Ahoy there good people of Britain, and perhaps beyond. I know it has been nigh on 3 weeks since my last blog and you are all probably going crazy (or Ting-tong as they say in Thailand) with anticipation of this one so I thought I should get back into the groove. I did actually blog last week but the damn t'internet kicked up a fuss and I lost everything, incandescent with rage I gave up the ghost and let it be for a while.

So, a lot of catching up to do really.So when I last left you there were floods a plenty and creature features to keep me on my toes. With school being reopened after the flooding I returned to the reality of working life, which is somewhat of a distinct normality in itself, it doesn't really feel like work given that I have so much freedom of expression and choice, not something I have ever been used to in past employment. In fact I really love the teaching lark. Weeks fly by and though some lessons with certain classes can be a struggle, the majority of the time it is a constantly enjoyable challenge. The best complement I can pay it is that I get out of bed not dreading work. An oddly wonderful feeling.

Anyhow, the weekend after the returning to work was a glorious one. With the sun shining sitting about was not an option, as doing nothing results in severe lethargic sweating. So myself, Calvin, Steph and Michelle, all from South Africa decided to hop aboard our respective motorbikes and set about an "Easy Rider" style tour of the Trang coastline, which goes in a kind of loop along the beaches and back up to the other end of Trang City. It took a while but the scenery and weather made it a truly glorious experience. The kind of views that made me realise why I wanted to come to Thailand in the first place.

There is something liberating and free about experiencing it all while on a motorbike. Not only do you see everything in full 360 degree panorama but you get the smells, and feelings, of the amazing backdrop. All while looking uber-cool rather than cramped into the back of a car or mini-van. That's not to say riding a bike over here is an easy thing. Having had one accident and recovering from a broken shoulder I was all too aware of the dangers. In a way I think that accident is a small blessing as it wasn't too serious in the grand scheme of things and has certainly made me a much better rider. I DO NOT want that to happen again believe me.

Anyway, en route we stopped at a quite outstanding beach called Hat Yao. (I think this translates as "long beach".) There we stopped for a swim and a stroll on the crisp sand listening to the waves crash hypnotically onto the picturesque rocks. While there we ate some lunch before heading back along the coast around the loop towards home. However, to break up the journey further we decided to stop at some natural hot springs in the mountains to wash away the sandy velour we had picked up while on the beach. They were wonderfully relaxing and inexplicably hot. There was one at 40 degrees that was like a really hot bath and one that reached 70 degrees that we were told to avoid as it could seriously scald. Such a strange but awesome natural phenomenon, I think I will be returning there to sweat off the odd hangover or the like.

Upon our return we went out for a few drinks, that resulted in a few more and my much anticipated return to "Say Yes" - Trang's premier nightspot. A good night was had by all despite some surreal music and continued gawping from some dumbstruck locals. Some just cannot comprehend our presence there, not in a bad way, but they just stare. Incidentally this is one of a couple of gripes I have with the Thai culture. Their ability to stare blankly at you in any situation would be seen as horrifically rude by our standards, but it can usually be diffused with a simple smile in their glazed direction to let them know you are a friendly face, not to be rubbernecked. This is not to say it isn't annoying still, but it can be coped with. My one huge grievance is with their use, or abuse of, queues. Now, I know as a proud Brit queuing is our national pastime, something we are fiercely protective of, standing for great lengths of time with a strong stiff upper lip and eyes facing patiently forward as if in the best military academy. Any attempt to disrupt this stern tradition is truly frowned upon and reacted to as if treason has been committed. I say this as I know we can over-react but here, there is no respect for the simple social organisation that is a queue. I will be standing in a 7-eleven buying whatever it maybe, usually a dirty hotdog or a slush and I join the back of the pack as it the protocol. I have since learned it's a free for all, people just come in, pick up what they want and just bounce into the counter to pay, regardless of whom or what should be before them. Some even just shout at the cashier as if they can they can pay verbally from a distance. There have been many occasions that I have had to restrain my usually mild mannered demeanour from exploding with anger, it really gets my goat.

That off my chest I will continue, so the following week I got some good news that the chap from Bangkok who was staying next door to Cal and Steph was moving out so I could move in. Despite this costing a fair whack in deposits and so forth the rent was the same as what I was previously paying for my one bedroom, one bathroom, cabin-fever style gaff. So I jumped at the chance. The new place is amazing. Huge grounds with gardens, lakes to fish in, beautiful scenery, and my apartment is so much bigger with a spacious bedroom, living area, veranda to relax outside as well as a kitchen area and much nicer bathroom. I was finally home. So far I am loving it there, and it is nice to have some more social time as obviously I live next door to Cal and Steph and a top English fella called Russell lives next door to them, so we have a laughing little community. We do affectionately call the place Jurassic Park though due the sheer volume of creatures we experience there. In the time I have been there we have discovered a (thankfully) dead Cobra and last night I had a close encounter with a deadly centipede. That may sound like an oxymoron but trust me these boys are bad news. It looked like a small snake slithering in the dark when I saw it on my veranda but when I turned the light on I saw it was about a foot long centipede. I had been warned about these vicious things before as they attack at will and have some seriously fatal venom. I shouted Cal and we took on the beast with a broom and a pan respectively, I didn't want that thing alive knowing it could come back at any point. After about 10-15 flailing swipes with our weapons it finally succumbed and we chucked its carcass into the lake to be devoured by the cat fish. A timely reminder that you have to be wary at all times though, there are some gnarly animals that live locally. Indeed, one mystery animal that we have only caught glimpses of appears to jump and run on our roof at night given the sounds we hear. Both Russ and Cal have spotted it running off when they approached it and we believe it to be a civet, which is a mad animal. (http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.stanford.edu/~siegelr/RSA/civet.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.stanford.edu/~siegelr/RSA/southafricapix.html&usg=__LALUShB9diDhH-n-8-HKgMMkLTo=&h=406&w=797&sz=217&hl=en&start=7&zoom=1&tbnid=Xk0diwg2imXAlM:&tbnh=73&tbnw=143&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcivet%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1362%26bih%3D493%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1)

Strange to think I am sharing a habitat with that thing!

So the following working week went without much incident, in fact it flew by, as most weeks do here. My M6 classes - the oldest ones, were mostly absent as they had university entrance exams so I had a fairly lazy week, though I am way ahead on my lesson plans now which is handy.

Come the Friday Michelle was leaving to move to Koh Tao to be a diving instructor the following day so we all went out for beers and farewells. We opted for "Johnnie's Shack", an utterly bizzare but wonderful place. It is run by a guy who by day is a policeman and calls himself "Big Tiger". (Incidentally his kids are called "Small Tiger" and "tiny Tiger". Small tiger often puts on impromptu break dancing and fire shows for us on the street while we drink, its nuts.) Anyway, he rocks up behind the shockingly cheap bar every night often wielding his police issue gun. He dons a bandana and proceeds to dance behind the bar wildly while occasionally singing into his microphone, positioned where bars in England would have their draught beer pumps. He is insane but is great value, in fact he takes pictures of himself with every customer at the shack, (and it literally is a small wooden shack by a bustling market), which are then plastered around the place, I think there is a couple of pictures of me knocking about somewhere. The highlight for me though is his dancing, a kind of euphoric rave similar to that seen in techno and house clubs of the early 90's, only he dances to bizarre western cover versions of things like Del Shannon's "Runaway" and "Hotel California" by the Eagles. It is an eclectic mix and his style of dancing is just completely incompatible with the music but he must be fiercely proud of it, as when he is not present he puts a video of himself dancing behind the bar on loop for our viewing pleasure, Big Tiger is always there is spirit as it were. Crazy but fantastic.

Michelle left the following morning without a hitch, well sort of, stacking up her motorbike was a bit of a drama but nonetheless it all got sorted in the end. The rest of the weekend was fairly quiet, I went out for a few whisky's and to watch the football Saturday evening but in general there is not much to tell.

Saying that I have just remembered that Sunday night was an experience and a half. It was a Thai festival called Loi Krathong, I think it is to do with being thankful for water. Anyhow, me, Calvin and Steph were to attend our school in the evening for a pageant of sorts where the pupils perform all sorts of dances and skits. They all get dressed up and seemed really excited so we thought we would get in the spirit of things and make an effort. Cal and I searched high and low in town to pick up some traditional Thai farmer style outfits. They were shockingly comfortable so I felt okay going out in them. Steph had our landlady's help to get ready and boy did they go to town on her. After much faffing about she emerged in a beautiful gold outfit looking like a Thai princess, Cal and I were paupers in comparison. Sadly the kerfuffle resulted in us being about 15 minutes late for the start of the event, so when we emerged in the school hall all the student's heads turned towards us as we shuffled down the sides aiming for a seat. Seemingly in unison and completely overwhelmed by the sight of the ferang teachers in Thai getup they all stared spontaneously clapping and screaming as if the Beatles had just touched down at JFK airport or something. It was a hysterical outcry the like of which I have never heard but it was genuine, and we fully appreciated it once our embarrassment had died down. I think in reality the majority of screams were for Steph's outfit but Cal and I can be happy with our reflected glory, literally, as her outfit was so shiny.

Anyway, we sat and watched some outrageous dances and sketches by the students and though it went on a while and was all in Thai it was great to see the kids outside of their classroom personas. They seemed chuffed to bits that we had all made such an effort and while outside we were treated like celebrities. No exaggeration we must have posed for hundreds of photos with kids trying to make our way down to the lake at the school where you light a candle and incense stick on a plant-woven wreath and solemnly thank whomever as you push the beautiful flaming raft out on the water. The event was lovely but the kid's reaction really blew me away, I was told I looked very handsome on a number of occasions, so they ego was in full bloom.

That just about brings you up to date, another pretty busy couple of weeks there, and I promise to try and keep on top of the blog in future, lest we need another epic of today's proportions. I hope all is well in your respective lives, I am preparing to host a little BBQ on Saturday for a few of the expats here, and maybe charge up to a waterfall to swim off the meat, ales and sweats come the Sunday.

Saw-Wat-Dee-Krap x