Settled

You know when you have been planning to go somewhere on a particular date but for some reason or another it gets cancelled or postponed, and so you end up with a big gap with not much to do. Well today I have been gifted an empty 24 hours. Little sis was supposed to be here at 12pm today, but unfortunately she decided that a night in Schipol airport would be an interesting addition to her holiday, and so she is arriving tomorrow instead. Today is of course the eve of the new Thai year, and tomorrow we will be literally washing away the dirt of the past and stepping cleanly into a new year. Thus, given the occasion and my leisurely situation, it is a perfect time for me to take stock of the last few months.

So what am I actually doing in Thailand? Without wanting to disappoint anyone, I have to confess my days are not spent lazing around on sandy beaches or taking boat trips to distant islands. Nor am I spending my nights watching ladyboy shows or sleeping with prostitutes. For the last five months I have been teaching at the Naresuan University in the north of Thailand, near a city called Phitsanulok which is famous for the Phra Buddhachinarat image of the Buddha. To the east are the hills and waterfalls of Khao Kor, and to the west is the ancient city of Sukhothai. Thankfully, it is a long way from the Bangkok bustle, in distance and atmosphere! During my first term I taught two courses to Computer Science students, supervised three student projects, gave conversational classes in English, proofread countless journal and conference papers, and most importantly, took part in the many many activities that are an essential part of life at Naresuan University. The most memorable was being the Drum Major for the faculty sports day, and having to get up at 4am just to put on make-up!

The grand finale to the Staff Sports Day

After settling in quite quickly in my first month, I had a flurry of visitors. First Tyge and Bjoern flew over from France for a week and we had a lovely few days up in Chiangmai. Next my mum came over for new year and she got a glimpse of the whole country, visiting Bangkok, Ayuttaya, Kanchanaburi, Ubon Ratchathani, Phitsanulok, Sukhothai, Petchaboon, and Koh Lanta. As soon as she left I was heading north-east again to meet Luangpor Khemadhammo and Ajahn Manapo, along with Mark and Jin who had flown over from South Korea to join us to explore some remote places around Ubon. After all that I settled down to a couple of weeks of teaching before the university organised a weekend in China (Macau and Zhuhai) for us. I almost wasn't allowed in the country, but somehow I was saved at the border by a Chinese-speaking Thai tour guide. At the end of February my students somehow managed to all get through the exams I had set them, and then there was a flurry of end of term parties! I forgot to mention graduation which happened in the middle of all this. Graduation in Thailand is big: buildings gets repainted, roads get repaired, decorations are erected within a 5 mile radius. Unfortunately nobody came to clean my room which has been in a bad state for most of the term. I don't seem to be able to get the hang of sweeping on a regular basis. Luckily I spend very little time in it, so it doesn't matter as long as no one else sees it!

Luangpor visiting Naresuan University

Possessions. I started out with one suitcase of clothes from England and a handful of electronics. How beautiful is it to start again with hardly anything? I seem to be in the habit of going back to nothing. Until recently I was still living pretty frugally. I first borrowed a bicycle from Joob, then a motorcycle from P'Mai (together with a crash helmet from P'Fong which I have worn exactly twice). I borrowed a TV, and I was given a table to put it on. The only thing I had to buy was a kettle! Despite not needing much, I still don't seem to be able to survive on my monthly salary. I don't know what happens, I get paid at the end of the month and within a couple of weeks it is all gone!

Riding through the rice fields

Perhaps it has something to do with me not being able to stay still for too long. Just two weeks ago I decided right at the last minute to head over to Hyderabad, India to the WWW 2011 conference, but also to see my friend Topher who I hadn't seen since I left France. It was a pretty special week because while I was there India beat Pakistan in the Cricket World Cup and then they went on to win the whole thing on my final night there.

The night India beat Pakistan

The travelling might now be restricted to within Thailand, because last month I went crazy and bought a car. It is the cutest little black Honda you ever did see and he is called "Gra Ta" after his frying pan wheels (soon to be upgraded if I become solvent again). I have been spending a bit of time in Bangkok the last couple of weeks and I have to say that driving here is great fun. So far I haven't had any bumps, but I am quite detached from the idea of a dent-less car. I managed to get a Thai driving license along the way, so I can legally have an accident and I am insured. See, nothing for my parents to worry about!

Nong Gra Ta

I am looking forward to the new term starting in June, but in the meantime I am enjoying getting a bit of time for research. I have got some exciting iPhone apps lined up, and a couple of educational projects I am working on. Nothing to compete with Zuckerberg yet, but I will keep working on it!

A birthday, a wedding, and a baby hair cutting ceremony

The last week has been one celebration after another. Joob's birthday was on Thursday so on Wednesday evening we had particularly active karaoke session. Everyone was a little tired on Thursday morning after all the singing and dancing. I gave a lecture to my 80 second year students in which I relayed the bad news that I would have to cancel their class on Friday. Their English is surprisingly competent when it comes to understanding this type of message! Shortly after the lecture, after attending a staff meeting for a very short time (which is a whole other story), I was whisked off to Bangkok.

Joob's Karaoke Party in Phitsanulok

Less than five hours later I was in the bustling capital city, trying to find my way across town to meet my Ubon friends for dinner and cake. Then it was back to my usual resting place at Pie's. Nong Treuk seems to be getting used to his farang uncle as he didn't scream quite as much when I held him, and a couple of times he forced a smile out for me.

On Friday I met up in the afternoon with the NU gang to go to Samut Prakarn for P'Jair's wedding. It was at a school over looking the Chao Praya River. Lots of photos were taken as the sun went down, with us all looking very smart. The groom was American so I got the opportunity to talk with some (almost) native English speakers for the first time in a month.

Groom, bride and Joob

It was back to Pie's after the wedding and then a reasonable nights rest before meeting up with the Warwick gang on Saturday to celebrate Joob's birthday. After a lovely Korean meal (but costing the equivalent of 30 lunches in the university canteen), we took a taxi, the sky train, and a boat to get to Ploenchit Fair. This annual event is organised by the British community to raise money for good causes in Thailand. Wonderful idea, except that it was a bit too British: lots of beer but not much food. Too many farang too! We didn't stay for very long before we were stuck in traffic again waiting to get to our next destination. Dinner was at a big buffet restaurant where the highlight for me was the opportunity to make your own som tam. After the whole Warwick gang had stuffed themselves completely, we moved next door for karaoke. Basically Joob had the same party twice, just in different cities. That girl does love her karaoke! In between Joob singing and me dancing we managed to eat some delicious birthday cake that P'Min had brought. An excellent evening!

A restaurant where you can make your own papaya salad!

Just when you think things cannot get any better, Pie goes and pulls a super party at his house on Sunday morning for his father's birthday and his baby's first hair cut. The ceremony for inviting monks to cut your baby's hair is almost like the Thai equivalent of a christening. We got up at 7am to start preparations, but already the food stalls were arriving. As on the wedding day, they brought in several different food stalls (drinks, noodles, snacks) that set themselves up in the garden. Guests can just order whatever they want! By 8am I was eating roti (pancakes) and drinking iced tea. I eventually managed to make myself useful when I discovered their were girls in the kitchen chopping fruit. They were particularly impressed by my legendary mango peeling skills. The guests soon started arriving, and then the 9 monks who took their place in Pie's shrine room. Led by the head monk, who will become 'Somdet' on the King's birthday next week, the monks chanted and Nong Treuk got his hair cut. It was all very exciting for me, but Nong Treuk didn't look quite so happy!

Baby Treuk enjoying some chanting

It is always good fun staying at Pie's, but this time it was especially good to speak to lots of interesting people. At one point I was introduced to a lady who a few people were making a fuss of. One of them said to me, do you know who this is? To which I had to reply "no", then I turned to her and said "khun cheu arai krub" (what is your name?). At this point quite a few people started laughing, but the lady replied "Jintara". Later it was explained to me that she is one of the most famous actresses in Thailand -- I doubt anyone has asked her what her name is for at least 10 years!

After the hair cutting ceremony, there was a taxi waiting outside to deliver me at breakneck speed to town. The driver had moments before just seen someone else leave and he was quite excited to ask me in Thai: "Was that Khun Jintara?" To which I replied, "Who?", and then realising what he meant, I cooly continued, "oh yes, that's her" before I told him we better take the toll road because I was afraid to be late for my lift back up north.

I am now on the way home to Phitsanulok. It was fun in Bangkok, but I am looking forward to returning to the countryside where it does not take 2 hours to drive a few kilometers and you can buy lunch for 20 baht!

Loy Kratong

Midnight, fireworks continue to explode outside my window against a background buzz of 100cc motorcycles as students return to their dorms. It is almost the end of the Loy Kratong festival at Naresuan University and what an awesome two days it has been. I have never seen anything like it before in my life!

Yesterday, outside the temple of Phra Buddhachinarat in Phitsanulok, we lit the candles and incense on our kratongs and launched these highly decorated floating bouquets into the River Nan. With any luck, they will float downstream, and in a few days, after joining up with the Chao Praya River, they will float past Bangkok into the sea, taking all our defilements with them so we can feel refreshed. Well that's the theory. It also happens to be one of biggest celebrations of the year. We watched spectacular shows and performances of Thai dancing from the river bank, not to mention the Miss Phitsanulok beauty contest (which sadly was quite difficult to see without my glasses). Given that this is Thailand, we were never more than three meters away from the nearest street seller offering some local sweet snack to maintain our energy levels. Thousands of people had descended on the city to Loy Kratong, and most were also keen to launch flying lanterns into the night sky. Apparently flights across Thailand are cancelled for the evening because the sky is full of these burning lanterns. It is worth it though, to see the sky sparkling with lanterns, especially as the backdrop to the temples around Phitsanulok.

I said yesterday that it was my best day in Thailand yet, and I thought it would be a while again before this experience would be beaten. I was told by P'Fong at the time that the Naresuan University celebrations would be even better, but I didn't believe it. She was right though: today has surpassed all expectations!

The day did start particularly well because P'Nutt from Warwick visited us and we went out to a quaint Isahn restaurant overlooking the rice fields. A 'gratib' of sticky rice always makes me happy. By the time we got back to the office it was already late afternoon and the parade had begun. It was like a carnival, all the participants were first year students, dressed in traditional costumes and dancing their way to the lake. The first years from each department are charged with preparing a giant kratong, finding a beauty queen, putting on a performance, and parading across campus. Of course, for several weeks our faculty of science students had (at the expense of their studies) been constructing a huge float which is a replica of one of the monuments on campus. On the float sat their beauty queen, and in front students carried their elaborate kratong. All around there were brightly dressed students singing, dancing and beating drums. The procession was so long it must have been dark by the time all the floats and students made it to the lake.

As eager as I was to see the beauty contest (glasses in hand!), nothing gets in the way of Thai people and food, so we nipped off for a quick meal. Dinner cost 25 baht (50p) which still makes me chuckle almost every day.

Back at the fair we enjoyed the singing and dancing performances, one from each department. The time and effort involved in preparing all this is way beyond what any western students could achieve. The performances are so professional, you might think you had paid £100 for a show in London. I was just mesmerised -- I don't know what it is like elsewhere in Thailand but I can tell you this: Naresuan rocks!

I had bought some rather special (read: overpriced) flying lanterns to launch (including a giant red one!) so we set them burning and let them off into the night sky. The full moon was shining equally bright in the background and it really was the perfect night.

The Homecoming

Not impressed by farang

This time last week I was far above the clouds somewhere between London and Bangkok. The fun had begun 2 days earlier when I escaped from my 2 year sentence in France and moved my life back to England. I had to discard quite a few material possessions such that my life would fit into one 20kg checked in bag and a piece of hand luggage. Despite continuous strikes for the last couple of months, and a petrol shortage, my trip back to Norfolk was trouble-free. Then I had less than 48 hours to unpack and repack with slightly more summery attire, and get back to the airport.

On the plane I got chatting to a girl who, after talking for a while, I discovered was from Warwick, studied in CS, and graduated the same year as me. How we had never met before I don't know cause we later discovered that we were also both at Pete and Wendy's wedding!

Upon arrival in Bangkok, I sailed through customs despite my one way ticket (which should have meant I was refused entry without a visa). Paradise wasn't there to meet my directly off the plane -- it is one of my dreams to be met as I step out(!) -- but she was there with Pie in arrivals which was a lovely welcome. Dinner with Tam, before back to Pie's to meet Truek! He was sleeping though so his first English lesson with Uncle Ant was postponed until the next day. I love going to Pie's house -- it feels just like being in Leam Green again, only a little bit bigger. I think Pie's father is quite used to me turning up unannounced and we sat around eating and chatting on Sunday like I am there every week. It is just like being at home.

There was a Warwick dinner the following evening, then on Sunday I flew up to Phitsanulok with Joob. You are barely off the ground for more 30 minutes. So if carbon footprints are your thing then that's definitely the way to do it! I think Joob's excuse was that she could not bear to sit next to me in a bus for five hours, so I am sure you all understand.


I started work on Monday morning, much to the excitement of the other staff in the department, and the students. Before long I had an office, a computer, internet access, email, I had met the Dean, and the Head of Department. One secretary in particular enjoyed driving me around on her motorcycle. News travels fast because there were soon female lecturers from other departments passing through our offices just to catch a glimpse of me. I am aware that all things must end at some point, but I do hope this celebrity status doesn't wear off too quickly.

I have two courses to teach this term, one has only 2 students and the other has 80! I managed to blag my way through the first two lectures unprepared, but next week I need to find some material to teach. Getting back into the academic mindset is a bit challenging, but so far I am coping pretty well with the frequent breaks for breakfast, lunch, coffee, cake, dinner. There are so many places to eat that even if I eat in a different establishment each day I still won't be able to visit them all over the next few months.

Joob has been wonderful since I arrived, making sure everything is organised and checking that I behave myself. I don't think her life will be the same again though. I have taken over her motorcycle and frequently ride it in the bustling area outside the university despite being warned of the dangers. Within 24 hours of arriving I had taken her to town on the 'unsafe' bus -- a first for Joob. And to top it off, her students have started to think that she has a farang boyfriend!

The Korean Wedding

After a busy week of work and little time to make preparations, it was with a hint of apprehension that I woke at 5.30am on Thursday morning for the long journey ahead. After meeting Hema and enjoying two large mugs of tea, I was beginning to relax and enjoy the thought of a holiday ahead. We were soon on the plane and regretting the quantity of tea we had drank as we powered down the runway. When the seat belt sign went off, we were those annoying people who have to get up straightaway to use the bathroom.

In Helsinki we had time to order some proper lunch, as the only thing we could do with the meatballs and mash potato we were given on the flight was to discuss the [lack of] merits of mash compared to rice as an in-flight meal. After a pizza, two cups of tea and some pulla, we were back on a plane bound for Seoul. FinnAir's in-flight entertain kept us busy for a few hours (except when the flight attendent decided to interupt us with pointless information in three languages). Eventually I drifted off to sleep for a bit, only to wake up to Hema looking angry and telling me how lucky I was to have slept -- she had not had any!

We landed in Seoul to be greeted by two of Jin's friends who took us to our hotel (where we quickly showered and changed into our wedding dress), then for lunch (where we tucked into a large bowl of Bibimbap) before we headed to the wedding venue. It was chaos when we arrived as a previous ceremony was drawing to a close. There were people everywhere, but the familiar farang face of Mark was no where to be seen. Luckily we found Mark's family, and then some of his friends, while we waited for him to exit the dressing room. Eventually he appeared, adorned in traditional Korean dress -- what I can only describe as looking like several purple curtains tied up with little pieces of rope. But I was quickly to find out more about the intricacies of Korean dress as I was told I must go get changed straight away before rehearsal. I was led to the dressing room, where a large pile of cyan-coloured curtains awaited me. Ten minutes later I was all wrapped up and practicing my Korean bow. My role in the ceremony was to carry a wooden goose, as a symbol of fidelity, and pass it to the groom at the correct moment.

After practicing the bow several times I started to feel a bit more comfortable in my new attire. It had this magical quality of making people want to take photos of me, which I happily obliged as the polite Brit that I am. Pete and Wendy arrived much-amused by my hat, which was so big that I had to be careful not to injure people with as I moved around. Quite soon though, we were ready for the ceremony proper to begin. It started with a drum performance, then a group of beautifully dressed girls performed a fan dance accompanied by a orchestra of Korean instruments. Next, the groom took the stage, and after I had passed him the goose, he was on his own trying to remember all the things he had to do in the right order. One wrong bow and the whole ceremony would be invalidated! Luckily, with all that Forest Hermitage training under his belt, he executed the whole thing perfectly (well, at least I thought so!). The bride had an equally tough job, holding her arms up horizontally whilst holding a large piece of cloth (I dare not call it a curtain) for the whole ceremony. Jin did have the fortune of wearing a stunning dress, brightly coloured and so beautiful that had Mark bowed in the wrong manner then probably no one would have noticed as they were all too busy admiring Jin. The final part of the ceremony involved Mark and Jin sitting opposite one another, taking sips of rice wine from two halves of a gourd -- it was all symbolic stuff!

After the official part, it was time for some more photographs, before we were ushered into the dining area for a large buffet of Korean food. I remember that there were at least five types of kim chi (spicy rotting cabbage) -- delicious! It was a long time before the married couple came to join us and they looked quite exhausted, but Mark had found time to get changed into a hideous pink outfit. After a few mouthfuls of food he was off again to speak to more of the guests, and we were soon on our way to the next venue.

What could be a more suitable location for Mark to host a wedding reception than a tea house. And what could be a more suitable end to our day then eating cake whilst drinking tea. It was the perfect way to end an exciting day, in a traditional Korean tea house relaxing with Mark and Jin, their family and their friends. Perhaps too relaxed as I seemed to get very chatty with Jin's students who were very delightful -- and female. I also insisted on having my photograph taken with Jin's mother and her aunt (who then could not stop talking about me apparently). But by far the most entertaining part of the night was the speeches. Mark started with a very romantic speech in Korean (I know because everyone was going "Ahh! Aww!" at the end of every sentence), followed by an equally soppy speech in English, which created a minor flood from the teary-eyed girls in the audience. And then it was Jin's turn. I don't what she said in Korean, but in English it started off quite romantic until she got to: "I love Mark very much because... Oops I have forgotten my speech". At which point she had to refer to her notes.

Once the cake was polished off, Pete, Wendy, Hema and I set off on foot for our delightful little guesthouse. We were exhausted from being awake for a day and a half, but that was soon forgotten as we laid down to sleep in our little wooden huts with heated floors (sleeping on the floor has never before been such a luxury). My mind was busy from the excitement of a very special day, but as soon as my floor mattress was warm I drifted off into a deep and happy sleep.

Congratulations Mark and Jin!

The story so far

If you were following the Ice-skating Gecko, then you may be aware that most of my year was spent in Finland, apart from the much-talked-about trip to Thailand and Malaysia in January. After a long drive back across Europe, I returned to England where it seems I may settle down for a while...