Top 7 list

I've been reading a bunch of top 10 or top 17 lists lately and thought I would give it a shot.

Top 7 things I like about being back:

1-Not working and just hanging out.
2-Being around people you have a history with and love you.
3-Telling random people that I live in Thailand.
4-Street meat.
5-Sleeping in.
6-English movie theaters with massive red Fruitopia. 
7-Everything being much more convenient here.

Top 7  I don't like about being back:

1-Why is everything so expensive? My bhat is useless.
2-Weather in Thailand has spoiled me.
3-People just love honking and could use a minute or two to just calmer down a bit.
4-Why do homeless guys think it's okay to just start talking/yelling at you when you're talking to someone else? You lost your house, not your manners sir.
5-Need to bring your ID everywhere with you. I'm almost 26, please let me into your bar so I can waste more of my precious baht inside.
6-Having to shave my own face and wash my hair like a chump.
7-That somehow my brother beat me at basketball after not playing this whole year. I play once a week in Thailand. Going to have to sit on that loss for a year or two.

I was going to try and write a sentimental post about my feelings about being back but I'm not completely sure what I feel. Sort of feels like I never left but also feels like I have another amazing life to go back to in a country that is very, very far away. Being home is good but going back to being a teacher makes me happy. Read a good post about a guy who has been traveling for years about his thoughts on coming home. http://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/am-i-just-a-stranger-in-strange-land-now/
Enjoy your Tuesday everyone! 

Canada!

According to my calendar, I have been back 25 days. Thoughts? I have a ton of free time and you might be able to guess whether or not I am being productive with all of this surplus time. (I am not) I find it hard to get motivated without some sort of structure or deadline. I love sleeping in so waking up early doesn't hold a lot of logic to me. Going out more than I should and not feeling 100% most mornings/afternoons probably doesn't help. Just read a blog post about work and people trying to work less/find a balance. Check it out: http://www.wanderingearl.com/theres-nothing-wrong-with-a-40-hour-workweek/


Highlights: Tremblant:

Hitting up Tremblant solo. Even though I forgot my winter jacket at home, it just does not occur to me to even think about jackets, 25 runs were open, pretty good conditions and not busy at all. Woke up just after 5, took 2 hours to get there and stayed until after 3. Wasn't sure I would like going solo but I really did. You can go on whatever run you want, take a break whenever you want and don't have to be super outgoing and friendly (that sounds very Scrooge-esk doesn't it?) and leave when you get tired. 
Didn't even realize this is the food I missed the most until I had it for breakfast at like 7am in TO. People look at you in 2 different ways. 1-Disgust. 

Another aspect that I LOVE about being back is starting random conversations with people (girls) about what they do, blah blah blah and just wait anxiously for them to ask me about my life. Game over. Really love talking to random people about it, nice to be a bit more interesting than I was when I left. I don't remember random girls coming and talking to me before I left, not sure if it is some sort of vibe I send out now but I find it way easier to have girls come up and talk to me and easy to maintain conversations now. Which I like more than I should mainly because in my town I don't really get to talk to new girls every day due to their above-average Thai language skills.

There are a few things I don't like but will leave that for another post, which will motivate me to be productive for at least 30 min at some point during this week. Leaving May 14th so if you haven't gotten your Bert time in, I will be gone in no time and my brother tells me not to be dramatic but probably won't be back for a while after this visit. Enjoy your almost completely ENGLISH speaking week EVERYONE!!


How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these.
George Washington Carver

Maybe my favorite country song right now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxkQnAjGK4I

Similan Islands Dive Trip

Let's pretend this is about this time last month alright? Deal.
On Koh Phayam with Kait and Jake and is already on of my top 2 favorite islands in Thailand. Just finished up our Similan Dive trip with Stu and Kait. Let's start there. The Similan Islands are about a 4ish hour boat ride from Koh Lak. About $400 dollars for 3 days of diving and nights on this boat:



Went with Sea Dragon and no complaints at all. The highlight of the 9 dives was a Manta Ray similar to this:

Also saw a turtle and an octopus that looks nothing like they do in cartoons. 

There was also a night dive that was schedule that I was certainly planning on skipping due to the fact that it scares me but once they told us that phosphorescent were present I couldn't say no to of of my top 4 things in Thailand. Wasn't as scary as I imagined, pretty good visibility and saw a massive crab that is deceptively fast.  Living on a boat for 3 days while having someone cook you delicious food constantly isn't the worst way to spend your days. Having Stu and Kait there didn't hurt either. After the dive trip, basically just followed Kait around so she brought us to Koh Phayam. Unbelievable. This place and Koh Mook are my favorite places so far. Small island but big enough to rent a bike and explore for a day or two. Super cheap food and accommodations. This is the picture from our bungalow that costs about maybe $6 at home. 


Jake wasn't planning on going but the lure of the BK combo got to him.

So if you ever get the chance, go to Koh Phayam, stay on Aow Yai beach, basically paradise. 

I hope I don't forget my winter jacket when I go snowboarding in Tremblant next week.

"The reason people find it so hard to be happy is that they always see the past better than it was, the present worse than it is, and the future less resolved that it will be." Marcel Pagnol

I'm a liar

WHAT IS UP? I'M BACK!!!!!!!!!!!! Very exciting. 
So I haven't posted in a while because I didn't want to post anything just in case a comment about going home came up and wanted my operation surprise visit to go well. And it did. I LOVE surprising people. That might be why I have been "lying" about when I am coming home since about January. A big reason I ended up staying in Nakhon for another year is because instead of doing summer school this April, I switched it and will be doing it next April and staying in Canada for 6 weeks. The only person I told was my mom due to the fact that she may or may not have had a stroke if I just showed up at her doorstep. The first group I surprised was my 2 cousins that I use to live with. Got my mom to park around the corner so they wouldn't be tipped off by my moms van, found the spare key and just walked upstairs. I definitely imagined that scenario a time or two while waiting to come home. Picked up my brother at the airport on Friday night when he was expecting my mom. I like that guy. Also a few random stakeouts at peoples houses which people just do not do anymore. 

Fun to be back, having people understand me, talking to girls at bars who understand what I'm saying. Turns out girls like guys with a tan and who teach kindergarten in a foreign land, who would have thought?? Going to try and go snowboarding at Tremblant tomorrow then off to TO for the weekend and Easter dinner with my sister. I have a blog post or two about what I've done since being done school, just need to upload pictures and remember what happened. Anyway, I'm back and have a bunch of free time so if you want to see your favorite Bert, let me know. 

When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and soregretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.

Alexander Graham Bell