July Chillin'

Adrian: Einstein flunked out of school, twice.

Paulie: Is that so?

Adrian: Yeah. Beethoven was deaf. Helen Keller was blind. I think Rocky’s got a good chance.

-        Rocky

The past few weeks have been fairly mellow as I have to start saving up for my travels after the term ends. Luckily I’ve had a few things to keep me busy.

1.            Figuring out my travel plans. Mom and Dad are coming to visit after I finish teaching! We’ll do some time in Thailand and then in Vietnam. After they leave I’m off to Indonesia, back to Thailand to grab my stuff, and then home! Needs some logistical work.

2.            Figuring out life after Thailand. I think I want to start teaching in America starting in fall 2015 but that leaves me a good deal of time to do something else. I want to go abroad somewhere again and hopefully teach. If not, I’ve heard of people being au pairs. This seems to be a female-dominated job market but I’m not deterred. I’ve started an online profile to hopefully become a “bropair.” We’ll see how this pans out.

3.            Figure out how to do a handstand. Handstands terrify me. I have no idea why. I think it’s the fear of falling over. Anyway my goal is to do a walking handstand before I leave. If all those crossfit guys can do it, so can I.

What’s up Doc?

I recently ran out of eye drops. This wasn’t a big deal at first. But I woke up one day and couldn’t open my eyes because of all the crust, so I figured I might need to get back on the wagon.

While most prescription medicine can be purchased over the counter, these drops are super special so you need to get them at a hospital. I had been to hospitals before but had always gone with someone who knew Thai. Since I’ve been here 9 months, I figured it was time to attempt this by myself.

Hospitals are essentially like large doctors’ offices, except with way more steps. You go to the front desk and tell them your problem. They then send you to a desk for that specific ailment. You wait in line. You explain your problem at the new desk. You wait again. Then you get some preliminary tests done. More waiting. Then you see the doctor. Another wait session and you get your medicine.

It’s a bit of gauntlet but it’s public and cheap (a doctor’s visit will typically cost $10 without any insurance). Some funny observations.

-        There were so many people in the hospital with loaves of bread. I don’t know if this is a common snack, or if they were selling them, or what. Maybe it’s go-to hospital food.

-        I had to get a vision test while I was there. It’s the one where you cover an eye and read letters off a line, like “ DHSUEJFK.” Since my eyes suck so much, I couldn’t see the line at all. The nurses thought this was very funny. The secondary test involved the nurse putting her hand in front of my face and asking how many fingers she had up. Naturally, being a near-sighted pro, I crushed the test.

-        The doctor was cool and said that they had the drops in stock. She asked how many I wanted. This blew my mind. Normally in the US prescriptions are doled out on a short term basis. Since Thai medicine is generally very cheap, I saw this as an opportunity to stock up. I enthusiastically asked for several boxes. The pharmacist told me this would be 8000 baht. I asked them if they made a mistake and meant 800 baht. Nope. What I would typically get in the States (with insurance) was doubled here. Dismayed, I ordered just enough to last me until I get home. You can’t have it all.

Wax on, wax off

The most recent buzz around the school is preparation for Sports Day. It’s really Sports “Days,” as it’s like a school Olympics that takes places over three days. Throughout the school you can see students practicing volleyball, basketball, banging drums, soccer, singing, dancing, martial arts, and texting.

With the honing of these skills being incredibly crucial to a successful sports day, almost half the classes are cancelled each day so that students can practice. Sports!

I was told I am on the yellow team, which I have to yet to find out what that actually entails. Hopefully I’ll find out at the opening ceremony, which is on the last day of activities. That wasn’t a typo; the opening ceremony is on the last day. Sports!

Mark