All Moved

Well, I am finally moved in. Moving was more stressful than I thought it would be. I am working six days a week and the next to last weekend I got food poisoning and lost 2 and a half days. But I finally got everything sorted, either thrown away or moved, got the apartment cleaned and got checked out. On the upside I got back 11,000 of my 13,000 baht deposit. An extra 270 dollars to play with! I still haven't taken any pictures of my new place, but I will. Now I have a head cold, and am taking it easy. I have to work tonight, so I need to do some lesson planning. I also have to attend a Teacher's Exchange Meeting this afternoon, so I better get on with it.

Moving

I will start moving into my new house this weekend. (Although I expect it will take me at least a week to move all my stuff, and clean my old apartment). I will post some pictures after I am actually in the house. But as a teaser, I will tell you that it has three bedrooms, two baths, a full kitchen, a large living area, a carport, a lawn, banana trees, a full wall with gate, and a fish pond. Sounds nice doesn't it?

Thai Ukulele Craze

The latest craze among Thai teens is playing the ukulele. I don't know why they became so popular in the last several months, but anywhere you go you might see a kid strumming one. Several of my students have brought them to class, and one even played for us.

My student Nine brought hers on Friday and agreed to pose with it for me.

Update

I see that I haven't posted in a while. I wish I could claim that I have been really busy, but the truth is I have been very lazy. Time just slides away and I find that I haven't done half the things I planned to do. Oh well.

It is rainy today, and a bit chilly. This is quite unusual for March. In fact, it has been raining for three days now, which is extremely unusual for March. This is supposed to be the beginning of the Hot Season. Last week was certainly hot enough. In fact, it had gotten hot enough that I broke down and went out and bought a motorbike. I had been riding my bike everywhere, but the heat finally got to be too much. I bought a used Yamaha Spark for 15,000 baht. Not a bad deal, if I do say so myself. I still intend to ride my bike, both for recreation and commuting, but not when the weather is inclement.

We started Summer Terms this week. That means the next seven weeks will be pretty crazy. I am teaching six hours a day five days a week. But I am teaching a level I have taught (too many) times already, so my prep time is almost zero. I still have to grade writings, and other exercises, but really I have it pretty easy this term. Next term may be a different story.

We have a week off during the Songkran Festival. Songkran is absolutely insane here in CM, so I will hie off to Bangkok for four days. Bangkok is pretty peaceful during Songkran, since a lot of people head off to the provinces for the Thai New Year (which is what Songkran is).

Well, I am off to work.

Bike Update

I have been using my bike (and my feet!) as my sole means of transport now for five weeks. I can say that it is quite feasible to do so. I can get to everywhere I need to, and in a reasonable amount of time. (Chiang Mai is not a large city, and I rarely have to travel more than ten miles). I actually get to work as quickly on a bike as I did on a motorbike. Although that is only 2.5 miles, so not that far.

On the other hand, it is less convenient going my bicycle. I don't get to the big Tesco Lotus supermarket very often simply because it is farther than I want to go, especially if I am tired, or it is the middle of the day. (The heat here can be brutal, even in the so-called cool season). I also cannot carry as much on a bike as I could on a motorbike. I have a pair of saddlebags, but they have limited capacity. I don't get out as much as I used to, and I always have to worry about where I will chain my bike. Will it be there when I get back? It makes a tempting target!

I also continue to ride recreationally. I did a 36 mile ride last week, and I am slowly working my way up Doi Suthep mountain. Although that is going to take a while yet! I have put over 700 miles on my bike in the two months that I have owned it.

This morning I was going to go go for a long ride, but when I got up, I just couldn't seem to get going. Oh well, two steps forward, one step back!