Beef Jerky Please

In an email my little brother sent me today, he said that he continues to check my blog for updates every day. It was a good reminder for me to update this thing as often as possible so my faithful followers (mainly my brother and dad by the sounds of it) have something new to read. So, here you go Garret and Dad:

The last couple weeks have been quiet around here. I am a pretty big party pooper during the week. All I do is: go to work, have meetings, come home, do more work, eat, work even more, maybe watch an episode of something, and sleep. BORINNGG! I know my work load with eventually lighten, so I keep reminding myself that there is a light at the end of the tunnel (somewhere). Besides all the work, I must say, I am loving my job. It is challenging in so many ways, but very rewarding. (Don’t all teachers say that?) The kids definitely make it worth it. They are a great bunch, and we have a lot of fun.

One thing I do to keep myself from losing my sanity, is take the weekends off! (I really shouldn't complain). Last Friday night, a bunch of us went down to Khaosan Road. We had supper at a fantastic little falafel restaurant, and then went to a pub/bar. Half of us spent the evening yawning back and forth…going out on a Friday night is next to impossible! I could barely keep my eyes open.  Somehow, the other half of the group went on clubbing until 4:30am! I was done by 11:30pm. Thankfully Andy is putting up with me and my 80 year old ways.

Speaking of Andy…awesome news for him! On Sunday, he officially started teaching! He went for an interview with a company, and they hired him on the spot. I guess the company specializes in teaching students around the age of 18-25 (give or take a few years). It sounds like a great place to work. They are located on one of the upper floors in a huge mall downtown. Andy says the place is super modern and cool-looking. It takes him about an hour to get to work (he takes a taxi, a sky train, a subway, and walks..all in one trip!) The students who attend get to decide what kinds of classes they want to take, and who teaches there. Basically, it is up to them whether they want to fire or hire a teacher! Andy is on a 13 day-straight teaching bender right now. On the weekends he teaches a boy for 2 hours a day and two sisters for 2.5 hours. Every evening during the week he also teaches the same sisters. It is all conversational English he is teaching. So far it sounds like he is really enjoying it. I am quite impressed at how quick it took him to get a job like this one. The downside of it all is that I no longer have a personal chef! Andy works in the evenings, so I am on my own. Boo hoo.

A lot of people have been asking about the weather here. It is pretty much same old, same old every day. It is hot, muggy and mainly sunny during the day..and it usually storms every evening. October is the end of the rainy season. I have been told that one day we will all wake up, and won’t see the rain again for months. Personally, I am going to miss the pouring rain, thunder, and lightning. I would take it over constant 40-50° weather any day.

According to the Weather Network, this is the current weather for the next few days (ignore how the dates are lined up...you get the idea):

Thursday Oct 6	Friday Oct 7	Saturday Oct 8	Sunday Oct 9	Monday Oct 10	Tuesday Oct 11
Conditions
	Thunder- showers	Thunder- showers	Thunder- showers	Thunder- showers	Thunder- showers	Chance of thunder- showers
P.O.P.	100%	100%	100%	100%	90%	70%
Conditions 6pm - 6am
	Thunder- showers	Thunder- showers	Thunder- showers	Thunder- showers	Thunder- showers	Thunder- showers
P.O.P.	90%	100%	90%	100%	90%	60%
High	30°C	30°C	30°C	27°C	28°C	31°C
Feels Like	41	42	42	39	40	43
Low	26°C	26°C	25°C	25°C	25°C	25°C
Wind	E 5 km/h	NE 10 km/h	NW 10 km/h	NW 15 km/h	NE 5 km/h	S 5 km/h
24-Hr Rain	close to 20 mm	25-35 mm	30-40 mm	35-45 mm	10+More than 10 mm of rain possible mm	close to 1 mm

People have also been asking about the food. IT IS ALL SO GOOD!!! The grocery store across the street from our complex is fairly small (so we don't go there often), but has a lot of things you would find in the stores at home. However, even though you can find the same stuff…it does not always taste the same. For example: beef does not even come CLOSE to tasting like good old Canadian beef. It usually comes from Australia or New Zealand, and tastes weird. I wish my parents could mail me some beef roasts, and some deer meat would be nice. One day soon I am going to take my camera to the grocery store, and take pictures of all the interesting things I see. You will not be disappointed in that post, I can promise you that.

Well, the dishes are calling. Oh yeah…washing dishes in cold water day in and day out is not fun.

Hope you are all enjoying the fall colours at home! Another thing they don’t have here…real seasons!

Coconuts everywhere! This picture is taken in our "backyard". We went on an adventure behind our complex the other weekend. It feels like a whole different world back there. So much nature and simple village-living going on. There is even a bunch of beautiful temples, and a river with HUGE jumping fish. Pictures to come.