Things I Have Not Done in a Year

In the past year I have not . . .

1) Driven a car.

2) Worn a seatbelt while riding in a car.

3) Used a vacuum.

4) Used a dishwasher.

5) Used a dryer.

6) Cooked anything in an oven.

7) Said “it’s cold” except when I was in an overly air conditioned movie theater, bus, restaurant ect.

8) Eaten steak, or really any form of beef.

9) Gone a day without eating rice.

10) Walked anywhere without carefully watching where I step so I can avoid the many creepy crawlies and the occasional elephant poop.

11) Walked into a public restroom expecting to find any of the following: a western toilet, toilet paper, soap or paper towels or any means of drying your hands.

12) I have not flushed toilet paper down the toilet.

13) Gone a day without smiling and laughing.

It has been a great year and I will miss so many things about Thailand and I am looking forward to the day I get to come back again.

The Beach

Our Bungalow

After summer school ended the Kirby's really needed to get away and relax so we planned a trip to the beach before the school started. We headed to Pranburi which is south of Hua Hin. This trip was much easier than our previous one to Kanchanaburi. Again we took the public bus, but it was a much shorter trip and the bus was much nicer.

Once at the beach we finally relaxed. We stayed at a resort called Dolphin Bay that was perfect for families. The set up was great and allowed Rob and I a chance to lounge, read and even get a massage. The kids immediately made friends and spent their days playing in the pool and at the beach.

After a few days of doing nothing we decided it was time to venture off the resort. We hired a local fisherman to take us out in his boat to do a little fishing. The trip out to the fishing spot was nice as we watched jellyfish float by. Once at the fishing spot we were given two fishing poles and 3 coke bottles with fishing line and a hook. We set about fishing. We didn't have much luck with the coke bottle, Chet finally caught one on it right before we headed back. Everyone caught a fish and of course yet again I out fished Rob. Although the fisherman out fished us all put together and he was using a coke bottle! When we finished fishing we headed back to the hotel and gave the fish to the hotel restaurant they cooked them up for us and we enjoyed a nice fish dinner that night.

On our last day we took another trip off the resort to Monkey Island. Monkey island is an island that filled with monkeys that is very close to the resort. Again a local fisherman took us over to the island. Then he gave us bananas to feed the monkeys. Nell was very excited about this and I think it was her favorite part of our trip. All too soon it was time to head back home and start the school year. We really enjoyed our stay at Dolphin Bay and hope to go back again.

Chet reeling in his first fish!

Our Fishing Boat
Me with my first of many fish.
Rob with his first fish, note how much smaller his is than mine.
The kids with our haul.
Chet and Katie waiting to dig into our fish dinner.
Katie, Nell and Chet at Monkey Island.
Chet looking cool on the way back from Monkey Island

Kanchanburi

Last weekend was the beginning of Buddhist Lent, so I had two days off! We took our long weekend and headed to Kanchanburi to visit the Bridge over the river Kwai (pronounced like square with out the S) and Erawan National Park.

Our journey began with a bus ride. We took a 2nd class air conditioned bus to Kanchanburi, it was only supposed to be 2 hours but with all the stops it took longer. Then we got on a local non air conditioned bus that was packed like sardines for another hour to our bus stop. From the bus stop we walked a ways before a hotel van picked us up and took us to the pier where we got on a long tail boat down the river Kwai to our hotel. To say the least we were in a very remote area. The first day we hung out at the hotel and the kids swam in the pool.

Sunday we headed into town to visit the sites. For those of you might not be up on your history, during WWII the Japanese occupied parts of Thailand, including Kanchanburi. They set up prisoner of war camps here and used the prisoners to build a railroad that would connect Thailand and Burma (now Myanmar). We started with a stop at the cemetery then headed over to the Bridge over the River Kwai. We walked part of the way across and then had lunch on the river. The restaurant had fish food, so the kids had fun feeding the fish in the river, Mom and Dad enjoyed eating the yummy fish from the river. Next stop was the JEATH museum. I would definitely skip this one next time. Next up we headed to Hellfire Pass, which was just past our hotel. This was one of the most difficult parts of the railway has they had to cut through a large section of rock. The museum here was excellent and it was very interesting to walk along the trail and see the pass. I would definitely recommend that people take the extra time to come out here when visiting.

Monday was our day to go to Erawan National park. We hired the most cautious songtow driver I have ever come across in Thailand. He drove very slow and slowed down for all the speed bumps! The only frightening thing was the hand gun we noticed half way through our trip in his glove box. Erawan National park consists of a series of 7 waterfalls. You hike along a trail to each of the falls stopping along the way to swim. The kids really enjoyed this. Nell especially liked the one you could slide down. I liked the one that we dangled our feet in and little fish came up to us to nibble on our feet. Watch out for the big fish though they can hurt.

Our trip ended on a very sad note. Our last night there we received word that Rob's Grandmother Gayle had passed away and that our basement in Illinois had flooded. This made the trip back rather somber. We will miss Gayle very much, but know that she led a long and full life.

Buses, Taxis, Boats and Skytrains

Last weekend we took the kids to see the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Rob and I have been before, but this was the first visit for the kids. We decided to go by water taxi, so we got on a bus and headed down to the pier in our town, Pakkred. When we arrived we saw a woman selling snakes and various sizes of turtles. Buddhists believe that you receive merit if you release animals back into the wild. The kids were interested in trying this, so we purchased three small turtles for them to release in the river. After releasing the animals we asked which boat do we get on to get on to go to Bangkok they just laughed at us. After waiting and searching for a while a very nice woman called us over and explained the boat doesn't stop here on weekends only weekdays. We needed to go to the main pier in Nonthaburi, so we jumped in a taxi and were soon at the right pier.

The boat ride into Bangkok was pleasant, as we got closer and closer the boat filled up more and more. When we got close to our stop we had to fight our way through all the people to the back to get off, fortunately we began our trip to the back a few stops early or we might not have made it. The boat drops you off right at the Grand Palace, so we ate lunch at a riverside restaurant and then headed over to see the sights.

Rob and I had to buy tickets for 350 baht, the kids being Thai were free. They went through a separate entrance. Once inside everyone was amazed by the beauty. All three kids took lots of pictures. As we walked around we kept seeing the same two novice monks. They were about Chet's age maybe a year or two older. We think they may have been following us around. They kept looking at us, smiling and laughing and then running away.

After sightseeing we promised Chet we would buy him a book he wanted at the bookstore in Siam Paragon so we headed over there. This was Rob's first time this trip to this part of Bangkok, the kids and I went to the bookstore a week ago to buy books for school. This is the area where a lot of the protests were and you could still see the damage. After the bookstore we went to Mac Donalds for dinner. It was very strange, they sat us and took our order at the table and even brought us our food. Siam Paragon is right on the Skytrain so we took it to the last stop and got a taxi home. It was a very busy and tiring day, but lots of fun.Nell with the turtles before we released them

Nonthaburi Pier, if you look close you will see the light posts have Durian fruit hanging from them Nonthaburi is famous for it's Durian fruit.

Rob and I at the Grand Palace, photo by Chet


What is left of ZEN department store after the protests

Toilet Paper

When we went on our excursion last week to Koh Kret I knew I wanted to buy a piece of pottery. I was thinking about getting something practical that we could use around the house. Originally I was thinking a flower pot, since we were going to buy plants that day as well. Then we were in a shop and Rob and I both saw the toilet paper holder and we knew that would be a most practical item to buy.

For those of you who haven't traveled in Thailand or only ate and stayed at 5 star hotels and restaurants you may not understand how many uses toilet paper has in Thailand. At most restaurants including my school cafeteria there or no napkins to be seen, but on every table is a roll of toilet paper in a plastic holder. In many of the bathrooms, I am talking the nice ones there are no paper towels or hand dryers, but there is a big roll of toilet paper. In my classroom I have no Clorox wipes to clean after snack and no tissues for then kids noses, instead I have toilet paper. Of course there is also one thing that you must never do with your toilet paper in Thailand and that is flush it down the toilet! The plumbing just can't handle it and you will end up with a backed up toilet.

City Tour

Today we hired a taxi driver named Chanok who spoke English to take us around Nonthaburi. We started the morning by driving through the expensive well secured village that backs up to our house, Nichada Thani. Next he took us to the Royal Irrigation Department. This is where the King stores his boats on the Chao Phra River. There was a small temple/shrine as well as a site of an old temple from the Ayuthaya period. While we were looking at the river Nell spotted the largest snake I have ever seen floating in the river, don't worry it was dead. Check out Chet's blog for a photo.
Next Chanok took us to Koh Kret, a small island known for its pottery. To get to the island you have to take a boat as there is no bridge. We walked around the island for a bit and saw how they make the pottery. Once we had toured the island it was time to cross back over the river and purchase some fish for our pond. Then we needed some plants to help shade our pond so we visited the plant store and purchased a lotus for the pond and a beautiful bougainvillea bush for in front of our house.

Tiger Shrine at Royal Irrigation Department

Watching pottery being made on Koh Kret

Some of the finished pottery

Thai Sweets for sale at a shop on Koh Kret

Katie with our newly purchased fish

Releasing the fish into our pond

Bugs and other Creepy Critters

I know many of you are wondering about the bugs and other creepy critters. As I wrote earlier, Katie ate a fried grub the other day that we got from a cart that came by our house. We have seen many lizards around our house and Rob even caught one in our bathroom. On my way to school I have seen many squashed toads and two squashed snakes in the road. At school the other day there was a live toad that hopped into the boys bathroom. After we had a very hard rainfall one day I came out from school to see a fish flopping on the road. I pointed it out to one of the office staff and they told the security guard so she could catch it and eat it. Unfortunately before she got to it a man on a motorcycle came by and scooped it up. That same day we learned that you always shake your shoes out before you put them on when Chet found a cockroach in his, (you leave your shoes outside so you never know who or what may have crawled in especially after it has been raining).

Our House

We moved into our house on Tuesday, June 29th. It wasn't my first choice, but it the other house I liked more we could not move into for two weeks plus it was more money. We have a two store house with three bedrooms there is an extra room (with no air conditioning) on the first floor. The house is completely boxed in by a concrete wall, on top of the wall is broken glass to keep anyone out who may want to climb over. There is a large spirit house in the front. We are to place offerings there to keep the bad spirits out of our house, we have not done this but so far I haven't felt any bad spirits. Around the house we have no plants or greenery to speak of, but we do have a little fish pond with no fish. Hopefully this weekend we will add some plants and fish. The house came very sparsely furnished, so Rob and I feel like newlyweds setting up house again with very limited resources. From the house it takes me about 25 minutes to walk to school, we hope to purchase bikes soon to make that shorter. We can also walk to a big shopping mall, Central Changwattana. In our village there is a community pool and tennis courts, we took the kids swimming there on the 4th of July. Everyday different carts and trucks pass our house selling various things. I have seen and ice cream man, a broom man, the meat and vegetable man as well as the a man selling sweets and fried bugs. Katie was really curious about the fried bugs and even tried a grub. We are settling in slowly, below are some photos from move in day. I will add more once we get things decorated more.

Spirit HouseKitchen: Note there is no oven. That is a washing machine, no dryer.
At the other end is a small refrigerator. Living room, no TV yet
The master bedroom

Hampton International School

On the flight over I kept reminding myself that I would need to adopt the Thai attitude of Mai Pen Rai, which basically means never mind, no problem. When we went to see the school for the first time I definitely needed this frame of mind as one of the first words out of their mouths were "I hope you can be flexible." Then they said that they only had one student enrolled for preschool and so they wanted me to teach 1st grade.

A little about the school. It is brand new, in fact they are still putting the finishing touches on the school. Because it is new, they do not have many students enrolled. Right now my class will only have 3 students. All the staff are super friendly and the facilities are very nice. I will be teaching summer school starting July 5th which will be like 4 weeks of summer camp. This should be a nice way to get to know some of the students I will have and get my feet wet teaching a new grade. I am a little scared to be starting work, but also excited at the same time.

We Are Here

After many hours on two planes and a few hours waiting for our connection in Japan we arrived in Thailand late Tuesday night. As soon I stepped off the plane the familiar smell of Thailand hit me in the face. For those who you have never been it is difficult to understand the distinct smell that is Thailand. It is a mix of heat, sweat, jasmine and spices among other things that I have only experience here. The plane ride was uneventful, the kids are truly seasoned travelers. The whole way over I had to keep reminding myself that this was not just a two week vacation, we are actually moving to Thailand. I am not sure when the reality of everything will really sink in with me.

We arrived at our hotel and settled down for bed by about 2 am, then we were all awake by 6 am. We showered, ate breakfast, figured out how to connect to the Internet and then went to explore a bit. We walked down the street and checked out Big C, a local store something like Walmart but not exactly. It was fun for the kids to see all kinds of new foods and see some familiar ones. The kids were especially interested in all the different chip flavors. Check out Chet's blog for more about that. Our next adventure will begin shortly we are headed over to the school at 2:30 pm.

Katie Sleeping at the Tokyo Airport

Our Hotel TK Palace

The Main Road

Good Bye America

As I write this I am sitting in a hotel room close to O'Hare airport. Our house and suitcases are all packed and we are ready to go. Our flight will take off tomorrow at 11:40 am and if all goes well we should arrive in Thailand on Tuesday at 10:50 pm. The reality of everything still hasn't settled in for me, maybe when I am finally on the plane it will all hit me. The kids are very excited and I know they will have a hard time getting to sleep tonight. Maybe that will help them get on Thailand time, Thailand is 12 hours ahead of us. I am not looking forward to jet lag, especially since we hit the ground running. I have a week before work starts and we need to find a place to live still! I can't even imagine what our new house/apartment will look like but I do know it will be nothing like our house in the states.

Last Day

Today was Nell's last day at gymnastics. It was a bittersweet day for Nell. Gymnastics has become such a big part of her life this year, she practices 9 hours a week. She wants to continue with gymnastics while in Thailand. I have looked on the internet and found a gym that might be a possibility, but I know it wont be anything like it is here. This morning I asked her what she really wanted to do today at her last class and she quickly responded squat on leap to the high bar. This is a new skill she has been working on for the next level. When I arrived she asked me to video her doing this skill.
Coach Erin and Nell

Packing

It feels like we have been packing and organizing our house for months now. The one task I have dreaded the most is packing up Chet's room. Anyone who has been to my house will understand why this task is so daunting. Well yesterday I finished and Chet's room hasn't been this clean since the day we moved in. I really wish I had taken a before picture for those who had never seen his room, but I didn't think about that till I was half way done. Below is the after picture.

Thailand Here We Come

Katie Chet and Nell in front of the Thai Consulate in May

This year has been spent planning and preparing for our move to Thailand and now it is finally upon us. We are currently madly packing up our house and getting all the last minute details in order. On Monday we board a plane to begin our Thai adventure. This has been in the works for about six years and it is finally going to happen. When we first started to talk about our year off we had a completely different plan. Rob was going to be taking a sabbatical while he finished up his doctorate and we were going to travel around the world and spend an extended period of time in Thailand. Well Rob put his doctorate on hold indefinitely and we began to look at things in a different way. Eventually we came up with the plan to spend a year in Thailand, which meant one of us would need to do something to secure a visa and an income to help support us. As we talked with more and more people it became clear the easiest way to do this was for one of us to get a teaching job and since I have experience teaching the task fell to me. I applied to many schools and Skyped with a few before accepting a position at Hampton International School in Nonthaburi, Thailand.

A Year In Review

The 2009-2010 school year was another busy one in the Kirby household. We started September off with the girls birthday. They turned 8 this year and wanted a dog themed party. This year was full of change for me. I left my job at the recreation center and took a job as a teacher at a local preschool. This was a great change for me as it meant that my work schedule followed the kids school schedule, no more working on school holidays. I spent much of my free time trying to get us prepared for our upcoming move to Thailand. Which mostly consisted of me applying and interviewing for jobs.

The kids as usual we over extended with all their activities.
Chet played soccer, Tae Kwon Do, Lego League and took up the alto sax this year. He continued to do well in school, but one of his biggest achievements was his Lego League making it to the state level of competition. Chet also turned 11 this year and was promoted from 5th grade.

Nell did gymnastics, Girl Scouts and piano this year. Gymnastics took up most of her time as began competing this year. Nell excelled at school this due to an awesome teacher. Her biggest achievement this year was qualifying and competing at the state gymnastics tournament.

Katie did piano, Girl Scouts, Tae Kwon Do and Irish Dance. Katie also did very well at school and has become an avid reader. Her biggest achievement was placing first at her Tae Kwon Do tournament.

We took a few trips this year including a trip over Halloween to see the girls sister Abby and a trip to California to visit Grandma and Grandpa O and the California relatives.

Chet at one of his Lego competitions

Katie and Nell warming up after a swim at Grandma and Grandpa O's house

Nell and Katie at their 8th Birthday

Nell getting ready for her first gymnastics meet

Katie Nell and Abby on Halloween

Kirby Family Christmas Eve

Katie in her Irish dance costume

The girls with their teacher after the school talent show

Chet's 11th Birthday

Chet and his teacher at promotion

Katie getting 1st place for Tae Kwon Do