Phil and Julia Tackle the Globe: Recent Happenings

I apologize that I've been a little negligent on the blog-front... I'm going to try and do better! Here's an update of what's been going on lately:

Living in Chiang Mai has been sanuk mak! (really fun) We're set up in a little apartment close to downtown, where we have a great view and are pretty centrally located to everything we need. We don't have a kitchen, but considering that most of the food stalls nearby charge between 30 and 45 baht (about a $1 - $1.50) for a delicious meal, we probably wouldn't be doing that much cooking anyway. The food here is SO good, but I will elaborate on that more in a later post. And we're not far from the "old town" which is still enclosed in a moat and crumbling wall remains. There's a lot of Wats (temples) and restaurants and bookstores, etc etc within the walls, and it's a fun place to hang out once-in-a-while.

We've also acquired some means of transportation. Phil has rented a motorbike, now accompanied by a recently upgraded helmet. And I have purchased a bicycle. I love it, but doing all the U-turns around the moat is a little harrowing. Plus, Thailand doesn't seem to be as totally dependent on motorbikes, there are a lot of cars around so we take it slow and steady. It is nice to have some wheels, though.

And we are liking our jobs. We both are working sporadically at an English school called GEE English- stands for Gain English Easily and their slogan is "Learn English and Get a New Soul". I can't wait to get the T-Shirt... They're paying us to teach some classes and hang out with mostly their kids classes to work on pronunciation. It's pretty fun, but the hours aren't dependable.

Then, we're also doing a little volunteer work teaching to some more disadvantaged folks. Phil has been going out to an organic farm to help out there with English and writing proposals. And I'll be working with a women's organization downtown. It feels good to give back a little bit to the community that has been providing us with such a good time. But it's surprisingly hard to re-learn English grammar well enough to teach it. I don't envy anyone trying to learn this language.

A tractor doing work on some rice fields on the way to Phil's Farm

Then, in our free time, we'll take trips out to the country side to visit Phil's host family, or go to the gym, or bike around town exploring, or go to the market to pick up some delicious food and fruit, or hang out with some of our friends.

And most recently, this past week, Phil's friend and roommate from Colorado College, Brian Dito, paid us a visit. He's been teaching English in Korea and had a few days off. It was awesome to see him, and a good excuse to take a few days off and tour around the city. Phil's host family nicknamed him Chok Dee (which means Lucky), and Tong Dee, Nam, and Chok Dee did the typical tourist business: Zoo, Temples, night markets, beer towers, and ate a ton of delicious food.