Joel: We've just been out for dinner with Fritz at our favourite restaurant, an Elvis-themed place that serves up the most fantastic Thai dishes. When we left our house it had just got dark but the sky was clear and the temperature was baking. Halfway through though, the clouds boomed and the heavens opened. It was a downpour. Since we've been here, every time it's rained it's really rained. There are no half measures, no light drizzle or intermitent showers, just proper heavy rain. We decided not to wait for it to go off and set about riding home, a difficult task for me with being fairly new to motorbikes. I could hardly see a thing. It's not too far to travel but we had to negotiate lakes and streams where earlier there had been none. And the rain drops actually hurt. They were so big it was painful. Anyway, we made it home safely and took these photos as a record. Should really get a brolly for Rakhi to hold for these kind of journeys.

Today was a national holiday so last night we went up to Lop Buri for a house warming party. Mihaila and Joelle, friends we met in Ban Phe, have moved out of their hotel and into a place that really is like something from Deadwood. The kitchen is a solitary tap and the whole upstairs is made of ancient wood. There's a cool balcony but on reflection, seeing their place has made me feel quite lucky to have a house as modern as ours. I'm sure everyone gets little visitors from time to time but at least we have a real toilet, air-conditioning and a washing machine. It seems they're going to be living seriously Thai-style.

It's nice to get out of Takhli when we can so we don't have to behave like teachers. Last night, our train was half an hour late leaving and the station seems to be a hang-out place for young Thais. We were approached constanly by groups from our school, pleasantly inquiring where we were going. It's clear already that everyone in the town knows us and if we so much as bought a couple of beers I'm sure the news would get around. When we finally arrived in Lop Buri we walked straight into Tesco Lotus and bought a big bottle of gin. It's nice to be anonymous.

Rakhi: Since I already do a full work week, normally I would adamantly refuse to work at the weekend too. However, since Joel and I are contracted through our company MediaKids to do one English Camp for free, and there was one taking place at our very own school last weekend, there was no getting out of it. I'm pleased to say though that I had a lot of fun and it didn't feel like work at all.

Kevin, the main MC for all MediaKids English camps, with nearly two years experience, is great at his job. Besides myself and Joel there was Britney and Fritz helping Kevin out and all we had to do was turn up and 'lead' a bunch of thirty kids each. Joel became his usual competitive self and turned it into a battle between the two of us rather than our teams, 'The Super Clever Kids' (Joels) and 'The Superstars' (mine). Early on, Kevin had said to us that he fixes the scores to make it more competitive and exciting on the final day but Joel still kept double checking that his team got points for certain things. It was no wonder therefore, that by the end of the two days, Joel's team won...marginally.

I think the students really enjoyed themselves. All the games we played were pretty silly, a scavenger hunt where boys were dressed as Miss Thailand, a mass water fight and a game involving a lot of powder and mess. On Saturday evening there was a talent contest and all the students got together with their friends to come up with a song or performance. Kevin had told the kids and us earlier that he had a special surprise guest lined up for that evening. What we didn't know though was that Joel AKA 'Tata Young,' Thailand's hottest singer, was the star guest Kevin spoke of!

When Tata appeared in the school gym, the students went wild and roared with laughter. She was quite a bewitching sight! Tata did a great job of leading the students into an atmospheric disco and for 45 minutes they danced their little hearts out before the clock struck bedtime.

Having had no lie in, little time for rest and worked enthusiastically for two days in 40 degree heat, by the time the camp finished yesterday afternoon Joel and I were well and truly shattered. On the way home, we picked up a hammock (for less than 2 quid!) strung it up and relaxed our weary bones. It was a well earned rest.

The problem that we have now is other schools in our area begging us to do more camps for them. They can't afford to have MediaKids come and run their camps for them so they're hoping that Joel, Fritz and I can do one for cheaper. They assume that just because we speak English we are professionals in all aspects concerning the language. We've tried to explain that Kevin and the MediaKids staff are experts at organising and running English camps and they put a lot of work in- it's their full time job- we were just helping them out. Everybody wants a piece of us- nearly everyday I get asked to do some private tuition and today a teacher from another school came to get my phone number so he could practice his English with me over the phone. Phew, there's no rest for the wicked.

Thankfully, this Thursday is a national holiday so we can take the day to rest and do some exploring our on bike perhaps. This weekend is my birthday so we're off to Bangkok to celebrate in style. I can't wait!

Joel: So yes, we ended up watching the Champions League 3rd/4th place play-off match in an English Pub just off Sukhumvit in central Bangkok. Bit of a disappointing night really, sitting through such a poor game and then experiencing the bizarre closing down of the after-hours club. At least now we're all set up for tomorrow night and can watch the final at 1:45am in the comfort of our own bed.

Today, we travelled to school on our new bike. I've got the hang of it quite quickly and already feel quite safe riding around the back lanes and dirt tracks of Takhli. I really never imagined I would ever own a motorbike but it became our only real option here. The town seems so much smaller already. Now I'm really looking forward to having the freedom to explore the area.

Teaching here is lots of fun. The lowest level classes surprisingly aren't the most difficult and most classes have a couple of characters in them that help keep the atmosphere light and fun. One really nice aspect of Thai society that I really wasn't aware of is the presence of the Kathoeys. At the training in Ban Phe, a few times the instructors mentioned that the Kathoeys are usually the best students in each class, not only the brightest but also the most confident in speaking out in front of the class. I had no idea who these Kathoeys were. It was a while before I was told that Kathoey is the Thai for lady-boy.

For me, the notion of the Thai lady-boy conjures up images of cabaret or sex clubs. I automatically think of the seedier side of Thai culture. But already I'm coming to understand that this is just a tiny and hardly relevant aspect of their presence in Thai society. The Kathoeys in my classes are generally among the brightest and most often the least shy. They always sit with the girls and my understanding is that, in simple terms, they are young, camp, homosexual boys. The great thing about Thai society is that it appears they are completely accepted and respected by all the other boys, no matter what the age group. I can remember pretty clearly from my school days how the word “queer” was hurled by idiots at anyone not completely idiotic. Kids who actually are gay in England must have a truly terrible time. Thais society is clearly a hell of a lot more sorted out in this regard.

One thing that's started to make me less than happy here is having to regularly patrol the kitchen with a tissue to wipe up all the gecko shit. I haven't got a problem with them coming into our house, especially if they help us out by eating lots of insects, I just with they didn't leave these little presents behind for me every morning. I've tried to blog up one end of our kitchen roof to stop them (and rats) getting in but it's a bigger job than I thought. There's a gap almost all around the ceiling through which they can easily get. Suppose I'll have to get used to it.

This weekend, as part of our contract, we're required to help out at an English Camp that's been organised by Mediakids, at our school. Next week though, we've got Thursday off for "Buddha day". We've had a good run with national holidays and the like so far but I'm sure it won't last forever. People are beginning to ask us to do private classes for themselves, friends and relatives. I don't mind doing some here and there but not regularly and certainly not at weekends. We didn't travel to the tropics to work a six day week you know.

Rakhi: It's been a momentous day here in Takhli. Within an hour, our lives were transformed by two essential things: the purchase of a motorbike and the connection of the internet at home. We no longer have to be dripping in sweat by the time we have reached Point B on foot and we no longer have to deprive poor little kiddies of a computer in the school resource room. Hzar!

Our motorbike is pretty cool. It's a Honda and it's red and that's about all I can intelligently say on that matter. Joel seems to have picked things up fairly quickly but we're definatley going to be taking things slowly on the road. We also invested in two sturdy helmets which we'll keep on our heads at all times, safety first and everything. Tonight, I was Joel's first passenger as he took me out for dinner. Just driving along I realised that things aren't as far away away from us as it first seemed. It's great to have the freedom of our own vehicle and not have to rely on the teachers at our school to get around. Best of all, the wild dogs don't seem to hound you so much when your on a motorbike!

Last Friday we met up with a couple that we bumped into at the market. The girl is Thai but has been living in England for the last 10 years. They were in Takhli catching up with family friends and since she is pretty wealthy by Thai standards, and certainly by this families standards, she threw them a party. One reason for the party was a house blessing and another was to celebrate the reunification of a man and woman who had been seperated for 25 years. When we saw her at the market she kindly invited us along to see the traditional Thai ceremony. Early Friday morning (we had a bonus day off because of a training session at school), Joel and I walked to the bus station where we had arranged for them to pick us up. We were then driven to the village where the family live. It was only about 20 mins away from us and there were six shacks/houses in total. Surrounding the tiny area was lush vegetation and sugar cane fields where lots of snakes live, apparently. On the way, they pointed out some of the sights of Takhli including a temple with 3000 monkeys and a series of caves, we'll definately go back to visit the two now we have our bike.

The house blessing was very interesting. A group of nine monks came along, sat inside the house and chanted for a while. Once they had finished, we were given rice to dish out into silver bowls other plates of food to give to the monks. All the villagers were very friendly and kindly allowed Joel and I to take part at various points of the ceremony. We gave food out to the monks and flowers and we were blessed by them also. It really was compelling and we had to be accutely aware of everything we did so as not to offend the monks. Once the monks had eaten, there was more chanting and a senior one got up and blessed the house by painting a design on the inside and outside. Then it was our turn to eat; all the villagers had clubbed together to cook us a feast with the fresh produce they had purchased at the local market at 3 that morning. Truly delicious!

The house warming finished for us at about 3pm when we were driven back into town for the second leg of our journey that day. We had arranged to go to Lopburi to meet up with some teachers of the training course. It only took an hour by train but immediately it felt very different. Lopburi is civilised, it's big, there are farang (foreigners) there and there's lots to do- a million miles from Takhli. Oh, there are also LOTS of monkeys. They are everywhere, hanging from telephone wires, all over the streets and pestering tourists at the ancient ruins dotted around the city. I've heard countless warning about how dangerous they can be and how they might snatch anything from you. In fact, Joel and I saw one monkey dart up to an overhead wire clutching a bottle of pop. As soon as he got comfortable, he started swigging away at it, cheeky things!

We had planned to stay in Lopburi for the night, have a look around on Saturday then head home to watch the footy. However, we met a bunch of foreign teachers who said that they were going to Bangkok to watch the FA cup so we decided to tag along with them. I wish I hadn't bothered now. Not only was I reccommended a Chelsea pub to watch the boring match but the club that we went to after was raided within five minutes of our arrival. Curfew in Thailand is 2am and it's hard to find anywhere that stays open past that. The lads that we were with though knew of a club, 'Spicy,' owned by the police and raided and shut down by the police. I don't fully understand but this country is known as the land of contradictions.

So, my introductory class at school where I told all my students that I support Man Utd has backfired on me now. All day I've had to put up with 'Chelsea' being shouted at me across the school amongst other taunts, as if it wasn't bad enough!

Joel: My birthday weekend was absolutely superb. I had been expecting to return to the Wendy House guest house in Siam square only to discover that Rakhi had secretly booked us into the Royal Orchid Sheriton on the riverside. The views from the 25th floor were fantastic and it was a great base from which to begin to explore the world of Bangkok.

We were able to leave school early on Friday (things like this are no problem here) and were in central Bangkok by quarter to six. The minibus was far more comfortable than the train was coming here so we'll definitely be using it again. We took it fairly easy on Friday night, just picked up some school attire and had dinner, and began our adventuring early on Saturday with a boat trip along the river. We decided to visit some of the sights first thing to avoid crowds so headed up to the Grand Palace. Just around the corner from the main entrance, we only stopped for a second to look quickly at our map before being approached by a super friendly tuk-tuk driver who fed us one of the old tricks I'd read about. Apparently the Grand Palace was closed for "Buddha Day" and what we really wanted to see was a temple on the other side of town. Yeah right. The oldest one in the book. Still, he must get some people.

The grand palace is pretty spectacular. There are just so many beautiful ornate buildings in such a small area. The Temple of the Emerald Buddha has to be the least tranquil of the temples I've visited but still the design and the detail are amazing. We also visite Wat Pho, the Temple of the (huge) Reclining Buddha and that was also pretty impressive. Then, since we were in the area, we decided to head up to the Kao San Road, the centre of Backpackerland, to see if it was as awful as it's made out to be. To be fair, it probably wasn't, but then we weren't there at two in the morning when the dance tunes are pumping and battered people are spilling out of the many bars. Thankfully. But it definitely does seem more western than anywhere else I've been to in the last twelve months and I suppose it might be useful for some things. We'll probably give it a wide berth from now on though.

In the afternoon, the sun appeared so we decided to head back to the hotel and chill out in the pool. It's not very often I get to stay in such a swanky place so I wanted to make the most of it.
The pool had one of those bars in the centre that you have to swim to and we spend a couple of hours just taking it easy before the start of the hotel's surely unmissable cocktail happy hour at 5:30 high up on the 26th floor. I warned Rakhi that a happy hour today means many unhappy hours tomorrow but we couldn't miss the opportunity to make our way through the hotel's cocktail menu. The happy hour turned out to be about two hours and I think we left at the right time to be sure we could make it to the restaurant.

We ate outside on the veranda of a cool little place called "Eat Me". The food and wine were top quality and, even better, Rakhi picked up the bill. Then, after briefly getting lost and negotiating a particularly seedy red-light area called Soi Cowboy, we eventually found club Glow, just off Sukhumvit. It was a techno night by the name of "Electro EFX" and although the presence of scantily clad dancers caused Rakhi early on to suggest it was the worst club she'd ever been to, I though the music was spot on and, as it got busier, the small good-natured crowd created a pretty good atmosphere. I'd have much rather been there than one of the big superclubs or porny go-go bars.

Back at the hotel, I somehow managed to arrange for room service to bring us breakfast in bed and a knock at the door woke us both up. It was a great start to a day in which we wandered around Chatuchak Market (absolutely immense) and picked up some nice things to brighten up our house. By mid-afternoon we were pretty shattered and Rakhi slept most of the way home. All-in-all it was a top birthday present. Thanks Rakhi.

Updates on our life in Takhli:

We still don't know our address - I don't know why it's so difficult to get it.

We're waiting to hear about getting broadband - apparently someone has it on our street so it should be possible. Out in the sticks where we are, it would nice to feel a bit more in touch with the world.

We've starting looking for a motorbike. It seems like the only possible way to get around without getting drenched in sweat from peddling.

I might be asked to referee a football tournament at school. I've always thought you have to be a bit psychotic to want to referee a football match, but I do so maybe I am!

Every single meal I've eaten here has been absolutly incredible. Thai food rocks.

The scorpions here aren't deadly. A sting from one of them is poisonous but only on a par with a bee sting. Pheewww!

Rakhi: As Joel mentioned, I’m still dealing with the shock of having all sorts of bugs and creatures as unwanted guests in my home. Each day, it’s getting easier but the discovery of the scorpion yesterday left me feeling slightly uneasy again. I’m hoping that all this getting back to nature will help harden my skin and stop me being so afraid of everything that moves. Fingers crossed!

I was very pleased to find out that Takhliprachasan School is really good. Everybody seems very kind and the teachers can’t do enough for us. The students seem lovely too. The classes that I’ve taught so far have all gone really well and the students have been attentive and enthusiastic. Generally, all English classes with the Thai teachers are conducted in Thai with the main emphasis being on grammar not on speaking. That is why Joel, Fritz and I are here- to encourage the students not to be shy about speaking. My Mattoyam 2 students are 13-14 years old and my Mattoyam 5 students are 16-17 years old. Mattoyam 2 is split into 12 classes with the 2/1 being lowest ability and 2/12 being the best students. There are 8 Mattoyam 5 classes and it’s the same principle with them- 5/1 are the lowest and 5/8 the most proficient. I’ve only taught eight classes and so far what I can gather is that all of the students are nice but the lowest M2 classes are probably going to be a bit of a handful. They’re still young and quite rowdy- they’re not rude in any way though, they just have short attention spans. All of my other classes, the higher M2’s and the entirety of M5 are great, even the lower M5 classes. I think I’m really going to enjoy teaching at the school.

For the last two mornings, Pi Apple has kindly taken Joel and I to and from school as it’s slightly out of the way and not quite within walking distance. The day before yesterday, Fritz managed to borrow a motorbike so has been enjoying the freedom of that. Being a former mechanic and having used a motorbike here for the past 7 months he is well versed on the contraptions. Joel and I on the other hand don’t know much about motorbikes so decided to steer clear. When we mentioned that we’d rather have bicycles, everybody thought that we were mad. Everybody (no exaggeration) has a motorbike, not just in Takhli but in the whole of Thailand- men, women and even little girls and boys ride around on them. Besides, it really is extremely hot to being riding around on bicycles. On Tuesday after school, Pi Apple took us to a workshop in the school where there were lots of second hand bicycles and asked if we wanted one of these each. We agreed and one of the caretakers kindly fixed them up for free and returned them to us yesterday. We rode back home in the sweltering mid afternoon heat and that’s where the realization that we’d made a huge mistake came. Not only did we completely overheat and have sweat pouring all over us but the pedal on Joel’s bike fell off at least 5 times before completely busting. Now we’re thinking that we’ll get an automatic bike after all. The roads here aren’t very busy and we’ll be super careful. With nothing being walking distance it’s the only option we have.

I’m really looking forward to our trip to Bangkok this weekend. The last two times we were there were just fleeting visits and overnight stopovers before moving on. We haven’t seen any of the city yet so it’ll be nice to visit some of the sights like the Grand Palace where there is also the infamous Emerald Buddha which according to legend, was created in India in 43BC.

Joel: We still haven't managed to get an internet connection set up at home but it's in the pipeline. In the meantime, I'm now sat in the wonderfully cool, air-conditioned environment of Takhli's finest internet cafe, perhaps the only sign that the town exists in the twenty-first century. It's a national holiday today so Rakhi and I have just had a bit of a wander around the area, up to the local park with a beautiful lake and bridge, and now back into the main part of central Deadwood.

My first two days of school went really well. We were both prety organised heading into Tuesday morning and my first day went without any hiccups. We have desks in the main English office which we share with eleven other teachers. There are fans but it can get pretty hot in there - rumour has it that next week they're fitting air-con primarily for our sake but I'm sure all the other teachers will be prety grateful for it too. It hasn't rained for three days and it's really quite hot now.

My first classes were great. The students are streamed into classes of the same level and even the lower classes were really cool and keen to engage with the lesson. I started by telling them a bit about me and was amazed that in every class, when I said "My favorite fotball team is..." and held up a picture of the Liverpool crest, there were whoops of appreciation. From what I can gather, over half the students are Liverpool fans then the rest are split between Man U, Chelsea and a few Arsenal. Which luckily makes me a bit of a cool teacher right away. The classes are big - some over fifty - but it seems like a really good school. The is a resource room with loads of PC's connected to the net and wireless which is useful. Fritz told us that the last Thai school he worked in had one computer for everyone. Pi Apple told us that most teachers in the provence want to work at Takhliprachasan because it's such a good school and I believe her. There's a great atmosphere about the place.

Another thing that's really nice is that the director (or principal) is a woman and she seems really friendly. I sure Rakhi will particularly come to appreciate this after having to deal with that ass-hole in Korea. Also, we discovered that the mayor of the town is a woman. Two immediate examples of the difference between Thai and Korean society. In this respect at least, Korea has a long way to go.

Since we arrived at our house to be greeted a various creatures, Rakhi has had her ups and down regarding her feelings about the situation. I've now got used to seeing little jin-juks (geckos) on the walls of our kitchen and we've managed to get on top of the insect problem (using non-Buddhist methods) but each day brings a new experience. Yesterday was perhaps the most freaky. Rakhi opened the door to the spare room before immediately closing it and shouting that she'd seen a scorpion. I had a quick look myself and was able to confirm her suspicions. It was only small, like the length of my finger, but it was still a scorpion. I didn't really know how to deal with it and couldn't find anything in any books about it so decided to go with my tried and test bowl on the top and slide some card underneath approach. I didn't get it first time but it wasn't as fast as I feared so was able to get it on the second attempt. I'm still not sure how dangerous it was but suppose I'm now going to be even more careful to remember to check my shoes before putting them on.

Tomorrow, we're going to head into Bangkok for the weekend. There's a van we can that only takes two and a half hours that we're told is much more comfortable than the train and it can pick us up from school at four o-clock. I'm really loking forward to geting boat along the river and checking out the sights of old Bangkok.

Rakhi: Having completed a whole year in Korea and settling in to the point that it felt like home, now we're back to square one trying to fit in and learn about another culture and language totally different to our own and Korean.

We arrived into Bangkok's new airport in the wee small hours of Tuesday (May 2nd) morning. After a brief rest at a hostel in the eastern part of town the next morning we made our way by bus to the south eastern coastal area of Ban Phe for a week's training course. Prior to leaving Korea, our consultant at MediaKids (the company we're employed by) had sent us photos of the hotel where all trainees were staying and the training course was taking place. It looked absolutely gorgeous, pretty flashy and best of all, on the beach. Discovering that the photos on the internet of the hotel are more than just a tad misleading isn't the first surprise we had upon arrival in Ban Phe. We pulled into Ban Phe bus station and hurriedly placed our bags under the shelter of a dried fish shop and out of the lashing down rain. Joel went in search of a taxi to take us to a hotel and after a few minutes returned having had no luck. Whilst considering our options, a massive elephant and his owner came striding right up to us and the elephant shoved his trunk in our faces! We weren't in Korea anymore. Ban Phe is primarily a transfer area for tourists getting the ferry to the island of Koh Samet; as such, it was quite expensive, pretty grotty and I'm told not a fair representation of Thailand.

Pines Beach Hotel needs more than just a lick of paint and a spruce. It'd be better for the dilapidated establishment to be ripped apart and rebuilt brick by brick. The first room we were placed in had an ant infestation but it didn't bother us too much until the second day when we discovered that the little blighters had made a new home in one of our bags. Thankfully it wasn't too much of a bother to move rooms and whilst all the rooms are shabby and have no hot water at least they kept us out of the rain which didn't stop pouring for the whole time we were there.

The training course itself was pretty good. All the MediaKids staff are really nice and have worked so hard to make sure that all the teachers are happy and all the schools are happy too. It can't be easy being caught in the middle of two very different cultures and trying to please everybody. The two main teacher trainers at MediaKids are a Canadian guy called Kevin and a South African lady called Lynette; they were great at being tactful and helping the Thai staff understand our needs. Unfortunately, because we arrived late on the Tuesday and the training course began on the Monday, I think we missed the two most useful days where they had covered Thai customs and language. When we joined the course on Wednesday it was time for the section about teaching in Thai schools, information about our particular schools and general teaching tips and advice. The part about our individual schools where we were shown our timetables and curriculum was really useful but after that the information was geared towards first time teachers so at times was repetitive for Joel and I. Thankfully, we managed to convince the MediaKids staff to let us leave the course early even though we had arrived late. After much persuasion, we were told we could leave on Friday afternoon rather than on Sunday which is when the course officially finished. Our main arguments were the fact that Fritz, (a guy from Holland who is also teaching at our school) was leaving then and since we'd been asked to start work on Tuesday - a week earlier than everybody else on the course- we needed time to get settled and prepare for our first week teaching in a Thai school.

So, on Friday afternoon we packed up our bags and said our goodbyes to the shabby Pines Beach and Ban Phe. Fritz has been in Thailand for the last 7 months and so has picked up a fair bit of the language and general way of life here. He organised a minibus for us back from Ban Phe to Bangkok where Joel and I, Fritz and his grilfriend Tina, who has come to visit from Denmark, stayed overnight. It took just over three hours and was comfortable and air conditioned, a great way to travel. Fritz also sorted out accommodation for the four of us in the Siam Square area which is great for shopping. Since we had time the next morning before our train left Joel and I went for a snoop around one of the malls and Joel picked up a few things. Topping our shopping list were 'King' items. Before coming to Thailand, I'd heard so much about the country; unlike Korea it's a country that's much travelled and documented. That's why I cannot believe that one enormous and defining aspect of the country completely escaped me. Thai people LOVE their king. I can't express how revered he is. Everywhere you look you can see the Thai flag alongside the royal emblem. On roadsides and buildings there are giant photographs and images of the king. Everyday at 8am and 6pm the national anthem is broadcast across the country and everybody stops what they are doing. Everybody (including us) has pictures of the king in their homes. Everybody has yellow t-shirts with the royal emblem on. It's no laughing matter and we were told that unless you have something good to say about the king don't say anything at all- you risk imprisonment otherwise. Anyway, Fritz, knowing how the Thai's love the king and how showing your appreciation impresses Thais, has already purchased lots of king items. Joel and I got some things on Saturday before we left Bangkok and now it's become a game between the three of us to see who can gather the most things! Fritz has a head start but we'll catch him up soon enough!

On Saturday, we got to the train station in Bangkok and were promptly ripped off by a guy with a trolley who took our bags from the side street to our platform. I gave him some cash and he left without returning my change. It wasn't much money but it's the principal. I think the more language we try to learn, the more we can avoid situations like that again. It didn't dampen our spirits too much and Joel and I were really looking forward to the train journey from Bangkok to Takhli as we knew we'd be passing through beautiful Thai countryside and be able to see some wonderful sights. Whilst the scenery was amazing and we managed to gain an insight into rural Thailand, the journey was one of the most uncomfortable I've ever encountered because of the intense humidity and lack of air con. To make matters worse, we were all dressed smartly because we had the importance of appearance and first impressions drummed into us at the training session. Needless to say, we didn't look so smart three and a half hours later when the train pulled into our new home town of Takhli.

We were met at the train station by one of the teachers at our school, Supranee aka 'Pi Apple.' She took us to our accommodation in two shifts, first Fritz and Tina followed by Joel and myself. We carried our bags over the train tracks (literally), in the falling darkness to her car. After five minutes or so, we turned off a main road, down a dirt road and pulled up in front of a caged property. Stepping out of the car, we were confronted with wild dogs and hundreds of bugs. We were let into our new accommodation and already completely overwhelmed tried to take in as much as we could. We weren't given much of an opportunity to snoop around as Pi Apple wanted to take us for dinner. She treated us to a gorgeous Thai dinner (I've not eaten a single bad thing here yet) and shared some information about the school. She then took us back home and arranged to pick us up at 8:30 the following morning to take us to a market. Once back home, we had time to make some sense of everything. To be honest, I felt really apprehensive and intimidated and started to worry whether we had made the right decision. Our area is so rural and there really isn't very much nearby. There's a 'Seven Eleven' near the train station but that's just a bit more than walking distance. Even the school isn't walking distance. We weren't in Seoul anymore and whilst I knew that things would be different I wasn't quite expecting things to be so different and inconvenient. Joel was great though and reminded me that I had similar preconceptions when we moved to Korea. He was right and although I had a sleepless night things seemed better in the morning and in the daylight. We went to the market which has all the same smelly things, including pigs faces, that you find at Korean markets as well as lots of delicious fruit. Pi Apple also took us to a little supermarket where we picked up some food and to an electrical shop where we got a toaster. Once she dropped us back home, Joel and I unpacked our things and started to make our place feel more like home.

Our new home is pretty nice. It's across the road from Fritz's and is a similar layout except we have tonnes of furniture. The owners live across the road next door to Fritz and have left most of their belongings here since it's just a temporary situation. Amongst their belongings are used toothbrushes, teddy bears and the crème de la crème, some king pictures. There are three pictures of the royal family in the living room and what I thought was another above our bed. It turns out the one above our bad is actually the people who live in the house, Joel discovered this whilst snooping through some photos. The picture is of a couple and the woman in it is particularly creepy looking. Baring in mind the importance of the royal family, I think if we tried to move the king pictures (which we would love to do) we would be ostracised and deported. At least they bump up our king artifacts by three! We have air con in the living room and our bedroom so that's a godsend. The bathroom's okay, we have hot water and a western style toilet. The kitchen is massive but windowless and grotty. We have no cooker but purchased an electrical one yesterday. There is also an outdoor netted area which could be pretty good if it ever stops raining- apparently the monsoon season is early. Apart from the wild dogs which I'm told are all over Thailand, there are cows and chickens down the way, millions of creepy crawlies, toads, geckos and more. There are strange noises day and night and as a city girl this is a millions miles away from what I know and is going to take some getting used to. At least our home is secure so hopefully there won't be many weird things getting in there.

Yesterday, Pi Tien (the woman who owns our house and lives across the road) who teaches at another school nearby, took the four of us on a tour of Takhli. Firstly, we stopped by our school and had a nosy at the English department and met a couple of the teachers. The school is enormous- there are nearly three thousand students. After that we were shown the park and hospital and finally we were taken to the nearest Tesco which is about 25km away. Last night we were taken out for another amazing meal by Pi Apple and one of the teachers we met earlier in the day. I have to say that the people we have met so far have been amazingly kind and welcoming and it's great to know that there is help just down the road.

So now, we're getting settled in and using the national holiday today to prepare for our first day at school tomorrow. I'm going to be teaching Mattoyom (high school) grades 2 and 5 and I believe my students are aged 14 and 17. I'm really looking forward to it.



Joel: So here we are. It's hard to imagine that this time last week I was enjoying my last Korean school lunch in Bucheon-dong Elementary. To say our new surroundings are a million miles away from the relative comfort and modernity of Yeokgok isn't too far from the truth.

The two and a half days we spent at the training in Ban Phe were okay. It rained every day but every meal we had around the town was fantastic, the hotel was a dump but lots of the information we received in the training was really useful. In comparison to the orientation for our jobs in Korea, it was much better organised and much less painful, but the most striking difference seemed to be in the attitudes of the people we met. It didn't take long before Rakhi asked me if I'd noticed this just as she had. After a bit of thought, I came up with a theory. Lots of the people who signed up for a year in Korea even though had no interest in learning about its culture were there for the money. The money and in fact the whole package they offered there were pretty good. Here in Thailand, the package seems okay and the money's pretty good by Thai standards but it is only about half that paid for a position in Korea. So, in simple terms, people from the west who come to Thailand really want to be here - you wouldn't come for the money - and this made for a much better atmosphere at the training program.

So, we were able to leave Ban Phe after lunch on Friday. I really didn't fancy having only a day to settle in to our new place before our first day at school so it was pretty good news when it finally came. It also meant we were able to spend some time in Bangkok before the train journey north. The first thing that struck when we made it into central Bangkok was the array of colours. The traffic is as ridiculous as in Seoul but whereas in Seoul all cars are black, white or grey, here even just the taxis come in varieties of green, orange and luminous pink. The other thing that neither Rakhi or I have been used to is that when someone accidentally bumps into you they turn and apologise. That this should be alien to us is testament to how living in Seoul has caused us to lose some of our manners. I think here I might begin to get some of my Englishness back.

Our time in Bangkok was just enough for us to get some hot weather garments and “King things” (we're now on eight) before our 2:30 departure for Takhli. The journey wasn't the most comfortable but the views were amazing. We traveled 238km through lush Thai countryside passing splendid temples and enormous Buddha's, flat rice fields and tumble-down shacks. I got particularly excited when I saw we were approaching the town of Lop Buri. I had read that this was place run by troops of monkeys and wanted to see if I could catch sight of any for myself. As we neared the station an enormous golden monkey flashed past and then, as we pulled out, after careful observation, I picked out two cheeky fellas sat high up on an electricity line. As we looked closer, we started to see more and more on rooftops, power cables and finally populating the remains of an old Hindu monument. There must have been hundreds there. I'm glad we aren't living in Lop Buri but I'd like to head back sometime for closer inspection. Maybe even get some five-a-side going.

Arriving at our house in the dark and rain wasn't a great experience. It seems the rain had driven all forms of life into our veranda area including geckos, mozzies and thousand-leg-caterpillars (which ARE actually dangerous.) We've done well to make the place more homely so quickly and I'm not really complaining. We've got air-con in most rooms which most folk here don't have and anyway, most weekends we're planning to head off on trips. For now, it's okay.

The teachers that we've met so far have all been really friendly and helpful – it's going to take a while to get our bearings but we've already been taken on the “essentials” tour and today's been the first day we've really had to ourselves. Saying that, we have got lots to do to prepare for our first day at school. I need to knock up two fun introductory lesson plans and make a list of question to ensure I get certain information before my first class. Pi Apple brought over the coursebooks I'll be using tomorrow and I'm going to have to gen up on some of the grammar. They're of a pretty high standard. My classes are grade 3 and 6 so that means fifteen and eighteen year olds. So I won't be singing “The Hello Song” with them anyway. I'm hoping some of them don't speak better English than I do!