This is pathetic

When I left for Thailand four months ago I decided to take a few art supplies with me in my carry on luggage, so I could doodle on the plane. So I grabbed a bag of pencils, erasers, etc. and stuffed it into my bag. I went through DIA airport security, LAX security, two security checks in Tokyo, and arrived in Thailand with no problems. On my way back to the states I put the same little bag of pencils in my carry on and went to the airport. I got through BKK airport security, two Tokyo security checks again, got to the Dallas/Fort Worth airport and had to have my stuff scanned an extra time at customs (due to a large preserved tarantula in my luggage), and started to go on my merry way to my last, and ninth security check to get on my last two hour flight to come home. As my bag goes through their machine, the dude staring at the screen gets all wierd and has to call over someone else for help. An airport officer had to take my bag and call me aside to go through my stuff. It took him forever to find what he was looking for, and all the while I'm trying to figure out what this airport might be more strict about than the others. But when he pulled an exacto knife with about 20 or so extra blades out of my little art bag, I realized just how much airport security sucks and fail to do their jobs properly. I got onto five airplanes and through eight security checks before anyone noticed that I had 20ish lethal weapons in my carry on. How pathetic is that.


Also, since I have returned home, I am not planning on posting to this blog until I decide to return to Thailand. So i wouldn't worry about checking in to see how I am doing.

Wow...

I actually feel like I got some sleep last night. I can't remember the last time that happened. I think I need another night of decent sleep before I really feel better though.

Evan and I had to buy an extra suitcase for the stuff we have accumulated. That suitcase is filled with stuff for other people and our training gear. Hahaha

Only one week remains.

That's it, all I have left is one week in Thailand. I don't feel like I did much, and looking back, I really didn't. None the less, it has been a good vacation.

Things I will miss:

Seeing only 1-2 fat people each week, as opposed to 1-2 every five minutes in the states.
The taxi drivers. Some of these guys are great.
Training every day.
The food.
Having excellent Thai restaurants within walking distance. In fact, having one almost just outside the front door of where I live.
Healthy $1 meals.
Healthy, whole meal, fast food. (I know this is an unknown concept to Americans, you would have to experience it to understand)
Being surrounded by Asian people.
Not having to work.
The sea of black hair.
Staring it the weird clothes girls wear sometimes.
Making friends with people I will only see for a week.
Some of the long term friends I have made. Some who are already gone.
The wild cats. And packs of wild dogs.
Sitting in a restaurant and not understanding any of the conversations around me.
The lack of emo kids.
The lack of bible bashers.
Definitely the food.

Things I will not miss:

The pollution.
Open sewer holes.
Electricity cables you could walk into and strangles yourself on.
The severe lack of walking space.
The smell of fish balls.
Cold showers.
Dirty water.
My hard pillow.
The crappy Internet connection.
Not having enough clothes.
The 'peanuts'. Or the odd ducks, whatever you want to call them.
No offence to the Thai people who are not this way but... the abundance of racism and sexism in this country.
The MOSQUITOES and the ANTS crawling all over me while I SLEEP!
Having to rely on other people so much to do anything.
The washing machine, and lack of a dryer.
Being unable to cook for myself. All I can make is cereal and PB&J.
PB&J every day.
The dogs that mark their territory all over the Institute.
The hole between my room and the next. And the cigarette smoke that gets through.
The Thai kids. I swear they ALL have hyperactivity disorders.
This uncomfortable chair that I am currently sitting on.
Being unable to see the moon.

As I think of more things over the next week, I will add them to my comments for this entry.

Junk food day

I am officially dubbing today junk food day. I ate french fries, soda, a burger (albeit a good quality one), four banana muffins, a whole can of pringles, a strawberry frappe, and I'll probably have some chocolate later. I think the only healthy thing I have eaten so far today is an orange, and some water. Watch me gain a kilo, Ha! Take that body! Really though, I'm sure I will burn it all off during tommorow's training sessions. It just won't feel very good while I do it.

I am not cool! Stop bothering me!

Why does it always feel like there is so much to do right at the end of something? I haven't been procrastinating. It is other people that are like 'oh we have time' 'we can wait' , and then 'oh no! only 2 weeks left! I must show you this long list of stuff and we must do this long list of stuff before you go!' AHHHG! Sooo irritating. My goal right now is finish my hours for this level of training. Not to go gallivanting around the countryside, go to bbq's with random strangers, go out partying and drinking with the other students, or whatever else people want from me now. The only thing offered to me that peaked my interest is a few more cooking lessons. But it is still not as important as getting my training hours in. I would be annoyed if I left that unfinished. I think what frustrates me the most though, is that we did not go to the north, so I didn't get that interaction with the elephants I wanted so much. If I did nothing else while here, that is what I wanted. I actually cant really describe how pissed off and disappointed I am about that, and I don't want to talk about it anymore than that.

Yay for sleep

The last couple of days have been rather difficult due to a severe lack of sleep. They guy staying in the room next to us started smoking in his room. Especially at night, and he goes through almost a whole pack every night. Unfortunatley, there is a hole between our rooms by the window, right above my bed, about a foot long and a few inches wide. So when he smokes at night, it all falls right onto my face while I try to sleep. I kept having to get up every half hour or so and sit outside for awhile so I could breathe and try to get rid of the headache it was giving me. After two days with no more than 2 hours of sleep, I got an extra towel to plug up the hole, and despite the dangers of snakes coming into our room, I left the window open. The towel seems to be working well enough to shut the window again, and I finally got some sleep.

Anyways, on a better note, Evan and I went to Ayutthaya on Sunday. The ruins were really fun to walk around. Evan posted pictures on his blog. If there are extras maybe I will post some too.

Training

Yesterday during my training session I miraculously got grouped with all the guys doing the higher levels of Muay Thai instead of being with all the kids! Yaaaay! Recently, if it a small amount of people that session, I have been doing a bit of intermediate training, which is definitely more enjoyable. I am actually tired at the end of training now. I do have a bit of a difficult time keeping up endurance-wise with the guys who have been doing intermediate and advanced stuff for awhile, but I wouldn't really expect myself to be able to do everything they are doing. Like ten push ups after every round (about every few minutes). I don't think I can even do ten full push ups. But I am glad to be with trainers that will actually push me a bit and correct the things I am doing wrong. I am hoping that this will continue. I suppose I will see today.