Thailand 2006

In December 2006 after spending the summer and fall taking a TEFL correspondence course I headed to Thailand for two weeks of hands-on experience that would finish up my classes.
I was drawn to teaching overseas mostly just to away. The four years I spent in college were for the most part lousy (no one’s fault but my own, I just had laughably bad judgment) and my senior year was the low point. Between a bad diet, lack of exercise, and loads of stress I was really floundering. My first idea was to do the JET program but after blowing the interview (it was my first one ever and how am I supposed to take a guy in his fifties patting his stomach and pretending to not know English seriously?) I had to go another route and started to online course.
Thailand was fun and strange. Almost all of us stayed in a hotel a few blocks from the school (some stayed in the actual school and one guy stayed with his wife who left him part way through) with rooms that were bitterly cold. During the day this was easy to counteract by opening the doors and letting in hot, humid air. At night you had to wrap yourself up in the scratchy hot pink blanket they provided. Even though I was there for teaching experience it’s the stuff that I did outside of the classroom I remember best. When it wasn’t raining I spent my time wandering for miles in and around the town. The streets there were filled with mopeds with little regard for pedestrians and stray dogs that would growl at a distance then hide when you approached. The sidewalks were covered with open-air restaurants (these great home/businesses that are basically outdoor kitchens where the food cooks in one big pot all day long and is served up on rice with fresh garlic) and would often just end abruptly and spill into the streets.
The most memorable place in Phuket is a mountain that lies on its outskirts. A road runs from a temple at its base to a mess of towers and wire at the top. At dusk this road is filled with packs of wild dogs and groups of monkeys that climb along the electrical wires; occasionally they’ll fight with each other over food left by the temple. At the top is a great view of the city and a bunch of roosters wandering aimlessly.

PEACE CORPS UPDATE:
I’m about 4 weeks away from leaving and just getting around to packing. Even with my departure date so close it still is hard to wrap my head around the fact that I’ll be out of here in few short weeks. Fun!

I don't have the best track record when it comes to recording my thoughts. I can remember getting my first journal as an early Christmas gift when I was around seven, I was so excited to give it a go I wrote entries for the next several days which I then attempted to act out. This got old quickly and soon I just gave it up. My next attempt was in college and remains a painfully, painfully embarrassing reminder of that time.

This time I will try to keep up with it though as it may be my primary way of communicating with friends and family at home. I'm about a month and a half away from leaving and I'll try to spend some of that time detailing my prep work.