Finally I swim in the sea.

Hello. I think you all know that CELTA is finished. It has been a busy week with celebrating etc. We moved into our new house in Bang Niang on Friday and it's really nice. The door opens straight onto the living room and then there is a hall way that leads back to the kitchen and the bathroom. Off of the hallway is the bedroom. We have a covered porch out the front and it's on a small track with other houses on it just off of the main road. Our neighbours are divers and very friendly. It takes about 15 minutes to walk to the beach and less then 10 to the bar Mike's playing at. There is a fabulous market by the bar and some lovely restaurants around. Mike took me to meet his friends at his favourite noodle bar who are really lovely. They spot us whenever we're out and about and wave or stop to chat. We're going to swap Thai lessons for English lessons together.
There aren't very many English people there as most tourists come from Scandinavia or Germany. But there are a lot of tourists and a lot of touts from tailors and restaurants bugging you. Last night we stopped and introduced ourselves to the tailors and had a long chat with them so that they'll stop trying to sell us stuff. They're now very friendly and one of them wants to take lessons with me as he says his English is too broken. It is pretty good if you ask me but everyone here puts a lot of importance on formal grammar.
So now I am back in Phuket for a week to do the course on teaching kids rather than adults. Our local place The Old Tricycle is holding a halloween party and we've been asked to go so go we shall. There's still a fair few of the CELTA crew left at the moment.
So here are the pictures of Bang Niang...any one fancy a holiday? Love Jo xxx

 Rainforest at the bottom of our road.

 Sunset over Bang Niang beach.

 The big coconut tree outside my house.

 The sea!

Mike outside our house.

Our New Home?

So this Bang Niang. It's an upmarket low level tourist destination with the best Thai market. Mike will be playing guitar in a house band in a bar in the town. We went to check out the area and there is nothing not to love. I will try to find work in a hotel or school nearby. The people that run the bar are looking out for a small house for us to rent and are optimistic that there will be somewhere for us within a week or so. We took the bus from Phuket town which is a beautiful tour through rainforests and past stretches of sparkling water, Unfortunately the sun wasn't out when we got to Bang Niang but the beach was gorgeous- the best I've seen here-a real picture postcard of a Thai getaway.
We both feel a little sad at the idea of saying goodbye to Phuket-it's been such a welcoming first stop but some opportunities are too good to turn down and this is one. I have a week left of my course here so it all fits perfectly.
On the way back the bus passed four elephants grazing on the edge of the rainforest and I felt like it was a bit of an omen that we had made the right decision as I've been hoping to catch a glimpse of an elephant since we arrived.
Love, Jo xxx

Teaching!

Hello.
So today was a good teaching day finally! Teaching the elementary class is very enjoyable and rewarding. I had an amazing lunch at a Thai noodle bar today. Egg friend rice with chicken and amazing satay sauce. This time next week all my teaching will be finished and my essays will be in. We're going to attempt a proper beach visit at the weekend! That's all folks. Just wanted to say hi.
Love Jo xx

Video!

So Patong-don't ever, ever go there! Even if you find a really cheap holiday. We lasted about an hour there. The sea is full of jet skis and brown with all the pollutant and there are western food chains all along the sea front. Food is 3x what we'd normally pay here and you are hassled every step you take. And it started to rain. But the day picked up when we got back to town and had an amazing lunch followed by a lazy afternoon and then a discovery of a new area of town in the evening.
We ate at a fab restaurant and sheltered from the monsoon then found a brilliant bar that had toy cars displayed all over the walls. The owners of both were really friendly. We wondered around the festival and wore white to get in the mood. At 11ish we met up with some of the others and watched the parade through town. There were elaborate tables of food and flowers and candles set up everywhere as offerings and the firecrackers/works went on for ever. In fact they're still going on as I write sat at the window watching them.
I can't explain the atmosphere-it's so out of control but in such a friendly, trustworthy way. There's a kind of pattern behind the chaos that everybody sticks to. But kids plus explosives I'll never be sure is a good idea!
Although you think of the beach when you think of Thailand some of it could be a Costa or a Greek island-Phuket town is so Thai-the smiles, hospitality, sense of laid back fun and actual Thai food!

It never rains but it pours...

Hey. Sorry that it's been a while but this week has been very intense. We've had to write an assignment and teach every day. Everyone's been pushed to a limit of some kind but today its nearly all done for now and we've had a few beers this evening.
This is a picture from our window. Every morning there is a parade for the festival along the main road at the bottom of the road we live on. There are so many firecrackers that the air is thick with smoke. It's amazing but kind of strange. The streets are red with the paper from the crackers afterwards and huge jet wash tanks come down and clean them.
This week we have purchased a toaster, 2 knives and the best thing 2 mugs. Now it is possible to have green tea and toast for breakfast and I am completely content!
As of monday I will be teaching beginner students instead of intermediate. I'm looking forward to the change as another learning curve!
Big love, Jo xxx

Crowds in the Street

As we wondered home from a fab dinner of roti, curry, spicy mushrooms and rice the streets got more and more crowded. By the time we reached our road there was no room on the pavements because of all the people standing around dressed in white. We went back to the room to get the camera and stood at the end of our road for a while as the crowds keep coming. Eventually the traffic stopped coming through altogether and there was a feeling of anticipation-just like carnival night at home. There were firecrackers being thrown into the road exploding everywhere. It was really loud and chaotic. A family brought out the Granny and perched her on a cushion on the step next to us. There were people with flag like poles dressed in white and people in elaborate costumes swaying and occasionally speaking in tongues. After a good while the costumed people started to dance in the middle of a whirl of firecrackers, completely barefooted in the middle of these huge explosions. The old lady next to us stood up and performed the wai in their direction whenever this happened. This is a bow of respect with your hands clasped together in front of your face. I read a little about it and think the fire dancing was to show how entranced they were by the power of the Gods and the woman was showing her respect for their devotion. Anyway it was the most surreal, amazing, confusing and sheer deafening experience. Here are some pictures for you.

Khao Rang

Hi.
Today is cloudy and there is so much going on in town that we decided to stay here and do some exploring. We walked through the stalls at the festival which is an atmospheric treat with Chinese music playing and drumming and all these different foods and drinks. The colours of the festival are red and yellow so there is an impression of a golden blur infiltrated by white as you move through the crowds. We left all the noise behind and climbed up a big hill called Rang Hill which winds peacefully through jungle until we reached a restaurant that looks out across the town to the sea. We stopped for a drink and looked out at the coastline with the typical islands floating off in the distance. Unfortunately no pictures as the camera battery died.
Love as always.
Jo xxx

Fireworks by the Muddy Beach

Hello.

Today I only had to work for 4 hours!! After food in the old Tricycle as usual we walked towards the sea. There's no real beach near us but there is a stretch of sand surrounded by a park of palm and pine trees. You can still hear the city but it's beautiful and looks tropical. You can see all around the bay and because of the festival there were fireworks across the water. Just past the beach was a big square with a stage and hundreds of people dressed in white standing watching it. There was a lot of singing and then they let off loads of huge fireworks just in the middle of all these people. It wouldn't be allowed at home but it was really beautiful. As we walked home people from the festival drove up the road crammed into the back of pick ups playing drums and holding shrines. Almost every Thai person wears some white at the moment and there are firecrackers going off everywhere-its quite a party. Luckily we're at the end of a quiet cul de sac so hear nothing.
We went to some live music venues last night and had a good end of week 1 celebration-a quarter of the way through already!

Lots of love,

Jo

The Vegetarian Festival Begins

 The Fountain Circle hung with lanterns and flags.

 The Old Tricycle-our hotel bar/restaurant and general meeting place.

 Alice, Leo, CR and Keeley.

Ranong Road lined with stalls and people dressed in white. Think Pack Monday Fair on speed!

Normality

Hello.
The days have a definite pattern to them now and this feels like home. I get up at half 8 and study grammar, plan lessons, work on assignments. Have breakfast and a shower and get to ECC for 11.30 where we are taught. We have a lunch break 1-2.30 but I usually use at least 45 mins to study. We have another lesson until 4 and then its lesson planning/feedback etc in our teaching groups. From 6 - 8 the students come in and we teach or observe. This is the best part of the day as the students are such good fun although it's also the scariest when it comes to teaching and my heart races as soon as I step into that room. I get back to the hotel at 8.15ish and meet Mike for dinner. Usually Keeley and CR show up amongst others and we have a drink and discuss the day before bed. Due to the tight schedule we often eat at the hotel bar which has fantastic cheap food and friendly faces. Yesterday we had a proper monsoon day with the loudest thunder, really heavy rain-it was very dramatic but today there is a little sunshine.
Have a good day xxx

Teaching

Hi all. So today I taught a class for 15 minutes. It was really scary. But my students are all really, really lovely and friendly and it gave me a buzz. We had to teach a class as a team and although there are 8 of us on our course we're broken down into 2 groups of 4 for teaching. Our group appears to have become 3 and Keeley and CR are my main allies and support. It means touring around has been limited but we hit the night markets last night and had more amazing street food. I need to remeber to take more pictures because the scene is always so South East Asian and there are always things to see. I'm starting to pick up more Thai-it's a language that is quite welcoming to beginners. No real theme to tonight but trust I'm working hard and enjoying the company and surrounding area too. As always big love xxx

Today we went to the beach-those people aren't us! xx

Food

I know you'll be astonished to read that my first experiences of Thailand centre around food but really it is good. After no sleep for 2 nights we've pretty much only ventured out for eating purposes. The hotel is lovely and friendly and our room is new, clean and kinda stylish in an Ikea sort of way. Our first wander around made me understand what it is to be foreign-everyone is friendly but people do look at you strange and Tuk-tuk drivers honk at you trying to solicit business every few minutes. Not to mention the endless tours and taxis being offered on every corner but the process is all done with a smile and good humour.
We stopped at a street food stall and shared a couple of dishes of vegetables, noodles and I think some kind of seafood. It was delicious but crazy hot, I think I can get used to eating spice in the heat though, it makes you feel synchronised. This evening we went to one of the small restaurants along our road and ate green curry, paad thai and some sort of peanut chicken-the most flavourful food I've ever tasted and green tea is so much better for mouth burn than water.
We're off to find some beaches tomorrow-will try and get some pictures up.
Have a good weekend y'all xx