Work

After a long week of training and then a four day weekend I taught my first class this morning. I'm happy to say that the students enjoyed it and I'm glad to have gotten over the nerves of the first day at work. So much has happened since my last post that it is hard to know where to start... The Songkran Festival is probably not a bad place to begin.

The Thai New year, also known as Songkran is celebrated between the 13th and 15th of April. Traditionally, Songkran is time to pay respects to your elders. However, in recent times it is more commonly associated with giant water fights. It is the hottest time of the year in Thailand so getting buckets of water dumped on you is usually a welcome gesture.  I was often targeted by drive-by's with pick-up trucks full of teenagers throwing water at me. Fortunately, I armed myself with a super soaker so I was not completely helpless. I also tried to make sure to fill it with water from a cooler full of ice water (this got way better reactions, since people were usually unfazed  by the lukewarm water from the tap).  On the first day I went to Silom road, which is a major thoroughfare that was closed to car traffic during the festival. I'd estimate that there were several hundred thousand people on the road, which is four lanes wide and about a mile and half long. There were so many people packed into this space that once you got into the crowd there was pressure on you from all sides. It took my friend Austin and I about a half an hour just to move one block. We were two Farangs in a sea of Thai people. Since both Austin and I are taller than your average Thai we stuck out like sore thumbs. Also along for the ride was Allister, a short British fellow who seemed to be quite claustrophobic in the crowd. Fortunately for him he was not as easy to spot as Austin or I. On one occasion I was held back by four Thai guys while two of their friends dumped a cooler of ice water down my back. This last encounter was all in good fun, but later on in the day I experienced a more disturbing encounter in which a lady boy attempted to grope me below the belt. Fortunately, I was able to make a swim move to escape in the crowd before I was fully violated.  Overall, Songkran was probably the craziest festival I've ever been to. Although, I was often pointed out as the Farang who needed to be soaked I never felt it was negatively discriminated against. Maybe that's because Thais tend to do everything with a smile. Nevertheless, it was a pretty kick-ass festival with the one exception of being semi-violated by a lady boy. Anyway, it's about time to get back to work. Hopefully, I'll have time to post more soon...