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