner with a carvery station and all kinds of British puddings, but I didn't take any pictures.  We even had an epic Monopoly session, which all helped it feel more like Christmas day.

Between Christmas and News Years we spent a night aboard houseboats at Mae Ngat Dam in Srilanna National Park.

We played cards, ate like kings, drank Irish coffees and generally lazed around.  If I could do it again I think I'd stay for two nights instead of one so there'd be more time for swimming, kayaking and jumping on the water trampoline!

We capped off the holidays with a camping trip for New Year's Eve.  Not far from the Old City in Chiang Mai, we biked up to the top of Doi Pui and again spent the night in a Thai National Park.  

They really know how to do it here - you pay a fee for a tent (already set up - score), mattress pad, sleeping bag and pillow.  So easy.  We spent the evening doing some hiking and camping things (read: card games and mulled wine).

 At midnight were treated to a gorgeous view of the city and all the firework shows below.  Unfortunately you will not be treated with a gorgeous picture because I couldn't manage that.  So you'll just have to trust me that there were like fifty fireworks going off at a time.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and the bitter cold isn't tearing you apart.  But if it is, you can always come visit Chiang Mai.  

[chiangmaithai]

Race Report: Chiang Mai Marathon

One of the first things I did when we decided to live in Chiang Mai was look for races to run.  The only one I saw at the time, and likely the biggest of the year, is the Chiang Mai marathon.  

The race is split into four distances - 42k, 21k, 10k and 3k.  Because I've been running consistently, but not for many miles, I ran the 10k or the "mini marathon".  

I can't stand to run with my phone, so I don't have pictures, but it was a great race.  The races started early and exactly on time.  It's wasn't super crowded, so I showed up about eight minutes before the start of the race and was still too early.  The 10k was slated to start at 6am and sure enough the buzzer sounded at 6:00:00.   There were drummers at the start and a few people cheering along the way.  The route looped around Chiang Mai and had a water stop about every mile and a half.  It was kind of no thrills, but perfectly organized and executed.  

The full and half were timed, but the 10k was not, so it was extra low pressure.  My number wasn't even attached to my name; I just grabbed it off a pile when I picked up my free shirt and bag.  And frankly good thing it wasn't timed - look at that age group.  Dang.

The hour or so went by pretty quickly, except when I dropped my headphones and had to run backwards through people to find the pieces.   Before I knew it I passed the last water stop at mile 6.1 (lolz) and was done.  The finishing chutes were well-marked for the three longer races and there was even a corresponding clock for each.  Well done Chiang Mai.

But, because it is Thailand, there had to be SOMETHING weird about the race, right?  Check out the free grub at the end of the race.

Hahaha.

I'm not sure how many more races I'll get to do here, so I'm thankful I got to participate in this one.  All in all a great morning and a great race.  

[chiangmaithai]

What the U.S. Can Learn From Thailand

Whoops, that title seems like I'm about to wax poetic about domestic policy.  Of course I won't because 1) I don't write that well and 2) this post is much more superficial than all that.  But, I've been here 8 months now, and have come to realize there are some absolutely delightful Thai habits I'd really love to bring back to the United States.

1.  Eggs at Every Meal

I've always been an egg eater.  It's my answer to the desert island, one food for life question.  In Thailand, an egg lover like me can really go wild.  Veggies sauteed with egg, pad thai wrapped in an egg, Thai omelettes over rice, dessert rotee with egg, egg-y yellow curry and a fried egg with any rice dish.

This is also a good time to give a nod to the fork and spoon utensil duo.  No chopsticks in this Asian nation.  Here you employ the fork and the spoon simultaneously - using the fork to push food onto the spoon and then the spoon to deliver the goods to your mouth.  Brilliant weapons for mass consumption.  You can expect to see me doing that for the rest of my life.

2.  Fun > Everything

Thai people seem to live truly joyous lives.  People are consistently smiling and laughing with such genuine delight and amusement.  I know that there is a lot I don't see (as a foreigner especially), but I have to believe the endless festivities and merriment are contagious.  

And Thais don't miss a reason to party.  Anything is an excuse for excessive celebration.  I can't tell you how many lessons I've lost to practicing dance moves for Sports Day or rehearsing songs for a parent show, but I've learned to live with it.  Type A Americans like myself could all probably use a good dose of chillin' the fuck out once in a while.  Take a day or two to celebrate.  Even if what you're celebrating your cat placing first in a random feline expo. 

3.  Wacky Dress 24/7

Would you kill to wear bunny ears at work, but can't because you're a government employee?  Is your ideal pair of shorts covered by a see-through floor-length skirt, that is probably neon and embroidered with kittens?  Or maybe you're a dude and just feel like rolling around town with your shirt lifted up to nipple height, but social norms prevent you from fulfilling this dream.  

You should move to Thailand.  

I've never been good at clothes and I love being able to put zero effort into fashion for a year, because seriously, there are no "wrong" choices  here.

(Yes, that really is bears playing beer pong)

 4.  Complete* Safety

I'm not going to belabor this because I've talked about it before, but I feel so safe here.  I can walk alone, run alone, leave my bag on a bench and expect it to be there when I return, leave the keys in the motorbike parked on the side of the road and on and on.  It's unfathomable to my western sensibilities... and it's amazing.  It almost makes life feels like living in a fake land; it's that unbelievable to me.

* Unfortunately we are not the sole foreigners in this wonderful nation, and I wouldn't go so far as to say I trust everyone within the borders.  If you're reading this because you're traveling to Thailand this is not an invitation to leave your belongings all over the place and then bark at me when they're gone.  Just trust that it was another gringo that took them.

[chiangmaithai]

Because he is a better blogger, storyteller and photographer than I will ever be.  

[chiangmaithai]

Look At All That Grey Space! So many more places to go...

I visited 20 countries out of 250. That's 8% of all countries in the world! (Build your own free Visited Countries map like this and share on Tumblr or add as interactive widget to your website.)

[chiangmaithai]

Life Lately

Hello all!  Happy snow-clearing, road to the NFL playoffs, almost Thanksgiving time of the year.  We aren't experiencing any of those things here, of course, but thanks to the internet they are still at the forefront of my consciousness.  Anyway, here's a look at life on the other side of the globe:

November brought us to the Yee Ping and Loy Krathong festivals in Chiang Mai.  I wrote a little bit about the traditional meaning of these annual events already, so here are some snapshots of the parties and festivities.

We also were lucky enough to have friends in from Baltimore.  We probably had too much fun while they were here, but my old bones recovered eventually.  We even snuck away to Bangkok for the weekend for a little bit of temple hopping..

some late night adventures...

and a few snacks

Last week we even participated in a Chiang Mai scavenger hunt.  If you think "Hello Kitty themed car" or "Hug a Godzilla" are weird search items you haven't been in Thailand very long.

I've got a few more posts in the works about teaching in Thailand, recent eats and cultural differences, but with poor internet and livin' life, let's not make any bets on when I get them up.  

[chiangmaithai]

[chiangmaithai]

Chiang Mai Check-In

I've been meaning to write a six month check-in, but that came and went rather quickly, now didn't it?  I seem to flip between the rapid pace of this year and the distance I feel from home, on a regular basis.  Wow, I can't believe the time is going so quickly. Wow, I feel so removed from home.

 And that feeling holds true for most of this experience.  I have a lot of conflicting feelings simultaneously.  Life is easier and life is more challenging.  I'm more relaxed and more worried.   You get the idea.  But instead of being a stream of consciousness mind dump, I'll stick to some main ideas:

The Good:

- Living Simply.  No cell phone, no text messages, sometimes no power and no internet.  Not scheduling myself to death.  And most importantly, having very few possessions.  I wear the same small rotation of clothes.  I generally don't make plans more than a day or two in advance.  Everything I own fits in one suitcase.  These things are all good for me.

- Travelling.  So far we've been to Sukhothai, Hua Hin, Bangkok (x2), Phuket, Krabi and surrounding islands in Thailand.  We've been to Vientiane, Loas and Siem Reap, Cambodia outside of Thailand.  We have plans to visit more of Northern Thailand soon and who knows were we will go after the school year is over.  Travel is one of the main reasons for embarking on this whole adventure and it's been fab.

-  Teaching.  I'll do a separate post on this, but teaching is a much more sustainable profession here.

- Thai Culture (Buddhist and otherwise).  The "Sa Bai" attitude toward life is NOT my go-to, at least not yet, but man is it refreshing.  Relax, everything is fine, it's no big deal.  

We've also been lucky enough to experience the Yee Ping and Loy Krathong festivals this year, which celebrate release from worry and negativity.  They also happen to be spectacularly beautiful and filled with giant city-wide parties, because, Thailand.

(Sorry my camera sucked and I don't have clear pictures.  I wish I could have recorded it with my eyes.)

The Bad:

- Expectations.  This is just a general bad habit of mine, but I had all these expectations for myself.  Guess what?  I'm still me.  If I didn't read a lot at home, being somewhere else doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to read more here.  For example.  

- Health.  Again, I was certain I'd be here eating fresh fruits and vegetables, exercising all the time, sleeping as much as I needed, etc.  WRONG.  For a while I was feeling great.  But guess what?  Sometimes it's fresh fruit, but mostly it's white rice, fried everything and sugar overload.  And 10 hour workdays, frequent sickness and lots of travel exhaustion mean less exercise and less sleep.  Since this is an important part of my life, it's been a real struggle over the past six months.

Of course, the good outweighs the bad.  But I thought it'd be nice to do a little check-in now and compare it to my feelings in April.  

[chiangmaithai]

October 31 (better late than never):  Happy Yi Peng Everyone!