Yay for a VPN!!

Thanks to some help from my ever-resourceful TEFL teacher Stephen, delivered by the lovely Morgan Matens, I'm on a blog for the first time in two weeks. It's strangely liberating, kind of like the first time you get a midnight snack naked. You're 99% certain you won't get caught, but you'd be quite embarrassed if you did.
In case you haven't heard, I'm a "foreign expert" at the Nanjing Institute of Tourism and Hospitality. To retain my slacker image, I've been a fairly marginal teacher. Really what happened was that I walked into the gig with too many expectations and not enough lesson plans. Also, a class of 40 students for 90 minutes is a bad idea for anyone, although some of my classes are only half that size. For my aspiring flight attendants, I have a book. For the rest, I have a book that I've been asked to use as a reference, but not to teach from. I take this to mean that I can do anything I want, as long as it's in English. Don't think I'm not already planning my "History of Starbucks" lesson (actually a student request).
I've been trying for several minutes to get facebook, but it isn't working. Sorry if I'm ignoring your "poke."
The food has been good. Meat, of course, is generally sketchy, with bones and skin to eat around, but the veggies are worth the trip. The teachers' canteen is also lunch-line style, so all you have to do is point a few times and swipe your meal card. This is good, as Chinese is impossible to speak. I've also done well with pointing at someone's plate, as if to say "I'll have what he's having." On a good day a student will order for me, although once this led to duck blood soup. You can't actually tell that there's blood in it, but I didn't quite figure out what the meat was exactly, aside from "internal organs." Liver and something else maybe? There is also a fruit shop on the campus, which often has cantaloupe on a stick for a ridiculously low price.
I still want to speak Spanish when I try to speak Chinese. I've told everyone about living in Chile. I think they're impressed, but I'm pretty sure that at this point I could tell them that I've been to a sewer and they'd be fascinated. On a similar note, I'm scoring huge points simply for being able to eat with chop sticks.
I've done some light tourism. I've even remembered my camera a time or two. I'll show you the pictures if you come visit. I went to the Confucius Temple with a few flight attendants, but they were more interested in shopping than sightseeing. A pair of girls from the same class also took me to the famous lake. We rented a small boat with a smaller motor (I think I could have gone faster in a paddle boat). It never occurred to them that I might be able to drive it, and we announced our return by hitting another boat, the dock, then the same boat again, finally driving straight into the dock with the little motor on. Then we went shopping.
I'm still getting used to hanging out with my students like this. They're wonderful, but the idea of giving my cell number to students is strange to me. Also, they're not always the most mature. I don't expect them to be financially solvent or anything, but I figured by college you'd be able to admit in class that you have a boyfriend, without an insane amount of giggling. Speaking of giggling, there students are probably 75% female. So giggling abounds.
Now that I know how to do this, I'll try to post more frequently. Hopefully I'll have something more eventful next time, but I expect that I'll just continue to flounder as a teacher and spend some time in the city. If you skype me I'll tell you more.

Procrastination

I'm leaving for China tomorrow morning, and I still have four lesson plans left. And what am I doing? Anything but lesson plans. Isn't it good to know that some things never change?
So, I'm assuming that if you're reading this, you care enough to be asking yourself, "What happened to Indonesia?" Well, it all started with a sketchy bit in the contract. Then I started looking around at working hours and decided I didn't want a 6 day workweek. So I did some research, sent some CVs (resumes), and got a job in Nanjing, China. They're two months into their semester there, so I should be teaching within a week or so. I even got my visa today.
Time out. Would you give me a visa? A business visa? Okay maybe if I had a letter saying that I was a foreign expert. Which leads to the greater question: Would you give me a letter saying I was a foreign expert? These people obviously don't know what they're getting themselves into.
So, the job is 20 "class hours" a week. Class hours are only 45 minutes. Students are in a college of tourism and hospitality. The class is conversational English. The job comes with an apartment. I honestly can't think of a single Chinese word that I know. I feel like that answers the major questions. Feel free to ask more.
Remember that cooking class I went to?
Yeah, that's right. Hands down, the scariest thing I've ever done with chicken.
They also close down several blocks in downtown Chiang Mai every Sunday. This week, I remembered by camera.
It wouldn't be Thailand without a temple photo, so I included this obligatory wat shot.


Finally, I made my Momma proud and bought some silk. Above are the tassels of some scarves I bought. By the way, I don't know if anyone has ever told you, but haggling is ridiculously fun.
I miss everyone. I'll send you something from China. Probably an email. And my love.


PS- I'm there until 10 July 2011. I knew I'd forgotten something.

Homework

The first week of observed teaching didn't quite go as planned. The 4 to 6 Thai girls were actually one guy and one girl, sometimes a third student. The good news is that I never ran out of material, and I seemed to hold their attention at least twice. Also, I seem to project confidence. I don't know where it comes from, but I assume it's from all those rafting trips when I was only pretending I knew what I was doing. That being said, I'd rather freak out about teaching here, before I get to a real job.
I should be at the real job in a week. I say this because my Thai visa waiver expires the Friday, so I expect to be in China by Friday night. By that time I should have the details of where I'll be teaching, what age, etc. I promise at least one exciting post then.
Things really have been quiet here. I did check out the Jazz club for their Tuesday night jam session, which was quite nice. The typhoon rains cooled everything off for a few days as well, although I did get caught by rain walking home one night. It's interesting, because everyone rides motorbikes and scooters here. It's not uncommon for the passenger to be holding an umbrella for the driver.
Also, some of the "full episodes" on Comedy Central's web site aren't full episodes. I'm talking about Daily Show episodes with no interview and 12-minute South Parks. On the other hand, you can't view Fox's web site outside the country, like Hulu. So kudos to Comedy Central.

It's still pretty quiet on my end. The instructional part of my TEFL course is complete. The bad news is that now I have 2 weeks of observed teaching ahead of me. My first lesson plan looks good, my teacher tells me. This is a problem. I mean, really? No harsh criticism? No glaring omissions on my part, or gross timing miscalculation? If anything, I have "more than enough material" and will have to end early. My prognosis? Like all beginning teachers, I'll be sitting there done with the lesson plan half way through class. I guess I'll have my laptop, so we can always listen to Christopher Walken read Poe's "The Raven." That's 8.5 minutes right there, lots of repetition (vocab!), and it'll take me at least 10 minutes to explain "nevermore" to the kids.
The good news is that these will be 4 to 6 motivated Thai girls, so there shouldn't be much in the way of behavior problems. The bad news is that they're not paying, so there is a real chance they won't come back Tuesday. The second week will be harder, because it's pair tutoring. The good news is that it's the girls who work in the apartment office, so I know they'll be back no matter how bad I am. Here's to a captive audience!
If I don't post for a few days, just assume my class has cannibalized me. That, or things went so well that I've gone outside to play. Do you think my teacher would stand aside as I was eaten raw? Probably.

Oh yeah, I have a blog

Okay, so I haven't completely forgotten that I have a blog. I just don't think anything blogworthy has happened. Hopefully you will disagree.
I have forgotten that I own a camera. However, I did get one good shot right after the rain last week. Let me know what you think; it's the view from my balcony.

I did find a fairly phenomenal cooking class Saturday. I have made a pretty serious coconut milk soup (spicy!!!), spring rolls, a cashew chicken stir fry, and a Penang curry from scratch. The last involves a pestle and mortar, and makes fabulous leftovers. Aside from that I've been eating out pretty consistently, snacking in the apartment. Truth be told, I'm not spending that much more money eating out. Meals are smaller, and ordering is tricky, but I had some noodles on the street last night for ten baht, or about 33 cents. I felt so thrifty that I bought myself an ice cream on a stick for the same price. I'm also making my own coffee every morning, although I must admit I'm quite fond of these little 12 baht cans of iced coffee.
Classes are going well. Lesson plans are easier to write than I expected, but I'm writing some fairly ambitious plans. In other words, when I start gathering materials, my lessons will be much simpler. I start practicing teaching in a week. Then we will know how effective my planning really is.
I'm getting around town really well now. I'm still walking everywhere, although I have taken the obligatory tuk-tuk ride. It's one of those terrifying traffic experiences that you have to do once. A tuk-tuk is basically what a tricycle would look like if it grew up and became a motorcycle. It's everything you think it is, plus the bonus of riding on the wrong side of the road. And I mean that both ways: in Thailand, they drive on the left, and tuk-tuks are notorious for crossing the yellow line (if it even exists).
I've made it to the Night Bazaar and the Sunday Walking Street. The former has apparently declined with the slump in tourism, and seems to mostly be souvenirs and whatnot. I did meet the most friendly Thai puppy there. He was about a year old (I'm guessing) and wanted to follow me home. He was also about five inches tall, and nothing but hair and a little nose poking out. Sunday Walking Street is a weekly street festival downtown. They close off traffic and set up stands and booths with food and wares. I was really sad not to have my camera. I'm a terrible tourist.
So the verdict? Chiang Mai is a good place to be. The food is cheap and fabulous (if you can handle a little spicy). The people are friendly to the funny looking kid who doesn't speak Thai (that's me). And my class has been much less painful than I expected, which is a huge relief. So I'll try to get some pictures up as soon as possible. The best way to motivate me is via Skype. Email for a Skype date and tell me what I should photograph for you.

Well, I finally made it out of town. In fact, I'm almost not jet lagged, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. First, I had to go by Knoxville and say goodbye to everyone. The goodbye itself was substantially more difficult that I'd planned, but the going away festivities were worth it. A special thanks to Carolyn for throwing such a great going away party, and to Stefani for posing so well for those pictures at said party. Also, apologies to anyone I may have offended and/or traumatized.So, after the party and traditional post-party brunch, I drove back to Nashville, where I immediately went to sleep. From about 6pm until 2 am. It was actually nice. When Mom and Dad finally woke up, we all had coffee. Then, the crazed scramble to get my life into a backpack, a duffle bag, and my carry-on. Finally, the tearful parting of ways at the airport. Strangely enough, as soon as I got on the plane, I felt fine. Fine meaning not homesick. Just settling down for 30 more hours of travel.
After a 13 hour ride across the Pacific, I've decided that I'm pickier about movies that I realized.
Now I've been here a little over two days. I'm starting to learn my way around the city, in spite of the fact that no one really seems to have a map that's worth anything. The apartment is modest, but it's really nice to have my own space, and nicer to have reliable internet. On the other hand, it makes for a nice spot to hide out from the heat. Also, the jet lag brought an interesting sleep schedule. On a related note, I've discovered the magic of little cans of iced coffee. And 6 for 68 Baht? That's barely $2.
Aside from that, not much has happened. I've been jet-lagged and reclusive. Also, I spent almost 24 hours in the air. Definitely breaking the trip up on the way home. Hawaii? Yes please.
Side note- there are lots of brown people running around not speaking English. How long will it take me to stop wanting to speak to them in Spanish? On the flip side, as much as I miss empanadas, I wouldn't trade them for the curries.
Okay, if you want to know more than that, you'll have to get on Skype. I'm looking forward to Skyping some of you at Cora's birthday- if I can make it. Facebook says I'm a maybe.

T-minus 6 days....

Exactly one week before I get on the first leg of my one-way ticket to Chiang Mai and where was I? A narcotics-induced blackout, with blood oozing from where three teeth had been just a few hours before. The good news? This should just about clear up my medical records, so that I can get a work visa in Indonesia. The bad news? If you'd planned on meeting people that night, it's not going to happen.
The good news is that I'm feeling better now. I'm taking the antibiotics, but haven't even taken Ibuprofen for the pain. Also, Mom got me about half a dozen half-pint ice cream cartons, and left a smoothie and leftover Indian food in the fridge. All things considered, this was much less traumatic than I'd anticipated.
The rest of the week should be mellow-ish. I should start packing this afternoon, then head to Knoxville either this evening or tomorrow. I'll be back Sunday afternoon, to give my parents and I roughly 48 hours to scramble to ready everything for my Tuesday flight.
How do I feel about all this? Now that I'm running out of major hurdles and last minute expenses, I feel pretty good. I feel so good that I even decided to work on Saturday. That overwhelming feeling that I'm gonna get stuck in some airport where I don't speak the language and can't get a visa has mostly subsided. On the other hand, any move this drastic carries a lot of stress and apprehension. So don't be offended if I blow you off, or seem generally distracted. I'm trying not to, but I make no promises.
Don't forget to floss. If anyone has any last-minute suggestions on things to bring to either Thailand or Indonesia, let me know.