Snowboarding

Two weeks ago I went to Osaka to the largest snowboard sale in Japan and found a 163cm K2 Brigade Wide snowboard, Flow M11 Bindings, and Head Classic Boots for roughly $800. I figured it was about time anyway since I have been riding the same used gear for more than 7 years.

Today I finally had a chance to test out my new gear. My school supervisor and I went to Gifu prefecture to go snowboarding at Takasu Snow Park and Dynaland. Two resorts that you can buy a combined pass for about $65. Not to mention the ski passes are IC chips, which is awesome because you just throw it in your coat and go. No need to fumble about trying to show it or loose it.

I left my apartment at about 4AM and we arrived at the ski resort at about 7AM. Overall, it took about 2 and a half hours of driving but we stopped at a Circle K convenience store for breakfast.


The sun rising over the parking lot.

The morning snow was amazing. There wasn't too many people and there were actually a lot of patches of powder. I was surprised how powdery it was too since Japan is relatively humid. Some of the best snow I have boarded in, which is saying a lot since Montana has some amazing powder also.

To make things better, my snowboard gear is AMAZING! I guess snowboarding technology has improved quite a bit since my board is much lighter than my old one allowing me to ride boxes and practice jumping kickers much better! Also its overall control is very precise and the light weight of the board allows for much faster correction. Also my boots are awesome. It makes me realize how bad my other boots were. They are about half the weight, twice as warm and much more comfortable, which I would expect for boots that were more than $250.


The mountain.

In the afternoon the amount of people turned the mountain into an obstacle course and the snow started to get packed and hard. It was fun, but the combination of only a few hours of sleep, getting back into shape for snowboarding and then a few crashes into the packed snow and a box rail made for a slightly early turn in. Which was good, since we wanted to also beat the traffic of everyone leaving when the resort closed.

Overall it was amazing! I was also surprised that only 2 hours away there was more than 5 feet of snow, whereas in my town there is virtually none. Now I know why so many Aussies fly to Japan to ski and snowboard! Getting a real pay check also allows me to go more than about four times in a season since that is all I could afford as a university student back in Montana.

I am looking forward to checking out the local ski resorts in Shiga such as Yogo Kogen in the next coming weeks, going snowboarding in some of the best snow in Hokkaido in Februrary and the huge JET trip in March in Nagano where I will also see my brother Damien and his girlfriend Michelle.

Cultural Cognition #2

I just finished watching a movie called "The Cove" and would recommend this documentary to everyone. Check out their website!

This movie exposes the whaling and more importantly dolphin killing that takes place in Japan. While most people know of Japan's whaling practices, very few, including Japanese, know of the atrocities towards dolphins. About 23,000 dolphins are brutally killed in Japan every year and this documentary exposes the harsh truth in hopes that this will change.

Don't get me wrong, I love Japan. But like many countries it has it's dark secrets. The great thing about this is that because Japanese rely a lot on keeping face and this movie basically rips their face off, hopefully something will actually happen.

Anyway, I would recommend you to buy, rent, download, stream or however you want to watch this film because it is worth it. It gives an insight into Japan, although a very dark approach which may make you want to hate Japan. Just remember, every country commits terrible acts and it is those that we don't hear about that we should worry about the most.

Thailand for the Body

After leaving Sangkhlaburi I had about four days for 'vacation.' I arrived back in Bangkok on the afternoon of December 27th. I said goodbye to some of the volunteers and was picked up by my friend Jessie and her grandmother. The evening didn't consist of too much except getting some very delicious Pad Thai from a Bangkok open air restaurant market. Basically it was a place where many cart food vendors came together with some tables so that people could sit down and enjoy the countless varieties offered by each food cart. It was by far some of the best Pad Thai I had in my life, minus a weird textured vegetable that when I put it in my mouth I felt like it rolled around on the streets of Bangkok. Yes, dirty and gritty! MmMmMm. Not sure if it was suppose to by like that, or if it did really roll around on the street. Either way, I survived so I think it was suppose to be like that. After that I went to Jessie's house for the first time and met her mother and father, although only for a very short time. Considering they didn't know English and I didn't know Thai, I guess there wasn't much we could talk about.


Delicious Pad Thai with a strange vegetable at the bottom of the plate.

The next morning we woke up and headed to the Grand Palace and walked around looking at some awesome Thai architecture. I even saw a miniature replica of Angkor Wat. After this we headed down the road to Thailand's largest reclining Buddha at Wat Pho. Then it was time to eat because Jessie's grandmother was very hungry. So she bought some delicious something from a food cart and we sat down and ate some kind of fried fish patty with chili sauce. It you haven't noticed, eating at food stalls is the thing to do in Thailand. The food is always local, delicious and cheap. As far as safety, use judgement. Don't eat at a place that looks super dirty with no customers.


Grand Palace


Thailand's largest reclining Buddha


Angkor Wat miniature

Before leaving this area of Bangkok we stopped at one more temple with VERY steep steps which offered a great view of the surrounding area, including the Grand Palace. Then we decided after climbing steep stairs in the hot Thai sun that it was time for some Pepsi and ice. After this we were planning on seeing a Muay Thai fight, but since the foreigner price was about 2000 baht ($60), it wasn't worth it. I would rather pay nearly nothing to watch Tony Jaa crack some skulls in "The Protector."


steep steps

Honestly I can't actually even remember what we did after this...

The next day was an early one at the airport. I was leaving Bangkok to spend 3 days in Phuket. Time to finally have the vacation where I sit on the beach, well sorta.

After landing at the Phuket airport I took an hour long shuttle taxi to Karon Beach, which made a pit stop at a travel agent where I booked a day trip to the Phi Phi Islands for about $45. After arriving at my hostel that I booked on http://www.hostelworld.com/ called The Beshert I found out my room wasn't ready yet. It was 12PM and the lady just told me to leave my stuff in the lobby, which was actually a bar, and go to the beach. Honestly to call this place a hostel is almost a stretch. Granted I paid about $12/night in high season and was less than a 5 minute walk from the beach. First the place was a laundry service, which was good and I made use of their services. Second it was a bar, which I didn't even drink once at. Third it was PROBABLY (I stress that I do not know for sure) what people in Thailand passionately call a "girlie bar." Then it was a hostel/hotel. More like a hotel though. Anyway after I checked into my room with an extremely warped door that I entrusted to keep my valuables safe, I explored the town.

Karon beach is much quieter than notorious Patong, and also comes with a cleaner beach. Less jet skis and noise, although I couldn't but help but to be annoyed at how many pay to use beach chairs there were. The town also doesn't offer much for night life, that I could find anyway, except some good restaurants. This was fine though because the next day was also early, I was picked up at my Hostel/Laundry/Bar/Brothel at 8AM to head to the Phi Phi Islands.


Karon Beach sunset

After being piled onto a boat with a bunch of Europeans (think old men in speedos) and a few other nationalities we headed to our first stop to go snorkeling. The beach had pure white sand and turquoise water! This is something I have always wanted to see. I couldn't see fish at first, then I put on the snorkel gear and was amazed! Whoa! Incredible. Sun fish everywhere, other fish everywhere! I even saw an eel in the coral, and was happy I didn't get my toe bitten off.

The rest of the day was spent hoping from island to island, checking out the beaches and enjoying the ride. We even stopped at Phi Phi Don, the only populated island, if we wanted to pick up anything. These islands were remarkably beautiful. The only thing that kind of sucked is how exploited by tourism they were. Something I guess I should be slightly grateful for though, since it allowed me to visit them.


Maya Bay

It was then back to Karon and dinner. The next morning I slept in a bit, ate breakfast and then attempted to find a taxi. Unfortunately in Phuket there are no meter taxis, and the only price I could get was a $25 taxi to the airport, about 3 times the price I paid to get to Karon Beach.

Back in Bangkok I decided that I was going to spend New Years with one of the other volunteers, Dusty, in the city. My initial plan was to go back to Jessie's home, but I asked what her plans were and she had none so I decided to see what a New Year in Bangkok on a full moon would be like. To try to reduce the length of this post, I will sum it up. CRAZY! It was good to experience, but actually I might haven enjoyed eating Tom Yum Goon at Jessie's house instead.

That is basically the end of my Thailand trip. A journey that changed me and one that so many things happened that to really know the full story, you would have to talk to me.

Myanmar

My final day in Sangkhlaburi was almost as amazing as the week spent with the kids. Even though I was in Sangkhlaburi for about 6 days I didn't have the chance to really check it out since everyday was busy from sunrise to sunset.

Our "free" day started at 7AM where we rolled out of our "beds" and into a long tail boat to a Karen village. The Karen people are one of the many ethnic groups in Myanmar, but many live in Thailand, especially along the Thai/Myanmar boarder. Here we (myself and some of the other volunteers) were introduced to some elephants and rode off into the jungle for a couple hours. The ride was pretty amazing, and since my riding partner was a girl from Jamaica she pointed out a lot of the wild fruit that was also found in Jamaica. It was astounding how many eatable plants are in the jungle, compared to other environments.


Karen Village


Thai Elephants

In the afternoon we stopped to eat some fried rice out of a plastic bag, one of Thailand's most used form of dining wear. Everywhere in Thailand you will find food and drinks served in common plastic bags.

After a small hike we came upon our next form of transportation, bamboo rafts. This part of the journey was a little crazy and many people were even injured. The only thing more dangerous than rickety bamboo rafts, is rickety bamboo rafts in rapids. About five minutes in the river and my rafting partner was slammed into a tree with an injured hand. This made the remaining hour or so difficult to maneuver. Surprisingly I escaped unscathed although I had to bail into the water after another crash.


Bamboo rafts

After arriving back to the village on bamboo rafts and taking the long tail boat back to our boat house it was time to rent a motorcycle for about $6/day. Technically my speed demon could be called a scooter, but when you can go 60MPH easy with a passenger, it seems more like a motorcycle. It was time to head to the "Three Pagodas Pass." This pass links Sangkhlaburi in Thailand to Payathonsu in Myanmar.


My 150cc blue beast

Before arriving at the boarder we stopped off to see a waterfall. After 20 minutes of bargaining with a Military officer, thanks to my friend Chris, to let us in for 100 baht/person instead of 200 baht (normal foreigner price, it was free for Thai people) we headed into the jungle along a not so defined path. After thirty minutes or so and a few failing bamboo bridges we came to a very small waterfall. Unconvinced that this was THE waterfall, a few of us trekked in further. Soon the path faded and we were in the middle of a thick Thai forest. We actually came across a few other waterfalls along the way, but nothing huge and amazing. Seeing the jungle was very interesting though, although in the back of my mind I thought I would surely be eaten by a tiger or something. Instead I was slightly eaten by fire ants (I think), which were very painful.


Jungle waterfall

Anyway, making our way back to our bikes and through a few checkpoints we arrived at the "Three Pagodas Pass." Here I met a friendly guy from Burma. At first I thought he was trying to lure me to his alcohol, cigarette and jewelry store to scam me on something. Since I already knew I wasn't going to buy anything, I just gave the benefit of the doubt and thought he might just be a nice guy. Turns out my intuition was correct. He brought me to the back of his shop (I wouldn't advise this behavior to most people) and showed me his back door that opened into Myanmar. I couldn't believe it!


Three Pagodas Pass


Myanmar Whisky ("The finest whisky in all of Myanmar")

Turns out many people from Myanmar come to Thailand to work in the day and just cross back before nightfall. Apparently this is legal, according to my new Burmese friend anyway...


Thailand/Myanmar divided by a steel gate

He told me the story about how the boarder was closed three years ago and that people can't cross now. However Thai and Burmese people are free to cross as long as they spend the night in their own country. Besides this, the market at the boarder was super cheap and the people were amazing. I came to the conclusion on this trip the Burmese people are crazy nice and interesting to talk to. It makes me want to visit Myanmar one day!


Bike 257 has a Burmese license plate, 497 is Thai.

Anyway, it became dark and I figured it was time to head home. My fuel tank was almost on E and I wanted to get gas somewhere on the way. So the girl from Jamaica and I headed back while I enjoyed a buffet of Thai nocturnal insects at high speed.

Thailand for the Soul

Awake and walking down a side street in Bangkok at 7:30AM. The stalls are already set up and the city feels like it has never slept. I walk into Wendy Guesthouse, the place I was suppose to stay the night before, and wait for the other volunteers to trickle into the lobby. One by one, introductions are made as everyone rolls out of bed and heads down for departure preparations. Breakfast was a Nature's Valley granola bar since I did not receive a complementary breakfast.

8:30 and our bags are being thrown into two gray vans heading toward Sangkhlaburi, a 6 or 7 hour northwest drive outside of Bangkok. A few stops later, myself and 15 amazing volunteers arrive in the quiet town of Sangkhlaburi.


Our sweet ride with amazing speakers.

For the next 7 days we will be staying in a not so luxurious boat house, sleeping on the wooden deck. The first few nights were a struggle, but soon my days became so action packed that hard wood soon became Tempur-Pedic. The amount of citronella and DEET in the air I was breathing was probably enough to chemically bond with my blood, which was good to keep the malaria away. I mean we were sleeping on a damed river in Thailand.


Luxury, don't let the shiny floor fool you.

That evening the volunteers gathered at Baan Unrak Children's Home for dinner and planning out the coming events in the next week. Honestly, everything could not be covered in a blog. I could write a short book about my week with the children at Baan Unrak, so I will have to cut down a lot and hopefully hit the most important parts.

My team teaching partner was a Japanese girl named Yuko. She actually had no teaching experience since she was still in University so we were a little worried about our lesson plans at the Primary School. Thankfully, due to karma or fate, the class we were teaching was behind schedule so we just had to help them with their current curriculum. So I decided to join a few other classes with some of the other volunteers which mainly consisted of playing games, which was great since I really didn't want to run a classroom environment on my vacation.

Our first event was to help with an Environmental day. In Thailand, teaching recycling isn't even part of the agenda. We just hope that people will throw garbage in a bin, instead of the street, river, gutter or any other open space. So in order to clean up Sangkhlaburi we hit the streets to pick up all kinds of trash.


Takin' out the trash!

It was this first day that I met two amazing kids. Granted, all the kids were amazing, but the twins Bee and Sea were two kids I ended up getting really close to. It was weird, I was introduced by another volunteer and suddenly I was trapped. They were showing me around and dragging me all over. I was actually very surprised how fast most of the orphans at Baan Unrak warmed up the the volunteers. Somewhere along the way I also picked up the nickname "Giraffe" because of my height. The funny thing is that Thai kids can't say the word correctly so it always sounded like "G. Love," which took me a whole day to figure out they weren't talking about the musician.


Bee and Sea, twins with attitude

After getting to know the kids more, the more comfortable I began to feel, and it didn't even take very long. I felt useful and appreciated. I was painting signs and walls, teaching, digging holes, meditating, chasing kids and giving piggy back rides.


My sign with an arrow river pointing to what will be a trash bin.

Besides being charmed and amazed by my students, the food we were served was beyond amazing. Everything was vegetarian. I was surprised how great Thai food could even be without the fish base that is used in almost everything in Thailand. Almost every day we ate breakfast and dinner at a bakery owned by Baan Unrak where we were served an extensive menu of fruit, vegetables and noodles. Not to mention you could buy a large slice of the best pineapple pie or chocolate cake for less than $1. If I could eat such fresh and delicious food so easily everywhere, I could become a vegetarian without even looking back.


Vegetarian

After a tiring day volunteering a couple volunteers would usually head into the center of town. Since this was rural Thailand there wasn't much except for an open market that closed at around 8PM and a couple convenience stores where we would get a yogurt drink to keep up on the friendly bacteria, indispensable when in Thailand. The best part of our treks into town was that the dog from the bakery would always follow us into town and cause all kinds of trouble. Aggravating other dogs and coming into the 7/11 with us. No matter how many times he was kicked out, the only automatic doors in Sangkhlaburi would always welcome him back in.

I can not truly express here my week volunteering at Baan Unrak. There is just too much to share! One thing is for sure, I want to go back next Christmas. I know I made a difference in the lives of the kids at Baan Unrak, but they may not know the difference they have made in mine.

Siam

Arriving in Bangkok at 5AM on December 19th and waiting nearly an hour to make it through immigration was the beginning of an unforgettable two week journey. After meeting up with my friend, Chaturaphon, who also goes by the name Jessie, at the airport we jumped in her car and headed to a bus station. The adventure only started to begin.

At about 8AM we were on a bus heading to Ayutthaya, the old capital of Siam. Little did I know, I wasn't getting the normal tourist package of Ayutthaya.

I was the only foreigner on the bus headed to various shrines where people prayed for good luck. By the fourth temple I am pretty sure I got the basics of Thai prayer rituals down, and hopefully a year's worth of good luck. The lotus bud, incense, candles and gold foil. A long process of patience, meditation and laws of instant Karma.

A monk gave me a handful of Thai candy. At the next temple there were some kids playing with peoples' shoes. In Thai they said, after seeing me, "No wonder his shoes are so heavy, he is so big!" This was the beginning of a fun filled hour teaching English, laughing and handing out candy to some kids. I was surprised at the instant purpose the candy from the monk served, almost as if he knew it would happen.



Although a unique experience, after the fifth temple I was wondering if I was going to be able to see the old ruins of the capital city. So Jessie and I decided diverge from the tour and pay a tuk tuk driver 150 baht to drive us to the ruins and meet back up with the bus again.

It was simply amazing! Finally I saw what I came to Ayutthaya to see. My first inspiration of wanting to see the ruins of Ayutthaya was a 2007 calender with a picture from Wat Mahthat of a Buddha head so old that a tree grew around it. It almost seemed surreal when I saw it in real life. If I could have touched it, I would have. Why I was so fascinated with this, I am not sure. I think it is because it is proof of how old human civilization is. Older than a large jungle tree!



Eventually we caught back up with the bus at the last temple on the tour. I enjoyed a bottle of "Japanese" tea which was not Japanese at all and reflected on all the things I did that day. On the ride back to the bus station there was a raffle game where if your number on your seat was called you had to go to the front of the bus and sing or dance and then get a small prize. My number was called, and not knowing any Thai I resorted to singing "Jingle Bells." Little did I know that "Jingle Bells" is one of Thailand's favorite Christmas songs and soon I had a whole bus packed full of Thai people clapping and singing along, in English nonetheless, to "Jingle Bells." I guess I was lucky to pick the right song.

The evening ended with some Pad Thai and finding out my guesthouse was booked although I made a reservation. So I ended up staying in a semi-dodgy guesthouse down the road so that I could be close to my pick up location to volunteer in Sangkhlaburi. Although my room had a plastic sheet and sounded like I was sleeping on the street, 10 minutes after hitting my pillow it was morning.

Thailand for the Mind

The next few entries will be about my experiences in Thailand for two weeks. I have experienced so much that it is impossible for me to fit it into one entry.

Also you can view my facebook photo album here

First, before addressing the physical journey I would like to express what the trip has taught me.

I learned a lot about life! How fragile it is. How one second can change or even end life. Because of this, life is truly a miracle. A happy life is even something greater than a miracle. But people need to be happy if they are alive and healthy enough to live.

Connecting with others in a positive way and exploring the unknown even if sometimes dangerous is fulfilling. It is good to enjoy life. You only get out of life, what you put into it. Be careful and respect yourself but live carefree.

Most of all, I have come to appreciate what I've had in life! It is AMAZING! Although many times I was discontented or sad, in the end everything has been okay. Before, I often felt that my life was just passing me by. Somehow though, when you are in a death cloud or staring death in the face; it is the fear that you feel that proves to you that you should still have a long and prosperous life ahead. That the small things that seemed so huge and problematic in life are actually nothing when walking the line of mortality.

Unfortunately how I learned this can't be shared. This is something I must internalize, be made my own. Maybe through some context through reading about my journey the reasons behind these realizations can be relieved. But for those wondering or concerned, the story of dancing with death will not be told. At least at this time.

In the end I guess what I say is what many others have said before, but you can say it a million times and it will still have little meaning. You only have to experience it once, for it to be with you forever.