Hello, I'm alive and tan

First I want to send my love to all of you. I so wish that you all had been avaliable this week when all I wanted to do was hug ppl and thank God for you.

In other news I am alive and out of the Andaman Sea. I resisted the urge to stay behind in Lanta and help clean up as opposed to coming to Kravi which is firmly attached to the mainland today when presented with the choice. So here I sit, quite ready to go back to Korea actually since I am no longer in the mood to be a consuming tourist in Thailand. It seems though that any desire I have to provide assistance here is being thwarted since Kravi hasn't any damage. Hmmm what to do.

Must be off this internet business is less than thoughtful at 1Bhat/min. Kiss kiss.

Day 1:Bangkok

Well I made it and to my surprise and jubilation have yet to get accosted, ripped off or robbed. So far, so good.

Trip to the airport was uneventful, but it helps when Don G. comes along and knows what's what. Flight also uneventful, but immigration was a different story. They kept shooing us to the next window and then the next finally after about 4 location changes we found the correct agent. And to my happy surprise I made a new friend while waiting in line, Roberta. Cool chick, she teaches at University in Korea but not in Daejon. She was stopping off in Bangkok before a two month trek through India. We have managed to hang out the whole day together. It's been great since she has been here before and knows her way around. Have to say we haven't accompished much unless you count a waxing, facial and manicure/pedicure and lunch an accomplishment. But we did take a tuk. tuk (motorcycle with a seat attached to the back) to downtown. A Thai experience not to be missed! Jamie comes in in a few hours and I want to meet her at the airport after that it's the two of us in the big city.

Wish I could send pictures but you'll have to wait until January for that.

Only in Thailand...

So check it out I just put a 0.90 cent "downpayment" on a place to stay in Phuket, Thailand. HALARIOUS!

T- 24 hours...

ugh I am so tired, I'm leaving for Thailand in less than 24 hrs and I just got done booking reservations. I have yet to pack and it's after 1AM. Tomorrow is going to be a bear, but I am SOOOOO giddy about going on vacation. I mean I get to be in a tropical paradise during Christmas, where is the bad there? And hey I can always sleep on the plane right?? I just need to embrace this side of my personality instead of beating myself up about it, anyway back to packing!

Forgive the photography, it's late. Here's Helen, her husband and a jumpy Crystal! Awww, here goes nothing!

Helen is my H-E-R-O!

So not only did Helen save me from a mob of sugared up kids tomorrow, but as of 11:45 tonight she became "Auntie Helen" to Stella and Crystal. Since things are getting tight timewise for my departure for Christmas she decided to come get them tonight. So this is silly but it feels kind of odd to be shipping the girls off like this. Especially since I gave them baths tonight which is always a traumatic experience. Anyway it's late and bed is calling.

Only a litle nervous

So just booked my hotel for Christmas, why is it that doing so always makes me feel like I am throwing my body into a pool of sharks without checking to see if they have been fed first?

So what does $800 a month get you?

So it dawned on me tonight, over the last 5 years give or take I've made on average $800 dollars a month. Now I realize that when I made more I paid for more and when I made less or on fact the flat $800 I received more perks, but on the whole it's all been fairly status quo since I left the hallowed halls of MNU.

Hmmmmm.

What do I say to this? Do I feel short changed by life? Do I feel underpaid for all the work and emotion I put in?

There are so many things that I feel frustrated about by this simple number, so many things I could rant about. It's all the same though, all the same things that have bugged me for who knows how long. I don't feel like wasting the energy on it right now.

Demolition Man

So went to HomePlus to pick up some stuff for class tomorrow and had a minor panic attack when I tried to get cash out but seemed to hit the wrong buttons. All I saw was that money was going somewhere and I got a receipt. So after trying to get an explanation from a Korean only speaker (HA HA!) I realized I could call Eunjoo and have her help me out. Thank God for that woman! She is the best so she got the story and explained that there was no need to panic and it was all good. Can you get a gift good enough to tell someone "Thank You for being there for me all the time and helping me feel less helpless"? If you figure it out let me know.

On another note...
Flipped across Demolition Man with Sly Stallone when I got home. Let me tell you how surreal that was. Right off the bat they start talking about President Schwarzenegger. Had to laugh. Then they talk about Pizza Hut being the only restaurant left in San Angles so they show Pizza Hut and I felt like yelling, "Your in Korea not California!" Had to change the channel after that. Ahhh off to package wrapping.

Where is the month going?

Yeah as usual it's easier to get the blog done when I have work to do. Since I have slacked all morning I'll keep it short. Went to Camto this morning and was barraged by the advertisment women. They are these older women who are paid to pass out advertisments. The funny thing is that they aren't polite about it and will never take NO for an answer. They will shove flyers into your chest whether you hold onto it or not. It's a miracle that they are not thrown to the ground and smacked down, but maybe that's why they pick the old women. Who knows.

Shopping Safari

So went to Songton today to just pick up some stuff and managed to get in on some of the good dealing. As usual just saw the regular fare, purses, jerseys and leather goods BUT Don and I got into the "other shop". Don says he wants to see the "real Louie" so this woman takes us next door to a store that has nothing to do with purses OR women's accessories, pulls an American flag to the side and ushers us into this closet sized hiding from the Gestapo room. Where inside are all these REAL thing Coach and Louie Vuitton purses. I was in alternate universe heaven, I had made it into the real Songton underground and still the prices were amazingly low!! So that has to be the highlight of the trip.

And now I sit at home adoring yet another successful trip to knockoff world and all of its spoils.

Well you want it GO GET IT!!

Here you go pics! Yeah figured something out. Hopefully this works better than the other things I have tried.

http://9ahbopics.blogspot.com