Day Trip to Burma, at the Burmese Market

Weekly Catch

Last week i went to stay in my friend's village for one week. We had a great time there and it was very humbling to stay with his family, while experiencing the daily life in the village.

I would like to move there next year. There are some people there who wish to help me to get a job beginning next school year (May 2010).
The village is located 25 minutes by car from the eastern city of Udon Thani. I have to say, i haven't felt heat like being in Udon since i was in West Africa.

We plan to go back to the village December 25th and stay 2 weeks.

So, this photo above is my friends house and the rest are some photos from the village. I deleted the photos of me and my friend by mistake, so next trip i will have some photos of us on my next village adventure.

Endurance Training

Since June 1 2009, I have been training 5 days a week in the gym across the street with Dave. Dave is very knowledgeable about training and fitness and I am so lucky to be training with him. He has numerous certificates in sports training and knows how to build and strengthen every muscle in the body.
I feel that I am becoming addicted to the endurance training. The way I feel after the 1.5 hour or 3 hour workout is what I crave, as well as the results that follow.
I have decided now to join a newly built gym called Powerhouse Gym here in Chiang Mai. It is a worldwide chain and is the first branch to open in Thailand. It will cost me about ฿8,000 for 1 year (Student Discount), which comes out to about $235.00; about $19.58 a month.

Photography Catch of the Day Around My Neighborhood

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly. - Buddha ...

Me, Dave, and my friends from Chiang Mai and Philippines

Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace. - Buddha

Reflections

Since arriving in Thailand in February this year, I feel I have grown very much. I am feeling very comfortable here in Chiang Mai and feel I could stay for many years. I have not experienced a feeling of homesickness, nor do I miss my lifestyle in Boston. Not yet have a felt, oh I miss it.
What I do miss is my friends and family, but we are used to being apart also and it feels great to be following my dream to live in Asia and create a life here. There are many jobs here for teaching and there will never be a shortage. It is necessary to live a simple life here though, and I have no problem for doing that. I feel like everything that I have gone through before in my life has prepared me to live in Asia for a extended amount of time.

I haven't been feeling very inspired for photography lately, but recently in the past few days I have been feeling the creative urges starting to happen, so I will be having more stories and photographs of where I am living in the next few months.
Many things are changing for me here, I am moving into a new apartment beginning August 1st. It is a new apartment building and I am renting about the same size studio apartment as I have now, except everything is brand new, it is on the top floor; 8th floor, and it has an amazing view of the West sunset; the entire mountain range. So when I am on my balcony I can sit and drink tea, do my homework writing papers and doing research, and contemplate how to continue educating myself as much as possible.
There are numerous opportunities to educate myself here in Chiang Mai. They have language centers all over, cooking schools, traditional thai massage schools, and easy access to Chiang Mai University which has many opportunities to take a ny class i choose.
After living abroad for sometime now, I have realized fully just how important education is. So I am dedicating all of my time to Education and helping to educate others as well. This is my purpose here and I will succeed. I hope you all support me in my decisions.

More to come...

Bachelors Degree

I haven't been posting because I have realized that I got bored with it, I do not have many readers i guess. Anyways, I will update periodically. At the moment, I am finishing my Bachelors Degree and have considered my self a full time student until November 2011. I have changed my degree to Bachelors of Fine Arts in Web Design.
My graduation date has been extended because I did change my University from University of Phoenix to American Intercontinental University. It is an international university and they are really great as they have live online lectures with the professor, and it feels like you are in a classroom. I am using student loans and because i will not be working the the US this year I should receive financial aid beginning next year. If any of you readers would like to donate to my education fund, it would be greatly appreciated, a little goes a long way here.
My PayPal email address is lukejoshua8@gmail.com
I am working part time at a language school preparing students for the international english tests to be able to study or work abroad. I do not make too much money for now, but it is just enough.
I will try to take more photos soon when I get more time, and I will have more photos being posted soon.

Decisions

So I decided not to take the job at the NAVA Language School. The situation was that I would have to travel to 5 different schools, every week, quite far from where I live. I realized this would be a huge hassle for me and I would spend a quarter of my earnings just on transportation.
I feel a little disappointed in myself, but i realize that another opportunity will come my way. I will take a different approach this time. After this experience I have decided that I want to try and get a position preparing young adults and adults to take the TOEFL tests to go study abroad. Every university or company requires that everyone pass the TOEFL test with a certain score.
So that's the update of my first teaching interview and job offer. Im sure there will be another soon.

NAVA Language School

Well, today I went to the interview at NAVA English School and I technically have the job. Tomorrow I have to go and teach a demo lesson at a school about 20 kilometers away. That kinda sucks, but hey, I want to experience and this is a good job because they provide all the materials and most of the lesson material. The lead teacher who hired me is from the UK and he was very helpful.
So I will have another update tomorrow about how the demo teaching lesson went. I am very nervous, but I have a very good idea of how I want to the lesson to go. #1 importance, keep the kids entertained. This should be interesting.

Chiang Mai Language School

After arriving from Malaysia, I have been looking for a job in a Language School. 5 days before my trip to Malaysia, I had a serious throat infection and it felt like I had 2nd degree burns in my throat. This infection generally lasted about 1 week exactly. I went to the hospital before I went to Malaysia and received a note from the doctor that I had been evaluated and did not have the swine flu. He also supplied me with very strong antibiotics.
After 7 days on the antibiotics, I had an allergic reaction and had red spots all over my torso all the way up to my neck... it was disgusting. It didn't itch or anything, but looked hideous especially on my arms and neck and I was hiding for 4 days.
So, my first experience in Malaysia was not the best but my Malay friends were so amazing and kind and helped me so much. I will have more updates soon about my job search process.

Road Trip to Chiang Rai

Last Wednesday, I went on a short road trip with my friend from Chiang Mai, 3 hours north to the next city of Chiang Rai. Yes, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai are very similar, but very different places. My friend is a pharmacist and had to do some conference and work in a hospital in Chiang Rai and invited me to go along.

I took the opportunity to see more of the area and joined him. I drank too much coffee on the way, and I had to stop a few times to hit the love toilet. We had a great time, even though Chiang Rai is a bit small and not much happening, I enjoyed the sights along the way and seeing many different parts of rural northern Thailand.
I will be leaving Friday May 8 to fly to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia to report to immigration, I will stay 2 nights and fly back to Chiang Mai on Sunday May 10.

Between Chiang Mai and Bangkok

Travel Update

I just booked a flight to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, departing May 8 and returning May 10; a direct flight from Chiang Mai and I am required to report to immigration on May 10, so it is a perfect time.
Air Asia had a weekend promotion, and I took the opportunity to travel to Malaysia. American citizens do not need a VISA for Malaysia so it is very convenient for me to just go. I have a friend there, and he told me that he is going to his hometown that weekend and invited me to go along; very exciting! I have been blessed to have an experience in Asia that is not a tourist experience, it is much more educational and enriching.
One of my goals for being in Asia, is to see every country in Asia and make my way to live here long term. The energy here is very good and I cannot imagine leaving. I have been here 3 months already, and I have learned so much.
I have transferred to another University. I have been accepted to American Intercontinental University for a BFA in Web Design and will begin classes on Monday. I am applying for financial aid assistance and student loans also; any other small donations would be appreciated and would go a long way here for my education;
My PayPal email is lukejoshua8@gmail.com
I also plan to begin a 6 week Thai language course in June which costs $100.00 and any donations for that would be appreciated too.

Back in Chiang Mai Now/April 20

I arrived in Chiang Mai last night Monday April 20, and I am happy to be back and see my friends here. I miss my friends that I traveled with to the National Park, but we are not so far away, I will see them again.
The last posts were not really in order.

Koh Surin Trip

Songtaew Experience-Koh Samui

Bangkok

Koh Samui to Chiang Mai

We left the National Park a few days early because we felt adventurous. We went separate directions, I went to Koh Samui, and my friends went to Koh Phuket because they had to be back in Bangkok early.

I arrived 30 minutes early to the ferry (7:00 am) and had a few minutes to get some breakfast at a street cafe.


I caught some great deal online for flights from Surat Thani to Bangkok, then from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. The total flight cost from Surat thani was 1400 baht one way. I felt so happy and lucky to get those prices. that's what I get for checking the air Asia website daily, or hourly when I have a planned trip.

Koh Samui was relatively uneventful, just a time to relax and enjoy the end of my vacation before I will begin working. It was the regular routine getting from Koh Samui to the Surat thani Airport; Taxi Minivan, Boat, Bus. My flight left Surat Thani at 1:30 and I arrived in Bangkok 45 minutes later, we were somehow 15 minutes ahead of schedule.