Hello Krabi, Thailand!! Saturday, December 22nd

Saturday, December 22^nd – Arrival in Krabi, Thailand

We arrived at the Krabi airport safe and sound and looking/feeling a bit ragged…. I felt 3 inches shorter and I was sure that my body was bent a little to the right. We used the bathroom (as in John was straight in and out while I waited in a huge line) and went to find ourselves a cab to get to our little beach hut for the night. Mission accomplished, kind of. If only we had checked that the girly man (legit) that booked our cab had filled the form out properly…we ended up driving in the wrong direction. Not a problem, we just paid the difference: Miscommunication #2. When we arrived to our place in Krabi we were thrilled, what a great recommendation from Ross and Mariya Henderson J 

 We had a beautiful little hut just a few steps from the beach and it was beautiful! We check-in, had some breakfast then settled in for the day. JB was exhausted (still jet-lagged) so he went to take a nap while I explored the beach. ¾ hours later I got sick of reading, laying on the beach and swimming alone so I woke up the tired boy. We spent the rest of the day walking the beach with our new friend Boom (a 3-legged dog who was more agile than the two of us in the sand), trying to get across the water with no success and skyping at a bar down the beach. That evening we met a great group from Australia/NZ and a couple from out West. We sat around, ate yummy food and had some drinks before the karaoke started up J We didn’t last very late and were very excited about our trip over to Koh Phi Phi in the morning! 

Boom

December 21st-22nd - The Thailand Adventure Begins!

I cannot explain my excitement when the last bell rang on Friday afternoon, announcing that the Christmas Holidays were finally hereJ Of course John and my packing had been too busy running the roads so packing hadn't occurred (luckily we had a late flight). Although he hadn't packed we were weren't worried as we had made a trip to Decathlon (Dad, your name is written all over this store) and had bought ourselves matching packs (how cute.), so really we just had to throw things in, right? After school I got myself organized then headed to my room where the packing began – my room was a disaster. Between the two of us we certainly did a number on the place. We drank some gin, listened to music and decided what we would want to wear other than our bathing suits. When we were finished packing we thought it'd be a good idea to eat a little something before heading out. We decided to try a little Italian place near by for dinner that I had heard was really cheap and pretty good. It was cheap, not so good. After an interesting meal of pizza with something pretending to be cheese on it we power walked home, said our goodbyes to everyone and headed off to the metro to go to the Shenzhen airport. How exciting!!

We were super early...so early that the gate wasn't yet open. So, we bought ridiculously priced coffee and spent some time chatting (I may or may not have had a little nap  as well). 

The 21st was a long night! We flew out of Shenzhen at 11:30pm, arrived in Bangkok at 1:30am and then flew to Krabi at 6:30am. We arrived in Krabi between 9:30 and 10:00, this part is a little fuzzy since we had spent a relatively uncomfortable half-sleepless night waiting in airports and scrunching ourselves onto the Air Asia planes. But, it was all worth it J 

{Funny side note at the Shenzhen Airport: My body decided to have a coughing fit while going through the scanners and having our bags checked (masks came out after I left, I'm sure). John was also asked to open his bag so that they could go through it. Turns out they were looking for a shovel and a paint chipper: He was asked if he was carrying a shovel (translated by one of the men's iphones) and a paint chipper (they actually had one to show him)...Once that moment of trying not to burst into laughter was over we made it through to our gate.} 

Week #1 of John's Visit: December 16th-21st Shenzhen, China (My Home)

Sunday, December 16^th, 2012 = John’s interesting arrival in Shenzhen

With the poor internet connection that I have here in China it proved difficult to plan a trip with someone living on the other side of the world – things were bound to be miscommunicated so why not start with our first miscommunication: John’s arrival.. oops!

I was sure that John was supposed to message me to let me know if he was going to be able to make the ferry or have to take the bus across the border into China. John was sure that he was taking the ferry. The result of this: I spent an hour drinking martinis with Patrick and Krista in Patrick’s room while fretting about where John was, if he’d made it and if he was going to turn up bald because someone adored his white hair. After about an hour and a half I received a call from a strange number, the voice on the other end was John, laughing nervously, asking “where are you?” I downed my drink and flew into action. I was lucky to get a cab right away and between the cabbies broken English and my non-existent Mandarin he understand that my boyfriend had just arrived from Canada and was at the Ferry terminal (Shekou Mato), he also understood that I was excited/nervous and in a hurry! He got me there in 8 minutes. I jumped out of the taxi and ran into the building to find no one. I ran back outside. I then realized all I had to do was stop and scan the area; sure enough the only white head in the place was John’s (with all of his hair)! hahaha After a little reunion and explanation of our miscommunication we headed back to my place where we dropped his stuff and went over to Patrick’s room where a group of friends were waiting patiently to meet him  : ) After some introductions and a few laughs John had quickly faded so we said our good nights and headed to bed.

It was such a strange and exciting feeling to have John actually here, in China. I was so looking forward to showing him around where I am living so that now when we chat it’ll be a little easier for him to care and understand (because he’ll actually know who I’m speaking about, where I’m speaking about and what things look like). J For instance, now he understands why we love going to Muslim Noodle where they make the noodles right in front of you, so fresh! He was a fan as well haha

John spent the week getting acquainted with the rather drastic time change, my students and my surroundings here in China and did quite well – I think siestas in the mid-afternoon saved him. The students were beyond thrilled to have him! They called him Skippy John Jones and were always very concerned when he wasn’t in the classroom! Haha John found a good balance between spending time getting to know my crazy grade 2ers and exploring Shenzhen (a 5 kilometer radius around the school)! Haha He put on his big boy pants and set off in the world of Chinese stares (which of course he didn’t even notice), markets and my beloved park. Em and I were able to give poor directions so that he could see some of the places that we frequent and from what I gathered he really liked the area that we live in J I am so glad that he went off to look around during the days while I was working – I wanted to show him everything but of course, although we kept him very busy with some of our favourite restaurants, bars and parts of the city we didn’t have enough time. There is never enough time, is there? Em and I did get surprise smoothies from our favourite smoothie man on the corner a few times and he did show up one day with the most beautiful bouquet of lilies...it was so nice to have my boy friend in the same place ... even if it was only for a week!

Christmas Countdown

December is nearing an end and I am so looking forward to Christmas Vacation!! I may even be more excited about this break than I used to get when I was the student...both the kids and myself are in desperate need of a break. As a side note: I never wish the week before Christmas upon anyone!! 

This month has been yet another great month filled with laughter, dressy events, drinks, food and not enough sleep! 

We have had a dinner party or two that have had some interesting outcomes - such as coming to the end of an evening wearing a penguin suit...

We have done some Christmas shopping (for both others and ourselves). Mariya, Yvonne, Kelly and I had a wonderful day together in Luoho buying gifts. Mariya took us to her wonderful pearl lady, Judy - that resulted in an expensive venture!

We attended the 10th Anniversary of CCSC which was quite a spectacle! 

We got our class picture done - in our t-shirts (it’s December remember)! This isn't the selected photo for obvious reasons but I thought it showed some of the funny personalities of my kiddies - I have a busy bunch!

We have continued to enjoy Shenzhen nightlife this month with few regrets. 

- The Terrace

- D Club

- Evening Show

We had our Wonderful Christmas Party - everyone looked beautiful! 

Our grade 2s were visited by Ross Henderson's chemistry students who were doing their Chem Magic - what a surreal moment!! I realized while taking pictures that I was once the grade 2 student watching the Chem Magic, was the student doing the Chem Magic and have now been the teacher watching her students enjoy the show - apparently I'm getting old.