Yee Haaaaw!

Two weeks ago, Jess and I noticed a flyer at the gym. Luckily, it was half in Thai and half in English. “Cowboy Party. Food and refreshments. 500 baht -non member. Member-Free”. The main manager lady at the desk said “Cowboy Party! You come?” I immediately looked at Jess with a huge smile, “Heck yes we are!”. If I love anything, its American themed parties and country music. When we left that day, they had us sign a sheet as our RSVP.

After waiting in great anticipation for two whole weeks, Jess and I were a little weary about what to expect. Yes the party was at the beautiful hotel but we didn’t want to get discouraged so we kept our expectations low. “Dude, what if there’s no food? What if there’s no drinks?? Okay, we’ll just stay for a few minutes and scope it out.” As soon as we walked into the underground bar where the party was being held, we were greeted by two employees in full cowboy outfits, plaid shirt, boots, hat, and bandana, and they were sure excited we arrived. Luckily my mom sent me a plaid shirt for my birthday as I left all my country gear back home, I sure didn’t think I’d need it here. They had us sign in and snapped a picture of Jess and I under the greeting message. We then went into the big bar area and were pleasantly surprised.. scratch that, we were EXSTATIC! We saw tables and tables and tasty food, waiters walking around with drinks, and maybe about two dozen other members (don’t even ask, yes we were the only foreigners of the entire evening). All of the employees that work at the gym were dressed up and very happy to greet us (there are only six guys that work at the gym and two of them speak semi-English so we have gotten to know one another). Jess and I plopped ourselves on the couch and grabbed a glass of wine. We were immediately approached and encouraged to sign up for a karaoke song.. (For my UCSB friends.. karaoke here is very different than a night at OTT. For my non UCSB friends, OTT is a popular place for 21 and up students to go on a Wednesday night, it gets extremely packed with people and karaoke goes on until closing. However here, Thai people don’t karaoke as an activity to do with friends after a few drinks, they often wake up in the morning, turn on their TV, grab their microphone and sing some tunes to start off their day. They absolutely love to sing and will do so in front of an audience stone cold sober, nothing like OTT. I don’t think I’ll ever enjoy karaoke the way Thai people do.) My first reaction was “no way am I doing karaoke” but with Jess’ encouragement, I agreed to perform a late night song. We decided on “Don’t Stop Believin” by Journey, probably America’s most well known and over played karaoke song but we both love it and it’s generally a crowd pleaser. After that, we grabbed a plate or two of food.. honey baked ham, teriyaki chicken, bread rolls, mini pizzas, and a huge variety of different cakes.. carrot cake was the only one I could distinguish but I had others that were even more amazing.. some 4 layer cake was my favorite (I don’t know what the four layers were, but it was amazing so I didn’t want to ask and have it ruined for me). Our drink choices included white and red wine, beer, water, and coca cola. With our time limit in mind, we kept the refreshments coming and enjoyed the party.

Party Time, Thai Style: I’ve come to realize that Thai parties are more like shows. Of course there were games. Hula hooping competitions, pop the balloon between your legs competitions, a dance performance of a popular Korean pop song "Sorry Sorry" by our the gym staff, and song after song of karaoke. It was mostly older women performing and a few younger ones singing to Thai songs, and a few people busting moves on the dance floor. One young woman sang “I Will Survive” and two older women ran to Jess and I, grabbed our hands and said “After eating, need to exercise” and insisted we dance with them. During another song, another young women ran over to us insisted we dance because “this song is good luck and make you rich if you dance”. Okay I need a little money, I’ll dance.

Word came that they didn’t have “Don’t Stop Believing” in the system.. Shoot. We browsed the karaoke program and I was definitely looking for some Taylor Swift but decided on “Umbrella” by Rihanna, their English selection wasn’t as large as we were lead to believe. At 9pm it was our stage time. We hit most of our notes but it didn’t matter, the crowd loved us and there even numerous people dancing on the dance floor and singing along. In my experience, there are many Thai people who know popular American songs and can even sing along but can’t speak a drop of the English language. Jess and I were given roses by a couple people during our karaoke session, which is often done if someone likes you or your performance. I think everyone there was excited that we were participating in the events and having a good time. We topped off the party with two more performances, Britney’s “Opps I did it again” and Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”. Funny, I didn’t hear a single country song the entire night.

Winner Winner!: At the end of the party, they thanked the members for attending by giving away numerous prizes.. bottles of wine and other alcohol and free gym memberships. It looked to me they were randomly selecting winners from the slips of paper with the names of people who had attended. Just before the last prize was called, I gave Jess a look and said “I’d love to win right now!” Just then, the people calling the names looked over at us and excitedly yelled into the microphone “Chelsea FreemAn!” I couldn’t believe it, I love winning prizes! I ran up to claim my prize and received numerous congratulatory handshakes in between my jumping and spouts of happy squeals. I’m convinced they rigged it, but I’m fine with that. It ends up I won a voucher for a one night stay and breakfast at the hotel! Since I am neighbors with the hotel, I don’t exactly need it so I may see if I can use it at another location, like in Bali!

Party Crew before the after party

After Party: After the Cowboy Party, Jess and I asked the guys “Where’s the after party??” Jess and I ran home to change and we ended up going out to a club called “U-Bar” with a few guys that work at the gym and a girl we see working out there a lot, she’s half Indian and half Chinese and speaks excellent English. The club is about a five minute walk from our apartment and is popular amongst the Thai people my age. U-Bar would play 30 minute spouts of American pop music in between the live Thai bands and I particularly enjoyed when “California Girls” came on and I tried to explain to the others the song is about where I am from, but I’m not sure they understood what the heck I was saying. Note about Thai Clubs: Thai people don’t normally dance, they kind of just stand around at the table and drink.. but I was with a fun group and we danced around and had a great time. The two gym instructors that know okay English both teach dance classes like Korean hip hop and dance aerobics and inquired why Jess and I never do those classes. I laughed and tried to explain that I am VERY uncoordinated and an awful dancer, but they didn’t understand since I was dancing at the club. I may get suckered into trying one of those classes soon. They were all very concerned about Jess and I having a great time and asked “Chelsea, you happy?” every few songs or so. “Yes yes, very happy”. I had a great time and enjoyed a night filled with prizes, games, karaoke, food, drinks, and going out with new Thai friends.

 

Imagine these guys dancing like the video below

Ko Chang!

FINALLY.. what many of you have been waiting for.. I've had a few friends ask me why I haven't updated in a while.. I'm just thrilled that you, my friends and family, are still reading and interested in what the heck I'm doing here!  So here’s the dealio on my adventure to another beautiful island!

Last weekend was another three day weekend and I crossed off another island on my list of many places to go! Ko Chang is Thailand’s third largest island and is five hours out of Bangkok and near the Cambodia border.  It has eight different villages and the girls and I had plans to stay at “Lonely Beach”, a beach popular for backpackers to stay at.  

After the six hour bus ride from Khon Kaen to Bangkok, I met the girls at a restaurant called “Cabagges and Condoms” and needless to say, its known for its food as well as the decorative arrangement of their platters, condoms.  Unfortunately, I arrived just as the girls were finishing dinner so I grabbed Subway (which I was SO excited for) on our way to bus number 2.  At 5am, we arrived at the boat port and waited in the dark for an hour to take the 20 minute ferry ride to the island.  After the quick ferry ride as the sun was coming up, we arrived on the island and we were greeted by a huge sign in the mountain reading “Welcome to Ko Chang.”  The girls and I needed to take a 45 minute songtell ride to Lonely Beach and we were a little shocked to find it was a ghost town.  Yes, it was 7am so people were probably still sleeping but most of the small shops which were mostly tattoo shops, were closed and we didn’t see anyone out for breakfast yet.  We were unable to check into our bungalows yet so the girls and I left our bags at the front desk and hit the beach to take a snooze, we were all exhausted from the lack of sleep on the overnight bus.  Unfortunately, this was when my trip took a turn.. maybe more like a tumble. When I left Khon Kaen the day before, my right eye was a little red but I didn’t think much of it.  Of course by the time I had arrived to the island, it had gotten 100 times worse, to the point that it was producing so much gunk that I couldn’t see well (Sorry, not a pretty picture).  Within three hours of arriving at the island, my body goes even more haywire and busts out with a fever blister/cold sore on my face.  I used to get cold sores a lot growing up and occasionally in college and when I was packing for the weekend, I remember thinking that I wouldn’t need the medicine I brought from the US and tossed it back into the drawer.. wrong! So I basically spent Friday wondering around the beach red/gunky eyed and in pain from my fever blister.  That night, I tried to make the best of it and the girls and I were looking for something fun to do.  It hadn’t even crossed our minds that it was a Buddist holiday, so not only do Thai people not drink of these holidays but they also close the shops, bars, clubs, restaurants, everything early.  Luckily, we found one bar with a live band that played western music later into the night and we ended up having a great time.

The next morning, my eye infection had spread to my other eye and my cold sore had gotten worse so I immediately decided to go to the international clinic on the island (the pharmacy near my hostel was closed for the weekend).  I spent the long songtell ride very frustrated that I wasn’t feeling the best for this amazing weekend the girls and I have been planning for weeks. I didn’t feel like being in the sun or going in the water and was upset that I feel like I have been sick for a month straight with a cough/nose thing.  The clinic was actually very beautiful and everyone there spoke perfect English.  The doctor sent me home with four different medications, drops for my eyes, antibiotics and cream for my sore, and allergy medicine.. He basically came to the conclusion that he thinks I’m allergic to Thailand and that I have an eye infection and because my immune system was already down, it was a perfect time for a cold sore to make an appearance.  I left the clinic even more P.O.ed than I was when I arrived.. the bill was triple the amount it would have been in Khon Kaen and I couldn’t imagine staying in Thailand if I were to stay sick for the next eight months. I was a bit grouchy but went back to meet the girls.  I spent the rest of the day lounging in the hammock at our bungalow (Jenna and I were roomies), drinking banana smoothies, and enjoying the beautiful beach.

Sunday was time to trek back to Khon Kaen.  I missed the ferry at 7:40, so I missed my first bus and was a tad stressed.  Luckily, they just threw me on the next one and I made it to Bangkok with just enough time to hit up Subway again and get to the other bus station, ten minutes to spare! I plopped myself down in my bus seat for the final leg of the race, enjoyed my ham and cheese sandwich with lettuce, green peppers, and southwest sauce, then slept for the rest of the ride.

Ko Chang is truly a beautiful island and much less touristy then Ko Phi Phi and even Ko Samet.  Even though I was feeling pretty crappy and discouraged, I tried to enjoy the island as much as I could, which wasn’t hard to do.. it was sunny, warm, and beautiful! Plus, I was there with amazing girls who I can always have a great time with.  I also bought to tye-dye beach cover ups so I left Ko Chang with something more than an eye infection and cold sore. And I tried a new food.. Tofu! Trying a new food is HUGE for me, I don’t often do it but Chelsea (a girl I met at orientation who came to Ko Chang) gave me a nibble off her dinner plate one night.  I liked it so much that I ordered Sweet and Sour Veggies and Tofu for myself the last night!  I think I’ll try to figure out how to cook it on my hot plate.  Being sick on the island definitely wasn’t ideal but I guess that’s all part of the adventure of traveling, expect the unexpected!  Plus, I’m building up my immune system.. If my body can survive Thailand, home and other traveling will be a piece of cake!

Dinner with the girls

The cutest thing I've ever seen in my life. Mama Cat adopted baby monkey into the family!

4 Months

A few days ago marked me and Thailand's four month anniversary. At this point in the relationship, there are things Thailand and I love about one another, but we also sure know how to push each others buttons.  Just when I am getting comfortable, Thailand throws me a curveball.

Thai Hospital:  Last Monday morning (Superbowl Sunday in America.. I'm still bitter that I missed it), I woke up not feeling too hot. I stumbled out of bed and looked in the mirror and to my surprise, my face was swollen especially around my eyes and my rash above my eyes (like my eye lids) had gotten worse.  You see, for two weeks prior I have had a rash developing above my eyes.  Not exactly a rash, but the skin was very dry and red and I thought it was a cause of the seasons changing (according to Thai people, its changing from cold to hot.. but to me, it feel like its changing from hot to hotter).  But on Monday morning, my symptoms had escalated to an entirely new level. I made my trek to school and went into the office to see if someone had time to take me to the doctor.  Normally I am not a doctor person, but my eyes were so swollen and burning that I could barely keep them open that I caved in.  They said they could take me at lunch and I agreed.  I went into Jess' office to tell her the news and to put it straight, I began to freak out.  I have a huge needle phobia and to think that they may find some reason to stab me pushed me over the edge.  Also, I was concerned because I had no idea what caused it.. food allergy, bug, air.. no idea.  Other teachers saw my tears (and my face) and immediately went to the coordinator to tell her I needed to go to the hospital now.  She took me and I was fairly impressed.  It was very clean and the staff was very friendly and I was seen by a doctor who's son used to attend my school.  I explained to her the issues and she gave me some pills to take every morning and ointment for my eyes and a follow up appointment for three days later.  I was very unconvinced that what she gave me would work, but I followed her instructions. After school, I came home and slept for 12 hours, until the next morning.  Tuesday, it was still bad, but went home and tried to sleep it off.  Wednesday morning, I woke up and I was miraculously better! My face was no longer swollen, no red eyes, no burning face, it was a baby miracle!  I have been fine ever since and still have this mystery medicine that the doctor gave me (its not really mystery medicine, I just don't know what it is. And I now think the cause of this experience may have been a bug bite. I am mildly allergic to bee stings back home, in that I get severe reactions so I think that I may have been bitten by a Thai bug on my face, causing a reaction).  One of my goals while being in Thailand was to NOT need to go to the hospital... I failed at accomplishing this but I'm glad I'm 100% better now! 

AirAsia: In other news, I have my flight booked to Bali the last week of April!  My friend Zekee from UCSB is currently living in Sydney.  When I first came to Thailand, I began looking up flights so I could come visit him and was extremely disappointed when I realized I couldn't afford the flight there.  Luckily, Zekee wants to do some SE Asia traveling before he heads back to the states!  And I'm so excited! If I could travel with any one of my friends, it would be Zekee.  There's something special about him, he can honestly make friends with anyone he meets and is so easy going, the perfect travel companion.  Zek will meet me in Thailand mid April, we'll head to Laos, then make our way to Bangkok to fly to Bali.  However, purchasing my flight ticket was a pain in the .. butt.

     I sometimes forget Thailand is a "developing country".  They are very behind on common sense things for us Americans.. like wearing a helmet/seat belt, drinking and driving, pedestrian right-of-way, AND buying/booking anything online.  To buy my plane ticket, I had to make numerous calls to AirAsia because I can't book online, there are numerous banks in Thailand and AirAsia only excepts credit cards from one, not the one I have.  So the process is I book on the phone, then I pay at 7/11.. thats right, 7/11 the convenience store.  Well in Thailand, it truly is a convenience store because you can pay for ANYTHING there, electricity bill, phone bill, bus tickets, and flights. Long story short, I paid and they never received my payment.  More calls, being put on hold, spelling my name 100 times "C as in cat.. H as in heart... E as in umm..?" I needed to make another payment because they had given me the wrong price amount (I personally think they need to better screen their staff, maybe have a comprehension questionnaire to be sure the people they are hiring have some sort of understanding and common sense. They speak English fine but those other skills I'm a little weary on. But that is a whole other issue). Back to 7/11, then needed to fax my receipts, and days after I began the booking process it was finally confirmed!  PHEW such an ordeal that could be avoided with booking online. Oh well, its "developing". 

As of tomorrow, I will only have three more weeks of school left!  Then I have 2 months off for summer break! I have lots of island/beach plans, as well as go up north to Chiang Mai for Songkran (Thai New Year/water fight.. google it!), Laos for tubing, the Bali.  

But first, this weekend is a three day weekend. I'm meeting the girls at the beach.. an island called Ko Chang. Happy four months, Thailand!

"Nobody Likes You When You're 23"

Birthday package and my package pose

So yesterday was my birthday in Thailand.. I am officially twenty three. Nothing too exciting went on here other than I taught all day then Jess and I went to a tasty place for dinner.  Its like a cook it yourself kind of place, so they bring you all the raw meat and vegetables and you cook it in the big pot on your table.  Jess surprised me with a candle and chocolate chip pastry.. I'm so lucky she is here with me! And my mom sent me a birthday package. I love packages!

Instead of being bummed that I am officially out of college and beginning “real life” (which I don’t consider myself having started real life yet.. Thailand isn’t exactly real for me. Yeah I am REALLY living here and its more real here than say Disneyland, but I’m only here until October.. so to me, its not MY real life, if that makes any sense at all), I decided for this blog I wanted to list my highlights of my 22nd year. My birthday made me a little home sick for friends and banana cake (I got used to celebrating my birthday in IV for the past four years with all my friends as well as hundreds of strangers and having roommates, or mom, surprise me with tasty treats), so I’ll do real celebrating when I go down to the islands in a couple weekends.

Highlights of being 22!

• Living Oceanside DP with six other girls! Amazingness and craziness, all wrapped into one house with the ocean as our backyard. Having my best friends as roommates and neighbors and being a 5 minute walk from everyone I know. I miss it!
• Became an international traveler! (Mexico and Asia! Spring Break in Cabo opened my mind to traveling abroad.  However, Spring Break in Mexico is VERY different than living in Thailand)
• Vegas with Team Friendship! (In an RV! And 19 friends in three rooms at the Palazo!)
• Vegas with the girls and saw someone famous (Paris Hilton and LMFAO)! 
• IA for a College course (WELLNESS!)
• Graduated from college!! WAHOO! (Clearly, a big highlight).
• Spent the summer in SB working three jobs (Well, twoish jobs. I love the Claytor family so much that its hard to call babysitting a job.. those kids are just so amazing and I can’t wait to see how much they’ve grown when I get back!) 
• Went to a few country music concerts and couple Charger games
• Traveled up to Lake Shasta with Alicia then moved down to San Diego a few days later.. Traveled the entire state of California (Shasta to San Diego) in two days!
• Totaled my first car (Although its not a good highlight and a pain that I crashed it seven days before I left for Thailand, it was a learning experience. I loved this car so much, partly because it was my first major purchase.. I picked it out, bought it, and had my name on the pink slip. I was so devastated when I totaled it, but I now realize its just a car. Plus now, I can get a better Mustang when I get back :)  )
• Moved to Thailand (Obviously a big one!)

Along with moving to Thailand…

• Got my Teaching English as a Foreign Language certificate (I can can other places when I'm done with Thailand!)
• Became a teacher (I keep thinking back to my former elementary teachers.. I am one of them now, sort of!)
• Traveling traveling and more traveling
• ...and I need to make an entirely different list when it comes to highlights in Thailand!

PHEW! Twenty-two was a huge year for me! I am a lot more excepting of the fact that I am twenty-three.. Twenty-two sure was amazing but I’m spending most of my twenty-three in Thailand, traveling Asia, and creating crazy highlights/life experiences for the next eight months.. I wouldn’t want to spend this upcoming year any other way! Plus, I know I have amazing friends and family that will always be there for me when I come home (and I can't wait for that either!!)!  (Along with these being my highlights, this is basically everything I love and miss)

Love and miss you all! I love that my friends and family are keeping up with my blog and I'm excited to come home in 9(ish) months, in time for Thanksgiving! I'm almost a third of the way done! 

Homemade Mexican Fajita Fiesta and Friends!

The Pacific Ocean and my oceanside sunsets

America, ocean view, and roomies!

Three Generations of Wellness!

Making and decorating cupcakes

Team Friendship Innertube Waterpolo

Mexico with amazing people!

Cabo!

Team Friendship RVs to Vegas

Vegas with the girls!

Graduation

Bitter Sweet!

Spending the Summer with the Claytor kids!

This adorable face

Amazing Friends going to Football Games

Blink 182 has 23 all figured out.. "I never want to act my age, whats my age again?"