Aloha!!! The friendly Hawaiian greeting was heard all over the island during our trip. It was often followed by Mahalo, which is Hawaiian for thank you. We flew into the city of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. Our trip included beach bumming on Waikiki, surfing, biking, stand up paddling, and was capped off by visiting the picturesque north shore of Oahu.
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Hang Ten in Hawaii
Upon my arrival to Thailand I was immediately inundated with friendly faces. The amount of those faces only increased during my sojourn in Thailand. This is a short video of some of those great faces.
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The Friendly Faces of Thailand
Taipei Public Hot Springs
Amazing it was to see people marinating in 46 C (115 F) degree water and conversing so effortlessly. As I have always been a fan of natural hot springs, I glided up to the 4th and hottest level of the springs looking forward to the challenge. I placed my foot in and without consciously moving, I looked down to see my foot had jumped out of the water and was back on the side of the pool. After a short delay, the temperature finally registered with my brain. It was the kind of hot that feels like bee stings. I took one last glance at the Taiwanese sitting in this pool of bee stings and internally waved the white flag. I proceeded to walk down to the 3rd level of the hot springs and soaked in all the benefits of the sulfurous water for the rest of the evening.
Hot Springs Level 1
Taiwan is world renowned for its hot springs. The waters in Taipei are acidic sulphate chloride and are only found in 2 places in Asia, Taiwan and Japan. This was my first of many visits to Taipei City’s Beitou hot springs, which is extremely popular with the locals and foreigners due to its ease of location. Taipei’s largest public hot springs can be accessed by the Taipei metro system. Simply catch the red line to Xinbeitou MRT Station and walk straight for 10 minutes. Perhaps the greatest draw is the affordable price of 40 NT ($1.30). If you don’t want to boil in 115 F water you are in luck as the facility offers 4 different temperature pools, showers, cold tubs, and lockers. The springs are open daily from 5:30am – 10pm with 30 minute breaks every 2 hours fro cleaning.
Green Island Saltwater Hot Springs
In addition to Taipei, Taiwan’s Green Island is one of only 3 saltwater hot springs in the world. The other 2 are in Italy and Japan. Although I enjoyed the saltwater hot springs, Green Island can be problematic and time consuming to get to for those on a schedule. Unless you are a hot springs enthusiast, I would suggest passing on making the journey to Taiwan’s Green Island hot springs.
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I learned a lot about hot springs etiquette and would like to share the following for future travelers to hot springs. There is nothing better than a culturally aware tourist.
Wash your body before entering the pool.
Do not wash your face or hair in the pool as it is considered rude.
Enter the pool slowly to avoid causing water turbulence.
Do not speak loudly.
Leave drinking water outside of the pool.
“Warm up” by pouring water on your feet before stepping into the pool
Towels can be used to wrap your head while in the pool to help mitigate the temperature difference between body and head
Enjoy your next soaking in Taiwan or at your local hot tub.
My travels to northern India included visiting the cities of Uttarkashi, Rishikesh, Gangotri and a trek to Gaumukh Glacier (one source of the Ganges river). Here is a video journal of my experience.
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Northern India
My students and I at the senior farewell party.
“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” ― Theodore Roosevelt
One year of teaching under my belt and I now want to go back and apologize to any of my teachers that I gave trouble to. The great human beings that have been teaching 5,10, or 30 years I am in awe of you. Of course teaching is one of the most rewarding professions as well. Developing a relationship with students and watching them mature provides unparalleled fulfillment. Knowing the ideas and images you impart can transcend your lifetime is a great feeling but moreover, one that I have learned requires a profound magnitude of responsibility. I initially thought that with training, anybody could be a teacher. However, I have had to re-evaluate this position after my experience.
Senior Farewell Party
The option of teaching is an attractive one for several reasons. As a teacher you possess the tremendous power of making yourself an instrument of inspiration. The malleable minds of tomorrow leaders eagerly greet you each morning with a smile ready to soak up your raining of ideas, art, and intellect. In addition to this, teaching also provides you a way to travel the world. No longer do you have to scratch the surface of a culture by visiting for a few vacation days, you can submerge yourself in that culture by meshing with the unfiltered minds of the youth. Being vigilant everyday may result in that rebellious student in the back row to make a stand for peace as the president of the country one day.
Last Day of Class
On the other hand, I have become astutely aware of the long hours spent lesson planning, grading, and helping students deal personal issues. You can exhaust yourself championing for a new textbook only to have to capitulate to the inferior one your administration makes you use. Furthermore, being responsible for the minds of a future generation places additional moral weight on one’s consciousness. Once you develop a lesson plan you can spend hours contemplating is it right? What if I change it to a group activity? What if I am running short on time? If this student fails, will his family be able to afford for him to retake the course? As a result of some of these reasons I believe teaching is an internal calling that some develop or are born with. You have to feel called in order to welcome the responsibility of impacting the future of the world. Perhaps what you share today will decide if a young man becomes a murderer or a life saving heart surgeon.
Last Night at the University
In the end, the decision to teach or not is a multi-faceted one that should only be decided by yourself. Teaching can provide an exuberant sense of satisfaction or a detrimental amount of despair. Although I enjoyed my experience and my students and staff believe I did an excellent job, I am not sure if I have that innate calling to make teaching a career. Nonetheless, if you remotely think you have this calling I say go for it. It is better than not knowing.
What started off as a quiet festival where water was sprinkled on the hands of family members to wish them luck, has catapulted to annual water warfare on the scale of 2 submarines fighting for the last watering hole in the universe.
Songkran Festival | Thai New Year
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Security. Advancement. Good salary. Am I really going to quit this good paying engineering job? These were just a few of the many thoughts whirling through my mind around this time last year. Leaving my job was uncomfortable, but deciding to leave my job, the States and everything I’d known for the past twenty-eight years was just crazy. Amidst the farewells and the going away parties I’d sometimes think, it would be cool if I could bring my friends with me for a while. Several of my friends and family said “We’re coming as soon as you get settled.” I would smile and then the pessimism would take over. Okay, sure. They don’t realize that it takes two days to get there. Plus, how’re you going to get enough vacation time to make the trip worthwhile? American workers receive little vacation compared to other countries where 6 weeks of paid leave, national holidays, and gap years are the norm. Perhaps that culture of constant work is what has made the country so great. However, it can be deflating to the travel’s spirit when you see co-workers acquiescing to that culture by bragging about staying at the office late or not using their allotted vacation time. I didn’t want to get to the end of my life with a long list of what ifs, so I set off on my journey with hopes of seeing my friends abroad. I didn’t want to be disappointed, so I didn’t set my hopes too high. In spite of my quiet skepticism, my friends starting showing up in Thailand less than a month after I arrived.
First, it was the fellas trip to Bangkok. I was surprised to have visitors so early. I had not yet explored any of the city myself. However, after 2 consecutive nights of greeting the sun, I acquired a fair amount of knowledge in regards to Bangkok nightlife. Next, my childhood best friend, his wife, and 2 more friends formed the second group. That 2-day flight must be getting shorter. Not only did the second group visit, but my students were fortunate enough to receive guest lectures from them. My heart soared with pride as I also sat in the back of the class and listened to my friends lecture. For many of the students these were the first minority Americans they had spoken with beside myself. Subsequent to the second group, the girls arrived in a pack of 6. I thought I had experienced most of the city and then one Saturday afternoon I found myself with an apron on in a Thai cooking class with the girls. The culmination of the visits was greeting my mom and sister at Suvarnabhumi (Bangkok) Airport this past month. While waiting for them at the airport I had a ball of exciting/nervous energy bouncing around inside of me. It is the same sort of ball that bounces inside of you before a sporting competition. Comparable to the energy at the start of a game, once they arrived it was indeed invigorating. I had some Bangkok firsts with the family including a massage at the high end Healthland and a dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya River. The smile I had on my face was in concrete.
I met the majority of my friends while in college. The gratitude I have for them and my family cannot be expressed in a language. They have always been there for me and encouraged me to travel, from my father taking me on my first airplane ride, to a college friend providing a free room in Singapore. My appreciation has only grown by being away from the majority of them for the past year. I do not take my friends for granted. I realize that some people are not as fortunate. When I lived in the States, I would take as many trips as I could. I had a co-worker that would always ask “Who are you going there with this time?” In a knee jerk manner, I would reply “My friends from school.” He would just look at me blankly and say “I don’t keep in contact with any people from my college.” These same friends started traveling to Thailand and I am grateful for all the visits. I am clearly aware of all the financial, and time sacrifices required to travel across the world.
I am still amazed at the willingness of my friends and family to spend 2 days traveling to come visit me in Thailand. Thanks for proving my initial pessimism incorrect. Thank you more so for the splendid memories that can’t be taken from me. Having so many visitors reminds me of a quote from by best friend’s stepfather, “If you need help on the moon, I’ll be on the next thing going to the moon.” I feel like my friends and family would go to the moon for me and I the same for them.
Cheers to (in order of visit)
Jared, Marcus, Brayboy, Melvin, Asha, Smitty, Britni, Joce, Eb, Jen, Robyn, Kia, Kelly, Mom, MyyA, & Shanita (aka Zenobia)
I am always trying to add to the list. Who is next?
Ruru, Shannon, Debra, Lawrence, Kentae…
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“So how many of y’all coming?” “Six!” I grinned and thought to myself the more the merrier. So what do you do when six friends come to visit you in Thailand? Well the team captain, Jocelyn, did most of the work so I can’t take any credit. The pictures above capture some of our experience.
The activities included:
1) A cooking class at the Silom Thai Cooking School
2) Volkswagen Bar hopping on Sukhumvit Soi 11
3) Khaosan Rd Bargaining
4) Dancing in the middle of Bangla Road in Phuket
5) Sunbathing on Koh Phi Phi Island
6) A trip to Jatujak Weekend Market
7) Numerous Thai Massages
Thank you Jocelyn, Kelly, Jen, Kia, Eb & Robyn for visiting.
I enjoyed you guys. Come back soon.
“Teacher, teacher, catch it, catch it.” “It’s not catch it’s hold,” I corrected her. They then proceeded to yell, “HOLD” in unison. “Wish, wish, teacher.” Everybody closed their eyes and made a wish before we let the khom go. The khom is a type of floating lantern used in Thai culture for the celebration of several festivals, one of which is Loi Krathong. Loi krathong is an annual Thai festival where people thank the Goddess of water, Phra Mae Khongkha. People participate in the festival by placing intricately decorated “floating crowns” in a body of water or releasing khoms into the majestic night skies. Lastly, a beauty contest accompanies many Loi Krathong celebrations. Wouldn’t you know it, one of my students, Ploy, won the beauty contest for the celebration at Kasetsart University. Below is a video of Ploy, my students, and myself releasing a khom. The video captures me practicing my Thai speaking skills as well. Enjoy!
As with any decision in life, sometimes it simply does not turn out to be as great as you expected. I spontaneously went to Singapore while on holiday recently. A clean, sprawling, and somewhat expensive metropolis were characteristics shared with me by other visitors I had met while on the road. Add a free place to stay, thanks to a fellow Aggie Alum, and it would have been sacrilegious not to go check out all the hype about Singapore.
I had read that Singapore was expensive but experiencing the costs was the equivalent of paying back a student loan for taking courses you had no interest in. Singapore is ranked as the 6th most expensive city in the world according to CNN Travel. Granted, coming from Thailand, where the cost of living is relatively cheap did not help with the cost culture shock, but some prices were just unexplainable.
The first price shock occurred at the Marina Sands Bay Hotel. A visit to the 70th floor rooftop bar of this hotel is a requirement for any traveler to this city. It is a spectacular view of a modern, cosmopolitan city. It was as if the Jetsons cartoon had come to fruition. Where were Elroy and Astro? I unenthusiastically purchased an $18 corona to enjoy the view with. I sipped the corona so slowly that the beer became warm with over half of it left.
Next, I proceeded to the famous Raffles hotel with the expectation of having a drink named after the city, a Singapore sling (mix drink). However, after being informed that it was $28, I decided I would not enjoy the drink if I bought it for that price and decided to leave.
Outside of the cost of living, Singapore is an anomaly in SE Asia for other reasons as well. The city gives off a “Big Brother” feel. There were cameras on many public streets and all square footage of the subway stations seemed to be covered. I also noticed that no old cars were on the roads. Used cars older than 3 years cannot be imported into the city. In addition, cars can only be owned for 10 years after which they have to be scrapped, exported, or the owner has to partake in a selective renewal bidding process. Lastly, the city does citywide fogging to control mosquitoes. The amount of big brother presence was a little much for my liking.
My favorite part of town was little India. The mixture of street stall smells, Hindu art shops, shoulder to shoulder walking, and gongs ringing provided a unique experience versus other parts of the city. Other places of significance that I enjoyed were the Clarke Quay waterfront eating district, and the famous Orchard road shopping district. The vast amount of high end retailers, and multiple mega malls all within walking distance of each other made Chicago’s Michigan Avenue look average.
Although Singapore does not make my recommendation list of places to visit, each person should form their own opinion. If you would like to visit just be sure to save up a copious amount of sending money.