Quick Update

Hello all! I'm alive and living it up in Thailand. Since I'm vacationing, I'm not spending too much time behind a computer. I'm having a great time! We (Tracy, Sarah and I) have left the rural location of Ao Luk and are now seeing all the travel destinations of Thailand (Railey Beach, Phi Phi Island and Phuket).

Anyways, just wanted to let you know I'm alive! Check out Sarah and Tracy's site for more information:

Halfway Around the World

Thanks for reading!

In THAILAND!

Before we dive into Thailand, here is my quick China update: Ty is awesome, I got my wallet stolen (Cari had to rescue me in downtown Xi’an) and the city is being covered with Chinese New Year Decorations: Year of the OX! Now, on to the main event:

Amazing Race: Thailand Style!

That's right, it's official! I am in Thailand! I was a long a crazy trip to get here. Originally, I was to leave my apartment at 5:20 am to catch my flight, but it was delayed 2 hours. Then, when I arrived at the airport- delayed another hour! And finally, after getting on the plane, we sat on the run way for- yep, you guessed it- another hour. Finally I left Xi'an, China for Bangkok, Thailand 4 hours behind schedule.

This wouldn't have been a problem except I was foolish and booked my second flight with a different company. So I missed my flight from Bangkok to Krabi (I feel like the more excited you are to travel, the more problems you are likely to have) and I had to buy another ticket. Thankfully, another plan was leaving in only 40 minutes- great timing! I was relieved to finally be on a plane, but the last leg of my journey to the rural city of Ao Luk was still uncertain.

I was warned about overpriced taxis at the airport in Krabi, so I walked to the main road (point "A" below). Using the Google map of the area and my GPS system, I started walking down the Highway 4 towards Krabi... at dusk (sorry mom!). As I walked a large man on a moped approached me (point "B" below). I said "Krabi" and he motioned for me to jump on the back. How could I refuse? He took me to a booth on the side of the road where an older man who knew a little English was sitting. I think it was a moped rental shop, but I showed him my map and told him I wanted to go to Ao Luk. Then he said "big bus" and I smiled and nodded.

I was back on the moped with the large man who reminded me of a Hawaiian local. Side note: both I and the large man on the moped were wearing blue Hawaiian shirts, just to give you a visual. We arrived at one bus stop, but we literally saw the last bus for Ao Luk pulling away. Thankfully, there was a bus heading to Phuket (point "C" below) and I was able to ride that bus and get off early.


View Larger Map

Now dark and in the city of Ao Luk (point "D" below), I used a picture Tracy had sent me to navigate to my hotel. On the way, I found an internet cafe full of little children. I might have been closed, but they let me come in. I was able to contact Tracy by Instant Messaging. After all the children introduced themselves and taught me how to count to ten (although I've already forgotten their names and the numbers), I headed down the dark rural road to the Ao Luk "Bangalows" (that's right- bungalows spelt wrong!). After checking in buy pointing at a sheet of paper I had with Thai words on it, I dropped off my luggage and went to meet Tracy and Sarah.

I had finally arrived after a 12 hour day of traveling (which should have taken only about 7). Aren't travel stories fun?!

First Impressions/Day

Ao Luk, Thailand is the exact opposite of Xi'an China. Here are some of the differences:

Xi'an, China...	Ao Luk, Thailand
... is HUGE (pop. ~9 million)	... is not (pop. ~45,000, and that's the whole district!)
... is a dry-as-a-bone desert city with a concret jungle	... a lush rural town and has literal jungles
... is cold (today's temperature in Xi'an: 0 C/32 F)	...is hot (today's temperature in Ao luk: ~27 C/80 F)

On second thought, Xi'an and Ao Luk are not totally opposite; rice and spice is just as important (if not more) in the food, people love to ride mopeds and motorbikes and everyone is very friendly- just like in Xi'an.

Like any good foreigner, I spent most of the first day in Ao Luk getting way too much sun at the pool with Sarah and Tracy- I am a lovely shade of red right now!



I love it here; it is absolutely beautiful and the people have the relaxed islander feel of Hawaii. Also, since Ao Luk is so rural- there are not many foreigners or tourist spots, so that's nice!

Well, it's about time for me to go! I've been typing from an internet cafe in the big part of Ao Luk (there's a cute little kitten who sleeps on top of the computer screens and chases the mice... pun intended!). I'll be trying to update again from Thailand and hopefully I'll be able to upload my pictures by then!

Thanks for reading!

That guy Ty

I've been a little late on updating my blog. Why? Because my 室友 (shiyou, roommate) has arrive!

New Roomy

Ty arrived last Monday and has spent a week getting to know our lovely city of Xi'an. He's visited downtown several times, ate many exciting meals and began his Chinese schooling. Here's some info on my new roommate:

Ty was born and raised in Northern California. After, his family moved to Wisconsin. He has been living there and going to college. Now, at 22 years old, Ty has come to China as part of an internship. He will be here in Xi'an learning Chinese and working on several correspondent classes for the next 5 months to complete a minor in East Asian Studies. After that, his studying abroad will take him to other locations in China and more adventures! Ty has a great sense of humor (see photo on left for a more 'dramatic' Ty). He also loves to jam on the guitar and speaks the best Pig Latin I've ever heard; he's fluent. It-ya is-ya a-ya ittle-lay ary-scay.

I couldn't be more excited about Ty! We've already shared some good adventures and there are still many are to be had. My only concern is a lack of sleep from too much fun (currently watching Planet Earth: Great Plains while blogging... way past my bedtime)!

Makin' 饺子　(Jiaozi)!

This week, Ty and I (that has a nice ring) had some Chinese friends over. We made Jaozi (dumplings)! It was a lot of fun and a very uniquely Chinese experience! To Make a jiaozi, you must first make the dough, then cut it into small pieces, then roll it, then stuff it (probably the hardest part for me) then boil them. It was a great time and some delicious food! I'm thankful our friends were there to help... my Jiaozi didn't look so good!




US Holidays End/Chinese Begin!

It's official, I just celebrated what will probably be my last Christmas until next year. Cari Cook was home for Christmas and not able to enjoy Christmas here in China. Today, Cari and I opened presents! Nothing wrong with one more Christmas! For those of you who were worried about me being overseas during the holidays, here is a recap of my holiday season:

• Christmas Celebrations: 5 (including one conducted over a webcam!)
• Thanksgiving Celebrations: 3 (3 Turkey Meals!)
• New Years: Only one... but Chinese New Year is quickly arriving!

Thailand Countdown



That's right, less than a WEEK! I am soooooo excited (and still need to pack!). It is going to be a great time visiting a new (warm) country as well as seeing my friends Tracy and Sarah!

Below is a sneak peek of the area I will be visiting Tracy and Sarah. For more information, check out my last blog or their web site at Halfway Around the World.

A preview of one of the places I will be visiting!

Since I will not be traveling with my computer and I am uncertain of how available the internet will be, this could be my last post for several weeks! I hope I'll be able to send out a couple quick updates. If not, keep posted in February for a HUGE update.

Thanks for reading!

Two 很酷

Party like it's 2009!

It's 2009- HAPPY NEW YEAR! I had a very restful first weekend of the new year, so not a ton to report. Here's what did happen:

New Years Eve!

Like Christmas Eve, I worked on New Year's Eve. After school, I had my first class of Chinese with my new professor- should be a great quarter! Then, I ate dinner and had to get ready for our New Year's Eve Costume Party that was happening at our school. For my costume, I went as bread. Why? I'm glad you asked! My name, Brad, as pronounced by many of my Chinese friends sounds like "bread." After telling several of this mistake, they began to call me 面包 (mianbao; bread in Chinese). Since I knew there would be both the Chinese teachers as well as other people from the states, I thought this would be a great costume! We spent New Year's Eve eating snacks and playing games.

New Years Day I spent some time on the computer with the parents, wishing them a Happy New Year. It was definitely a different New Year than I am used to!

Thailand Update

If you missed last week, I now have an official countdown for my vacation to Thailand:



In other Thailand related news, I will have the awesome opportunity to meet up with my good friends Tracy and Sarah while I'm in Thailand! It's official; Tracy and Sarah are flying out of San Francisco today (Jan. 4th ) at noon! They will be living in Thailand and teaching English. They have set up their very own website to keep people posted on their adventures. Check it out at the link below:

Halfway Round The World: Tracy and Sarah's Website

www.halfwayroundtheworld.com

My next visitor roommate?!

As of tomorrow (Jan. 5th), I will have a ROOMMATE! All I know is that his name is Ty and he is a 20 year old college student who has studied some Chinese. He will be living here in Xi'an for 5 months working on an internship. I'm super excited to meet him! Next week I'll be informing you what life with a roommate is like (can't be worse than Jake... just kidding)!

And...

Final update, See video below:

祝你生日快乐，
祝你生日快乐，
祝你生日，生日快乐，
祝你生日快乐!

Thanks For Reading!