Photo-genic

I thought that having internet in my room would = more posts & better communique with peeps. But the sights & sounds of the city have me caught up like Darren Daulton. It didn't take long for me to get busy wit' it on the work front - teaching between two schools and all ages/ranges. Also, I rely on the bike to get to most places. Today it was:

7AM - wake up to another nice Chiang Mai sunrise

8AM - eat some chocolate chip cookies for b-fast

9AM - bike (about 3km) to Language Corner (that's school number 1)

10AM - 12PM - lesson with Seong Jun 18yr old Korean

12PM - lunch with Amanda at a bakery

1PM - bike back to crib, throw down a few pringles, and watch a little Dog the Bounty Hunter

2PM - bike (about 7km) to a home lesson with 3 kids (American dad/Thai Mom)

3PM - 5PM - lessons with Jesse, Kevin, Nancy

5PM - 6PM - long bike (about 13km) to CEC (that's school number 2)

6PM - 7:30PM - lesson with Patrick 17yr old Thai guy for SAT prep

7:30PM - bike back to crib

8:00PM - dinner = leftover Mexican (just as good as the first time), dishes, laundry

10:00PM - plan some Cambodia stuff, check ESPN.com and dwell on Hawks / LaSalle game

On those bike trips, you really get to see a nice slice of daily life and some pretty amazing scenery. I get a knot in my stomach just wishing everyone I know could see some of it. Here's a snap of a temple I rolled by this weekend.

Alright, big ups to all. Ride on.

I Want to Ride My Bi-Cycle.

Our transport around town have been bikes. Even though they feel more like toys! The bi-pedals definitely open up the city, although can be quite dreadful on the dupa. I've since upgraded to a more mountain-bike looking one, since the first one was obviously designed for a skinny Thai. While riding around the city, you acclimate yourself to the Thai way. Actually, there is no method to the madness - bob & weave, take the shape of the traffic, overtake & undertake, while green means go / yellow means go faster / red means go if you can!

The seats are graced with some FIERCE pixies!

At least our bikes have tough names - Scorpions! We are thinking of starting a gang. My newer mountain bike is in the background. Note the seat on that one is already bending from the weight of the world!

Touching Moment. After several months of withdraw, I found a suitable Touch Screen replacement. And they had a pretty good pseudo-Photo Hunt! Tore it up as usual with the fastest fingers...

Sho' nuff!

It's Like a Jungle Sometimes...

First rule of a hip hop CD cover... No Smiles! This was taken after I exchanged my Kazakh Tenge to U.S. Dollars. Definitley going to be my next album cover, "Puttin' the Mo in the Money." May grab a Grammy next year!
Featuring such bomb tracks as "Straight Outta Kazakhstan", "Goin' Back to Chiang Mai", "Impersonalize THIS Bobby", & "Gin & Fermented Mare's Milk".

O-fficial!

Flower Power

While it wasn't exactly the same as walking the median outside of MBNA with carnations in hand on a Friday evening... there were a lot of flowers in Chiang Mai last weekend! The Flower Festival focused on the area around the city park and involved floats, a beauty contest, and lots of food.

The floats were intricately designed and could contain only natural materials.

The floats were parked here after the parade through the city.

Plenty of people-watchin'.

All kinds of flowers of different shapes and sizes.

Day turned to night, and the festivities continued. Those are 'jumbo-shrimp' to the left of the grill below.

Winning the War...

Nothing like a solid win over VillaNOBODY. Was unable to find the game anywhere early in the morning. I sure do miss SportsCenter. But I could feel pulsations of the Palestra halfway across the world...
Garrett's defenisive intensity givin' me goosebumps!

Bull VS. Tuna

Wow. I don't even need to come up with blog material. My package from Kazakhstan arrived home to the U.S. in less than 3 weeks. How dare I doubt post-communist efficiency?

The red stuff is wax that they use to seal my box. The cloth is the covering they hand-sewed around my box...

The most beautiful Kazakh display in the world...

So Chris got the Red Bull shirt/Muay Thai boxing shorts. And poppa-dukes got the Tuna shirt / Thai Silk boxers. They demonstrated some aggression - Ti-GER style!


Oh my Buddha. I almost fell off my chair in this internet cafe when I opened these pictures!

The Hawk has Landed

Just to let my faithful readers know that I have arrived in Chiang Mai. It's been a busy few days job searching, apartment hunting, and even browsing motorbikes! Hope all is well with everyone. Even those in the booming metropolis of Wilmington!

Holler at you place to be somebody!

Stars & Stripes

Tomorrow, I trade in this:

for this!

Remember in old school NHL for Genesis how they used to give the "3 STARS" of the game? EA SPORTS - "it's in the game!"

For the last couple weeks I have to give my 3 stars to the following performers:

Aunt Gail - representing the University of Delaware Blue Hens. She booked a flight to Thailand in a matter of moments after I told her I was moving there, renewed her passport, and will also be joining us on a trip to Angkor Wat/Cambodia! I am very excited.

Nargiz Mashuri - representing Arizona State Sun Devils. This Russian-speaking saviour helped me to ship all my winter stuff home to the U.S. I spent a lot of time (4 hours) and money to get it done, and Nargiz went through it all with me! Kaz postal service is a nightmare. They go through everything, itemize everything, weigh everything. They had to hand-sew (with a needle!) a cloth covering for my box. A lesson in inefficiency...

NEPA - captain Mark Sindaco - representing Penn State University. Mark, Melissa, Nick, Mimi, and lil Nicky have all been wonderful during my time here, keeping me updated, and sharing a little NorthEasternPA warmth. Speaking of post offices, these guys sent me a package well over a month ago and it still hasn't arrived. Well, maybe it has and some random Kazakhs are enjoying Season One of the The Office. I have a one hour window today and I'm going down to the post office to check. One last time!

[UPDATE: So in between exchanging Tenge to Dollars, lunch dates, and cramming my wardrobe into a suitcase, I went to Kaz Post to look for my package. With "The Hawk Will Never Die" attitude I tried every angle. After dropping clue words, they finally responded to the name "Joseph" & lo and behold there was my package. I had a very Shawshank moment! Mad props to Mountaintop and all the good Coal Crackers of the world. It must be cold there (but not as frigid as it's been here!) & their DVDs, CDs, and other fun stuff warmed me up. I tried to convince Amanda to cancel our dinner plans for a National Lampoon's Vacation marathon!]

Twenty four hours from now I will be on a flight bouncin' to Bangkok. I love & miss everyone. The journey continues...

Get Swole!

To prevent atrophy from setting in over the past few months, we have improvised our own weight-training regimen (with homemade weights of course!) Anything is game, from Pringle Cans filled with sand to bottles of vino!

(Amanda working the bench and Fanta bottles!)

(Joey knockin out the skull-crushers!)

Workout of the Week - "Tremendous Triceps" -This tricep excercise has three parts (convenient, huh?)
Motion A - Grip is parallel to body, thumb down

1)starting position 1

2)middle position 1

3)finishing position (same as starting position 1)

Motion B - Switch grips (palm and knuckles facing you)

1)starting position 2

2)middle position 2

3)finishing position (same as starting position 2)

Motion C - Switch grips & make a motion like you are heiling a former German dictator (rhymes with "Schmitler")

1)starting position 3

2)middle position 3

3)finishing position 3
In total, do three sets of 10 for A,B, & C. Switch arms. Use lighter weight since this totals 90 reps (more tone rather than mass) per arm.


A couple weekends ago, we had Italiano Night at Casa Di G. (thanks to the Gerace family gnocchi package!)



No, it wasn't Ash Wednesday in Kazakhstan. We concluded the evening with a rowdy game of P.I.G.

The first person with "P.I.G." scrawled across her forehead was Amanda, so she had to do there dare. Click the youtube video below to watch: