pause then press play

So before I left Canada, I decided if I’m going to be staying in Thailand for 6 months, I’m going to learn Thai.

My goal : to learn the Thai language!

I started listening to Pimsleur Thai about 2 months before I arrived in Thailand and by the time I was on the first plane, I could already say:

“Where is Sukhumvit Road? Here or there?”, “I don’t understand.”,  “Where are you going?”, “Yes” and “No” and then some.

I was pretty happy with myself. I was all like, oh yeahhhh, “I’m going to ask them where the bathroom is, just because I can!!!”

Then I got to Thailand. Maybe it was jet lag but somehow I had forgotten everything I had learned and everything became “Sawadee-ka” (hello).

 

I was ashamed. Here I was trying to be the integrated traveller, speak the local language and I wasn’t better than the average-full-moon-party-going-Aussie-college boy.

I decided, to reassess my goals for 6 months. Instead of learning “Thai,” I’m going to learn “really-basic-Thai.” Which is basically being able to count and haggle in Thai (which will come in really handy for shopping). After all, the key to success is achievable goals.

My new goal : to learn *basic* Thai

“Hungry. Eat pad thai. Please. Drink beer. Thank you.” would be everything I hope to achieve in 6 months.

For the first couple of weeks, I did pretty well. They were helpful and encouraging, they were slow and understanding. Smiley and helpful. I learned so much.

Then as I grew closer to them, and became actual friends with them, their attitude changed. As all close friends do, they began to give me a hard time. This is what it felt like:

And this…

And so, that’s the life I live here, annoying every Thai person I encounter. But I have come a long way from a month ago. And I can actually haggle now – oh yeah, all numbers and stuff. And I can order Pad Thai politely. And this right here:

I wrote that. It means “yoga.”

My goal status: Accomplished! Woot, woot.

The best way to learn Thai is to be rich and hire a tutor. If you cannot be rich, like me, be annoying and persistent.

Immediately after the incident with the mouse, I was told that morning to move out of the Manager’s Suite. Not because of the mouse, but because the Manager’s Suite was reserved for paying guests. It was part of the staff accommodation and was not part of the main hotel, but sometimes drivers from the mainland in need of a place to stay for the night would take it.

Either way, I was delighted to get out of there, so I moved within the day into the “yoga teacher’s room” (previously occupied by Lala) and I slept like a baby.

After all no mouse, no worries…it was pretty much so…until..

MOLD….

So it’s super humid here on Koh Chang – the most humid place I’ve ever been to. I’ve been to the Mexican jungle, the Indian jungle…hell, I grew up in Malaysia where it’s just sunshine and rain. So when I say it’s humid, you better believe it’s humid.

Anyway, with humidity, comes…

MOLD…

After living for 10 years in the Arctic, I conveniently forgot about mold…and gecko-poop on walls. But now, my memory is clear as crystal. And on the Friday night, I cracked open a bottle of Thai fruit wine and spend my afternoon scrubbing the mold away that had grown on my laptop bag, my camera case, purse and other dark fabrics. It seems the mold only likes dark fabrics as my white shirts were fine.

I used vinegar and laundry soap. Weeks have passed and so far, it has been good.

I did find some more yesterday on some shoes I put in a bag, so it seems that it will just be an ongoing battle for me. I believe it’s the design of the room which has badly ventilated. I’ve kept my fan going in my room for circulation and I’ll just have to keep an eye stuff for the first signs of it. I also bought like 10 dehumidifiers (made by a Malaysian company). Though I’m not entirely sure how well they work.

All things considered, it is a small price to pay for waking up to this every morning: