Thailand...

is fun.

I'll tell you all more about it later.

Hope everyone had a good Xmas and Happy New Year, if I don't update before!

Out of the mouths of kids

As I was cutting up my 125th snowflake with a kid - yup, I've been doing Xmas lessons all week, which has been kind of fun - and I've realised I could probably cope with doing lots of craftsy things all day, which means the idea of working with young kids more DOES appeal - anyway, the 6 year old and I were chatting, as her English is near native level.

I told her to guess where I was going at the weekend and she said she couldn't guess. I told her I was going to Thailand, which is were her dad lives at the moment. I then said I was excited but that her mummy didn't like Thailand as she thought it was too dirty and smelly. Totally matter of factly she then said, my mummy doesn't like my daddy. I said, you CAN'T say that! And she said, but it's true! I told her it was probably meant to be a secret but she couldn't quite equate the idea of something true being kept a secret...

Oh the days of innocence, eh!

I didn't tell her mum what she says, although I have before and the kid goes a lovely shade of red!

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Computer and internet are both happily sorted at home now. I just have to reload everything onto my system that I lost in Recovery.

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Two more sleeps til Thailand. This is particularly good cos Tokyo is getting really cold at the moment and a little heat is definitely needed.

Hey! 120% Christmas everybody!

No. I have NO idea what it means, but Sony Plaza shops are wishing everyone a 120% Christmas, according to their bags. Maybe that extra 20% equals the leftover turkey, the hangovers, the drunken uncles snoozing in the bushes, the remnants of wrapping paper found 6 months later under the sofa, the money heaped onto the credit cards.....

Who knows. It`s amused me, anyway.

I`m counting down the days til Thailand now (four) and hoping my computer will be sorted out before I leave. I`ve been frighteningly efficient since not having internet at home. I`m slowly realising just how much time I must actually spend on it.

I`m almost up to date on Prison Break dvd`s. My flat is clean and tidy. My sewing pile is completed. It`s great.

Last week was strange: I have no certTESOL work to do, for the first time in six months. That kind of threw me out. Actually, maybe that`s the reason everything is getting done. Luckily, I have to go and get very drunk and stay out all night singing on Saturday, so I didn`t have time to miss the usual Saturday night of lesson preparation. When I woke up at 2pm, after crashing at 5ish, I lay there thinking: what on EARTH can I do? It confused me, having a free Sunday. So, I got up, had a shower, went back to bed and slept some more... before getting my bike and hiring more Prison Break. I mean, how can you not enjoy this?

I do anyway. And I know Marcia does, don`t you love?!

I did a bad thing today though: when I first got here I adored my boss. Unfortunately, he left a year ago, and the guy who took the job could not have been more different. Lovely guy BUT knows nothing about managing people, etc. Many words could be used to describe him but a certain situation has been driving me nuts for the last six months and, whilst making my feelings very clear. Weekly. I`ve been pretty patient and polite about it. Anyhoo, this guy is finishing as my boss and moving to a different part of the company after this week. YAY! So today, I was unable to bite my tongue on the phone to him and got quite arsey about the situation. I felt much better afterwards, and it won`t make any difference to the situation anyway. Satisfying to be able to say what I felt about what he`d not done though.

P.S. new plan:

bangkok - december 24, 25
kanchanaburi - december 26, 27
ayuthaya - december 28
bangkok - december 29, 30
chiang mai - december 31, jan 1, 2, 3, 4
phitsanulok - january 5
sukhothai - january 6
bangkok - january 7, 8

better, yes?

P.S. as this is going to be my final year in Japan, I bought myself a Hello Kitty diary for 2007. I figure it`ll be the only time in my life I`ll be able to get away with it, so why not. It`s lovely and pink :D

Sorry

about all the recent stressing out on here. I`ve spent the last couple of days, after speaking to a lovely helpful English speaker at a computer shop here, getting everything off of my computer (music, songs, documents, etc) and I`m now ready to run the original discs through and see if I can fix it myself. We`ll see.

I went to a meeting on Wednesday about working in Taiwan with the company I`m with now. One of their options is to work in kindergardens, 9 to 4, Monday to Friday with the same kids. At first this idea filled me with horror. I`m kind of warming to it now though. But, as I`m not thinking of shipping out for a bit, I have lots of time to reconsider.

Thank you for my Xmas gifts. Do feel free to send more!!!

I`m off to Thailand in 8 days, and can`t wait!

I`ve pruned the trip down and it`s still all pretty flexible but if you have any suggestions or recommendations, particularly regarding travelling between places of accommodation, please leave me a comment. Now it`s:

Bangkok - December 24, 25
Kanchanaburi - December 26, 27 (dithering over adding a third day)
Ayuthaya - December 28 (or January 5th if I spend three days in Kanchanaburi)
Phitsanulok - December 29
Sukhohai - December 30
Chiang Mai - December 31, January 1, 2 (cooking course), 3 (elephant nature park), 4
Bangkok - January 5, 6, 7, 8 (maybe with 1 or 2 side trips if I get bored)

What do you think? Seems pretty relaxed to me and, apart from the 2nd and 3rd, nothing is set in stone.

bugger.

It seems, according to my internet provider, that the internet connection is fine and that it`s the computer that`s stopping me from getting onto the internet.

How much this is going to cost to sort is anyone`s guess. But I`m not happy.

My Thailand `plan` has changed again. Oh well!

Yay me!

The certTESOL is over and I passed. The moderator came from London yesterday, checked all of our work and interviewed us and it`s over.

Anyone fancy paying for me to do the diploma next?

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Internet at home is STILL buggered.

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I NOW have time to sort out Thailand. Finally. And I`ve decided to change my plans... and spend a few days in Laos as well. Thailand has been cut down to Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Kanchanburi, Phitsanulok, Sukhothai and Ayuthaya. At the moment. That gives me a few days to see visit Luang Prabang and Vientiane.

Of course, I may change my mind AGAIN by the time I`ve left this internet cafe!

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Mind has been changed. I`m going to leave Laos for another trip. BUT I`ve booked onto a cooking course and am dithering (what a surprise) with booking onto a day at the Elephant Nature Foundation. I have always adored elephants but my ethics are fighting with this one a bit. I want to know more about the place before I hand over my money. I like the sound of it because you can`t ride the elephants or see them painting or entertaining. I want to know how they are actually treated though.

Anyone know anything about this place?

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I think I have laryngitis. Singing karaoke in a smoky room probably did not help with this.

Hey lovelies!

My internet is STILL screwed at home. I`m getting increasingly frustrated by the crapness of the company and my inability to communicate with them directly and tell them how pissed off I am. Hopefully, it`ll be sorted soon. I have a couple of Japanese friends who have been talking to them on my behalf but they`re too nice to really push the provider to SORT IT OUT.

It really is very horrible not having access at home and having to sit in an internet cafe listening to people slurping noodles and sniffing.

Really.

On the plus side, the end of term is nearing. The final certTESOL session is this Sunday. AND I`m off to Thailand on the 23rd. Did I mention that already?

Sorry, I`m behind on everyone`s blogs. Me and my laptop should be back to normal soon. I hope.

Soon....

I am still internetless at home. It`s hell. I feel like someone has broken my legs and stuffed me onto crutches. It`s just wrong.

One of my lovely Japanese friends spent ages trying to persuade the internet provider they were wan, er I mean that they needed to sort this out quickly, and I`m due to get a new modem tomorrow. Of course, you cannot specify when you want things delivered in Japan and, as I`m out all day tomorrow, I`ll then have to rearrange to, hopefully, get it redelivered on Monday.

Then the fun and games will start trying to set it up. Naturally the instructions will all be in Japanese. Someone else did it for me last time. Hopefully I can find a helper this time....

Anyway, I now have just two weeks left of the certTESOL. Thankfully. I have almost finished all the coursework and have no lessons left to do for the course. I`m now ready to do the diploma. Not really. I doubt I will ever have the money to do the diploma.

Machiruda, I should just point out, is probably leaving a small stream of pissed off Japanese bloggers around Tokyo - now she`s taught me how to change the language settings on blogger. I am heartless. I don`t really care though!

P.S. Sigsy - Timorous Beastie and I want to contact you to figure out when we can go boozing. I think we both have our emails on our blogs, so you could you contact us. It may have to be early next year now, but not necessarily. Likewise, any more Tokyo bloggers that fancy a meet, email Timorous Beastie or myself.

And, I`ve been meme`d by Beastie to come up with five things about myself that you don`t know. If you skip back far enough you probably have all the info about me that I can think to share. Any questions? What can I tell you???