Ultrasounds Aren't Just For Pregnant Women...

This past week was a little rough for me. I woke up Wednesday feeling horrible. Managed to slog through that day and then was still feeling horrible all day Thursday. Things got worse Thursday evening so I headed to Nonthavej Hospital (right next to The Mall). My roommate Nathan came with which was much appreciated. I met with a doctor, failed a urine test, and it was decided I had a bladder infection. I was sent back to main floor to get an IV with some sort of antibiotic drug in it. After giving another urine test, the nurse told me the IV would take 45 minutes but it took 1.5 hours. The hospital seemed pretty clean and modern and very well staffed. Nurses everywhere. Some wear these sweet hats and some speak some English. Three nurses were getting the IV started and one of them started shaking the IV bag and I noticed a bunch of air bubbles coming down the tube. I had heard that air bubbles in the blood can kill you so I was a little worried. I pointed to a bubble and asked the nurse if that was ok and she said yes. When a different nurse came I asked her and she said it was ok and then I pointed to a bigger bubble and then she said "no no" and then she sucked the bubbles out with a syringe and I felt much better. I got to the hospital around 7:15 and didn't leave till about 10:45. The doctor said I had to go back for another IV on Friday and Saturday and then a checkup on Sunday. So Friday I took the bus to the hospital (about 45 minutes). This time I got my own little room on a different floor, but it took 3 hours this time for the IV to go through. At least this time my headache was gone enough so I could read a book. After a couple of hours I asked a nurse how much longer it would take and she told me about 10 minutes and laughed a bit. Later, I had to go to the bathroom so I had to call the nurses using a cordless phone they gave me. The nurse who answered didn't speak English but passed it onto another nurse and she said she would be just a moment. But I think she forgot and a while later an only Thai-speaking nurse came in and had to get an English-speaking nurse. I ended up having to walk behind her attached by the IV cord which I'm sure made a silly sight. Saturday I had to be there by 3 for another IV and this one only took two hours and was fairly uneventful. Back again this morning for another urine test. I guess my white blood cell count in the urine was 10-20 (not sure the units) instead of 1.2. I then was instructed to drink water until my bladder was full and then a nurse took me to another floor where I had to get an ultrasound taken of my 2 kidneys and my bladder. They rub this weird jelly on you before doing the ultrasound. She let me see my bladder which was pretty sweet. They said my kidneys and bladder looked ok so the doctor gave a 10 day supply of some antibiotic for me to take twice a day and now I gotta go back next Sunday for another urine test. Hopefully everything will be better by then so I don't have to go back again. So I wasted much of my weekend going back and forth from the hospital and now I'm feeling pretty stressed about this upcoming week. Another bummer is that I was supposed to go see Real Madrid (the team with David Beckam) play against the Thai soccer team but I had to go to the hospital instead; but oh well, mai pen rai. I'm thankful Thailand has pretty decent hospitals and I'm thankful that I'm feeling much better now than I was before. But I should try to get to bed soon so I can get the week started with a bit of sleep.

Kanchanaburi

10 X zoom
Originally uploaded by Shaggy Z.

Woke up at about 6 Thursday morning, took a shower and packed my bags. Met up with Craig and Michelle at 7 and grabbed a taxi for the southern bus terminal. Although we got there at 7:45, the next available bus was at 9 so we had to wait in a crowded bus terminal for an hour. When the bus came and Craig showed the men loading the luggage his ticket, they told him that we had missed our bus but we went on anyways and there wasn’t any problem. It took about 2.5 hours to get to Kanchanaburi as the bus stopped at various locations around the way. Upon arrival we took a pickup taxi (pickup truck with covered back and benches down the sides) to the guesthouse we were staying. We stayed at Blue Star Guesthouse, which is built near the river over a Klong (water canal), so the walkways are like cement docks and the guesthouses are built on built on stilts (pics on Flickr). We rented motorcycles and spent most of the day buzzing around on those. We checked out the Allied War Cemetery. After a lengthy discussion of where we should park, we decided to park the motorcycles on the sidewalk. The cemetery was very well-kept with flowers planted beside each tombstone. It was hard to imagine the beautiful, hill-filled region engulfed in war 50 years ago. On our map we noticed another allied war cemetery 2 km outside of the city, so took a two-lane highway out there. It was very similar to the first, so we kept going down the highway and passed by a few wats (temples). We saw a narrow cement road and decided to follow that. It took us past farmers working in their fields, and at some points you couldn’t see a building in any direction. We were surrounded by forested, rocky hills and green fields. Such a nice change from the crowdiness of Bangkok and Nonthaburi. Eventually the cement road turned into a bumpy gravel road that eventually ended at a monastery that seemed in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by hills. While we were there a pick-up truck came and about 20 monks piled into the back of the truck and took off (they wear orange robes which makes them very easy to distinguish). As they passed us some smiled and waved at us. We weren’t sure if they would be angry for us invading their privacy but they didn’t seem to mind, but we didn’t stick around too long or attempt to talk to any of the monks. After that we found a smaller muddy road that branched off the gravel road which we decided to take. It was tough keeping the motorcycle under control going through the mud and I got stuck pretty good. After we passed the muddy road it turned into a grass road which we took for a bit until it curved around and headed towards the monastery from the back side, so we turned around and headed back to Kanchanaburi. We drove to the famous “Bridge Over the River Kwai” which is a railway bridge built by Allied POW’s in WWII to connect Burma and Thailand for the Japanese. Conditions were harsh and many died. The original bridge was destroyed by Allied bombers but was rebuilt after the war. It was really crowded there so I didn’t enjoy the bridge to much. We went to a WWII museum which was pretty interesting and also had a lot of stuff about Thai history. We drove around a bit deciding which restaurant to go too and then returned our motorcycles. It costs about 8 dollars to rent a motorcycle for 24 hours so I plan to go back again. It was my first time driving a motorcycle and beats a bicycle any day! The next morning we had breakfast at the guesthouse and then left for a guided tour at 8. A minivan came and picked us up along with 5 other people staying at the same place (a couple from Vancouver and 3 Germans). We headed out towards Erawan national park which is about an hour west of Kanchanaburi. But were delayed for 45 minutes with a flat tire. After the tire was fixed the Germans went to the same van and us and the Canadians went into another van that came because we were taking a different tour than the Germans. We ended up hanging out with the Canadians pretty much the whole day. They are a young married couple (26 and 27 (Stephanie and Dave)) who are teachers at an international school in Korea. We first went elephant trekking for about a half hour. It was my first time on an elephant and I had a blast. The elephant I rode was 22 years old and its trainer, Say-lee (I’m just guessing at the spelling), was also 22. We first went across the highway and up a hill, then he had me get off the seat and ride on the elephants head for the rest of the trek. We waded through a river and went by a small village. One of the houses had “Jeses Loves You” spray painted on the side. It was interesting to see, but I figured the owner had probably seen that phrase somewhere and copied it without really knowing what it means. The elephant trainer called me “See You Later” because Steph said “See You Later” to me as we passed her. After the elephant trek we took a 10-minute jeep ride to the river and got onto a bamboo raft. The raft ride was about a half hour. It was basically a bunch of bamboo poles tied together and half sinking, and a guy would steer it with a long pole. The highlight was jumping off and swimming in the river. After the rafting we took the minivan to Erawan falls. After lunch we walked up to the falls. It has 7 tiers, the top one being about 2 km away. It was quite beautiful, but the water volume was quite low and it was crowded with people. Some of the Thai people there were quite rowdy, which is quite different from how most Thai people act and some of them were drunk. At the top I swam around in the pool below the 7th tier for a bit. It felt nice to be cold for a change. We walked back down and took the minivan for about 45 minutes to the railway which has been dubbed “Death Valley Rail.” We took it back to Kanchanaburi and crossed over the “Bridge Over the River Kwai.” The train ride was scenic and we saw a lot of the country side. The style of life seemed very laid-back and sometimes people would wave as the train went by. It lasted about 2 hours, including a half hour stop. We headed back to the guesthouse at about 6:30 and had a drink with Stephanie and Dave, the 3 Germans, and 2 Dutch people. The two women Germans are teachers in Germany and the Dutch woman was a teacher in the Netherlands. 8 teachers from all over the world hanging out in Thailand! The 10 of us went for supper together and then came back to the guest house for another drink and talked for an hour or so. It was a very neat experience having random strangers from all around the world meet up at a guesthouse and end up acquaintances, only to split up again and all go our separate ways and probably never see each other again. This morning (Saturday) we left the bus station at 11:30 with Stephanie and Dave to head back to Bangkok. They will be in Bangkok a few nights and will then be heading back to Korea. We exchanged email addresses and said we would see each other again some day and then came back home. We got back here at about 2:30 and I napped for an hour before doing some lesson planning. I’ve never been seen a more beautiful place than Kanchanaburi (except for Leech Lake of course) and I plan to go back again some day.

The Weekend Begins...

We have Thursday and Friday off because Thursday is some sort of Buddhist holiday and Friday is Buddhist lent. Most of the teachers took off right after school for a 10 hour bus ride to Koh Tau but I'm gonna head to Kanchanaburi tomorrow with Craig and Michelle. Today went by fast, like every day was. The highlight for me was getting KFC from one of my grade 7 students, Nunu. Apparently it is his birthday tomorrow so he brought me food. So I had a pretty sweet lunch of fries, chicken nuggets, chicken strips, and chicken breast, which was a nice change from rice (not that I'm complaining, the food at the school cafeteria is usually pretty good). I was hoping to work all night but I don't think I'll be able to (I could never get myself to do homework on Friday's in university). Anyways, we should get back on Saturday so I'll have some time to work.

I've Survived the Legendary Thai Massage...

Woke up this morning at about 11 and headed over to Snow White's to pick up my laundry (that is the name of the laundromat down the street). I'd rather do them myself, but stuff comes out of the washing machine here smelling pretty funky. I grabbed an iced coffee from sev and read a bit and then decided to go get a pedicure with my roommate Nathan. After that we decided to go across the street and get massages. It lasted about 2 hours and was pretty cool. They bend your body so much I thought my bones might snap. But overall it was pretty relaxing, but now my neck and shoulders and calves are getting pretty sore. After that I was headed to my classroom but ran into Keng from NBC and ended up playing tennis with him and another guy (Pe Goh). I've never played sports at temperatures of 35 degrees so it was pretty exhausting. After that I talked with Craig and Michelle to finalize our plans for the long weekend next week. We are gonna leave Thursday morning for Kanchanaburi. It is about 120 km NW of Bangkok. We made reservations at a place called the Blue Star Guesthouse. We hope to come back on Saturday. Here is a blurb about Kanchanaburi from Frommer's Thailand:

Really more than a 1-day trip (best as an overnight), Kanchanaburi is home of the famed Bridge over the River Kwai and the notorious internment camps for Allied troops forced into servitude (and death) by the Japanese during World War II in an effort to link Burma and Thailand by rail. Made legendary by film of the same name, "The Bridge over the River Kwai" lives on in name only; the existing bridge is just a little rattle-trap trestle that crosses not the River Kwai but a tributary (but that doesn't stop souvenir hawkers and the touris infrastructure that has grown up around the bridge). There are however lots of good excursions in the area, many caves and waterfalls in the surrouding hills and a few good hotels and riverside guesthouses: a popular esscape from the heat, traffic and pollution of Bangkok.

At evening at a mall...

Things seem to be going better here. Yesterday I stopped working at about 6 and today I stopped working at 5:30. I went to a nearby mall (not The Mall, which is much bigger) with my roommate Nathan. We were gonna see a movie but had already seen the ones showing. We got some supper at a restaurant called the steakhouse. I was gonna have spaghetti with a German sausage but the waiter said "no garlic." Eventually we found out that they were out of German sausage. So I ended up getting a pork chop that tasted like TV dinner and onion rings that tasted like fish. We then went to an arcade and played this game where you drive around and try to take out cars until they started closing the gates that close the arcade. We thought the lady told us we had time for one more game but I think she meant one more minute because they pulled the plug while he was playing. But of course they were very friendly about it. Nathan then decided to buy some popcorn but then it was raining out so we went inside a department store, sat on a cart, and watched one of the televisions, which was playing some Thai movie with no volume. Must have looked funny to see two farang sitting on a cart in a department store with movie theatre popcorn and pop! For chapel every Thursday we take turns speaking, which means this weak is my turn to speak. Right after chapel I am being observed by Amanda (temporary administrator). Also, apparently the Ministry of Education is gonna be hanging around our school on Thursday as well.

PD...

Pattaya
Originally uploaded by Shaggy Z.

On Wednesday at 6 we all met in the staff room. In typical Thai style we left at 7, giving a few minutes to rest on the couch. We took two of the GES vans. The trip was enjoyable as we sang Cumbaya and Down by the Bay and played question games and took pictures. We arrived at Pattaya at around 10. Pattaya is southeast of Bangkok on the Gulf of Thailand. We stayed at a Baptist Church family camp which was right next to the beach. On arrival we went to the grocery store for "supper". Played a few rounds of crazy 8's with Craig and Mike (who I was rooming with) then headed to bed. It was nice here the waves hit the shore as I lay there. The next morning we had breakfast at 8:30 and then spent an hour by ourselves reflecting on a passage in Thesalonians. We then met back for prayer and then had another half hour of personal prayer time. After that we had communion with eachother then broke up into groups to pray. After that some of us tossed the football around and then we headed to Pattaya Park Tower. It's a big tower in Pattaya with 3 revolving restaurants at the top. We had lunch up there, then took the zip line down! After we got on the roof a storm moved in so we had to wait half an hour before we could jump. It was pretty amazing watching the storm move in from the ocean. You could clearly see where it was raining and could watch it get closer to shore. The ride down wasn't was not very fast, giving us time to enjoy the view. We spent the afternoon with some free time so headed to the beach and tossed the frisbee and football around in the water with Mike, Craig, and Heidi. Later we were joined by Ajarn Sahat and Ajarn Surong. Supper was brought to the camp and after supper we hung out by the campfire. I read outside till about midnight and then headed to bed. Friday morning we had breakfast at about 8:30 then headed back to Nonthaburi. In the afternoon I had a division meeting with Mike and Colleen and then had some work time. In the evening we went to a Japanese restaurant in The Mall called Fuji for Kari's birthday. After that I saw "The Fantastic Four" at the theatre with Craig, Michelle, Lindsay, Mike, and Vicky. The movie was pretty lame. This morning (Saturday) we had devotions at 8:30 and then various meetings. I had a grounds and facilities administrative team meeting. We don't have an administrator so each of us has to have an administrative role. Mine is taking care of the computers in the computer lab and staff room as well as the website. I spent the afternoon working then went to the nearby market (Talat Nonthaburi) with Craig and Michelle. Checked out a nearby mall then headed back and spent the evening working. Tomorrow I'll probably go to NBC. I hear there is an American that will be speaking tomorrow.

TGIF...

It's Friday today (sort of)! School day went well. After school I spent 20 mins talking to a couple grade 7 boys (Tam and Pub). They were watching me refill my whiteboard marker so I started telling them about pipets and the various lab work I have done. Pub is a very quiet boy but Tam is quite an outgoing fellow. Right now it's 10 after 5. At 6 we are supposed to be ready to leave. We will leave as soon as the school vans get back from bringing kids home. We are headed to Pattaya which is I think 3-4 hours drive southeast of Bangkok on the Gulf of Thailand (Hua Hin is southwest). Stay tuned for pictures!

Flickr...

I have finally posted new pics at Flickr! Also, congratulations to my sister Anna for graduating from high school. God bless you in all your future endeavors. Trust in the Lord!

Weekend...

Yesterday (Saturday) I didn't get up until 11:15. Headed over to Sev to get an instant coffee and ran into Mike there. He invited me over to pancakes so I accepted the invitation. Mike makes good pancakes. And he makes good Tim Horton's coffee. I worked on lesson plans for about 3 hours in the afternoon and then went for a bike ride for about an hour. Went down to the pier and then down random streets. I feel pretty safe riding on the busy streets except for the motorcycles because they're crazy. A trick I learned is to follow right behind a samlor, which is a thing where a people sit in the back and a guy in front pedals. The side streets are very narrow with houses on both sides. Almost the size of North American alleys but busier. Came back and worked awhile. Then biked to Big C with Lindsay because I wanted donuts. Came back and watched Phantom of the Opera. This morning I went to NBC (Nonthaburi Baptist Church). Afterwards I had Ichiban since I bought a hot water kettle yestefday (made oatmeal for breakfast). Spent entire afternoon working then had Bible study at Craig and Michelle's. Had a deluxe pizza puff, garlic toast, and Pepsi from The Pizza Company then spent the evening working.

I Love to Ride my Crocodile...

After visiting Tim at the hospital Craig and I headed over to The Mall. Craig tried on a few shoes than we headed over to Sizzler where I filled myself with the salad bar. Took the bus back to Big C where I purchased a blue bicycle that says Crocodile on the side. It has a seat on the back and pegs for a passenger, a basket in the front, and a bell. Craig and I rode it home. First I drove with him on the back and then he drove. Its kinda scared riding in the back because its kind of wobbly and you feel like you're gonna wipe out. Riding down the street was a bit alley. We took a side street across from the school to drop Craig off at his house, then met his wife Michelle when I got back to school so gave her a lift back as well. Then I took it for a few laps around the parking lot. Tomorrow I want to do a bit of exploring.

Canada Day...

Canada is waking up to its 138th birthday. Here at the school it was multicultural dress-up day (I think it was mainly an excuse for us teachers to wear jeans). I dressed up as a Canadian university student. Felt great to wear jeans and sandals. Flag last probably half an hour so far, probably the new record. Us Canadian teachers went down and sang our national anthem in English and in French. Day went very well today. I collected 90 baht worth of fines today from students (5 baht if caught speaking Thai in class). But I'd say this was the best day I've had as far as the teaching goes. I'm about to head out and head to the hospital with Craig to visit my apartment mate Tim who had to go to the hospital last night. Probably food poisoning. Sounds like he'll have to spend another night there. No big plans for the weekend. Nothing interesting at the movie theatre.