Getting Settled

hey gang
The last couple days have been a bit slow, so I've left off an entry and instead will just ram a couple of days together.

Beginning on a high note, I've moved into my apartment.  It's not not much, but I dig it.  My lovely residence comes complete with a bed, a TV, a refrigerator, a closet and a bathroom.  What else do I really need?  I was a little disappointed that there was no kitchen.  But I suppose my apartment is hot enough all ready, and food is so cheap here.  If only wifi were free then my life would be complete.

A word on Thai toilets.  Perhaps you have heard of the "squat toilet"  It is essentially a basin that you squat over to take care of your business and then proceed to flush by pouring a couple buckets of water down the hole.  I don't have one of those, I have a western style porcelain throne.  What I do have is a toilet hose. For whatever reason, the one surefire way to clog your toilet is to try to flush toilet paper down it.  Renovating the sewage system is expensive and time consuming.  Instead those clever Thai run in a hose with a garden nearby for you to wash up after doing your business.  I imagine the experience lies somewhere between a bidet and an enema.  Ah Thailand.  In any case, it should save me money on toilet paper.

On a less than happy note.  I am still kicking myself for not being able to tell the difference between a 50 baht bill and a 500 baht bill and overpaying my cab driver by a large margin.  Its the kind of mistake that I'm not likely to make again, but still, I feel pretty stupid for making it once.  I hope he puts it to good use.

The plus side is that I started working yesterday and made up the money that I "donated" to my driver.  My job entails getting into a car, driving some distance to a school and playing English related games with a group of students.  A lot of these students already speak pretty good English, we just need to get them talking, about anything.  The students (and many of the teachers) were all very excited to have a white guy teach them English and at the end of the day all of the students (and many of the teachers) wanted to take a picture.  I'm beginning to have some idea of how it feels to be a department store Santa Clause.  Today I will be going down to Pattaya to spend a few days doing the same thing.  Should be fun.

The staff of the English Camp have all been extraordinarily friendly and helpful.  The girl who lives in the apartment down the hall, Bianca, also teaches at the English camp and had some very interesting things to say about South Africa.  Did you know that the overwhelming majority of their parliament has been to jail?

After the camp, Bianca and I went to get dinner.  Eating at the local hangout for farang teachers, we over heard one fresh of the boat American teacher relate (quite loudly) the disgusting and disturbingly compelling account of his first two weeks in Thailand to two European backpackers.  In two  weeks he had: given up hope of ever being able to teach 65 students English, had sex with a prostitute, almost had sex with a ladyboy, and tried and failed to have sex with a ping-pong girl.  I'm not sure if I felt worse for him or the two Europeans he was chewing the ear off.  In either case, I've never been more proud to be an American.

We met a couple of Bianca's friends (both teachers).  And I was really looking forward to gaining the wisdom of their experience.  However, the band started playing and I only caught a few useful nuggets of information.

• Pharmacies will sell you anything you need sans-prescription.
• Thailand really doesn't have malaria despite what the books might say

It struck me last night how sweet my life has become, "Here i am having, sharing a drink with three of what I'm sure are the most gorgeous women in Thailand with the most incredibly intoxicating accents.  20 feet away from the stage of a Thai band knocking out kicking jams."

English English word for "Granny Panties"
"Apple Catchers" because, "you and your brother can each fit into a leg, walk around the orchard and drop apples in them"

Ok,
Enough for now,
I'll post some pictures of my apt soon