My introduction to Thailand could not begin until I completed an arduous 30-hour journey through the friendly skies. Leaving the warm January breezes of Rochester was tough, but I managed to summon the strength to push on by reminding myself that I would have the option of stepping into a meat freezer if I really missed upstate New York. I entered the Rochester "International"Airport and, after a slightly panicked duct-taping of my pack, checked my bag through to Bangkok. With the abundance of black adhesive on my bag, I was well on my way to fulfilling the vagabond stereotype.
My flight from Rochester to Chicago (the easy leg of the trip?) was delayed for two hours because two de-icing trucks ran out of pink stuff and a third broke down. Let's see, freezing rain was coming down all night and you didn't think it might be advisable to stock up? I managed to squeeze myself into my spacious middle seat and, because of my brain-dead state following the 5:30 wake-up call, proceeded to channel my inner-David Puddy and blankly stare at the seat in front of me. The conversational options flanking me were a girl clad head-to-toe in black listening to music that sounded like a seal giving birth and an older woman who was already deep in conversation with the small canine in her carry-on. I think my actions (or lack thereof) were warranted given the situation.
Luckily, my connecting flight to Tokyo wasn't until noon so I was either going to sit on the plane or in the terminal at O'Hare. Despite the delay, I had enough time to peruse the newsstand and learn that Angelina Jolie wants more kids and Reese Witherspoon and Jake Gyllenhal went on a date. Good to know. As I approached the gate for the Toyko flight, I was greeted by a procession of firefighters as they exited the same jet way that I was to enter in a few minutes. Probably not a good sign when they are putting out fires next to your gate.
Despite this ominous sign, I pushed on and boarded the plane. Once in a blue moon, I do get some good luck thrown my way and this came in the form of an inexplicable upgrade to business class (Thank you Stephanie). Sitting on the 747 with people who likely paid much more for their seats than the unemployed paralegal, I had a fleeting moment of optimism (rare for me, I know) and settled in for an enjoyable flight. When I saw that the movie selections consisted of "Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2" (2?), "The Duchess," and "College Road Trip (featuring the incomparable Ice Cube), I abruptly snapped back to reality (albeit a business class reality) and hoped my Ipod would last 14 hours.
Despite this ominous sign, I pushed on and boarded the plane. Once in a blue moon, I do get some good luck thrown my way and this came in the form of an inexplicable upgrade to business class (Thank you Stephanie). Sitting on the 747 with people who likely paid much more for their seats than the unemployed paralegal, I had a fleeting moment of optimism (rare for me, I know) and settled in for an enjoyable flight. When I saw that the movie selections consisted of "Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2" (2?), "The Duchess," and "College Road Trip (featuring the incomparable Ice Cube), I abruptly snapped back to reality (albeit a business class reality) and hoped my Ipod would last 14 hours.
The flight to Tokyo and subsequent trip to Bangkok were uneventful, save for me forgetting my water bottle when exiting the plane and not remembering until two hours later (Asia: 1 Alex: 0). Upon stepping out into the thick, steamy Bangkok night, I quickly surmised that I could lose the fleece that I had been using on the freezing planes for the last day and a half (glad to see that Yale education is good for something). I got a few hours of sleep at the hotel, took a hot shower (last one of those for a long time), and boarded the flight to Krabi the next morning. Because of the jet lag, the only thing I remember from that short trip was the attractiveness of the Thai Airways flight attendants (two enthusiastic thumbs up). I was met by a GVI staff member at the airport and proceeded to meet the rest of the group of teacher hopefuls in town and pack up the caravan for the drive out to Ao Luk.
Since I am playing catch-up with the blog entries (and because a group of teenage boys has commandeered the entire Internet cafe to play a computer game that consists of shooting each other on the screen and screaming at each other three feet from my ear), I will end here and fill you in next time on my first week of teaching. I assure you that my efforts at educating the friendly people of Ao Luk will not be devoid of funny and/or embarrassing moments. I will also try to figure out how to put some pictures up. Luckily, I am in an Internet cafe in rural Thailand so I can just ask if I need help.
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