Loi Krathong

(Originally posted on 30-Nov-14)

If there was anything I missed this year, it was Diwali. I missed being at home. Missed lighting the lamps. Missed the sweets. Missed the get-togethers. I asked everyone in my family to send me pictures of their Diwali celebrations to cheer me up.

Luckily for me, my friend and the family downstairs invited me to celebrate Loi Karthong with them - to go with them to the pond and float away the Karthong. During Loi Karthong, decorated "baskets" (Karthong) with candles and incense are set in water to float, as offerings to the water to wash away one's sins.

The celebration I went to was not typically traditional, though I did have a great time. We set our Karthongs afloat in the pond at the University. The family even kindly let me float a Karthong. Here are some pics from that day. (More on my Instagram feed - www.instagram.com/saividhyakannan).

Sweat, Tears and Temples

It hasn't been all sweat and tears. Well, a lot of sweat (this heat is just weird!), but not as many tears.

Last week was buffered with two good weekends and I'm grateful for it. The week itself went off rather quickly and I'm grateful for that too.

I've managed to make friends with a friend of the lady that owns the cafe at my apartment (which we will hereafter refer to as the "cafe downstairs"). Last weekend, when we met at the cafe, she very sweetly offered and took me to a temple by the river Mun - Wat Supattanaram. We saw the temple, bought bread and fed the fish in the river and then spent time just sitting under a tree chatting.

She then took me to Thung Si Mueang to show me the park, the outdoor gym and where all the fitness activities happen. The park has a beautiful golden wax sculpture right in the middle. After that, we visited the temple at Thung Si Mueang and then she took me to a place to buy food - what I didn't realise at the time was that it was an all vegetarian (vegan) place.

The week went off nicely too. One of the Thai teachers took me to the vegetarian place for lunch. Two days in a row! This place is run by the Asoke Buddhist sect. All the food is organically grown by them and tastes soooo amazing. We also had some classes cancelled (which is always a bonus), making it a nice, light week.

The next Sunday, the same teacher took me to the International Forest Monastery (http://www.watpahnanachat.org/). The teacher had planned to do some charity and asked if I'd like to help with the service. I was happy to do anything at all on the weekend and so readily agreed. Plus, why would I give up the opportunity to experience something new? We left for the place at 7:00 AM and we were there till about 2:00 PM. There were six of us, the teacher, her husband, three students and me. First, we served the food that the teacher had made and brought - it got over sooo quickly. Luckily, she had some extra filling and wrappers and we made more. We only got about a bite each. We then walked around and got ourselves something to eat. There were a few counters that had vegetarian food and I could eat at. In fact, the food we served at our counter was all vegan. We then sat outside and listened to a service (I think some monks were being ordained). Later, we had lunch at the monastery. There were large tables with a buffet with both veg and non-veg food. By the time we went to get food though, a lot of it was empty. I got some rice, greens and fruit. And tea that tasted like kashayam from school. We then met a French person who was there to practice meditation (we met  him to discuss other stuff for the school though) and he showed us around the monastery.

After we got back, still buzzing from the two sips of Red Bull I had in the morning (you didn't expect me to stay awake without help in a peaceful place when I'd woken up early, did you?), I walked to Thung Si Muang. When I got there, I found that there was a walking street happening (a sante/flea-market of sorts). Walked around for about an hour, got back, got dinner and a good  night's rest.

If only all weekends worked out to be so much fun...

For more pictures, check out my instagram feed: www.instagram.com/saividhyakannan

Here's the pic of my painting on my brother's jam room wall.

Someone saw a tabla in the painting... Guess it's the "vibrations" that the work picked up from the room. My tablist cousin has put in sooooo many hundreds of hours of practice there :)






*This post was published sometime in 2007/08, but somehow reverted to a draft, so I'm re-publishing it

Water, water, every where

Being vegetarian in Ubon has been interesting so far. Specially for someone who is not particularly adventurous, coy when it comes to exploring and an overall shy and docile character. Sometimes you get that sinking feeling.

I've been told many times, that Isan (north-eastern region of Thailand) does not know the meaning of the the word vegetarian. Even during the vegetarian festival, the food is not truly "vegetarian". They love their pork. And they love their fish and oyster sauce.

There is food everywhere you look around. Carts on the streets, restaurants, restaurants, restaurants, cafes, bakeries... Barbecued meat on sticks, soups, noodles, rice...even salads - but nothing that I can eat. And those who know me, know that I can EAT. I saw a raisin bun the other day but was warned that the "floss" on/in the bun was pork.

I have met a few people - colleagues and strangers - who have been very nice and have tried to help me find foods that may work for me or have tried to teach me what to say or ask for. Colleagues who know Thai have told me what phrases may help (Ask for "Ahan Jai", say "mangsawirat" for no meat, "mai sai nam plaah" for no fish sauce). Another colleague Google translated phrases and printed them out for me. Two girls I met at a cafe thought about what foods I may be able to eat and told me what to ask for (Pad pat - Jai - fried vegetables - "jai", Kai jiao - omelette, Pak bung fai dang - fried morning glory). One of the Thai teachers at the school has even offered to take me to places where I can get veg food next week. Let's see how that works out.

I've learnt the phrases, but it doesn't always work. People here have a habit of not understanding (or trying to understand) you if you look like a foreigner (farang), no matter how correctly or clearly you say it. I know a guy who's been here many years and even reads Thai, who is sometimes looked at with contempt for his knowledge of the language. I got all excited over a "cheese and spinach" bun at a bakery and specifically asked "mangsawirat?" before the lady put it in a bag for me. I open it later and what do I find? ...*sigh*. But I did point to fried vegetables in a menu once and ask for "jai". I also added "mai sai nam plaah" for effect and got boiled vegetables (in a little broth that I pray was only flavoured with soy sauce - I didn't taste anything fishy there). So small success there? Hopefully. Maybe I should try to convince the lady at the cafe downstairs to make me a veggie sandwitch...

I've heard tales of a temple run restaurant that makes vegetarian food, but until I find it, I'm sticking to fruit, ice cream, random things from 7-eleven and stuff I've cooked(!) myself.

It's been a week since I came back to Thailand. I'm back in Ubon. I'd been in Ubon for a week - getting my paperwork in order and a week in Bangkok - getting my visa done.

The visa work got done finally! Changed from a tourist visa to a non-immigrant (non-B). Took me 2 tries, the same papers (I added one more which I ideally should not have needed at this time) and the same officer who rejected them the first time. The difference? Time of presentation. As a wise soul on the internet said, go the the immigration office in the evenings. Apparently the officers are supposed to finish all their appointments for the day before EOD and if your turn happens to come at 4:07 PM (I got my number in the queue at about 1:40 PM), :-) :-) :-)

Basically, the documents you need to change your visa are:
Change of Visa Application form
Copy of all pages (with stamps) of the passport
Work Contract
Letter from the Education Department
Letter of Employment from your school
A letter from your school (covering letter of sorts)
Copy of the school's director's ID
Copy of your education qualification
(And I was asked for) TOEIC score (since I'm a non-native English teacher applying for a teaching job)

The first time around, my papers were rejected becaues:
a) I didn't have my TOEIC scores (which from my understanding, I only needed when I was processing my work permit. Luckily for me, I was taking the test the next day).
b) The covering letter from school did not have "To the Immigration Bureau" written on top. The officer insisted I bring a new letter from the school - an original copy, not a fax - something I couldn't have gotten done at the time 'cause the school was closed for vacations). When I went back, I just hand wrote it and gave it in (I had various plans to defend that). The officer didn't even look. Just asked me to sign some papers ("Quickly, quickly", he said) and gave me the visa.

This apparently is only the first step. The visa is valid for three months, by which time, I need to go back to an immigration office and get it extended to a year (which apparently is only 9 more months). Then comes applying for the work permit and then a teacher's license. But I've been told, the hard work is done, and from here, It's just a bit simpler.

Simpler, is after all, relative. :-)

The first brick on the Yellow Brick Road

Think of India 15 yrs ago. Now take a step back into the past. Now one more. One more. That's where I live! Hello from Ubon Rachathani, Thailand. Granted, they have internet and all, but the attitudes...

Why am I in Ubon? I followed the ultimate travellers' dream, did my TEFL course in Koh Samui, had a great time and despite all my doubts about teaching, I thought I might be ready. The course and Samui are for another blog. But knowing that it's difficult for Indians to find teaching ESL jobs in Thailand, I took the first job I got.

This school has had teachers from India before, and when an Indian student from the TEFL school I studied at (who is working at the school) contacted the Course Director regarding openings, she put me in touch with her. I didn't get the job I initially applied for - at the international program, but the day I got back home, I got another offer from the school - for the Government program.

With all the excitement of getting the job so quickly, I didn't look any further and took it. It didn't take me 3 months, or even 1 and 1/2, like I was prepared for and now, suddenly, I was not completly prepared.

The school asked me to come early so we can get the paperwork done, but the holidays began and everything stretched out. The department head finally told me that they won't be able to get some papers and I'd be able to get only my contract before I went to Bangkok. However, one of the foreign teachers was really really helpful and pushed to get all the papers done. Between him and I finally managed to get all the documents get my visa changed to a "Non-B". Once that is done, we will need to apply for a work permit and then a teaching licence. From what I've heard so far, the school is very lazy with the paperwork.

The place I've found to stay at is very very basic - way more than I expected and is kind of depressing (I guess it'll get better once school starts). It's called a "mansion", but what that means is it's like one of those lodges with just a room, a bathroom and a space to hang up clothes. Unfortunately for me, the open space my room faces the back of a set of buildings and so I don't get any sunlight. (It was slightly cheaper though). It is also above large tanks of water and plumbing I can hear them all night long. The good thing is that nothing beats this place for location - just about 7 mins from school. I think what bothers me was that I am missing conveniences that I didn't even think of looking for when I looked at the place (how much we take for granted!) - like not having a flush on the toilet!! (I'm okay with the bucket, so this is okay) or hot water (this I really miss). But I'm sure I can work around it. Live and learn :-) Also not knowing the language is right now a big issue as I can't ask for anything or figure out what anything means. There are notices all over the apartment, the contract has times mentioned on them - and I don't know what any of it means.

The good thing is that my colleagues (all the foreign teachers I've met so far) have been really nice and helpful. They have been very kind and some have gone out of their way to help me - from getting a room, to ordering food, to buying groceries, figuring out how to get started on a lesson plan, to pushing for the paperwork. They have all also been through these issues and are very understanding. Apparently, once I get a hang of it, the lessons/teaching/school work is rather relaxed. I can't wait to get to that point :-) I'm really nervous to start with though. The school has decided not to use the usual books and think we should do something more relevant since I'm teaching M6 (12th std) - who will then go to university. I do have some books for reference though. I better get cracking on my homework and start off with the lesson plans when I have the time. School starts 20 Oct.