You Only Live Once

I present some exciting news to you today: I got tattooed last night. Ever since I got here I’ve been thinking about it, and I’ve had design ideas for years and years now. So I decided that it was now or never, and what better time and what better place to do it? My friend Ben got some Chinese mythological characters tattooed on his leg a few nights ago at a traditional bamboo tattooing shop, and we befriended the artists there. These guys are very talented, with immense attention to detail. All health and safety stuff was very much above board, which was the first thing I checked, since I’m utterly paranoid about such things.

The process was pretty painful. The instrument used is composed of a rod with four needles bound together with bamboo, which is then repeatedly poked into your skin for an hour and a half, in my case. Still, it was a thrilling experience. My chest now bears the Latin word “Cantare,” which means “To sing,” in a lovely cursive font. I'm really happy with how it came out. In short, it’s a dedication to and the recognition of the wonder, importance and love that I have for music in my life. Unfortunately, I won’t have time to put a photo of it up on this blog, since I’m leaving for Bangkok tomorrow. I fly home on Friday evening. Hooray! Can’t wait to see everyone!

Love and hugs from me :)

“There is this thing that's like touching, except you don't touch
Back in the day it just went without saying at all
All the world's history gradually dying of shock
There is this thing that's like talking, except you don't talk
You sing, you sing

Sing for the bartender, sing for the janitor, sing
Sing for the cameras, sing for the animals, sing
Sing for the children shooting the children, sing
Sing for the teachers who told you that you couldn't sing
Just sing

There is this thing keeping everyone's lungs and lips locked
It is called fear and it's seeing a great renaissance
…So sing”

- From "Sing" by the Dresden Dolls

The Last Week Approaches

Went out last night to watch a ladyboy cabaret show and then to party on the beach. The show was, erm, interesting. It's quite freaky to realise how good looking some of them are, though that observation may have been intensified by Mojito intake. Still, unless you look at their hands or Adam's apples, you might easily make gender judgement mistakes.

I've realised how settled in I am here on the island, and I've gotten used to the lifestyle. I can see why there are so many ex-pats living here. I really am looking forward to getting home though and seeing everyone. Hopefully I'll be able to some more snorkeling and kayaking over the next few days. Going to be in Bangkok on Thursday and then I fly on Friday.

Into the Third Week

The teaching is going a lot better with the other four volunteers here now - they're a great bunch and it's good to plan lessons together. My feet are covered in mosquito bites. I am reading Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, the guy who wrote Fight Club. His style of writing is pretty damn awesome. Life is good here but I am missing friends, family, Labradors, guitars, music and other things immensely. The weather is much better this week and I am trying to ensure that I come home looking like this:

The Return of the Magical Flip-Flops

My flip-flops returned this morning! I was checking out of the hotel and there they were lying on the ground outside. I have been relocated to a new hotel, and I moved my stuff in this morning. The teaching is going to get a lot busier in the coming week; four more teachers are arriving tomorrow. Hopefully there will be some free time to do more islandy things.

I went snorkeling today with Ben and Nicci. It was a lot of fun, and I saw plenty of interesting things underwater. The weather was quite stormy at one point and I've got some hilarious photos of us all holding onto the sides of the the long boat for dear life. I shall try upload them soon. It was rather thrilling and very enjoyable though, riding the swells in the ocean, and I wanted to shout "Aargh!" a lot.

Photo Time!

As promised, here are some photos of the trip so far:

First night in Bangkok with the other volunteers.

The infamous Khao San Road in Bangkok.

The school that I teach at.

The street that my hotel is on.

Sai Nuan Beach.

Sairee Beach.

Muay Thai Boxing.

Outside the local temple.










In other news: Some nana has taken my flip-flops from outside the hotel. I mean, come on, who steals a pair of flip-flops?

Happy New Year!

I ended up having a unique and awesome New Year's Eve party. I was on the beach until about 2 am drinking Tiger beer, dancing like an idiot, and sending these lovely paper lanterns off into the sky. At one point there were about fifty or sixty of lanterns in the sky - all sent up from various points on the main beach from each bar. It was so wonderful and beautiful to watch these great, golden orbs flow through the night and to hear people shout and cheer in celebration. Seriously, there's nothing like a beach party with a good vibe. After that I hung out in an odd little bar that was playing James Brown at full volume and made friends with a girl from Amsterdam. Spent the rest of the evening playing Simon & Garfunkel songs on the beach on her guitar with a bunch of passersby, but we were all too drunk to remember more than about two lines of the lyrics from each song that we played. Got home at 5:30 am and slept like a zombie. I am now starving and in desperate need of a greasy breakfast.

Hope everyone had grand New Year's Eve celebrations! :) I didn't take any photographs last night - taking a camera with me and worrying about losing it was not what I wanted - but I promise that a photo blog entry of my trip so far is coming soon to a cinema near you.

Northern Downpour Sends Its Love

Bugger, it's New Year's Eve and it's been raining all morning. Here's to hoping that the weather improves so that some partying may be done this evening! I'm off for the next few days and the weekend; the little monsters at school are now on holiday for the New Year.

I have eaten some very strange things lately. Gustaf (another i-to-i volunteer here) won his first Muay Thai boxing match the other night - it was a great fight. Other than that, just been living life on the island, and it's going pretty well.

Happy New Year, all :D