Rolling with the Punches

It’s been quite a week over here. Students with 4 or 5 study halls in their schedules for days on end; schedules changing in the middle of the day without teachers being notified and missed teaching. The terror when I thought half of my yearbook staff was going to drop, including the one student with a camera, a sentiment that has visited most of the staff in some way or another this week. I don’t even think I’ve seen the half of it. Things have settled, some.

I figured out how to wire money home to North America as dollars!!!! I don’t have to just stuff cash in my bra on the rare occasions I fly back! I know people are staring at me again with that comment.

There is a new Chinese visa regulation, as of September 1^st, affecting at least half a dozen newly hired teachers, when we attempted visa extension on September 4^th. So thankful to be single – the married teachers and those with dependents are those affected. There is more to the story than that, likely. Not particularly kosher of me to elaborate on our theories. A fistful of baht? Would that do it? Wrong country again? Only slightly.

I took a second shot at standup comedy. No colleagues along for the ride this time. Just as well, this is my thing. I got up and filled my time with a slightly more PG (as opposed to last week) variation on my rollerblading fiasco. Oh and for the record – lesbian experiences and ladyboys in Thailand – I will own you if you try that as a pick up line on me.

I’m still striking a balance between holding up my professional masks, personal masks and so forth. One thing I’ve noticed – not that it’s necessarily a new observation – but I’ve noticed the burdens others carry showing through this week as the scheduling and visa nonsense wears us down. And in some ways – it’s nice to realize I am not the only one that needs to let my guard down and be real. That perhaps, there is more opportunity to be real than I sometimes think. Even if I still sit back and take in my surroundings a little more carefully first.
Especially as so many have listened to me, these past few weeks a great deal, but really, always, when I’ve needed it. And oh boy, have I needed it. It’s nice to feel I can pay that forward in my own right after so long feeling I was just always taking.

I ate Chinese BBQ street food three nights in a row this week. I hardly batted an eyelash. I didn’t really mean to do that. Aside from my MSG intake I’m really not particularly sorry.

Two others walked with me to watch some ballroom dancing in the park last night. It was a nice, peaceful, an actually Chinese element to our evening as opposed to oh my gosh we’re back in North America mall cruising. There was some fan dancing aerobics taking place as well.

We ate Muslim noodles, and the toddler had Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance playing on a Samsung Smart Phone. Now there is culture shock, right there. None of the rest is surprising, but Lady Gaga in the Muslim Noodles joint. I have visions of visiting Mongolia someday and Gangnam Style busting out of nowhere. I mean really, it’s not that far fetched if you think about it.

The Chinese government has my passport for the next three weeks to process my residence permit. Or something like that. But they were quite efficient about it while we were there actually. Having spent full days in Thai Immigration, it was hard not to scoff at people asking how long is this going to take for a process lasting under an hour, but I tried. I’ll get it back just in time for my October holiday. So, now is definitely not a good time to get arrested. That was totally on my list for next week. I’m just glad I don’t need to notarize any certificates with one or more embassies, nor is my application held up by health check irregularities. No Thai tapeworms – no Dr. House shout outs. Damn. That would be the perfect disgusting facebook status.

There is so much swimming through my head, as per usual. There’s a brief snapshot.

Arriving

I suppose it’s about time for an update over here. Especially because I’ve been all cryptic and acting like I’ve got secret agents from various Asian countries after me. No, I tend to be melodramatic; it’s really nothing more than what you’d have to worry about putting online and having a US employer get upset about. It’s just that there are different definitions of what causes people to become upset, and I’m constantly guessing here. And since my employment is directly tied to my visa, well, I was rather anxious.

It’s hard to believe that in less than one month I will be starting my first job as a lead art teacher in a school. Yes, I went through student teaching, yes, I did art outreach work in the summer of 2010. But this will be my first, full time job in my own classroom. And that’s a really, really big deal to me.

Looking back, I thought to myself, this is something I’ve been striving for since graduation in May 2009. But thinking further, really, I was striving for it those full five years at Purdue. And really, though I hadn’t made up my mind to pursue art education yet, even when I was planning my future in middle and high school, it was always ‘well, I’ll get a science job like my parents want so I can build a really cool art studio.’ That lasted to about October of freshman year of college. I still remember the trembling phone call home to my mother about changing majors, if she would still support me, if she would not tell Dad yet. And the people who supported me in that decision then, though many are no longer in my life. They served a very important role at a pivotal time.

It seems surreal, that I will be walking into my own art class. That I will have a proper health care plan. That I will have a real school calendar, with set vacation days that I can actually take instead of sit, play, work…
And I’m not completely naïve. I know that I’m not entering Nirvana. Though my new school did not flood in the Great 2011 flood, during a rainstorm the nearby Khlong overflowed and THAT caused a slight flood in the school. You can see the water marks on the wall. Note to self: Most important art supplies do not go on the bottom shelf. Perhaps nothing goes on the bottom shelf if possible, I doubt that’s possible.

I am going to miss my current English students. I was so touched by the hugs, photos and notes they gave me. And now I’m glad I caved in and created a teacher’s facebook account, separate from my personal space, because I will be able to see what they do after this. Probably 10 students jumped up and shouted you should be our art teacher, we’ll go ask the head mistress when I told them I was leaving to teach art. I told them it cannot be, the school charter dictates that a Thai will teach art. And I really have no desire to take a job from a Thai art teacher in their home country. Though in some ways, that is exactly what I’ve done at my new school, though they were looking for someone with a better command of English, and that’s exactly the skill I can bring. I’m very conflicted about the stratification I see here. But this post is not about that.

This post is about what I’ve overcome, my excitement for the future, a dream 8+ years in the making coming to pass. I know I put too much expectation, too much pressure, too much grief onto this dream. But that’s exactly why I refused to give it up. I’ll move half way around the world before I’ll give up.

I don’t always rub everyone the right way. I’m outspoken, I’m opinionated, I’m ‘easy to anger’ as my current boss notes with chagrin. I have views that other people don’t agree with, don’t know when to keep my mouth shut and hate being politically correct. But that’s why I get along with my closest friends, even from literally the other side of the planet, and that’s what has allowed me to keep up this relentless pursuit. Next month, I will arrive.

First World, Third World

I’ve been sitting on more than one idea for a blog post, and more than one rough draft. Especially in light of my last post, which is chalk full of ‘first world problems,’ with maybe three exceptions that are universal, this ramble keeps resurfacing as one that needs to be published sooner than later. I’m certainly not the first to make these observations, and it feels unfinished, but I never claimed to be a polished writer. I only strive to be observant. Rough will work fine.

It’s hard to have a simple discussion about geography without these terms surfacing. First World. Third World. But like any other term or stereotype, these terms oversimplify reality into something more easily broadcast. And what, pray tell, is the Second World?

Living in Bangkok, Thailand, the extremes of first world versus third world are magnified far beyond what I expected, and far beyond the extremes you will see in the United States (at least, within such close proximity). Yes, there are places in the United States that can be considered ‘third world,’ just as there are places in Thailand that can be considered ‘first world.’

Siam Paragon – First World
This grandiose mall, one of the main four in Siam Square, ‘Battle of the Malls,’ or to locals just plain Siam, is one of the mega malls that epitomizes opulence in Bangkok. While a couple other malls nearby could take the cake for the most luxurious and expensive, the fact that there are several in this tier is enough. Paragon has a mix of things that are affordable (on a western income) and things that are far, far out of reach for the vast majority – even on a regular western income. There are things in this mall that I try not to even cast a shadow on lest I cause damage and have to pay for something I could never afford. And you don’t have to travel far from the mall to find poverty if you stop to look.

Yommarat – Third World
This is an intersection in downtown Bangkok, a 30-minute walk from the ultra modern sky train, including regular train tracks. It is one of the two locations where Sanuk My Saturday English lessons occur.
If you walk down the gravel along the tracks, you will come upon a small shantytown on either side. People have built shacks mere feet from the tracks – a place no one cares to kick them out of. Nothing profitable could be built here. There is no warning when the train is coming, which is frequently. One of the girls that comes to learn English on Saturdays lost her leg to the train.
The people are so excited and welcoming when the foreigners show up for English lessons. There are often more foreigners than there are tasks to help with. And it doesn’t matter if you merely held up flashcards for fifteen minutes, or that the families are in dire straights. Last Saturday they still fed us lunch. I accepted graciously but it still weighed heavily on my heart.
These people are so, so much less fortunate than I am, and they cooked and shared lunch with me just for showing up. I have done so little and they have so little. I worry about being broke or close to it. These families really have next to nothing.

After we leave, I step back into ‘the First World,’ and worry about my first world problems again. The internet won’t load. The apartment clothes washing machines are in use, or jammed. The alley cats pissed on my air conditioner again (involves air conditioner – still first world).

Even my Visa and Work Permit woes – There are families throughout Bangkok who are stateless, no citizenship, no paperwork. There are more families like them throughout the more remote regions of Thailand. They aren’t just illegal in Thailand – they aren’t legal anywhere, no one will take them. For more info on that: http://www.soros.org/indepth/stateless
Visa woes – First World Problem.

The Office in Existential Crisis

At any given time, it is almost guaranteed that someone in the office will be having a crisis, whether major or minor. Lately, it seems that everyone is having a crisis of some sorts, giving the office a surreal comedic quality that escapes definition, especially with a different nationality and personality to color each crisis.
It would also help to note, that with exams completed and the marking, reporting and student evaluations now in full force – all of us are working harder than we do most of the rest of the semester, or sitting around at a total loss for what to do with our work hours; the officers (secretaries) are in overdrive and what’s going on is as clear as mud as ever.
Without airing everyone’s dirty laundry and trying to avoid as many gendered pronouns as possible, and keeping in mind I am only discussing the foreigners, here is a sample:

•One of us has left, and been replaced twice. The parting of this teacher was a school wide crisis, though the teacher is actually on to better things.
•The first replacement teacher was sacked, and we gained a third replacement teacher mere weeks before the end of the semester.
•One of us is facetiously dating a bass guitar. They had a lovely Valentine’s dinner date. There are photos.
•One of us considered entering the monkhood to figure out what to do in life (for about 48 hours).
•One of us is suffering from insomnia.
•One of us has a trip to Europe beginning Friday. The necessary visa has not materialized yet, and has been months in the planning.
•More than one of us is at the top of the parent complaint list.
•One of us cannot decide whether to stay or go home. More than one of us is at a loss for what will happen next year even with a plan to stay.
•One of us is having a heck of a time registering a used motorbike recently purchased. I believe it’s up to fifth trip to a government office of some sort.
•One of us had a rather difficult medical issue recently, without a specialist available. It turned out alright at least.
•One of us decided to leave, and then the ‘plan’ for what to do next fell through just this week.
•Three fifths of us have dissatisfying love lives.
•One of us has a significant other who has three years to find a new nationality/citizenship or risk statelessness. This is not through criminal activity, I will just say the regulations of a certain former Soviet Bloc country in regards to long stays abroad is rather screwy.
•One of us is in debt for the first time.
•Two of us have had a very sickly semester.
•One of us just realized our contracts end in April not May if we are not staying on for the next academic year – and thus realized a month of expected income will not be there.
•One of us has decided maybe just a meditation class and not the monkhood. With a steak and a beer before and after that vegetarianism of course.
•One of us is unsure the school can renew a work permit due to national regulation change despite several years experience.
•One of us is still waiting on an airline ticket confirmation that has been two months in the making.
•At least three of us have significant problems from back home wandering over into the Land of Smiles.

While that is not an all-inclusive list, I believe I’ve reached the limit of what is acceptable to publish. So, here’s hoping for some health, some meditative guidance, some citizenship and valid visas and so forth to this motley bunch of farangs we are.

Labour & Immigration, Take Two

I can't stop coughing. I definitely have an upper respiratory infection at this point. I started myself on antibiotics after several days of holding out for my immune system. Yes, feel free to scold me for not going to the doctor - I don't have time for that right now, especially when it's mostly paperwork and here have drugs! Well, I have them already, I've had this kind of infection many times in my life, let's skip that part.

I take 4 or 5 medicines - over the counter and the antibiotics, and take fifteen minutes to pull myself together to go in. I put on jeans, t-shirt, my one long sleeved hoodie and tennis shoes. I won't be teaching today, we're going back to Labour and Immigration. The thought of doing so in my skirt and dress shoes while feeling like death warmed over is too much; and on our last trip my liaison and half the waiting room were in pants and t-shirts. I don't really care. I would have called in if we didn't have to make this trip today.
Traffic is awful - and I wonder if it's backed up from a yellow or red shirt protest or just the usual traffic chaos. The reds and yellows have both had protests this week - but before you start yelling danger! danger Will Robinson! This mostly just blocks intersections and stops traffic across town; and I happen to be in between the two main spots - so traffic comes to a standstill from both directions.

I hire a motorbike - I haggle for 30 baht not 40 baht, and we zip between the lines of traffic to get to school. Last time I hardly had time to be in the office before being whisked to the school van and setting off. This time, with traffic, the school secretary who will be my liaison this time has not yet arrived, so I have to sit in the office. My boss is interviewing a new student for next year, and her father is there. Suddenly jeans seem like a very, very big mistake. Soon the secretary arrives. She says to me, we will go after your class. To which I simply say, no, we will go now. But who will cover your class? Gen is covering it, we will go now. In fact Gen is only covering the second half of it, everyone has a first period class. But as many times as classes have been cancelled for lack of teachers (we don't have a sub system, teachers must cover for each other), events, or I've been pulled from a class I planned to teach for some other last minute reason with no cover, I simply don't care, this is more important. On occasions with many teachers out, classes are allowed to hang out, play guitar, connect their electronic music players to the sound system - they'll be fine. As it turns out the worst trouble they got into in my absence was they were about to play the movie EuroTrip over the projector when they were interrupted for actual grammar lessons. Oh well.
As we're walking out the students are walking in from the morning assembly, giggling at my attire and one asks me where are you going? Then who will be our teacher? To which I reply, "pretend you have a teacher." He grins. Not my proudest moment as an educator - but again, this is simply more important.

We get in the school van. I'm advised to dress professionally next time, but this time it's ok, you're a foreigner you don't know - that whatever my previous liaison told me, is not the right way to do things. I'm learning very quickly how much misinformation I've been given so far.
We drive, we nap, we're both coughing like crazy. We should both be home in bed. But my visa expires tomorrow, and if anything goes wrong we have to go back on the last day.
We go to Labour to pick up the Work Permit. This turns out to be fairly painless. I check the spelling of my name, sign the page, and pay for it. Then we leave. Less than 15 minutes. My partner in crime checks the details of the Thai writing and hands it to me to put in my file. Surely, that was too easy - and it was.
We get back in the van and drive to Immigration, well, are driven to Immigration. We go in, queue up, and I explain which additional forms from the counter I need. No, you don't need it. Yes, I do need it. No, you don't need it! Yes, I do need it. What? Why? This continues until I have my way. She's still confused - but I don't blame her, all this was explained to her by the previous, shortcut taking liaison, and improperly. I don't blame her, but I don't trust she knows everything I need, either.

Here's the thing. Do not believe the Thai government website, do not believe a Thai that doesn't personally work in Immigration about this paperwork. If you need answers about Work Permits and Visas, you need to personally ask another farang or go to expat web forums. That's where the information will be correct. And it doesn't help that they've recently made it much more strict, but most Thais are still operating in the previous regulations mindset.
We have several hours to wait for our number to come up, so we find a better place to sit and I fill out the forms she doesn't think I need. Then I lay down on the bench to curb my dizziness, at which point she tells me no no sit up this is Thailand, I don't know about other countries you can't do that here. Right.
Our number will be served after lunch, as last time. We go to the food court and each get some sort of noodle soup. I give her American cough suppressants and two Thai medicines. I'm not due for more yet. She looks even worse than I do - and I wish we didn't have to be here.
We go back to the Visa queue. She gives me Chinese cough suppressants. They don't taste good but they relieve the cough, she says. She's dead on. We're both half hunched over trying to nap sitting up between coughing fits.

Our number comes up ten minutes after lunch. We might even finish today. I hand over 1900 baht and we go back to wait. Over an hour passes. Finally we're called back. I have no idea what was said but I can tell there is a problem. We go back to sit down and she gets on the phone. She's calling the previous visa person - the one whose last day was Friday, whose signature she'll be foraging for the power of attorney over my paperwork. There is a form missing. One that she didn't bother to complete, saying oh, for the previous two people, didn't need it. It's a form that takes 15 days to obtain. My visa expires tomorrow. Liaison number one instructs liaison number two to negotiate with them. We try this several times. I'm informed I may have to go out of the country - tonight, or in seven days. I can't get any straight answers, and she's on the phone or talking to the Immigration officer. I call an English speaking colleague that actually knows the deal with this stuff. We discuss what it will take for me to leave for Laos tonight.
Then I find out my liaison has called my boss. My boss is negotiating with the Immigration officer. Somehow I wonder if this won't just make matters worse - but again, it's out of my hands. After over two hours of all this back and forth - my boss has negotiated a 7 day extension of my visa, she doesn't want me to leave the country. I both appreciate this and fear this fix won't actually prevent a border hop, just delay it - and I'm apprehensive that on our next trip the quick-fix seven day extension will not be honored by a different Immigration officer. This could result in a fine, not deportation or anything, and if it happens my school will be paying for it, not me. I think they've already planned that, but I will make sure of it.

My liaison is talking to the Immigration officer. I don't speak much Thai, but I've learned numbers below 100 - and I can tell she doesn't believe I'm 25. I point at myself and say "yi sip ha" and nod up and down yes, I am 25. I highly doubt wearing business attire would have convinced her of this either. For Immigration Take Three, I will be dressing to the nines. Should I pencil on some wrinkles too? Honestly. There's no way to know if business attire would have been the push to get around that missing form - but the fact is the form is on the list and my school didn't take care of it. It's not a form I fill out, it's a form the school must submit. We leave Immigration - with my passport and it's seven days of negotiated, borrowed time and without the 1900 baht. That extension should have been 200 baht, and I protest. I'm assured my boss will take care of it. This had better be the case, this is not my fault.

The two of us are seething with anger and trying to hide it from each other, as required by Thai culture. I consider the school secretary, my liaison number two, my best Thai friend. This has definitely put a strain on things. We open up and discuss our anger that the previous person cut corners and made things difficult. That we couldn't just do it properly the first time, that it doesn't have to be this difficult. But we are the 'younger sisters,' we are lower in rank than many of the people we needed to get stuff done; and though liaison number 1 is also our age - this was her job, so from a task standpoint - hers to take care of.
We nap and talk on the long drive home. We return to school. I explain the days events to a colleague. My boss pulls me aside and further explains how she will take care of it. The other teacher, the secretary and I discuss the fact that I have a seven day extension for a fifteen day piece of paperwork. That I may still have to make a border run. That my boss plans to call on the influence of parents of our students who work in the Ministry. In any case, nothing more will be done today, and I don't have to leave tonight. I'm taking more cold medicine, going home and going to sleep.

Immigration & Labour - Take One

It seems that my visa and work permit experience is rather typical, in fact - on the better end of what can be typical in Thailand for these things. People who have worked through teacher placement agencies that tried to help - have had similar, even more complicated experiences; and other agencies are simply uninterested in having their teachers be legal. I'm a direct hire, and I apparently work for a government school after all (which supposedly will make the actual processing of the papers smoother) my point is simply that having an agency doesn't necessarily make things better. In any case - here's a run down of my first trip to Immigration (there will be many).

Finally having the paperwork from the school, the school van, and whatever other loose ends were preventing the trip - yesterday I embarked on the trek to Immigration. As it turns out, TWO school 'officers' (secretaries) came along for this - because one is leaving the school after today (maternity), so she is showing the person that is staying the ropes of how to do it. The first officer attempted to go to Immigration ahead of us to get a queue number early - it used to be an automated ticket system. This time - they asked her "Where is the foreigner and where is their passport? You need both to take a ticket." Sounds fair enough to me, but none of this is really in my hands; and I wasn't going to complain about being able to skip the queue - but no go. She also apparently used to have a 'friend' that was in charge of the queue - whom she befriended by bringing them contraband coffee (they're not allowed breaks) and had previously been allowed to skip the queue entirely by this person. This 'connection,' has apparently leveled up in the ministry and is no longer on this level of things.

It may be a miracle that I even made it to Immigration one week prior to the expiration of my single entry, Non-B Visa (Teacher's Visa), on January 27. The Immigration office reminds me of an airport terminal. Huge open space - though relatively few people in that wide open space. Something like seven or eight levels of government offices of various ministries - and of course - or thank goodness - a food court, a 7/11 and other food and clothes vendors. One of my favorite office names: Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (Public Organization): GISTDA. Many official signs, around Bangkok - not just here - are dual Thai English. No, I wouldn't have been able to read that in Thai (yet).

While I was in Immigration I wrote down observations about the experience - but it's amazing how quickly it all changes - half of them were irrelevant or changed by the end of the day. At Immigration we were attempting to extend my visa, because you cannot apply for a work permit when your visa is expiring. However, after the 4+ hour wait, including waiting through the hour lunch break of the Immigration officials because my queue number came up exactly at noon - we were simply told no, you cannot extend the visa without the work permit - even though we were only looking for a one week extension to allow time for the paperwork of the work permit. I'm not sure what was said, as it was said in Thai, but probably something to the effect of well you've had 90 days to do this - gee, imagine that. Apparently it all depends on the official you get - whether you get waved through and given extensions and papers with a swift "mai pen rai" or end up having to come back again. So, we will apply for the multi-entry, long term Non-B Visa another day. And I will apparently still have to check in with Immigration every 90 days with this visa, OR travel outside the country and return. I foresee short sight-seeing trips to other Asian countries; and times I'll just have to go back through these offices.

So, after Immigration, failed attempt number one - on to the Labour Ministry! I am thankful my farang co-workers mentioned the need for a health certificate from a Thai doctor for the work permit. My Thai associate said it was not necessary when I subsequently asked her, "not too strict," however when we got through the slightly shorter Labour queue - it did turn out that I needed it. This time, they didn't need my employment contract - complete with whited out dates of employment, then recopied so there was no physical white out on the page, changed to more recent dates since I've basically been working illegally. This is Thailand - this is typical. The thought of having to go back for the medical certificate alone is nauseating, especially since I already have to go back; it was well worth subjecting myself to the maybe necessary maybe not blood draw syphilis test (the one actual medical test required) at a clinic near my apartment. Made it through the phobia of needles and blood draws by glancing all over the room and repeating "sanuk, sanuk..." (fun, fun...) over and over - the best I could do in Thai to remain calm (Mai Pen Rai does NOT help me remain calm, plus it's a lot more syllables) - though the practitioners at the clinic spoke some English as well. So glad to have that over with, the doctor concluded "She had good healthy," gave his literal official stamp of approval, and that was that. Some people have gotten by with a glance up and down, immediate stamp - the certificate itself is not strict - but needing to have it to obtain a work permit is again, all up to who is behind your counter at Labour. I think she didn't need my blood test result, but if I didn't have it done then I would have needed it - at least this is my personal justification for subjecting myself to a dreaded blood test and trying to avoid some of the cognitive dissonance of all of this.

Right - so after submitting documents at Labour and paying the 100 Baht application fee, Here's what's next: January 26th (Wednesday) return to Labour at 8:30 am sharp if possible to pick up work permit, also probably pay another fee for it. Then proceed immediately to Immigration, where somewhere in the airport terminal like building there is a place to pay for photocopying. Obtain two photo copies of work permit. Go BACK to Immigration queue. Go to food court, 7/11, buff nails for half an hour - (yes, I did that), etc., and try again for the Non-B Visa. Oh, and just now from a co-worker - apparently obtaining a multiple entry 'permit' is in addition to the visa, it requires a separate queue ticket and trip through the hullabaloo, which you CAN do on the same day - but which they will not grant without first having the visa - so huzzah, yet another trip through the madness. Oh joy.

A few asides on this topic before I wrap the post up: two of my colleagues had to go to Laos to re-apply for their Non-B Visa. Thankfully I'm already on a Non-B, so fingers crossed that I don't have to (though there are PLENTY of reputable and non-reputable companies that handle border runs for visas) - applications for Non-B must be made from outside the country - so if you started off on a tourist or spouse visa as was their case, you've got to hop the border to apply for your visa. In all honesty the worst repercussions I would face in my current situation are fines, not immigration detention, jail or deportation (that's reserved for other visa violations and persons who've also committed crimes beyond overstaying, or overstayed a very, very long time). So the day before expiration, here's to hoping everything falls into place. One of my co-workers relayed the story of his first visa/work permit, complete with three trips to Immigration and Labour and one jaunt to Laos (he was on the spouse visa) - and how everything fell into place on the exact day his visa expired. Otherwise, I look forward to blogging the experience of bussing to Laos with a border run agency.

Holidays, Internet, Papers

Things have been quite busy, and I think I probably have enough material to write approximately 5 blog entries.  I'll try to keep this update a bit more brief for now though.
This coming week there is no class.  December 5th is the King's birthday, celebrated as Father's Day and a day off from work and school.  Since The King's birthday falls on a Sunday, we have Monday off from school, work etc.
Tuesday December 7th and Wednesday December 8th are 'Sports Days,' for our school.  I know that schools across the country hold sports days, but I'm not sure if every school holds them on these days.  I'm technically not required to come to school at all on these days, and there are no classes, but I am attending at least one of the two days to see what it is about and support our schools football team (soccer).  Apparently on the 8th there is a parade with a float competition between various schools, dancing and cheer competitions.  My boss would like to take me to this day as well, I have said maybe.  I want to be sure and rest and see other parts of Bangkok during my break.  From what I hear, most farang teachers attend one sports day to see what it is about - and do not attend sports days thereafter.  We'll see, I at least want to see what it is about.  And I'm grateful to know that jean pants and t-shirt are acceptable apparel to attend sports day.  I'm a little tired of wearing a skirt or dress M-F, as female students and teachers are required to wear.
We also have Thursday off, I think the school threw that in as an extra day off since we have the other four days of the week off from class.  December 10th is Constitution Day, so Friday schools and businesses will be closed for its observance.

I have had a lot of internet trouble lately.  Since our portion of the school moved into another building, we have not had wireless internet set up.  I did not have wired internet set up in the teacher's office until earlier this week.  I still teach my computer class in the other building.  In the computer lab I cannot use the teacher's computer (which is also the server for the computer lab) at the same time as using the projector to show the students examples and directions for what we are doing.  There is a cable to send what is on the computer monitor to the projector, and a cable to connect the computer to the monitor.  There is only one port for both cables, so you can only connect to one or the other at any given time.  I have to crane my neck around to see what I am doing to load the powerpoint slides or show the students how to find a certain setting in Microsoft Word - whatever we are doing it is very awkward to see what I'm doing.  Sometimes I try and use one of the extra student computers to work on something briefly (yes, thankfully we at least have more than enough computers for every student, even the class of 35). However the web browser on the student computers is not up to date enough for me to view gmail properly - which is quite a pain since I've set it up so my students email me their projects at a gmail address I set up just for computer class.  I tried to install firefox browsers on all of the student computers - before I discovered that the student computers are 'ghosted,' or wiped clean at every boot.  I would like to talk to the Thai IT guy about installing certain things on the computers, but I also don't want to offend anyone or come off as a know-it-all condescending farang.  So I'll just deal for now.
I can sometimes get wireless internet to work in that building, but it is very fickle.  At this point I've just gotten a lot more flexible about due dates and explained to the students the situation with the teacher's internet access.  They understand.  The teachers still don't have our desks in the new office, so the concept that the internet is not as accessible as it should be is not a difficult leap from there.  I've also had some difficulty with the internet at my apartment - there are definitely bottlenecks when too many people are trying to use the internet.  I think I'm going to invest in an internet dongle for accessing internet via the phone networks.  They are available in the states, but at quite a premium through the phone companies.  Supposedly they are much more affordable and reliable here in Bangkok.  We shall see.

I've discovered a lot more things about getting along in Thailand, and getting along at my particular school.  For example, the reason I had so much difficulty obtaining my documents to come to Thailand was that my boss was not aware that I needed them.  The other foreign teachers at my school were in Thailand already - so they had visas to teach or visit already, and from there renewing their visas and permits was no problem for them and the school.  My boss had not previously had to do the primary application for a visa or work permit for any of her staff.  Thank goodness the other farang teachers mentioned this to her.  Receiving the paperwork I needed to complete my application directly coincided with them reminding her that I needed paperwork from the school in order to get my necessary documents.  One of the office secretaries handled all of the e-communication with me, including the communication that was addressed as from my boss.  My boss cannot use email - but everyone in the office has her password so she can delegate tasks for them to do in her stead.  This is also why I could not get information about the computers I would be working with to teach - she has no idea about them.  Ah well whatever.  Also, I still don't officially have my work permit.  Apparently I will receive it in January.  I've been told this is no big deal.  I've also been told that means I'm working illegally, but not to worry because it won't be for too long and they are somewhat lax about this matter for short spans of time, and since I am in the process of application.  Plenty of farangs have gotten away with working sans work permits for periods of years, and most of the farang teachers have worked illegally for a least a month or three months.  Awesome!

A few other quick tidbits before this entry gets too long:
There is such a thing as a Double Big Mac.  It is exactly what it sounds like.  I'm a little scared of that idea, but curious at the sheer ridiculousness of it.  There is 'ketchup' and 'American ketchup,' I haven't figured out what the difference is yet.  Perhaps I've mentioned, or perhaps not: remember the Krispy Kreme Doughnut craze back in the 90s?  Yeah, that's just now hitting Thailand.  I find it amusing.
There is some new store opening in one of the malls at Siam (intersection with four shopping malls connected to each other by sky bridge walk way, including MBK where I had my cell phone adventures and Siam Discovery where the Mac Repair place is).  There is a multi-story ad banner featuring photos of various celebrities for said store opening - Thai celebrities and other Asian celebrities I don't recognize, Angelina Jolie, Princess Diana, Michael Jackson and Mr. and Mrs. Barack Obama.  I wonder if they know (well, the ones living) there are multi-story images of them in downtown Bangkok.  Hopefully I can get a photo of this sometime during the coming week off, I plan on having a bit more time to sight see, take photos and update things.  I will still produce an update about Thanksgiving, and some other things that have fallen by the wayside this week at a later time.  In the meantime - I have a class to teach now.  Presuming they are in attendance and not practicing for something for sports day, or just skipping my class.