Tokyo Thoughts

So here I sit in the Tokyo airport. For eleven hours. Fortunately, they have a free computer lounge. I will be enjoying the functional keyboard for about an hour, then I will switch to my computer and watch Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia until I fall asleep. With any luck, I can sleep enough to convince myself that today is a night.

So, what is to come in my next blog post? I promise pictures! Of temples! I realize I have not posted since Siem Riep, and you need to see that. I will also have pictures of Phnom Penh, and maybe one of my afternoon in Vietnam. If you are really lucky, I add even more to facebook. No promises. Topics of interest to look forward to? Tourist traps, swimming in the Mekong, teaching, why I am excited to be in the States, and why I am excited to leave again. The last of those may approach being political, and I apologize in advance.

Speaking of leaving again, the rumors are true. In a month, I should be living in Costa Rica. The plan is to get a rafting job down there, so if you know anyone, feel free to send me their email. I will be headed that way in late August. What I have realized is that, as much as I love it, I do not really belong to the Asian cultures I have experienced. I love love love the food, and I have greatly enjoyed the people, but it is not the place for me, long term. I just felt so much more at home in South America, and hope that Central America treats me the same way. I am also very excited to properly learn Spanish, as I have forgotten most of what I learned (and all that was slang anyway). Plus, rafting is more fun than teaching.

I should have pictures up in a week or so. Mostly temples, really. Maybe a tuk tuk in the rain. Speaking of rain, a final anecdote: On Thursday, my last full day in Phnom Penh, I got rained on. Hard. Twice. Caught on a bicycle in a downpour both times. Soaked from the knees down and neck up (but fairly dry in between). So yes, I have had the full rainy season experience.

Also, I just found the apostrophe on this keyboard. In case you were wondering about my lack of contractions. Anyway, see you soon!!!

Adorable Anecdote

Two posts in a week? I must be avoiding work!
I was at dinner a few nights ago and saw the cutest damn thing ever. It all started when the biggest grasshopper I have ever seen jumped on our table. Seriously, it must have been close to three inches (7 cm) long. He looked at us. We looked at him. We wondered what one does about the world's biggest grasshopper on an empty table. I think he would have stayed there forever in his uncontested reign, but he decided to hop (as grasshoppers tend to do), landing on the nearest wall.
That's when things got adorable. On the wall, there was a gecko hanging out (as there tends to be on walls in Cambodia). The gecko was perhaps slightly longer, but certainly not larger by volume, than the grasshopper. Even so, the gecko got the look on his face that says, "Dinner is served!" He started crawling toward his perceived prey.
Unfortunately, the grasshopper saw something shiny and promptly got his leg stuck in a speaker. But I really wanted to see how the little gecko planned to eat that grasshopper.
Maybe you just had to be there. Still, coolest gecko ever.
The following is an artist's representation of the gecko involved. Okay, it's a photo I took in Chiang Mai, but I don't have a recent one because geckos don't pose well.

New Semester

I started a new semester.... three weeks ago. Sorry, I meant to post earlier. But my keyboard, mouse, and battery have all essentially died, leaving my laptop with three wires coming from it at all times. The good news is that the combined cost of my new USB keyboard and mouse was $7.50. Better than a $25 repair bill, right? But no more taking the computer to the coffee shop.
The new semester is twice the size of the last one. Instead of teaching ten 1.5 hour periods, I'm teaching 21. Two high school classes, almost thirty kids each. And an 8 am class every weekday. It's been a slight change, but now I've gotten used to it and I'm chugging along. Also, napping a lot. But enough about work.....
The rainy season has officially started. Most days it's only a few minutes of rain, less than an hour. On good days I'm either home or in class when this happens. However, it doesn't seem to be one of those "every day at the same time" rainy seasons. So far I've only been caught once, but I have started carrying around a pair of dry socks in anticipation of the next time I'm 2 blocks from school when the skies open up. A bicycle might not be the best rainy season transport.
We had a screening of the Rocky Horror Picture Show at a local cinema. My friends and I dressed up, and I think Tim Curry would have been proud. Then we went, still in costume, to the club Heart of Darkness. The fun part was the moto ride to the club. Cambodians don't do costume parties as much as Americans, it turns out.
Aside from that, not much has happened, not much has changed. I've spend the weekends nesting here in Phnom Penh, enjoying not riding buses and knowing where everything is. I think a trip to Siem Riep is in the cards soon. At that point, I might stop being so lazy and put up some photos. No promises. Also, plans are coming together for the trip to the US in early August. Prepare your couches, and check FB for the impending shenanigans. Until then, stay dry, and don't eat the wrong kind of street food!