13.7.10
mah jong, wine, and AMBER
i've wanted these three things in my life for a long time--the first since march, the last two since the moment i left america.
AND NOW I HAVE THEM ALL.
this is just a quick mid-vacation update. amber and mary arrived safely in bangkok on thursday evening and i met up with them friday. together we hopped on a plane to chiang mai, where we stayed in this gorgeous little hotel with a tile pool and a huge bed and a huge comforter and free breakfast and hilarious french kids. (when they were playing by the pool, a girl about ten years old came up and asked me ever so politely if i'd drown her brother for her. after all, i'm a girl--we're on the same team by nature.)
we went up to doi suthep on saturday (had to get skirts cuz we're whores) and hiked a little waterfall on the way down, even though our driver (smiley) insisted there wouldn't be enough water and it wouldn't be beautiful--so wrong, smiley. even though he said it wouldn't be worth it, he hiked with us. then i got a ton of bees in my shoes and two thai guys came over to help poor screaming me out. they said the bees were attracted to the lavender, but i think i've just had my shoes for too long.
we got massages every day.
day two we did a cooking class, dishes recommended by a flamboyant lady boy. pon was our little assistant chef (also a tiger, like amber and i). this chef who knew about three english words (too much, ok) helped us make phenomenally delicious food, which we had wayyyyyyyy too much of.
shopping. shopping. shopping. chiang mai night bazaar.
1:30 am soccer finals with at least 30 dutch natives who sang along with the national anthem and were decked out in bright orange. yes, it was awkward at the end of the game.
on saturday night we ducked in to the chiang mai saloon for a cheap margarita and stayed for three. we had to avoid the rain. flavors were questionable and hilarious (grapefruit = grape).
river cruise with a tired guide named ron and a nice belgian lady. we kicked it with some wild hogs (cindy!), one of whom peed for two minutes. seriously.
i gotta go to lunch now, and i know this post is a jumble of notes, but i just needed to write it down for my memory's sake. i love the regans. bye.
AND NOW I HAVE THEM ALL.
this is just a quick mid-vacation update. amber and mary arrived safely in bangkok on thursday evening and i met up with them friday. together we hopped on a plane to chiang mai, where we stayed in this gorgeous little hotel with a tile pool and a huge bed and a huge comforter and free breakfast and hilarious french kids. (when they were playing by the pool, a girl about ten years old came up and asked me ever so politely if i'd drown her brother for her. after all, i'm a girl--we're on the same team by nature.)
we went up to doi suthep on saturday (had to get skirts cuz we're whores) and hiked a little waterfall on the way down, even though our driver (smiley) insisted there wouldn't be enough water and it wouldn't be beautiful--so wrong, smiley. even though he said it wouldn't be worth it, he hiked with us. then i got a ton of bees in my shoes and two thai guys came over to help poor screaming me out. they said the bees were attracted to the lavender, but i think i've just had my shoes for too long.
we got massages every day.
day two we did a cooking class, dishes recommended by a flamboyant lady boy. pon was our little assistant chef (also a tiger, like amber and i). this chef who knew about three english words (too much, ok) helped us make phenomenally delicious food, which we had wayyyyyyyy too much of.
shopping. shopping. shopping. chiang mai night bazaar.
1:30 am soccer finals with at least 30 dutch natives who sang along with the national anthem and were decked out in bright orange. yes, it was awkward at the end of the game.
on saturday night we ducked in to the chiang mai saloon for a cheap margarita and stayed for three. we had to avoid the rain. flavors were questionable and hilarious (grapefruit = grape).
river cruise with a tired guide named ron and a nice belgian lady. we kicked it with some wild hogs (cindy!), one of whom peed for two minutes. seriously.
i gotta go to lunch now, and i know this post is a jumble of notes, but i just needed to write it down for my memory's sake. i love the regans. bye.
8.7.10
tik tok
we had some extra time in one of my classes today, so i was like, "well, kids, what do you wanna listen to?" a bunch of people started yelling requests, but from the back i hear my favorite lady boy go, "tik tok!"
"oohh, ke$ha*? i have that." i searched through the cd and found the song. we were all groovin' (and by "we" i mean "me," to the cheers and shouts of the students. literally, i danced in front of class. i do this often) but the lady boy--bankk--was busy doing something at his desk. i thought it was kind of weird that he, who had specifically requested this song, would now be pretty much ignoring it, but i've seen weirder things outta these kids.
next thing i know, bankk looks up from his desk looking more like a diva than a high school boy. his face fully powdered, his stylish hair pulled back in a pin, he stood up on his desk and danced for us--rolling his hips, shaking his fingers and all. and he had NO SHAME whatsoever. he looked hot and he fucking KNEW it.
thailand, man.
also, AMBER AND MARY REGAN LAND IN BANGKOK IN THREE HOURS. chiang mai this weekend. thailands the next. i love amber. i love mary. i love vacations. this is awesome. i love july.
*when we first got her music back in november or whatever, maddy and i pronounced her name "key-shaa." when sarah visited in march, she was like "wtf are you saying? it's keh-sha." i felt dumb.
"oohh, ke$ha*? i have that." i searched through the cd and found the song. we were all groovin' (and by "we" i mean "me," to the cheers and shouts of the students. literally, i danced in front of class. i do this often) but the lady boy--bankk--was busy doing something at his desk. i thought it was kind of weird that he, who had specifically requested this song, would now be pretty much ignoring it, but i've seen weirder things outta these kids.
next thing i know, bankk looks up from his desk looking more like a diva than a high school boy. his face fully powdered, his stylish hair pulled back in a pin, he stood up on his desk and danced for us--rolling his hips, shaking his fingers and all. and he had NO SHAME whatsoever. he looked hot and he fucking KNEW it.
thailand, man.
also, AMBER AND MARY REGAN LAND IN BANGKOK IN THREE HOURS. chiang mai this weekend. thailands the next. i love amber. i love mary. i love vacations. this is awesome. i love july.
*when we first got her music back in november or whatever, maddy and i pronounced her name "key-shaa." when sarah visited in march, she was like "wtf are you saying? it's keh-sha." i felt dumb.
7.7.10
sado-masochism
it's a laid back week in my classes. we're just singing a song. yesterday was "bad romance." kanchana's my co-teacher for some of my classes, and in the morning she took a sheet of lyrics to try to fill in herself. i sort of figured after class, she forgot about the whole lesson and went about her day.
but around 4 pm yesterday, she goes, "nickiiii. i don't understand. can you help me?" she's holding the lyrics. she wants to know what the song's about, so i tell her: lady gaga has said she wrote it about falling in love with a friend, and that can be a complicated (bad) romance.
this was not enough for kanchana--she wanted to go through the song line-by-line. the few other thai teachers left in the office started to perk their ears up because whoa american culture time. one line in the song goes, "i want your leather-studded kiss in the scene."
"what does this mean?" kanchana asked.
"umm...well, sex. it means she wants sex, kanchana."
i proceeded to explain that leather plus sex usually meant whips and bondage and such, and kanchana goes, "ohh, sadism?" yep, that'd be it.
by this point everyone left in the office is involved, maddy (who had whipped out a camera by this point) and i are busting up, and i can't quit blushing. then we come to the line "i want your vertical stick" and i was just like HOLY CRAP MAN THIS IS THE MOST HILARIOUS CONVERSATION I'VE EVER HAD.
but around 4 pm yesterday, she goes, "nickiiii. i don't understand. can you help me?" she's holding the lyrics. she wants to know what the song's about, so i tell her: lady gaga has said she wrote it about falling in love with a friend, and that can be a complicated (bad) romance.
this was not enough for kanchana--she wanted to go through the song line-by-line. the few other thai teachers left in the office started to perk their ears up because whoa american culture time. one line in the song goes, "i want your leather-studded kiss in the scene."
"what does this mean?" kanchana asked.
"umm...well, sex. it means she wants sex, kanchana."
i proceeded to explain that leather plus sex usually meant whips and bondage and such, and kanchana goes, "ohh, sadism?" yep, that'd be it.
by this point everyone left in the office is involved, maddy (who had whipped out a camera by this point) and i are busting up, and i can't quit blushing. then we come to the line "i want your vertical stick" and i was just like HOLY CRAP MAN THIS IS THE MOST HILARIOUS CONVERSATION I'VE EVER HAD.
5.7.10
wahhhhhhhhhhhh
Nicole,
Our records indicate that you are no longer a registered student at UCSB.
In accordance U-Mail policy, your account:
nicki_arnold@umail.ucsb.edu
will be deactivated on 08/01/2010.
i don't wanna grow up. wahhhhhh.
in related non-adult news, ECLIPSE WAS AWESOME. my favorite of the three, i think. bella significantly toned down her whiny-ness and jacob looked hotter than ever. maddy and i saw it on imax which made the fight scene at the end awesome. we saw the 11 am showing at siam paragon in bangkok and we were two of only 50 or 60. the theater was nowhere near sold out. weird. it was funny seeing the movie with thai people because they were reading subtitles (movie was in english) so they laughed like a second behind us at all the funny parts, if they laughed at all. humor is not international.
3.7.10
some days i really hate the internet
some=all of them. at least once a day, i get really frustrated with the internet here. it's one of the things i hate most about thailand....actually, it might be the number one thing. i dunno, i've never sat down and ordered them. the terrible internet thing is annoying as all get out. it's hard to talk to people (i hate that i haven't had a normal conversation without the "can you hear me? are you still there?" conversation with mom and dad in four months), it breaks down when i need it to purchase things, it takes five minutes to load a one-minute youtube clip, and i just wanna browse the internet at a reasonable pace. IS THIS SO MUCH TO ASK?
but sometimes, the internet really impresses me. like this morning. i woke up and checked on my downloads and whaddyaknow--two eps of the daily show, an ep of three sheets, AND season four of himym finished downloading overnight. internet gods, thank you. i owe you big time.
headed in to bangkok today to see eclipse, half because i'm obsessed with the movie and half because i know my girls are gonna quiz me on it next week. TEAM JACOB!
but sometimes, the internet really impresses me. like this morning. i woke up and checked on my downloads and whaddyaknow--two eps of the daily show, an ep of three sheets, AND season four of himym finished downloading overnight. internet gods, thank you. i owe you big time.
headed in to bangkok today to see eclipse, half because i'm obsessed with the movie and half because i know my girls are gonna quiz me on it next week. TEAM JACOB!
1.7.10
a disappointing thing happened this afternoon
i'm giving tests this week. (no, sorry, there'll be no funny answers--they're just circling verbs and writing tenses, boring times.) i have different expectations for different classes. i know the test is way too hard for some of the lower levels, so i just sort of look the other way when they work together and talk. but i know that this test isn't too hard for my upper level classes, so i'm a little bit more strict on the cheating front. most of'em are good students anyway, so cheating hasn't been a huge problem.
*sigh* except in my last class, 6/7. (the first number is the grade [6s are seniors] and the second number is their level--higher is smarter for grades 4, 5, and 6.) they're really smart girls and usually attentive and fun and basically everything a teacher wants in a class. i had to run downstairs to pick up some copies so i asked preeda to watch while i was out. i came back and she was sitting in teh back, not watching the kids at all. some of the students were talking, but as soon as i came in they stopped. ehhhh, so they asked each other a couple questions. no big deal here in my thai classroom.
but then i walked around to this group of four girls in the back. one girl didn't have a test on your desk.
"where's your test?"
(nervous giggling and looking to her friends) "may loo" (i don't know)
the four of them sort of looked down and up at me again, like they knew i was mad and something was wrong. they looked toward the rest of the class, diligently plugging away.
"is it out there?" i asked. if it was whirling around the class, this was a big issue. if it was only these four girls, then i could deal. then i saw the girl with the missing test reach her hand down and back to the girl behind her.
"i can see the test," i said to the girl in the back. "you might as well hand it back so she can finish." they didn't know what i was saying, but they knew i was upset. i left'em alone.
at the end of the class, after everyone handed in their tests, i went back to the girls. i put on nicki disappointed face.
"why did you do that? you're smart. i know you don't need to cheat and copy. just...it makes me sad. please don't do it anymore."
they sort of looked down ashamed. i wasn't smiling. the girls got really awkward--my students+this emotion don't seem to react well--and didn't know what to do. one girl apologized and the others had apologetic looks on their faces, so i took that as sorry enough and told them it was ok.
it was just...ugh. i expected more. sucks.
*sigh* except in my last class, 6/7. (the first number is the grade [6s are seniors] and the second number is their level--higher is smarter for grades 4, 5, and 6.) they're really smart girls and usually attentive and fun and basically everything a teacher wants in a class. i had to run downstairs to pick up some copies so i asked preeda to watch while i was out. i came back and she was sitting in teh back, not watching the kids at all. some of the students were talking, but as soon as i came in they stopped. ehhhh, so they asked each other a couple questions. no big deal here in my thai classroom.
but then i walked around to this group of four girls in the back. one girl didn't have a test on your desk.
"where's your test?"
(nervous giggling and looking to her friends) "may loo" (i don't know)
the four of them sort of looked down and up at me again, like they knew i was mad and something was wrong. they looked toward the rest of the class, diligently plugging away.
"is it out there?" i asked. if it was whirling around the class, this was a big issue. if it was only these four girls, then i could deal. then i saw the girl with the missing test reach her hand down and back to the girl behind her.
"i can see the test," i said to the girl in the back. "you might as well hand it back so she can finish." they didn't know what i was saying, but they knew i was upset. i left'em alone.
at the end of the class, after everyone handed in their tests, i went back to the girls. i put on nicki disappointed face.
"why did you do that? you're smart. i know you don't need to cheat and copy. just...it makes me sad. please don't do it anymore."
they sort of looked down ashamed. i wasn't smiling. the girls got really awkward--my students+this emotion don't seem to react well--and didn't know what to do. one girl apologized and the others had apologetic looks on their faces, so i took that as sorry enough and told them it was ok.
it was just...ugh. i expected more. sucks.
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