Hello everybody! Sheena and I have changed countries since I last updated. We're outside Kunming, China in Yunnan province. We're in a quaint little Chinese mountain town which we're having a lot of fun exploring. My friend Sterling has graciously offered to update my blog for me through e-mail since the Chinese government goes a little crazy with information control and censors blogspot.com (as well as wikipedia & the BBC!).
We've also had a change of plans. We had originally intended to make for Beijing so we could live cheaply and work on creative projects and our respective portfolios, perhaps teaching English on the side to support ourselves. Sadly, I had a bit of a fiasco with my student loans and it looks like I won't be able to afford to stay in China any longer. All good things must come to an end, though.
Once I realized that the end was fast approaching, I found that I was okay with it. I have had an amazing trip full of unforgettable escapades, and Sheena has loved her first overseas experience as well. I really miss friends and family; in fact that's the thing I'm most looking forward to upon returning (that and pizza). While I am a little bummed out that I'll have to get a real job, start shaving again and look (moderately) respectable, going home will be culture shock all over again, in a good way. And it gives us an excuse to begin dreaming of our next adventure.
Expect to see Sheena and I back home mid to late February. Look forward to seeing everybody!"
Thanks for posting that dross, Ster.
-Zac
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas!
Happy Holidays, everybody! I heard that Idaho got a sorta-white Christmas, which is better than nothing. It's certainly better than the warm-and-sunny-with-slight-chance-of-showers Christmas that we had here. We had a very difficult time remembering that it was actually supposed to be Christmas. In our local 7-11 (which are multitudinous in Thailand, by the way) they had some tinsel hanging around the shop and Christmas lights around the cigarette case. That was our first indication, other than the calendar date, that Christmas was approaching.
The Peltons (the missionaries who had us over for Thanksgiving) invited us for Christmas dinner. We had traditional American food which was a nice break from stir fried veggies and rice. Not that stir fry isn't an integral part of every holiday meal. But it was very nice of them and we had a great time.
Sheena employed her 4 years of art education to make the beauty you see pictured below, which added a very "Christmasy" feel to the house we were staying in. It was a nice reminder that the holidays were near.
In other news, we are planning on heading to China very soon. On the 30th we fly from Bangkok to Shenzhen, where we'll meet up with one of our NNU buddies, Isaac Stone, who has been living there teaching English for the last year and a half. We'll spend New Year's Eve there
before heading up to Beijing. The scheme is to get jobs teaching English on the side while working on various and sundry creative projects to build our respective portfolios and digest the place we'll be living in. Beijing should be a very interesting city with the Olympics on their way this August.
Here are a few pictures of things we've done in the past month:
Our Christmas tree (Sheena made it).
Sheena, right before punching me for taking a photo of her.
The outside of Un's house, where we stay. The bamboo makes it feel so delightfully Asian.
A traditional Thai kitchen. Propane stove, rice cooker, & a mortar/pestle combo. And no oven, to Sheena's infinite chagrin.
An old temple in Chiang Mai City.
A young girl decked out in Northern Thai dress. She sits on one of the 309 steps that lead to the summit of the mountain where Wat (Temple) Doi Suthep sits.
A wall fresco at the aforementioned Wat Doi Suthep. Pretty old, we think, but we can't really tell. The temple was founded in 1383, but there's no way to tell how old the present structure is (unless you read Thai, that is).
The Peltons (the missionaries who had us over for Thanksgiving) invited us for Christmas dinner. We had traditional American food which was a nice break from stir fried veggies and rice. Not that stir fry isn't an integral part of every holiday meal. But it was very nice of them and we had a great time.
Sheena employed her 4 years of art education to make the beauty you see pictured below, which added a very "Christmasy" feel to the house we were staying in. It was a nice reminder that the holidays were near.
In other news, we are planning on heading to China very soon. On the 30th we fly from Bangkok to Shenzhen, where we'll meet up with one of our NNU buddies, Isaac Stone, who has been living there teaching English for the last year and a half. We'll spend New Year's Eve there
before heading up to Beijing. The scheme is to get jobs teaching English on the side while working on various and sundry creative projects to build our respective portfolios and digest the place we'll be living in. Beijing should be a very interesting city with the Olympics on their way this August.
Here are a few pictures of things we've done in the past month:
Our Christmas tree (Sheena made it).
Sheena, right before punching me for taking a photo of her.
The outside of Un's house, where we stay. The bamboo makes it feel so delightfully Asian.A traditional Thai kitchen. Propane stove, rice cooker, & a mortar/pestle combo. And no oven, to Sheena's infinite chagrin.
An old temple in Chiang Mai City.
A young girl decked out in Northern Thai dress. She sits on one of the 309 steps that lead to the summit of the mountain where Wat (Temple) Doi Suthep sits.
A wall fresco at the aforementioned Wat Doi Suthep. Pretty old, we think, but we can't really tell. The temple was founded in 1383, but there's no way to tell how old the present structure is (unless you read Thai, that is).Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Happy Holidays
Greetings everyone, and happy Thanksgiving.
Sheena arrived here a couple weeks ago and we've been having a fun, if relatively uneventful time. She stepped off the plane into the humid, perma-summer climate of Bangkok (from snow, no less), so our first stop was the beach. We headed down to a small island in the Thai gulf called Koh Samet.
It was awful.
Well, the island itself was nice, but it was pretty geared towards tourists aged 40-60 who are traveling with a little more cash than we were. Things like a $15 US fee to get onto the beach, karaoke, or the exorbitant taxi fees really put a damper on our time. When you're used to $3 accommodation and $1 meals, 15 bucks to walk on some sand is just stupid. So, we headed up north, post haste!
We decided Chiang Mai was the place for us, at least for now. It is the second largest city in Thailand, though it has a very small town feel. We are staying with a friend of mine, Un, who I met in Tibet 2 years ago. He had a couple spare bedrooms in his family's house and was gracious enough to let us be bums for about 6 weeks.
We start our TEFL class in about a week, which promises to be grueling. Or at least more grueling than sitting my lazy ass on the beach. Sadly, it runs over Christmas, so we'll have to make our own holiday here.
Things have been pretty uneventful since arriving here. We've met many of Un's friends, learned some Thai, ate lots of delicious Thai food, and even gotten the hang of the local mode of transportation: scooters, or mopeds, or motorbikes, depending on your preference.
One of Sheena's friends from college was a missionary kid from Chiang Mai, and her parents are still here. Sheena contacted them, and they've invited us up to their house for Thanksgiving tomorrow. They promise there will be turkey, the closest thing to football they can find, and very little Thai food. Which, believe it or not, does get old after 2 months straight. It will be really nice to have something familiar for the holidays.
Sheena arrived here a couple weeks ago and we've been having a fun, if relatively uneventful time. She stepped off the plane into the humid, perma-summer climate of Bangkok (from snow, no less), so our first stop was the beach. We headed down to a small island in the Thai gulf called Koh Samet.
It was awful.
Well, the island itself was nice, but it was pretty geared towards tourists aged 40-60 who are traveling with a little more cash than we were. Things like a $15 US fee to get onto the beach, karaoke, or the exorbitant taxi fees really put a damper on our time. When you're used to $3 accommodation and $1 meals, 15 bucks to walk on some sand is just stupid. So, we headed up north, post haste!
We decided Chiang Mai was the place for us, at least for now. It is the second largest city in Thailand, though it has a very small town feel. We are staying with a friend of mine, Un, who I met in Tibet 2 years ago. He had a couple spare bedrooms in his family's house and was gracious enough to let us be bums for about 6 weeks.
We start our TEFL class in about a week, which promises to be grueling. Or at least more grueling than sitting my lazy ass on the beach. Sadly, it runs over Christmas, so we'll have to make our own holiday here.
Things have been pretty uneventful since arriving here. We've met many of Un's friends, learned some Thai, ate lots of delicious Thai food, and even gotten the hang of the local mode of transportation: scooters, or mopeds, or motorbikes, depending on your preference.
One of Sheena's friends from college was a missionary kid from Chiang Mai, and her parents are still here. Sheena contacted them, and they've invited us up to their house for Thanksgiving tomorrow. They promise there will be turkey, the closest thing to football they can find, and very little Thai food. Which, believe it or not, does get old after 2 months straight. It will be really nice to have something familiar for the holidays.
Well, feel free to drop me an e-mail, and happy Thanksgiving!
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Laos
At long last, I have found a decent enough Internet cafe to post some pictures of my journey so far. I left the islands in the south of Thailand for Laos about a week ago. It's a staggeringly beautiful country full of rivers, mountains, and caves to explore.
I've been spellunking about in Vangvienne. The mountainside is littered with caves large and small that have been used by monks and by peasants hiding from the Vietnam war (which, as I understand, spilled over into Laos a good deal). Above is Nangyuan island in Thailand.
This friendly monk bears a tattoo from his wild youth, which he tells me was centered around wine, women, and football (soccer). Now he spends all day in his quiet retreat behind a waterfall, reading, learning, and praying.
Poaching is still a problem, so the locals befriend tiger cubs and keep them locked in cages for the entirety of their natural lives. What's worse? Long life in a cage, or a short life free...
This is a real picture, of a real place--honest. I think there was a cosmic oversight on God's part to allow so much beauty in one place.
I've been spellunking about in Vangvienne. The mountainside is littered with caves large and small that have been used by monks and by peasants hiding from the Vietnam war (which, as I understand, spilled over into Laos a good deal). Above is Nangyuan island in Thailand. This friendly monk bears a tattoo from his wild youth, which he tells me was centered around wine, women, and football (soccer). Now he spends all day in his quiet retreat behind a waterfall, reading, learning, and praying.Poaching is still a problem, so the locals befriend tiger cubs and keep them locked in cages for the entirety of their natural lives. What's worse? Long life in a cage, or a short life free...This is a real picture, of a real place--honest. I think there was a cosmic oversight on God's part to allow so much beauty in one place.
A drive-by photo taken from my rented bike as I searched for some caves to explore.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
A Scanner Lacking
Against my will, I have decided to change the way I update my blog. While I liked the idea of having an analog journal, it is just too difficult to come across scanners where I am. So from this point forward, it's going to be text with images or photos thrown in when I'm feeling generous.
Since it has been a while since the last update, a quick rundown: I got to Thailand safely, about 3 weeks ago. I wasted no time in getting down to the island of Koh Tao where I was to meet my former-roommate-Steve for some freediving. We did that and it was fantastic. We learned to dive to 20 meters, or 65 feet, on a single breath of air. And we dove to shallower depths for extended periods of time.
My time as a full fledged tourist was a lot of fun, but I quickly realized what a toll it took on my finances. Since I was last in Thailand (2 years ago), the Thai baht strengthened and the dollar weakened, making what was once 20 dollars equal 30 dollars. Naturally, I didn't check how much I was really spending until I was well over my budget. So I had to come up with a quick plan to remedy my stupidity.
The plan: go to Laos. Laos is a country which borders Thailand on the north and east and has only been out of communism for a short time. It has a really interesting and sad history. It will be cheaper for me to live while I await my TEFL course in Thailand and it is also a really amazing place. My bus leaves in an hour for Vientienne, the capital city. I am not entirely sure where I'll go from there, but I'll keep you all updated.
For now, I'm off to have a bite to eat before heading out. Adios!
Since it has been a while since the last update, a quick rundown: I got to Thailand safely, about 3 weeks ago. I wasted no time in getting down to the island of Koh Tao where I was to meet my former-roommate-Steve for some freediving. We did that and it was fantastic. We learned to dive to 20 meters, or 65 feet, on a single breath of air. And we dove to shallower depths for extended periods of time.
My time as a full fledged tourist was a lot of fun, but I quickly realized what a toll it took on my finances. Since I was last in Thailand (2 years ago), the Thai baht strengthened and the dollar weakened, making what was once 20 dollars equal 30 dollars. Naturally, I didn't check how much I was really spending until I was well over my budget. So I had to come up with a quick plan to remedy my stupidity.
The plan: go to Laos. Laos is a country which borders Thailand on the north and east and has only been out of communism for a short time. It has a really interesting and sad history. It will be cheaper for me to live while I await my TEFL course in Thailand and it is also a really amazing place. My bus leaves in an hour for Vientienne, the capital city. I am not entirely sure where I'll go from there, but I'll keep you all updated.
For now, I'm off to have a bite to eat before heading out. Adios!
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
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