Farang Princess Eats Frog

No this is not the story of the princess and the frog.  This is the story of a foreigner “princess” eating frog.

Well the story begins with me, and American foreigner arriving in Thailand to teach for the year.  Being a foreigner, especially a woman in Thailand is not common, and especially Ubon, as compared to Bangkok or other cities with more English.

Thai people are always very happy to meet me, and quite truthfully one of the most frequent comments or conversations I have include some saying ‘suay’ or ‘beautiful’.  The comment comes form both men and woman, although most frequently older women love fussing over me.  It is as though I have suddenly become a celebrity, half the time in Thailand I feel like some special foreigner princess.  Hence the “farang”, foreigner, princess.

At times it is a bit embarrassing, but overall it’s rather fun to receive such a friendly and flattering welcome. 

As a farang, one of the kind welcomes I received was from my fellow teacher Busaba.  She kindly took me out to eat, invited me to her home, as well as her second home in Phibun.

 I had already visited Phibun once and really enjoyed myself, but I was soon invited again and with promises to be shown how to make pad thai and fresh spring rolls, I could hardly decline. 

The second visit, I stayed over.  I even had my very own cottage! It was lovely, I felt very pampered.  We spent much of the day cooking, but it was fun! 

 Preparing rice to cook in bambo.

 My first spring roll.

 Busaba loves to cook!!

 Rice cooking in the bamboo stalks.

 Roll them.

 Fry them.

 Eat them. The spring rolls surely did not disappoint. 

And neither did the joyous meal. 

 That evening we shared all the wonderful foods with neighbors, and then they returned the favor by inviting us to dinner at their home tomorrow.  One of the sons also asked if I had eaten frog!  He said they would be sure to catch some in the field tomorrow!!! Eeek!

The following day after class with the students we also made Gratong's which are made out of banana leaves. 

 Banana tree 

My Gratong!

 Then floating the Gratong and making wishes. 

Alright now back to the frog that I'm sure you are curious about. For those of you that know me.  I am not a big fan of dead things. Dead fish, disgusting. Road kill, so gross it often sends a shiver down my spine.  I like the taste of meat, and don’t normally have to see dead animals or them being killed, so it’s not too much of a problem.  But when food has eyes and legs….. little different.

The next day though with a smile on my face I learn a Thai phrase, can now say “Wan nee, Chan ja gin gin gop” “Today I will eat frog".

 Yup it's a frog.

Here goes nothing little guy!

And so I ate frog! Luckily being kindly invited to meals, and cheerfully welcomed into a new culture though helps a lot when you are offered a very strange food.  I wanted to thank my hosts, as well as have this unlikely experience, so I ate the frog even as it little eyes looked at me.  As it turns out you can eat all of a frog, and they don’t really taste too bad, especially the legs.  Still though I think one frog is enough for me, but there you have it the famous farang princess ate frog. 

Phibun

I had a week before school begins to settle into my apartment and explore around the city, including getting myself lost.  I was also kindly invited to another teacher’s second home in the town of Phibun, just a bit outside of Ubon.  I graciously accepted glad to have something to do, and the opportunity to see more places in Thailand. 

My first visit to Phibun I was happily greeted by lush green rice fields.  It is harvest time now.  I also loved Busaba and Tao’s lovely home.  Busuba affectionately calls it her palace, and is planning to retire here within a few years. 

She has also opened an English center where she teaches a few classes of young students each week.  I helped teach and really enjoyed myself.  It got me excited for my first week of teaching at Assumption. 

The students wrote my name in Thai for me. 

After a morning of teaching, we drove towards the border of Laos to where the Mekong River and Moon River meet. 

It is especially beautiful because you can see both Laos and Thailand, and the two rivers come together with different colors.  The Mekong being red-brown meeting the bluer, clearer waters of the Moon River.  

Do you see the two colors meeting??

I think our smiles say it all!  

We also visited the temple. 

 I paid my respect to the monk, and made wishes for the future. 

We then headed home, but not without stopping to get Sala Pow, delicious dumplings that are famous in Phibun. 

Simple First Impressions

Positives
1. The people are very friendly.
2.  Living here is cheap!
3. I have a nice place to live.
4. Air Conditioning.
5. I am excited to teach and am guessing I will enjoying it.
6. Internet is great! Communication and entertainment!!
7. Thai culture is interesting!
8. Great food.  Yummy, different food, that has yet to leave me unhappy.
9. Relaxed lifestyle.
10.  It's worth repeating people are very kind and welcoming!

Negatives
1. I don't speak the language.

Not being able to talk to people is hard.  You often feel embarrassed, and self conscious. Life can become a bit lonely and boring.  You feel unsure of going out and doing things because you can't have enough conversations to navigate through life.

2. It's hot. It's humid.  Yup just about all the time. Air conditioning, morning and evenings, and cold showers become your best friends.  You also accept feeling sticky as a part of life.

3. Family and Friends are far.

Random Facts
1.  Rather than an annoying loud beeping, the washing machines here beep a happy jingle.
2. Paying for water can be fun.  When use use a funky machine, and get a liter of water for 1 baht, about 3 cents.
3. When you look at fields here you need to remind yourself:  That is rice, it grows in the water.  There is lots of water and even fish over there, not just dirt and plants.  Not dirt, cow poop, and corn like at home.

4. Krista still has too much time hanging out at her mansion before school starts.  Luckily though I'm headed off to eat some yummy Thai food, then cook with a friend, and visit a Thai temple tomorrow.  I'll take lots of pictures and fill you in later :)

Power Lines and Water

 Power lines and Water.  These are two simple things that have stood out to me in this first week in Thailand.

One of the very first things I was surprised by in Thailand was the massive amounts of power lines.  If I'm honest I find them quite ugly, and a sad obstruction.  I suppose the technologies are not up to that of the U.S., where we must consolidate lines, and run many underground.

I'm sure I will get used to seeing more telephone lines, or rather power lines, but for those of you somewhere beautiful, enjoying the view, be glad there are not more ugly power lines for you to gaze upon.

Secondly, having clean drinking water all the time is pretty great!  It is a simple fact of life in America that I haven't given too much thought to.

I've actually been someone whose been largely opposed to bottled water.  Especially after attending UVM, such a green university, complete with bottled water bans, and water bottle fill up stations everywhere.  Living in Thailand though, bottled water has become a piece of my daily life.

For a variety of reasons, that I'm not really sure of, almost all of the tap water in Thailand cannot be used for drinking.  This is vastly different than the tap water I drank all my life in America.

Anyway though, even after a week you get used to the fact that your water is bottled and shipped.  You buy water when you go out to eat, and if you would like ice.  You keep bottles of water in your fridge.  And as I recently discovered, can pay one baht, or about 3 cents to buy 1 liter of water from a small machine on many street corners.  For some reason I loved filling my water up for the first time.  I can't say why but it was almost like I was a kid buying penny candy.  I got to use a weird machine I couldn't even read and then for just 3 cents I got a whole bottle of fresh, clean, good tasting water!

Anyhoo after reading some other blogs and getting my creative juices flowing these are some of the silly things I've been pondering and decided to write down since I have a little too much free time before school starts. Please don't worry if my thoughts are boring to you, I just felt like writing about them, doesn't mean you have to be interested in reading them :P

If you happen to find blogs and life in Thailand interesting here's some more reading for you:

http://whiteguyinthailand.wordpress.com/

It's an American guy who very honest and humorous, if not a bit random, in sharing about his time teaching in Thailand.  I've enjoyed reading and skimming through his posts and pictures, so if you want some humor and a bit more about Thailand have a look.

On another note if you want to learn a little more about Ubon, say maybe if you were enticed to consider visiting me here even after my complaints about water and power lines.  Or if you just want to learn about where I'm living have a look here:

weloveubon.com

All the best. Some more stories and thoughts soon!

First Days in Ubon

Hello!  My first post from Thailand.  My travels were long and exhausting, but everything went as planned.  After a stop for some sightseeing in Taiwan I arrived Wednesday morning October 15th in Thailand.

Some sights from Taiwan. 

Ceramics Museum 

My first days in Ubon were met with many kind welcomes and good meals.  As well as settling into my mansion, Thai apartment.  I'll give you a quick tour of my apartment, school, and main road in Ubon. 

For the full tour see below :)

It is hard to get used to these little guys scurrying around on the ceiling!

 The sports field

 The new school building which will be finished within the next year. 

And should look something like this. 

Yup, I'm that American girl taking selfies in front of her school. 

 The main road in Ubon.  Notice anything familiar!

The other side of the main road and again familiar American sights.  I was surprised to find that there are many American things in Ubon including, KFC, McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks, Annie Anne's Pretzels, Dairy Queen, and more!  As it turn out there is not much I will be missing as far as foods and shopping.  Ubon also has two large shopping malls, with most anything you could need.  As it turns out I have a bigger shopping selection than in Vermont!  I was most excited to found TimTam's a delicious cookies that anyone who's been to New Zealand or Australia should know about.

The weather in Thailand very warm! For me it feels like the peak of Vermont summer, but this it is approaching winter in Thailand.  I am a little nervous for the hot season, but so far the weather has been fine.  There is also air conditioning in many places, and I have air conditioning at my mansion and at school.

The first rain felt a bit different from home.

The sky looked like this as the rain was pouring down!! And it was still hot!

Learning Thai has also been a challenge.  Slowly though I am learning the essentials, and luckily many kind Thai teachers have helped act as translators as well as becoming fast friends.  One of the main challenges is the fact that the sounds and written language are so very different from English.  Thai is also a tonal language, and varying tones can change the meaning of a word.  These small distinctions are very hard to distinguish if you are not fluent in the language, certain sounds are also different than English.  I've found great apps and online resources and have had some time to continue to practice.  So I am sure with time I will have enough Thai to more easily have conversations and go about daily life.

Although it is an adjustment to a different lifestyle, climate, and language.  I feel welcomed in Ubon and am excited for my coming weeks and months, teaching, learning, and exploring.

Be in touch!!