Human beings are amazing!
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Monday, November 26, 2012
Keepin' it legal
The official 90 day mark is upon us! Actually we have passed it as of today!
Time for a visa run. So while I await the beloved trip to Malaysia to submit my work permit info and apply for my non immigrant b visa I had to make a quick visa run to Myanmar / Burma.
This is actually quite an easy process these days. I pay a company that actually has the words "Visa Run" in the name and they pretty much take care of it for me. All I do is tag along for the ride and remember my passport.
So, this is how it goes. 5am pick up! Shit that sucks, excuse my language but the last thing I want to do is climb out of bed to climb into a car for a 5 hour drive but mai bpen lai it is what has to be done. They pick me up conveniently at the 7 Eleven near our house and drive me to the minibus. I climb in with 6 strangers from France and America all on the same mission. More time in this beautiful country!
To keep us from wasting away they hand us each a little plastic baggy with wasabi peas, water, and juice to tide us over on the drive; and away we go at a speedy 100 km / hour minimum. I hope I make it to the border!
I am not sure if you have ever been in a minibus / minivan in many foreign countries, but they really haul ass. I mean you are bouncing all over the place and there is a lack of seatbelts and an abundance of nausea. You plug your head phones in, curl up with your pillow that you brought to snuggle with and hope to crash out. As soon as you reach that beloved dream space they naturally slam on the breaks and barrel into another 7 - Eleven to where the driver disappears for a bit and you can relieve your bladder and grab another snack. Cattle would probably make more noise then we do on one of this journey, we are as quiet as possible and just wander to where we are told to.
Completing the first leg and arriving at our destination an hour prior to expected we file out and file into the immigration building. They already have our passports as the driver collected them when we first climbed into our seats. Now they take them and stamp them and sign off on the date, leaving us with an exit stamp and an arrival card for when we come back.
I have to say it was beautiful there on the pier. Something about the clouds was so definitive and outlined. The water was an amazing green and the sun blazed hot. After walking the 300 yards down the pier we got our passports checked again, and filed onto the boat. Met with air con and cozy seats we then begin our journey across the sea.
The destination was a hotel / spa / resort that is considered to be Myanmar. Since we are now in a new country we have to do the immigration thing again, this time they keep our passports and shuffle us up the hill to eat lunch. "Do not feed on animals" reads a few signs, I have to chuckle because they really mean "Don't feed the monkeys"... but I guess you get the point either way.
As we walk into this beautiful hotel that overlooks a glorious pool I am overwhelmed with the feeling that I am walking through the movie The Shining. The hotel is immaculate and there is staff walking around here and there but not a single guest anywhere in sight. Only 1 or 2 gamblers in the casino and the 2 -3 bus loads of Falangs that are doing the visa shuffle. They feed us lunch, we go to duty free, I buy a bottle of scotch and we do the same thing in reverse order.
A day of moving around like cattle. I am so glad it is over. Thank goodness that I have 9 days before my next one!
Quite honestly if this is what it takes to stay in a place this beautiful and delightful to the senses then so be it.
Next stop Malaysia!
Time for a visa run. So while I await the beloved trip to Malaysia to submit my work permit info and apply for my non immigrant b visa I had to make a quick visa run to Myanmar / Burma.
This is actually quite an easy process these days. I pay a company that actually has the words "Visa Run" in the name and they pretty much take care of it for me. All I do is tag along for the ride and remember my passport.
So, this is how it goes. 5am pick up! Shit that sucks, excuse my language but the last thing I want to do is climb out of bed to climb into a car for a 5 hour drive but mai bpen lai it is what has to be done. They pick me up conveniently at the 7 Eleven near our house and drive me to the minibus. I climb in with 6 strangers from France and America all on the same mission. More time in this beautiful country!
To keep us from wasting away they hand us each a little plastic baggy with wasabi peas, water, and juice to tide us over on the drive; and away we go at a speedy 100 km / hour minimum. I hope I make it to the border!
I am not sure if you have ever been in a minibus / minivan in many foreign countries, but they really haul ass. I mean you are bouncing all over the place and there is a lack of seatbelts and an abundance of nausea. You plug your head phones in, curl up with your pillow that you brought to snuggle with and hope to crash out. As soon as you reach that beloved dream space they naturally slam on the breaks and barrel into another 7 - Eleven to where the driver disappears for a bit and you can relieve your bladder and grab another snack. Cattle would probably make more noise then we do on one of this journey, we are as quiet as possible and just wander to where we are told to.
Completing the first leg and arriving at our destination an hour prior to expected we file out and file into the immigration building. They already have our passports as the driver collected them when we first climbed into our seats. Now they take them and stamp them and sign off on the date, leaving us with an exit stamp and an arrival card for when we come back.
I have to say it was beautiful there on the pier. Something about the clouds was so definitive and outlined. The water was an amazing green and the sun blazed hot. After walking the 300 yards down the pier we got our passports checked again, and filed onto the boat. Met with air con and cozy seats we then begin our journey across the sea.
The destination was a hotel / spa / resort that is considered to be Myanmar. Since we are now in a new country we have to do the immigration thing again, this time they keep our passports and shuffle us up the hill to eat lunch. "Do not feed on animals" reads a few signs, I have to chuckle because they really mean "Don't feed the monkeys"... but I guess you get the point either way.
As we walk into this beautiful hotel that overlooks a glorious pool I am overwhelmed with the feeling that I am walking through the movie The Shining. The hotel is immaculate and there is staff walking around here and there but not a single guest anywhere in sight. Only 1 or 2 gamblers in the casino and the 2 -3 bus loads of Falangs that are doing the visa shuffle. They feed us lunch, we go to duty free, I buy a bottle of scotch and we do the same thing in reverse order.
A day of moving around like cattle. I am so glad it is over. Thank goodness that I have 9 days before my next one!
Quite honestly if this is what it takes to stay in a place this beautiful and delightful to the senses then so be it.
Next stop Malaysia!
Thursday, November 22, 2012
The Gauntlet
In retrospect I feel like I have ignored the most obvious things about moving to a new culture, and obviously enough, they are the things that are so simple back home.
In Bangkok I was often slightly shocked by the differences in culture between South east Asia and America. I never really wrapped my head around the difference in having friends here. Like somehow everyone I met would speak English and we would fall into friend love immediately! Call me stupid but over the course of one year of prep to move here I NEVER considered this aspect.
It got lonely sometimes, ya know? I have an amazing dude and we pretty much rock the world together and worked it out fairly well. But we also came from a big "family" back in Colorado and it was a drastic change to be forever together.
Now in Phuket with jobs where we go separate directions in the morning we are meeting different and new people from all over the world. I have never realized how much I love to be social, thank god I have a job that deals with people and includes me talking!!!! Hopefully y'all don't get sick of hearing my voice. Either way the social aspect is beginning to work itself out quite well.
This leads me to the next thing I never considered in all my time day dreaming about when we settled in.... transportation! In Bangkok it was easy.... walk, bus, sky train, ferry, express boat, METERED taxi, underground train, tuk tuk, motorbike taxi..... the list goes on! No wonder I never really thought about it, if Bangkok has this much transportation then everywhere in Thailand must be that way. Ha, ignorance is glorious!
So we get to Phuket the first time ever and, I will spare you the lame details, but we find out that there are very few METERED taxis, the Tuk Tuks cost an astronomical amount, and the hills are so steep that getting a push pedal up them might just kill you. There is a bus type thing called a songtheuw, (songtwo), but they leave from the beaches into Phuket town and then you switch to go to any other beach.... it takes an easy hour to get into town so you are looking at some serious travel time.
You are probably thinking "They should put in a more efficient bus system". Well, they tried that years ago and the Tuk Tuk drivers blocked the road so they could not get through. I have heard that they are looking at doing this again but who knows what will happen. This is Thailand. Period. Beautiful and with out reason.
When I found a job on one side of the island and that awesome dude of mine found a job on the other side of the island transportation became a problem. He has rode a motorbike for many years and scooters are abundant here so it was a bit more obvious of a solution. Me, sheltered little Colorado girl, I have driven a scooter once or twice long long ago. The first week as I traveled Jeremie would ride me out there and back, again can I say he is awesome?! Then we decided that I should probably learn to ride one myself....
One day at the beach I decided I would wonder off and take the scooter to 7-11 for a snack and get the feel for it. I came within inches of a wreck.
Riding a scooter is not such a big deal, it is more the conditions in which you ride.... hence the name the gauntlet. Between riding on the left side of the road and right turns becoming harder than back home you can throw in some torrential rain every now and then. Then the surprise appearances of people riding on the wrong side of the road. The stray dogs that meander all about and in general are quite good at looking both ways before stepping into the street but sometimes they get caught up in their heads and forget. You just have to honk at them. The best part is that once in a while an elephant will stroll out into the road, and even if they don't come in the road they are along side it and fascinating to watch eat and play.. "keep your eyes on the road for that dog, you can stop and watch the elephants later" I always have to say to myself.
Now we have the hills that make you feel like you are about to tip over backwards they are so steep and the 10,000 other motorbikes on the road. (And sometimes they Thai's ride motorbikes 4 deep. Another fascinating sight!) This time of year there are so many butterflies out and about flying in your face as you ride... It really is an incredible place. And I figure that if I can learn to ride here then I will be a master wherever I go. Needless to say you have to be on the ball all the time.
When it was time for me to ride a scooter Jeremie rented one and I followed him, for three days we did this until I felt comfortable with the trek myself. Then one fine day I found myself waking up and climbing on my rented scooter and departing for work. I made it safe and sound. So now comes the need to purchase one of the contraptions and we are finding out automatics are a lot more expensive, relatively speaking. I decided to rent one for a month while I look around for my perfect ride and low and behold the only one the woman had for me to rent was a manual. And I thought that the hardest part was over just riding an automatic to work. Wrong again.
I flashed back to years ago when my dad bought me a manual transmission honda, he dropped it off and gave me a few rides around the neighborhood and then took off with my automatic and I was left with the stick shift. I figured I would use this same tact to accomplish the scooter ride. Had it dropped off and rode in circles and then rode to work. You can add to the above list of distractions operating a pedal and down shifting... at least there is no clutch, and talk about being present!
Overcoming challenges and being surprised by the challenges that come up, all part of the journey! I feel stronger every day that I am here. Everyday my excitement and confidence grows about my life. Most of the time I want to burst out of my skin with glorious sensations of accomplishments. It is good, life is good.
The last thing I want to mention is the missing of holidays, it being Thanksgiving and all back home today. Even though we were never big celebrators of holidays back home I miss the thought.
In celebration these are the things I am grateful for and the things that still sit in my heart:
The bike parades and thanksgivings that we celebrated with our "family" the past couple of years, how I will miss the "roll" (I know there is another name for it and you ladies know what I am talking about) Have me there in spirit!
The parents that I have, the mom that would have bought me new clothes to wear and had us celebrate a day later or earlier so that I could spend time with my friends too.
The day my dad dropped of the manual transmission honda, 10 years later that incident still gives me confidence to do new things.
My brother visit at Christmas. I love you Ehren!
Whiskey!!!! All good things come with whiskey!
Having incredible friends and family that are easy to talk to.
Being able to ride my bike to work everyday for two years and never having to think about it beyond that.
This journey and the people on it with me, the supporters and the contributors, and the companion.
Learning to ride a manual transmission means that most likely one day I will be taking a motorcycle journey with a dear friend of mine, though she doesn't know it yet.
Life is beautiful and glorious everyone, so enjoy the small things, slow down your breath and if you are ever fed up with traffic think about Thailand! It is pure chaos!
In Bangkok I was often slightly shocked by the differences in culture between South east Asia and America. I never really wrapped my head around the difference in having friends here. Like somehow everyone I met would speak English and we would fall into friend love immediately! Call me stupid but over the course of one year of prep to move here I NEVER considered this aspect.
It got lonely sometimes, ya know? I have an amazing dude and we pretty much rock the world together and worked it out fairly well. But we also came from a big "family" back in Colorado and it was a drastic change to be forever together.
Now in Phuket with jobs where we go separate directions in the morning we are meeting different and new people from all over the world. I have never realized how much I love to be social, thank god I have a job that deals with people and includes me talking!!!! Hopefully y'all don't get sick of hearing my voice. Either way the social aspect is beginning to work itself out quite well.
This leads me to the next thing I never considered in all my time day dreaming about when we settled in.... transportation! In Bangkok it was easy.... walk, bus, sky train, ferry, express boat, METERED taxi, underground train, tuk tuk, motorbike taxi..... the list goes on! No wonder I never really thought about it, if Bangkok has this much transportation then everywhere in Thailand must be that way. Ha, ignorance is glorious!
So we get to Phuket the first time ever and, I will spare you the lame details, but we find out that there are very few METERED taxis, the Tuk Tuks cost an astronomical amount, and the hills are so steep that getting a push pedal up them might just kill you. There is a bus type thing called a songtheuw, (songtwo), but they leave from the beaches into Phuket town and then you switch to go to any other beach.... it takes an easy hour to get into town so you are looking at some serious travel time.
You are probably thinking "They should put in a more efficient bus system". Well, they tried that years ago and the Tuk Tuk drivers blocked the road so they could not get through. I have heard that they are looking at doing this again but who knows what will happen. This is Thailand. Period. Beautiful and with out reason.
When I found a job on one side of the island and that awesome dude of mine found a job on the other side of the island transportation became a problem. He has rode a motorbike for many years and scooters are abundant here so it was a bit more obvious of a solution. Me, sheltered little Colorado girl, I have driven a scooter once or twice long long ago. The first week as I traveled Jeremie would ride me out there and back, again can I say he is awesome?! Then we decided that I should probably learn to ride one myself....
One day at the beach I decided I would wonder off and take the scooter to 7-11 for a snack and get the feel for it. I came within inches of a wreck.
Riding a scooter is not such a big deal, it is more the conditions in which you ride.... hence the name the gauntlet. Between riding on the left side of the road and right turns becoming harder than back home you can throw in some torrential rain every now and then. Then the surprise appearances of people riding on the wrong side of the road. The stray dogs that meander all about and in general are quite good at looking both ways before stepping into the street but sometimes they get caught up in their heads and forget. You just have to honk at them. The best part is that once in a while an elephant will stroll out into the road, and even if they don't come in the road they are along side it and fascinating to watch eat and play.. "keep your eyes on the road for that dog, you can stop and watch the elephants later" I always have to say to myself.
Now we have the hills that make you feel like you are about to tip over backwards they are so steep and the 10,000 other motorbikes on the road. (And sometimes they Thai's ride motorbikes 4 deep. Another fascinating sight!) This time of year there are so many butterflies out and about flying in your face as you ride... It really is an incredible place. And I figure that if I can learn to ride here then I will be a master wherever I go. Needless to say you have to be on the ball all the time.
When it was time for me to ride a scooter Jeremie rented one and I followed him, for three days we did this until I felt comfortable with the trek myself. Then one fine day I found myself waking up and climbing on my rented scooter and departing for work. I made it safe and sound. So now comes the need to purchase one of the contraptions and we are finding out automatics are a lot more expensive, relatively speaking. I decided to rent one for a month while I look around for my perfect ride and low and behold the only one the woman had for me to rent was a manual. And I thought that the hardest part was over just riding an automatic to work. Wrong again.
I flashed back to years ago when my dad bought me a manual transmission honda, he dropped it off and gave me a few rides around the neighborhood and then took off with my automatic and I was left with the stick shift. I figured I would use this same tact to accomplish the scooter ride. Had it dropped off and rode in circles and then rode to work. You can add to the above list of distractions operating a pedal and down shifting... at least there is no clutch, and talk about being present!
Overcoming challenges and being surprised by the challenges that come up, all part of the journey! I feel stronger every day that I am here. Everyday my excitement and confidence grows about my life. Most of the time I want to burst out of my skin with glorious sensations of accomplishments. It is good, life is good.
The last thing I want to mention is the missing of holidays, it being Thanksgiving and all back home today. Even though we were never big celebrators of holidays back home I miss the thought.
In celebration these are the things I am grateful for and the things that still sit in my heart:
The bike parades and thanksgivings that we celebrated with our "family" the past couple of years, how I will miss the "roll" (I know there is another name for it and you ladies know what I am talking about) Have me there in spirit!
The parents that I have, the mom that would have bought me new clothes to wear and had us celebrate a day later or earlier so that I could spend time with my friends too.
The day my dad dropped of the manual transmission honda, 10 years later that incident still gives me confidence to do new things.
My brother visit at Christmas. I love you Ehren!
Whiskey!!!! All good things come with whiskey!
Having incredible friends and family that are easy to talk to.
Being able to ride my bike to work everyday for two years and never having to think about it beyond that.
This journey and the people on it with me, the supporters and the contributors, and the companion.
Learning to ride a manual transmission means that most likely one day I will be taking a motorcycle journey with a dear friend of mine, though she doesn't know it yet.
Life is beautiful and glorious everyone, so enjoy the small things, slow down your breath and if you are ever fed up with traffic think about Thailand! It is pure chaos!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Nothing like a little Gypsy Punk
Just a little taste of some music I love....... If you have an aversion to rowdy ridiculous and sometimes offensive music or if you would like to continue to think of me as just a calm yoga instructor please do not click on the link below...... You have been warned!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3SUPPeuRdU
Now to get down to business! I feel like Phuket has just been waiting for us. Things are falling into place easily, like a click click click snap "There you go, you now have your perfect life!" Thank me by committing to it says the Universe. Sometimes I say I will, other time I hesitate.
It looks like I am destined to be a Yoga Teacher... Which is alright with me! I like the idea, in fact I love the idea.
You see, 11 years ago I stepped into an un-used room popped in a yoga vhs (Yoga for weight loss ad yes VHS), and 45 minutes later walked out saying I want to do that FOREVER!!!!!! And now 11 years later I have moved across the world to teach English as a second Language and instead found a job teaching yoga. Not just any old yoga teaching job, the most incredible one for me. Some things are destiny.
Things are difficult when you wander the world and explore different realms, but yoga is what makes it easy for me. I know it, I hear it when I am teaching, I commit to it again and again. It is my own personal cabana boy. When I am feeling down it makes me feel sexy. When I am over the rest of the world and I can listen to my breath and move it reminds me of personal responsibility. When I want to be alone, it waits for me to come to it. It gives me strength.
I recently figured out why I teach..... seriously! 4 years into it and I finally know! Because here is my philosophy on life, not just yoga:
If you can align your body in your poses you can align your ideals to your life. If you can engage the muscles to support your poses then you can fully engage in your life and be supported. If you can release the tension in your muscles and learn to let go then you can let go of all that which no longer serves you. This list it goes on and on. It breaks down to everything is everything.
This is also why I like to travel, because I love people, I am fascinated by the cultures, by the differences, by the tendencies..... and people show heir tendencies in everything that they do. In their posture, their poses, their conversations, their eating habits, their humor...... and all of it is beautiful!
I am so thankful for my opportunities, I am so thankful for the people I know, and I am so thankful for this life. And for some unknown reason I attribute a lot of it to when I stepped on my yoga mat and plugged in that first VHS. It is all about awareness I think, and their are many ways to become aware of yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3SUPPeuRdU
Now to get down to business! I feel like Phuket has just been waiting for us. Things are falling into place easily, like a click click click snap "There you go, you now have your perfect life!" Thank me by committing to it says the Universe. Sometimes I say I will, other time I hesitate.
It looks like I am destined to be a Yoga Teacher... Which is alright with me! I like the idea, in fact I love the idea.
You see, 11 years ago I stepped into an un-used room popped in a yoga vhs (Yoga for weight loss ad yes VHS), and 45 minutes later walked out saying I want to do that FOREVER!!!!!! And now 11 years later I have moved across the world to teach English as a second Language and instead found a job teaching yoga. Not just any old yoga teaching job, the most incredible one for me. Some things are destiny.
Things are difficult when you wander the world and explore different realms, but yoga is what makes it easy for me. I know it, I hear it when I am teaching, I commit to it again and again. It is my own personal cabana boy. When I am feeling down it makes me feel sexy. When I am over the rest of the world and I can listen to my breath and move it reminds me of personal responsibility. When I want to be alone, it waits for me to come to it. It gives me strength.
I recently figured out why I teach..... seriously! 4 years into it and I finally know! Because here is my philosophy on life, not just yoga:
If you can align your body in your poses you can align your ideals to your life. If you can engage the muscles to support your poses then you can fully engage in your life and be supported. If you can release the tension in your muscles and learn to let go then you can let go of all that which no longer serves you. This list it goes on and on. It breaks down to everything is everything.
This is also why I like to travel, because I love people, I am fascinated by the cultures, by the differences, by the tendencies..... and people show heir tendencies in everything that they do. In their posture, their poses, their conversations, their eating habits, their humor...... and all of it is beautiful!
I am so thankful for my opportunities, I am so thankful for the people I know, and I am so thankful for this life. And for some unknown reason I attribute a lot of it to when I stepped on my yoga mat and plugged in that first VHS. It is all about awareness I think, and their are many ways to become aware of yourself.
Monday, November 12, 2012
.jpg)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)