Bangkok has so many weird and wonderful sights. Skinned, headless chickens hang from eatery windows. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw a wax monk meditating  in a store window, amongst hundreds of Buddhist statues. It looked so incredibly real, I almost wondered if maybe he had been embalmed. Every detail, from the slight stubble on his cheek, looked so life-like.

People nap everwhere – on the floor, on benches, in their food cart. I saw a man sawing a block of ice; another was selling lottery tickets, and other sold keys of every imaginable size and shape. Continue reading ›

Filed under: Travel

A perk of travelling: all the stunning sights.

That’s a tough one. It sounds so glamorous, doesn’t it? And  it definitely has its rewards. Teaching on a camp in Phuket, for instance, I’ve got to do some really fun things. Since my 30th I’ve been determined to try everything that comes my way. (Forget the Yes Man, I am the Yes Girl!).

I put on a harness and climbed a pole (with steel grips) about the length of a telephone pole, trying not to look down, and muttering under my breath: I WILL do this, I WILL do this! And I made it to the top! And then… I had to let go.
Continue reading ›

Filed under: Travel

Some of the kids I teach are ridiculously wealthy. One boy (Tiger) says his family owns several convertibles in a very blasé, offhand way like it’s no big deal.

They have all these little accessories that they attach to the phones so when I collect them before bed I’m literally weighed down by phones with their teddy bear/fake banana/diamond-studded accessories.  Continue reading ›

Filed under: Teaching, Travel

Can you believe Switzerland just beat Spain at the Soccer World Cup? Spain who is (I think) rated second to Brazil? What’s interesting is that the teams we thought would win by a landslide aren’t performing as well as we expected, and the underdogs are giving them a run for their money. Continue reading ›

Filed under: Lifestyle

Foreign kids are, well, foreign. Roman (another Russian – no surprise there) has me in stitches most of the time. When the sports coach suggested he do some press-ups he said: “Pah!” and shaked his head, with a disgusted look, as if this was the most absurd thing he’d ever heard.

He also said he drank a whole bottle of champagne (directly from the bottle) on New Years Eve, without realizing what it was. “Ven I discovered it vas alcohol I threw it in ze bin!” he said. Continue reading ›

Filed under: Teaching, Travel

We went to Wat Chalong, beautiful temples in Phuket. I love seeing the Thais stick gold paper onto statues of monks, the bowls filled with orchids, and the way they reverently light incense and candles.

Had to shake these sticks and the stick that fell on the ground had my lucky number. A Thai lady  translated my fortune, which said I would lose all my money. Which I promptly did by donating money at Big Buddha… Continue reading ›

Filed under: Teaching, Travel

Life continues at the summer camp in Phuket, Thailand, where I’m teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL – this industry is full of acronyms). While it can be tough, teaching definitely has its upsides… Continue reading ›

Filed under: Teaching, Travel