Vday on Ko Samui

Well we're feeling much better than last post. Our weekend on Ko Samui really cured some of our homesickness I think.

We went on Saturday after work by car with David and Jennifer. We stayed in the same bungalows as last time- Moon Huts. I like them a lot- cheap but very clean and nice, right on the beach.

Saturday night we met up with Jason, our boss, and his friends who were on the island. We went to his friend Tos's house and hung out for a while. Tos and I (aleza) did some awesome modern improv in his kitchen. It was a very fun party. It was nice to hang out with a large group of English speakers who aren't all Mathus teachers.

Here's our boss and his wife in their vday presents.



Sunday we went to these two really huge waterfalls. They were beautiful and nice for swimming. We climbed to the second one and when Justin got to the very top his flip flops broke :) Luckily he brought another pair to the island. Here are some pictures from the waterfalls.






After the waterfall we went back to Tos's house for a ping pong tournament. Justin got kind of close to winning and I got second place for the plate (aka losers) tournament. Tos and his Japanese wife Reiko also grilled a ton of delicious food. We had skewers and grilled veggies, corn, bean salad, etc. It was all amazing and it was really fun to be at a grill out again.



Here are Au (Jason's wife) and Justin playing ping pong.



Sunday evening we went with two of Jason's friends from England (aj and tudda), and David and Jennifer to a lady boy cabaret show. The show was free except drinks were very expensive (5 dollars for a beer!! crazy huh?). It was a super fun show. They lip sync and dance - there were Tina Turner and Cher impersonators. We got some good video. I'll try to put it up.

Monday we checked out a did a little shopping (there were a ton of dvds for 3dollars each, we got Harry Potter 5, Pans Labrynith, and the first season of 30 Rock). We also ate at Burger King which was a fun treat.

Then getting back home on the ferry- we put the car on for the 4 o clock ferry at 3:20 and went to get a beer. Upon returning to the ferry dock we found the ferry with our car (and Justin's guitar, computer, and hard drive) gone. Justin freaked out a bit, but luckily we worked out that the boat was going to stay at the dock on the Surat side and we'd be able to pick it up when our 4 o clock ferry arrived. It was pretty tense for a bit though.

In office news: Justin and I both had our parent teacher conferences this week and both went well according to our boss. At mathus Parent teacher conferences involve all the parents coming in to watch the last 15 min of your class and then you talk with all of them afterwards about how the class works and then about each individual student with all the parents.

I'm also finished at Surat Thani 2- the high school. I just have to grade all the finals and fill out these ridiculous report cards where we have to rate the students on how much they respect the king.

Justin finishes at the Donsak high school next week.

Also! One of the teachers here is officially quitting. Her name's Sigal- she's the oldest teacher here and she's anxious to get on with a more permanent job and way of life. Mostly she's looking for a Jewish husband and I think they're hard to find here. She has to stay for 3 months, so she'll be leaving in May.

Hope everyone's making it through winter! Let us know any questions you have and how you're doing!