Holidayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

It's about that time again for another one of these.

I wouldn't say I've been very busy lately, but I have found myself getting into a bit of routine, which is nice. My own little Bangkok routine. I have been going to work out after classes are done. If i go home to get my stuff, I'll never get back out of the house. I pretty much have to go directly from school to the gym, otherwise it's just not going to get done. LOST has been going for a few weeks now. That's been great. I've been writing a weekly blog on that, and that is keeping me busy. I puppysat for a friend for a little less than two weeks. He is an adorable tiny little bastard. It was fun having him, but I wasn't upset when it was time for him to go. He's still a young pup, and did quite a bit of whining pretty much all the time. Now that he's back at his home I can take a nap when I want to. Or just relax, dog free for a while. Having him didn't make me change my mind about wanting to own about a million dogs in the future, but I know that I probably wouldn't get a tiny baby puppy. I'd probably get a shelter dog that was at least a little bit older. And a girl. I just like girl dogs better.

I made my final exams and I am ready to give them. The school year is practically over, and I can't wait. I have decided I am going to stay for the second semester as originally planned, because that means more $$ and more importantly, paid holiday. I've only just started to prepare my travels.

I am going to go to Chaing Mai first. That is in the North of Thailand (where they talk about how COLD it is there, when realistically it's still like 72 degrees everyday). It's got a lot of beautiful nature, mountains, and most important: elephants. I pretty much just plan on riding elephants every day. Don't worry. There will be pictures.

After that I am going to go to the South of Thailand. It's tricky going down south because so much of it is just expensive and touristy. A bunch of my farang friends who have travelled all over are helping me out with destination ideas and suggestions. I am going to go to some different islands for sure. I can't wait to just sit on the beach and do nothing. It will be just like what I do here all the time, except...on the beach.

Then hopefully I'll have enough bhat left to go Cambodia and Viet Nam. I've got a lot of ideas and a lot of plans for my two month holiday, but I am going to have to wait a little bit and see how feasible it all is. Luckily all my all farang friends have gone to all the places I plan on visiting a whole bunch of times. My original plan was to go to India with my friend Brett who is (hopefully) going to be able to come visit, but that might be a little too much (money, time, plan-wise).

What else what else what else. Well it seems more difficult to write these blogs because things are becoming pretty normal out here. I am sort of falling into a pattern. Not in a boring way at all, just in a, I am starting get get a feel for Bangkok. I know what there is to do (at least, more than I did), I know how to get to some places (at least, more than I did), and I have a group of some different people I like to hang out with (at least, more than I did), so things are going pretty easy ya know, smooth. I go to work, I work out, I like to try new places to eat, I relax at the Marina House and have some drinks on the riverfront. I'm pretty much doing a lot of the same stuff I would be doing in Chicago, just hangin out and digging and trying to find some new stuff. Lately I'd say I haven't done too much exploring. In the back of my mind I know I am gonna need to save as much $$$ as I can before these trips, so I've been trying not to just spend and spend (it's an ongoing battle, there is no clear winner or loser yet).

Oh! In some VERY exciting news, my friend Dave has a Thai friend who is starting a cooking class program right off of Koasan Road. A bunch of us from the Marina House (Dave, Jessica, the Freds) are going to all take some cooking classes together. It's like 1000 bhat (30 bucks) and you go in for a few hours and she'll teach how to make a paste (green curry, kapow, etc) and then show how that paste or sauce can be used in three or four different dishes. I am really excited to start learning how to cook the food I have been eating for almost four months. I already have a pretty good idea of the ingredients and such, but I want to get really deep into learning these flavor profiles, so that when I come back to the states and start learning modern American and classic French techniques (oh yeah, I'm gonna do that too, I decided) I will be able to make a Fusion, making classically prepared dishes with Thai and Asian flavor profiles. Sounds pretty fancy right? Well, I watch a lot of Top Chef.

I suppose that's all for now, or at least all I can think of. Finals start this week. When the semester is over I'll write a rather reflective entry about how I think my first crack at being an educator (sorta) went. Hope everyone is doing just lovely.

Oh fine here. This is the dog. Isn't be so damned cute you want to eat his face?